Sri Lanka Retailers Association organises Retail Forum to strategies on ‘Retail Revolution’

Sri Lanka Retailers Association (SLRA) organised Sri Lanka’s premier Retail Forum 2019 at the Cinnamon Grand Hotel, Colombo on 26-27 November. With a theme ‘The Retail Revolution’, the two-day event for the retail industry intends revolutionising the industry to be future-proof and ready to take on consumers of tomorrow who are more informed and more demanding than ever.

The forum saw the presence of many industry players from diverse retail sectors from across the world and Sri Lanka. The focus of the event is to discuss the four current issues/scenarios under 4 thematic sessions - Shaping Your Promise: Channels and Supply Chains; Re-defining the Customer Experience; Navigating through Buzz; and What retailers would do in a crisis. According to a report, the sessions also elaborated on catering to a younger customer base while balancing an ageing population. The forum also explores the role of technology in shaping the future of retail, moving beyond the hype to understand the opportunities available while exploring options and responses as retailers during critical economic climates. 

In his informative and data driven presentation, on the day 2 of the forum, Dayan Jayasuriya, Engagement Manager at McKinsey & Company took the audience through some interesting findings and key observation on a topic – Shaping your Promise: Channels & Supply Chains.

Jayasuriya highlighted that online and mobile retail continues to be the key growth driver for the future while offline growth will slowdown. He went on to explain why today consumers expect more seamless and personalised experience in grocery retail.

Jayasuriya also threw some interesting statistic – today 83% of consumers want personalisation in retail, 93% of retail CEOs believe personalisation is a strategic priority and only 23% of customers feel that retailers are doing a good job of personalising the experience in any channel.

He further talked about the wide range of digital solutions in retail operations that are already live today such as demand planning, order management, front-end customer services, robotics, seamless checkout etc.

In her presentation, Marion Van Der Krogt, Founder & Consultant – Speaking of Customers talked about in-store and online customer experience. She highlighted that 64% of consumers would switch brands for a more relevant experience. She further said that there is still little competition on customer experience in the market, which offers an opportunity for barnds to disrupt and build a lasting competitive advantage.