Priyanka Pani, The Hindu Businessline Mumbai, August 31, 2012 Even as brands and apparel retailers appear to have had a prolonged bumper sale against the backdrop of a general slowdown, festive season sales have got the short end of the stick. ‘Sale’ season in the country started around end-May, but was extended by eight weeks. For instance, Shoppers Stop is are still busy luring ‘shopaholics’ to stores with flat 51 per cent discount. “What typically used to be a month-long phenomenon has become a 3-month affair now. Shoppers are trying to extract the maximum benefit out of these sales. The…
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Meghna Maiti, Financial Chronicle Mumbai, August 30, 2012 For the first time in a quarter century, rural India outdid urban consumption in the past two years, according to a Crisil study. Rural spending rode on a big increase in incomes, mainly resulting from non-farm jobs and rural employment guarantee schemes. A young population, rising incomes and low penetration of many consumer durables mean that rural consumption has the potential to remain an important source of demand, the study says. But to sustain this, says the study, it is critical to substitute short-term income boosters such as government-sponsored employment schemes with…
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Raghavendra Kamath & Vinay Umarji, Business Standard Mumbai/Ahmedabad Aug 29, 2012 Stung by a consumption slowdown and cut-throat competition from other quick-service chains, Big Mac is trying hard to give customers more reasons to come to its stores. So its latest India menu now comprises a differential pricing strategy and better in-store experience. While Vikram Bakshi’s Connaught Plaza Restaurants, which has a joint venture with McDonald’s and has rights for the north and east, cut prices by 6-15 per cent from August 1 to boost sales, Hardcastle Restaurants, a development licensee of McDonald’s which runs West and South India operations,…
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Priyanka Golikeri & Nupur Anand, Daily News & Analysis (DNA) Bangalore, 22 August 2012 Now, macroeconomic woes are impacting even quick service restaurants (QSRs), the 150-3,000 square feet neighbourhood dine-in / takeaway food joints that serve up your pizzas, burgers and rolls. For, the slowdown, it has been found, is changing consumer behaviour and their eating patterns: footfalls are lower and bill sizes smaller. From 350-500 people per day, QSRs are seeing a 10-15% drop in footfalls, said a senior official from a pizza-pasta chain. Moreover, from two to three visits per week, the frequency of customer visits has dropped…
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Nupur Anand, Daily News & Analysis (DNA) Mumbai, 21 August 2012 Retailers are bleeding. The ‘sale’ season whose duration has been stretched of late, has pushed brands and retailers to despair, in spite of shoppers’ frenzy. The sale season in its present form is unsustainable, retailers say. Traditionally, seasonal sales used to start in August. Last year, they were advanced to July to give shoppers additional time to indulge. This year’s sales started in June. “‘Sale’ was originally introduced to boost sales. But this prolonged sale and deep discounting are not a good strategy. Retailers need to take stock and…
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