Retail Insight on 16th June 2009

News


Pantaloon shareholders to mull Rs 1000-cr fund raising plan
Economic Times
Kishore Biyani-promoted Pantaloon Retail India said its shareholders will meet July 7 to approve the raising of additional long-term funds to the tune of Rs 1000 crore through securities.


H&B Stores enters Gurgaon; plans to add 12 stores in one year
Indiantelevision.com
Dabur India retail subsidiary H&B Stores has forayed into Gurgaon with its fourth newu outlet in the Delhi-NCR region, taking its tally to 11 outlets spread across North and South India.


Cafe Coffee Day to offer loyalty cards for its customers
Rupee Times
CCD has 280 participating outlets, scattered across major cities like Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi and Mumbai. The president- marketing, Cafe Coffee Day, Bidisha Nagara, said, We are delighted to partner with American Express, one of the most respected service brands in the world.



Maharashtra Organised trade to feel the heat
Voice & Data Online
The proposed hike of VAT to 12.5% on mobile handsets in Maharashtra could hit the organised trade in the Maharastra. Organised trade, which is already hit by higher property rates, shirking margins and high trained employee cost and other operational costs, would lose customers to the unorganised trade.


Retail Trends


Bengaluru International Airport's month-long Shopping Festival ...
MoodieReport
Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL) today concluded its Shopping Festival promotion, which has been running at Bengaluru International Airport for the past month. Crucially, the airport said that spend per passenger rose by +6%.


'Downturn hasn't spared grocery shopping'
Business Standard
The Indian retail market is estimated at $350 billion and organised retail is estimated to account for 5 per cent of that. According to estimates, Indian retailing is expected to have a growth rate of 30-35 per cent this year against the earlier rate of 50 per cent in 2007-08.


Homeware retailers change tack
Business Standard
Speciality homeware retail chains, such as Kishore Biyani-owned HomeTown, Max Retail from Landmark Group and Wadhawan group-owned Home Store, have changed tack as home sales drop and shoppers defer buying big-ticket items like furniture and furnishing to save cash in the downturn.


Retail Insight

Outsourcing Distribution Centers Offers More Flexibility, Less Risk
Ryder

Fashion companies are almost entirely dependent on bringing goods in from multiple global sources. Fashion retail chain Anchor Blue is no exception. The problem was, it had little control over its supply chain operations. The company had no visibility into where goods were and it was taking on average three-and-a-half days for product to move through the distribution center. The lack of visibility led stores to order more product, which increased inventory costs. And if goods were lost, it took dozens of phone calls to resolve the problem while the store went without merchandise.

The complexity of the global supply chain will increase. What companies need to remain competitive is flexibility in their DC networks.