The Consumer & Retail Innovation Award
Retail and consumer technology is judged on what shoppers and store teams actually experience. This category covers commerce platforms, in-store technology, consumer products and the merchandising and pricing systems behind them.
- Independent jury
- 250
- Innovations evaluated
- 4,500+
- Star rating
- 1–5
- Running since
- 2010
Academics, scientists, officials, investors
Across seventeen editions
Every nominee earns an AGBA Innovation Star
India’s longest-running innovation award
Three categories sit close to data. This is the one about method and evidence.
Most nominations that fail here fail because they were in the wrong category. Read across before you write anything.
Innovation in Consumer & Retail
Commerce, in-store technology, consumer products and the systems behind price and assortment.
This category
Innovation in MarTech
Marketing technology, campaigns and customer acquisition.
Innovation in Supply Chain
Fulfilment, inventory and the logistics behind the shelf.
Who should enter
- Commerce and marketplace platforms with conversion, retention or basket data
- In-store technology — checkout, shelf, inventory and store operations
- Consumer products where the technology changed the product itself
- Pricing, assortment and merchandising systems with margin outcomes
- Customer service and post-purchase work that reduced friction measurably
What this award recognises is a shopper or a store team whose experience changed — faster checkout, fewer stockouts, a product that works better. Gross merchandise value alone is not the case.
If the innovation is in campaigns and acquisition, enter Innovation in MarTech. If it is fulfilment and inventory movement, enter Innovation in Supply Chain.
What the jury looks for
- Problem definition & market opportunityWhether the innovation solves a real problem, backed by evidence and a measurable impact on its target audience.
- InnovativenessNovelty and uniqueness — new technology, functionality or business model — measured against what already exists, including IP.
- Market potential & impactSize and growth of the addressable market, competitive landscape, and scalability across geographies.
- Social impact & sustainabilityContribution to society and the environment, including social responsibility and the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
These are the same four criteria — problem definition, innovativeness, market impact and social/sustainability impact — used to assess every category. In this category the jury also weighs methodological rigour — including what you did to avoid fooling yourselves — the decision that changed as a result and what it was worth, the reproducibility and honesty of the evaluation, and the engineering quality of the data foundation underneath. Read the full evaluation criteria.
Who judges this category
Nominations are assessed by an independent jury, not by the organisers. Jurors are matched to the categories where their expertise lies. These are among those who read retail and consumer technology entries.
Mr. Dilip ChenoyFormer Secretary General, Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry
Prof. Emel AktasChair of Supply Chain Analytics, Cranfield School of Management
Prof Amar SapraProfessor, Production and Operations Management, IIM Bangalore
Prof. Arunabha MukhopadhyayProfessor, Information Technology and Systems, IIM Lucknow
Prof. Saurabh KumarAssistant Professor, Information Systems, IIM Indore
Kanu GulatiPartner, Khosla Ventures
Dr. Avik SarkarBig Data and AI expert, Indian School of Business
Mr Akhil Kumar GawarDirector, Telangana State Food Processing SocietyEight of roughly 250. The full panel spans the IITs, the IIMs, the IIITs, the Indian School of Business, NITI Aayog and central ministries, the Department of Science & Technology, MeitY and CERT-In. See the full jury panel.
The shelf on the podium
Retail and consumer technology run as neighbouring awards in the recent editions. These are among the most recent winners, photographed at the ceremony.
Previous winners
Retail and consumer technology have run as separate awards in most editions; each row carries the award actually won. The complete record sits in the winners archive.
Category names have changed across editions as the field has moved; the rows above are the closest equivalents in the published record. See the winners archive for the full 1st–16th edition history.
What happens after you submit
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Stage one · nowNomination registration
Register your company and category through the nomination process, then complete the detailed nomination form and processing fee.
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Stage twoJury presentation
Present the innovation to the jury and take questions. Jurors score each entry against the four evaluation criteria and rank it within its category.
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Stage threeStar Certification
Nominees are also assessed for AGBA Innovation Star Certification, an independent maturity rating alongside the category judging.
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Stage fourFinalists announced
Once every category has been evaluated, finalists are announced on the website ahead of the ceremony.
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Stage fiveAward ceremony
Winners are honoured on 18 February 2027 at Hotel Ashoka, Chanakyapuri, New Delhi.
Before you write your nomination
Is a consumer product eligible, or only retail software?
Both. Products where the technology changed what the thing does are read alongside commerce and store systems.
What evidence matters most?
Behaviour, not volume — conversion, repeat rate, basket size, checkout time, stockout rate — with the comparison period stated.
Where do marketing campaigns belong?
In MarTech. This category is about the shopping experience and the retail operation rather than acquisition.
How do I submit a nomination?
Nominations are submitted through the nomination process, which sets out the stages, the supporting material required and the current edition’s dates.
Put the shopper in front of the panel
Nominations for the Consumer and Retail Innovation Award are read by an independent jury of industry and academic practitioners. Bring the behaviour data, not the GMV chart.