INTERVIEW
DISRUPTING THE DISRUPTORS “Learning never stops. Flexibility, agility, resilience, adaptability, and effective collaboration are essential to meet the challenges of doing business during a period of significant disruption. Digitalization of supply chain supports these requirements. Understanding the supply chain vulnerabilities that emerged during lockdown plays an important role in helping us prepare for the future shocks, including a potential second wave of Covid-19,” shares Aniruddha Banerjee, Sr. Vice President – Supply Chain, Spencer’s Retail Ltd. & Nature’s Basket Ltd., during an exclusive interview…
How was the year 2020 for Spencer’s Retail? What innovative idea made its way to reach consumers? Evolution and change are the only constant – a philosophy that was exemplified during the pandemic, made companies to think differently. Retail sectors (both food and non-food) having Omni-channel presence had to evolve and so did Spencer’s as an organization. Curbing the primitive thought processes and harping on the old normal of scheduling, planning, and forecasting, Spencer’s took initiatives that were not only nimble and flexible but also involved a lot of dynamism. Every function in the organization played their own part in developing newer and leaner ways of achieving objectives. Right from customer feedback-based forecasting algorithm to capacity planning based on sale outlier normalization to developing robust mechanisms for inventory load balancing, and planned increase of
10 CELERITY May - June 2021
DC throughput, Spencer’s has done it all. The approach was simple yet efficient. Everything evolved from the vision – Makes fine living affordable and convenient. Keeping customer at the helm, Spencer’s as an organization has treated each business case with equal importance, and the results are encouraging. Spencer’s hopes to be always with their customer.
How has FMCG sector been performing over the years? The main trends for this sector have been growing awareness, easier access and changing lifestyles of millennials. The sector's primary growth drivers have been rising wages and increasing youth populations. Also, brand recognition has helped demand. Demand for quality products and services in rural areas is on an upward trajectory on the back of increased manufacturing and FMCG distribution networks. The increasing
Aniruddha Banerjee is leading the supply chain effort for Spencer’s Retail & Nature’s Basket with key focus on enhancing operational efficiencies and scale to accelerate profitable growth. Aniruddha’s expertise lies in driving large scale analytics & technology-driven disruptive initiatives aimed at sustainable, tangible improvements across the supply chain. After finishing his Graduation from University of Calcutta and M.Com. from Annamalai University, he has pursued Post Graduation in Sales & Marketing. He has completed an MDP in Strategic Management while working with Tata in a joint programme with IIM-Ahmedabad. Recently he has done his Post Graduation in Digital Marketing from DMI Ireland – NIIT, to keep pace with the fast changing digital & analytics field.
youth population, especially in urban regions, is another major factor driving the need and demand for food services in India. India has a large base of young consumers who make up majority of the workforce, and hardly get time for cooking because of time constraints. Growing internet penetration and increasing digital maturity in India, along with infrastructure growth, have helped improve online transactions. Around 72% of Indian customers are most likely to shop online for premium items locally. FMCG companies are launching products online before making them available in traditional retail stores with e-commerce sales recording 56% growth in the first quarter of 2020 and 38% increase in June 2020. Because of the direct cash transfer system, disposable income has increased in rural India. Another rising category is exports. By 2030, the e-commerce segment is projected to contribute 11% to total FMCG revenue. Stock availability
