Page 5 - The 10 Most Pominent Retail startups in 2019

The retail industry has a long legacy in India. In olden times, markets and fairs used to get set up over weekends
and holidays. These were the primary source of entertainment for villagers, but slowly they became the hub for
transactions of goods where people used to exchange and buy things they needed. As the country developed, a
more common form of retail business came into existence. Most of the retail business started happening through
convenience stores, also known as mom and pop stores, or neighborhood stores.
The retail market is growing at quite a fast pace in India. With a population of over 1 billion people, India is a
highly attractive market for domestic and global retail players. The total retail market in India is estimated to
be around $780 billion, which accounts for 10% of the country’s GDP. Out of this, 90% is unorganized retail
business and around 10% is organized. Kirana stores form the major chunk of unorganized retail market. These
shops dominate the Indian retail market, as most Indian consumers still prefer to go to the nearby neighborhood
shops to buy daily groceries and consumable items. However, with the growth of e-commerce, fast free deliveries
and organized retailers, this is starting to change rapidly. This is further confirmed by the projected growth rates.
While Unorganized Retail market is expected to grow at just about 11%, the organized retail market is far ahead
with expected growth rate of 19%.
It is clear to retailers that will have to adopt latest technologies to stay competitive. Sensors and cameras are now
being used to provide hassle free shopping experience to consumers. Amazon has launched a chain of convenience
stores called Amazon Go in select cities where feedback from cameras and sensors is integrated with technologies
like Computer vision and Deep learning. This combination of cutting edge hardware and algorithms allows users
to simply pick an item and leave the store – no need to pay at the counter, no facial recognition required, no
product scan required. This technology is not only automating the purchase process, but it is also providing very
important data to Amazon that forms the basis of further intelligent solutions. For instance, the cameras installed
in the Amazon Go stores not only capture what the users are picking, but they also store information about
products which were picked up by the user, but were placed back on the shelf.
Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning, Robotics and Internet of Things (IoT) are pushing retail and
commerce into the next phase of the connected experience. The result would be superior customer service, easier
and safer shopping experience, lower costs, better inventory and logistics management, and a lot more exciting
innovation in retail.

Swiftnlift brings you “the 10 Most Prominent Retail Startups In 2019 ” A distinguished panel of the industry’s
topmost CIOs, CEOs, VCs and industry experts including Swiftnlift’s editorial board has scrutinized the list of
companies in different business touch points. The list intends to help Retail Startups to address the current market
challenges and businesses to enhance their digital user experience.

Pallavi Sabe

Pallavi Sabe
Editor-in-chief