Sales & MarketZing !

Indias super bowl ? we mean the IPL tamasha has started again this year ,unlike the last year the engagement with the consumers is quite weak , thks to the rains , South africa and maybe with the novelty factor diminshing . When India's super bowl picked up then traffic to retail outlets fell crazily last year , this year we are sure that thanks to recession the traffic was anyways lower so the retailer wudnt havent felt the pinch like last year . Brands like Indigo nation , Reebok , Puma etc have tried to capitalise on merchandise sales thanks to their spends for sponsorships , dont think this kind of tie up is helping in anyway in getting footfalls , even if they are getting them the merchandise seem to be outpriced ! Retailers with good eat outs joints have tried to get the customers in with some good sit and watch deals but the great lethargy factor is keeping the consumers at home . Indias Super bowl seems to have been hit by the recession bug too , would like to hear from y

Considering that everyone is talking about the slowdown of the economy but its another matter that when you visit restaurants , movie theatres these days the rush has just not stopped ,so one is left wondering where is the slowdown ? to add to the chaos .. today's newspaper even talks about how luxury brands are expanding operations in India and seeing a sales growth ! So then what is the slowdown we are talking about , maybe there is a part of India which is for sure effected ,and a size able part of the country which is immune from whatever happens , remember we still are a savings driven country , don't have data on how much do we have staked up in our banks , plus don't ignore the black money , and of course we have poor politicians not even having cars ! at least that's what they declare !our reading is that no one knows the real story- its honestly beyond the common man , however the common man reads it as pressure in his work place , the bad news about the pink s

Here is the latest news on Indian retail Slowdown to affect organised retail in India Slowdown in retail is expected to last another 12-18 months Organised retail to falter for next 18 months, says report Private labels to continue growing in retail sector: KPMG Retail story shifts from expansion to discipline Of wristwatches and powerful ideas Retail biggies shut stores amid rent hike Nokia confident on mobile growth in India Shoppers Stop makes a cut at World Retail Congress, Barcelona 'Rentals are down and revenue-shares are in' What’s the value proposition? India has potential for luxury, but not yet ....look no further ! ( not an orginal post -compilation from the web )

..its an ever interesting topic the dynamics of buying ! termed as B(u)ynamics a number of books have been written on this . Well fact remains that buying these days has no occasions like the good old times ,these days there are 365 days occasions , the festivals are just one reason for buying More and not the ONLY buying reason like in the past . So what makes us BUY or Buy more ! here is our take on B(u)ynamics ! others have it ! so i will have it too ,classic one that would clearly elaborate this is the recent Ipod phenomenon or the good old walkman , you need to be the in thing ! u c buying is like eating out ! it happens at the spur of the moment and is completely unplanned these days unless there is a an important occasion like a wedding . travel etc . Plastic money ! more Indian's are surely getting enrolled into credit or debit card lure , numbers in terms of cardholders are low , but are shooting up .As long as it was cash deals alone we were under check

If there is a classic American brand that one loved for its trousers, then maybe its shirts , it must be Dockers , backed with some great advertising ( not much seen in India though ) and a product which could have been a legend ,remember docker khakis .But in India the brand is struggling for sure -falling sales , fast tracked over expansion, plus maybe over pricing of merchandise backed with the retail slowdown has led to its big slip . The brand is still not as connected with the consumers in India as say the mother brand Levis . The Dockers brand also has seen is extension into accessories , ladies etc too thus moving away from its core segment mens .It had some of the best stores in the country must have cost a bomb running them too , a number of stores are being wound up for sure ! The flagship store in Bangalore has or is on the verge of a closure . So for a brand that has never seen its fair share of action in the retail market looks like THE END for it soon at least in Ind

Here goes the list of key retail maths that's done commonly to judge performance and trends i) Gross margin = Sales - Cost of good sold ii) GMROF = Gross Margin ( GM ) / the sqft area ( that delivered this GM) iii) Markup= the amount by which the cost price is taken up by , for example if the cost is 10 rs and the markup is 25 % then the selling price is 10 +2.5 =12.5 iv ) GMROI = the Gross margin ( GM ) / cost of inventory (that delivered this GM ) v) GMROL = Gross Margin ( GM ) / the amount of labor involved in delivering this GM vi) OTB ( open to buy ) is an indicator for the merchandiser whether he/she can buy more = Sales + markdown + opening Inventory -closing Inventory for the period vii) Margin = (Sales-cost)/sales viii) sell thru ( indicates off takes ) = Sales / ( sales + closing inventory ) ix) upt = Units sold /no of bills generated x) No of weeks stocks = Inventory / sales per week . of the unit that's being measured More later !

Along with women , the other big swing factor of where to shop and what to buy is the classic Kids Pester power , what normally starts with a very innocent request for the latest toy purchase soon ends up as a full family shopping exercise ! This is interesting and here are some of our insights into how the little wonders way of making us work ! Peer Pressure : Thanks to the flood of kids TV channels ( Pogo ,Cartoon network ,Disney etc) , and the propensity of brands advertising with latest products ,which soon becomes nothing but households crazes.The best examples are Bayblades , Ben 10 watches , Goku ,barbie dolls ,back this with strong peer pressure and desire to have it , and the parents great urge of not to say NO, you have a winning combination as a brand ! Come to think of it ,most of these are a couple of months fad and dies down ,but surely does so after pinching the parents purse ! Milk the emotions ! :Knowing very well that there is an emotional connect to their kids , p