Swedish furniture retailer IKEA believes the union government’s recent announcement to set up toy clusters across the country will benefit the company. As per CNBC TV18, the government aims to set up eight clusters with an investment of Rs 2,300 crore to boost India’s traditional toy industry.

IKEA India has a very large presence in children’s range which includes furniture, accessories, textiles, toys and various tools. The business contributes around 10-13 percent to the retailer’s total sales. However, IKEA stopped selling toys in India from January 1, 2021 after the government passed the Toy Quality Control order, which requires all toy manufacturers to comply with the new Bureau of Indian standards (BIS).

The retailer now hopes that the India Toy Fair, being organized by the union government, will give the company a chance to engage in dialogue with industry. Kavitha Rao, Commercial Country Manager, IKEA India says, the company also hopes to forge more partnerships with toy suppliers to further grow its toy range. It most recently launched its Navi Mumbai store in December after several delays due to the pandemic. It also plans to expand its presence in Mumbai by opening two small format stores to make IKEA more accessible to residents of Mumbai.

IKEA is also eyeing a foray through e-commerce into other cities which will required back-end services in the form of fulfillment centres and services to assist with IKEA’s do-it-yourself furniture.

According to Kavitha Rao, Country Commercial Manager, Ikea India, India is likely to become Ikea’s largest market for children’s products with a 12 per cent share. Around 80 per cemt of the households live with children in India, In other markets, the number is significantly lower, added Rao The Swedish furniture retailer, however, stopped selling toys in the domestic market from January 1 due to the government’s ‘toy quality control’ order which requires all toy manufacturers to comply with the new Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS).

With the order coming into effect from September, all toys and materials designed or intended for use in play by children below 14 years of age need to be certified by BIS. Later, the compliance deadline was extended to January 2021.

Ikea said its products are also compliant with the BIS standards but its suppliers do not have the BIS marking yet. The retailer requested the government to give all retailers an extension until the authorities find a way to approve all the applications which have been submitted at this point in time.

As a part of its Flipkart Leap accelerator program, Flipkart and group company Myntra have started piloting solutions with startups Unbox Robotics and Tagbox Solutions. Unbox Robotics and Tagbox Solutions will benefit not just the fashion and grocery categories on these marketplaces but all the other categories as well.

Unbox will build a plug and play system of AI-powered mobile robots that sort packages in vertical spaces and improve personnel productivity fivefold in less than 50-70 per cent of the area required by existing methods. The start-up has already onboarded some of the leading logistics and e-commerce players in India and overseas.

Tagbox will provide supply chain monitoring solutions using IoT, ML and AI to help organizations solve problems related to product quality and compliance, traceability and operational efficiency. It provides services to F&B, pharma, hi-tech/industrial companies.

Myntra is currently evaluating Entropik Tech, another start-up from the first cohort, as a potential customer. An emotion AI company, Entropik has patented technologies that help brands measure the cognitive and emotional response of consumers towards product experiences, media campaigns and brand content, thereby unlocking consumer behavioral insights for brands to deliver superlative experiences.

Fashion Design Council of India-led India Fashion Week and Lakme Fashion Week plan to collaborate for the first joint Phygital Fashion Week. This first-of-its-kind event is slated from March 16 to 21 and will be aired simultaneously on both platforms. The event will also have a special ‘unity logo’ created to mark this momentous occasion. It attempts to align, unite and cooperate to create new business opportunities and growth for Indian fashion industry, which has been beset by the pandemic.

Ashwath Swaminathan, Head-Innovations, Lakme, views this partnership as a big step for the fashion industry and hopes to create new opportunities for growth by leveraging their collective strengths. Jaspreet Chandok, Head-Lifestyle Businesses at RISE Worldwide expects it to usher in a new era of co-operation that drives the industry forward.

The Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) has granted a subsidy of Rs 300 per candy to cooperative spinning mills in Maharashtra. The Corporation has also waived-off the security deposit of `2 lakh that the mills have to pay before participating in the e-auction process of the cotton body. The mills, however, say that this is not enough and have demanded a subsidy of Rs 2,500 per candy.

CCI is currently selling cotton at Rs 47,000 per candy and with transportation charges, it costs mills around Rs 48,000 per candy which is not affordable. Imported cotton attracts a duty of 10 per cent which again is not affordable for mills Cooperative spinning mills are not able to afford these rates and have therefore sought a subsidy of Rs 2,500 per candy.

Of the total of 150 cooperative spinning mills in the state, only 70 mills are currently functional with an installed capacity of 14 lakh spindles daily. The annual cotton requirement is around 12-13 lakh bales and the sales turnover are Rs 2,500 crore annually. The state government has invested Rs 2,500 crore in these mills as shares capital. These mills give revenues to both the central and state government in the form of various taxes of Rs 200 crore to Rs 250 crore annually.

Both the CCI and the state government have agreed to forward the demand of spinning mills for more subsidy to the Centre.

Puma’s global sales fell by 1.4 per cent to €5.23 billion in 2020 due to COVID-19 in the second quarter. As per Outlook India, the brand’s gross profit margin declined to 47 per cent due to negative currency impacts and more promotional activity, partially offset by positive distribution channel and regional mix effects

Bjørn Gulden, Chief Executive Officer, Puma SE expects the negative impact to continue through the first and parts of second quarter. But, he expects to see an improvement in the second half of the year. Puma’s association with cricket and long-term association with the Indian skipper Virat Kohli helped it attain a leading position in India.

The brand continues to be in demand around the world and emphasize an increased need to focus on sports, ambassadors, influencers, collaboration partners and communication platforms. The company started its association with Kohli in 2017. It was a late entrant in 2006 and now has become the leading player in the segment. It currently operates around 370 stores in India.

According to Akhil Jain, Executive Director, Madame, technology is likely to bring a paradigm shift in the way retailers operate with smarter stores and Artificial Reality being the need of the hour. Jain expects brick-and-mortar retail to boom in future as people will want to go out and shop again. He advises retailers to shift to easier-to-clean/antimicrobial-type materials and units. Henceforth, retailers need to create bolder experiences to connect with customers.

Madame had aggressive expansion plans for 2020 and remains committed to these plans moving forward. Collaborations with Reliance Trends has doubled its touch points, and strategic collaborations with iconic figures like Wonder Woman have aided in strengthening connect with customers. The brand constantly strives to implement new strategies and technologies to enhance its customer interaction and experience. It plans to upgrade its logistics systems for lifestyle brands.

As per a BCG report, India’s retail market is likely to grow to Rs 130-140 trillion by 2031-32. Released jointly with the Retailers Association of India (RAI), the report highlights how COVID-19 has changed consumers’ buying preferences and they are expected to shop going ahead. Abheek Singhi, Managing Director & Senior Partner, BCG opines the Indian retail market is starting to get back on its growth trajectory with kiranas and e-commerce bouncing back faster. He feels, retailers need to adapt to these shifts and adopt digital technologies at an accelerated pace to stay ahead of the curve.

The report states, the pandemic has introduced new trends such as reduced need to 'touch and feel' the products before buying and preference to branded products. To cater to changing dynamics, retailers need to re-evaluate their value proposition basis their target segment, brand promise, range and assortment, design and quality, pricing, service, experience and Omni offering. They need to base their key business decisions on themes such as adapting store network for safety and omni channel excellence; providing right product and merchandise offer; pricing and promotions across consumer cohorts; innovating along the purchase journeys; enhancing supply chain agility; optimizing customer acquisition cost and creating digital capabilities in the post-COVID world.

Rachit Mathur, Managing Director and Partner, BCG believes COVID-19 has increased the importance of hygiene, quality and brand in both essentials and discretionary products. Retailers need to understand these nuances and align their offerings with consumer expectations.

Kumar Rajagopalan, Chief Executive Officer, RAI, advises retailers to embrace the digital world in various ways—be it usage of social media, Whats app, or digital shopping in addition to their normal channels.

Designers Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla have designed a luxury 76th-residence at Lodha Ciel building in Mumbai. The designers collaborated with real estate business Lodha Luxury for the project. They used locally made and sourced décor including Abla work wall art and crystal chandeliers to design the interiors in a style similar to their recent collections. They also used antiques from across India to design the apartment.

Inspired by influences rooted in both Indian culture and Universal Art Deco styles, this residence showcases both heritage and contemporary craftsmanship. The villa has everything from woodwork by local artisans to outer modern brass furniture and mirror installations, which play with natural light to amplify both the interiors and the Mumbai Skyline.