HUNGAMA READIES MUSIC STORE

Posted by Dr. Vishesh Rawat

Hungama, which thus far operated in the B2B space, mostly as a developer and publisher of mobile content such as ringtones, is launching an entertainment store with an iTunes-like business model. Hungama.com is in the beta stage currently with about two lakh content pieces across music, videos, ringtones, and wallpapers. It’s a subscription model — pay Rs 10 for a single download or Rs 99 for unlimited downloads a month. But the firm has the difficult task of initiating a mind shift change; from free illegal downloads to paying for stuff that is Digital Rights Management (DRM)-protected. Hungama says getting people to pay for legal downloads is possible because of multiple reasons. One, its site is ad-free at the moment and there wouldn’t be any unwarranted pop ups. Illegal download sites have multiple versions of the same content that creatres confusion and are less secure as well. Hungama.com’s content can be downloaded both on PCs and mobile phones. The firm, in a way, would compete with Nokia that in August launched its Music Store service in India. Nokia’s store has over 3 million international, Bollywood, and regional soundtracks across 20 genres. Hungama has Bollywood and regional music content but no international labels as of yet.

AT MALLS, LUXURY STILL TO COME OF AGE

Posted by Dr. Vishesh Rawat

The onset of the long festive season and improving consumer sentiment has brought some cheer to malls and retail stores. For the luxury market, however, there is no succour. India has only three large format luxury malls -- that exceed 2 lakh sq ft of retail space -- UB City in Bangalore, DLF Emporio and Select City Walk in Delhi. Another luxury mall project called Bergamo by KKA Buildtech is scheduled to open in Chennai in June 2010 and is more on the lines of a luxury shopping complex of about 40,000 sq ft. Mumbai's first luxury mall -- Palladium, at High Street Phoenix -- is starting operations on September 26,6 months behind the original plan to launch in March, and that too with only 20% operational capacity. "It took longer than expected," said Gayatri Ruia, business development director, Palladium at High Street Phoenix. "There was a business plan to be met -- in terms of rates, correct mix of retailers, etc." Palladium has 4.5 lakh sq ft mall space, in addition to 3 lakh sq ft of car park. The mall will be 50% operational by November and 100% operational by February. Analysts say the luxury market in India is at a very nascent stage with a lot of entry barriers for retailers and malls, but that there definitely is potential. "There is a high-class community but there also is a lot of brand consciousness slowly emerging in the young earning consumers. In Delhi or other metros, A-list consumers know their Gucci and Louis Vuitton well. The luxury and super-luxury market may be very small currently but most of the malls that are coming up now are for a long term and definitely have a future," an industry analyst said. Ruia concurs. "The luxury market has little depth in it. But we are here for longevity. This mall will be here and a leader in its segment for the next 15 years at least so there's no worry for us," she said. Palladium, for example, will not break even until four years. But Ruia said one has to take calculated risks. "The retail and real estate sectors are emerging and also have risks involved. If you are a serious player, you have to take calculated risks," she said. The concept of luxury malls is fairly new. When Select City Walk started leasing space to retailers in 2005, not many super luxury brands were keen on entering the mall. "The super luxury brands were placed in the five star hotel lobbies, they were not keen to come to out mall then. As a result, most of our retailers are semi-luxury brands like Mango, Esprit, GAS, Calvin Klein," said Yograj Arora, director, Select Infrastructure. DLF's Emporio Mall came up later, in 2008-09, by when the super luxury brands were looking at malls. However, common to other malls, the slowdown has forced luxury malls to lower rentals or opt for revenue-share model. Select City Walk has rolled out a revenue-share model with certain retailers. Palladium will also look at this model, Ruia said.

RAYMOND PLANS TO SELL STAKE IN APPAREL, ENGG ARMS TO PE COS

Posted by Dr. Vishesh Rawat

Raymond is planning to sell stakes in its apparel and engineering subsidiaries to private equity (PE) funds to unlock value, according to Gautam Singhania, chairman and managing director of the 84-year-old textile company. “Talks with PE funds will be initiated at the appropriate time,” Singhania said. He declined to comment about expected valuations, stake to be offloaded and other details. Raymond Apparel, the company’s wholly-owned subsidiary that owns brands, such as Manzoni, Park Avenue, Parx and ColorPlus, has an annual revenue of Rs 350 crore. Engineering subsidiary JK Files & Tools, which was hived off into a separate company last month, has a turnover of Rs 225 crore. Proceeds from the proposed equity sale will be used to fund expansion plans of the two subsidiaries. Raymond Apparel plans to set up 88 small-format stores in the next one year, a company official said. It is also looking at repositioning the operations of its ColorPlus brand. Raymond, which is working on a restructuring plan to boost revenues and nudge back to profits, is also exploring the possibility of combining garmenting business with the flagship textile business. “This is too early. But it may be a possibility,” Singhania said.

RETAIL RENTALS CONTINUE TO FALL

Posted By Dr. Vishesh Rawat

Retail rentals across metros corrected by about 10 percent in the first half of 2009 compared with the second half of 2008. The drop could be as high as 40 percent in many locations when seen in the context of rentals in the first half of 2008, said a CB Ellis retail market review for the first half of this calendar. The report said retailers were also renegotiating rentals to make their operations viable and many developers had a renewed stance on revenue sharing agreements, unlike earlier when demand was favourable. Anshuman Magazine, Chairman and Managing Director, CB Richard Ellis, South Asia, said, “India is one of the fastest growing retail markets in Asia-Pacific. “Due to the current global economic recession and slowdown in the Indian economy, retail rentals across key markets did witness a fall as compared to the same time last year. “However, I expect the long term growth to stay on track.”

ORGANISED RETAILERS BULLISH ON DIWALI SALES

Posted by Dr. Vishesh Rawat

Players in the Rs 40,000-crore organised retail industry are expecting a revival of fortunes this Diwali, thanks to their new marketing initiatives and improved consumer sentiment in recent months. Most retailers hope footfalls to increase 50 percent during Diwali compared to last year. Retailers are also hoping for an increase of 20 percent to 25 percent in business at premium malls during the festive season. This year, retailers like Westside, Shoppers Stop, Pantaloon and Lifestyle have seen an average monthly footfall of 50,000.
Future Group’s retail arm, Pantaloon Retail India, has associated with Remanika Fashion Apparels to launch new consumer promotions for Diwali. Jalaj Kakkar, chief executive officer, Remanika Fashion Apparels, said, “Gifts are assured for consumers who make purchases worth Rs 3,000 to Rs 4,000. At every Remanika store, as well as in our shop-in-shop formats, we plan to issue gift vouchers worth Rs 400 on purchase of apparels worth Rs 2,000. The promotions will be spread across eight exclusive stores, 22 Shoppers Stop outlets, 30 Pantaloon, 16 Lifestyle, 12 Central and 8 Reliance Trends outlets. At Remanika exclusive stores, on the purchase of three garments from our new merchandise range, customers will get merchandise from the last season free.”
According to Virendra Ghole, head, marketing, Monginis Foods, “Since health conscious Indians are moving away from consuming mithais, we are introducing cookies and chocolates.” Monginis hopes to achieve a 25 percent sales growth this Diwali compared to the same period last year.
Ghole adds that with real estate prices diving, the company is able to accelerate the pace of new store launches. By the end of the current fiscal, it hopes to increase number of exclusive Monginis stores from 440 to 600.
@home by Nilkamal will offer gifts to customers on the purchase of goods worth over Rs 2,500. Manish Parekh, director, @home, said, “With new offers, we hope to witness actual sales conversion this Diwali.”
Treasure — The Jewellery Lounge will offer discounts on jewelleries — up to 30 percent on diamonds, 40 percent on kundan and 50 percent on uncut diamonds — between September 25 and October 31, targeted at Navratri, Dussera and Diwali shoppers.
According to Bineet Bhatt, chief operating officer, Treasure - The Jewellery Lounge, “We have entered into co-branded strategic tie-ups with nine brands in India which includes Yash Birla Group Company Evolve Medspa, Enrich, Flag restaurants, Florista, Great Escape Water Park, Pagli, Power House Gym, Puresin chocolates and Stylekist. Consumers buying jewellery worth Rs 5,000 will get gift vouchers from any of the nine brands.”
Sales suffered last Diwali season largely because of the liquidity crunch, in line with the situation across global markets.
According to some estimates, sales had dived as much as 40 percent in the run up to Diwali last year. Obviously, retailers are leaving nothing to chance this year.

Reliance digital to introduce private label

Posted by Dr. Vishesh Rawat

Reliance Digital, a unit of Reliance Retail Ltd, is planning to introduce private labels and will target nearly 150 large format retail stores over the next three years.
“Categories like small home appliances, memory cards, etc., where the degree of commoditization is high...people are not bothered about the brand,” chief executive officer Anil Baijal said.
While retailers generally have private labels for categories such as apparel, footwear and consumer goods, not many have them for consumer electronics and durables.
By December, Reliance Digital plans to launch another four-five stand-alone large format stores.

BHARTI WAL-MART'S CSR BEGINS IN AMRITSAR

Bharti Wal-Mart has provided 10 pushcarts to the unemployed and economically disadvantaged from rural areas located near its cash-and-carry store, Best Price Modern Wholesale, in Amritsar today.
Posted by Dr. Vishesh rawat

The pushcart owners, now holding legitimate businesses, have been signed up as members of Best Price Modern Wholesale, to enable them to procure fresh produce at best prices and pass on these benefits to their customers.
In keeping with its strong commitment to sustainable development, Bharti Wal-Mart joined hands with Coca-Cola India to undertake a plantation drive in and around Best Price Modern Wholesale store as part of their drive to plant over 2,000 saplings in Amritsar.
This initiative also rolls out Bharti Wal-Mart’s project, in partnership with the Amritsar Municipal Corporation, to adopt and manage the road stretch from Taranwala Bridge up to the end point of Amritsar Municipal Corporation.

Rental Vs Revenue sharing

Written and Posted by Dr. Vishesh Rawat

As the corporate houses – the Piramals, the Tatas, the Birlas, the Ambanis, the Rahejas, the Mittals, the Biyanis, the Goenkas, and mega foreign retailers- Walmart, Carrefour, Tesco and Landmark Group race to revolutionize the retailing sector, retail as an industry in India is coming alive. However current global and Indian economic scenario has brought a caution in supersonic expansion (Reliance’s slogan of one store a day) and operations of new stores in last couple of years. With shutters coming down on non profitable stores of many major retail chains, the initial euphoria in retail is settled now and the retailers have become more pragmatic in their approach. To survive and grow retailers are now looking for different cost cutting measures including staff reduction, salary cuts, spending less on ads and rationalizing the real estate rentals. However in last one year rents have gone down 30-50% on an average, still retailers are finding it difficult to sustain on these rentals and now try to get revenue sharing deals with the developers.
In retail real estate “Rent vs Revenue share” is one of the most frequently debated aspect, Proponents of both ideas have their own unique reasons. According to mall developers they invest huge money in developing shopping malls so they need to raise funds by selling the units for developing the project and once sold to investor’s mall have no right to give it to retailers on revenue sharing. Due to high construction cost and very expensive land the retail real estate is pretty costly. Most of the retailers have yet to establish themselves as a totally professional outfit with transparency in sales and accounting processes to inculcate faith in the mall owners. Mall owners/investors have no experience of retail so it’s difficult for them to have faith in the format of the retailers; most of the retailers are comparatively new and don’t have long and successful track record of retailing profitably in Indian markets. Why revenue sharing with mall owners, do retailers has a revenue share arrangement with their suppliers or warehouses, do multiplex operators do revenue share with producers/distributers? Mall owners allege that this is only an arm-twisting gimmick of the retailers and retailers are into profits or losses mainly due to their business format and operations, why the mall owners should have a stake in profit or loss of the retailers.
On the other hand retailers feel that they are paying 12-15% of sales as rentals in India compared to 2-3 % of sales in western countries. Such a high rental makes the entire retailing a loss making preposition. It is very important that the developer do not abandon the project after constructing and selling the mall, they must take the responsibility of running the mall efficiently by proper promotions, events and management of the assets. A stake of the developer in sales of the retailers in the mall will make them more responsible and participative in mall management and the mall will continuously strive to increase footfalls and conversion into sales. Revenue sharing model will help the retailers in expanding at lower risk of fixed costs as the rent will be directly relate to the sales of the store.
Both parties have some valid and logical points and for the sake of the retail industry they need to work together to create synergy. As per AT Kearney’s 2009 global retail development index, India’s largely un-modernized retail sector remain attractive to both domestic and international retailers, in spite of government regulations that prevent 100 per cent foreign ownership of retail stores. Lots of potential is there to grow for both stakeholders.

AADHAAR LOOKS TO MAKE PROFIT, OPEN 200 STORES

Posted by Dr. Vishesh Rawat

Aadhaar, the rural market-focussed 70:30 joint venture (JV) between the Future Group's Future Ventures India and Godrej Agrovet, hopes to turn around and starts making profits, by 2011.
Aadhaar, a modern retail chain operating in semi-urban and rural markets, has opened around 70 outlets across the country. The chain has mapped out an expansion plan of around 200 stores to be achieved over a period of time and therefore needs to balance the strain of losses from new outlets against the profits from older outlets as it expands in rural India.
The retail chain targets to leverage the Godrej's brand franchise with consumers in these markets and Future's expertise in the retail business.
"We have been steadily expanding the chain under its new chief executive officer Saurabh Chaddha as 3,000-sq-ft format stores.
On an average, each outlet takes around two to three years to become profitable," said a top Godrej official in charge of the group's retail interests.
Damodar Mall, group customer director, Future Group said that the group has reconfigured the format to meet consumer needs. "To do this, we have also changed the look and feel of the store," he said.
In the restructured format, the stores now sport the strengths of the JV's promoters by way of `The World of Godrej' section and `Big Bazaar Best Deals'. While the former offers a selection of products from the Godrej Group ranging from furniture, locks, white goods and its fastmoving consumer goods (FMCG) range, the latter section offers a selection of fashion and general merchandise selected from Big Bazaar outlets.

EXPLORING NICHE CONCEPTS IN RETAIL

Posted by Dr. Vishesh Rawat

The retail sector was poised to be a sunrise industry with a large number of corporate groups and multinationals entering the country. B-schools had launched several courses in retail management, including in subjects like supply chain management (SCM), anticipating a boom in the sector. That's when the slowdown brought the sector down along with some dreams.
The SCM industry goes hand-in-hand with the retail and manufacturing sectors. The benefits of SCM were recognised by the global corporate groups much earlier, though the concept is still nascent in India. However, the challenges unleashed by globalisation and the competitiveness of the Indian industry has brought about the need to recognise the importance of the industry.
According to Ansuhman Singh, CEO, Future Logistics, the industry is picking up pace in India. "The importance of this industry is evident in every sphere of manufacturing -- right from storage of raw materials, work-in-process inventory and transporting finished goods from point of origin to the point of consumption."
SCM courses are offered at a number of colleges as a postgraduate diploma. Most institutes offer SCM as a paper within the curriculum of retail management or operational management and there are institutes offering full-fledged courses on the subject (see box).

EXPLORING NICHE CONCEPTS IN RETAIL

Posted by Dr. Vishesh Rawat

The retail sector was poised to be a sunrise industry with a large number of corporate groups and multinationals entering the country. B-schools had launched several courses in retail management, including in subjects like supply chain management (SCM), anticipating a boom in the sector. That's when the slowdown brought the sector down along with some dreams.
The SCM industry goes hand-in-hand with the retail and manufacturing sectors. The benefits of SCM were recognised by the global corporate groups much earlier, though the concept is still nascent in India. However, the challenges unleashed by globalisation and the competitiveness of the Indian industry has brought about the need to recognise the importance of the industry.
According to Ansuhman Singh, CEO, Future Logistics, the industry is picking up pace in India. "The importance of this industry is evident in every sphere of manufacturing -- right from storage of raw materials, work-in-process inventory and transporting finished goods from point of origin to the point of consumption."
SCM courses are offered at a number of colleges as a postgraduate diploma. Most institutes offer SCM as a paper within the curriculum of retail management or operational management and there are institutes offering full-fledged courses on the subject (see box).

INDIA CAN SUSTAIN AT LEAST 6-7 RETAIL PLAYERS IN THE LONG RUN

Posted By Dr. Vishesh Rawat

India should be able to accommodate at least 6-7 big retail players, considering that the country's organised retail market is likely to grow to USD 100 billion in the next 3-4 years, Bharti Enterprises Vice-Chairman Rajan Mittal said on Sunday.
"The retail market is projected to be about USD 500 billion in another 3-4 years, and if organised retail has to pick up 20 per cent of that you are talking about USD 100 billion between a few players," Mittal said.
"India has sustainability for few players... Difficult for me to suggest... I think 6-7 players, if not more," he added, saying that "co-existence" will happen like one sees in international markets where you see many players.
Mittal, who focuses on the group's Bharti Retail business, said that organised retail in the country was just about 4-5 per cent and it is yet to expand and take shape.
Bharti Retail commenced operations last year and is looking at opening 40 new stores, called 'easyday' by December, in the National Capital Region. It already has around 30 stores, mainly in Punjab and Haryana.
Mittal said over the next 5-6 years, the company is looking at USD one billion in revenues, with 10 million square feet of retail area.
Bharti is also opening a second cash-and-carry (wholesale) store, a joint venture business with the world's largest retailer and US-based Wal-Mart, in Punjab.

SET FLOOR SPACE NORM FOR RETAIL FDI

Posted By Dr. Vishesh Rawat

Bharti Enterprises will invest $2 billion (around Rs 10,000 crore) and employ 60,000 people in their retail sector units by 2016.
It will also open 6-10 cash-and-carry outlets in the coming two years including a new one by December, the company’s Vice-Chairman and Managing Director, Rajan Bharti Mittal, said.
Mittal, leading the retail, cash and carry and realty business of the Bharti Group, said Bharti would start 70 retail stores by December.
Though Bharti has interests in realty, Mittal said, “Our retail units won’t depend entirely on our realty operations for commercial space. We will also partner other realty firms for our retail ventures.”
Mittal, currently the Senior Vice-President of FICCI and former Chairman of FICCI’s Retail Committee, told Business Line recently in an exclusive interview in Istanbul that instead of placing a blanket ban on organised and multi-brand retail, if the Government wants, it can put a minimum shop area ceiling of 2,000 sq ft for big companies entering modern organised multi-brand retailing.
The Government can also frame rules that Foreign Direct Investment in multi-brand will not be allowed for retailers operating from less than 2,000 sq ft units, he said, adding this will ensure that operations of big players do not in any manner overlap with that of small ‘kirana’ stores.
“But it is not right to totally ban FDI in multi-brand retail. There are big chains like Carrefour in countries with no FDI curbs, but in those places there are small retailers too,” Mittal said.
The Government, however, is going slow on permitting FDI in multi-brand retail owing to political sensitivities. However, FDI of up to 51 per cent is allowed in single-brand retail. Recently, a Parliamentary Standing Committee had mooted a ban on FDI in retail. The committee also said entry of big Indian firms and MNCs in retail would force small stores (numbering over a crore) to close shop, that would, in turn, result in unemployment.
Claiming that there was no overlap in operations of big retailers and that of small stores, Mittal said while a ‘kirana’ store operates from a 500-800 sq ft area shop with around 500-600 SKUs (stock keeping units), big retailers are looking at shops where each would have over 2000 sq ft in area holding about 3000 SKUs. Sourcing hub
Opening the retail sector would make India a major sourcing hub for retail biggies such as Wal-Mart, he said. Currently, while the American giant buys $20 billion worth goods from China every year, it sources items only amounting $600 million annually from India. Besides, SMEs and farmers selling their goods to big retailers would get a better price, in turn strengthening India’s manufacturing and farm sectors, he said, adding that big retailers will also ensure better cold chain facilities.
Also, consumers get cheaper and good quality items in big stores. ‘Kirana’ stores can cut costs, because instead of going to about 30 distributors to source their 500-700 items, they can get quality items from any one cash-and-carry outlet at a cheaper rate.

RETAIL GROWTH SET TO DOUBLE TO 10% IN ’09

Posted By Dr. Vishesh Rawat

Armed with insights into the consumer’s buying behaviour, learnings from the past and a growth projection of 8-10%, 2009 is expected to be the defining period for the Indian retail industry.
“Though the Indian retail industry has learnt a lot over the past few years, 2009 will be the defining year for all as there will be opportunities galore,’’ said B S Nagesh, V-C, Shopper’s Stop, at the India Retail Forum.
The growth in retail is expected to scale up to 8-10% from the current 4%. Nagesh said retailers would see a tremendous growth and profit this year than they have in the past. “Indian consumers are the biggest scope for growth for the Indian retailers. However, it is up to the retailers to make the best of the opportunities available and those who do not latch on to them right now will miss the boat,’’ said Nagesh.
Kishore Biyani, CEO, Future Group—which plans to raise Rs 1,000 crore by selling some non-core retail assets in addition to launching an IPO for Future Ventures in March 2010—shared insights on value creation and emphasised the need to create stimulus to increase consumption.

India's second retail revolution?

Posted by Dr. Vishesh rawat

Is India finally ready to defer or even give up indulgence ownership? It would seem that way, going by two high-profile developments in the retail sector over the past month.
At two opposite ends of the price spectrum, savvy businessmen introduced ideas that took their respective target markets several steps closer to their heart's desire. You don't get to own it, mind you-but who cares when you get to flaunt it?
At the lower end of the line was denim major Levi's. In the first scheme of its kind, the brand introduced jeans on EMIs. The pilot project, which rolled out in Bangalore in early August, allows consumers to pay for garments priced Rs 1,500 (and above) over three monthly instalments of Rs 500 (or above) through their credit cards.
The target market, according to company sources, is the section that buys unbranded jeans, usually priced at Rs 500 or less. The logic is clear: If the consumer needs to place on the table the amount he would normally pay for an item of clothing, he will not mind paying that sum twice again over a period of time if it buys him an aspirational item.
By all accounts, the experiment has been a success: The company is looking to go national with the scheme in the near future.
The same logic is twisted a bit for Bagsutra. Very high-end, very exclusive and very secretive, this is India's first bag-rental service. For Rs 10,000 in annual membership fees, you have access to 52 bags a year, at a cost of Rs 1,000-2,000 per bag.
That is not to imply anyone with a spare 10 grand can avail of the service: Membership is by invitation only, prospective sign-ups are screened and need to be recommended by an existing member. The service-available online at www.bagsutra.com is so paranoid about not revealing details that it's still not clear who actually runs the show.
Oh and the bags? The service assures us that they only stock the hippest international labels, from Bottega Veneta and Chanel to Tod's and Zac Posen.
Off-the-rack prices for these premium designer labels-all the bags are guaranteed to be genuine-start at above Rs 50,000. So the fees work out to be quite reasonable should you be a regular at red-carpet premieres and high-society parties. So far available only in Mumbai [ Images ], the service plans to be available in Delhi [ Images ] soon.
While the Bagsutra model is a photocopy of popular American businesses like From Bags to Riches and Bag, Borrow or Steal (both of them several years old), the Levis' scheme could actually be interpreted as an honest-to-goodness Indian take on a global trend.
They indicate that the Indian consumer, inured to the concept of mortgage and monthly instalments through big-ticket items like houses and cars, is ready to expand the buy-now-pay-later philosophy to indulgences, rather than restricting it to a few items. In two separate online polls, more than 30 per cent respondents said they would have no issues spending good money to get a trendy bag they would return after use.
If immediate ownership actually ceases to be the mark of success, it could trigger a second retail revolution, this time focused on the higher end of the market. With time, rent-a-Rohit Bal lehenga or borrow-a-Valaya sherwani could become the norm, shorn of the furtiveness currently associated with luxury rentals.
As a certain section of Indian society fine-tunes its predilection for conspicuous consumption, this could well turn out to the cost-effective solution everyone was looking for in a changed economic scenario.
And if your best friend turns up at a wedding reception in a designer outfit you wore two weeks ago, you'll be gracious enough only to comment on how beautiful she looks, please.

Birla Retail hopes to make profit by FY 13

Posted by Dr. Vishesh Rawat

Aditya Birla Retail, which runs the More brand supermarket and hypermarket stores, expects to start making profits in the next three
years. If so, it could be the first Indian retail major to come out of the red by FY13. In a retail environment where big players have been witnessing a degrowth, ABRL has seen fairly robust single-digit growth in the past six months. “We have grown around 3-4% month-on-month since March and will probably be the first player in this space (read organised national retail) to break even. We expect the south zone to break even this fiscal and the two formats to break even by next fiscal,” CEO of ABRL, Thomas Varghese, said. ABRL kicked off retail play with the acquisition of Hyderabad-based Trinethra Super Retail and Fabmall in 2007. The chain is now putting in place an optimisation strategy to boost returns and for effective use of available real estate. It will nearly double the number of stock keeping units (SKUs) per square ft, from 1.25 SKUs to 2 SKUs per sq ft. Increasing the rack heights is one of the options to achieve this. This will give the customer access to more brands over the same shelf space. “We have realised that sales turnover from a 2,000 sq ft store can be increased to match that from a 3,500 sq ft store. We will roll out this plan in 160 stores in the next 6-8 months,” Mr Varghese said. The Rs 1,130 crore ABRL operates 642 stores across 12 states and had shut down over 100 non-viable stores. The company is negotiating new store launches at nearly half the rent targeting a rent-to-revenue ratio of under 5%. More’s hypermarket outlets (60, 000-70, 000 sq ft) are coming up in rapid succession in Mumbai, Mysore, Aurangabad, Indore and now Bangalore. The company plans to have eight hypermarkets and 700 supermarkets by fiscal. Besides everyday low prices, it has differentiated its presence in the hypermarket space by toning down visual merchandising in Aurangabad as home visits with potential customers revealed that they were intimidated by hypermarkets and offering free parking in Bangalore. “The response from recent openings in Indore and Aurangabad have given us the confidence that ABRL can have a profitable play in hypermarkets if it is tuned to the customer needs,” he added. Its strong private label business currently at around 18-19% with over 300 products is also aiding margins.

Retailers to step up festive splash

AHMEDABAD: The upcoming festive season will see retail players increasing their marketing spend by 20%. The retail sector missed a big opportunity

Top brand endorsersBrand endorsersTop Ten celebrity ad list around August 15. Depressed conditions due to weak monsoon and swine flu fears kept consumers away on the Independence Day, treated as a big discount day that usually gets shoppers in hordes to avail of up to 70% discounts. Traditionally, retailers spend 40% of their promotional budget on advertisements, 30% for freebies and promotional schemes, and the remaining 30% for discounts. National players such as Pantaloon, Reliance, More, and Spencer’s are already planning special festival offering and the sector is trying its best to attract buyers to malls and big retail stores. The attempt is to recover what was lost in a year-long slump and make a killing in the four-month festival period, starting mid-September with Navratris. “The slump seems to be at its fag end. Diwali being early this year, coinciding with the last phase of monsoon, will have greater impact on the retail market
. This will have retailers spending increased amount of money to attract customers. Around 20% additional advertisement spend is expected from the retailers,” retail consultant Vahid Ravji told ET. He said this would give retailers a chance to make amends for the August 15 sales fiasco, as market sentiments have been improving. “I can surely say customers are expected to benefit a lot,” Mr Ravji said. With stock market rising and shop rentals falling by 30-40%, the sentiment is high in Gujarat. Mr Ravji, who pioneered organised retail in Gujarat in 1989 with his own department store and later had a stint with Aditya Birla group’s More, said, “Promotions were put on hold last year due to bad stock market and economic conditions. Now, with things looking up, retailers’ confidence is likely to get a boost. Also, hurdles like unavailability of trained manpower have been removed due a consolidation phase in the market and personnel training institutes coming up.” Retailers believe economy is reviving and the sector will try to take advantage of it. Says Pantaloon Retail’s Gujarat head Anand Adukia: “Promotional spending for the festival season should be higher by around 20%. The sector has passed through a difficult period and it is the right time to change the consumers’ mood and get them back.” Chairman of IIM-A’s Centre for Retailing Prof Piyush Sinha too believes that things would only get better from here. “Retailers have received good response during Ganesh Chaturthi, and therefore, the sector is optimistic for the Durga Puja and Diwali season as well. Retailers will surely try to attract more customers.
Posted by: Neha Dhall

Retail revs up for the long haul in India

Posted by: Dr. Vishesh Rawat
FDI in retail must be allowed, insists Anshuman Magazine, CMD of CB Richard Ellis South Asia Pvt Ltd. "India's retail trade is around $ 180 billion, which is almost 10 per cent of the GDP, employing more then 21 million persons. Policies should be more transparent and smooth, in order to attract foreign investors," he justifies. "Like any other person who invests money, we need to understand that foreign investors will also expect returns. Perhaps the challenge lies in reassuring these investors," he wonders aloud. According to Dubai-based real estate consultant, Rajesh Bijlani, the news of retail chain IKEA putting its India entry plans on hold, indicates the prevalent scenario. "There is something in India's policies and implementation that is keeping such major brands from entering right now, despite the fact that the economic indices are attractive to MNC brands," he feels. "Many retail brands that have outlets in the UAE have shown interest in setting up operations in India, but little is actually working out in the near future, as compared to the potential. I guess we need to work out red-tapism and other issues that seem to be delaying the entry of these retail players at present," he adds. FDI is not allowed in multi-brand retail, only in single-branded stores, points out Bappaditya Basu, vicepresident (retail), Jones Lang LaSalle Meghraj. "Foreign, single brand stores can open with an Indian partner and hold a maximum of 51 per cent stake, according to FDI norms. In the past, this was not allowed, which meant that only the franchisee route was available and it did not suit many of these brands," he explains. Among the global retailers seeking to enter the Indian retail arena are Hamleys, Diesel, et al, reveals Basu. "Leading international brands like Burberry, Smallsmith, Kenzo, Bottega Veneta, Canali and Just Cavali were already present on a limited scale and have now changed partners, to open up more stores in India. There are also some international coffee chains eyeing India and scouting for partners," he adds. Ashok Kumar, principal and managing director, CresaPartners India mentions how the Emke Group, which operates the biggest hypermarket chain in the Middle East under the LuLu and Al Falah brands, is entering the Indian market by developing the biggest shopping mall in Kochi, in Kerala. "Crocs India Retail Ltd, the lifestyle footwear brand, will launch eight to 10 more EBOs in India. Similarly, Manchester United Food & Beverage Asia, with a mandate to set up casual dining outlets tapping into the popularity of the multi-billion dollar club, has done a recce of select Indian cities in recent months and followed it up by talking to potential investors. Leonidas, a Belgian chocolate producer and seller, has entered the Indian market by establishing its retail operations in India. It claims to be the only chocolate brand having its own exclusive store," he adds. Similarly, New Delhi-based Grand Slam, one of the market leaders in high end fitness equipment, is planning to set up 30 more franchisee stores in tier-II and tier-III cities, by January 2010, adds Kumar. "Obviously, things are looking up and the Indian scenario seems receptive to FDI in retail," he adds. Rajnikant Ajmera, former president of CREDAI explains that the retail segment in India faces a simple challenge: global trends do not fit-in entirely, given that the end customer has a different buying pattern and motivators to loyalty, with regards to a brand or a location. "If you look at Mumbai's retail story, initial projects faced all sorts of challenges. Some quietly shut down, were taken over or re-did their business plans. Issues pertaining to footfalls, the right size and mix of anchor tenants are still being learnt," says Ajmera. However, global brands will definitely want to enter the vast Indian market, he adds. Kumar points out that the government has proposed setting up a retail regulatory authority, which will have jurisdiction over the organised retail sector, including single-brand stores and the wholesale cash-and-carry trade. Amidst talk of a recovery from the global economic recession and the impact on real estate in India, Atul Modak, head of Kohinoor City Project says, "Global financial hiccups are a fact of life. They impact sentiment but will not stop economic growth in India. There is a demand-supply gap when it comes to quality commercial space. Prominent locations have and will always see terrific growth in residential space and this, in turn, will trigger the retail and commercial realty boom in any area," he says.

Moti Mahal expanding internationally

With presence across India, Moti Mahal Delux Management Service Pvt Ltd, the chain which manages the brand Moti Mahal restaurants recently announced its plans to foray into overseas markets. By end of this year, the company is looking to launch its flagship stores in Melbourne, Australia and UAE.
According to the sources, the company is in active discussions with potential franchisees to set up its restaurants in Europe and New Zealand. Owing to the global meltdown, the company delayed its overseas plans.
By this year end, the company intends to launch about 12 new outlets in Delhi, Chennai, Bhopal and Mumbai. The company is in the process to consolidate its existing stores and it will also consider new restaurants in tier - III cities.
The company looks at expanding through franchise management model. Presently, the company is working on three major business formats: the restobar, casual fine dine and the food courts. The company may possibly explore new formats during this year.
In order to introduce its restaurants in the airport terminals, the company is contemplating on the financial viability. It may also consider major international airports for the brand`s expansion.
The company plans to launch two restaurants at Rajindera Nagar and Patel Nagar in Delhi, which will be operational by August 2009 and to introduce the brand in Pune.

Posted By - Shivender Singh Panwar

Aspri brings Ceretto Wines of Italy to India

Aspri Spirits Private Limited, one of India’s leading importers and distributors of premium wines, beers and spirits inks an exclusive tie-up with Ceretto Wines for its marketing and distribution rights in India. Ceretto Wines is one of the most awarded & premium range of wines from Piedmont, Italy. Through this tie-up, Aspri Spirits will be the exclusive importer for Ceretto Wines in India and will handle complete marketing, sales and distribution for the brand. On the other hand, Ceretto Wines will benefit from Aspri’s widespread reach that will enable it to expand its footprint and extend presence to major markets in the country.Speaking on the tie-up Sumedh Singh Mandla, CEO, Aspri Spirits Private Limited says, “We are very delighted with this association. Ceretto is an iconic brand and it is very well in line with our philosophy. We will be working towards making these wines available in all premium hotels and restaurants across India.” Aspri Spirits Pvt. Ltd. which has developed one of the largest sales and distribution networks in India covers over 22 major states and will be expanding in near future. Speaking on the occasion, Fedrico Ceretto, Owner-Ceretto vineyards says, "We always give our best and choose to associate with the best in the industry. With this tie-up, we aim to enlarge our penetration & tap to the major Indian markets extensively.” The Ceretto brand was founded by Riccardo Ceretto, seventy years ago and is one of the largest producers of wines such as the Bricco Rocche Barolo, the Bricco Asili Barbaresco, Blangé Arneis, Moscato from Vignaioli di Santo Stefano, Dolcetto, Barbera and Langhe Monsordo.
Post by –Upmeet Kaur

Tunday Kebabs’ foray into franchising

‘Tunday Kebabs’, a 105 year old scrumptious speciality from the City of Nawabs is on the way to franchise its outlets across India. Owned by a family which had a humble beginning from a kebab-parantha shop in 1905 in Lucknow has now become the most renowned name ‘Tunday Private Ltd’.
Mohammad Usman, Chairman of the company decided to enter into the franchise business arrangements across the globe. M/S U.S. Eating Point is the first one to take up the franchisee. The franchised outlet is situated at a strategic location on the main picnic spot road in Khurram Nagar in Lucknow. M/S U.S. Eating Point, which has taken the franchise is a venture undertaken by two young NRIs Uzair and Shakil, who decided to say good bye to their respective businesses in Sharjah and return to their roots here. With an aim to make it global they are confident of going ahead with plans to have franchises not only across India but even abroad soon, particularly countries where the melt-in-the-mouth 'Galavati Kebabs' are already in great demand among NRIs.
Usman's next destination will be Bangaluru, where Abdul Rehman Khan has already sought a franchise arrangement to take it to new heights.
Tunday Kebab was a ramshackled shop in a remote corner of Lucknow before Mohammad Usman started an outlet in Aminabad in 1996. It is due to his desire to become global that now the business has gained a corporate identity.
In order to give a brand identity to their products they wish to standardise the ingredients to ensure the quality and standard of food with every franchisee. The mouth-watering Kebabs will have its own logo and trade mark, 'Tunday's', with Lucknow's famous Roomi Darwaza in the backdrop.

Posted By- Deepak Khatri

Haryana to create ultra modern supply-chain infrastructure for horticulture products; a win-win proposition for farmers and retailers

Posted: By Shiv Bhatia

HSAMB (Haryana State Agricultural Marketing Board), a state government development agency, is taking up commendable steps to strengthen agriculture supply infrastructure for efficient marketing of fresh/ green horticulture products like fruits, vegetables, flowers, and herbs.

Apart from helping farmers in securing better price for their products, creation of modern suppy-chain infrastructure will go a long way in reducing spoilage/wastage of short shelf life fresh products. This will also provide common platform to retail chains and large national and global wholesalers to procure their requirements from well equipped market places in an organised manner.

The Agriculture Marketing Board will invest over Rs 100 crore (1 billion) in creating two modern wholesale markets at Panchkula and Mewat in Haryana (source). The wholesale markets, being set up under under National Horticulture Mission, will facilitate sale and purchase of fruits, vegetables, flowers and herbs.

Apart from facilities of auction halls for sale of fruits, vegetables and flowers, proposed wholesale markets will also have ultra modern facilities for grading packing halls, pre-coolers, cold storages for potato,etc, onion storage, organic food section, ripening chambers, among others. Among other provisions, the proposed markets will have infrastructure for retail chain and wholesale shops, retail market for farmers, business park, viewing gallery, transport and waste disposal area, water works, loading and unloading areas, and quality testing labs.

According to R R Jowel, HSAMB’s chief administrator, creation of these markets will help state farmers in seeking customers for their produce not only from Haryana but from national and international markets as well.

The Board, according to Jowel, is also considering a proposal for development of supply chain infrastructure, that will include creating facilities for pre-cooling, washing, waxing, grading, sorting, packing and cold storage of horticulture products at 17 existing market places at an additional investment of over Rs 75 crore (750 million).

The state agency, according to Jowel, is also setting up a new vegetable market at Panipat and a modern farmer’s market at Panchkula in the state. Apart from these, new vegetables and fruits markets including modern farmer’s market will also come up at Hisar, Narnaul, Rohtak and Karnal. Setting up of air conditioned market at Gurgaon, cold storage facilities for potatoes at Shahbad, storage facilities for onions at Jhajjar and multi utility cold storage at Sonipat are also going to form part of infrastructure plans.

Apple retail news: three new stores opened this weekend

While all of the attention this weekend was around the launch of Snow Leopard, Apple opened up three new retail stores; two new stores in the US and one in Germany.

First, the company opened a new store in Hamburg, Germany on Saturday, which is now Apple's second store in Germany, after the store in Munich opened last December.

Second, there's a new store in Dedham, Massachusetts at the Legacy Place shopping center. This store will be the ninth store in the state of Massachusetts.

Finally, Apple also opened up a new store at the Stonebriar shopping complex in Frisco, Texas. This store makes it the sixth store in the Dallas/Fort Worth area.

If you live in or are near one of these areas, be sure to check out your new Apple Store. As always, we would love to hear your stories of your first visit or see your photos!

Posted By- Tapasya Joshi

Future group has begun hiring again with pick up of retail sales, says Biyani

Posted: By Shiv Bhatia

“Retail sales have again picked up and we are more or less back to the same level as we were before the global crisis broke out,” said Kishore Biyani, Founder and CEO of Future group.

Accordingly, Pantaloon Retail (Future group’s retail arm), which operates several multi-format, multi-product, retail chains in value, lifestyle, and home retail segments, across the country and provides direct employment to 40,000 persons, after a short blip, has begun hiring new employees for retail chains.

Retail sector, one of the biggest job creators in any economy, according to Biyani, is a key growth driver for the country’s economy. The sector offers great potential for creation of jobs everywhere. India’s retail sector, like other global economies, too has great potential for creation of jobs.

According to Biyani, increase in urban consumption leads to rural prosperity as well. According to a study conducted by his group, every Rs 100 worth of urban consumption results in channeling of Rs 39 to rural areas.

Biyani was participating in meeting of top industry leaders convened on Tuesday by India’s Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee. The meeting was called to chart out a road map for reforms and sustainable economic growth.

India’s Retail Business Estimated to Touch $590 Billion in 2 Years

India’s retail business, the second largest employer after agriculture, is estimated to touch $590 billion in two years, Parliament was informed today. “The retail trade is estimated to grow at 13 per cent per annum from $322 billion in 2006-07 to $590 billion in 2011-12,” Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Jyotiraditya Scindia said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha. The share of organised retail in total retail has grown from 3.3 per cent in 2003-04 to 4.1 per cent 2006-07. Replying to the query on FDI in the country’s retail market, Scindia said there was no proposal to change the foreign direct investment (FDI) policy in the sector.

“Government also fully recognises the need to ensure that small retailers are not adversely affected by the growing organised retail and that there is no adverse effect on employment,” he added. A Parliamentary Standing Committee on Commerce has recommended a blanket ban on entering of domestic and foreign players into the retail trade. FDI is prohibited in retail trading except for single brand, where 51 per cent foreign investment is permitted. Foreign investment up to 100 per cent is permitted under the automatic route in wholesale cash and carry trading.

Posted By- Tapasya Joshi

A well-knit franchise formula for WELHOME

The renowned chain of home textiles in India and a division of Welspun Retail Ltd, WELHOME, has recently tied up with ‘Franchise India Holdings Limited’ for expanding its franchise network in India. Being the home décor giant, WELHOME has 200 stores across 120 cities offering quality products at competitive prices. Consumers can look forward to international quality merchandise, at value-for-money prices – with a lot of knowledge and fun in store while shopping at WELHOME

Currently focusing on its franchise network expansion, WELHOME plans to penetrate deeply in tier II and tier III cities. In today’s dynamic and constantly evolving times, where time is a constraint for shoppers WELHOME offers widest assortment of products under one roof. It includes bed and bath linen, living and dining accessories, furnishings and gift items and toys for children. WELHOME is in the business of soft furnishings and home accessories. They aim to fulfil every customer’s dream of converting a house into a home.

Posted By - Shivender Singh Panwar

KFC plans to operate 500 outlets by 2015

KFC, a brand of Yum! Restaurants, is on its launching spree as it opens its 50th restaurant in the country which is the fourth in Chennai and plans to operate 500 KFC outlets by 2015. Their target is to open 100 outlets by ending 2010 and at least 300 outlets by 2011.
These outlets will be both franchised and company owned in the metros.
The fiscal year 2009 has been quite exciting for KFC with some novel products such as Krushers (a beverage) introduced in the market. There has been a 10 percent increase in the number of patrons of KFC and the sister brand Pizza Hut has also seen growth of about 7 percent.
Yum! will test-market its other big brand, Taco Bell, in Bangalore, where the first outlet will open by the end of the year. KFC is Yum! Restaurants’ biggest brand worldwide.
Yum! has over 35,000 restaurants in over 100 countries. KFC is present in over 80 countries, with more than 13,000 outlets. This quick service restaurant chain is now present in 11 cities in India.

Posted By - Deepak Khatri

People not fit for management jobs

People not fit for management jobs:
The best practices will fail to build the right spirit unless management bears witness for its own professed beliefs every time it appoints a man to a management job.
Character is not something a man can acquire; if he does not bring it to the job, he will never be able to do it. It is not something one can fool people.The men with whom a man works and especially his subordinates know in a few weeks whether he has integrity or not. They may forgive a man a great deal: incompetence, ignorance, insecurity or bad manners. But they will not forgive him lack of integrity. Nor will they forgive higher management for choosing him about.
Integrity may be difficult to define, but what constitutes lack of integrity of such seriousness as to disqualify a man for managerial position
A man should not be appointed if he is more interested in the question: Who is right? Than in the question: What is right?
Management should not appoint a man who considers intelligence more important than integrity. For this is immaturity.
In addition a manager with high integrity is also responsible to keep a watch on his subordinates if the matters involve financial transactions with outside agencies and pre-empt any losses that his organization is likely to incur. Keeping a blind eye in total good faith is also not desirable from a competent manager.

Posted by:
Reshma Singh
HR

Retail sales of medicines grew 8.9% in July

Retail sales of medicines grew 8.9% in July over the year ago period, down from 18.3% in the month of June, due to deficient monsoon.
This is because sales of anti-infectives, cough & cold preparations, anti-diarrheals, anti- asthamatics & anti-asthainflammatory which normally show a seasonal spurt in the month of July due to rainfall saw lower growth, consultancy firm ORG IMS said. The Rs 36,000 crore drug industry has been growing at 14-15% over the last few years, but sales in June rose 18.3% as stockists bought more drugs in anticipation of higher demands during the rainy season. ORG IMS tracks the sales figures of stockists and not the actual sales of drugs sold by over five lakh chemists across the country. Cipla held on to its top ranking for domestic sales, followed by Ranbaxy and Glaxosmithkline. Among products, Novartis’ painkiller Voveran continued to remain the top-selling drug.

its good time to invest..

In looking through the many articles on this subject I am struck by the wide range of opinions real estate professionals have regarding the current real estate climate. Many say this is a perfect time to buy because the market has bottomed; others say the market is stagnant; others maintain that we have "just reached the tip of the iceberg" and home prices will continue to fall dramatically. These opinions are currently peppered among various questions and answer threads in many subgroups i.e. buyers, sellers, bankers. My goal in starting this thread is to consolidate these opinions into one thread and spark more thorough debate. If you have an opinion on the issue, based on what you are personally seeing, studies or other data, or anything else you deem relevant, please weigh in!
Besides real estate being local, it is just like the stock market (although I like to think it is not as liquid as stocks). Sell low, buy low, sell high buy high. The advantage of owning real estate is...it will NEVER go bankrupt, don't have to worry about the business getting up and moving...How often has real estate depreciated and or totally lost its value? If you have a good Realtor and they offer sound, knowledgeable advice I would buy in any market. Do your research, find a good Realtor that you trust (just like a financial advisor) and buythe main reason for buying now is the combination of historically low interest rates coupled with low prices. While prices may drop further (I doubt very much), the interest rates will probably not drop much, if at all. The amount of money you will save in home prices by waiting for a lower priced home, will more than likely be offset by the rising interest rates. One thing is for sure: you will never be able to time the market perfectly. By the time the media reports that the housing market has bottomed out, it will have already occurred in the field by at least 4 months. When in your life have you ever been able to time anything perfectly? Buying a house should be a decision you make based on your personal situation and lifestyle preferences, and not just for investment purposes.
If you are buying for investment or your family taking advantage of this market is an option.
3 Question you should ask yourself.
1 Why am I buying? 2 What if I buy a house what will happen? 3 What will happen if I wait?
Will this be the biggest investment I will make or is a way of getting to where I want to be?
If you can answer these questions with a good positive outcome then you should be contacting your local realtor and buy. It is a great time to make money and go to the future. Do it now!

Pantaloon Retail sees 30% growth in revenue this year

Pantaloon Retail sees 30% growth in revenue this year

As fears over swine flu spread across India, its effect is gradually being seen in the retail sector as well. Kishore Biyani, chief executive officer, Pantaloon Retail (India) Ltd, said in an interview that his company saw some impact on sales in Pune and Mumbai.

He, however, also said that the firm aimed to achieve at least 30% growth in revenue this year. Edited excerpts:What’s your sense of how this sales season will be, given that there is a swine flu scare going on?

We had much bigger plans and we are much organized this time. We had a lot of stock and a lot of collaborative approach with the manufacturers, but we have some impact in Pune, none of our stores is closed except one store in Pimpri (in Pune district).We are seeing decent business, but not crowd as we normally see..., but we are still expecting a sale of about Rs250 crore and whatever our yesterday’s number suggests, we are on track.

So you don’t see any big dip this time around year-on-year because of the kind of footfalls that have been happening?

We had about 6-8% lower sales in Mumbai than what we had expected. Pune was less than 20% but we have 116 overall stores in the country. The northern, southern and eastern region have done more than expectations and we have balanced out in that sense.I believe that you had indicated to investors that you are gunning for a 16-17% same-store growth in FY10.

Are you on track for that kind of an aggressive growth target?

We are looking at close to 30% growth and not 16-17%, so we are looking at 3.5-4 million sq. ft of expansion as a group in this fiscal year and that will contribute to some growth and also growth will happen out of same-store sales growth.So we are confident of 30% growth, not same-store, but overall growth in terms of revenue.

Posted by- Deepak Khatri

Bata will open 200 new stores

Bata India Ltd plans to add 200 new stores to its retail network across the country over the next two years. The stores will be launched under the company’s new retail model that classifies stores into four formats – flagship
Stores, city stores, super stores, and family stores, according to a company release. Bata recently opened a flagship store and a super store in Thane. Modelled after the international Bata stores, the flagship store is spread across a lavish 4,800 square feet, while the super store has an area of over 6,000 square feet.“These stores offer customers a comfortable and trendy shopping experience in air conditioned comfort. The large format enables proper display of the shoe line, which has over 200 new designs on offer,” the release said. The company also announced the opening of its new flagship store in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. Spread across an area of 3,500 square feet, the new store offers customers the company’s entire range of footwear, including over 200 new designs. Bata is the largest footwear retailer in India with more than 1,100 stores.

Posted By- Tapasya Joshi

Bata will open 200 new stores

Bata India Ltd plans to add 200 new stores to its retail network across the country over the next two years. The stores will be launched under the company’s new retail model that classifies stores into four formats – flagship
Stores, city stores, super stores, and family stores, according to a company release. Bata recently opened a flagship store and a super store in Thane. Modelled after the international Bata stores, the flagship store is spread across a lavish 4,800 square feet, while the super store has an area of over 6,000 square feet.“These stores offer customers a comfortable and trendy shopping experience in air conditioned comfort. The large format enables proper display of the shoe line, which has over 200 new designs on offer,” the release said. The company also announced the opening of its new flagship store in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. Spread across an area of 3,500 square feet, the new store offers customers the company’s entire range of footwear, including over 200 new designs. Bata is the largest footwear retailer in India with more than 1,100 stores.

Posted By- Tapasya Joshi

Nokia Officially Launched its Music Store

Nokia officially launched its Music Store in India at a function held in Mumbai yesterday. With more than 3 million tracks across various genres available for download, it is easily one of the largest stores of its kind designed for Indian users.
The store is loaded with heavy localized content and to achieve this, the company has collaborated with local music labels including Tseries, Yashraj Music, Saregama, BIG Music and Venus. Along with the Music Store launch, Nokia is expected to launch its Comes With Music service in India as well, later this year. On the sidelines of the Music Store launch, Nokia also announced the launch of three new devices in India. These include the Nokia 5630, 5530 XpressMusic and the 5230. We already have covered the launch of these phones in our preview here.


Coming back to the Music Store, the current version of the Nokia Music Store gives users a variety of options to download music. The service comes with an "on-device" client for downloading music over the air or the easier to use PC Client. Users can play the purchased tracks wherever they want to and can sync it to their phones or to their PCs - unlike the case with most other DRM laden music. The full-fledged launch of the Music Store comes months after Nokia has started offering purchase vouchers with select phone models on the E, N and the XpressMusic series of phones.At the launch of the service, Nokia's Head of Global Music, Elizabeth Schimel, informed that the Nokia Music Store is available in over 20 countries, with India being the 21st. Out of these countries, nine have access to the Comes With Music service. The service, as mentioned earlier, will also reach India by year-end. The specialty of the Nokia Music Store is its rich localized content. Nokia seems to have taken care in hiring people who have deep knowledge of local music genres and has managed to provide users with interesting content, as evident from the Home Screen of the Nokia Music Client. You can download the Music Store from the link provided at the beginning of the article.

Posted By Neha Dhall

Kerala retailers gear up for ‘Onam’ sales;

Kerala retailers gear up for ‘Onam’ sales;

Posted By: Shiv Bhatia

offer gifts, draws, shopping bonanzas to lure customers , the biggest harvest festival of Kerala marking the homecoming of legendary King Mahabali, despite clouds of global recession still hovering on the sky, is being celebrated with traditional gaiety, festivity, and feeling of happiness.While, Supplyco (Kerala State Civil Supplies Corporation), a state government retailer, has planned to celebrate the festival beginning the 28th August, 2009, private sector retail players have also geared up for the occasion with several mouth-watering shopping offers for their customers.Supplyco is hoping to garner sales of Rs 210 crore this Onam by setting up five Metro People’s Bazaars and 12 Town People’s Bazaars that will cater to customer needs of essential commodities and other household products at reasonable prices during the festival time.Sony, the leading Japanese consumer electronic brand, is all set to garner festive season business of Rs 75 crore, this Onam. Apart from promoting various other products in its range, Sony is expecting to sell 20,000 CTVs (LCDs) and 10,000 digicams during the period.Whirlpool, the well known brand of home appliances, is ready to storm the market with a wide range of washing machines and other durable products. The brand is expecting to garner sales of Rs 100 crore by selling 250,000 appliances this year. The brand sold 170,000 appliances last year.Tanishq, the leading gold jewellery maker owned by Tatas-led Titan, is offering gifts worth Rs 2 lakh at each store in Kerala. Besides, it is also freeing its customers from obligation of paying last installment under Golden Harvest Savings Scheme of the company.Panasonic India, the leading consumer electronics company, is hoping to double its sales during the Onam festival in Kerala. The durables brand is expecting to achieve Rs 40 crore worth business this year compared to Rs 20 crore in the previous year by offering an exchange and upgrade offer to its customers. Panasonic will exchange and/or upgrade old colour TV sets with new CTV, LCD or plasma TV sets.Sonata, the leading wrist watch maker, is offering 20 per cent special ‘Onam’ discount on its products. Sonata, according to its Regional Sales Manager Anand Moorthy, is looking at creating a distinct style and personality for its customers with the season’s ‘must have’ accessory.Zuari Furniture, a K K Birla company, has also targeted big jump in the festive business this year. The brand, despite global economic meltdown, has registered 55 per cent growth this year.Philips India, the leading consumer durables company, is looking at 40 per cent growth in its sales and is expecting to achieve sales worth Rs 60 crore for consumer electronic products during the quarter. It is offering free gifts and special prices on its products like CTVs and DVD players, among others.Zapp, the kidswear brand, which currently operates six stores in the state, has decided to bring cheer to faces of poor children this Onam by partnering with ‘SOS Children’s Village.’ The brand will be gifting toys/books to children from poor families through its outlets at Ernakulam and Edappally. Telecom service provider MTS, a mobile telephony brand of Sistema Shyam TeleServices Limited (SSTL), has announced special plans, called MSaver 98 and MSaver 199, exclusively for its customers in Kerala on the occasion of Onam. Even Tata Telecom, apart from special tariffs for the occasion, has come out with gift and other offers for its prepaid customers.Even State Bank of India (SBI) has reduced interest rates on consumer loans as “Onam Gift.’ The bank is offering interest rates of 7 per cent on housing loans and 8 per cent on car loans to its consumers.

Madura back in the black on cost controls, better margins
Aditya Birla Nuvo's fashion retail business Madura Garments, India's largest apparel maker, has turned cash positive after battling losses for 15 months in the wake of slowing consumer spend. The Rs 1,000-crore operations, with brands like Louis Philippe, Van Heusen and Allen Solly, posted cash profit in July and is projecting 10% rise in sales during the fiscal

Posted by Neha Dhall

Organised retail to grow 40% touch
· Organised retail to grow 40%; touch $ 90 billion in 2011, says a research report. The Indian retail market, which is currently (2009) estimated at around US $ 450 billion, is expected to touch $ 720 billion by 2011. The organised retail sector currently estimated at $ 63 billion (14 per cent of the total) will, however, grow much faster at 40 per cent to reach $ 90 billion during this period.
· These are part of findings of a study entitled ‘Indian Retail Research 2009 Edition’ prepared and published by investment bank Northbridge Capital.
· According to the bank, while the overall Indian retail market is growing at 30 per cent, the annual rate of growth for the organised sector is going to be at around 40 per cent.
· “Retail market size in 2009 is estimated to be of USD 450 billion, growing at the rate of 30 per cent per annum. It is expected to grow to USD 720 billion by the end of 2011.”
· “However, the organised retail market is growing at the rate of 40 per cent and is anticipated to grow at a faster pace over the next three years, especially in view of the fact that major global players and Indian corporate houses are entering the fray in a big way. At the current growth rate it is expected to touch $90 billion by 2010,” says the report .
· The retail sector which accounts for 12 per cent of the country’s GDP and employs around 9 per cent of its workforce is well on its way to become a boom sector of the economy.
· “Retail in India is slowly moving its way towards becoming the next boom industry with the whole new concept of shopping has altered in terms of format and consumer buying behavior.”

Festival Season (12th September to 11th October)

Ansal Plaza is the oldest shopping mall chain in India, having 6 malls in 4 states (Delhi, Greater Noida, Gurgaon, Ludhiana, Jalandhar and Jodhpur.

During this festival season we are doing series of events Rock Concerts, Fashion Shows, Music Concerts, Exhibitions, and many more at Ansal Plaza's which will be starting form 12th of September.

If you are interested you can make your bookings now.
Looking forward for your positive response.

For Any queries Contact
Nikhil -9717500299
Gagan - 9899961342
Neha 0 9871668516