16 November 2022, Mumbai:

Value fashion retailer V-Mart Retail’s revenue for the second quarter rose by 50 percent. Net loss narrowed to Rs 11 crores.

The company opened 16 new stores in the quarter including two stores in the south. In all six new Unlimited stores were opened in South India this year and they have been delivering higher sales productivity as compared to the legacy Unlimited stores.

The company has also successfully closed its transaction with A M Marketplaces for the acquisition of Limeroad and has begun the integration process. Going forward, Limeroad will become the primary omni-e-commerce vehicle for V-Mart’s online presence.

Limeroad is an online fashion marketplace. This is expected to help strengthen V-Mart’s omni-channel strategy and leverage synergies to deliver emerging fashion trends to digital-first shoppers.

V-Mart will operate Limeroad as an independent business unit, retaining its tech start-up culture. Limeroad offers fresh unbranded styles and unique content to value shoppers. V-Mart and Limeroad hope this agreement enables them to become India’s fastest-growing omni-channel value-fashion retail platform.

V-Mart retails a wide selection of men’s, women’s, and children’s casual, ethnic, and occasion wear as well as accessories and lifestyle goods. The company currently runs 410 stores across Tier II, III, and IV cities.

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07 November 2022, Mumbai:

Reliance Industries is set to buy Metro’s cash and carry business in India. The deal is likely to include 31 wholesale distribution centers, land banks and other assets owned by the German retailer in India.

The acquisition will help Reliance Retail increase its presence in the B2B segment.With the completion of the deal, Metro will become the second multinational retailer to exit from the low margin B2B business in India after French Carrefour in 2014.

Metro caters to businesses such as retailers, kirana stores, hotels, restaurants, caterers, corporates, and companies and entered the Indian market in 2003. The company currently operates 31 wholesale distribution centers under the brand Metro Wholesale including six in Bangalore, four in Hyderabad, two each in Mumbai and Delhi, and one each in Kolkata, Jaipur, Jalandhar, Zirakpur, Amritsar, Vijayawada, Ahmedabad, Surat, Indore, Lucknow, Meerut, Nashik, Ghaziabad, Tumakuru, Visakhapatnam, Guntur and Hubballi.

Metro cash and carry India’s core customers include small retailers and kirana stores, hotels, restaurants and caterers, corporates, small and medium enterprises, all types of offices, companies and institutions as well as self-employed professionals. Only business customers are allowed to purchase at Metro, all of them are duly registered and provided with a customer registration card.

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16 November 2022, Mumbai:

Vikram Idnani is the president, and chief information officer (CIO), of Landmark, India.

With more than two decades of experience as a business-oriented technology leader, Idnani has demonstrated the ability to drive the growth agenda and improve the performance of retail businesses and e-commerce through technology transformation, simplicity of operations, and customer satisfaction.

At Landmark, Idnani will focus on driving technical innovation, customer experience enhancement, delivering high-quality products, and implementing large-scale technology initiatives. His aim is to accelerate the company's strategic growth, strengthen the customer innovation experience, increase the agility of its supply chain and implement new technology initiatives to enable the business to scale.

Prior to joining Landmark Group, Idnani was the senior vice president, and head, of information technology, at Reliance Retail, where he was responsible for leading technology initiatives for all retail businesses. He has also been with Tata Trent, Home Depot, and Kmart.

Landmark is one of the largest retail and hospitality organizations in the Middle East, Africa, and India. Currently, the group operates over 2,300 outlets, encompassing over 30 million sqft across 22 countries. The group employs over 58,000 people. Landmark expects online sales to be 40 per cent of its overall sales in India by 2025.

Along with the expansion of its online network, the company will open brick-and-mortar stores for all its brands across India.

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12 November 2022, Mumbai:

For the second quarter Trent’s net income rose by 41 per cent year over year. Revenue—including GST—rose 78 per cent, the largest amount ever for a quarter. Consolidated sales increased by 66 per cent and the business recorded a net profit of Rs 93 crores in the second quarter of the current fiscal year.

Trent Ltd continues to broaden its reach and strengthen its lifestyle offerings across ideas, categories, and channels. Its fashion concepts once again demonstrated strong growth momentum in the second quarter.

Trent, the retail division of the Tata Group, manages five brands and formats, including the upscale Westside, the value-oriented Zudio, the Star and Trent Hypermarket banners for food, grocery, and daily necessities, and Landmark Stores for family entertainment.

The business operates more than 500 outlets in total across these five models. Over six per cent of Westside’s sales came from online sources on Westside.com and other Tata platforms, representing a 32 per cent increase.

The growing markets which include footwear, innerwear, and beauty and personal care contribute more than 15 per cent of sales.Trent continues to focus on in-house brands but is open to evaluating designer brands as and when any interesting opportunity presents itself.

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07 November 2022, Mumbai:

Retail leasing in India increased by 114 per cent in the third quarter. Hyderabad, Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, and Bangalore together accounted for 79 per cent of the overall retail space absorption. Fashion and apparel retailers continued to drive the leasing activity.

Other prominent categories that led absorption included food and beverage followed by consumer electronics. The regional share of leasing activity was led by domestic corporates, EMEA corporates, and American corporates.

Owing to the high growth potential, many international brands are to continuing to view India as a growth market. Strong leasing momentum across Hyderabad, Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, and Bangalore indicates regained retailer confidence and expansion potential. Direct-to-consumer brands are expected to lead the fray among demand drivers. Tier II, III, and even IV locations are gaining traction as retailers look to leverage the spending power of these towns and cities.

Despite a robust supply pipeline, the lack of ready quality supply, especially in prime locations, is likely to impact retailer sentiments. Steady capital inflows are being witnessed in real estate. Land/development sites dominate investments followed by built-up office assets.

Institutional investors led investment activity followed by developers. Domestic investors dominated the investment volume in the third quarter. Foreign investors garnered the remaining share.

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15 November 2022, Mumbai:

Marks & Spencer has opened a store in Kolkata. This is the department store’s third store in Kolkata and with this Marks & Spencer has a total of 95 stores in India.

The new store measures 12,000 sqft and is spread over two floors. The store retails men’s, women’s, and children’s wear as well as accessories, lingerie, lifestyle goods, and beauty goods, among other products. Marks & Spencer now has stores in 35 Indian cities including New Delhi, Chennai, Bangalore, Bhopal, Kanpur, Hyderabad, and Chandigarh, among others.

M&S first entered the Indian market in 2001 and subsequently signed a joint venture agreement with Reliance Retail in 2008. Marks & Spencer is planning large format stores in Tier I cities across India. These will be 15,000 sqft and will showcase the entire M&S catalogue ranging from apparel to beauty and home. The plan is to set up at least one store every month across the country.

The company is also undertaking a digital expansion drive as it expects to generate nearly one-third of its business from online channels. Marks & Spencer generates a quarter of its revenues online including its own website, app, and markets like Ajio, Myntra, Amazon, and Zivame.

Marks & Spencer trades in 57 international markets with a brick-and-mortar presence and also retails in 33 markets online. The business was first established in the UK in 1884.

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12 November 2022, Mumbai:

Marks & Spencer is planning large format stores in Tier I cities across India. These will be 15,000 sqft and will showcase the entire M&S catalogue ranging from apparel to beauty and home.

The plan is to set up at least one store every month across the country.The company is also undertaking a digital expansion drive as it expects to generate nearly one-third of its business from online channels.Marks & Spencer generates a quarter of its revenues from online including its own website, app and markets like Ajio, Myntra, Amazon and Zivame. Besides retail store expansion, the retailer would further push its digital presence and upscale product categories to suit the taste of local Indian customers. The target is to achieve up to one-third of business through online means.

Marks & Spencer, one of UK's leading retailers, entered India in 2001. The company entered into a joint venture with Reliance Retail to form Marks & Spencer Reliance India in 2008. It presently runs 95 stores across 35 cities in India.Marks & Spencer is changing its strategy to cater to the millennial Indian crowd. Starting price points have become affordable. While the clothes are being designed in the UK, the retailer has shifted most of the sourcing to be done in India and Bangladesh.

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05 November 2022, Mumbai:

Zara’s home products are in India. The Spanish brand has already intimated some malls – that are home to Zara stores in India – to provide around 5000 sqft of additional space in those malls to accommodate Zara Home.

This will have bed linen, quilts, cushions, curtains, table linens, blankets, bathrobes, among a host of other home items.

Home improvement is one of the fastest growing segments in India with young and middle class Indians buying hundreds of thousands of new apartments each year. The younger generations tend to spend a lot on their home decorations as per their tastes

In India Zara is operated by a 51:49 joint venture between Spain’s Inditex Group and Tata-owned Trent. There is another joint venture between the two groups for selling Massimo Dutti in India. Inditex Trent currently operates stores in New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Pune, Surat, Jaipur, Chandigarh, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Gurgaon.

Zara has returned to DLF Promenade mall in New Delhi. On two storeys of the mall the Spanish fast fashion brand’s 25,000 sqft outlet houses its clothing, cosmetics, and accessories lines.The architectural concept for the store was produced by a studio team.

Zara has already introduced beauty items in some of its stores.

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14 November 2022, Mumbai:

Reliance Retail has opened an Azorte store in Navi Mumbai. Azorte is Reliance Retail’s premium fashion and lifestyle store. The first Azorte store had opened in Bangalore.

The company plans to ramp up its store presence across key markets over the coming months. The Navi Mumbai store, spread across around 15,000 sqft of retail space, is expected to strengthen Reliance Retail’s focus on a multi-format approach to cater to all consumer segments.

Boasting an eclectic mix of intuitive retail technology, the smart Azorte stores showcase the best of global and domestic fashion trends and have an original take on style ranging from footwear, fashion accessories and more.

To make the discovery-to-checkout journey seamless, the Azorte store format has several industry-first tech-enabled interventions including mobile checkout, smart trial rooms, fashion discovery stations and self-checkout kiosks. RFID-enabled interactive screens placed strategically across the stores double as virtual styling assistants and smart fitting rooms help shoppers complete the look and at the touch of a button request additional sizes and other products.

In addition, customers can opt for self-checkouts instead of queuing up at manned counters. The smart stores offer an elevated customer experience through tech-aided solutions. But shoppers can discover the human touch, too, in the form of in-store fashion consultants.

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10 November 2022, Mumbai:

M&S’ half yearly sales were up 13 per cent. Sales in its Clothing and Home operation rose 14 per cent with sales via physical stores up 18.8 per cent and online up 4.9 per cent. It saw growth in both market share and profitability.

Full-price sales participation was broadly level on last year and well above the historic average. Market share increased 50 bps to 9.1 per cent and it generated growth across categories and channels.

The high-double-digit sales rise through physical stores was driven by stores in city centres and malls, reflecting the return to more normal trading patterns although high streets continued to lag.

The rise in online sales meant e-tail made up 32 per cent of Clothing and Home revenue, with continued strong growth in traffic and increased average order values, partly offset by higher returns rates.While adjusted pre-tax profits were down, reported pre-tax profit rose. Trading in the first half was robust as it grew ahead of the market, reflecting the beginnings of a reshaped M&S.

The company’s program to renew and rotate store estate is driving sales and quick paybacks, while the M&S App now accounts for over a third of online sales.

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05 November 2022, Mumbai:

Reliance Retail has opened Reliance Centro in Mumbai. This is the retailer’s fashion and lifestyle department store, is spread over 60000 sqft across three floors and offers more than 300 Indian and international brands across apparel, footwear, cosmetics, lingerie, sportswear, luggage, and accessories.

The first such Reliance Centro store has opened in New Delhi. With Reliance Centro the company aims at strengthening its reach across the country and targeting mid-premium segment customers. The New Delhi store is spread across an area of 75,000 sqft and hosts more than 20,000 style options for all seasons and ages.

Reliance Retail has set its eyes on the beauty and personal care market in India after dominating the apparel retail segment in the country. India’s beauty retail market is driven by a higher propensity to shop online owing to increased internet penetration as well as a large millennial and gen-Z population with aspirations and growing disposable incomes. Reliance Retail is also inclined towards a multi-brand beauty retail concept for more mass market brands.

Earlier this year, Reliance Retail signed a long-term franchise agreement with American apparel major Gap after the latter terminated its franchise agreement with Arvind Lifestyle Brands in 2021.

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