KIIT School of Management (KSOM), KIIT University organized its 6^th National Marketing Conclave on the theme “E-Commerce – Changing Business Fundamentals” on 29^th August, 2015.

E-Commerce is one of the most pertinent phenomenon that has led to significant changes in the business fundamentals.

The event was inaugurated by Mr. Sandip Das, Former MD, Reliance Jio Infocomm, Mr. Nitin Seth, President (LCV and Defence), Ashok Leyland and Mr. Peshwa Acharya, Founder, Think As Consumer in the presence of Prof. P.P. Mathur, Vice Chancellor, KIIT University and Prof. Anil Bajpai, Director, KSOM.

Setting the context, Prof. Anil Bajpai spoke about the rapid integration of E-Commerce practices into the business and how marketing definitions are getting re-defined by this phenomenon.

Mr. Sandip Das in his address, said that marketing begins with the identification of consumer needs which helps to develop the product and services accordingly. The job of a marketer is to focus on creating and expanding markets. According to him, the future of business can be categorized into – either Digital or “Dead” Companies. He said, ideation is agnostic to age, rank or designation. It is execution that makes or breaks e-commerce companies. The real test of technology is how it can finally impact the lives of the underprivileged people.

Addressing the gathering, Mr. Nitin Seth emphasised on the fact that we should not forget the basics of marketing while integrating internet in business practices. In auto industry, role of Internet is critical with respect to perception management. The Indian consumer psyche is extremely heterogeneous and it is crucial to have an understanding of the consumer mind-set before exploring business ventures in India.

Mr. Peshwa Acharya, in his speech, said that E-Commerce has given a platform to many budding entrepreneurs. He said that E-Commerce is majorly about commerce with technology acting as a backbone. He spoke about a new phenomenon that has been observed among Indian consumers called “ROPO- Research Offline and Purchase Online.”

As a part of the conclave, three panel discussions were held. The first panel discussion was on ‘Technological and Financial Services: Creating the E-Commerce Ecosystem’ that had Mr. Rajan Pundhir, Head – Franchise Business, Housing.com, Mr. Amal K. Das, Managing Partner & CEO, Good People Consulting LLP, Mr. Anirudha Kawade, Head – Tariffs, Billbachao.com as the panelists.

The second and the third panel discussions were held by industry luminaries on topics like FMCG prospects in E-Commerce and M-Commerce – The Future. The panelists included Mr. Venkateswarlu Nelabhotla, Co-founder and CEO, Vyome Biosciences, Mr. Dilip Panda, GM – Sales & Marketing, Shalimar Group of Companies and Mr. Pawan Tiwari, Co-Founder and Director – Virtual Veda, Prof. Subhasis Ray, XIMB, Mr. Diiliip Mahapatra, Director, Water and Solid Waste Management and Mr. Shubhenjit Chaudhuri, MD, Tata Pigments.

Undergraduate and postgraduate student competitions which were held as part of the conclave, saw pan-India participation. The conclave also saw enthusiastic participation from industry and academia.