28th may 2012 Walmart India sets up special team for anti-corruption compliance Economic Times Walmart, the world's largest retailer, has appointed a team in India to brief employees on its anti-corruption compliance programme. The move comes within days of US authorities launching a probe into allegations of bribery at the retailer's Mexican arm. Walmart has appointed audit firm KPMG to conduct the awareness programme, said a senior executive at Bharti Walmart, the equal joint venture of the two retailers in India. A team of lawyers will assist the KPMG team, the executive said on condition of anonymity. Walmart India, however, said it was a routine exercise. "We are a legally-compliant company and conduct our business with integrity and compliance to law," a spokeswoman for the retailer said.

Luxurious bespoke shirts from online retailer PeprisMine Fibre2fashion.com PeprisMine is an online mens apparel brand that offers luxurious bespoke fit shirts in readymade, at affordable prices. PeprisMine.com claims to have solved the fit problem that existed for decades in mens apparel industry with the help of technology, thereby making the process of buying well fitted dress shirts as simple as possible. The company's value proposition to customers' lies in offering a product that is not available even at traditional retail outlets. "Somewhere in the mens' apparel industry landscape, we identified an opportunity to offer customers better than the existing off the rack sizes in the readymade clothing and those offered at high street bespoke tailoring stores," said Mr. Anup Ramachandra, Co-Founder & CEO-PeprisMine.com.

Aditya Birla retail arm to open more hypermarkets in Bangalore Daily News & Analysis Despite challenges like high rentals and a crowded retail, the Aditya Birla group is betting big and is planning to increase the presence of its More outlets across Bangalore. In a chat, Russell Berman, CEO, More hypermarkets division, spoke about the company's plans. Excerpts:

Centre trying to build consensus on retail in FDI: Pranab Mukherjee Economic Times Union Finance Minister, Pranab Mukherjee on Sunday said that the UPA was trying to build a consensus on contentious issues like FDI in retail which faced strong opposition from Mamata Banerjee. "We are working to build a policy consensus on a number of pending issues such as introduction of Goods and Services Tax, further liberalisation of FDI, including in retail, and deepening and strengthening of financial markets for long term investments," Mukherjee said at a programme in Kolkata.

Co-optex plans to hire consultant Hindu Business Line Co-optex, which is on a modernisation drive, is seeking a consultant to implement its marketing and retail restructuring strategies. Bids have been called for the 15-week retainer project. The consultant is expected to be in charge of brand reconstruction, advertising and marketing, development of retail identity, supply chain management optimisation, improving existing sales channels and opening new avenues in India and in international markets. The consultant's duties also include formulation of Co-optex 2023 vision, business operations review and gap analysis, organisation structure, growth of exports, product mix optimisation and vendor management.

Bhupathi goes online to sell sports merchandise New York Daily News India's ace tennis star Mahesh Bhupathi on Friday stepped into the e-commerce world by unveiling an online portal, www.Sports365.in, to sell sports merchandise, including equipment, accessories, apparel and footwear. The website aims to be the first port of call for sports and fitness related needs of customers by providing quality service at affordable prices through latest technology. "We have already uploaded on the website over 8,000 sports and fitness products of renowned global brands, including Yonex, Head, Wilson, Babolat, Puma, Adidas, Prince, GM, Arena, Donic, Tunturi and Body Sculpture... This kind of initiative was overdue for sports enthusiasts and player," Bhupathi said at the launch event.

Linc Pen eyes 20% spike in sales Hindu Business Line Expecting a reversal in the ongoing slowdown in the fast moving consumer goods space, Kolkata-based writing instruments maker Linc Pen & Plastics is eyeing a growth of at least 20 percent during this fiscal. "We expect FY13 to be better than FY12. Our objective is to have decent double-digit growth. In 2011-12, the growth was barely 9-10 percent," Linc Pen & Plastics Managing Director, Mr Deepak Jalan said. The company expects to clock revenue of about Rs 325 crore, up from Rs 270 crore last year. With increasing demand, the company plans to set up a manufacturing unit in Gujarat at an investment of Rs 25 crore to ramp up its capacity.

FNP expands presence with 121 outlets Franchiseindia.com Ferns N Petals (FNP) opened its second store in Kanpur, offering an array of floral and gifting solutions. With the launch of this store, FNP is now present in 47 cities through 121 stores across India. Essential to its existence, FNP offers gifting solutions, various types of flower requirements, floral decoration in weddings, corporate events or individual parties. The shop is spread over an area of 300 sq. ft.

News - Food, QSR

Navis Cap acquires Nirula's stake Moneycontrol.com Navis Capital acquired the remaining stake in Delhi-based fast-food chain Nirula's Corner House Pvt Ltd, held by Samir Kuckreja. Navis Capital had acquired a majority stake in Nirula for Rs 90 crore and post-acquisition, it invested Rs 30 crore directly and procured another Rs 20 crore from franchisees for store roll-outs, equipment and kitchens. Set up in 1934, Nirula's Corner House operates restaurants under the brand name Nirula's, casual dining outlets called Nirula's Potpourri and two hotels. The group is present in over 85 locations across Delhi and NCR, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Haryana, Rajasthan and Punjab.

India expansion on for global cash & carry chains Business Standard International cash and carry chains in the retail sector want to expand through the year in India, despite the economic slowdown and dip in foreign investor confidence. Having no foreign direct investment (FDI) restriction, these wholesale chains are allowed to sell products only to retailers, professional users, caterers, institutional buyers and other businesses, which need special licences to buy from these outlets. Walmart, the $ 446 billion American retail giant, which operates cash and carry outlets in India in a 50-50 joint venture with the Bharti group, expects to open 12 to 15 wholesale outlets in 2012, against 10 in 2011. At an average cost of $ 6-7 million (Rs 33-38 crore) per store, excluding land and construction cost, 15 outlets would mean an investment of anything between Rs 500 crore and Rs 600 crore.

Keventer plans to set up food park in Bengal IANS Kolkata-based Keventer Group is planning to set up a food park in West Bengal, investing about Rs 7 billion, a top executive of the company said. "We are looking to invest in Bengal in food processing and looking at setting up a food park at Dankuni. For development of infrastructure, we have to spend about Rs.700 crore," Keventer Group Managing Director Mayank Jalan said. Jalan said many food companies were looking to set up units in the state and about 80 firms were expected to build units in the upcoming park. Keventer is also developing similar parks in Bihar and Orissa.

Champion Agro plans Rs 100 cr expansion Business Standard (blog) In a bid to expand its business territorially, Rajkot-based Champion Agro Limited is planning to invest about Rs 100 crore in next two years. As part of its expansion plans, the company is planning a North India foray and will look to tap states like Punjab, Delhi and Haryana. The agri retail company already has 40 stores in Gujarat and is planning to open another 25 such stores in North India. "As per our expansion plans we are now moving to North Indian states. On a pilot basis, we have started agri retail store in Solan district of Himachal Pradesh. Further, we are aiming to cover Punjab, Delhi and Haryana. By end of 2012 we plan to open in all 25 stores in North India," said Dhirubhai Patel, Chairman and Managing Director, Champion Agro Ltd.

Trends

Korean retail therapy for foreign chains Business Standard After a quiet period, intense lobbying for opening up multi-brand retail once again seems to be hotting up. On May 24, Carrefour's India Head, Jean-Noel Bironneau, met Commerce Minister Anand Sharma, and his counterparts from Walmart, Tesco and Costco will no doubt follow soon. Ever since the government announced its decision to allow foreign direct investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail trade, and then backtracked, there have been a flurry of articles on the pros and cons of such a move. There is no clear answer and those in favour and against FDI have expressed ample views. So, another attempt to do so would be futile, although it must be stressed that allowing FDI does not mean that the global retail giants will automatically wind up capturing the market. The varying success of the three retail giants Walmart, Carrefour and Tesco in South Korea has become must-read case studies for all potential foreign investors. It also holds lessons for them in the Indian market, given the high complexities in terms of a wide geographic spread and distinct regional consumer preferences.

CBSE course on retail Times of India The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has developed a new vocational course on retail. The scope of the retail market in India is vast. And for it to reach its full potential, the government and Indian retailers are making a concerted effort. In this direction, Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) is planning to introduce a retail course under the vocational stream at the senior secondary level from the academic session 2012-13. The board will offer the retail course in class XI on a pilot basis.

Eyewear is gaining ground as a lifestyle acessory Hindustan Times Fancy wearing Nikon lenses for your prescription spectacles? Or Kodak? Chances are, if you have experienced what the better lens brands deliver, you will not go back to unbranded options that cost you much less. At the more expressive end of the spectrum, eyewear is also gaining ground as a fashion and lifestyle accessory. The Rs 21,000 crore eyewear market in India, according to industry body ASSOCHAM, is projected to grow to Rs 43,000 crore by 2015, at a compounded annual growth rate of 30%. Eyewear brands are getting aggressive with sunglasses, prescription eyewear frames and lenses, contact lenses and intraocular lenses. While the share of organised eyewear is 25% currently, branded players believe that if they can get within easier reach of consumers, they will see huge growth. The reason for their enthusiasm is the changing urban Indian consumer.

Insight

Private Lables in the Indian Retail Industry Zenith Research There are radical changes taking place in the Indian retail Industry. Strong underlying economic growth, population expansion, the increasing wealth of individuals and the rapid construction of organized retail infrastructure are the factors contributing to such changes. One of the new things seen in the Indian retail Industry is the growth of Private Brands in the organized retail. This paper discusses the issue of private brands in the Indian retail industry.

Regional MBOs the Key to Success- Shahnawaz Sheikh (Premium) - View Free Sample WITH MARKET SATURATION IN METROS, BRANDS ARE AIMING TO VENTURE VIRGIN MARKETS AND MBOS OFFER A BETTER PROPOSITION. SHAHNAWAZ SHEIKH, CMD, SHORTY CAPONE, PROVIDES AN INSIGHT ON HOW TO CAPTURE THESE REGIONS. Fashion in India is evolving rapidly and awareness among the people is at its peak. Although at a nascent stage, the Indian fashion sense is fast catching up with the rest of the world, there is an increasing recognition of brands along with growth in the number of players throughout the peninsula. With FDI coming into the picture, India will experience a whole lot of influx of many more international brands looking for a bite off the Indian market. Awareness, however, has been restricted because in our country there are regions that are simply deprived of the latest fashion. Even now, in some parts of India, people travel huge distances just to get their favourite brands in contrast to most countries abroad, where brands have their presence even in interior markets. China, for example, has the availability of a variety of brands even in remote markets.

Online Retailing- The Channel Forward (Premium) - View Free Sample WITH E-TAILING GROWING AT A FAST PACE IN INDIA, IT HAS BECOME IMPERATIVE FOR BRICK-AND-MORTAR RETAILERS TO INTEGRATE THIS CHANNEL. PRAGYA SINGH, PRINCIPAL CONSULTANT, RETAIL AND CONSUMER PRODUCTS, TECHNOPAK,TALKS ABOUT THIS EVOLVING MEDIUM. Retail e-commerce is perhaps the most written about retail topic in recent days. But this has not been an overnight phenomenon. During the mid-nineties VSNL introduced internet to India and it was during the noughties when internet penetration increased steadily and technological advancements enabled better online interfaces with safer transactions; and e-commerce inched into common man's life through travel retail, financial services and e-tailing; and the decade of 2010 is taking this phenomenon to the next level where it no longer can be ignored. The market size of e-commerce in India is estimated to be $14 billion in 2012 and is projected to reach $74 billion by 2017. E-tailing is essentially the selling of retail products and services through internet.

Manu Indrayan on Building a Kidswear Brand (Premium) - View Free Sample MANU INDRAYAN, MD, 612 IVY LEAGUE, TALKS TO IMAGES BOF ABOUT BUILDING A STRONG KIDSWEAR BRAND AND MARKET OPPURTUNITIES. Chandigarh-based textile company, INDIAN Group was started by first generation entrepreneurs, Manu Indrayan and Mohita Indrayan. The group has two companies under its umbrella - Indian Yarn Ltd, which manufactures synthetic and acrylic yarns and Indian Clothing League Pvt. Ltd. which launched kidswear brand - 612 Ivy League in 2009. They conducted a thorough market research before foraying into the kidswear segment. Manu Indrayan, Managing Director, 612 Ivy League, said, "Branded kidswear forms less than 10 per cent of the total kidswear market but it is growing at a rate of more than 20 per cent per annum. There are only a handful of brands in this segment and we realised that there is a lack of stylish contemporary garments at affordable prices." Indrayan believes that there is a huge opportunity in the garment sector due to its size and growing consumer base as he further adds, "Of the total retail industry size of $435 billion, less than 10 per cent is organised retail and it is growing rapidly".

Is your brand flawsome (Premium) - View Free Sample Consumers don't expect brands to be flawless. In fact, consumers will embrace brands that are Flawsome*: brands that are still brilliant despite having flaws; even being flawed (and being open about it) can be awesome. Brands that show some empathy, generosity, humility, flexibility, maturity, humour, and (dare we say it) some character and humanity. Two key drivers are fuelling the flawsome trend: Human brands: Everything from disgust at business to the influence of online culture (with its honesty and immediacy), is driving consumers away from bland, boring brands in favour of brands with some personality. Transparency triumph: Consumers are benefiting from almost total and utter transparency (and thus are finding out about flaws anyway), as a result of the torrent of readily available reviews, leaks and ratings. Yup, Flawsome is by far our most cringeworthy trend name. But we bet you'll remember it ;-) Is your brand flawsome.