Do away with the grey, and let us have it in black and white. That's the message the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) has for digital media influencers. ASCI has brought out draft guidelines for "influencer advertising on digital media", an expanding and so far unmonitored landscape where the lines between personal and promotional content is often blurred. The self-regulatory body wants social media influencers to disclose upfront - through labels or in the case of audio media, by way of an announcement at the beginning and the end of the audio - that the content is promotional and paid for.
In 2020, after the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, several five-star hotel chains commenced home delivery of food as a lot of people preferred to stay indoors. A year later, as the Covid situation worsens, such hotels are going the extra mile to cater for the gastronomical needs of their customers. With health, nutrition, and immunity occupying the mind spaces, these hotels are crafting menus that are not only high on health quotient, but also have food capable of improving the mood. The move, they hope, would help them get more customers as prices are also competitive.
There are six kinds of wine drinkers, reveals Alok Chandra.
Even as the semiconductor shortage has limited the demand for new cars, the pre-owned car segment is seeing a surge. A preference for personal mobility, availability of multiple organised online platforms, including e-commerce channels, aggregators, and classifieds, have been fuelling growth. The growth rate of the pre-owned car market is expected to be 1.5x that of the new car market over the next five years.
The consumer buying patterns and preferences have changed significantly with categories like health and pharma, FMCG and agriculture seeing a surge and exponential growth along with the rising number of first-time online shoppers.
E-commerce firms like Amazon, Flipkart, Myntra and others witnessed successful festive season sales this year, Experts say e-commerce adoption in the country is accelerating by multiple years or what it would have looked like in 2025.
TikTok is up against not just government sanction but also a set of feisty home-grown brands that have raised the 'vocal for local' banner to stake claim to the platform's vast small-town reach, point out T E Narasimhan and Sai Ishwar.
What sold the most this year? Beauty, toys and baby care, sports and fitness, television and large appliances, followed by fashion, says T E Narasimhan.
The industry is expecting double-digit growth on a year-on-year basis, helped by a possible price correction after softening of raw material inputs and factors such as positive sentiments, pent up demand and improving economic conditions. Besides, a shift in consumer behaviour from price consciousness towards technologically advanced premium products with quality, value proposition and safety aspects leading to a rise in demand for home automation products is making the industry upbeat. With the government's production linked incentive (PLI) scheme for white goods, which has witnessed a committed investment of Rs 4,614 crore, in place, many manufacturers are gearing up to make the most out of the opportunity as well as take steps towards reducing their dependency on imports and make products more affordable.
AAP, set to form the government in Delhi, had said it was opposed to foreign direct investment in multi-brand retail.
The mood at the Hotel Investment Conference South Asia (HICSA), the annual hospitality industry conference was rather upbeat. But hotel brand operators and owners remain cautiously optimistic of the outlook and are living on a hope that a third wave of the pandemic doesn't become a reality. Having just survived the unprecedented zero revenue situation, the two day confrence organised by consulting firm Hotelivate, was dotted with anecdotes and best practices adopted by the hotels of all hues.
The German auto maker is clawing back up the brand charts as it fights off competition from Audi, BMW in the Indian market.
The company plans to collaborate with stopover management consolidators, who will participate in the bids to develop food courts and rest areas along the highways. Such stopovers will house multiple restaurant brands, reports Avishek Rakshit.
After six weeks into the second half, the faltering offline channel, which traditionally rakes in 60 per cent of sales for the market, has become the biggest hurdle towards the path of revival.
Zippy and comfortable, the Mini Convertible is a perfect car for short jaunts, but this isn't the ride you'd choose to take your entire family to the airport or pick for a long family excursion, says Pavan Lall.
Given the expectations of growth in the packaged foods segment, the company seeks to become a Rs 1-trillion FMCG business by FY30.
Marriott International is looking to make deeper inroads into leisure destinations as it seeks to make the most of domestic travellers' pent-up demand, said the company's top official. The world's largest hotel operator will add seven new properties in India in 2021, five of which will be in leisure locations - two in Goa, and one each in Mahabaleshwar, Thiruvananthapuram, and Dehradun.
While the brand did step into cities such as Delhi in the last few years, it is now stitching up an expansion strategy aimed at partaking of growth in areas where consumption of ice cream remains strong.
Ridlr will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of ANI Technologies, which owns Ola brand. Ridlr's team of 64 employees will now become a part of Ola.
Cash-&-carry chains claim of the products they sell 85-90% is local.
Bengaluru, Delhi, Mumbai, and Hyderabad account for 33% of the total active paid subscriptions.
While the record shipments reflects the prevailing mood at the time, the exponential rise in Covid cases in the country has turned the tide since.
Monetising online readership, a deeper focus on content and getting revenue from the reader are ways to make the business future-proof, observes Vanita Kohli-Khandekar.
The company has entered into a brand licensing agreement with Global Brands Enterprise Solutions, a firm promoted by Chinese white goods player Haier's former India head Pranay Dhabhai.
Despite a 56 per cent fall in residential launches in the first half of the year compared to the second half of 2019, Anarock Property Consultants believes that consolidation in residential real estate is expected to gain ground, and that branded players may garner a market share of 75-80 per cent.
This is the first time that a car brand will be selling its merchandise on the website.
'Demand in India has been outstripping supply.'
By the end of 2017, the Chinese firm had emerged as the fastest growing brand after posting 343 per cent growth with 19 per cent market share for the full year.
Indian coffee shops market over the next four-five years will grow between 6 and 18 per cent CAGR, all due to the growing coffee culture among the youth, increasing urbanisation, rising disposable income levels and changing eating and drinking preferences, says Atanu Biswas.
The store segmentation approach that Shoppers Stop is taking is intended to improve its hit rate at a time when local and international fashion retailers are crowding the market with new merchandise across price points.
The capital infusion is expected to bolster its presence in the country by funding its key businesses to take on Indian rival Ola.
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The Sydney-based firm is focusing on metros and mini-metros with a product offering that includes fat free ice cream, frozen yogurt, soft serve, smoothies to shakes and juices in over 73 flavours at a price range of Rs 40-150.
Men and women from mofussil India are buying designerwear either on their laptops or their cellphones.
KVIC is keen to build an international footprint and is hopeful about signing up B2B agreements with at least 40 countries, to which end it has even registered a GI (geographical indicator) tag in the UK, Germany and Russia.
'There are smaller cities, which are very attractive to fly'.
'There were any number of Congress leaders who disliked Sonia Gandhi, but they were very close to Ahmed Bhai and he would listen, and give a shoulder to cry upon.'
The family that used to make the legendary sports car wants to bring the same design panache to luxury flats.
Tata Cha cafes hope to create a feel of a roadside tea cart, casual college canteens, old Irani cafs and even the chai joints encountered on journeys through the Indian countryside.
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