Within just five years of modern retail evolution, private labels have garnered 15-20% market share in segments like FMCG, in
developed countries, this level has been attained in 25-30 years. Modern retailers need to enter new segments with special emphasis on food, surface cleaners, apparel, consumer electronics and durables.
Modern retail should also look at selling their private labels in other distribution formats apart from their own companies. Indian retail companies, particularly, will have to strengthen their research capability to a level where they pioneer the designs and forecast trends for the coming seasons. The Kishore Biyani-led Future Group is developing well-performing labels from among its private labels into standalone brands. The company is looking to enter ~10 new categories every year; it will be adopting in-store branding and marketing initiatives to popularize the brands.
Unlike Western Countries, Malls in India are one of the most sought after place to hangout – shop, eat, entertainment 🙂 During the past month, there has been a sharp turnaround in occupancy levels in multiplexes (which is positive for retailers as they act as anchor tenants) due to movies such as 3 Idiots, Kaminey, New York, Kambhakt Ishq,etc. This augurs well for retailers as most of the stores are located in malls with multiplexes and helps them boost Window Shoppers 🙂
Luxury Retailing – Difficult to Target – While global sales of luxury goods are reported to have slumped 10-20% in 2009, the
Indian market is showing no signs of slowdown. Brands such as Versace, Gucci, Cartier, Louis Vuitton, and Oakley are making a beeline for the Indian market. The only issue is that the consumer base is fragmented geographically and is, therefore, difficult to target.