Chennai retailers flag technology and brand building as long-term growth levers
At the Chennai Retail Summit, leaders from Nalli Silk Sarees, Nuts and Spices and Naturals Salon said omnichannel capability, customer-focused innovation, cultural relevance and succession planning are central to scaling legacy retail businesses.
What happened
Retailers Association of India (RAI) · Chennai retailers at the Retail Summit said technology, omnichannel price comparison, brand building, cultural values and
Key facts
- Chennai Retail Summit 2026
- 87-year-old founder
Why this matters
Potential partnership or acquisition targets should be assessed for omnichannel maturity, distinctive cultural positioning and leadership continuity alongside their current financial performance.
What to watch
- Growth in loyalty-member sales and cross-channel repeat purchases at regional retail chains.
- Expansion of click-and-collect, endless-aisle ordering and ship-from-store capabilities.
- Leadership succession announcements that elevate digitally native family members or external operating talent.
- Rising customer acquisition costs that make first-party data and retention programs more valuable.
- Consolidation or private-equity investment in heritage retail, beauty, apparel and specialty-food chains.
- Prioritize a unified customer, loyalty and inventory data layer before adding consumer-facing apps.
- Use heritage and local cultural relevance as differentiated content and merchandising assets, not only as brand storytelling.
- Create succession plans with explicit digital, merchandising and governance roles for next-generation leaders.
- Measure omnichannel investments against repeat rate, inventory turns, assisted-conversion rate and customer lifetime value rather than online sales alone.
- Partner selectively for technology and fulfillment to avoid building costly non-core capabilities in-house.