Abhishek Lal, Sr. Director, E-Commerce, adidas Emerging Markets

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What according to you are the three biggest/most important changes happening in the world of technology?

AI/ Explosive growth in Virtual Reality/ Machine Learning

How do you think these changes will impact Indian retail?

With the availability of new technologies each consumer today can be viewed as a unique individual with clearly identifi able preferences. Therefore, Indian retail needs to move from one-size-fits-all approach to a highly customised consumer centric approach.

What are the 3 game changing technologies in the space of customer experience?

Data/ Predictability/Personalisation

What are the top priorities for you in the coming years you as CIO of the company/ brand?

The top priority is get to know as much as possible about consumer preferences and then subsequently engage with consumers keeping in mind their preferences.

Top 3 challenges retailers will face from a Technology point of view in India?

Retailers believe technology is a quick fix solution to all problems. Whereas in reality technology is just an enabler. Therefore the first challenge is that the current organisation structure and strategy does not enable effective deployment and use of technology. Also, there is an assumption that tech shift will happen in the future, whereas in reality the shift has already started happening and we all are in the midst of it. Hence the second challenge is speed and agility in adapting to technological change. Furthermore, technology is usually expensive to deploy and even more expensive to change. Hence, the third challenge is choosing the right technology mix.

Your top 3 favourite retail technologies, which you would like to introduce in India?

Single Consumer View across all channels, personalised and adaptive communications whether in-store or on e-mail and Virtual trial rooms enabled both in-store and on mobile devices.