Retail Expert Q&A: Technowave CEO, Nainan Kurian

GreyOrange recently formalized a gStore partnership with Technowave Group, a leading systems integrator for retailers in the UAE, GCC and India. We chatted with the founder and CEO, Nainan Kurian, to get his take on the roles RFID and inventory accuracy play in retail store success.

1. Tell us about Technowave Group and your role in the company. 

Technowave Group is a systems integrator with over 25 years in retail and warehouse automation with barcode and RFID technology. We also offer retail security solutions. As the founder & CEO, I lead innovations and marketing across the Middle East region and India. We have deep expertise in building software solutions that seamlessly automate retail and warehouse operations. 

2. What are some of the key challenges that retail stores are facing today? 

The major challenge in retail today is maintaining inventory accuracy. It requires a logical coding system and planned logistics based on demand and supply. Also, online shopping has prompted retailers to think of ways to improve the customer experience. Customer service improvement is another important factor to consider. 

3. What are some of the steps that retailers can take to improve their inventory accuracy and tracking?

Frequent audits are key, and they require faster technologies like overhead RFID and software solutions like gStore. Every retail transaction in the entire workflow must be done through RFID so that everything is accounted for. With RFID, retailers can achieve faster, error-free operations. 

4. Can you describe your experience deploying RFID (handheld and overhead) in stores?

We deploy end-to-end RFID solutions in fashion retail. From the receipt of goods to customer checkout, we track every item through RFID. Even ecommerce order picking is done through RFID validation. We have also deployed overhead readers to prevent theft. 

One of our customers went from 20 people taking 20 to 30 hours for a stock count to 4 people doing the same job in 90 minutes. They have been able to achieve 99.6% inventory accuracy through RFID.

5. Technowave is a gStore partner. What are the benefits of that partnership for your team?

It [gStore] is certainly the latest technology today. Real-time inventory ensures that stock availability is always accurate and the customer is always delighted. Being able to manage all retail operations planning and task allocations on a single platform is an amazing feature and our customers will really like it. The visibility of various reports is another big advantage.