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Archana Venkat

Chennai, Oct. 1

Networking major Cisco Systems expects to more than double its revenues at over $20 million (about Rs 80 crore) from the retail segment in India.

Bagging close to 25 large clients (each with over 25 retail outlets) and several small ones in the last few years including the Future Group, Reliance, Shopper’s Stop and Khaitan, the company has started implementing many of these projects this year.

Consequently robust growth in revenues is expected over the next 3-5 years, according to Mr Patrick Mathias, Regional Manager-Enterprise-Cisco India.

The company is currently in discussions with the Bharti Group to provide solutions for its retail business, Mr Mathias told Business Line. “Wal-Mart (US) is our client and we are trying to extend this relationship to India through its tie up with Bharti,” he said.

Retail companies are spending close to 20 per cent of their information technology budgets on networking and Cisco wants to corner this share.

Of the over $200 billion (about Rs 8 lakh crore) large domestic market, the share of organised retail is about $5 billion (about Rs 20,000 crore). That this segment is growing is indicated by mammoth IT investments announced by large retailers such as the Future Group, which is allocating about $1 billion (Rs 4,000 crore)

towards information technology implementation.

Early this year, Cisco signed a memorandum of understanding with the Future Group to design and implement solutions catering to supply chain, store level and consumer experience related areas.

The company will pilot test concepts such as digital signage and video surveillance on its Wi-Fi technology platform in two Future Group stores in the country.

Digital signage involves displaying relevant promos (video/print images) on plasma or LCD screens as and when a user walks by to divert his attention to discounts and special offers in a bid to increase his purchase from the store. Video surveillance on a Wi-Fi platform would help analyse real time information – either on consumer purchase, on-the-shelf management of stocks or general store security. Cisco will also deploy RFID technology for the Group’s state level warehouse on the outskirts of Mumbai.

By the end of this year, it would deploy a seamless networking platform to enable the Future Group to scale up to 3,000 outlets over the next 3-5 years, Mr Mathias said.

For other clients, Cisco is working on applications including mobile point of sale terminals, virtual information kiosks and tele-presence (facilitating live face-to-face meetings between shoppers and remotely located assistants who can provide product information).

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