14 April 2022, Mumbai:

The Singapore arm of e-commerce company Flipkart has invested $116 million in fashion retailer Myntra.

This increases Flipkart’s investment in its various businesses in March to over $800 million.

In March, Flipkart invested $553 million in its marketplace business and another $143 million in the new healthcare business. The e-commerce company also launched a separate app for healthcare businesses, called Flipkart Health+.

ALSO READ Flipkart is a firm believer in real-time transactions

The new investment would help Myntra focus on building live commerce and beauty categories in the future, says Nandita Sinha, CEO.

The company’s live commerce feature aims to target Gen Z shoppers.

The company also launched Style Squad on February 22 to attract more influencers onto the platform and help them launch and promote new brands.

RELATED NEWS Retail biggies team up to end Amazon-Flipkart dominance in Indian e-commerce

Kalyan Krishnamurthy, the CEO, of Flipkart, says, Myntra will continue to operate with its strategy under the new management.

It will continue to target growing customer segments.

Walmart-owned online retailer Flipkart witnessed several changes in its management in recent months.

Amar Nagaram, the Former CEO, quit to start his own ventures along with Ramesh Bafna, CFO, and Harish Narayanan, CMO.

The e-commerce firm acquired Myntra in March 2014 for Rs 2,000 crore.

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17 February 2022, Mumbai:

Pandemic-related restrictions restricted retail sales in India to just 91 per cent of pre-pandemic levels of January 2019 and 2020, indicates a survey by the Retailers Association of India (RAI).

Sales in the East declined 13 per cent year-on-year in January 2022 compared to January 2019. This was followed by the Western region where sales declined 11 per cent and North where sales dropped 8 per cent.

Least impact was in the Southern zone which registered a mere 2 per cent decline in sales as compared to January 2019, says RAI.

Beauty, wellness and personal care categories witnessed the biggest 24 per cent drop in sales compared to January 2019.

These were followed by furniture and furnishing where sales dropped 12 per cent; apparel and clothing registered 7 per cent decline in sales.

On the other hand, sales in the jewelry segment grew 11 per cent in January, as compared to the same month in 2019 and quick-service restaurants also witnessed a growth of 9 per cent.

ALSO READ: January retail sales restricted to 91 per cent of pre-pandemic levels: RAI

Kumar Rajagopalan, CEO, RAI, says, sales growth can be attributed to opening of retail businesses across the country till late hours in the evening.

However, Delhi and Haryana are still not allowing stores to be open till late, which is creating a big impact on businesses, Rajagopalan adds.

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14 April 2022, Mumbai:

Revenues of listed retailers across apparel, lifestyle products, restaurants, and supermarkets grew by double digits year-on-year during the March quarter despite the Omicron outbreak as the reopening of offices and schools, and weddings drove demand.

Most retailers expect sales to pick up in the new fiscal with the onset of the wedding season and the reopening of schools and offices, says Venu Nair, Managing Director, Shoppers Stop.

READ MORE January retail sales restricted to 91 per cent of pre-pandemic levels: RAI

Consumption of beauty and kid’s clothes is expected to rebound, posing a rosy outlook for the next six months, he adds.

Supported by new store openings, apparel brands and retail companies such as Trent, Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail, V-Mart, Shoppers Stop, and TCNS Clothing Company are expected to register over 20 percent Y-o-Y revenue growth in the March quarter, as per ICICI securities.

RELATED NEWS Retailers across India on an expansion drive as sales surpass pre-COVID levels

The third COVID-19 wave in December and consequent restrictions in malls, multiplexes, and restaurants restricted revenue recovery to 60 percent of pre-COVID levels in January’22, says the ICICI Securities report.

February revenues improved to 80-85 percent of pre-COVID levels while they surged higher in March, the report added.

The watches business of Titan grew by 12 percent during the March quarter while its jewelry business declined by 4 percent as gold prices increased sharply and continued to remain volatile.

The Tata-owned retailer hopes for robust demand for its products in the first quarter of 2022-23.

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12 April 2022, Mumbai:

Real estate investment firm CBRE says, new store openings will increase by 25 per cent in 2022, compared to last year. Leasing across high streets and malls in India will also soar past the pre-COVID levels this year, adds the firm in its report 'Real Estate Market Outlook 2022’.

Further it adds retailers will lease over 5.1 million sq ft of space in 2022, coming close to the previous two years' combined figure of 5.9 million sq ft.

Devarajan Iyer, CEO, of Lifestyle International, says, their store count will increase in double-digits this year. A bulk of the company’s expansion will be on smaller towns.

A sharp drop in COVID-19 cases has accelerated the pace of economic recovery in the country and encouraged retailers to roll out store expansion plans. The robust economic recovery has strengthened consumer and market sentiments, causing retail growth to return to pre-COVID levels, adds Shibu Philips, Business Head, Lulu Mall.

Most companies were able to surpass pre-COVID level sales in March on account of strong demand driven by the opening of offices, and schools and increased demand due to the wedding season. Driven by a strong recovery in demand despite the third wave of the pandemic, revenues of brick and-mortar apparel retailers are expected to grow 20-25 per cent this fiscal, says CRISIL on analyzing 35 apparel retailers.

The industry will also see an increase in retail rentals as leasing inches back to pre-pandemic levels, adds Abhishek Trehan, Executive Director, Trehan Iris.

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04 February 2022, Mumbai:

Kumar Rajagoplan, CEO, Retailers Association of India has expressed his disappointment over Union Budget 2022-23, says it fails to support the retail sector suffering on account of constant lockdowns and restrictions.

Rajagopalan also criticizes the Budget for not giving any relief to individual income taxpayers to propel consumption, which is missing. However, he appreciates the non-imposition of additional taxes that will help the industry maintain status quo.

The emphasis on ‘Ease of Doing Business 2.0’ will bring better policy and regulatory environment for retail, Rajagopalan adds.

The initiatives around urban planning, rural development, infrastructure development, and logistics and transportation will ease the movement of people and resources and facilitate faster distribution for retail, he further says.

He also, welcomed the extension of the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) for the hospitality sector up to March 2023 and urged it to be extended to other forms of retail also.

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14 March 2022, Mumbai:

Instead of opening direct-to-consumer stores in India, American retail giant Walmart will focus on growing its online marketplace Flipkart and payments major PhonePe.

The retailer is keen on being seen as a good partner for India and has tried to demonstrate its culture to the government.

It also aims to launch an IPO for Flipkart, says Walmart CEO Doug McMillon.

Bruce Flatt, CEO, Brookfield Asset Management adds, the staff at commercial real estate seems to be turning to work.

ALSO READ: Flipkart, PhonePe record strong growth in August quarter

However, events like the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine cause uncertainty in the markets and make people cautious, Flatt added.

He hoped the situation will improve in the future. India is an incredibly attractive place to invest in and the company, which manages over $ 650 billion globally, has been lucky with its bets in the country till now, he noted.

It is sitting on a liquidity corpus of $100 billion right now and typically, none of its funds will invest less than 20 percent of its investible money in India.

RELATED ARTICLE Flipkart is a firm believer in real-time transactions

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03 February 2022, Mumbai:

Hennes & Mauritz (H&M) plans to launch home decor and furnishing products segment H&M Home in India this spring.

H&M plans to launch home products as a store-in-store at Ambience Mall, Vasant Kunj, New Delhi store.

The retailer will also launch these products online through its portal hm.com and on Myntra.com in March.

The brand’s sales during the year fell by 11 per cent. Sales declined to Rs 1,402 crore during 2020-21 from Rs 1,582 crore in the year ago, according to its latest filing.

During the fiscal, H&M also became one of the largest apparel brands online with sales of Rs 579 crore from e-commerce business, accounting for about 42 per cent of its overall sales.

Since its debut in India in 2015, H&M has been operating 48 stores in over 24 cities.

It will also extend selling home products to many other cities.

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The dramatic rise in ready-to-made garment prices and customers’ growing preference for styles blending traditional and contemporary designs is boosting demand for customized clothing in India. Retailers and designers in the country are adapting their business models to accommodate growing demand. There is also a noticeable shift in fit preference and product uniqueness in the Indian apparel industry.

Customized clothing recovers

Indian consumers’ affinity to personalized clothing is not new. Before ready-made garments gained popularity in the country, people preferred personalized clothes. Due to its wide choices, flexibility and better fit, custom fitting remained consumers’ preferred clothing choice.

Over time, the popularity of ready-to-wear apparels overshadowed demand for personalized apparels. However, customized clothing sector is making steady recovery with manufacturers adapting to consumers demands and offering multi apparels choices at affordable prices. This is boosting demand for personalized clothing amongst consumers.

Sustainable production models boost popularity

With consumers becoming aware of the environmental hazards of fast fashion, customized fashion manufacturers are adopting effective and sustainable models of production. The scarcity of affordable readymade brands is also boosting the popularity of customized sustainable fashion amongst consumers.

Each of these sustainable customized garment pieces is made to order. This helps reduce fabric, material and energy wastage by garment producers. Manufacturers too can customize these garments as per buyer’s styles and personalities.

Reclaiming its position

One common reason for online garment returns is wrong sizing. Customized clothing can help resolve this issue by producing clothing based on consumers' body measurement. Through this style, customers can take 3D/AR/MR of their garments and order accordingly. This also benefits fashion makers as they are produce only the required clothes. Thus customized clothing trend addresses both issues of overproduction and waste in the industry.

Moving away from customized apparels, the fashion and apparel industry shifted to readymade fittings. However now, customized clothing is again reclaiming lost position. The industry is fast moving towards bespoke clothing and the trend is likely to continue for a long time. It would also determine the future course of fashion industry in India.

01 February 2022, Mumbai:

Brand licensing arm of Reliance Industries, Reliance Brands has entered into a joint venture with designer Rahul Mishra to launch a new brand.

This is the second such partnership that the company has forged in about a month. Earlier in December, Reliance Brands had partnered with designer AnamikaKhanna, under which it plans to develop fashion brand 'AK-OK’.

The new brand to be developed with Rahul Mishra, besides the ready-to-wear apparel segment, will gradually expand to other fashion categories such as accessories, footwear, home, beauty, and jewellery.

Rahul Mishra will lead the creative direction of the new brand as Creative Director. Mishra, who is known for championing traditional India craft, is the first Indian designer to showcase at Paris Haute Couture week and had Woolmark Prize at Milan Fashion Week in 2014.

His eponymous couture label has two flagship stores in India and a national and international distribution channel.

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