Durables retailers are dreaming bigger than ever before. Will they go the American way or the European? AARTI KOTHARI explores. Large showrooms like Viveks allow for a proper display of high-end products Modernism dismissed mythology. Environment and health hazards pulled the plug on firecrackers. Double-income families dumped diyas and rangolis. Only one thing remained constant. Diwali shopping. And this in itself has become a ritual. First scout around the city and find the dealers. Then compare different models across different dealerships. Finally, locate the best deals. But if you live in Chennai, Bangalore or Mumbai, things are a lot easier.…
Times of Oman Monday, August 31, 2009 THE global retail industry today is struggling to get out of the recessionary clutches and finding ways to curtail operating expenses and maintain profit margins. The consumer driven industry is feeling a dire need to streamline processes and optimise operational efficiencies. Industry experts are of the view that to fight back in this challenging environment, retail value chain can prove a handy tool for retailers to understand and identify performance improvements within the network while at the same time improving the customer experience in every store. Management guru, Michael Porter theorises in the…
Four months ago in this column (“Organic – Hope or Hype?”) I wrote about the need for customers to make themselves aware of the true nature of organic products, and it is time to reopen that discussion. Food is an emotive subject with us as consumers, food distribution and retail is big business with us as the trade, and agriculture is a sensitive area of governance. On top of that, studies are seldom exhaustive enough in terms of sampling, duration of the study, establishment of controls etc., and for every study that proves the superiority of organics, you will be…
At the end of 2006, in an article about market segmentation, I'd proposed a customer segment called "Cafe Workers" who look at coffee-shops as inexpensive real-estate to work out of. These include professionals, start-up entrepreneurs, small businesspeople and travellers into a city. (Click here to open the PDF file of the article "Slicing the Market".) But now, amidst the recession, apparently it is one positioning that some coffee shops don't want to buy into. The Wall Street Journal reports that there is a backlash from many coffee shops towards customers who enjoy the use of free wi-fi and spend hours occupying tables that should…
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.
