Walmart’s Q4 its international sales grew 5.5 per cent to touch $34.9 billion, led by "strong topline growth" in its Indian e-commerce arm Flipkart and some other markets. Walmart International -- which includes operations in India, China, Japan, Africa, Canda, UK, Mexico and Chile -- posted a net sales of $33 billion in the year-ago period. The Bentonville-based company’s total revenue rose 7.3 per cent to $152.1 billion in Q4. On a full-year basis, Walmart's revenue was up 6.7 per cent to $559.2 billion. "Walmart International net sales were $34.9 billion, an increase of 5.5 per cent. Net sales in constant currency increased 6.3%, led by Flipkart, Mexico and Canada," Walmart said in its earning statement.

Meanwhile Flipkart aims to scale its loyalty program Flipkart Plus and its grocery and fashion businesses in India besides investing in technology and infrastructure this year. The company has also been focusing on ensuring safety of employees and partners during the year 2020.

Positioned to win India's e-commerce future, Flipkart delivered strong GMV growth in Q4 2020 even though its GMV was impacted by a 53-day shutdown (lockdown) in the first half of the year. The e-commerce company supports five Indian languages to access the product catalogue and launched voice enabled shopping.

Flipkart has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Tamil Nadu’s ministry of small-scale and medium enterprises to take local artisans, weavers, craftsmen of the state online. The partnership under the Flipkart Samarth program will enable Tamil Nadu’s small-scale industries to showcase and sell their products on the e-commerce platform. Flipkart will provide market access training and support to the sellers. Flipkart had launched its Samarth (capable) initiative in 2019 to help weavers, crafts persons, and artisans from across the country sell their products on its platform.

The committee of directors of Arvind Fashions has approved an initiative to raise Rs 200 crore funds through a rights issue. The committee of directors approved the issue of 14,802,856 partly paid-up equity shares having a face value of Rs 4 each.

The issue price of these shares is Rs 135 per equity share for up to Rs 199.84 crore for all the existing equity shareholders of the company on a rights basis.

The rights entitlement ratio is three rights equity shares for every 20 equity shares in the company. One of the most valuable lifestyle powerhouses, Arvind Fashions has redefined the retail and fashion industry in India. Having a dynamic portfolio of over 27 leading global brands in India, the company offers something for everyone. It has around 1,300 stand-alone stores and 5,000 departmental and multi-brand stores across India. Its dominance in the fashion space is backed by an extremely efficient warehousing and distribution system.

India operations of top fashion and lifestyle retailers Levi Strauss and Hennes and Mauritz (H&M) are the most affected globally by the pandemic. India saw the world’s second-largest Covid-19 outbreak, necessitating back-to-back lockdowns and shutdowns, which hit trade. Fashion was among the worst-hit segments. Retailers continue to grapple with low footfalls in high-street stores and malls despite easing of curbs.

For denim major Levi Strauss, which posted a sequential sales improvement globally in the fourth quarter and in the fiscal ended November 29, 2020, the impact of Covid-19 to shopper traffic remained severe, despite many stores being open during the fourth quarter.

Swedish retailer H&M reported a decline of 22 per cent in India net sales in the full year compared with a 20 per cent decline in the company’s net sales globally. The company opened two new stores during the pandemic and launched own digital loyalty program and an exclusive global designer collaboration with Simone Rocha.

In September, global retailer Gap and Arvind Lifestyle Brands terminated their franchise business in India, citing pandemic as the reason. Even though Covid-19 cases in India are on the decline and most brick-and-mortar outlets are operational, pandemic-induced economic slowdown still weighs on the sales of many discretionary items.

Singapore-based investment firm Nalanda Capital India Advisors’ arm, Nalanda India Equity Fund has acquired a 7.02 per cent stake in apparel manufacturer TCNS Clothing, which owns the women’s wear brand W.

Nalanda bought 43.2 lakh shares for an investment of Rs 178.15 crore in a bulk deal on the National Stock Exchange at Rs 412.31 apiece.

TCNS was listed on the stock exchange in July 2018. In April 2020, Elevation Capital (formerly known as SAIF Partners) acquired a 2.67 per cent stake in the company through an open market transaction.

Nalanda Capital has a couple of other listed apparel firms in its portfolio. It holds close to a 7.13 per cent stake in Kewal Kiran Clothing, which owns brands such as Killer, Integriti, LawmanPg3 and Addictions. Nalanda also holds a 7.56 per cent stake in Jockey International’s Indian partner Page Industries.

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The Indian e-tail market is poised to reach nearly 300 million to 350 million shoppers over the next five years. Covid outbreak has exacerbated the consumers' need for safety and convenience, leading to a spike in e-commerce sales.

The Tata Group will pick up a 68 per cent stake in online grocery store BigBasket. Tata's foray into the e-commerce space is a testimony to the ever expanding e-tail pie in India and now even large conglomerates want a share of it. Online retail has in general three sets of players. First the homegrown founders who started the trend. Second, global majors like Amazon and Flipkart and then the Indian majors who are just foraying like Reliance. It is great news for consumers because there are so many choices. It is the single biggest opportunity today for large companies looking into building a portfolio of new businesses in food and grocery. This cannot be done in fashion or in any other category.

There is a deeper recognition by larger businesses and conglomerates that the future of really distributing consumer products lies in a fully conversed omnichannel model.

Despite an initial downturn, the luxury fashion market in India continues to thrive, opines Akram Tariq Khan, Cofounder, YourLibaas, a UAE-based ecommerce company founded in 2014 in New Delhi. Khan say, a recent spurt in users from Tier II+ cities has fueled huge growth in ecommerce across sectors. Demand for luxury fashion is higher than ever as physical retail sales are at an all-time low within the last decade, and ecommerce has witnessed phenomenal growth. There is a spurt of new consumers moving online, says Khan. He advises brands to support vernacular language, WhatsApp commerce, penetrate into a higher number of zip codes, etc.

Khan says, the industry now has augmented reality that enables virtual try-on tools - one could choose a design and see how it shall look. It has data analytics to predict user interest and demand and train the pricing and sorting algorithms to ease product discovery. It also has AI that enables personalization at an individual level, which isn’t possible in the offline world. His firm YourLibaas has embraced conversational commerce in a bid to depart from the robotic-styled way of handling consumers.

To engage customers and reach new demographics, ethnic wear brand Fabindia has launched an interactive campaign titled ‘Global Dance Challenge.’ Fabindia has invited customers and fans to join the new dance challenge which will reward three winners with gift vouchers. The contest urges participants to film themselves dancing to the track ‘Jerusalema’ and upload it on Instagram and tag Fabindia’s account.

Fabindia’s new challenge proves the importance of having online connections with customers despite a relaxation of lockdown regulations. Online retail and social interactions promises to be a lasting trend in Indian retail, especially in the fashion and beauty sectors. Brands can launch their engaging initiatives with a relatively small investment on these platforms. Fabindia also recently released its new collection for spring 2021 featuring Chikankari techniques in a bright, soft colour palette.

Driven by broad-based revival in demand, increased footfall and resurgence in consumer spending, India's organized brick and mortar) retail sector is likely to grow 25 per cent to Rs 5.7 lakh crore next fiscal. A study of 145 brick and mortar retailers by CRISIL Ratings estimates growth will ride on low base as revenues are likely to decline 19-22 per cent this fiscal due to the pandemic. However, sales recovered to over 80 per cent of pre-pandemic levels in the third quarter and are expected to recover almost fully by the close of the current quarter.

As per an Economic Times report, operating profits are also expected to recover sharply next fiscal. Along with higher revenue, this will enable a recovery in cash accruals, benefitting debt metrics and consequently stabilizing credit profiles in the sector. Healthy business performance will enable liquidity and debt metrics to recover next fiscal, lending stability to the credit profile of brick and mortar retailers. With capital spending on new stores expected to be gradual, leverage reflected in debt/EBITDA is likely to recover to below two times next fiscal, from over four times in fiscal 2021, says Sushant Sarode, Associate Director, CRISIL Ratings.

Designer Abhishek Dutta has launched a collaborative collection in partnership with French visual artist Livia Dudouit. The brightly colored menswear and womenswear range is a part of the designers Spring/Summer 2021 collection. It features resort wear such as maxi-dresses, shorts, and loose layers as well as more formal pieces including tailored jackets. The garments have an illustrative detailing and innovative prints on them.

Dutta also showcased the collection at a fashion show organized by the Alliance Francaise du Bengale at the Park Mansion in Kolkata. The show began with a film featuring the collection, shot by Anirban and Ankit Aditya of Aditya Productions at Chandernagore. Models walked the ramp wearing vibrant pieces from the collection. They were accompanied by a soundtrack created by French musicians Kiran and Arthedone.

Having launched his eponymous brand in Kolkata, Abhishek Dutta retails from dedicated e-commerce store. The brand also retails in multi-brand brick-and-mortar stores across India and in countries including the UK, Malaysia, Dubai, and Singapore among others.