Interviews

How Symbiotic Human-automation relationship is key to ‘Quick Commerce’ Success

The emergence of quick commerce, a unique business model, where the delivery of goods and services is done within 10-30 minutes of ordering is a bold step by some of the Indian retailers to enhance the customer experience. To enable and make quick commerce effective,  retailers need to shift their focus from traditional warehouses located on the outskirts of a city to micro-warehouses and retail shops which acts as fulfilment centers located near the point of delivery.

With this burgeoning trend, many retailers are under pressure to meet this growing demand of quick delivery and manage inventories. With accurate inventory count becoming critical, it is therefore imperative for retailers and warehouse managers to adopt new technologies that will help them cope with this transformation. Mr. Rajnish Gupta, Vice President & Head for India and Sub-Continent business, Zebra Technologies Asia Pacific in discussion with CXOToday share some insights on the same

 

  1. What are the opportunities associated with ‘Quick commerce’ industry and Outlook for this trend?

The Indian e-commerce market has witnessed an exponential rise in size and stature over the last decade. This has further increased due to the reliance on digital platforms resulting from the COVID lockdown. According to Zebra’s 14th annual global shopper study, 65% of surveyed shoppers are still worried about sanitized surfaces, and many still do not trust retailers to adhere to health and safety protocols in physical stores.

With the gradual reliance on e-commerce platforms for the delivery of groceries and food items and people’s rising expectations for faster deliveries, the introduction of quick commerce model has changed the e-commerce landscape forever. In India, there has been no better time for quick commerce players to grab more market share as this model has proven to be successful in satisfying the customers’ needs, covering both time and distance factors.

As recently stated by management consulting firm RedSeer, the quick commerce market in India is set to grow 15 times than its current size to reach $5.5 billion by 2025. Therefore, the business model looks to be on course, provided the relevant enterprise are investing in the right infrastructure and technology to cope with this faster delivery business model.

 

  1. As per industry estimates, overall cost for the quick commerce model is higher than regular eCommerce model – How it can be reduced or managed?

To remain highly competitive in the market and to build a self-sustainable business model, the relevant enterprises will need to build a robust supply chain and lower the last mile-delivery costs.  In a quick commerce ecosystem, dark stores help maintaining the inventory locally for immediate delivery.

Apart from setting up local stores, it is equally important to equip the front-line workers with the right technology to track every action in their supply-chain operations to fulfil orders. Additionally, industry leaders are aggressively investing in technologies that offer predictive capabilities, focusing on artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) solutions coupled with RFID technology to enable greater real-time visibility in their operations to help them make business-critical decisions more swiftly and accurately. For example, optimizing inventory, improving time to market, reducing ‘no-stock’ incidents and helping personalize customer experience.

 

  1. How has the quick commerce race increased the importance of real-time inventory and people management?

The quick commerce race has amplified the importance of better managing the inventory, people and assets. The relevant enterprises need to maintain the sync between constant connectivity, proactive management to deliver products on time. To this effect it is imperative for them to strategically invest in the right hardware and software solutions including AI and machine learning to better manage their dark stores, fleet and delivery.

Many retailers realize the importance of data. However, they have been challenged to effectively apply that data in a way that improves operations in real time. That is why retailers say prescriptive analytics will be one of their top two technology investments in the next few years. This software platform uses ML algorithms to automatically analyze operational data, identify patterns and then “prescribe” solutions. It does not stop there, though. Very specific task assignments are sent to front-line workers in real time via their mobile devices, so they know exactly what they need to do to prevent losses and keep customers happy.

Prescriptive analytics also helps retailers make decisions around resource planning, inventory optimization, and other key operational aspects of business so they can effectively improve efficiency, reduce shrink, and increase revenue.

 

  1. What are the solutions provided by Zebra Technologies to enable warehouse managers to operate faster?

Zebra offers different types of technologies that can help modernize warehouse management. However, it really depends on which stage the warehouse currently is at, because there is simply no one-size-fits-all solution. However, RFID is one of the key technologies that should be considered by warehouses when the time is ripe, because of the ROI that it can offer.

With RFID solutions, Zebra Technologies is providing the warehouse managers with heightened inventory visibility – the ability to know precisely where any pallet, case or stock keeping unit (SKU) is in the warehouse at any given moment.

Additionally, Zebra’s track and race solutions help to locate, identify and evaluate every asset in near real-time from anywhere. It also helps to optimize asset utilization, maximize efficiency and ensure regulatory compliancy.

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