By Tarang Gautam Saxena, Chandni Jain and Neha Singhal In Retrospect While India was a promising market to many international brands, it was not completely immune from the global economic flu. More than its primary impact on the economy, the global downturn sobered the mood in the consumer market. Even the core target group for international brands, that had just begun to splurge apparently without guilt, tightened their purse strings and either down-traded or postponed their purchases. In 2008 in the midst of economic downturn, skepticism and uncertainty, the international fashion brands had continued to enter India at nearly the…
If we were to look at phrases that have cropped up during the recent recessionary times in the consumer goods sector, “private label” has to be among those at the top of the list. From clothing to cereals, toothpaste to televisions, there is hardly a category that has not seen retailers trying their hand at creating own labelled products. The first motivation for most retailers to move into private label is margin. On first analysis, it appears that the branded suppliers are making tons of extra money by being out there in front of the consumer with a specific named…
Prompted by an article in the New York Times, Bernice Hurst, Contributing Editor of RetailWire, brought up an interesting subject to discuss - the tradition of small, independent retailers on Manhattan's Lower east side, their survival despite the recession, and their determination to thrive. One of the retailers interviewed for the article said that the business was "so much fun". In referring to the kind of products she was developing said, "there are no boundaries to these things". Imagination may have no boundaries, but markets always do. When you're small fry the pond seems limitless. And if all is in harmony (no…
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…
Speciality Restaurants expanding into high-margin QSR and cloud kitchen spaces - @devangshu shared his perspective on the opportunities and realities of managing a diverse "house of brands" in the food service sector #India #strategy #diversification
Geopolitical friction has again sparked renewed concerns over inflation and rising input costs for FMCG companies as @itmeansjustice @whysnavi write. @devangshu commented.
