PGDM Retail Management Department at JIMS Rohini organised Retail Conclave 2019 on ‘Enhancing Customer Engagement in Changing Retail Landscape’ on 10th December 2019. Consumer engagement has become the buzzword today and it is the means by which a company creates a relationship with its customer base to foster brand loyalty and awareness. As retailers look for ways to differentiate in today’s highly competitive market, customer engagement strategies have become the critical components for optimizing the customer’s shopping experience. Customer engagement is not merely about giving customers a satisfactory experience during their sales journey, but also about inspiring and encouraging them to get involved themselves in the experiences retailers create for them.
Eminent personalities from the industry were present in the event. Mr. Manoj Kulkarni, Executive Director, Nielsen was the Chief Guest, and Mr. Deepak Chaudhary, Director Sales and CEO, Audi (New Delhi West) was the Guest of Honour on the occasion. The event started with lamp lighting ceremony followed by the welcome address by Dr. Pooja Jain, Director JIMS. She briefed on the relevance of theme of the conclave and had thrown light on the requirement of the discussion. It was followed by special address by Mr. Deepak Chaudhary who shared his experiences and insights with the audience. Mr. Manoj Kulkarni interacted with the audience with the keynote address and focussed on how data centricity can help drive customer centricity in today's highly fragmented and dynamic retail world. He mentioned that data is the new soil and discussed the relevance of data in all sort of decision making specifically in designing customer engagement strategies.
The second part of the Conclave was the panel discussion on theme ‘Enhancing Customer Engagement in Changing Retail Landscape’. Mr. Manish Gupta, Managing Partner, Sachin Gupta & Associates and Ex. Director, Retail Measurement Practice – Expanded Vertical, Nielsen was the Session Moderator for Panel Discussion. The panellists of the session were Mr. Hari Prakash, Ex. Vice President (Retail), Valvoline Cummin Ltd.; Mr. V.Vineeth Kumar, Assistant Vice President, Aegon Life Insurance; Mr. Naveen Singh, Category Head, Big Bazaar; and Mr. Sanjeev Hans, North Region HO – Retail Operations, Reliance Retail.
The conclave aimed to cover all the relevant points for enhancing customer engagement in the changing landscape of today’s retail sector. Discussion was focussed on the current practices and the strategies for enhancing and retaining customer base, understanding customer expectations, operational challenges, current scenario and way ahead. The discussion was very healthy, interactive and insightful.
The participants in the retail conclave were corporate, alumni, faculty and PGDM Retail and Marketing students. Towards the end of the panel discussion, the forum was open for Q&A session and the audience participated in it enthusistically. The conclave closed with the Vote of Thanks by Dr. Deepika Saxena, Conclave Convenor and HOD - PGDM (Retail Management).