The Qwikcilver Gift Card Conclave 2017, was organised by Qwikcilver Solutions, one of the pioneers in the gift card industry in India, on 19th April 2017 at the ITC Gardenia Hotel in Bangalore. This first-of-its-kind event in India and Asia saw some of the best minds come together to discuss and share insights on the Future of Gifting.
Ms. Vasanthi Hari, the emcee for the day, kick-started the event along with Mr. Pratap Thoppil, the Co-founder and CMO of Qwikcilver Solutions. They were joined on stage by Mr. Kumar Sudarshan, Co-founder & CEO of Qwikcilver Solutions, who extended a warm welcome to the guests comprising CXOs of leading brands and industry stalwarts.
The key addresses were delivered by eminent personalities from different sectors. Mr. G Padmanabhan, Chairman of Bank of India and former Executive Director of the Reserve Bank of India, shared important insights from a regulatory perspective. Ms. Jayashree Parthasarathy, Partner – Indirect Tax Practice at Ernst & Young presented and addressed queries around the impact of GST on gift cards. Mr. Nicholas Roche, Vice President of Sales at Blackhawk took the audience through the gifting trends in the International market.
The first panel discussion was titled “Dil Chahta hai”. The panel consisted of Mr. Vinay Bhatia, CEO – Group Loyalty and Analytics of Future Group, Mr. Rajeev Krishnan, Managing Director & CEO of Spar Hypermarkets, Landmark Group, Mr. Shariq Plasticwala, Senior Manager at Amazon India and Ms. Suparna Mitra, CMO of Titan Company Ltd. The panel discussion centered around Gift Cards becoming an inherent strategic component of the portfolio for the Brand & Retailer and how Brands need to shape up in the new era going ahead.
“If Tomorrow Comes” was the second panel discussion, which explored the idea of Gift Cards becoming the most preferred gifting choice for Indian weddings & festivals, the tipping point being Here & Now. The stellar line of panelists were Ms. Rajshree Bakshi, Global Vice President of Marketing at Taj Hotels, Mr. Srinivas Rao, CMO of Lifestyle, Landmark Group, Mr. KG George, Senior Vice President – Retail at TTK Prestige, Mr. Bimalendu Tarafdar, Marketing Head of Wonderla Holidays Ltd and Mr. Chetan Kumar, Vice President at Saavn Media Pvt. Ltd.
The third panel discussion – “The World Is Not Enough” looked at how corporates, enterprises and institutions in India have been the fastest adopters of the new age Gift Card Technology Platforms. The expert panelists comprised Mr. Hari Kumar, Director of Flipkart, Mr. Prashant Tandon, SVP at Kotak Mahindra Bank, Mr.Sridhar, Chief Digital Marketing Officer at USL-Diageo, Mr. Abhishek Sinha, National Sales Development Manager at Britannia Industries Limited and Ms. Kankana Barua, Chief People Officer at Tally Solutions.
Mr. Kishore Biyani, Group CEO of Future Group, and Mr. Govind Shrikhande, Customer Care Associate & MD of Shoppers Stop, who were unable to be physically present at the conclave addressed the gathering via pre-recorded video messages.
Qwikcilver was proud to launch the gift card programs of two big brands – Future Group’s Big Bazaar and Raymond which were unveiled during the event. Besides the new launches, existing brands, such as MakeMyTrip, Dineout and Spar, showcased their Gift Card Programs powered by Qwikcilver.
The event drew to a close with all the attendees enriched with a lot of insights and information about the future of gifting – the Qwikcilver Gift Card Conclave.
