Brief

IBM unveils Smart Retail Innovations in India

Kumar Rajagopalan, Retail Solutions Leader, IBM India; Dr. Daniel Dias, Director, IBM India Research Laboratory; KS Raghunandan, Director - Solutions, IBM India/SA and Gibson G Vedamani, CEO, Retailers Association of India

IBM unveiled its Store Integration Framework (SIF), a comprehensive-innovation-suite built specifically for the Indian retail sector. SIF is a middleware developed specifically for retail that integrates all of a retailer’s devices, applications and solutions—past, present and future to create intelligent and responsive stores. IBM’s innovation suite for the Indian retail sector includes solutions such as IBM Digital Video Surveillance (DVS) solution; the Integrated Multi-channel Retailing Solution and IBM AnyPlace Kiosks Solution, to help Indian retailers leverage IT for greater competitive advantage. These solutions will help Indian retailers address key issues related to security, channel integration, and customer management helping them boost sales, increase management efficiencies, minimize losses due to theft and increase customer satisfaction.

These advanced retail solutions are showcased at the IBM India Industry Solutions lab, co-located at the India Research Laboratory, in New Delhi. “At IBM our aim is to develop and deliver innovations that matter—to businesses and to the world. IBM’s India Industry Solutions Lab is an ideal forum for clients to explore innovative ways to increase their organizations’ unique market advantages,” said Dr. Daniel Dias, Director, IBM India Research Laboratory. This gives IBM clients opportunities to interact with researchers, and apply innovative technologies to solve real world business problems.

The Store Innovations combine a service oriented architecture to help retailers transform the customer experience, empower teams to boost productivity, and streamline store processes while reinvigorating customer loyalty and driving profits. Leveraging technologies, such as RFID, and the ability to share data enterprise-wide on the supply chain and deliver the right products at the right time, empowers retailers to close the gap between what the customers expect and what is being delivered.

Speaking at the occasion, KS Raghunandan, Director – Solutions, IBM India/SA said, “With increasing competition, companies need to and are actively looking for IT solutions that will allow them to focus on strategic and innovative business models. IBM’s understanding of retail business coupled with innovation focus will provide retailers in India with the impetus to meet increasing customer demands, build competitive edge, drive fast paced growth and boost profitability.”

Present at the event, Gibson G Vedamani, CEO, Retailers Association of India (RAI) said, “The organized retail industry in India is seeing tremendous growth. In order to address the various issues and hurdles faced by our industry today, there is a pressing need for innovative and practical solutions to further accelerate growth in the retail industry. I am confident that retailers across the country will find value in aligning their IT infrastructure to these solutions to maximize business benefits and customer satisfaction.”