Raghavendra Kamath, Business Standard Mumbai, 25 January 2017 To expand its storage capacity in India, Amazon had opened its largest Fulfilment Centre in Sonipat, Haryana.US-based e-commerce giant Amazon took about a million square feet of office spaces on lease last year, making it equal to what it took between 2008 and 2015 in the country. Founder and chief executive Jeff Bezos said last year that it would invest another $3 billion in India, amid intense competition in the e-commerce space. Much of the leased space could be used for seller and development services, besides a 30,000-sq ft building in Bandra…
Suparna Goswami, Forbes Bengaluru, 17 January 2017 The past week saw India’s Flipkart appointing a non-founder CEO who is also part of Tiger Global Management, the online marketplace’s largest investor firm. A few days later, Snapdeal, another large Indian online marketplace, brought in real estate firm Housing.com’s CEO Jason Kothari as its chief strategy and investment officer. This news comes on the heels of a recent merger between Housing.com and real estate brokerage firm Prop Tiger, which has raised funds from SoftBank – a major investor in Snapdeal. Are we seeing a pattern of investor overreach into startups in India?…
Suparna Goswami, Forbes Bengaluru, 17 January 2017 The past week saw India’s Flipkart appointing a non-founder CEO who is also part of Tiger Global Management, the online marketplace’s largest investor firm.A few days later, Snapdeal, another large Indian online marketplace, brought in real estate firm Housing.com’s CEO Jason Kothari as its chief strategy and investment officer. This news comes on the heels of a recent merger between Housing.com and real estate brokerage firm Prop Tiger, which has raised funds from SoftBank – a major investor in Snapdeal.Are we seeing a pattern of investor overreach into startups in India?With this…
In this piece I’ll just focus on one aspect of technology – artificial intelligence or AI – that is likely to shape many aspects of the retail business and the consumer’s experience over the coming years. To be able to see the scope of its potential all-pervasive impact we need to go beyond our expectations of humanoid robots. We also need to understand that artificial intelligence works on a cycle of several mutually supportive elements that enable learning and adaptation. The terms “big data” and “analytics” have been bandied about a lot, but have had limited impact so far in…
Sharleen Dsouza, Bloomberg Quint Mumbai, 9 January 2017 As demand for ayurvedic products grows, especially driven by Yoga guru Baba Ramdev’s Patanjali Ayurved Ltd., FMCG major Hindustan Unilever Ltd. has relaunched its Lever Ayush brand in southern India, the biggest and most competitive market in the space. The Rs 32,000-crore HUL will offer 20 Lever Ayush products for as low as Rs 30 in the hair, skin and oral care categories across Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka -- the five states are home to several local ayurvedic brands Patanjali, which largely operates in the north, offers products…
Geopolitical friction has again sparked renewed concerns over inflation and rising input costs for FMCG companies as @itmeansjustice @whysnavi write. @devangshu commented.
