03 November 2023, Mumbai

Bombay Shirt Company, India's pioneering online custom-made shirt brand since 2012, has opened its 17th store in Jaipur, marking its debut in the city.
Known for outstanding customer service and a unique in-store experience, they offer personalized tailoring for shirts, jeans, chinos, and pants.

Outline
Customers choose their fabric and get a tailored fit with the help of in-house tailors. Expert stylists guide fabric selection and oversee customization.
The new Jaipur store features stunning interiors inspired by the city's heritage. It's an exciting addition to their network.

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31 October 2023, Mumbai

Salt Attire, a women's workwear brand, proudly unveils two fresh retail destinations in Noida and Delhi.
These chic outlets are nestled within DLF Saket Mall, New Delhi, and DLF Mall of India, Noida. The Delhi store spans 700 sq. ft., while its Noida counterpart boasts 600 sq. ft.
Outlines

With these, Salt Attire now boasts six stores in its portfolio, featuring three in Mumbai and three in the Delhi-NCR region.
Salt Attire caters to modern women with a range of tailored-fit pants, anti-gaping shirts, lightweight skirts, and fuss-free tops.

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23 October 2023, Mumbai

French sporting goods brand Decathlon has expanded its presence in Chennai, unveiling a new store at Nexus Vijaya Mall.
The store offers a wide variety of sports clothing and equipment suitable for all ages and genders, encompassing categories such as outdoor, water, fitness, racket, team, cycling, running, walking, roller, and target sports.
With this addition, Decathlon now boasts eight retail outlets in Tamil Nadu, including five in Chennai.

Growth story
Decathlon's growth in India has seen the launch of large-format stores in Chennai's Marina Mall, Egattur, and Nexus Mall, Koramangala in Bengaluru.
Established in 1976 by French entrepreneur Michel Leclercq, the brand now operates over 2,080 stores across 56 countries and regions.
Decathlon arrived in India in 2009 as a cash-and-carry retailer, later gaining approval for single-brand retail in 2013. Today, it has over 100 stores in 19 states throughout the country.

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03 November 2023, Mumbai

Ethnic wear brand Samoh, under Trent Ltd., celebrated the opening of its inaugural Bengaluru store on 100 Feet Road in Indiranagar.
This marks their second physical store, following their debut in Lucknow's Hazratganj area in April 2023, spanning 1,800 sq. ft. Samoh specializes in premium occasion wear for both men and women.

About Trent
Trent Ltd., the retail arm of Tata Group, was founded in 1998. It encompasses several well-known apparel brands such as Westside, Zudio, Utsa, and Samoh, as well as the beauty, accessories, and decor brand Misbu.
Additionally, Trent operates a chain of hypermarket and supermarket stores under the name Star.

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30 October 2023, Mumbai

All good things come to an end, and the end of free returns on both online and offline shopping is also looming on the horizon.

Customers have been conditioned to free returns, especially from e-commerce retailers who came in with a bang during the pandemic, but as these same retailers start to introduce a minimum return fee, shoppers may become more hesitant to send back purchases they made at their whim and fancy.

Findings

The US Census Bureau records show that in 2022, annual e-commerce spending in the US had reached the $1 trillion mark for the very first time since COVID-19 earlier, but that came with a price.

A huge figure, definitely, but many e-commerce giants such as Amazon. Flipkart and H&M have reported that almost 17 percent of online purchases were also returned last year, which cut down on overall profit margins.

All this is forcing them to now charge a minimum fee on every returned item based on product value and other factors, which serves as a balancing act between the retailers' need for profits and the record-return problems of the e-commerce industry.

Big fast fashion retailers start return fee trend
Unlike physical stores, customers often indulge in bracket buying multiple sizes with plans of only keeping the one that fit and also ‘wardrobing’ which is buying occasion-specific garments and wearing them once and then returning them as well as whimsical buying to be regretted later.

Many fashion retailers have already started the return fee trend with H&M and Zara charging customers around $2.40 to return online purchases and other US clothing retailers such as American Eagle charging $7, JC Penney $8, Saks Fifth Avenue $9.95 and TJ Maxx around $10.99 to return purchases.

Even the $100 billion-biggest fast fashion brand, Shein, also offering free returns for first-time buyers. Industry estimates have put even higher figures of retailers spending around $33 per return, which includes postage, packaging, depreciation of an item's value, labor and missed sales windows while the item is still not back in the warehouse, which is more than the return fee being charged.

Myntra leverages nominal fee
Myntra, as India’s second-largest fashion e-retailer, has also started imposing a convenience fee of Rs 10 on every order above Rs 1,000, which will however add to its daily order profit volume at minimum cost to the customer, although for orders below Rs 1,000, there is already a return fee of Rs 99.

Myntra in a pop-up message on its website says that a nominal fee for its world-class service in providing technical expertise, brand aggregation, and post-sales support. With 50 million monthly active users, this return fee will boost profits as well as be a mild deterrent to those who place low-value orders.

Nuanced picture

Earlier Myntra had a 30-day return window but shortened it to 14 days for most categories just like others in the Indian e-commerce industry, like Ajio, Amazon Fashion, Flipkart, and Nykaa Fashion, which have also reduced their timeline for returns as well as charging a minimum fee. In India, around 25-40 percent clothes sold online are returned, which is a third more than the return rate in the US.

Outlines

The end of free returns is a result of the recent economic slump, a lack of warehouse capacity to re-package mountains of returned goods, and a desire to discourage specific customers from ordering returns for most of what they buy.

The return rate for fashion segment in India is higher, as usually one in every four items is sent back as people are on a tighter budget than in Western countries.

With the circle of life dictating that all things must come to an end sometime, the end of free returns across all global online and offline platforms is in the offing sooner than expected.

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27 October 2023, Mumbai

V2 Retail, the family fashion and lifestyle business, has expanded its reach by opening new physical stores in Jamshedpur and Bhubaneswar, catering to the residents of Jharkhand and Odisha.
In Jamshedpur's Adityapur, the store boasts an extensive collection of over 5,000 affordable styles. Meanwhile, the Bhubaneswar store is situated in Budhanagar, Kalpana Square.
V2 Retail prides itself on its in-house brands, which include Herrlich, Godspeed, Glamora, and Honey Brats, all available in their stores.

Retail operation
With a presence in more than 90 Indian cities and a sprawling 11 lakh square feet of retail space, V2 Retail specializes in offering value-driven products for families. Their stores predominantly serve Tier 2 and 3 cities across 17 Indian states.
Formerly known as Vishal Megamart Limited or Vishal Retail, V2 Retail was established in 2001. It is currently under the ownership of a private equity consortium comprising Partners Group and Kedaara Capital.

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02 November 2023, Mumbai

The Indian retail market is booming, thanks to urbanization, income growth, and nuclear families. It will reach $2 trillion by 2032, while e-commerce will hit $350 billion by 2030. In 2022, the retail sector transformed with digital and operational innovations, becoming one of the most dynamic sectors in the world.
In 2023, retail brands are embracing advanced technologies like AI, analytics, and the metaverse to shape their future.
They are also forging stronger bonds with consumers and adapting to their needs.
The Retail Operations & Business Excellence India Summit 2023 will connect top retail leaders and experts.
This summit will offer insights, ideas, and strategies for online and offline success in the retail industry.

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