By Ranju Sarkar Business Standard, New Delhi January 03, 2010 Large retailers are trying to make their small food and grocery stores viable by trying out new ideas. While some like Reliance Retail are converting most of these stores into a deep- discount value format, RPG Group’s Spencer’s is looking at the franchising route. Anand Raghuraman, partner, The Boston Consulting Group, said it is extremely tough to make money on small food and grocery stores. “It’s a crisis situation, and retailers are trying to find answers to some fundamental questions.’’ The problem is that retailers are straddled with a large…
By Sunitha Natti ExpressBuzz (Indian Express), January 1, 2010 As the New Year celebrations wear out sooner or later bringing to the fore the harsh realities confronting the society today, the first thing that is likely to hit the denizens hard is the food inflation that is rising sharply. Even as political unrest continues in the State, no one seems bothered about the spiralling food prices, except the common man on either side of the divide. As a result of frequent bandhs, prices of essential edibles such as vegetables and fruits are hitting the roof. Sample this: Tomatoes in both…
By BSReporters / Mumbai / Kolkata Business Standard , January 1, 2010 Tie-ups with international retailers and brands, emphasis on profitable growth and increased focus on private labels are set to be key trends in the Indian retail sector in 2010, say retailers and consultants Business Standard spoke to. Though foreign direct investment in single-brand retailing and cash-and-carry ventures are allowed along with franchising and licensing pacts as of now, 2009 saw most of the foreign retailers focusing on manage the business in their home countries, where they were seeing declining sales. “In 2010, a lot of international retailers and…
There's been a lively debate on Retailwire.com initiated by Tom Ryan (Managing Editor), and prompted by an article in the Washington Post about how consumers are literally taking matters in their own hands and testing toys and domestic items for the presence of toxic substances. Some of the commentators feel that this is going too far and could create waves of unnecessary panic, that consumers and consumer advocacy groups do not have the necessary expertise nor a balanced judgement, that it is a job for the government agencies. Others support the move and say that such moves are absolutely in…
(Contributed to the BusinessWorld cover story - "What 2 Expect in 2010", issue of January 4, 2010) Everything that can be said and assumed about the Indian market is true at some level of granularity. Very simply, in India there is a segment for every product, an opportunity for every service, be it ever so small. But when bubbles are bursting all over, as the Noughties Decade comes to a close, the puzzle that is Indian consumer market also warrants a fresh look. For most of the Noughties Decade India has seen Generation-C, the โChoiceโ generation, coming of age. They…
Geopolitical friction has again sparked renewed concerns over inflation and rising input costs for FMCG companies as @itmeansjustice @whysnavi write. @devangshu commented.
