Industry News
How new-age technology based developments will reshape retail industry
Publication- The Financial Express
Edition- Online
Date- 07 June, 2019
The pace of change in the retail industry is driven by digital advancements, and what we term as intelligent retailing which includes a whole ambit of technologies like Big Data, AI, machine learning and varied solutions stemming from them. A rich experience is extremely relevant for shopping behaviour — a key factor for retailers that provides additional value and triggers new or additional purchases. Blockchain is by far the most disruptive technology that can be adapted to redefine customer experience by focussing on areas where the customer interacts with the product or service, such as to incentivise customer loyalty by employing tokens. Initially used for financial transactions, blockchain technology has grown to offer e-payments, customer relationship management, big data analytics, etc, changing the way consumers buy.
Store tech
Research indicates that consumers (even Gen Y and Gen Z) would rather shop in-store if it’s an enjoyable experience. Augmented and virtual reality technology like smart mirrors, digital dressing rooms and 3D live experience can help shoppers try products quickly. Experts have predicted that by 2020, the retail industry is slated to be the top spending industry on AR and VR, making the traditional purchasing experience easier, secure and enjoyable. Surprisingly, it is slowly being also adopted by small and medium businesses.
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Razorpay Launches Digital Payment Support for 100 Currencies
Publication- BS Disrupt
Edition- Online
Date- 07 June, 2019
Razor pay announced that it now supports 100 currencies for international digital payments - including all popular currencies such as U.S. Dollar (USD), European Dollar (EUR), British Pound (GBP), Arab Emirates Dirham (AED) and Singapore Dollar (SGD). With this offering, the company aims to open new growth avenues for the MSME segment, by enabling them to accept payments from other countries according to a statement.
Established in 2014, the company provides tech payment solutions to over 200,000 businesses. Founded by alumni of IIT Roorkee, Shashank Kumar & Harshil Mathur. For the longest time, businesses in India have been losing out on potential customers and partner businesses due to the inability to accept payments from other countries. However, the past few years have witnessed a range of changes in global trade paradigms, unveiling new emerging markets and channels for global business expansion. During April-February 2018-19, the Indian goods exports grew by 8.85 per cent to $298.47 billion. This depicts how the cross border e-commerce will only see an upward spike through the next five years. Enabling businesses with support for international transactions will play a key role.
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Google Pay top choice among UPI platforms: Report
Publication- Money Control
Edition- Online
Date- 07 June, 2019
Google Pay has swept past other unified payments interfaces (UPI) in India, clocking over 240 million transactions worth Rs 55,000 crore in May 2019, as per a report in the Economic Times. The tech giant digital wallet and payments platform topped Flipkart-owned PhonePe’s 230 million, which was worth Rs 44,000 crore, Paytm’s 200 million transactions worth Rs 38,000 crore, and Bharat Interface for Money’s (BHIM) 15.7 million transactions, the paper noted.
The report noted that these four platforms account for more than 93 percent of the total UPI market. However, the government promoted BHIM has consistently lost market share, contributing to merely two percent of the pie, down from seven percent in 2018 and 42 percent in 2017, it added. As per National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) data, UPI payment transactions in May declined to 733.54 million across platforms, lower than the April numbers of 781.79 million transactions.
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DHFL Crisis: With mutual funds on wait-and-watch for payments, will SEBI step in?
Publication- Money Control
Edition- Online
Date- 07 June, 2019
The mutual fund (MF) industry is on wait-and-watch mode regarding Dewan Housing Finance Ltd (DHFL) as they await interest payment on bonds which were due on June 04. A few fund houses said they would wait, but others are sceptical about DHFL’s capability to make the interest payment even after the seven-day grace period. "DHFL has asked for seven days grace period and we have no option but to wait for the payment," said a fixed income manager from a private fund house on condition of anonymity, adding that they suspect the company may be unable to do so.
DHFL owed Rs 960 crore to mutual funds as interest payment towards its bonds. However, on June 04, the housing finance company missed its deadline to make Rs 1,150 crore payment to all bondholders and informed investors, that the payment would be done within seven days.
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