Retail Offshoring in India: Key Insights

Traditionally, companies have looked at India to outsource/offshore their front and back-office operations. However, they are now also offshoring activities such as merchandise planning, training, supply chain & loyalty program management, store administration, and customer analytics, which form a significant part of a retail company’s ambit.

Industry Trends:

• Expanding Scope: Beyond front and back-office operations, retailers are offshoring merchandise planning, training, supply chain & loyalty program management, store administration, and customer analytics.
  

• Significant Growth: The retail boom has attracted more global retail giants to India, creating opportunities beyond traditional IT & HR processes.
  

Statistics:

• GCC Presence: India hosts GCCs of ~25% of global Retail/CPG companies, employing over 50,000 people.
  

• Rapid Growth: Over 50% of Retail/CPG GCCs have been set up in the last 7 years.
  

• Strategic Drivers: Retail/CPG GCCs drive innovation and build new capabilities in digital and core functions.
  

Strategic Partnerships:

• Niche Initiatives and Scale: Leveraging strategic partnerships for specialized initiatives and scalability.
  

• Talent Ecosystem: Establishing new GCCs to tap into mature talent and global operating models.
  

Key Benefits:

• Collaborative Teams: Building distributed teams leveraging global talent and new business capabilities.
  

• Investment in Digital: Significant investments in digital, data analytics, and automation/RPA.
  

• Core Functions: Supporting merchandising, supply chain, store operations, and marketing from India.
  

• Global Leadership: Leading strategic transformation initiatives such as digital from GCCs.
  

Operational Models:

• Hybrid Models: Collaborating with service providers and contractors, managed by GCCs.
  

• Employee Growth: Robust growth and retention programs to develop enterprise talent.
  

Future Outlook:

• Investments: Significant investments in digital and enterprise transformation.
  

• Strategic Impact: Retail/CPG GCCs are positioned to drive value and impact through depth and maturity in core retail functions.