About Forrester
Forrester Research, Inc. is an independent research company that provides pragmatic and forward-thinking advice to global leaders in business and technology.

Vikram leads the forecast team, which is responsible for producing all forecasts within M&S research. He is focused on the consumer commerce areas including retail, travel, and financial services. He is keenly involved in understanding the evolution of consumers' online behavior and technology adoption.
Vikram came to Forrester Research through its acquisition of Jupiter Research, where he started in July 2000. Prior to Jupiter, Vikram worked at IRI, a leading market research company, where he worked closely with some of the leading CPG companies.
Vikram often appears on TV, radio, and comments in the press on the US online retail and travel industry. He has been quoted in The L.A. Times, Business Week, The New York Times, CNN Money, and American Banker. He has also appeared on CNBC, Bloomberg TV, and Radio, NPR, Fox Business News, and ABC.
Vikram earned an M.B.A. from Virginia Tech and a B.Com from N.M College in Mumbai, India.
Australian Banks Excel In Supporting The Online Application
Forrester evaluated the public Web sites of the big four Australian retail banks — Australia and New Zealand Banking, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, National Australia Bank, and Westpac...

ING's Interactive Life Insurance Tool Separates The Education From The Sale
In 2005, ING US Insurance embarked on a strategy to expand its sales of individual term life insurance to the US middle market. Many Americans don't have either any or enough life insurance coverage...
How Online Retail In India Is Evolving Differently From Other Major Markets
India's eCommerce market is at an early stage but is expected to see huge growth over the next four to five years. Over the past 12 months, venture capitalists have invested heavily in India's...
Start Working On Your Digital Agenda Now!
Despite the fact that we are in the midst of a European crisis that could influence the insurance business dramatically, eBusiness and channel strategy executives in this region should be sensitive...
Strategic Plan: The Mobile Insurance Strategy Playbook
Mobile strategies fail when firms approach them as purely technology solutions without clear business objectives and stakeholder support. Having a documented strategic plan that all stakeholders...

Disruption Drives 12 Trends In Digital Insurance Agendas
There's one word that sums up what's going on in the business of insurance right now: disruption. There are four drivers behind the state that the industry is in, all of which have implications...
Younger Consumers Prefer Online Chat, Websites, And Email
Now more than ever, clients are using new channels to communicate with their financial advisors. Younger clients show a strong preference for communicating with advisors through digital channels like...

A Solid Understanding Of Customer Expectations And A Localization And Differentiation Strategy Are The Keys To Success Across Europe.
Despite some commonality in currency and legislation, there are some notable differences in customer shopping behavior and market trends across the various European online retail markets. eBusiness...
Adoption of social media among investors is relatively high, but many investment firms have been slow to embrace the medium. The Vanguard Group has had success by using social media to engage with...

Firm "Electronifies" Cash Transactions To Enhance Existing PFM Tool
In February 2009, Discover Financial Services introduced its Spend Analyzer, an online personal financial management (PFM) tool that lets clients track and categorize their spending. Adoption was...
Introducing The Forrester Marketing Flywheel For Assessing Budget Allocations
The tech industry is returning to expansion mode, and tech marketers must gear up to drive profitable revenue growth for their companies. However, unlike previous generations of tech industry growth,...
Forrester conducted an online survey fielded in November 2011 of 5,998 individuals ages 16 to 75 in top urban cities/states of Mexico and Brazil and top urban cities/provinces of Argentina. In...
Despite A Thriving Online Market, Multichannel Retail Is Still An Untapped Opportunity For German Retailers
The German online retail market is the second largest in Europe. Amazon.de and eBay are dominant forces, with major German consumer brands selling through those sites, and others following suit...

European Online Financial Researchers Want Ratings And Reviews
European online financial researchers look for customer ratings and reviews. They tend to trust them and find them valuable for making better buying decisions. Although a range of North American...
How B2B Interactive Marketers Can Drive Engagement, Not Just Leads
B2B interactive marketers today are tasked with more than just building lead pipelines — they must also work alongside sales teams to build deeper customer relationships. Increasingly, B2B...

Understanding The Adoption Of Key eBusiness Applications Within A Regional Context
With almost 800 million mobile phone subscribers and 23 billion short message service (SMS) messages sent during the 2010 Chinese New Year holiday alone, metropolitan China outpaces every other...
eBusiness Executives Should Advertise Benefits Other Than Price
eBusiness teams at financial services firms too readily use price to promote products on their websites. In fact, few customers choose a company for the best price, and promoting other values...

Forrester conducted a face-to-face survey fielded from May to July 2012 of 6,109 individuals ages 16 to 75 in the top urban cities in Brazil (including São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Recife, Porto...
Online affluent consumers who buy insurance in the US are older and more technology-savvy when compared with online Americans who buy insurance. These millionaire insurance customers are self-made,...