SHOPPER'S STOP : 'We are exploring convergence technologies to reach our customers more effectively, on terms defined by them'

The Raheja Group promoted Shopper's Stop is India's largest departmental
store chain having a net turnover of around Rs 9,000 mn. With twenty-two stores
in more than eleven cities, Shopper's Stop houses many international and
domestic brands under a single roof. Automation and inventory management of a
chain of stores the size of Shopper's Stop has not been a cakewalk for CIOs. But
Arun Gupta, customer care associate & CTO, Shopper's Stop is a great master of
technology. Since he joined, in March 2007, he has blended ICT and business like
never before, and he now aims at connecting all its stores in various cities
wirelessly by March 2008. He shares his views with VOICE&DATA about the
company's plans and technologies that can redefine the shopping experience of
customers, making sure that shoppers never stop. Excerpts:

Any major expansion plans for the future?

Over the next three years, we have significant expansion plans across different
formats. We see ourselves evolving as a multi-channel retailer of choice for the
Indian consumer who loves experiential shopping and demands the best of products
and service.

Arun O Gupta, customer care associate & CTO, Shopper's Stop

You are looking at expansion plans. What are your investment plans in IT
in the next couple of years?

The IT infrastructure plays a key role in the deployment and use of IT
within our company. However, an IT infrastructure without the enabling
applications is of no value. Our investments in the next 2-3 years focus on
ensuring that we are able to meet the expansion and growth of our business. At
the same time, we continue to explore opportunities to reduce our operational
expenses. This achieved with a mix of hardware renewal and use of technologies
like virtualization.

What are some of the recent technologies deployed within the organization
and what technologies are in the pipeline?

Implementation of new and advance technologies has been the key strategy for
us. We always deploy the best technologies available to use. We use a mix of
technologies and systems comprising JDA suite of applications for our retail
business; Oracle Financials for financial accounting; Business Objects for
reporting; SharePoint portal for internal and external collaboration; and
Microsoft Exchange and Communication Server for messaging. We also use blade
servers and multi-core servers with VMWare for application deployment, NetApps'
SAN and NAS technologies for storage consolidation and virtualization, and Wi-Fi
networks in our offices, stores and distribution centers for operational
activities with Symbol wireless scanners.

In the future, too, we will be using the most efficient technology, and we
are in the process of implementing various solutions like PeopleSoft HRMS,
business intelligence solutions, e-learning solutions, customer feedback systems
and mobile point-of-sale systems. There are some technologies on the evaluation
stages and we would want to deploy. The evaluation for the same is going on for
technologies like promotions and markdown optimization systems, CRM systems,
analytical solutions, RFID-based solutions, mobile applications, and archival
and retrieval solutions.

You follow best practices when it comes to security. What are your data
security measures?

Security is managed with a mix of technology and process/policy. We have
deployed technology solutions to address the perimeter and internal security,
and we continue to engage with users to highlight the awareness of good
practices, which result in information protection. In a connected enterprise
spread across multiple locations, security concerns will always exist. Moreover,
an enterprise like us, where the customer is the focus, security becomes very
critical. Therefore, we follow the best practices when it comes to security.
Regarding management of IT risks, the first step is recognition and acceptance
of the risk. We have defined criteria and teams responsible for monitoring key
performance indicators.

How do you align technology deployment with your business goals?

All the IT and telecom that we use is influenced by business requirements.
No technology solution is adopted unless it has a direct correlation to our
customers, employees or statutory compliance. Our business colleagues
participate in every engagement and are part of the decision for every piece of
technology we deploy. The exception to this is the decisions on basic computing
and telecom infrastructure is where the technology team scans for available
solutions and takes a decision.

All our IT and telecom investments are linked with each other. All
investments in IT are decided with our business teams. This ensures that we do
not hit any roadblocks when deciding on our budgets. This includes telecom
investments too on voice and data infrastructure.

As a retail chain, reliability on ERP becomes vital. What are you looking
for in such implementations?

Alignment of business processes and capabilities of the system are the
primary decision criteria. If the system leaves open many manual processes, the
ERP will not deliver to expectations. Thus, system mapping to existing and
expected needs is a key step toward success. The seamless functioning of the
system in terms of uptime and performance are basic hygiene factors.

What is your organization's outsourcing strategy?

We outsource most of the operational activities, including facilities
management and hardware maintenance, network, server and application
administration and monitoring application development and sustenance.

How can convergence play a key role in attaining customer satisfaction and
profitability for a retail chain like yours?

We are exploring convergence technologies on how we can reach out to our
customers more effectively at terms defined by the customer. Communication
technologies, as they evolve, can influence the way we interact with our
customers in the long term by connecting with them on demand and assisting them
in their shopping experience enabled by our multi-channel storefronts.

What new technologies and value added services can a country like India
expect?

Web 2.0, RFID, converged communication, NFC (near field communications), and
mobile applications are a few technologies that would further revolutionize IT
in India. We intend to implement these technologies as and when they are
required.

As I earlier mentioned, all technologies hold promise and retail
organizations are watching them closely. Although some are already in
experimental stages, we would implement them as they become successful and ready
for deployment.

Ruchi Phadke

ruchip@cybermedia.co.in