How are you using technology to understand customers better and to retain their loyalty?

Our sales data permits a minute level of analysis. This is helpful to understand why things happen as they do. Once again, the value of this needs to be seen in context of the investment required.

• What role has technology played in your expansion plans?
  
  Business feasibilities are completed using in-house developed applications, which allow us to predict with some reliability the financial parameters of potential sites. Technology also helps us to plan the merchandise sourcing width and depth for new stores.
• Are you utilising technology to better manage your workforce and optimise scheduling?
  
  From an information point of view – yes. Physical deployment and productivity of human beings is best managed by skilled managers, though.
• Approximately how much budget have you allocated to technology implementation and operation?
  
  It is around 10 per cent of capital expenditure in each store, and maintenance is marginal.
• Which technology modules are you using? What are the advantages you have had? Are there any bottlenecks you are facing?
  
  We use the JDA merchandise management system assisted by the Intactix space planning application to manage inventories and placement. Auto-replenishment is on the E3 platform. Our POS system is also from the JDA stable, but has had extensive modifications to deal with India's multiple, varied taxes by product and the MRP factor.
  
  
• Has manpower been a problem area?
  
  
  Not in IT.
  
  
• What are the areas of application that remain to be addressed?
  
  We are looking at several technology initiatives on the customer facing front, as we believe this is where the most immediate returns are seen. We are quite satisfied with our level of backend automation and are conscious of maintaining a balance between skilled human merchants driving our business and computerised decisions doing it for us.
• What are your recommendations for making the current technology more manufacturer/brand//retailer-friendly?
  
  We need to carefully examine our objective, our work process and volume, our costs and the real result before investing in new technology. It often helps to ask oneself the question: would this be done easier without the computer? There are plenty of examples of technology having complicated a very simple manual process.