I've just spent a few (grim) days at the National Retail Federation's conference in New York - the NRF Annual Big Show. (After all that grimness, I hope you'll pardon my play on words in the title!) However, the key message from several conversations is that this is an ideal time for the better companies to use this opportunity to take tough decisions, and to create change that is hard to push when the business is doing well. I think that is sound advice to not just get through these recessionary times, but also to pull far ahead of the…
Wednesday 14 January 2009 11:42 The exciting developments in India's dynamic, consumer-led retail sector and the export opportunities being created for British companies are the subjects of a conference to be staged by UK Trade & Investment's London International Trade Team on 27 January. Far from discouraging internationalisation, the economic downturn provides an incentive for UK firms to seek out and evaluate potential for export development, positioning themselves to take full advantage when growth returns. The half-day conference will provide retailers and representatives of associated service industries - including logistics, infrastructure, and supply chain management - with an overview…
By Aanand Pandey & Pradipta Mukherjee From the Business Standard Strategist New Delhi December 30, 2008 Emami's old-school promoters were nimble enough to acquire Zandu. They need many more manoeuvres to become a major FMCG player. Radhey Shyam Goenka, 61, the joint chairman of the Emami group, loves to take an occasional dig at the group chairman and his friend of over 40 years, Radhey Shyam Agarwal. Like most old-school entrepreneurs, Agarwal has a habit of scribbling down numbers on a piece of paper during meetings. When Goenka and Agarwal sit with the next-generation directors from the two families, at…
At the outset let me mention the fact that in the title of this post lies a Freudian slip. The intended title was "Corporate Responsibility - Beyond Labels". But the new - unintended - title captures the thought perfectly. (And I'll come back to that in closing.) Third Eyesight was recently asked by a multi-billion dollar global consumer brand to facilitate a round-table discussion focussing on the issue of how to drive ethical behaviour and sustainable business models into their sector. This company has a well documented strategy and action plan until 2020, and their team was travelling together in…
A keystone of a retailer’s business is the loyalty that customers show in shopping at his or her store. Loyal customers help to sustain a basic level of sales and reduce the need for expensive broadcast-style marketing spending that the store may otherwise have to do in order to keep the traffic and business flowing. This is as true for chain-stores as it is for independent mom-and-pop stores. Therefore, as competition increases along with the number of stores selling the same products within a common catchment, retaining the loyalty of the customer becomes crucial, both in terms of strength of…
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.
