The Times of India Bangalore, March 5, 2012 Prepaid cards have become the latest retail tool to keep consumers hooked to brands. They offer convenience and safety, because customers don't have to carry cash, and they often come with a variety of offers , including discounts. Brands like Cafe Coffee Day, Pizza Hut, Provogue, Kaya, Fastrack, Gili and a host of others have launched prepaid cards. A prepaid card works like a debit card with a PIN number that can be redeemed at the brands' outlets. The cards in India are based on the closed loop model - that is,…
Sarah Jacob , The Economic Times Bangalore, March 2, 2012 Apparel and home products retailer Marks and Spencer's has appointed Venu Nair as head of its India operations, replacing CEO Martin Jones who is moving back to the parent company. Nair takes charge as managing director, the London-headquartered company said. Sources said Jones was moving back for personal reasons. Nair was head of sourcing for the £9.7-billion British retailer in South Asia and director of buying operations for India. M&S operates in India through Marks & Spencer Reliance India, a joint venture with Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries, selling clothes and…
Luxury is dichotomous, conflicted and conflict-creating by its very nature. “Luxuria” is Latin for “Lust”, the first in the list of the Seven Deadly Sins. The British poet Edith Sitwell is quoted as saying, “Good taste is the worst vice ever invented.” Luxuries are not a basic fundamental need to start with, yet to seek them out is innate in our nature. For the most part, the term luxury has been and continues to be applied to tangible goods whether found naturally, hunted or manufactured, rather than to intangible services. Yet, it is the intangible that differentiates what is luxurious…
(Published in the March 2012 of Images Retail, this is a compilation of Devangshu Dutta's responses to questions put to him by the magazine's editor on the subject of funding in the retail sector in India.) India is one of the largest markets that promises a sustained consumer-led growth in the foreseeable future, due to the shift from a fragmented retail ecosystem to a more modern and consolidated industry. Modernisation and consolidation will happen not only in front-end (retail) operations, but also in the supply chain of both products as well as tertiary suppliers such as equipment and service providers. Well-informed investors are looking at the…
Shilpa Phadnis , The Times of India Bangalore, February 24, 2012 Homemakers are likely to love this - someone cutting vegetables for them for free, someone making chappatis for them, again at no charge. It's the latest from Future Group's value retail chain Big Bazaar. They call it the Seva initiative, and the store at Rajajinagar in Bangalore has become the first to launch the services. Customers in the store can choose from a combination of different grains that go into making a dough, and the store staff will then grind, knead and make it into fresh chappatis. The promise…
Geopolitical friction has again sparked renewed concerns over inflation and rising input costs for FMCG companies as @itmeansjustice @whysnavi write. @devangshu commented.
