E-commerce offers an unbelievable platform and technology but won't kill offline, says Aditya Burman

If being the youngest member on the board of one of India’s oldest FMCG companies wasn’t enough pressure on Aditya Burman, the 39-year-old non-executive additional director of Dabur also has to deal with a changing marketplace, one where e-commerce is re-writing all rules.

In a recent interview to a business magazine, Burman said the important thing is to read the pulse of the millennial customer and be where they are. “We have to be present where the millennials are. It’s no good having something on the side of the road if the guys are buying online,” he said.

Having said that, however, he also saw a future where e-retail and kirana could co-exist. “My dad shops online, but that does not make him a millennial. And just because millennials shop online, it does not mean they won’t buy from a kirana store. E-commerce is an unbelievable platform and technology, but it is not going to kill offline. It won’t happen. It hasn’t happened anywhere in the world and I don’t see any reason for it to happen here,” he said.