5-day Retail Week at UST Global draws to a close

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, The Hindu Business Line, December 03, 2010 - The five-day annual Retail Week conducted by IT services and solutions major UST Global concluded here on Friday. This year's event was organised across multiple locations in the established and emerging IT hubs of Thiruvananthapuram, Chennai and Kochi, a company spokesperson announced here. CENTRAL THEME UST Global has a number of Fortune 500/Global 1000 companies on its client list, including several majors in the retail sector. This year, the event had a central theme of 'innovation', with individual sub-themes governing each day. The theme for the inaugural day was store operations, while the respective themes for subsequent days were warehouse management, customer experience, supply chain management and point-of-sale. Retail Week was conceptualised in 2009, with the aim of driving thought leadership in information technology for retail businesses, the spokesperson said. In accordance with the 'retail' premise, contests were organised for whitepaper presentation, product development and quiz, in addition to guest lectures by industry experts on how technology affects the business. STEADILY EXPANDING "The natural dynamics of the organised retail industry makes it a steadily expanding area of business," said Mr Alexander Verghese, Country Head and Vice-President (Corporate Services) of UST Global. Typically, it depends on a widespread customer base, and has a very democratic way of measuring success. So this makes the retail vertical a secure bet for long term IT investment, he added. Mr K. Radhakrishnan, President, Future Fresh Foods, the fresh produce arm of the Future Group, delivered the keynote address at the event, predicting that food and fashion are the high growth sectors within the retail industry. He also said that innovation and continuous improvement are different in nature and acknowledged that UST Global has the capability to make a difference for the customer with their innovations. RETAIL VERTICAL The event is intended as a platform for showcasing the potential of IT in the retail vertical, and also to share industry experiences and facilitate discussions on the evolving future of technology in the retail space.

Source: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2010/12/04/stories/2010120451301900.htm