MAM
Channelplay leads the way in navigating the evolving retail landscape & redefining its future
MUMBAI: In the ever-evolving landscape of retail, where consumer expectations shift and technology drives change, visual merchandising has emerged as a powerful force for innovation. Since its founding in 2006, Channelplay has established itself as a trailblazer in retail distribution and solutions, specialising in sales outsourcing and visual merchandising. By harnessing cutting-edge technology and design expertise, Channelplay enhances customer experiences in remarkable ways.
In a conversation with Indiantelevision’s Suman Baidh, Channelplay co-founder and co-CEO Suhas Misra highlighted how trends like Generative AI and the rise of digital signage are reshaping the retail environment. It has become essential for brands to emphasize design thinking and collaborate with experts. As retailers increasingly recognise the pivotal role of exceptional customer experiences, balancing creativity and practicality becomes crucial. This exploration reveals the key trends and future directions in visual merchandising, showcasing how leading companies are pioneering adaptability and measurable ROI in this dynamic landscape.
Edited Excerpts
On the key visual merchandising trends that you’ve noticed in the retail industry right now
The theme resonating in visual merchandising meetings—as indeed in meetings across functions—is GenAI. The promise of GenAI is broad and unarguable but how it plays out specifically is something that time alone will tell. The #1 trend therefore is exploring applications that will change both the practice of visual merchandising as well as its potential use in actual retail assets.
There is a somewhat related trend of more and more signage going digital. The share of digital signage is still low and therefore the coming of an s-curve is almost certain.
The third trend is the change in the role of retail itself. From being only a channel, retail’s value in creating the ideal customer experience for a brand is becoming more established. More and more brands are therefore incorporating experience stores as an integral part of their plans.
On creating displays that catch attention & provide a memorable experience for shoppers
Well, memorable experiences aren’t easy to create, but design thinking is essential. Brands need to loop in architects and designers to create these. For all projects where memorable experience is the objective, we take a brand brief to the great architects we work with and let them ideate. It’s vital for retail marketers to know that the conceptualisation of space is a craft that needs to be leveraged to generate great customer experience.
On the customers drawn to minimalist designs or they prefer more vibrant & elaborate displays
There’s no universal preference that one can have on this. It might be best to connect the customer’s noticing of something—or indeed being attracted to a display—to Jungian archetypes. There’s no wrong or right one, just a spectrum from clear and well-defined to confused and inconsistent.
On incorporate the use of colours, lighting, and textures to create a visually appealing store environment
Design is an expertise we respect deeply, And good design is rooted in context. The context for a store environment is the brand—what is its personality? What does it stand for?—and the constraints are spatial. An expert designer is able to optimise between telling a compelling story and having only a specific space to work with.
On digital and interactive displays change the way stores design their visual merchandising
This is one of the big shifts. Everything is going digital and visual merchandising is no exception. Digital and interactive displays bring brand messaging in retail closer to how it is on social media, and that’s a very exciting possibility. Yet, there’s no clear playbook for this. Some brands simply use such signage as a screen to display Instagram posts! However, we reckon that such signage—while having synergy with social media—needs to be thought through independently.
On balancing creativity with practicality when designing displays that drive sales
Creating displays that drive sales is fundamentally an ‘uncreative’ process! Most of the creative part has happened between the brand and the ad agency. The design of displays that drive sales is essentially about finding the best way to adapt creative thinking to space and respond to the constraints of space. Therefore, this process is more craft (if not science) than art.
On visual merchandising trends that you think are just a passing fad or see them sticking around for the long term
There are certain things that have seemed like fads from time to time. Buntings, for example; or one-way film. However, even these, and other such, sometimes fit a particular retail context so well that they just resonate. Therefore, we try and keep an open mind when approaching any retail marketing asset or element, and mostly even what seems like a fad becomes valuable for some context.
On Channelplay taking to ensure that its retail solutions remain adaptable to the fast-changing retail environment & evolving consumer expectations in the years to come
As a company focused on VM, there’s an ongoing effort to stay abreast with all the changes. Our team regularly scours elements getting deployed in more evolved markets, elements that are getting manufactured in China, and indeed new technology that can birth new elements together. As consumers have a reactive relationship with visual merchandising elements, the effort is to evaluate things and possibilities on the supply side.
On Channelplay ensuring a measurable ROI for clients using its sales outsourcing & visual merchandising services & tracking the impact on both sales performance and customer satisfaction
One of the most direct ways in which Channelplay delivers ROI is through more efficient use of retail marketing budgets. Our platform tracks inventory and deployment on a real-time basis leading to huge cost-savings on the fabrication side (often larger savings than the entire budget allocated to Channelplay!)
Numerator increases in ROI is a collaborative exercise with clients and again our tech platform used by our visual merchandisers is able to give visibility to marketers to run correlations faster, leading to superior response times and therefore an ever-improving ROI.
For the majority of people, the true test of health insurance is not when they purchase a policy but rather when they have to use it. Additional paperwork, approvals, and payments can add to the already stressful experience of a hospital admission. For this reason, selecting the appropriate plan is just as crucial as knowing how claims operate.
Cashless and reimbursement are the two primary methods of using mediclaim insurance while in the hospital in India. Both are valid, both are widely used, and both have advantages and limitations. The more important question is which is simpler in practice, particularly in an emergency, rather than which is “better” in theory.
To answer that fairly, it is important to look at how each process actually works inside hospitals, what challenges people face, and what kind of situations make one option smoother than the other.
What Does Cashless Treatment Really Mean in Practice?
Cashless care is often promoted as the most practical way to use health insurance, and in many cases, it truly is. Under this system, you visit a network hospital partnered with your insurer, where the hospital contacts the insurance provider on your behalf, submits your medical records, and requests approval for treatment. If the claim is approved, the insurer directly settles the covered portion of the bill with the hospital, and you only pay for non-covered expenses such as deductibles, co-payments, or room upgrades, which can be a major relief for families who may not be able to arrange large sums of money quickly.
However, cashless treatment is not always as seamless as it appears. Approval is not instant in every case, as the hospital must submit medical reports, estimated costs, and justification for the treatment. The insurer then reviews whether the illness is covered, whether waiting periods have been completed, and whether the procedure is medically necessary. As a result, there can be delays in approval, especially for planned surgeries, but once approved, cashless treatment remains financially smoother since you are not required to pay the full amount upfront.
How Does Reimbursement Actually Work on the Ground?
Reimbursement works in the opposite way, where you pay the entire hospital bill first and later claim the amount from your insurer. This option is commonly used when treatment takes place in a non-network hospital or during emergencies when immediate cashless approval is not possible. From a paperwork perspective, reimbursement requires more effort, as after discharge you must collect all documents—such as hospital bills, pharmacy receipts, diagnostic reports, discharge summary, and payment proofs—and submit them to the insurer within a specified time, usually 15 to 30 days. The insurer then reviews the claim based on your mediclaim policy terms and reimburses only the eligible amount, deducting any non-covered expenses like non-medical charges or excluded treatments.
Although this process is more demanding, it offers greater flexibility, as you are not limited to network hospitals and can choose any facility you trust, which can be especially useful in rural or smaller towns with limited network options. In sudden medical emergencies, however, most families prefer cashless treatment because it removes the need to arrange large sums of money upfront, shifting the financial burden to the insurer and hospital. That said, cashless treatment does not always work seamlessly in real emergencies—if the hospital is not part of the insurer’s network or if pre-authorisation is delayed, families may still have to pay first and later file for reimbursement. In such situations, reimbursement becomes unavoidable rather than optional, which is why experienced policyholders often say that the ease of a claim depends less on the method and more on the hospital, the insurer, and how well-prepared the family is with documentation.
Which Is the One That Has Less Paperwork?
Cashless treatment usually involves fewer documents for the patient, as most of the communication between the hospital and the insurer is handled by the hospital itself, and you mainly need to provide your policy details and ID. In contrast, reimbursement places a greater documentation burden on the policyholder, where missing or unclear documents can lead to delays or partial claim rejection, making the process feel more complex for many people. That said, some patients still prefer reimbursement because it gives them a greater sense of control over their bills and treatment decisions, rather than relying on insurer approvals within the hospital.
Which Option Works Better With Different Types of Hospitals?
Cashless treatment works best in large private hospitals that have dedicated insurance desks and strong coordination with insurers, and in metro cities, the process is usually smoother because hospital staff are familiar with health insurance claim procedures. On the other hand, reimbursement works better when treatment takes place in smaller hospitals, specialised clinics, or government facilities that may not be part of insurer networks, where cashless options may not even be available. This is why having a medical insurance plan that supports both options is important, as it provides flexibility instead of limiting you to a single rigid process.
Which One Is Financially Safer?
From a family’s perspective, cashless treatment is financially safer because you do not need to pay the entire bill upfront, which is especially important for middle-income families who may not have access to large emergency funds. In contrast, reimbursement can pose a financial risk when hospital bills are very high, as arranging the money in advance can be stressful and sometimes even require loans or support from relatives, even if the insurer eventually reimburses the amount. However, reimbursement is not inherently worse; it simply demands greater financial readiness and patience.
So Which Is Actually Easier?
The simple truth is that cashless is usually easier to use, while reimbursement tends to be more flexible. If your priority is convenience and immediate financial relief, cashless is the smoother option. On the other hand, if your priority is freedom to choose hospitals and independence from network restrictions, reimbursement may feel more practical. Ultimately, the ease of either process depends on how well you understand your mediclaim policy, how organised your documents are, and how effectively the hospital and insurer coordinate during treatment.
Why Not Make Any Claim Process Smoother?
Regardless of whether you choose cashless or reimbursement, a few key practices can make all claims easier, such as renewing your policy on time, keeping your policy details easily accessible, choosing network hospitals whenever possible, maintaining all medical records properly, and understanding the exclusions and waiting periods in your plan.
Conclusion
There is no single “perfect” claim process under health insurance. While reimbursement offers flexibility, cashless offers financial comfort. Rather than considering one of them to be always better, the approach that will be the best one is to understand both and apply them accordingly to the situation at hand.
When you have a good health insurance plan, you can easily go either way without being overly stressed. Insurance companies may also take an active part in making the cashless and reimbursement journeys easier, with the example of such insurance companies as Niva Bupa Health Insurance that focus on more open claims processes, network hospital assistance, and provide families with systematic guidance. Both operations have a chance to work, turning insurance into a support system in sad times. The bureaucratic necessity becomes a support system when families get knowledgeable and prepared and when insurance companies provide useful services.
