| From the Editor's Desk |  | |
Retail: Is India truly different?
Most people in the business will accept that Retail is both an art and a science. However, most of us also struggle to balance the conflicts created by these two very different characteristics of the business. The back-end of getting the right item to the right store at the right time is largely a science that needs to be continuously tweaked. The front-end is where the 'art' kicks in. Of course, the smart retailer understands when and where to use the 'art' and when and where to use the 'science'. When Mr Kishore Biyani tells us how we consume differently from the rest of the world, he is emphasizing the 'art' of retail - how various cultural, social, religious factors have an impact on our consumption patterns. India is truly one of the most diverse countries with a long history and set of traditions. Our festivals are different, our food habits, the way we eat, the way we celebrate are different. However, most of these factors change "what" we buy and "when" we buy, not the underlying reasons for "why" we buy, which should form the backbone of any retail strategy. These include factors such as price value, convenience, assortment and shopping experience.
Read more / Join the discussion: Use the 'Forgot password?' link to retrieve your password
| At a Glance | |  |
| News: Apparel, Specialty, CDIT ... | | |
|
 | How do you crack the consumer code of a country with seven religions, 70 festivals and millions of kirana stores? Kishore Biyani did it by being unconventionally conventional. Modern doesn't always mean western. And sometimes hiring an anthropologist makes more sense than hiring an MBA. He looks at you and tells you whether you are an easy or difficult consumer for a marketer. India's biggest private retailer speaks out. |
|
After closing down over 100 stores, the Birla group's retail venture is pushing private labels and slashing costs to achieve break-even. By his own admission, the last 30 months have been one of the toughest in Thomas Varghese's 29-year career. The 50-year-old Chief Executive of Aditya Birla Retail, however, quickly adds that they have been "very interesting and challenging too". Tough' because 'more', the group's retail chain, had to close over 100 loss-making stores in the last two years, and "interesting and challenging" because the slowdown in 2008-09 gave an opportunity to review the business model, says Varghese, an IIT Delhi graduate. |
|
Shoppers Stop (SSL), India`s prominent retail group (operator of large format department stores, home stores and specialty stores like Crossword, Mothercare, MAC, and hypermarkets) has reported a gross retail turnover of Rs 5.08 billion for the quarter ended September 30, 2010, as compared to Rs 4.12 billion in Q2FY10, registering a jump of 23%. Net Profit for the quarter stood at Rs 174 million against Rs 121 million, which is up by 44% compared to the same last year. |
|
International lifestyle brand, Esprit India, is eyeing a 30 percent growth in revenue during this fiscal, primarily driven through geographical expansion, a top company executive said. The expansion will include a mix of exclusive showrooms as well as shop-in-shops, Esprit India COO, Manjula Tiwari said. "We will add 10-15 stand-alone stores and 20-25 shop-in-shops this fiscal," she said. The high-street brand entered India in a tie-up with Madura Garments, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Aditya Birla Nuvo, in 2005. |
|
English clothing brand, Stephens Brothers, is eyeing an up to 40 percent revenue growth this fiscal and plans to enhance its retail presence through a tie-up with large-format store-chain, Central, a top company official said. "We are targeting a 30-40 percent revenue growth in FY11 and will expand our retail presence through Central in destinations such as Bangalore, Hyderabad and Pune," SKNL Director, Apparel and Retail, Ashesh Amin said. He, however, did not divulge any financial details of the company. |
|
To keep up with the changing consumer demand, footwear maker Liberty Shoes Ltd is working to position itself as a young and vibrant fashion brand. The company is bringing about changes in the overall look and feel of its stores, besides creating designs to attract young consumers. "We want to appeal to youth and be seen as an affordable fashion brand... We are currently in the process of giving a new look to outlets," Liberty Shoes Managing Director Anupam Bansal said. |
|
 | Digital imaging firm Canon India said it aims to earn a revenue of Rs 600 crore in the next three years from its new retail venture. The company, which announced its foray into the retail space, said it plans to open around 300 exclusive stores within three years at an investment of Rs 150 crore. "From the stores exclusively, the company is expecting revenues of Rs 100 crore in the first year, and a revenue of Rs 600 crore in the third year," Canon India Senior Vice President, Alok Bharadwaj said. |
|
Raymond Weil, one of the last independent brands in the Swiss luxury watch industry, is widening its footprint in India. It is opening exclusive boutiques and shop-in-shops. Olivier Bernheim, President and CEO, Raymond Weil, shares his company's plans in an interview with Praveen Bose. Founded by Bernheim's father-in-law Raymond Weil in 1976, it recently set up its 100 per cent subsidiary in Bangalore. Excerpts from the interview: |
|
| News: Food & Grocery, QSR ... | | |
|
Swiss ice cream brand Movenpick, which was taken over by Nestle in 2003, plans to set up more outlets in India. Currently, Movenpick has outlets in Hyderabad, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata in India and in 38 countries across the globe with Swiss, Russia, France and the UK as its core markets. |
|
Devyani International Ltd (DIL), a leading player in the Indian retail F&B sector, formally launched Foodie's Bar, its signature lounge bar at the arrival area of Terminal 1A at Mumbai Airport. Foodie's Bar will fulfill a long felt need for a high quality venue for casual and business meetings for frequent fliers, airlines and airport staff, business visitors, friends and family that throng the airport each day. |
|
The Chitales, of Pune's Chitale Bandhu Mithaiwale sweets-and-savouries shop, hail from Limbgoa near Satara, where they once had a dairy. Their legendary bakarwadi dates from around 1970. This is what established the Chitale brand and reputation. Bakarwadi is a savoury snack which looks like a small salty Swiss roll. Says Shirikrishna Chitale, a partner in the family concern, "We produce 3 tonnes of bakarwadi daily." |
|
SRS Group, one of India's leading conglomerates with business interests in real estate, multiplex cinemas, retail, jewels and food & beverages, announced the opening of a new food court at Indirapuram as a part of their expansion plan. The new upcoming SRS 7dayz will be the 10th food court in North India. SRS 7dayz is a completely vegetarian multi-cuisine food court. |
|
| Retail Trends | | |
|
Retail associations in Mumbai are planning to put up protest banners and posters along President Obama's route in the city, fearing that he might push for 100% FDI in retailing during his visit to India, according to a report in the newspapers. The President will be in Mumbai on November 6 and 7. The newly formed Maharashtra unit of the Confederation of All-India Traders (CAIT) expressed its fear that the finance ministry, which is still debating the issue of foreign direct investment (FDI) in retail, would capitulate once Obama made a personal request. |
|
 | Consensus on opening up of multi-brand retail to foreign direct investment, or FDI, looks unlikely anytime soon, with many states opposing freeing up the sector, dashing hopes of multinational retailers such as Wal-Mart and Carrefour keen to sell goods to Indian consumers. Many states have opposed foreign investment in multi-brand retail, while some of the bigger ones such as Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra have asked for more time to respond. |
|
Sanjay Shrenik Lalbhai, Chairman and Managing Director of Arvind Group, had gone into a shell after the textile group started suffering losses in the late '90s. Even when it emerged from the bad patch through a corporate debt restructuring announced in 2001, Lalbhai didn't exactly woo the media. Early this week, the elusive Lalbhai was at the launch of Big Megamart - Arvind's first large-sized apparels store in Thane near Mumbai. A chat with Lalbhai: |
|
French luxury brand Hermes is set to take luxury retail out of the confines of five-star hotels and luxury malls, as it opens an independent store at a heritage building in south Mumbai next year. This marks a new trend in luxury retail, as marketeers look at overcoming limited luxury retail infrastructure for growth in the world's third fastest growing economy, say industry experts. |
|
| Retail Insight | | |
|
| SOA in Retail |
| Torry Harris |
SOA empowers retailers with a methodology to enable an integrated interaction platform in a flexible yet costeffective manner, allowing incremental lightweight changes, replacing the big-bang massive overhauling approaches. The approach allows better leveraging of the information already contained in existing systems, thereby adding value to investments. Technology can be deployed incrementally through applications created by combining multiple services (well-bounded sets of functionality fulfilling a business need) through SOA. It enables cost savings and the flexibility to change quickly, that stem from consolidating redundant logic and data. |
|
|
|
No comments:
Post a Comment