Over the last year the pandemic has significantly disrupted and transformed traditional shopping behaviour. Driven by economic uncertainty and a desire to avoid physical stores, a surge in the use of online channels is seen and that led brands, large and small rework, their strategies for the future.

According to a Capgemini report on consumer behaviour, online shopping continues to accelerate and the pivot to online is expected to persist in the long term, even when consumers feel that the pandemic is over.

As the consumer and retail industry undergoes a massive shift, disruptors or challenger brands are taking the opportunity to challenge the status quo and as a result are claiming market share. These nimble, digital first, D2C players have been able to evolve quickly, introduce market relevant categories and use technology to meet their customer obsessed targets.

Name a category, and there's likely to be a shiny challenger, disrupting the existing model by cutting out the middleman to deliver a range of innovative goods direct-to-consumer.

So what can the big retail learn from these brands? And what kind of innovation can be expected from these startups as they go on to build large businesses capturing a chunk of the Indian market?

To discuss this, Shereen Bhan spoke to Shan Kadavil, CEO & co-founder of Freshtohome.com; Varun Alagh, co-founder of Mammaearth; Prabhtej Singh Bhatia, founder & CEO of Simba and Gautam Sinha, founder of Nappa Dori.

Watch video for more.

(Edited by : Bivekananda Biswas)