Future Group's Kishore Biyani working on digital retail prototypes

Biyani said the group would set up a 20-million member network and build an ecosystem around it

Amid deal talks with global firms such as Google and Amazon, Kishore Biyani is working on several prototypes of digital retailing. The Future Group has opened 10 cashier-less stores in the country where shoppers can pick up goods and scan them, Biyani said at the India Retail Forum on Wednesday.

“The use of technology is increasing,” he said, adding that Aadhaar customers can order and pay online in the group's wholesale stores. 

The company has had two unsuccessful online ventures. Futurebazaar failed to take off and it shut its assisted e-commerce Big Bazaar Direct because of high costs. “The cost of doing business is high for e-commerce firms. We are using technology and loyalty membership to reduce costs,” Biyani said.

He said the group would set up a 20-million member network and build an ecosystem around it. The group will credit their Future Pay wallets for shopping worth Rs 5,000, he said. Biyani said the group was increasing the pace of opening member-only stores. The firm is launching two small stores a day and it will increase it to opening five small stores a day by next year.

Future Group has set a target to be trillion-dollar company by 2047, he said, adding that the group wanted to become the largest FMCG firm in the country.