News and views about the Retail sector in India

Weekly news updates on trends and happenings in the Indian Retail Industry

General trends and information
Big Players – plans and investments
International
Regional Trends
Sector Specific
Support industries

Retail majors entering India are realizing that the country is no cakewalk; the competitive landscape is as daunting as the regulations governing it. The retail bandwagon chugs along as the Indian youth continues to spend as much as their elders.

- Chillibreeze Business Research Team

General trends and information

No cakewalk for retail biggies

Amid the noise around multinational retail chains queuing up to enter India comes a calming revelation. According to management consultancy firm A T Kearney, not all retail biggies continue in the new markets that they enter.

In fact, a disconcerting two out of three have not succeeded out of their home markets and 70 per cent have withdrawn from Asia. Among the recent instances, Carrefour of France sold its stores in South Korea to E-Land in 2006 and, in the same year, Wal-Mart quit South Korea.

The biggest retailers in the world -- such as Wal-Mart, Tesco and Carrefour -- are keen to tap the opportunity in India, where the retail sector is expected to grow from $350 billion to $427 billion by 2010 and $365 billion by 2015. However, as talk of setting up shop in India turns to action, retailers face their share of challenges, not the least of which is the government's decision to allow foreign direct investment only in single-brand retail and only up to 51 per cent.

Already, Nanz, which had set up the country's first supermarket chain in a joint venture with Escorts, has shut shop here. Others have been complaining of tricky regulation, including cumbersome and "obsolete" customs procedures. Asia’s challenges for retailers include supply chain issues, infrastructure bottlenecks, complex customer behaviour and so on, points out Hemant Kalbag, principal, A T Kearny.

Add to this, a unique aspect to India - the large number (12 million) of neighbourhood kirana stores. "On an average day, you can see 45-50 trucks plying on the roads in Europe and US to cater to retailers. But places like Mumbai can't accommodate such traffic,” said Hypercity CEO Andrew Livermore. He adds, “Laws such as Packaged Goods Act and Weights and Measures Act are a big challenge for retailers." Agrees KSA Technopak chairman Arvind Singhal: "Retailing is selling whatever is needed and cultivating local competence. Very few international companies have these."

July 06, 2007 
Source: rediff.com

FDI curbs not for franchise deals

Finance ministry officials are of the view that current restrictions that prohibit FDI in multi-brand retail cannot be extended to franchise agreements between an Indian company and an overseas partner. Their reasoning - franchise agreements are basically service agreements and in the case of services there can be no distinction between retail and wholesale, hence the present guidelines can only apply to retail in goods and not franchise agreements.

This view is significant as there have been speculations about the government banning franchise arrangements, which many consider a loophole that single-brand and multi-brand retail giants have been leveraging to enter India. For example, take the much-hyped case of Bharti Retail and Wal-Mart. This arrangement is at two levels: Wal-Mart is entering India as a wholesale trader, that is, as a cash-and-carry business giant, and secondly, as a back-end for Bharti Retail. If Bharti Retail were to use the name "Wal-Mart" for its shops, then it would pay a royalty to the American retailer and act as its franchisee.

While bigwigs like Tesco and Carrefour have decided not to enter India until FDI in multi-brand retail is opened up, there has been a view that they could always change their mind and appoint an Indian franchisee.

July 06, 2007 
Source: rediff.com

‘Youth spending on apparel, accessories on par with elders’

The Indian youth spend almost the same amount annually on apparel and accessories as the elders in their household, revealed the IMAGES-AC Neilson Study on The Indian Wallet & Brand Share.

The report that ascertains the spending behaviour among the top-end urban customers in India, with a special emphasis on the youth segment, was released by Mr Hem Chandra Javeri, Senior Executive President, Madura Garments, and Dr Alo Ghosh of Techna at the recently concluded Delhi edition of the India Retail Forum, The Shop.

According to the report, the youth spend double of what their households spend on Internet usage, landline phones are passé compared to mobile phones and most young women prefer public transport while young men prefer private transport. A zonal analysis done by the report reveals some interesting facets of youth in India. For instance, the disposable incomes of the working youth in the southern parts of the country are more than those of their northern counterparts. The report also revealed that North Indian guardians spoil their wards with the highest levels of pocket money. There are more smokers in the eastern parts while the western states prefer vacations as means to unwind. Youth down South spend more on two-wheelers, while youth in the West spend more on mobiles.

While average annual credit card payments are around Rs 62,220, for young adults the average is around Rs 1.21 lakh, even higher for women. About 12-13 per cent of the youth in India have home or car loans, but only 7 per cent have durable loans to pay off.

July 3, 2007
Source: The Hindu Businessline

Big Players – plans and investments

RPG to launch 365 stores in 1 year

RPG Group, which owns the Spencer's brand of retail stores, will invest Rs 1,000 crore (Rs 10 billion) for opening nearly 365 supermarkets in the next one year. Ruling out any tie-up with global retail chains, RPG Enterprises chairman, Harsh Goenka said the group had the necessary wherewithal to conduct the business on its own.

Spencer’s has 200 stores presently and is expanding fast. The plan is to open a store everyday in the next one year.

RPG Group is the second largest retail chain in the country despite several major industrial houses, including the Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance, Sunil Mittal's Bharti Group and Kumar Mangalam Birla Group, having entered the fast-growing sector recently.

July 12, 2007
Source: Rediff.com

Reliance re-launching Vimal brand; setting up retail chains

Mr Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries is to re-launch its textile brand Vimal, famous for its ‘Only Vimal’ tagline.

It is to set up retail chains in fabric and garments across India starting August-September. Mr Chetan Desai, Vice-President, Marketing, Vimal Textiles, said that the company has tied up with an English architect with expertise in retail concepts.

Vimal is introducing garments in a focussed manner and has “an aggressive business plan in place,” according to Mr Desai. The company will first make available its fabric at the existing Vimal outlets in Bangalore, Chennai, Kochi, Hyderabad, Mumbai and a flagship store in Ahmedabad and will expand across the country starting from the high streets.

Reliance has been hiring key people for designing and plans to make Vimal a ‘complete family brand’ introducing dresses for women and later for children.

July 17, 2007
Source: The Hindu Businessline

Reliance Retail enters dairy sector with liquid milk

After fresh vegetables & fruits and FMCG products, Reliance Retail has stepped into the dairy products sector with a national ‘pilot’ launch of its liquid milk (family milk segment) in Hyderabad, its favourite testing market.

Available across 43 Reliance Fresh stores in Andhra Pradesh, the liquid milk branded Reliance Dairy Pure has a launch price of Rs 9 for a half-a-litre packet, according to a Reliance Industries (RIL) official.

Reliance Retail is at present procuring 10,000 litres per day at its procurement centre in Atmakur in Nellore district. The packaging, which is outsourced, is being done at Vikarabad in Ranga Reddy district. The national plans of Reliance Retail include launching 3 variants of liquid milk — family milk, low fat and whole milk. It would also diversify into a range of value-added dairy products.

Reliance is planning to roll-out the liquid milk brands across the country in a phased manner. It is also firming up plans to enter the cheese-making sector.

July 17, 2007
Source: The Hindu Businessline

Tata Group to foray into food retail

After Reliance Industries and the Aditya Birla Group, the Tata Group is poised to become the next big name to feast on the burgeoning food retail sector.

The group, which has just announced its entry into processed foods with the acquisition of 70 per cent stake in Innovative Foods from the Amalgam Group, may soon sell a bouquet of food products, including fruit and vegetables and baked food, through a chain of retail stores.

Residency Foods and Beverages – a subsidiary of the Tata Group’s hotel arm, Indian Hotels Company – which is the vehicle for acquiring the Innovative Foods stake, last year bought 80 per cent equity in Kochi-based seafood exporter Amalgam Foods and Beverages. Residency has already entered into an agreement with Jasper Aqua Exports, a Vizag-based seafood company, which will manufacture products exclusively for the Tata company’s product portfolio.

The Tata Group is said to be eyeing the food retailing opportunity for the last three years under the Trent name. According to sources, it has been planning to buy a couple of local food companies as well as exploring options with international companies in the areas of seafood, fruit and vegetables and baked food.

It has also been beefing up its presence in retail. Trent, the company behind the Westside chain, three years ago launched Star India Bazaar. Star India Bazaar is a hypermarket, the big brother of supermarkets.

July 5, 2007
Source: Business Standard

Reliance Fresh procures Solan vegetables

Reliance Fresh, part of the retail arm of Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries, has started buying vegetables from Himachal Pradesh’s Solan district, which produces the bulk of the state’s vegetables.

After an agreement with the Solan market committee, Reliance Fresh started buying vegetables from June 19 onwards. This was confirmed by the Solan market committee chairman, Laik Ram Sharma.

Reliance Fresh has already started procuring tomato and cucumber for sale through its outlets in metropolitan cities. More types of local vegetables will also be purchased by the company soon. Vegetables grown here are in huge demand as they are harvested when it is off-season for farmers in the plains including cauliflower, capsicum, raddish, peas, french beans and carrots among others.

Tomato alone accounts for over Rs 30 crore in the mid hills of Solan district. The vegetables are also considered tastier than those grown in the plains. Reliance Fresh also plans buying pulses and corn grown in Arki and Nalagrah areas of the district.

July 4, 2007
Source: Business Standard

Wadhwan group eyes southern market

Wadhawan Food Retail Pvt Ltd, a Mumbai-based retail chain stores company, is actively negotiating with a few companies for an acquisition to take its first bite into the southern market.

The firm plans to make Bangalore its entry point for the region and the entry would be through the inorganic route.

The company has lately been on an expansion spree, adopting both organic and acquisition routes. It has made three acquisitions in Mumbai and Delhi at a cost of Rs 100 crore.

In the case of the takeover in the Capital, the group outfit had acquired 67 per cent stake from the promoter of both Sabka Bazar and Home Store, while in Mumbai it acquired complete ownership of Sangam, a home delivery services company, from Hindustan Unilever Ltd. It has also formed a business alliance with Maratha Stores in Mumbai for supplying food and grocery items.

The company is also extending its food and grocery branded retail chain format (with each store over a maximum of 7,000 sq ft) geographically to the east, through the organic route. It is setting up the first ‘Spinach’ branded store in the region in Kolkata. The property has already been identified and the store is likely to come up during the current fiscal. Bhubaneswar could be the second city of the region that the firm would target.

July 3, 2007
Source: The Hindu Businessline

New brand identity for Spencer’s Hyper

Spencer’s Retail launched a new brand identity for the largest of its signature, Spencer’s Hyper, the 54,000 sq ft store at the Inorbit Mall, in Mumbai.

The refurbishment of the store follows the launch of 40 stores in the country over the last seven days and the announcement of an investment of Rs 1,000 crore in the business by the company.

The RPG Enterprises group, promoters of Spencer’s, will invest aggressively in the retail business, said Mr Harsh Goenka, Chairman. The group’s hyper formats are located in New Delhi, Gurgaon, Ghaziabad, Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam, Aurangabad, Durgapur, Lucknow and Jaipur.

June 30, 2007
Source: The Hindu Businessline

International

Ashok Piramal finds Men’s Club a good fit

The Ashok Piramal Group-owned Morarjee Textiles Ltd recently acquired 67 per cent controlling stake for an undisclosed sum in Men’s Club, an Italian brand of shirts.

The Rs 213-crore company is scouting for another acquisition for its front-end business in Europe, but has not zeroed in on anything yet. The company hopes to make a dent in the Japanese and European markets through this acquisition, and targets a turnover of Rs 27 crore for Men’s Club for the year ending March 2008.

The group has a design centre at Milan and plans to make a foray in the US market within the next two years. The company supplies fabric and shirts to various international brands such as Flex, Polo Ralph Lauren, Paul Smith domestic ones such as Zodiac, Allen Solly and Louis Philippe and apparel brands for women such as those of Marks & Spencer and Zara. It will begin supplying trousers next year.

For its second-phase expansion, the company is looking to acquire 10-12 acres of land in either Tumkur district of Karnataka or Visakhapatnam. It will entail an investment of Rs 50-60 crore and the capacity will be doubled to 25 lakh pieces of fabric per annum.

July 10, 2007
Source: The Hindu Businessline

Regional Trends

Retail MNCs: Kerala traders threaten 'armed struggle'

Pointing to the 'dangers' in the opening up of retail sector to multi-nationals and big Indian companies, traders in Kerala are gearing up to launch an  agitation, if necessary an 'armed struggle,' to prevent their entry.

Expressing fears that entry of firms like Wal-Mart and Reliance in the retail sector would shatter the state's economy, besides rendering thousands jobless, the Vyapari Vyavasayi Ekopana Samithi, a leading traders' body, says it will also result in sharp price hike of goods.

The body opposes foreign investment in the retail sector, citing the fact that 20 lakh people were directly employed in the sector in the state with another 60 lakh people dependent on them.

Urging the LDF government not to grant permission to big companies to set up malls in the state, the VVES had held district-level meetings to create awareness among the people. However, the VVES is not opposed to FDI in other sectors, as envisaged by the central government.

July 20, 2007 
Source: Rediff.com

The retailing revolution

The mass retailing boom that has been happening in the rest of India for the past three years or so seems set to hit Kerala too in a big way. Major corporate groups such as Reliance, Pantaloon Retail (India) and the RPG Group have all announced plans to expand their operations in the State. Going by the huge crowds that are swarming into hypermarkets such as Pantaloon’s Big Bazaar, Kerala’s consumers seem to be savouring the new retailing experience. But not ev eryone is happy.

Last week, a meet of “nationalists” and traders was held at Kasargod to pressure the Government to enact a law to protect small-scale traders and prevent the entry of multinationals in the retailing sector. Such opposition is not new to India’s retailing revolution.

Politicians, mainly from the Left, have joined hands with small shop owners and have taken to the streets to defend the livelihoods of more than 12 million mom-and-pop stores around the country.

Small-scale retailing is said to be the source of livelihood for around 20 million urban workers and 12 million rural vendors. The size of the retail market in India is estimated between $320-350 billion, growing at 30-35 per cent. Organised retail trade makes up about 4 per cent of the total retail trade in India. India has about 13 million retail outlets providing direct and indirect employment to nearly 18 million people.

In its annual study of retail attractiveness among 30 emerging markets conducted by A.T. Kearney, a management consulting firm, India tops the list of 30 most attractive countries for mass merchant and food retailers looking to expand overseas. India’s retail market is vastly underserved and has grown by 10 per cent on an average over the past five years.

Thus global retailers such as Wal-Mart, Carrefour, Tesco and Casino, and others such as Marks & Spencer and the Benetton Group will all surely enter the Indian market. And Kerala being one of the most consumerist States in India, many of them will surely find a way here as well.

Also, the special social geography of Kerala – characterised by a lack of sharp demarcation of the rural-urban divide, and the existence of pockets of opulence in remote regions, fuelled by non-resident remittances – makes the State particularly amenable to the retailing revolution.

As an avidly consumer-oriented State, Kerala cannot but open its arms to the big names in the retail business. The market may well be large enough to accommodate both the large and smaller players.

July 20, 2007 
Source: Hindu Businessline

Sector Specific

Food & Grocery

UK-based co enters ready-to-eat segment

UK-based Veetee Fine Foods, which exports premium basmati rice to over 50 countries globally, has entered the ready-to-eat (RTE) segment with its range of rice and curries. The company has invested $3 million on machinery and other infrastructure.

Packed in microwavable pouches, the range consists of 15 North Indian curries (such as aloo choley and dal makhani) and three rice-based dishes (vegetable biriyani, cumin rice and pulao) — in 250 gm (rice) and 300 gm (curries) packs. These dishes have also been despatched to countries such as the UK, Switzerland, US and New Zealand.

The ready-to-eat dishes have already been launched in Kolkata. Soon, they will be rolled out in Bangalore followed by markets such as Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai and Pune, across all modern retail formats and traditional outlets.

Products in the pipeline include ready-to-eat combo meals, rice treats, ready-to-drink soups, sweets and desserts, South Indian dishes and global cuisines such as Chinese to start with. Next month, the company plans to come out with a health drink. Research is on to make frozen parathas as well.

July 19, 2007
Source: The Hindu Businessline

ITC Foods spices up the organic way

After health biscuits and snacks, ITC Foods is going organic now. The company has entered organic foods retailing with the launch of Aashirvaad Select organic spices. Aashirvaad Select will initially offer chilli, turmeric and coriander powders.

Raw materials have been sourced from farmers practising organic farming (an agricultural practice without the use of synthetic fertilisers) in tribal belts of Andhra Pradesh and Orissa. The company has obtained the India Organic Certification for its spices. It claims the packaging of the spices is made from elemental chlorine free board that is environmental friendly.

The company is also looking to introduce more organic spices such as pepper and jeera. ITC Foods has a total installed capacity to process 300-400 tonnes of spices a month.

The coriander, chilli and turmeric powders are available in all major metros across all modern trade outlets and food retail chains in packs of 100 grams, priced at Rs 32, Rs 30 and Rs 24 respectively — 20-25 per cent higher than the prices of inorganic spices.

The branded spices market in the country is estimated at Rs 1,000 crore. However, there are no reliable data available on the organic food market in India. Globally, the organic foods industry is estimated at $56 billion and growing rapidly. The non-tobacco FMCG business of ITC Ltd recorded revenues of Rs 2,000 crore in 2006-07.

July 18, 2007
Hindu Businessline

Café Coffee Day gears up to take on Starbucks

Café Coffee Day (CCD) is gearing up to take on the global giant Starbucks in India, even while charting out aggressive plans for enhancing its overseas presence.

“We don’t underestimate them,” said Mr V.G. Siddartha, Chairman, The Amalgamated Bean Trading Company Ltd, while commenting on his company’s preparedness to compete with Starbucks, which is eyeing an entry into India. “700 café-outlets across the country would be an ideal number to take on Starbucks,” said Mr Siddartha.

CCD, the division of ABTCL, has some 440 outlets at present both in India and overseas, mainly in Vienna and Pakistan. CCD is adding some 20 outlets every month and hopes to touch the 750-mark by June 2008. The company is also looking at Germanic speaking countries in Europe such as Switzerland, Germany and Czechoslovakia to expand its operations through its overseas outfit, the Cyprus-registered Café Coffee Day International.

Back home, CCD has seen good success in Guwahati, Jammu and Katra among other places. Interestingly, CCD is setting up a captive furniture plant in Chikmagalur to meet its café expansion requirements.

July 17, 2007
Source: The Hindu Businessline

Manjilas expands food products portfolio

Thrissur-based Manjilas Group has expanded its portfolio of food products with the launch of jam and whole-wheat atta.

The company, which markets a range of food products including rice and rice-based products under the popular Double Horse brand, is looking to launch more new products, including a line of ready-to-eat food products like chappatis and Kerala porottas.

The company, which clocked a turn over of Rs 65 crore in the last fiscal, is looking to touch Rs 120 crore this year, he added. While the company’s products are available across the country, South India and West Asia are its strongest markets.

Manjilas exports its food products to 22 countries and is looking at about 50 countries over the course of the next one year. The company intends to focus on exports to Europe and also to strengthen the Double Horse brand’s presence in the West Asian region.

July 13, 2007
Source: The Hindu Businessline

Café Coffee Day plans 50 outlets in Pak, Austria

The Amalgamated Bean Coffee Trading Company, popularly known as Café Coffee Day, will open 50 outlets in Pakistan and Austria in the next 15 months. With an investment requirement of Rs 25-30 lakh per outlet, the coffee house is expected to pump in Rs 15 crore for the expansion.

Along with operating four formats of businesses — Café Coffee Day outlets, Café Express, takeaways and vending machines — the coffee maker is experimenting with different formats. It runs 10 highway outlets; 40 outlets in offices like Wipro, Accenture and Infosys which contribute to high revenues due to less capital requirements; colleges, airports, and service apartments. Besides, Café Coffee Day is within the top three exporters of coffee beans, with exports of up to 10-12,000 tonnes every year.

Café Coffee Day’s turnover last year was Rs 400 crore, which is expected to grow by 40-50 per cent.

July 6, 2007
Source: The Hindu Businessline

NZ ice creams in India

New Zealand Naturals, one of the world’s premier ice cream and dairy products company, has announced the launch of a range of ice creams, which the company claimed had only vegetarian content.

The range is a spread over 70 flavours in different types of ice creams, smoothies, sorbets and all of them flown from their manufacturing base in New Zealand.

The promoter and franchisee of New Zealand Naturals, and represented through JKL Engineers and Consultants, Mr Pramod Reddy, said that this is the first such outlet in the South and they plan to set up six more within the year in tier II cities and also explore options to partner with large retail stores. He said they were also planning ice creams for diabetics.

July 2, 2007
Source: The Hindu Businessline

Apparel

Specialty stores under Peter England brand soon

Aditya Birla Nuvo is looking to open a chain of specialty stores for the family under the Peter England brand. The 12,000-15,000 sq feet stores will sell both apparel and accessories catering to men, women and children in the value category. The first few family stores are expected to be test marketed in the South in April-June. The company will invest around Rs 400 crore in this retail venture.

Currently, Peter England operates as a men’s wear brand in the mid-priced value category.

Recently, Madura Garments (part of Aditya Birla Nuvo) separated its fashion brands (Van Huesen, Allen Solly and Louis Philippe) and its popular brand Peter England. Peter England saw retail revenues of Rs 200 crore in the last financial year. The brand has been growing at 25 per cent year-on-year. Its retail network encompasses around 230 franchise stores, 30 company-owned stores and several wholesale stores across the country.

July 18, 2007
Source: The Hindu Businessline

Garden Silks losing out to big players

Gujarat-based Garden Silk Mills, well-known for its Garden Vareli brand of sarees and dress materials, will restrict production of the same to the current numbers and has no plans of expansion.

This is due to a continuous fall in its revenues from the segment, because of entrance of big retailers, said a senior company official. Of the over Rs 1,200-crore sales of Garden Silks, only Rs 200 crore comes from sarees and dress materials, while the rest is from its yarn and polyester manufacturing.

The company is open to tie-ups with malls for setting shops but will not make further investment in the retail business. It currently has 293 retail outlets in 65 cities with 18 company owned depots.

July 18, 2007
Source: The Hindu Businessline

Gokaldas has revival plan for Wearhouse chain

Gokaldas Exports plans to revive its Wearhouse chain of retail outlets after 6-8 months.

About two years ago, Gokaldas had closed down most of its 36 Wearhouse outlets across India in cities such as Chennai, Ahmedabad, Bhopal and Delhi. Currently, only three outlets are operational in Bangalore.

This was because the returns on an investment of Rs 35 crore (about 10-15 per cent) were not proportionate.

Incidentally, Gokaldas has been supplying in bulk its ‘Camel’ brand of products to the German retailer Metro for the last four months.

July 17, 2007
Source: The Hindu Businessline

Lee opening 25 exclusive outlets

Lee, the denim fashion brand, will open 25 new exclusive outlets across India by this year-end.

The company currently had around 75 stores across the country, including nearly 35 exclusive outlets. With more stores in the offing, the total number of Lee outlets in all categories would reach about 125 by the end of the current financial year.

As its marketing strategy, Lee is open to setting up franchisee-based exclusive outlets as well as share the shelf with other brands in a partnership.

July 11, 2007
Source: The Hindu Businessline

Support industries

APL India Linx plans reefer cargo service

APL-promoted India Infrastructure & Logistics Pvt Ltd, the private container train operating company offering services under the brand name of APL India Linx, hopes to shortly run reefer containers between its terminal at Loni (near Delhi) and Jawaharlal Nehru port.

The Container Corporation of India is the only other container train operator that offers reefer services.

“Initially, the cargo inducement may not be enough to form a full reefer rake which will be run in due course,” according to a spokesman for India Infrastructure & Logistics.

A full reefer rake comprises 42 FEUs (forty-ft containers) plus three power packs, each pack supporting 14 containers on an average. Meat, mainly buffalo meat for shipments to West Asia, comprises the bulk of the reefer exports from India, though some quantities of fruit, fruit pulp and other perishables are also exported.

India Infrastructure & Logistics launched its service between north India and JNPT on May 31 with one rake and has since operated 10 services on the route, each with good cargo support entailing about 90 per cent utilisation.

July 18, 2007
Hindu Businessline

Swiss firm Barry Callebaut to supply chocolates sourced from Singapore

Barry Callebaut, the Zurich-based manufacturer of high quality cocoa and chocolate products, is planning to supply Indian food companies with its chocolates manufactured from its factory in Singapore.
The company is looking at working with international and national companies in the foods business and also providing training to chocolate artisans in India. It does not intend building a factory in India.

This September, the company would start its operations with a minimal investment by renting a sales office in Mumbai with an employee base of 4-5 people. In fact global players such as The Hershey Company and Cadbury have already forged strategic relationships and are likely to give the company some business in India.

The firm’s chocolate academy aims at giving a platform to those who want to get trained in the art of making chocolate. These would range from chefs at hotels to bakers in the country. The company plans to launch the academy in December.

Barry Callebaut is present in 23 countries, operates more than 30 production facilities and employs approximately 8,000 people.

July 19, 2007
Source: The Hindu Businessline

Retail boom fuels parking insurance biz

An increasing number of contractors managing parking lots at malls, multiplexes and five-star hotels are buying parking insurance covers. Insurance for parking lots is a novel concept in India and is likely to gain ground with parking getting more organised.

Brokers, who customise covers for contractors, said the retail boom had led to a demand for such covers over the last one year. For instance, Hyatt Hotel in Delhi has outsourced parking management to Jupiter Security Services, which in turn has bought a cover from National Insurance Company. In cities, large hotels and multiplexes outsource car parking management to contractors.

Several foreign contractors such as Intertoll of South Africa, Tenaka of Malyasia, Tramell Crow and Knight Frank have entered India. These contractors specialising in managing buildings, multiplexes, roads, and parkings lots have made standalone parking insurance popular.

Third-party liability insurance so far would take care of any liabilities arising from damage to cars parked in the premises of malls and multiplexes.

July 13, 2007 
Source: rediff.com

Avaya GlobalConnect in talks with retailers for its niche solutions

Software company Avaya GlobalConnect is in talks with 4-5 medium- to large-sized retailers to launch its niche solutions over the next 3-6 months. Currently, trials involving inventory management and customer services solutions are on at certain retail outlets.

Avaya’s solutions are tailored to address issues such as customer acquisition, employee attrition and training, pilferage in stores, loyalty programmes and automating supply chain and inventory. Avaya GlobalConnect has also developed applications for RFID technology.

July 10, 2007
Source: The Hindu Businessline

Amway offers its distribution network to MNCs

Direct-seller Amway is planning to offer its distribution set up to MNCs who are trying to get a foothold in the Indian market.

Its ready distribution network comprising nearly 5-lakh active members will be leveraged by such companies to enter new categories.

Offering to develop and launch a separate line of products on behalf of the MNCs — who would continue to sell their products on the retail shelves — Amway intends marketing and selling their specified brands through its distributors.

There are domestic companies ranging from aloe vera to bed sheet manufacturers who have already been using Amway’s distribution network.

Recently, it has also developed and packaged a premium line of Basmati rice for the Kohinoor brand. Besides, it has also been aiding smaller MNCs such as Twinings to sell its green tea through its distribution channels. At the same time, Amway is getting ready to pit its indigenous brands against the existing big FMCG players in the market.

Having developed India-specific brands such as Persona and Attitude, it is now planning to enter the colour cosmetic range with the latter and compete against big brands.

July 4, 2007
Source: The Hindu Businessline

Unique Formats

UTV entering retail space

Mumbai-based UTV Software Communications is stretching its new channel brand — Bindass — to retail cafes.

Branded as Bindaas Café, these outlets with a 1,500-2,000 sq ft area would provide the touch-and-feel element for the channel targeting youth in the 15-35 age group. UTV is currently seeking a partner in the retail business and this would be treated as business, independent of its 50:50 broadcasting joint venture signed with Malaysia-based media company, Astro Measat.

July 19, 2007
Source: The Hindu Businessline

e-Commerce

Cleartrip.com’s offer

Cleartrip.com is offering a free round trip flight for the companion of a customer who books for one of the Oberoi properties through the travel portal. The limited offer is valid for bookings from July 16.

July 17, 2007
Source: The Hindu Businessline

Airtel launches Kannada Web site

Continuing its foray into the rural markets, Airtel has launched a Kannada Web site for customers in Karnataka. It currently covers 61.3 per cent of the rural population in the State.

All the prompts on this portal are in Kannada and enable customers to download ringtones, devotional songs, dedicate a song or download and listen to special superstar content easily.

Mobile content in the form of applications such as astrology, news and other services will soon be made available on the portal.

To access these services, an Airtel customer needs to call 51111 at Re 1 per minute, with a monthly rental of Rs 15. If an Airtel customer wishes to access this service without paying the monthly rental, he/she can do so by dialling 51112 at Rs 2 per minute.

July 17, 2007
Source: The Hindu Businessline

Autojunction.in plans to sell new vehicles online

This is for all those buyers who always desired to buy cars or bikes at the drop of a ‘mouse’.

Autojunction.in a Web site, dedicated to selling repossessed cars from finance companies, is now foraying into selling of brand new cars and bikes online.

The Web site, part of mjunction services limited, will offer a chance for prospective customers to shop online for their choice of brand new cars and bikes. The company is in talks with leading auto majors of the country and is most likely to have an agreement signed with each one of them at the earliest possible. The new services will commence from a year from now.

Why would a prospective customer opt to buy a new car or bike online rather than go down to the nearest dealership and inspect and even test drive the vehicle? The company is targeting the growing number of people who prefer to buy the vehicle on an impromptu basis, without checking out the vehicle.

Further, since the firm would not invest in infrastructure like a typical dealership, they can leverage on the margins decided with the auto major. It can turn out to be a lucrative proposition to pass on the costs benefits to the customer if the auto major so decides.

The company is also leveraging its plans to sell used cars online eventually.

July 16, 2007
Source: The Hindu Businessline

Cleartrip.com turns focus on hotel services

If you are a traveller worrying about your accommodation in a good hotel when you travel next, your search could be powered with interactive details of the place you want to stay.

Apart from knowing the prices, the distance from the nearest airport or railway station and other basic data about the hotels, you could see images and videos to get a first hand feel of what the experience is going to be like. What if someone simplifies it further by saving you the pain of visiting individual sites of these hotels? Travel portals are attempting to do just that.

Cleartrip.com, one of the Indian travel portals, is planning a similar initiative.

Though the portal offers choice of accommodation in the budget hotel segment, they feel there could be a separate category for hotels. With its core business in booking airline tickets and hotel accommodations, Cleartrip’s revenues have gone up to Rs 60 crore from a meagre Rs 10 lakh when it started on July 4, 2006.

Given the business model of a travel portal, maximum investments go into advertising as acquiring and retaining customers is the key to this business. The travel portal spends around Rs 30 crore on advertisements in print, online and television media.

It caters to 80,000 customers, of which 60 per cent are unique and 40 per cent have visited the portal before.

Currently, the portal offers bookings only in the domestic segment (airlines and hotels), however it plans to foray into the international market by the end of this year.

July 7, 2007
Source: The Hindu Businessline

Bangalore travel firm ties up with AP bus co for online ticketing

Very soon, bus tickets will be available online. A tie-up between Bangalore-based travel services company Via and Sree Kaleswari Travels based in Vijayawada, will set the trend.

Via (formerly Flight Raja), would power the bus inventory online for Kaleswari, which has over 60 buses, 35 of them Volvos doing the daily routes across the State and neighbouring State capitals.

Plans are on to hook this offer to the online airline ticketing services the company offers so that the customer can get the total connectivity.

The cumbersome and time-consuming process of physically going to the bus reservation counters and booking tickets can be avoided, especially in cities. Once, the ticket is booked online an SMS giving the PNR details is also sent for information.

Via has developed the platform, which offers bus operators an easy combination method to host and manage their inventors online as well as have the facility to directly sell their tickets to B2C customers. The company has over 2,000 agents and currently sells over 5,000 airline tickets.

July 7, 2007
Source: The Hindu Businessline