Retail Club at ISB, a professional club driven by students hosted its annual Retail Conclave “Mercado” at the Hyderabad Campus bringing together industry experts and management students from across the country. The primary objective was to bring together various stakeholders from the retail industry for a multifaceted exploration on the future of retailing.  This year’s theme was “Changing Trends in Retail.”

The day began with the panel discussion on “Bricks and Clicks - How to prepare for a multi-front competition in the emerging economy”. The panel represented diverse industry leaders such as Himanshu Chakrawarti, CEO, The Mobile Store, Nanda Kishore Kalavacharla, Director-Consulting, Cognizant Business Consulting and Ameesha Prabhu, CEO, Trust for Retailers and Retail Associates of India (TRRAIN). The session was moderated by Professor Amit Mehra of the ISB. The panel discussed at length the future of retail in India, the emerging trends and the issues and challenges that the industry will need to tackle to realise the anticipated high growth trajectory. They highlighted how critical it was for budding retail leaders to get a shop floor experience to be successful in the sector.

Following the insightful panel discussion was the finale of “Retail Trigger” – a national business plan competition which gave students a platform to showcase their business acumen and understanding of the retail industry. Five finalists from B-schools across the country battled it out. The teams representing FMS and IIM-K emerged as the winners and runners-up respectively. 

The event culminated in a fashion night showcasing the latest ethnic collection by designers Varuna Jithesh and Rani Pink’k and casual and western wear collections by Hyderabad stores of Benetton and Forever NEW respectively. Students and their families along with models, walked with élan, to a packed audience. The evening also witnessed scintillating dance performances by the students and a musical performance by the Music Club of ISB.