By Sangita Ghosh Images Retail December 2008 THE INDIAN RETAIL SCENARIO HAS BEEN WITNESSING SIGNIFICANT ADVANCEMENT WITH TRADITIONAL RETAIL FORMATS MAKING WAY FOR MORE INNOVATIVE AND TECHNOLOGICALLY EVOLVED FORMATS. ONE OF THE INNOVATIONS TO WATCH OUT FOR IS THE 'RETAIL KIOSK', WHICH TRULY MAKES BUSINESS SENSE FOR RETAILERS BECAUSE OF ITS COST BENEFIT STRUCTURE AT THE ‘POINT OF SALE’ ESTABLISHMENT PROCESS AND EASE AND CONVENIENCE FOR THE CUSTOMERS TOO. The concept of 'Kiosk Retailing' in the Indian retail scenario was virtually unknown until a few years-ago. Over the past few years, however, retail kiosks or mall kiosks have become an…
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News items seem to be ringing the death-toll for offshoring (Here's one from the Washington Post: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/10/AR2008121003574_pf.html.) Job transitions across borders are an emotive issue at any time, certainly even more so during times of economic upheaval such as now. But should the debate be about "offshore vs onshore" or about management competence? A management team whose effort isn't structured well enough to deliver on their customer's expectation of a good product (service included) could also find many things on which to pin the blame for poor service, including the geographical location of the support engineers, their native language or…
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By Sapna Dogra Singh Business Standard New Delhi December 07, 2008 Lack of an apex body, along with the absence of time-bound deadlines, are being cited as reasons behind the poor implementation of the scheme for integrated textile parks (SITPs), which is the textile ministry's flagship scheme, according to industry experts. The objective of this scheme launched in 2005 was to create jobs and world-class infrastructure. However, so far, out of the 40 sanctioned parks, just four have become operational. "It is a grand plan but actual execution is very slow," said Devangshu Dutta, chief executive officer of Third Eyesight,…
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By Zainab Morbiwala Images Retail December 2008 THE HISTORY OF CATALOGUE RETAILING IS INTERESTING. WHAT BEGAN OUT OF NECESSITY, SOON DEVELOPED INTO A CHANNEL OFFERING CONVENIENCE OF SHOPPING FROM HOME. WITH THE TREND OF CATALOGUE RETAILING YET TO GAIN MOMENTUM IN INDIA, MOST RETAILERS - STILL FOCUSSED ON THE BRICK AND MORTAR FORMAT- ARE YET TO FULLY EXPLOIT THE TRUE POTENTIAL OF THE MEDIUM. THE ROOTS As the name suggests, Catalogue retailing is a non-store retail format where the retail offering is communicated through a catalogue to the consumers. Mail-order catalogues debuted in 1856 when Orvis began selling fishing gear…
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By Aniruddha Basu MUMBAI (Reuters) Friday December 5, 2008 Textile companies may not benefit much from the rupee's weakness as a slump in global demand and prior currency hedges trim bottomlines in an industry dominated by exports, officials said. The partially convertible rupee has fallen almost 21 percent in 2008 and hit a record low of 50.65 rupee against the U.S. dollar on Tuesday. But demand from some large retailers overseas has slowed, company executives added. "Because of the recession, what is happening is that demand for products are going down," said Jayesh Shah, chief financial officer, at apparel maker…
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