Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIMA) , signed an agreement with e-commerce player Nykaa, to set up the Nykaa Chair in Consumer Technology. The Chair was set up for an initial period of three years and facilitated by the IIMA Endowment fund.
It will focus on research and education that will promote the scientific practice of marketing, and present insights on the impact of digital, social, and mobile technologies on business models, customer behavior, and social changes at large facilitate incorporation of AI and machine learning insights in a disrupted marketplace.
The chair will also look at deploying economic and statistical models to measure the role of the Internet and new media on consumer and firm behavior besides understanding the privacy-preserving future of digital advertising.
The Chair will work closely with students of IIMA and faculty members from Marketing and Information Systems areas. The partnership announcement was made today at the IIMA campus in presence of Errol D’ Souza, Director, IIMA, and Falguni Nayar, IIMA alumna and Founder & CEO, Nykaa.
Announcing the partnership with Nykaa the Research Chair, D’Souza, said, “Through our partnership with Nykaa, we aim to work together on finding research solutions to some of the immediate, real-time questions in the consumer tech space. We look forward to bringing on board a talented, research-focused individual to take up this position at the institute.”
Notably, IIMA has already established Centres of Excellence in new generation areas of technology such as the Centre for Digital Transformation (CDT) and Brij Disa Centre for Data Science and Artificial Intelligence (CDSAI). The Nykaa Chair will also work closely with faculty members associated with these Centres and will enable multi-disciplinary research to help shape strategy, influence policy, and benefit the entire consumer technology sector in India.
Speaking to media, Falguni Nayar, Founder & CEO, Nykaa said, “Through this chair at IIMA, we look forward to stewarding research and education by equipping.”
On the extent of adoption of online modes for shopping, Nayar stated that as against the popular perception of a large number of people turning to online shopping during Covid-19, the industry data revealed that, “the percentage share of online used to be 2-3 per cent about 10 years ago. It has reached only 10 per cent of the market. Still 90 per cent of the consumption is offline. All of us in the industry believe that consumption would come online and in another five years or so, may be up to 20-25 per cent of industry consumption would be online. Still a large part of the market would remain offline.”
Chhavi Moodgal, Chief Executive Officer, IIMA Endowment Fund said, “The consumer Tech industry in India is pipped to become a $200-$250 billion opportunity by 2025. To reach its full potential, this sector needs dedicated research, assimilation, and propagation of best practices; as well as guidance on usage of AI and data science, in which IIMA can be a thought leader.”