Intelligent retail in the F&B industry: Webinar Highlights [Nov'21]

A Webinar on the topic ”Intelligent Retail in the F & B industry” was organized by Daalchini on 25th November 2021.

Prominent speakers from various industries (FMCG, D2C, Research & Analysis) with experience of over 15 years were invited for their valuable inputs as well as their take on the role of intelligent retail in the F&B Industry. A case study was presented wherein outcomes were drawn from a survey of 250+ D2C brands about the role of intelligent retail in the F & B industry.

Intelligent retail in the F&B industry

With the advent of technology and all the developments that have taken place, everything around us is becoming smarter, better. The retail space has been no different. It has had to adapt and evolve over the years.

What is intelligent retail?

Figuring out a better, hassle-free, more efficient way of doing things, at every single stage, is what smart and intelligent retail is all about.

Vending machines are a comparatively newer concept in the Indian market but they are getting increasingly popular by the day.

Some features are as follows:

DIY (Do it yourself) – Self-service and super user friendly

Discoverable – Digitally connected for consumer

Choices – Maximum choices per square feet of area

24/7 – Anytime stores enabling on-the-go consumption

Nearby – Available in 100 meters of the target consumer

Instant – Zero wait time for the consumer

To discuss and highlight the huge potential of the intelligent retail space, Daalchini organized a webinar on the topic ‘Role of intelligent retail in F&B industry’, on the 25th of November.

We had the pleasure of hosting prominent speakers from various industries (FMCG, D2C, Research & Analysis) with experience of over 15 years. They shared their valuable inputs as well as their take on the role of intelligent retail in the F&B Industry.

All the distinguished speakers had thoughtful insights and talked in-depth about the challenges and advantages. A case study was presented wherein outcomes were drawn from a survey of 250+ D2C brands about the role of intelligent retail in the F & B industry.

Here are some of the highlights:

1.) Post pandemic

The pandemic situation led to an increase in the usage of intelligent retail and also saw a decline in the usage of traditional retail whereas the e-commerce space remained unimpacted.

The importance of intelligent retail has only increased in the context of the pandemic.

“Expansion would be more around e-commerce, grocery apps and self-service options like vending machines in apartment complexes as people are now looking to have a zero-contact purchase experience.”

2.) The smart shopping experience for consumers

Digital payments, contactless payments, zero delivery costs, and instant gratification are some of the trends that drive the popularity among consumers.

3.) Positive impact on sales

60% of participants believed that intelligent retail helped them increase their sales and over 95% expect future revenue growth.

4.) Ease of acquiring new consumers

75% of the D2C brands believe that intelligent retail allows them to acquire new customers with low investment as compared to (65%) modern trade outlets, (52%) general trade, and (42%) distribution aggregators.

5.) Customer feedback

Conventional methods of Customer Feedback leave much to be desired

New brands mostly use cumbersome In-house surveys or have to rely on 3rd party data Market Research is not possible due to lack of big marketing budgets

75% of brands are using customer insights available from the Daalchini app and partner dashboard interface.

“A customer review, product feedback, and learning about customer journey is necessary. Products can be made available as per customers’ choice and customer feedback can be shared with brands to help them make appropriate changes. A faster action can be taken based on customer feedback as compared to the traditional outlet. Customer feedback is prompt and direct to customer sales helps new brands to get better consumer insights.”

Factors driving D2C brands towards new-age-retail-tech:

Convenience/ Instant Delivery, Zero Delivery Cost, Brand Recognition, Digital Payment, Smaller SKUs, Online Inventory Management are factors that are driving more and more retailers to adapt and evolve.

85% of participants were interested in recommending Smart Vending Machines to others.

Choosing a product to buy, inserting coins into a machine, and then just getting what you picked, it’s that easy! But gone are the days where people actually carried any currency with them, its all-digital and therefore we now have smart vending machines.

The options to choose from, are plenty and you have healthier options available. You can also pay using your digital wallets or UPI transfers etc. It exponentially reduces the need for human intervention ensuring the highest quality and the standards of hygiene. It is also a great space to be in from the business point of view as it’s a low investment and high return operation, with minimal management.

With so many advantages the intelligent retail industry is here to stay and it is only going to get more popular over time.

Leading media agencies covered the session and reported the key takeaways from it making it a successful webinar session.