Retail insight on 12th October

October 12, 2009

News for the retail industry

 

News

Biyani recasts Pantaloon to unlock value Livemint Two decades after he founded what's now Future Group, one-time garment supplier Kishore Biyani is recasting flagship Pantaloon Retail (India) Ltd, the country's largest shopping chain by market value, in a move aimed at clarifying the structure, repaying debt and giving investors greater choice.

Titan raises capex by 43% in FY10 Business Standard At a time when most of India Inc is shy of announcing big-ticket investments, Titan Industries is going strong. The Rs 3833-crore, Bangalore-based Tata Group arm has raised its capital expenditure plan by 43 per cent to Rs 100 crore for the current fiscal.

The Polishing of Gitanjali Forbes India Mehul Choksi wants to become the world's largest jewelry retailer. He has no room for error. Unlike his brethren from the $10-billion diamond cutting and exporting business who haven't moved from the old, crowded diamond hub near Opera House in South Mumbai, Choksi operates from the city's latest financial district.

No big festive ad blitz for retailers India Today The usual gaiety surrounding festive seasons is amiss this year. The festive season has not impacted the advertisement expenditure of apparel retailers in India in a big way.

Reliance Autozone plans private labels Business Standard Reliance Autozone, an automotive specialty format of Reliance Retail Limited, is planning to introduce its private labels in select categories "once it builds some kind of a critical mass in the next one-and-a-half to two years," said Reliance Retail's chief executive officer (automotive services), Arun Dey.

Retail giant Carrefour ties up with apple farmers in HP Economic Times After Bharti Walmart started working with farmers in Punjab and Haryana, it is now French retail giant Carrefour which is extending technical support to apple farmers in Himachal Pradesh.

HCL Infosystems to rebrand retail outlets Business Standard As part of its marketing initiative 'HCL Mobile Excitement (ME)', hardware and systems integrator firm HCL Infosystems is rebranding its retail outlets and its store chain 'Digilife' which retails digital lifestyle products.

Retail Trends

Retailers won't let staff steal show Economic Times They may be bitter rivals in the battle for customers' wallets, but the country's top retail groups have decided to join hands to battle a common problem - the rising scourge of employee theft.

FDI norms in retail sector should be relaxed: CBRE Economic Times The government needs to relax norms on foreign direct investment in retail to facilitate fresh infusion of funds and also promote competition in the sector, which has been hit by the economic slowdown, real estate consultant CB Richard Ellis has said.

Retail Insight

Retailer - Vendor Collaboration - A Roadmap The second article in our Retail Strategy Series All India Retail There has been talk recently about retailers collaborating with each other in their supply chains to reduce costs and help the fledgling organized retail industry in India survive the current downturn. While this is certainly a step in the right direction, it raises another interesting question. What is the state of the retailer-supplier relationship in India? This is a relationship that has to exist by necessity and can provide significant benefits if managed well. Sadly, there is a lot to be desired when it comes to how retailers and vendors are dealing with each other today. The relationship is largely transactional, based on zero-sum negotiations and even adversarial. For the large FMCG companies, modern retailers are still a new phenomenon that cannot be ignored, but lower in priority than the wholesale channel that supplies to the over 10 million kirana stores in the country. The situation is similar in apparel, consumer durables and specialty products. This article will first build the case for retailer-vendor collaboration and then suggest a roadmap for retailers to follow.