While Wal-Mart is facing delay in the rollout of its retail plan, Carrefour SA, the world's second-largest retail chain, is still struggling to finalise its Indian partner even after six years of persistent search.
As an increase in FDI in retail is being opposed, local retailers have a thriving year.
Two Indian women including Savitri Jindal and Indu Jain have been named among the list of world's top billionaires compiled by the US magazine Forbes.
Retailers have learnt the costly lesson that stores must be opened where they can get a regular loyal customer base, and not necessarily in prominent locations which create hype and footfalls but no commensurate purchases.
The company has a wide-ranging client base spanning across consumer durables to retail groups like ITC, UB Group and WalMart. It is also in the process of designing various white goods for its clients in the consumer durable industry.
Fitch, one of the largest design consultancies in the world that has designed stores of Wal-Mart, Target, Marks & Spencer, Best Buy and Tesco among others, is betting big on India's organised retail sector. Already in the country to serve clients such as Aditya Birla Retail, Reliance Retail, Tatas and so on, Fitch plans to treble the number of staff and open new offices in the country.
"We are developing the cash and carry model with an overseas partner," Future Group's CEO Kishore Biyani told PTI here, without giving details.
India's Sunil Mittal has been adjudged Asia's Businessman of the Year by prestigious US magazine Fortune for steering his telecom business in the world's fastest growing wireless market.
It is essentially a Christmas 'Made in India' that the western world is celebrating this year!
In an interview with the Financial Times last week, Jos Luis Duran, Carrefour's chief executive, said he was poised to sign a retail joint venture in India.
Speaking at Assocham's international retail summit, Rakesh Kacker, additional secretary in the Department of Consumer Affairs, said the government would take a decision at an "appropriate time". He did not specify the time-frame. The move has been in abeyance due to protests from across the political spectrum.
When French Retailer Carrefour enters the Rs 1,200 crore (Rs 12 billion) cash and carry segment in 2009, it would face tough competition from established players such as Germany's Metro, Bharti-Wal Mart, Reliance, Pantaloon, Wadhawan Retail and others entrants like Tesco and Costco.
The company feels that it has the first mover advantage and is now gearing up to face the competition by consolidating its presence through rapid expansion.
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.
Riding high on the retail boom in India, Bharti Retail on Wednesday opened its first store in Ludhiana.Meanwhile, the Bharti-WalMart joint venture is likely to kick off its cash and carry (wholesale) business in the third quarter of this year.
At least 35 per cent, or $400 billion worth of goods, that are sourced from China could shift to countries such as India, Thailand, Vietnam among others over the next 10 years, according to a study by US-based retail and supply chain solutions firm DCB and Company. India is expected to take the lion's share of volume shift compared to its counterparts in the region, the study says, due to its IT prowess, infrastructure and agents network.
Despite the onslaught from big retail chains, small kirana shops could get a lifeline from the Indian Institute of Packaging.
The commerce and industry ministry has informed the Prime Minister's Office that the Bharti Group has conveyed to the government that its joint venture with Wal-Mart was in compliance with the existing FDI policy.
The acquisition of Walmart India adds a strong talent pool with deep expertise in the wholesale business that will strengthen Flipkart's position to address the needs of kiranas and MSMEs uniquely.
Sunil Mittal, chairman & group managing director of the Bharti group, is Business Standard's CEO of the Year for 2005-06.
Reliance Retail, already creating ripples in the organised domestic retail market, is poised to acquire smaller rivals in order to take on serious competition from the likes of Bharti-Wal-Mart combine.
While Bharti's retail stores will be fully Indian, they will be able to take advantage of the tremendously low prices and technology advantages that Wal-Mart will bring to Mittal-Mart's sourcing.
Tesco has admitted that its plan to be the first multinational supermarket retailer in India has unravelled.
The way the story went, customers would get dramatically lower prices for everyday groceries (something that takes up 45 per cent of the household budget) and farmers would earn at least a third or more as big retailers began procuring from them directly. But none of this has really happened, and may not either.
A sector that was to have created millions of new jobs in the country is reporting job losses before it even gets under way.
As companies open the floodgates for corporate social responsibily projects, it means a new source of funds for many NGOs who are being hired to do the good things the companies want to show in their portfolios.
Bharti Enterprises, which has announced join ventures with US giant Wal-Mart for its retail foray, said that the rising real estate prices could hamper the growth of the organised retail industry in the country.
GE Money India said on Monday it is talking to big retailers including Bharti-Wal-Mart and Reliance for offering credit programmes such as the private label credit card it has provided to Tata Group.
Improved investment climate and a more liberal foreign direct investment regime have made India the top destination for global retail giants like Wal-Mart, Benetton and Tesco
Ramnik Narsey, the new chief, had joined the retail giant in May 2013.
Professor of marketing at London Business School, Nirmalya Kumar knows marketing like the back of his hand and, therefore, made a scintillating presentation 'Winning at Retail' at Mumbai's the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower Hotel on Wednesday.
The company reportedly in talks with a dozen firms overseas for an acquisition.
Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani, equipped with a war chest of an estimated Rs 100,000 crore (Rs 1000 billion), is understood to be on a global hunt for acquiring a retail giant of the size of Wal-Mart or Tesco.
Bharti Group, which has joined hands with industry leader Wal-Mart for a foray into
The investments include the supply chain, but exclude real estate component.
The New Year could well end up being the year of organised retailers.
The US retailer hopes to triple its sourcing from India by 2010 and touch the $1 billion mark. The retailer has been running a sourcing operation, Target Sourcing Services/AMC, in India since 1975.
Indian exporters undertaking supplies to global retailers like Wal-Mart and Metro will be required to affix the electronic product code tags on their consignments from the beginning of next year.
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