Kamya Jaiswal Money Today , April 1, 2010 As they wrap the refrigerator for delivery, you can't help feeling smug. For one, despite loud protests by the salesman, you wrangled a 10 per cent discount on the price. The extra-large freezer also seems a smart pick; after all you throw beer parties regularly. The extra Rs 2,500 for a three-year extended warranty is another good move. You won't have to pay a rupee if some part goes in the next three years. What's more, it is a fivestar refrigerator, so your annual electricity bills will be much lower. Sounds like…
Last week, Starbucks unveiled its strategy for profitable global growth, having taken approximately US$ 600 million out of costs in since January 2008. About 3 years ago in a leaked memo, chairman Howard Schultz had raised concern about how, in the race to scale and to become consistent, Starbucks was losing sight of all critical things that had made it successful in the first place. ("The Commoditization of the Starbucks Experience - Soul Searching by Howard Schultz"). In January 2008, Schultz took on an active role as CEO in a bid to stem the rot ("Leadership Change at Starbucks -…
India has been consistently rated amongst the top destinations for consumer businesses year after year. While international fashion brands had earlier entered India at a steady pace, there was a greater surge of the global brands in the Indian market since 2002. Interestingly many international brands opted to choose the franchise route for their entry into India. There were changes in the market environment and government policies that made the business environment favourable for growth through franchising. Firstly, as a signatory of the WTO, India reduced import duties consistently. Consequently products could be sourced from other countries at more competitive…
Diwakar Kumar Indiaretailing.com, March 2, 2010 It is an every day challenge for a retailer to satisfy the diversified demands of discerning customers. The further challenges are to reel in more customers, assure their loyalty, drive in more footfalls and the ensure the conversion rate. In order to gain more profits, retailers try to lure the customers with in-store signages, advertisements and customer-loyalty programmes. No matter how unique these strategies may be, they do not guarantee a success rate. Thus, to ensure a minimum return on investment, the retailers need to ascertain that the format, product assortment and the location…
Who knew that a mere vegetable – the humble purple, shiny brinjal, eggplant, aubergine – could create such an uproar? And why retailers and consumer product companies should be concerned about genetically modified (GM) crops is a complicated story with multiple twists and turns across political, economic, social, scientific and philosophical landscapes. At their basic level, brinjals have so far been possibly equally hated and loved for their flavour and texture across the world. But their newest avatar – Bt Brinjal – is now being viewed on the one hand as an evil alien transplant that will kill everything good…
Geopolitical friction has again sparked renewed concerns over inflation and rising input costs for FMCG companies as @itmeansjustice @whysnavi write. @devangshu commented.
