When the Covid waves hit the Indian shores, life had come to a screeching halt, and after the ravager receded, life limped back to normalcy. A lot had changed between the two, but one fundamental aspect changed forever: it’s the way we shop.

With India set to have more than 1.5 Bn smartphone users and over 1.2 Bn people going online, a brand without an omnichannel strategy that offers a seamless experience across physical and virtual channels looks outdated, if not incompetent.

The dynamics are influenced by a surge in consumer spending, driven by rising incomes, a young and energetic workforce, and rapid urbanisation. The figures speak for themselves. India’s consumer spending is likely to surge by 46%, taking the $2.4 Tn consumer economy to $4.3 Tn by 2030, when it will be the second-largest market in the world. But as convenience, personalisation, and authenticity become non-negotiables, India’s D2C brands face an entirely new challenge: how to deliver faster, smarter, and consistently across channels.

Inc42 and Vinculum Group came together for the Delhi NCR edition of their ongoing roundtable series, Building The Next Consumer Engine. The discussion brought together leaders from some of India’s most innovative consumer brands to explore the forces shaping tomorrow’s commerce landscape — from customer expectations and fulfilment strategies to data intelligence and AI-led personalisation.

The session, moderated by Commercify360 founder and CEO Renu Bisht, explored the core theme: How Brands Are Adapting For ‘Now Consumers’ In The Omnichannel Age.

The speakers included:

• Varun Sachdeva, head of ecommerce at boAt
• Prerna Kalra, cofounder of Daalchini
• Ruhani Aggarwal, cofounder and CBO of INCLUD
• Anuj Nevatia, cofounder and director at Bacca Bucci
• Manish Modi, CPO of Hair Originals
• Himanshu Mehta, head of D2C and marketing at Lifelong
• Divij Bajaj, founder of Power Gummies
• Ashwarya Garg, cofounder of HYPD
• Venkat Nott, founder and CEO of........
  

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