Retail insight as on 7th June 2010

June 7, 2010

News for the Retail industry

Previous Issues

News: Apparel, Specialty, CDIT ...

Retailers are heading towards various High Courts for a stay order on service tax Moneylife Personal Finance Magazine Four retailers will be approaching various High Courts across the country to seek a stay order on the service tax on commercial rentals that was imposed in this year's Budget by Finance Minister, Pranab Mukherjee. According to industry sources, the four retailers are Shopper's Stop, Lifestyle, More and Reliance Retail Ltd.

East India Company reborn Business Spectator The historic and notorious East India Company is set to be reborn as a contemporary luxury brand, with the launch of its first flagship store under the brand, scheduled to take place in Mayfair, London next week. The owner and chief executive of the famous, 400 year old brand, Sanjiv Mehta said that more outlets will be launched in the Middle East, Japan, Russia, the US and India. The brand will acknowledge the company's trading past with the sale of teas, coffees and spices, as well as condiments, chocolates and hampers.

Walmart Wants the US Government to Muscle It Into India BNET Walmart is looking for places to put 500 more stores overseas this year. In India, it faces a roadblock, as it's illegal for foreign companies to open their own multi-line retail stores. But Walmart would like to plop some of its stores down in the country, so the retail behemoth is calling in an even bigger gun in an attempt to change Indian law - the U.S. government.

GUCCI goes green with eco-friendly packaging Economic Times Ever thought a luxury brand could be creative and environmentally friendly? Gucci has taken a step in the direction with the launch of its worldwide eco-friendly programme to reduce dependence on materials and use 100% recyclable paper in packaging. The initiative will be introduced in all of its 284 directly operated stores around the world from June.

V-Mart plans to open 8-9 hypermarkets Hindu Business Line Delhi-based retail player V-Mart said it plans to open 8 to 9 hypermarkets this year, as it resumes expansion after a one-and-half year slowdown-induced hiatus. The company also said it is looking to focus more on sportsware retailing in the run-up to the Soccer World Cup in South Africa and the Delhi Commonwealth Games, to capitalise on the growing craze for sports merchandise.

News: Food & Grocery, QSR ...

KFC has a Krush on India afaqs Last year, Yum! Restaurants, the company that owns the brand that retails a range of fast foods, decided to extend the KFC brand concept to beverages, with Krushers, a range of chilled drinks. India was one of two test markets selected for this exercise, Australia being the other.

Zespri International: Kiwis are here Business Standard Zespri International, a New Zealand-based marketer of kiwifruit, has launched two varieties of the fruit in India, Zespri Green and Zespri Gold. However, only Zespri Green will be available here from May till September. Zespri Gold, its recent addition to the kiwifruit family, will come later.

The Magic Bean Lucknow Newsline It was the British tax on tea that, by default, increased coffee consumption in India in the late 19th century. However, more than 100 years later, it is the strong branding of Indian coffee and the multiplying coffee chains that has made this beverage popular in this tea drinkers' nation. This also explains the 10-year reign of Barista. After making its debut in Delhi's Basant Lok in 2000, this coffee chain now has 225 outlets in India and neighbouring countries.

Retail Trends

Raj Jain | The 'rapid growth' sceptic Livemint An engineer from the Delhi College of Engineering, Raj Jain, 50, President, Walmart India and Managing Director and CEO, Bharti Walmart Pvt. Ltd, never imagined that one day he would end up a retailer. Yet retailing is in his blood - six generations or more of his family have lived in Chandni Chowk, Delhi's wholesale hub, and have been retailers.

Perfume market expanding in India Economic Times According to industry estimates, the size of the total domestic luxury perfume market is around Rs 600-700 crore and is growing at a rate of 20-25% year-on-year. Says Rohit Chadha, head of the consumer products vertical at Technopak Advisors, "An outlet at a mall selling luxury fragrances can easily expect to do a sale of Rs 40,000-50,000 in a day! The market for such perfumes has a huge potential in India with a lot of players operating in multi-brand outlets as well, besides boutiques or standalone stores."

Time for malls to think long-term Hindustan Times While the shopping mall phenomenon is fairly new in India, the industry has already seen its ups and downs in a very short span of time. Three-four years ago, almost every developer was able to sell mall space to investors or signed leases with retailers even before starting construction. Now, almost 30-40 per cent of shopping malls are lying half-filled... So what will make the mall business viable and more successful?

PEs bullish on kidswear mkt Financial Express The last few months have witnessed a spurt of private equity investments in the kidswear market in the country. In April, Delhi-based kidwears brand Lilliput had two rounds of PE infusion from Bain Capital and the Texas Pacific Group for a 35% stake in the company, followed by Catmoss selling around 30% stake to Hong Kong-based Saif Partners.

Retail Insight

Using Advanced Category Analytics to fuel Consumer-centric Merchandising Infosys The age old questions "Who is buying what, when, where and why, and what will they buy tomorrow?" will always exist in the retailer-distributor-manufacturer chain. The challenge is to learn as much as possible, as quickly as possible, and as accurately as possible about consumers' shopping habits, and to effect changes that will influence consumers to buy specific products within specific categories, shaping predictable demand patterns.