(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…
Meghna Maiti, Financial Chronicle Mumbai, February 22, 2012 Kishore Biyani, whose proposed licensing and distribution venture (JV) with US footwear retailer Skechers fell through last year, has revived partnership plans with the foreign firm. It has even seconded one of its senior most executives Sanjeev Agrawal previously joint CEO at Future Value Retail as CEO of the proposed JV. “The group is in the process of signing a JV agreement with Skechers and Agrawal will head this venture,” said at least three company officials in the know of the development. Future Group already has a 50:50 joint venture with UK-based…
Vidya Padmanabhan, Mint Chennai, February 6, 2012 Banking on the growing purchasing power and busy lifestyles of urban, dual-income families, a slew of firms are now offering to help them run their homes, attempting to bring a measure of professionalism to a largely unorganized sector. While there’s no dearth of cook’s cousins or aunt’s office assistants who will repair a ceiling fan, wash the car and even fix software bugs, entrepreneurs are now seeing an opportunity to step in with streamlined services for affluent professionals who want to avoid the uncertainties of the informal ecosystem. “We did the research and…
The Economic Times Bangalore, February 3, 2012 The world's largest online retailer is tiptoeing into India, using cover from a comparison shopping site Junglee.com it acquired 13 years ago. Amazon, whose moves have been closely watched for any sign of an imminent entry into the Indian retail market, will not sell or buy anything in the country for now. Instead, it will direct customers to both online and offline vendors listed on Junglee. Amit Agarwal, vice-president of Amazon, would only say Junglee would "help customers discover products from online and offline retailers in India and from Amazon.com". He declined to…
Geopolitical friction has again sparked renewed concerns over inflation and rising input costs for FMCG companies as @itmeansjustice @whysnavi write. @devangshu commented.
