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Today, consumer brands are navigating a high-stakes market unlike any before. As the bar rises, they must deliver top-tier products and quickly create personalised experiences, effortlessly integrated across channels. With the direct-to-consumer (D2C) sector set to surpass the$300 Bn mark by 2030, at a 24% CAGR, new-age, retail-first brands have little room for error. They need to re-engineer their backends and rework their strategies to stay relevant and competitive.

Unsurprisingly, customer interest revolves around how well products and services work. Real-time inventory access, seamless domestic and cross-border ordering and frictionless post-purchase services are in high demand at every touchpoint. As customer expectations continue to rise, the roles of operations, logistics, tech stacks and support systems have evolved beyond routine functions. They have become integral to an organisation’s strategic success.

To explore the evolving roles of business functions, Inc42 partnered with Vinculum, a leader in omnichannel retail solutions for brands, to host a roundtable discussion titled Building The Next Consumer Engine.

Held in Bengaluru, the roundtable brought together a curated group of D2C founders and consumer brand leaders to decode how businesses are driving operational agility, unlocking growth and enhancing customer retention in a market where customer-facing innovations are only as good as the systems supporting them.

The event explored the power of AI and data analytics, reimagining post-purchase experiences and fulfilment strategies used across geographies. It also highlighted what it would take to build a resilient and future-ready consumer brand.

The roundtable was moderated by Abhijit Bharatkumar, Director, PwC India, and featured a panel of industry leaders. The participants included:

• Santosh Kumar, CBO (retail), FreshToHome
• Ankit Singhal, VP (sales) & founding team member, Shadowfax
• Aman Jha, head of operations, RentoMojo
• Vimal SV, founder & CEO, ReadyAssist
• Dikshant Dave, founder & CEO, Zigment
• Vachana Shetty, head of marketing, Akshayakalpa
• Shilpa Gupta, chief supply chain officer & head of customer experience, HomeLane
• Smitha Jacob, cofounder, Jolger
• Ravi Teja Palla, CBO, Urban Ladder
• Sai Deo, VP (strategy), Myntra
• Suresh Narasimha, chairman, Indulge Beverages
• Venkat Nott, founder & CEO, Vinculum Group

Bridging Operational Gaps With AI Integration & Fulfilment Innovations

In a fast-paced world where time comes with a value tag, 69% of Indian shoppers now prefer a 10-minute delivery, especially for grocery shopping, per an Inc42 report. It is a wake-up call for brands that still see backend systems as an afterthought, while consumers seek instant gratification. They expect nothing less than quick and seamless shopping experiences across channels, followed by equally fast deliveries.

At the Bengaluru symposium, industry experts rallied around deploying systems that could integrate inventories, orders, fulfilment and customer data. The goal? Reduce friction and drive predictability, because agility is key in the race to deliver.

Santosh Kumar from FreshToHome shared how his company applied data-driven inventory intelligence to reduce waste and improve operational efficiency.

“Over the past 18 months, we have zeroed in on improving our inventory prediction capabilities. We have used advanced algorithms to forecast what will sell, when and where, factoring in key events like festivals. By analysing three to four years of historical data and testing it across diverse locations, the company has reduced wastage by 15%,” he said.

This isn’t just about numbers; it’s about transforming data into actionable insights that minimise inefficiencies.

Zigment’s founder-CEO, Dikshant Dave, highlighted how AI could enable capabilities that were once too costly, complex, or unviable from a business perspective.

“Now we can initiate highly relevant, contextual conversations with customers — even during off-hours — right when they are most engaged with the brands. From there, we can seamlessly guide them down the sales funnel to close the deal. This level of personalisation and immediacy, fully automated from start to finish, was previously not feasible,” said Dave.

Ankit Singhal from Shadowfax spotlighted another aspect of operational efficiency that his company achieved through cutting-edge data analytics. It was about tackling the ‘return problem’, a key issue plaguing the ecommerce brands in India.

“RTOs, or returns to origin, are one of the biggest operational challenges for brands. So, we harnessed seven years of data to predict risky customers and introduced incentives for order acceptance. It helped one brand reduce RTOs by 30%,” said Singhal.

It demonstrated the power of predictive analytics and set a new standard for leveraging data to drive tangible operational improvements.

However, Shilpa Gupta of HomeLane said that transforming operations would hinge on a company’s native technology. “For instance, our in-house platform enables our customers to get real-time costing while customising designs, ensuring their vision stays within the budget. It also generates 3D rendering in minutes, a process that earlier took an entire day,” she explained.

This platform also integrates manufacturing and billing, creating a seamless, automated workflow. The outcome? First-time-right deliveries that drastically reduce errors and operational inefficiencies.

Build Or Buy? Adopting Tech With Strategic Control And Scaling Potential

According toInc42 estimates, the D2C market in India will account for 75% of the country’s $400 Bn ecommerce opportunity by 2030, fuelled by innovations and new brands entering the space. Given this momentum, modern consumer brands seek to scale fast across channels, which brings a critical question: Should they build or buy the technology required?

Industry leaders at the roundtable presented different points of view, while keeping speed and strategic control in focus.

Sai Deo, VP (strategy) at Myntra, argued that tech decisions aren’t always about speed; strategic control often plays a more crucial role.

“When we consider building in-house versus buying, especially in fashion tech, it boils down to three factors — speed, scale and strategic control,” she said. “However, if rapid scaling is the goal, or if the market solutions available now significantly outperform your current capabilities, the best route might be to partner, acquire or find a hybrid option, where you buy to learn and then build to scale.”

Deo also warned against underestimating the complexity of external integrations. Managing internal adoption, integrating external systems and leading change across teams could become “a challenge”, the Myntra leader pointed out.

Urban Ladder CBO, Ravi Teja Palla, concurred. “When we evaluate third-party vendors, it’s often a balance between short-term fixes and long-term aspirations. Quick solutions may solve immediate problems, but they can come at the cost of flexibility. If your broader goal is to integrate systems and unify stock and inventory across operations, you have to think beyond the cheapest option,” he said.

Palla also cautioned against relying too heavily on a handful of vendors to patch together solutions. “The real challenge lies in deciding whether a single technology partner can deliver scalable, integrated solutions. For small, niche requirements like an AI tool for rendering, off-the-shelf solutions might work. But when it comes to core infrastructure, your choice has to be built for long-term growth.”

However, as transaction volumes and customer touchpoints expand, partnering with the right tech provider becomes a game-changer for a brand. A trusted partner can unlock powerful data insights, enhance customer experiences and push revenue growth through efficient omnichannel management, he added.

Venkat Nott, founder & CEO of Vinculum, shared how his company enabled scale across multiple categories by building intelligence at the pin code and category levels.

“With more than 2.5 Mn shipments passing through us daily, we have built deep intelligence, right down to the pin code level, on what products are selling, at what prices and with what affinities. This allows us to launch tools like the Vinculum Loading app, giving brands geography-mapped insights. The AI layer we are adding is built on real, actionable data, not just estimates and potential.”

The Road Ahead For Consumer Brands

Recent research indicates that the digital disruption across Indian retail makes it necessary for brands to optimise order fulfilment processes and adopt unified commerce systems for operational efficiency and seamless customer experiences.

The key takeaways from this roundtable also underscored these powerful shifts, making it clear that operations, tech stack and logistics are no longer routine functions but competitive differentiators.

Today, leaders need to assess partners not only based on their current strengths but also on their capabilities to fit into the long-term growth narrative of a brand. With omnichannel retail reshaping the market, consumer journeys are becoming increasingly fragmented. Brands that seamlessly integrate data, logistics and customer experiences in real time will command deeper loyalty and a larger market share.

As Vinculum’s CEO & Founder Venkat Nott put it, brands like Pepe Jeans, Titan Eye+, Levi’s, Skechers, Westside and Fossil are already using Vinculum’s ecosystem of ecommerce services to integrate these aspects into their customer journeys.

“Now, we are layering data on top of these services to optimise everything for faster deliveries and a better customer experience,” he added.

The post From Speed To Strategy: Industry Leaders Reveal What’s Powering The Next Wave Of Consumer Brands appeared first on Inc42 Media.

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