Sapna Agarwal, Mint (A Wall Street Journal Partner) Mumbai, August 20, 2013 Indian men and women are becoming more picky when it comes to dressing. Formal wear is increasingly giving way to a trendier line of clothes that includes casual sports and lifestyle apparel, according to stylists, analysts and retailers. Consider the case of Shilpa Kapoor, 26, a marketing professional with a multinational company whose shopping list includes “fitted dresses, racerback tops in funky prints, Aztec print skirts, sequin shorts, one of those awesome colourful bubble necklaces, and one of the funky rings maybe in a serpent form or any…
If you're planning to develop a mall, here's a short-list of key issues you must address: Fail-proof the business plan by focussing on the customer: Focus on the development of retail brands and not solely on quick returns on investment. The primary responsibility should be that of catering to the consumer catchment and driving footfalls for the retail occupants. The other requirements follow from this simple premise. Also, a tenant-unfriendly revenue model that overloads the tenant with a high rent (whether fixed or as a percentage of sales) leads to a churn in tenants, and in combination with other factors,…
Meghna Maiti, Financial Chronicle Mumbai, August 16, 2013 On the evening of July 13, an Apna Bazaar store, opened by the Maharashtra government in the Mumbai suburb of Andheri, ran out of vegetables in two hours flat. Ditto was the case with 100 similar outlets set up by the state government to sell vegetables at prices a third lower than the market. Around the same time, in the Inorbit mall in nearby Malad, a supermarket was buzzing with shoppers. The aisles selling fancy imported foodstuff were busy but those selling fresh produce were nearly empty. The contrasting scenes succinctly capture…
Priyanka Pani , The Hindu Businessline Mumbai, August 10, 2013 Ishaq Rawuther was very disappointed with his ‘Id’ shopping. The malls and supermarkets, which were doling out usual offers during the month-long fasting festival as part of their regular sale period, hardly had any merchandise or product to offer that was related to the festival. “I could not find a nice pair of pathan suit at any of the malls. Finally, I got it stitched,” said Rawuther, a resident of Kalamboli in Navi Mumbai. Ramzan, the holy fasting month of the Muslim community, has somehow failed to attract the attention…
Priyanka Pani , The Hindu Businessline Mumbai, August 8, 2013 Department store chain Shoppers Stop is charting out plans to evolve as an omni-channel retailer in a bid to provide seamless access to consumers in physical stores as well as online. They expect this to make customers buy more — at least 15 to 30 per cent more — as some research studies have shown. With consumers increasingly turning to online shopping, brick-and-mortar retailers are devising ways to stay ahead by offering incentives to walk-in customers. The omni-channel strategy is one such initiative. Shoppers Stop Managing Director Govind Srikhande said,…
Geopolitical friction has again sparked renewed concerns over inflation and rising input costs for FMCG companies as @itmeansjustice @whysnavi write. @devangshu commented.
