He explained that the grocer in the corner retail shop does most of the work the Internet commerce is supposed to do like elimination of chores, elimination of middle-man and elimination of information intermediaries. He said the biggest challenge before consumer goods companies is to find out ways and means to reach out to the consumer by offering him a benefit that is not already available with the existing system. If this is to happen they must offer more than what the corner store grocer offers-besides home delivery of goods, he also managed the consumer's account, gave credit and for occasions like Diwali sent a packet of sweets as gift also.

"That is the challenge the tech gurus have to reckon with in dealing with consumers," Mr Banga said and felt that while interactive television was a technological marvel in giving the customer a choice, the challenge remained at reaching out benefits to customers without losing out on the huge opportunities the medium provided. HLL will be launching the new model of online home shopping soon but Mr Banga refused to give any details or an exact time frame, beyond saying "it will be launched on a pilot basis first". The HLL chief had one major theme strand in his talk- while technology is important and enables business, planning, marketing and delivery, it is the customer who is the key to success. Mass customisation as a concept is good but the key challenge is the transition from being a mass marketer to a mass customiser.

Success in this area can come only if companies putting their money on technology realise that they can afford to ignore customer needs only at own peril, leverage new technology to provide real benefits to consumers, build new business models for home shopping and mass customisation and evolve new processes and skills to enhance interactive communication and datamining and targeted marketing. TV link to the Internet, Mr Banga said, will enable companies to reach out to the rural areas.