Retail Insight on September 14th 2009

Sep 14, 2009

News and Analysis for the retail industry

News

Future Group, Carrefour tie up likely Economic Times Retail industry circles are abuzz with the possibility of an imminent tie-up between Future Group and the world's No 2 retail chain, Carrefour, after a hush-hush visit by the French chain's global chief executive, Lars Olofsson, to India late last week and his meeting on Saturday with Future CEO Kishore Biyani.

S Kumars Nationwide plans brand makeover Economic Times S Kumars Nationwide (SKNL), which owns brands like Reid & Taylor and Carmicheal House, will soon have a new name that breaks its 60-year old link with the S Kumars brand.

'Shoppers' model is recession-proof' Business Standard Govind Shrikhande who recently took over as President and CEO of Shoppers Stop, is no newcomer to the business, having spent nine years with the retailer. Although he believes the core business model is well thought out, he’s planning some strategic changes in view of the intense competition and cannibalisation in the sector.

Food chain Rajdhani Thali to open 100 more outlets overseas Indopia The Gujarati food outlet, a part of the Mirah Group and run by Encore Hotels Pvt Ltd, is planning to open 100 outlets in Singapore, Hong Kong and London, besides India.

Retail Trends

Retailers see better times as demand improves mydigitalfc In the past couple of months, there has been a definite improvement in consumer sentiment in metros, which has got reflected in the June quarter results of retailing firms.Major retailers have seen a gradual increase in same-store sales growth on account of rising footfalls and consumer spending.

Retail Insight

Making Procurement a Priority AT Kearney To drive the excitement and top-line growth that sustains the industry, CEOs must grow their businesses, and at the same time, deliver superior returns on invested capital. How can CEOs deliver more profitable and customer-focused growth? A.T. Kearney believes that CEOs should look closely at their merchandising and procurement functions, with close regard to the following questions: 1. How well are merchandising and procurement integrated? 2. How successful has procurement been in reducing costs while simultaneously building collaborative relationships with strategic suppliers? 3. How can employees, technology and other critical resources make merchandising and procurement high value-add functions?