Sales & MarketZing !

after a long time , the signs of buying seems to be back in the market , retailers are talking about double digit growth on like to like store sales ,like to like or same store growth is a great indicator for actual growth and operation efficency , this has been backed with a growth in margins .Thus retailers results have been good too , with Shoppers stop , Pantaloon all going to town about the sign of good times . With the economic story of growth and a stock market that's holding ,we seem to be slowly trudging back to good old times .This economic buoyancy should hit a peak for retailers by Diwali , unless there is a U turn in the great US of a economy etc , remember we are coupled or decoupled ,whatever ! Also in between this up and down cycle , there has been a new medium which retailers have started using to judge and evaluate trends , ie the great Social networking vehicle ...Fashion brands are increasingly using peer-to-peer networks like Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, Orkut,

In the euphoric times , we were left wondering with how some products /services have almost killed some categories , there mite be many , but the biggest one must be mobile services , take a look at the categories that have been bruised , wounded or killed by it :: greeting cards /torches /fm radio /music player /cassettes & cd's /wrist watches /land line phone/camera /credit card ( mobile payment ) /alarm clock /laptops /video camera /maps /newspapers /Dictaphone /gaming consoles / calculator /bank( brick and mortar ) /TV , phew !! there mite be more , come to think of it what sounds a great idea currently always has a BIG threat of substitution and something like a mobile service is a good example of how one move can close or hit a current category , retailers need to look into the horizon and keep an eye on the trends and spot them early !

You've heard of e-commerce and m-commerce, but how about v-commece A company called Pixazza is trying to make images displayed on the web act like a product catalog where anyone can click on an object within the picture to buy it for themselves. How many times have you seen an image and wanted to know where you could buy the products shown? If Pixazza has its way, the entire web could be a giant billboard for products. From their website... Pixazza is a new platform that allows shoppers to buy products from photos seen on websites of web publishing partners. The unique capability allows these web publishers to generate incremental revenues by "visual commerce" enabling the images that already exist on their website.No wonder Google has already laid its hand on this ! Shop the look , watch this space for more details :: also visit http://www.pixazza.com/ for the next BIG thing in retailing

heres our take on retail operations based on our experience Which should enable retailers to standout in some ways :: U walk into a retail operation job from Consumer durables ,thinking it should be easy , little does one realise the complexity off the role , one would assume that after a hard "Kitna number hua game" this should be an easy cup off tea ! well nothing can be further from the truth ...at least 6 years back the retail operations scenario was as follows . Retail operation surely is on off the key to success as all the startegy thats been discussed , the execution has to happen thru this departement so getting this act right is important .The first thing that hits one in the retail operation role is the ..... People Fear Factor :: As u would soon realise ur performance on the retail FLOOR is dependent on too many factors beyond your CONTROL , and the most complicated and important one being People .Retail is all about people your Customers or your staff , you get

The latest & best of Indian retail buzz :: Organised retail to grow by threefold in 5 yrs: Technopak Blackberrys-Emerging brand in Indian retail market Max Retail to open 20 more fashion stores Overview of Retail Sector 2009 INDIA: Future Group admits JV talks with global retailers Carrefour to enter India, in talks with partners Fitch: Retail sector outlook now stable Starbucks brews a fresh strategy for India entry Global brands make a beeline for India Coca Cola India looks ahead to a scorching Indian Summer ( not an original post , compiled from the web )

SALE is a good four letter word for the consumer , the market currently is flooded by brand , retailers ,on sale, all at the same time . We must add , there are some innovations that have hit / running in the market to make this period more WIN_WIN for the retailers and the consumers heres our take :: Flat discount :: during the weekends : A number of brands have moved too , flat discounts during the weekend ( thus no more upto 50 % instead say FLAT 50% ) , thus adding to the weekend craze for shopping .We have also seen differential timing based sales , thus you cud get upto 70 % off say after 9 pm on a weekday ,with some brands Out off the box ::Bring a lady with you and get a discount equal to the ladies height is one that we loved from Scullers , thus the ladies height is 6.1 you get 61 perct off , and so on , taking the same route we saw the Jealous jeans promo of saying that waist + 21 % sale , thus if your waist is 21" then u get 42 % off . TOP UPS :: Sale can be peppe

The old story of people travelling abroad in India for some premium brands or depending on the smuggled stuff is about to be a myth soon .The makers of luxury goods have officially flocked to India. You can find upmarket outlets in all major metros. So whats up for grabs and whats the operating play and future , here's our reading : This global market was estimated at approximately $69.4 billion in 2003 and is expected to grow 42 per cent to reach a whopping $100 billion by 2008. A Technopak study puts the Indian luxury market at around $444 million .( source from the net ) In terms of numbers, O&M says there were 61,000 high networth individuals (HNIs) in India in 2003. The World Wealth Report puts HNI growth in India at 14.6 per cent per annum, nearly double the global rate. ( source from the net ) A luxury brand is all about image; the product does not matter so much , how its presented and retailed and how its unique than the rest is what makes it different .Luxury brand