Retail Mantra

Indian retailers have turned cautious and are revisiting their business plans as dark clouds still loom large over the economy and spending on borrowed money.

Overall retail market managed to grow by mere 2% for Q2 FY09 according to Nielsen report on Indian retail. The tightening consumer credit has hit the middle market the report added.

Mr. Kishore Biyani, the Pioneer of Indian retail said,

We (more…)

Spencers Retail has joined the retail wars in the Home Furnishing segment and has introduced a private label brand Livin Smart.

Mr. Samar Singh, VP Marketing of Spencers Retail said,

We (more…)

The Pioneer of Indian Retail – Mr. Kishore Biyani is hoping to have a new life with new couples tying the knot within the next 5 weeks. Their are around 19 wedding Muhaurats and around 30,000 couples are expected to tie (more…)

Duty free stores in modernized and uplifted Indian airports are all set to woo the Indian traveller. Thanks to modernization of airports with increased focus on Duty Free Retailing. These retailers are now compelled to offer world class quality products – Scotch, Chocolates, Souvenirs, Indian (more…)

Future Groups Consumer Electronics and White Goods Format – eZone opened for business in Chennai. The eZone Chennai store is spread on 20,000 sft carpet area stocking more than 6,000 products of 250 different brands including Future Brands owned – Koryo and Sensei.

The (more…)

Diwali 2008 was not all the bright, especially for Consumer Electronics companies and White Goods Consumer durables. Sales from Companies to Dealers was as expected while last mile sales from dealers to consumers took a beating and was down 8-10% this festive season.

Typically in the Indian retail scenario, 35-40% of retailers annual sales are recorded in the Sept-Dec festive season period. However, retailers are worried about the Diwali stock which has (more…)

Fendi launched handbags made of mink leather in a variety of patterns. Suggested Retail pricing is upwards of – Rs 100,000.

Westside has (more…)

Last quarter in our exclusive – India Retail Business Part-1 and Part-2 we touched upon the specific business models of top retailers. Continuing to enrich our readers about the changing face of retail industry in India, we will be touching upon 6 Retail verticals [Apparel, Coffee, Consumer Durables, Footwear, Grocery and Pharmacy in this series of coverage – India Retail Chains.

We are today covering India Apparel Retail Chains:
Apparel is the largest organized retail category, representing 30-35% [different surveys] of organized retail market growing at the rate of 12-14% YoY. The current market size of organized Apparel is estimated to be $10 bn.

Growth Drivers:
Preference for ready-to-wear garments is increasing in India. Dressing habits among working women is changing leading to demand for branded apparels. Demand for western apparel brands is increasing. Disposable income of consumers, changing demographic trend, higher income level and increasing number of dual-income nuclear families. One of the main drivers for apparel retail is the willingness of young generation to experiment with mainstream fashion.

Major Indian Players in Branded Apparel Segment are as follows,

Ebony Retail Holdings Ltd: The company owns and runs all 7 Ebony outlets in India. ETC and Wordworth are the in-house brand of Ebony. With over 2 lack square feet of retail outlet space, Ebony is today among the largest retail players in India.

Future Group + Pantaloon Retail: Through various retail (more…)