IIM Ahmedabad & Snapdeal to collaborate on Retail Tech Research
New Delhi: The Indian Institute of Management – Ahmedabad (IIMA), India’s premier management school and Snapdeal, India’s leading value-focused e-commerce marketplace have signed an MoU to collaborate on research issues related to retail technology.
The Centre for Digital Transformation (CDT) at IIM-A is leading this academia-industry collaboration. As IIM-A’s centre of excellence, CDT focuses on activities that enhance an understanding of the digital ecosystem and leverages its expertise in research and development of strategy.
Snapdeal will join CDT as part of its Retail Tech Consortium that will undertake nationwide retail surveys, development of case studies, conduct of field experiments and research studies, retail tech webinars, conferences and more.
One of the initiatives being undertaken by the consortium is a nationwide survey about the effect of online shopping on consumers. The research will cover more than 30,000 consumers across the country and will help ecosystem participants, academia and policymakers arrive at an updated understanding in this regard.
Snapdeal, which draws more than 80% of its users beyond the metro cities and focuses only on the value segment is well-positioned to enable access to consumer insights from amongst India’s large and growing value-conscious buyers.
Outlining the need for the collaboration, Professor Pankaj Setia, The IIMA Chair Professor and Founding Chairperson of the Centre for Digital Transformation at IIMA said, “Digitization of retail is happening very fast in India and poses many challenges and opportunities, both for online retailers as well as traditional retailers. Digital technologies are being intertwined with retail processes, opening newer avenues for retailers of all types. Through the Retail Tech consortium, we are taking a deeper look at this changing landscape and presenting solutions that enhance the overall well-being of society. We are looking forward to working with Snapdeal to enable our endeavors.”
Commenting on the collaboration, Rajnish Wahi, Senior Vice President at Snapdeal said, “Retail Tech is at the heart of creating a new, contemporary and future-ready retail ecosystem for India – one that builds upon the existing strengths of India’s diverse and vibrant retail sector. With our acute understanding of value commerce and our close linkages with Bharat, we look forward to adding value to this important initiative of IIM-A.”
The Centre for Digital Transformation at IIMA has been set up to help businesses understand and leverage the all-embracing implications of the new digital revolution. The Centre focuses on producing inter disciplinary research on new and emerging technologies and their impact on innovation and business management for the next few decades. The Centre has also set up an advisory Council on Responsible Digital Transformation that will help develop best practices and guidelines designed to benefit all stakeholders and achieve broader goals.