Flipkart saw close to a 35 per cent increase in sellersonboarded in 2020, in comparison to the same period last year.

These sellers came from Tier-II and III regions such as Tirupur, Howrah, Zirakpur, Hisar, Saharanpur, Panipat and Rajkot, the company said.

They primarily catered to categories such as household needs, women's ethnic wear, grooming, home decor and toys and school supplies.

During the "pre-COVID" January-March period, the most searched products on the platform included personal care, men's clothing, footwear and women's clothing.

During the lockdown, food and nutrition, household, toys and audio products witnessed the highest demand, Flipkart said.

The platform witnessed a new user growth of close to 50 per cent right after the lockdown, with Tier III+ regions registering the highest growth of 65 per cent during the "unlock" July -- September phase.

Unified Payments Interface (UPI) adoption on the Flipkart platform increased nationally by 4.5X from January 2020 to August 2020, with Maharashtra taking the lead with a 5.2X growth.

As a part of its restructuring operations, Bombay Rayon Fashions (BRFL) will hive-off Tarapur Yarn Dying & Fabric Process unit (Tarapur assets) to its subsidiary company - BRFL Textiles (BTPL) under a slump-sale transaction. As per Business World, after BRFL transfers Tarapur assets to BTPL, a set of PE investors would infuse equity in BTPL which would be utilized for funding the working capital for ramp up of operations of Tarapur assets. This unique structure, outside the purview of the NCLT, is beneficial to all stakeholders of the company and would result in maximization of value from the Tarapur assets by retaining its‘Going Concern’ value.

The new entity will generate good revenues in excess of Rs 2,000 crore annually and will be a perfect model for ‘Make in India’, offering excellent products to replace global competition in Indian as well as international market. The economic value generated out of this transaction will offer non-monetary benefits like retention of over 5,000 employees, clearing of all statutory dues, securing payment of financial debt, catering to domestic and international demand, increasing its potential to earn foreign exchange and encouraging local brands.

As per a new McKinsey survey, Indian consumers’ newfound optimism would result in increased spending across categories in the months to come. The survey found most consumers have been trading down or buying less expensive goods while they go for a shopping. Also, the brand loyalty has gone for a toss.

However, the intent to spend has increased by 30 per cent, says the report. About 58 per cent of Indians reported being optimistic about economic recovery in the next two to three months; about 32 per cent think it would take about 6 to 12 months while 10 per cent reported being pessimistic about the recovery.

As per the survey, only Chinese consumers are as optimistic as Indian ones 58 per cent consumers being optimistic, 38 per cent being unsure and 4 per cent being pessimistic.

Global German lifestyle brand, Birkenstockplans to expand its business by launching more mono brand stores in India in 2021.

The brand has already initiated to strengthen its presence in the southern market with more mono-brand stores starting with Bengaluru in February 2021. It will also launch its first stores in Mumbai and Chandigarh respectively in early 2021 along with a strong expansion plan in other key cities across India.

Being the inventor of the footbed, Birkenstock is popularly known for its exceptional comfort and high functionality based on a history that can be traced as far back as 1774. With a global presence in over 100 countries, Birkenstock had entered the Indian market in December 2019.

Birkenstock kicked-off its first year of business with the brand’s own India website, and has successfully opened mono-brand stores in Delhi, Hyderabad and Chennai, further expanding through partner-operated retail concepts and shop-in-shop concepts in the premium segment.

Birkenstock caters to the comfort needs of today’s consumers and provides footwear that is tailored for men, women and kids.

Shopmatic has launched new solutions to help entrepreneurs and businesses to choose from four different e-commerce solutions - chat selling, social selling, marketplace selling, or selling through web stores. Customers can choose the solution that best suits their needs. These will be available on the Shopmatic platform.

Most of sellers prefer to sell on chat or social media platforms. Shopmatic will help these sellers through a single checkout link that can complete the sale within the channel itself.

For sellers who want to use marketplaces like Amazon, Lazada, Shopee, Qoo10, etc, Shopmatic’sMarketPlaces solution enables them to sell, manage and fulfill their business from the company's dashboard. Rather than have to upload products in individual marketplace dashboards, Shopmatic merchants will be able to control all key operations from the dashboard.

For sellers and businesses who want to create their webstores, Shopmatic will continue to enable them through their ecosystem, complete with all features like payment and shipping integrations, chat and selling, multiple beautiful templates and domain name.

Merchants will be able to generate single checkout links for their products that they can share across multiple channels- WhatsApp, Facebook, Line, Telegram, Instagram, emails, SMSes, their websites or any tab/ app enabled on their phones. Buyers can checkout within their point of engagement and provide the relevant details - choose product variants, make payments, and select shipping options. Sellers can expect to see higher sales with better conversion rates and customer satisfaction as buyers will not need to engage in conversations before making their purchase.

The Single Checkout Link also enables transaction virality, in that buyers can share the same links with their friends or followers, helping sellers benefit from the reach of expanded audiences.

Fashion and lifestyle brand House of Masaba is now looking more at the beauty segment by collaborating with Nykaa for a range of mini perfumes. The brand launched its first range of presumes on Nykaa on December 16. Known as Burn Babe,’ the perfume featured the brand’s signature whimsical illustrations and retailed across Nykaa’s network of beauty stores as well as online.

The popularity of the perfume, and the makeup line in general, led the brand to expand its collaboration with Nykaa. It’s new selection of perfumes are designed to be collected and used on the go. Known for its diverse array of collaborations, House of Masaba has launched new collections along with jewellery brand Tribe Amrapali and sari brand Ekaya, etcs. This month, the brand has collaborated with Ekaya to relaunch its collection of bold, graphic saris, which originally debuted in spring last year.

Arrow has appointed Amitabh Suri as its new Chief Executive Officer. A seasoned, result driven business leader, Suri has over 20 years of experience in the apparel and lifestyle industry. He has held leadership roles in various organisations such as Shoppers Stop, Landmark Group, & ITFL – Indian Terrain

Prior to joining Arvind Fashions Ltd, Suri was the President of Exclusive Brands & Private Label at Shoppers Stop.

A Bachelor of Arts in History (Honours) from College of Vocational Studies, University of Delhi,Suri also has aMastersdegree in Garment Manufacturing Technology from National Institute of Fashion Technology. He has also completed a Retail Management Course from IIM Ahmedabad and an Accelerated Management Programme from ISB Hyderabad.

Flagship Company of the Garware Group and a leading player in specialty Polyester Films in India, Garware Polyestercommenced the production of Paint Protection Films (PPF) for automobile paint protection. Currently, Paint Protection Film has an estimated global market size of $500million and is dominated by global giants like 3M, Llumar (from Eastman), XPEL etc.

With no major domestic manufacturing competition, the company estimates Paint Protection Films to contribute 20 per cent of FY23 revenue estimated at an incremental Rs 300 crore. The GPL PPF will also be more competitively priced than those available in the Indian market today, as it is manufactured in GPL's highly efficient, integrated manufacturing set-up.

Paint Protection Film is designed to give automobile paint coatings the highest level of protection and impact resistance, and these films are clear, self-healing Paint Protection Films. This type of special extends the life of the paint coating on vehicles, and has self-healing properties. The PPF is manufactured using a specially formulated Thermoplastic Polyurethane film (TPU), which offers high reliability and consistent performance. The highly specialized film protects the vehicle's paint from scratches, dents and damage caused by road debris and rocks, as well as from environmental elements, through its force-dissipation properties.

For its second quarter ending September 2020, Future Enterprises reported a consolidated net loss of Rs 320.56 crore on account of lower revenue from operations. The company had posted a net profit of Rs 21.78 crore in the corresponding quarter a year ago. Revenue from operations during the September quarter declined to Rs 237.88 crore as against Rs 1,699.84 crore reported in the corresponding quarter last fiscal. The company was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and consequent lockdown imposed throughout the country.

Developer of retail infrastructure for the Future Group, Future Enterprises handles backend operations of the retail business of the group. The company also holds Future Group's investments in subsidiaries and joint ventures including insurance, textile manufacturing, supply chain and logistics.

On August 29 this year, the Future Group merged its key group companies, including Future Retail, Future Lifestyle Fashions, Future Consumer, Future Supply Chains and Future Market Networks into FEL.