Business Standard, Mumbai March 18, 2011 Raghavendra Kamath & Viveat Susan Pinto Cost pressure and conflict over margins see products of companies like Reckitt Benckiser taken off shelves. The racks meant for toilet cleaners at Future Group’s Big Bazaar outlet in Lower Parel, Mumbai, are filled with Hindustan Unilever’s (HUL’s) Domex, Future’s own Clean Mate and other brands. The one missing in the segment is Reckitt Benckiser’s popular product Harpic. The case is the same in the section meant for handwash liquids. Here, HUL’s Lifebuoy gets most of the space, then come Future’s Caremate, Colgate-Palmolive and others. Here also, Reckitt’s…
China Daily , Mumbai, March 16, 2011 Xinhua The fledging retail sector in India will enter an expansion period and witness large-scale consolidation with increasing competition especially from international players, said a report by retail consultancy firm Technopak Advisors on Wednesday. Technopak Advisors forecasts that there will be more movements of retailers to smaller cities and rural area and over 25 to 30 retail companies in India will post one billion U.S. dollars of revenues. Speaking at Consumer Investment Summit 2011, Saloni Nangia, the senior vice president of Technopak Advisors said there could be some concrete steps by the government…
Business Standard, Mumbai, February 28, 2011 Sayantani Kar (with inputs from Preeti Khicha) When some of India’s big retail chains banded together recently to substitute Reckitt Benckiser’s products with private labels to protest the latter’s decision to cut sales margins on its products, they were doing something many global retailers have done with great success. Part of their overall strategy, especially for large chains in the US and Europe, is to develop quality private label products that complement other pieces in their marketing mix. While this is one way retailers can differentiate their firms from competition, it also helps them…
REUTERS, Mumbai, 23 Feb 2011 Swati Pandey The textile industry has sought measures to boost exports of apparels and textile products in a cost-competitive market and easier access to funds for cotton buyers as it peaks in a year of global shortage. The Confederation of Indian Textile Industry (CITI) has also sought the restoration of drawback rates as "our textile products are facing tough competition in global markets." "There is an opportunity for taking up market share because costs in China have risen considerably and buyers are shifting some of the sourcing to other parts," said Devangshu Dutta, chief executive,…
Businessworld, February 14, 2011 Vishal Krishna Shoppers Stop (SSL) has topped the list of the Most Respected Companies in the retail category for the third year in a row. The company, which started as a small retail outfit in 1991, now has 34 stores across 13 cities in the country. It has been rated No. 1 by its peers in all categories except one. While the rating on quality of its management, innovativeness, products and services, ethics, people management and global competitiveness are higher than all its competitors, it is second to Pantaloon Retail in financial performance. “Shoppers Stop has…
Geopolitical friction has again sparked renewed concerns over inflation and rising input costs for FMCG companies as @itmeansjustice @whysnavi write. @devangshu commented.
