Retail Insights is a boutique company that shelves point solutions; aims to engage, resolve and support day to day challenges of their customers. With a strong domain expertise in Retail as a backbone and handpicked technology leaders, they make a wonderful team driving next generation retail solutions. It was launched in August 2014 by Mr. Vishnu Gullipalli & Mr. Faizal Hassan.
About the founders:
Vishnu Gullipalli is re-imagining retail; enabling a whole new superior quality of solutions and services to build a solid foundation for the next-gen Retail Industry. Vishnu an MBA grad from Ohio University holds business and tech knowledge and brings in exceptional strategic capabilities and retail expertise in developing purpose-led brands/retailers towards digital innovation. His rich retail experience of 15+ years across the globe on Omnichannel and Digital Transformation Programs with companies like TESCO, Harman, Happiest Minds, Hyvee, Clarks UK, Asda, As Watson has brought sustainable growth and value in the way retail is transforming in the present to create a better future.
Faizal Hassan – Co-Founder, COO: A detail-oriented retail expert and technocrat; count on him to implement any solutions to overcome your challenges. A people person, who listens and visualizes information, explore the exceptions to understand the issues with a problem-solving approach, challenges on the outcome and is a convergent thinker.
Q.: What is the problem you are trying to solve?
Ans: Omni Channel and Digital Retailing: Enabling Omni Commerce, Unified HO Applications and Automation.
Q.: Tell us about the Product / Solution.
Ans: Retail Insights team has experience in implementation in more than 90+ plus Omni Channel Transformation projects. Mostly end to end implementation on various platforms and products that are available. (Solution partners for Adobe (Magento) and Salesforce). Nasscom and RAI registered.
Q.: What is your USP?
Ans: One stop solution of Retail + Technology:
- Omni (All) Channel Commerce – How do we provide the connected customer experience from different channels (e-com/retail/supplier)
- Digital Consumer Experience – Proactive and reactive communication, allows personalized, contextual customer engagement.
- Order Management – Lack of visibility in inventory and orders coming from different channels (e-com/retail/wholesale).
- Last Mile Delivery – last mile problems
Q.: What were your assumptions when you entered the market, leanings that you have?
Ans: Our target segment is very clear, 100% revenue comes from Brand and Retail.
Q.: What has been your biggest failure as an entrepreneur and what did you learn from it??
Ans: People dependency, attrition. We corrected the internal structure and technical university.
Q.: How are you pricing the Product? Explain your thought process.
Ans: Our pricing is based on the tailor-made solution. The value based pricing is the real differentiation. People like us for the personalized approach.
Q.: How did you get your first customer?
Ans: Cold calling, we learned a very hard way.
Q.: Is there any interesting success story? If yes, please write about it.
Ans: We have partnered with the leading jewellery chain in small way, slowing we have become the strategic partners and later on we have become the equity partners as well. this clearly shows the way we get integrated to the work we do and partners and employees see the value.
Q.: What is the big picture of your startup?
Ans: We are 85 member team, with a flat structure.
Q.: What is the insight that you have about this market, which no one else has? Ans: 100% retail technology. Personalized attention to our clients. Value based pricing.
Q.: Who do You Perceive as Your Competition? How do you differentiate yourself with them?
Ans: Compete with large IT services, people on the ground hardly understand the business problems and ground reality. We understand our domain + technology + accelerators we built over the years, where the customer can able to see tangible solution before we freeze the solution scope rather than long SDLC process where the competition takes longer toute.
Q.: What would be your goal to accomplish in the next six months?
Ans: New Market Entries. Digital Solutions. Niche partner on boarding.
Q.: What message do you want to convey to fellow entrepreneurs?
Ans: Hard work never fails…never be over confident. Always be a challenger mindset.
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Thanks Vishnu. All the best!