The seminars at Apparel Sourcing Week are shaping up well; I am really happy to see the names confirmed in the session schedule. This particularly gives me happiness as seminar forums are not attracting the type of interest they should in recent times, and do not have the right mix of speakers/ panellists that is expected. This is also one of the reasons behind the dwindling interest seen for such platforms.At many seminars, we see that the organisers struggle to get an audience that is genuinely interested in the discussions underway, and conference rooms/halls have to be filled with either people from the organisers’ team and sponsors or by students. But why…?
It would be wrong to assume that the industry is no longer interested in such platforms; in fact, a good meaningful discussion always has takers. At many fairs, we see industry players standing in groups and discussing in earnest…, believe me! They do not talk personal things, but like to talk about industry issues and share successes and failures.
I have been part of many such groups and thoroughly enjoyed the debates and often heated discussions with many new perspectives cropping up, that have over the years shaped many editorials and stories for Apparel Online.
So, what keeps the industry players away from knowledge platforms… Afterall knowledge platforms are meant to share ideas, debate on issues apart from putting forth directions.
After attending a number of them, I have come to the conclusion that the theme and thought process behind many such platforms is not well-defined. Of course, putting together a meaningful group of people is always a challenge and compromises have to be made to fill chairs.
We have had our share of disappointments, but the years of networking and creating a credible image in the industry of not compromising on content quality has supported our efforts to bring in many big names on to the seminar sessions.
One may argue that retail is not our forte, but as we move deeper into the industry, we realise that it is not that different!
The retailer is the buyer, and the manufacturer is always making efforts to meet the requirements of the retailer/brand, which in turn is driven by the consumer. How different is that from global retail business?
What is different is the fact that Indian retail is still in the evolving stage, while retail in the West has moved on to the next platform. But the reality is also that Indian retail is moving very fast and the big players are positioned to come at par with global players.
And I am not talking only about store numbers, but also the mindset and aggressiveness towards investing in the best of technologies to manage retail. There is clarity of vision, which makes the environment even more exciting.
An interesting dimension, of course, is the fact that many of our friends from the apparel buying side are now well positioned in Indian retail. They not only bring professionalism to the table, but also a synergy of market trends supporting the maturing thought process of the Indian retail industry.
All these thoughts and much more are under discussion at the 6 seminars planned for Apparel Sourcing Week and each will have industry experts discuss and debate new and emerging trends that are shaping Indian retail from sourcing to technology.
