Indian Retail Industry On Growth Trajectory Post COVID-19, Says Dr. Sunil Chopra, Deputy Dean

* Dr.Sunil Chopra addresses students on, ‘The Potential Future of Indian Retail’ at the Great Lakes Institute of Management’s ‘Distinguished Thought Leadership Series’ 

Great Lakes Institute of Management hosted the DistinguishedThought Leadership series in which Dr. Sunil Chopra, Deputy Dean and IBM Distinguished Professor of Operations Management and Informations System, Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, shared his insights with the students. 

During the interactive session with students of the PGPM 2023 batch, Dr. Chopra elaborated on the probable trajectories of the Indian Retail Market. The session was conducted as part of their “Term Zero”, Distinguished Thought Leadership Series.  

Term Zero was the outcome of the Institute’s effort to seamlessly transit into the online mode of classes during Covid-19. The fast paced 10-day term serves as an introductory session to students by the professors and industry leaders to get them ready for their MBA program. 

Students listened to Dr Chopra with rapt attention as he explained about the different channel choices such as Hyperlocal, Big Box Retail and Online channel: how a framework for an omni-channel retail was necessary in designing the most efficient distribution network in India. Different factors such as Product Value, Demand Uncertainty and Information Content should be taken into consideration while coming up with a model.  

He further elaborated on the successful model of 7-Eleven in Japan as an example of what must be implemented in India to attain the greatest gross profit. To achieve this model, the Professor explained, three commons need to be created - Information commons, Education commons and Distribution commons. Once these are created and implemented effectively, a replica of 7-Eleven can be utilized in the Indian retail market as well that takes advantage of every distribution channel. In this model, hyperlocals should be distributed everywhere, customized to the people of that location and also serve as a pickup location or showroom along with a place where online orders can be placed.  

Dr. Chopra shed light on the Indian Retail Industry that has already recovered post Covid-19 and is on a growth trajectory of 10% annually, leading to a growth of approximately 2 trillion USD by 2032, as suggested by a report put together by Boston Consulting Group (BCG) in association with Retailers Association of India (RAI). The Indian Retail market has already seen a recovery in consumption and the changing landscape is instigating a multitude of opportunities for Indian Retailers.