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Indian Retail Market Is A $100 Million Opportunity For Us: Samson Khaou, Dassault Systemes
A lot of technology has been acquired by the retailers for a specific purpose and to enable the team to work in a silo. The companies here know where to go but don’t know how to reach there.
Dassault Systemes, the French 3D Experience company, which is helping retail companies in India to go digital, is hopeful to gain market share here with its recent acquisition of Centric Software. Globally, the company provides solutions such as PLM, visual merchandising tools and solutions to create new consumer experiences, to more than 17,000 fashion, apparel, footwear, and luxury companies.In a chat with ETRetail's Varun Jain, Samson Khaou, managing director, Dassault Systemes talks about the challenges it faces in the country, the clients they work with and the opportunities here. Edited excerpts:
Which all retailers in India are you working with?
We have been working with fashion retailers like Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail, Madura Fashion & Lifestyle, Myntra, Mohan Clothing, Blackberrys, Max Fashion and Arvind Lifestyle apart from others, in the country.
How do you help these retailers?
We have been supporting the retailers in the Indian market for the last five years. We are supporting them in the PLM (Product Lifecycle Management) space, to manage their collection and are supporting them in their go to market. This (fashion retail) is a time to market, and you have to structure your collection in order to meet the timeline of the seasonal launch. We have learned a lot from this market as to how to adapt our product. We are also very fortunate to be associated with Simbus, our local partner here, and leveraging their industry knowledge and our industry solutions portfolio to help the retailers in India.
How big is the Indian retail market for Dassault Systemes?
If we look at the total market size, the addressable retail market for us is around $50-$100 million investment. When we were focussed only on mid to big retailers, the market size for us was around $50 million in India. But with Centric Software, a digital transformation company in which we have recently acquired a majority stake, we can now reach to small retailers as well and that has made it a $100 million market for us. The calculation is based on what our technology offers in PLM, manufacturing, design and store management space. When you look at all the solutions and technology that we have to support the retailers, we came to the conclusion that the addressable market is worth $100 million.
What challenges did the company face while acquiring new retail customers in India?
When we approached big retailers in India we understood that digitization was their priority. They wanted to have all their records, information, and communication on the digital platform. At the same time we acknowledged that while they have this common vision and goal to save costs and minimise the time to market with the digital journey, the adoption was yet to be done. The companies still have a lot of practice which is paper-based. A lot of their supply chain is not yet digitally connected. A lot of technology has been acquired by the retailers for a specific purpose and to enable the team to work in a silo. The companies here know where to go but don’t know how to reach there. And this is the major challenge we face.
How much will you invest in the Indian market?
Our product is our R&D and our R&D is global. So this is something we cannot factor in when we talk only about the Indian market. Our investment is really to support our local partner Simbus to sell. The reason is we would like to be efficient and effective to address this market, minimising the investment on our end and enabling our local partner to understand our technology and sell it further. Apart from that, we will make investments around simulation, material science, and manufacturing chain.
What percentage of your revenue comes from retail space globally?
Globally, the revenue and the footprint that we have within the retail market is less than 5 percent but we believe the potential for retail sector contributing more is high.
Source: ETRetail.com
