The two day, 5th Edition of Indian Retail Congress 2016 commenced yesterday

Every disruption is not innovation but innovation can be disruption: Mr. Ankit Jain, Co-Founder, AskMe Grocery

The online grocery market is huge and there is scope for 50 online grocery players to exist simultaneously: Mr. Ankit Jain, Co-Founder, AskMe Grocery

From the present 38 cities, AskMe Grocery to expand to 80 cities by end of year: Mr. Ankit Jain, Co-Founder, AskMe Grocery

Actual cash back is important, because not every customers uses his / her points in cards: Mr. Rohan Bhargav, CEO, CashKaro.com

New Delhi, India: Franchise India, Asia’s largest Franchise solution company, today saw its second day of the Summit as young entrepreneurs came together to share their experience and how best to create that innovative idea to disrupt the ongoing retail trends.

Speaking on disruption and innovations, Ms. Ritu Marya, Editor in Chief, Franchise India said “While discounting and cash backs are very much in demand, it is yet to be seen how with the new policies announced by the Government how will the business and trends change in the near future for the players.”.

Speaking on disruption and innovations, Mr. Ankit Jain, Co-Founder, AskMe Grocery said “Every disruption is not innovation but innovation can be disruption. Apple is an innovation which created the disruption, but a Patanjali is a disruption and not an innovation. The idea is to change the present trends and create a trend which everyone starts following. When AskMe Grocery started off no Kirana store was supporting us. But we were aware that we have to get them on our side as they know the customers locally Also these Kirana or Mom and Pop stores have the maximum margins which they can share with us. So we decided to go by this route which even does away from stocking products and understanding the consumers region wise”.

He further added “The online grocery market is huge and there is lot of scope an atleast 50 online grocery players can survive and be profitable. It is a matter of awareness and once the customer has the right experience they are hooked on to the entire idea of shopping for grocery online. Also once we start tapping the customers locally we understand the local brands that they are used to consuming, so we give them what they want, rather than trying to sell what we want them to consume”.

Commenting on the margins that local Kirana or Mom & Pop stores have, Mr. Jain added “They have many avenues of sourcing, directly and even from the big players like Big Bazaar and all. They pick up in lots when they get huge discounts they have the margins.”

Talking on the usage of cards and cash backs Mr. Rohan Bhargav, CEO, CashKaro.com said “Today there are 450 million debits cards in the entire country but only a miniscule is in use. So using of cards and getting cash backs is a behavioural change. Once, creating the right value and the trust, it automatically gets the customer to start using cards. When we started we realised to attract customers we need to give them actual cash backs rather than the points which is general the trend. This was because how many times does a customer use his / her points and which in a way does not add any value”.

By bringing together thought leaders, policymakers as well as the young entrepreneurs together each year since its inception, Franchise India through the Indian Retail Congress has played a significant role in showcasing present trends and how is the Retail sector set to evolve in the future.

The Indian Retail Congress Awards will take place on today (30th April 2016). The awards will recognise the efforts and significant contributions including smart innovations, new entrepreneurs in the block who made a difference etc.

More event updates available at the official event website – http://retail.franchiseindia.com/congress/ and for Start-up KICKOFF - http://www.startupkickoff.in/retail/