Godrej & Boyce Manufacturing (G&B), a partner in India's space missions, has begun a digital transformation process across its different group firms with the goal of providing a consumer-centric emphasis and facilitating cross-selling.
G&B executive director Nyrika Holkar, who leads digital strategy for the group, states that from the viewpoint of the 124-year old group, which has undergone several transformations over the decades, the current change brought about by digital acceleration and transformation in consumer behaviour have unearthed several opportunities.
“We want to be an insights-driven organisation and for that we need to deeply understand the customer journey and how we can leverage insights across our diverse businesses. We want these data-led insights to guide our business decisions,” says Holkar, a qualified solicitor, who is the fourth-generation member of the Godrej family.
Holkar said G&B wants to continue exploring synergies from a design thinking perspective so that it can provide a superior customer experience across its multiple consumer businesses like appliances, furniture & interiors and security which directly serve 100 million consumers. These businesses are leveraging digital to enhance reach by complementing their physical retail presence with a strong online presence through owned e-commerce as well as aggregator sites. Holkar believes that digital commerce will be a critical driver for future growth and not just another channel.
“Even though sales on the Godrej Interio e-commerce portals increased by 40 percent during the pandemic, we want to set an even bolder revenue target for direct-to-customer. We believe this target can be achieved by curating personalised experiences and offering differentiated services. The furniture business has an ambitious target of growing its digital commerce 5x over the next 3 years,” says Holkar.
Poorav Sheth, chief digital officer, G&B Group says, “It is essential to draw synergies to manage customer experiences and their expectations, which is the essence of having a common platform. Take for example, at our storage solutions business, if a customer says they want to build a warehouse, can we not share that lead with our forklift division, because ultimately, these are all in the same industry. A common platform can help you to cross-sell rather than work in silos. Godrej Material Handling business has recently introduced a fleet management system that provides customers with live data and preliminary analysis of operations to efficiently manage their assets, ensure their security and also monitor equipment health. So, you have a common platform that solves multiple challenges for the customer leading to more efficiency.”
The digital transformation interventions are likely to bring about a behavioural transformation in people. While the Group would look at bringing in niche, skilled talent for its central digital team, from consulting/technology backgrounds, there is also a goal to create digital champions through upskilling initiatives who will act as change agents for the digital transformation within the Group.
