Vaishnavi Bala, Financial Express Mumbai, February 3, 2014 It’s been close to two decades now but Levi Strauss India can’t seem to get the right fit. The apparel maker is watching its bottom line — losses in FY13 came in at Rs 161.7 crore — and is letting go of stores and vendors. In a big overhaul over the last 18 months, the iconic brand has shed more than 100 vendors with the base down to just 30, and 40 unviable outlets have also been shut. “Price rises coupled with low consumer sentiment thus impacted demand in the marketplace resulting…
Tony Munroe, Reuters Mumbai, February 2, 2014 The Indian state of Rajasthan has barred foreign direct investment in supermarkets, an ominous sign for global retailers who covet India's vast but fragmented retail sector if the country's main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) comes to power nationally in upcoming elections. The BJP is considered to be more investor-friendly than India's ruling Congress party but opposes foreign direct investment in supermarkets because of its impact on small shopkeepers. It unseated Congress in Rajasthan's state elections in December. The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India criticized Rajasthan's policy reversal, made on…
Priyanka Pani, The Hindu Businessline Mumbai, January 28, 2014 Oak Lawn Marketing, a subsidiary of Japanese telecom company NTT DoCoMo, is set to enter India’s burgeoning virtual retailing space through a tie-up with TVC Skyshop, which operates in the same segment. Virtual retailing refers to companies selling products through television or print (magazines and newspapers). India’s virtual retailing market is close to ?2,000 crore and includes players such as TVC Skyshop, Indiatimes, Homeshop18, Shraddha Skyshop, Star CJ and the US-based GuthyRenker. OLM, a $300-million media and branding company in which NTT DoCoMo has a 51 per cent stake, is close…
Sadhana Chathurvedula, MINT Bengaluru, 27 January 2016 When graduate student Anupama Pasumarthy shops online, she says she is always disappointed by the recommendations. “It’s tough finding clothes (which are always too large) or shoes (which are too small) in my size, and I don’t find stuff that’s similar. I used to shop online but these days I just go to the store when I want to buy something,” the 22-year-old says. Tech-savvy millennials like Pasumarthy are the demographic that most fashion retailers target, but the problems she faces are all too familiar for anyone who shops online. To help retailers…
[This article appeared in the February 2014 print issue of Retailer, under the headline "Implications of the Tata-Tesco JV"] India is a civilisation that has borne fruit from thousands of year of international cultural exchange, commerce and investment flowing both inwards and out. It is also one that has suffered from military and as well as economic colonisation over the millennia. For those reasons, foreign investment into the country is bound to have both vociferous opponents as well as staunch supporters, and this debate is possibly most polarised in the retail sector that touches every Indian’s life daily. Over the…
Geopolitical friction has again sparked renewed concerns over inflation and rising input costs for FMCG companies as @itmeansjustice @whysnavi write. @devangshu commented.
