Sales & MarketZing !

Since we are seeing some signs of recovery in the market , post the recession gale that hit , there would be some consumer behaviour changes for sure for sometime till things change maybe , here is our take of what would happen or must be already happening :: consumers would be willing to look at cheaper options rather than the premium positioned ones ,could explain a drop in some premium FMCG brands prices in which switches can be easy say detergents or water Debt would be a on the gun point decision only as stability of jobs and emi payment is the question Savings and Mutual funds should be back again in fashion Spending would be more thought thru and not " for the sake " spend stuff which happened in the hey days Consumers would do a lot of peer check or web based info check before hitting a shopping mall / or store Value for money deals were anyways a hit ,might be a Bigger HIT , SALE ,SAVE , would be good four letter words for the consumer , like always one might say ..b

Saw the latest TVC for Tropicana fruit juices , they seem to be positioning it as a breakfast supplement which we think is a great Idea considering that when staying in hotels ,fruit juice forms part of ones breakfast , so why not at homes , lets wait to hear on how this shift works for the brand , we also managed to get from the web some great consumer insights based winning moves :: here we go Folgers Coffee ::Until the "Best Part Of Wakin' Up" came along, we all thought that the ability to brew a good-tasting cup of coffee for our annoyingly picky friends was an effective measure of our self-worth. But then the people at Folgers uncovered a simple, obvious, but nevertheless earth shattering insight: Coffee is mostly about waking up, and we wake up to the smell of the coffee before we even get to take a sip. This insight drove the business from a 17% to 36% market share. Oreo Cookies ::How do you increase sales volume for what is already a national institution? Well

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 )