India has been a tea sipping society. But the aromatic wave of coffee culture is wafting across it.
India's first-ever listed new-age company, Zomato, has seen a meteoric rise in its stock price in calendar year 2023 (CY23), rising 70.75 per cent during this period as compared to 9.5 per cent rise in the S&P BSE Sensex. From being the second worst hit new-age stock in CY22, crashing 57 per cent on the National Stock Exchange (NSE), the stock hit the Rs 100-mark for the first time since January 2022 in late August. The stellar run in the stock - only after PB Fintech and One97 Communications-owned Paytm, analysts say, may be coming to an end, at least for now.
American online major Amazon seems to be almost doubling its India investment going by the company's recent announcement during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's state visit to the US. From the time the Seattle-headquartered company started its India journey in 2013, its investment into the country is pegged at $11 billion or roughly $1.1 billion a year. By committing a fresh round of $15 billion by 2030, the Jeff Bezos-founded company's investment would go up to more than $2 billion a year over the next seven years.
During a sale, many store windows invite the shopper with impossible-to-miss visuals announcing '50% Discount'. Only upon entering does the shopper realises that the one rack which fulfils this promise sells items she'd never purchase.
It is the season of cooking and baking, but with Amul Butter in short supply, consumers aren't like the cat that got the cream. A shortage only means market shelves without butter on them. "There is a supply-side deficit. "We are now able to procure only two packs of butter a day, as opposed to three packs (each containing 30 packets of butter) in a day," says a salesman at Modern Bazaar, a departmental store in New Delhi's Greater Kailash.
Its trajectory in telecom is well known but now it is pushing for a similar leap into the ranks of the top players in its other businesses: media and entertainment, e-commerce, a series of online businesses ranging from health to education, and retail.
At the 45th Annual General Meeting of Reliance Industries (RIL) in August, chairman and managing director (CMD) Mukesh Ambani described the company as an "unputdownable book" with never-ending chapters of success. "Reliance grew from strength to strength because we internalised the founder's mindset of purpose, philosophy and passion," he said. Wednesday marked the 90th birth anniversary of RIL founder Dhirubhai Ambani.
In 2013, weeks after getting bail in a case of alleged cheating in Kerala, Amway India's then managing director, William Scott Pinckney, declared that the company was aiming to hit revenues of Rs 10,000 crore in India in a decade. Fast forward to 2021, and Milind Pant, Amway's global CEO, announced that the company has designated India as one among the top three markets for growth and investment (after US and China), and is now looking at hitting revenues of Rs 20,000 crore over the long term.
A few days ago, Reliance Retail surprised the market by acquiring the Campa brand from Delhi-based Pure Drinks Ltd for Rs 22 crore. A successful cola brand in the eighties, especially in North India, Campa Cola thrived when Coke exited India in the late seventies. When the Atlanta-based major returned and PepsiCo set base in India, it went down fighting.
Despite the failure of most e-commerce players to meet orders through the first week of the lockdown, there has been no serious crisis, thanks to supplies from 11 million small kirana and mom-and-pop stores across the country with the support of over 300,000 distributors and wholesalers.
Wistron, which earlier pegged the losses at Rs 437 crore, later notified the Taiwan stock exchange that the total losses were around Rs 50 crore.
A sub-group has been formed to amend rules that govern safety standards at eating establishments
Flipkart will need $2 bn annual profit to make Walmart investment viable, which will mean yearly revenue of $100 bn
Organised players have been the biggest beneficiaries after the lockdowns were lifted. Given real estate is not as expensive now, players want to take advantage of the trend.
Saks sells luxury brands such as Jimmy Choo, Giorgio Armani, and Tod's, besides premium brands such as Fila and Puma.
Real estate experts say rentals have corrected by 5-10 per cent across formats, including office, retail and housing, with a pick-up expected over the next few quarters as the economy recovers.
Future's home retailing interests, including furniture and furnishings, are housed under Praxis Home Retail, which was created in FY18 when the group demerged the business from Future Retail.
Among the options being weighed are discounts on existing rentals, short-term deferrals, and 50 per cent waivers.
Kataria, 49, an IIT-XLRI alumnus, was quick to implement a number of initiatives during the Covid-19 crisis including launching D2C initiatives such as mobile stores, WhatsApp messaging, video calling and home deliveries. Kataria was also swift to recognise that stay-at-home consumers were keen to buy informal rather than formal footwear, launching new collections quickly to take advantage of this trend, says Viveat Susan Pinto.
'The government wants farmers to diversify from rice and wheat, and create another green revolution. Cannabis can play a big part in that'
A deal, where a founder has brought back stake from early investors before an initial public offering, is unheard of in India or pretty much anywhere else, analysts pointed out.
While Reliance has the clout to negotiate prices with suppliers for its e-commerce, not to forget the cost advantage of integrated warehouse and supply chains, Amazon and Walmart are no pushovers, they too have deep pockets.
Experts say Biyani will now become a contract manufacturer of fashion and FMCG products, with the Reliance group being one of his customers.
The government-owned Fortune 500 company, which is the country's largest company in terms of sales, has already commissioned 1,180 Kisan Sewa Kendras.
Walt Disney is planning to open 135 more stores in India over the next four years.
Burger King's entry is expected to heat up the burger chain market in India, dominated by McDonald's.
An interview with Landor's executive creative director Peter Knapp.
Even in the face of protests from trade groups, escalating real estate costs and pressure on margins, the march of domestic retail chains continues unabated.
The power of the small neighbourhood retailer can barely be ignored as organised players look to leverage their last-mile connectivity and reach, luring them by promising support in technology, inventory and tax management.
Currently, only Rs 3,500 crore (Rs 35 billion) of the Rs 24,280 crore (Rs 242.8 billion) goes to the organised sector. Companies are targeting kids from the age of one to 14. According to Technopak, this sector is growing at 20 per cent per annum.
What can international luxury goods and services marketers do to stimulate desire and capture the now rapidly increasing spending potential of the very affluent in India?
Self-indulgence is the new motto of the uber rich as more foreign luxury brands announce their presence in India.
The investments include the supply chain, but exclude real estate component.
While festive season spends by consumers did contribute to the uptick seen in Q3, experts said greater aggression displayed by retailers to corner a larger share of the shopper's wallet also worked.
There is obvious competition at the front-end, but cash-and-carry will benefit the kirana as well, apart from the impact on supply chain and agriculture.
Move over Delhi and Mumbai - Surat, Jaipur and Ludhiana are emerging as big spenders on luxury goods.
Do you think that the number of rich in India is rising? Or is it that this is true only of big cities? Do you still feel Indians are poor?
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