Kanmo group explores latest tech trends to revolutionise shopping experience

They position themselves as an omnichannel operator serving tens of thousands of customers every month.

Kanmo Group, a major player in the retail industry in Indonesia, is one example of a business enterprise that keeps pace with the rapidly transforming digital era.

Confronted with the challenge of consumers increasingly shifting to online shopping and demanding personalised experiences, Kanmo resorts to exploring existing technology trends to redefine their customers’ shopping experience.

Rajesh Grover, group vice president for digital and omnichannel at Kanmo Group, told Retail Asia that since several key technology trends are reshaping the industry, retailers worldwide are investing heavily in enhancing their online presence, optimising their websites for mobile devices, and creating seamless shopping experiences.

“In addition, retailers are turning to artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to gain a competitive edge. These technologies are used to predict trends, optimise inventory management, and enhance the customer experience,” said Grover.

Recognising the importance of these trends, Kanmo Group continues to strive to improve its digital offerings, including a fully integrated omnichannel experience.

Role of mobile technology

Mobile technology plays a key role in Kanmo Group’s retail engagement strategy. It provides benefits such as convenience, personalisation, and exclusive discounts to customers, whilst also offering increased sales, valuable customer data, enhanced loyalty, operational efficiency, and a competitive advantage for the company.

Kanmo Group relies on mobile apps and online platforms to interact with buyers and boost sales. “With customers spending a significant amount of time on their phones, these apps offer personalised communication and engagement opportunities, enhancing the overall shopping experience,” said Grover.

Despite the many benefits of digitalisation, new challenges arise for consumers, particularly when the abundance of choices in the digital market can lead to decision fatigue and difficulty in distinguishing between trustworthy and biased information.

Digital channels sometimes fall short in providing effective customer support, emphasising the importance of a seamless omnichannel experience, Grover stressed.

Holistic approach

To succeed in omnichannel implementation, the Kanmo Group executive emphasised that the entire group must think omnichannel and become omnichannel. This involves omnichannel inventory management, marketing, operations, customer support, and more.

The use of analytics and data is crucial for personalising marketing and promotions, integrating inventory management systems, customer relationship management (CRM) software, and unified commerce platforms.

Grover added that they use data analytics to understand customer preferences and behaviour, allowing them to improve processes across various channels where AI-based chatbots play a crucial role.

Customers expect a seamless journey across all touchpoints, and this challenge is amplified when serving a diverse group of customers from Gen X to Gen Z. Kanmo Group has addressed these challenges by building a fully integrated omnichannel journey, but they continue to experiment with new technologies to further enhance the customer experience.

Grover also acknowledged that fast delivery is an increasing customer expectation. To meet this demand, many retailers are automating various aspects of the supply chain, from order fulfilment to last-mile delivery.

Kanmo Group has invested in automation technology to offer same-day, next-day, and even instant delivery to customers whilst improving efficiency and reducing logistics costs.

However, he emphasised that efficient inventory management is crucial to ensure products are always available to customers. Kanmo Group achieves this through an integrated system that tracks inventory in real time, ensuring customers get the products they want.

Looking ahead

Kanmo Group will be speaking at the E-commerce Expo Asia as part of Tech Week Singapore on 11-12 October to discuss the future of e-commerce and exchange views with retail tech players.

“We are particularly interested in exploring the deeper use of Average Precision (AP) and Machine Learning capabilities to provide more accurate and personalised product recommendations, optimise pricing strategies, and enhance customer service and experience,” said Grover.

“This includes prioritising strong data privacy and security measures to protect customer information in an increasingly digital retail landscape,” he added.

Additionally, he will be one of the speakers at the Retail Asia Summit 2023 at the Furama City Centre in Singapore on 16 November. There, his talk will focus on the theme of social commerce, which is currently in the spotlight, especially in Indonesia.