Tuesday, July 21, 2020
JioMart wants to revolutionize the E-Grocery space
Walmart to close its stores on Thanksgiving Day in the USA
22/JULY/2020
The move, announced Tuesday, marks the first major indication of how COVID will affect Black Friday store shopping, which for almost a decade kicked off with big crowds on the turkey feast and expanded into Friday. However, given safety concerns, stores are rethinking their plans for the kickoff.
Walmart Inc. said that it will be closing its namesake stores and Sam's Clubs on Thanksgiving Day this year, saying that it wants to have its employees spend time with their families during the COVID19.
The move, announced Tuesday, marks the first major indication of how COVID will affect Black Friday store shopping, which for almost a decade kicked off with big crowds on the turkey feast and expanded into Friday. However, given safety concerns, stores are rethinking their plans for the kickoff.
Given Walmart's clout as the nation's largest retailer, other major retailers could follow its lead. Macy's CEO Jeff Gennette said earlier this month that the department store will be pivoting its Black Friday business more toward online and will likely be going "full force" with holiday marketing right after Halloween. It also will be staggering events to reduce customer traffic in the stores.
The move, announced Tuesday, marks the first major indication of how COVID will affect Black Friday store shopping, which for almost a decade kicked off with big crowds on the turkey feast and expanded into Friday. However, given safety concerns, stores are rethinking their plans for the kickoff.
Walmart Inc. said that it will be closing its namesake stores and Sam's Clubs on Thanksgiving Day this year, saying that it wants to have its employees spend time with their families during the COVID19.
The move, announced Tuesday, marks the first major indication of how COVID will affect Black Friday store shopping, which for almost a decade kicked off with big crowds on the turkey feast and expanded into Friday. However, given safety concerns, stores are rethinking their plans for the kickoff.
Given Walmart's clout as the nation's largest retailer, other major retailers could follow its lead. Macy's CEO Jeff Gennette said earlier this month that the department store will be pivoting its Black Friday business more toward online and will likely be going "full force" with holiday marketing right after Halloween. It also will be staggering events to reduce customer traffic in the stores.
Monday, July 20, 2020
79% of consumers change purchase preferences:
The report finds that sustainability has risen up the customer's agenda with 79 % of consumers changing their purchase preferences based on social responsibility, inclusiveness, or environmental impact.
Sustainability concerns are now influencing consumer behavior among more than half the population. However, despite intentions to be sustainable, there is a gap between what consumers think they know, and what they actually know, about sustainability.
A new report from the Capgemini Research Institute examines the impact sustainability has on consumer purchasing patterns and how well consumer product and retail (CPR) organizations understand consumer expectations. The report finds that sustainability has risen up the customer's agenda with 79% of consumers changing their purchase preferences based on social responsibility, inclusiveness, or environmental impact.
Moreover, Covid-19 has increased consumer awareness and commitment to buying sustainably with 67 percent of consumers revealing they will be more cautious about the scarcity of natural resources due to the Covid-19 crisis, and 65 percent said that they will be more mindful about the impact of their overall consumption in the "new normal".
'Consumer Products and Retail: How sustainability is fundamentally changing consumer preferences' finds that 53 percent of consumers overall and 57 percent in the 18-24 age group have switched to lesser known brands because they were sustainable.
More than half of consumers (52 percent) say that they share an emotional connection with products or organizations that they perceive as sustainable. 64 percent say that buying sustainable products makes them feel happy about their purchases; which is even higher in the age-group 25-35 with 72 percent.
Both consumers and enterprises have a lot more to learn about sustainability
Despite intentions to be sustainable, there is a gap between what consumers think they know, and what they actually know, about sustainability: 78 percent of consumers are not aware that it takes 1,000 liters of water to produce a chocolate bar and 68 percent are not aware that an average burger results in more emissions than driving 15km in a large car. Nearly 68 percent of consumers who purchased these products were willing to purchase a more sustainable product once they were made aware of the sustainability issues.
CPR organizations also understand the benefits sustainability has on their relationships with customers: 77 percent indicate sustainability leads to increases in customer loyalty, while 63 percent say it increases brand revenue. This highlights the need for more sustainability-related information to be available for consumers and reinforces the importance of brands driving the sustainability agenda.
However, a knowledge gap also exists among retailers and manufacturers who think their shoppers know more than they do. 65 percent of executives say their consumers are very much aware of their sustainability initiatives, but 44 percent consumers say they do not trust product sustainability claims.
Most organisations are just scratching the surface of sustainability
Nearly 80 % of organizations mention the impact on margins or cost overruns as a challenge in scaling sustainability initiatives and for almost three in four organizations, other issues take priority. Three out of four CPR organizations say they have a strategy, infrastructure, and resources in place to drive sustainability and circular economy efforts. However, when it comes to deploying company-wide initiatives that have impact, less than one quarter of organisations have managed this.
The most commonly scaled initiatives are fair labor policies and safe working conditions with 48 % of organizations claiming to have achieved scale in these areas.
Pia Heidenmark Cook, Chief Sustainability Officer at Ingka Group says, "I think a challenge that many organizations face is change management. A perception many organizations have is that sustainability is more expensive. However, they do not realize that initiatives like waste reduction or energy efficiency will reduce your operational costs. So, I would say the key challenge that stands in the way of sustainability is change management - showing the business case, why it makes sense, and influencing and inspiring people to understand why it makes a difference."
"So far, many organizations have viewed sustainability as a bolt-on," says Kees Jacobs, Vice President, Consumer Goods and Retail at Capgemini. "However, when baked into an organization's mission and purpose, sustainability has the potential to entirely change an organization's relationship with its customers and partners. The pandemic has heightened global desire for authenticity and responsibility, particularly from large organizations. As businesses focus on transformation in the wake of the pandemic, they should put sustainability at the heart of their efforts."
Sustainability concerns are now influencing consumer behavior among more than half the population. However, despite intentions to be sustainable, there is a gap between what consumers think they know, and what they actually know, about sustainability.
A new report from the Capgemini Research Institute examines the impact sustainability has on consumer purchasing patterns and how well consumer product and retail (CPR) organizations understand consumer expectations. The report finds that sustainability has risen up the customer's agenda with 79% of consumers changing their purchase preferences based on social responsibility, inclusiveness, or environmental impact.
Moreover, Covid-19 has increased consumer awareness and commitment to buying sustainably with 67 percent of consumers revealing they will be more cautious about the scarcity of natural resources due to the Covid-19 crisis, and 65 percent said that they will be more mindful about the impact of their overall consumption in the "new normal".
'Consumer Products and Retail: How sustainability is fundamentally changing consumer preferences' finds that 53 percent of consumers overall and 57 percent in the 18-24 age group have switched to lesser known brands because they were sustainable.
More than half of consumers (52 percent) say that they share an emotional connection with products or organizations that they perceive as sustainable. 64 percent say that buying sustainable products makes them feel happy about their purchases; which is even higher in the age-group 25-35 with 72 percent.
Both consumers and enterprises have a lot more to learn about sustainability
Despite intentions to be sustainable, there is a gap between what consumers think they know, and what they actually know, about sustainability: 78 percent of consumers are not aware that it takes 1,000 liters of water to produce a chocolate bar and 68 percent are not aware that an average burger results in more emissions than driving 15km in a large car. Nearly 68 percent of consumers who purchased these products were willing to purchase a more sustainable product once they were made aware of the sustainability issues.
CPR organizations also understand the benefits sustainability has on their relationships with customers: 77 percent indicate sustainability leads to increases in customer loyalty, while 63 percent say it increases brand revenue. This highlights the need for more sustainability-related information to be available for consumers and reinforces the importance of brands driving the sustainability agenda.
However, a knowledge gap also exists among retailers and manufacturers who think their shoppers know more than they do. 65 percent of executives say their consumers are very much aware of their sustainability initiatives, but 44 percent consumers say they do not trust product sustainability claims.
Most organisations are just scratching the surface of sustainability
Nearly 80 % of organizations mention the impact on margins or cost overruns as a challenge in scaling sustainability initiatives and for almost three in four organizations, other issues take priority. Three out of four CPR organizations say they have a strategy, infrastructure, and resources in place to drive sustainability and circular economy efforts. However, when it comes to deploying company-wide initiatives that have impact, less than one quarter of organisations have managed this.
The most commonly scaled initiatives are fair labor policies and safe working conditions with 48 % of organizations claiming to have achieved scale in these areas.
Pia Heidenmark Cook, Chief Sustainability Officer at Ingka Group says, "I think a challenge that many organizations face is change management. A perception many organizations have is that sustainability is more expensive. However, they do not realize that initiatives like waste reduction or energy efficiency will reduce your operational costs. So, I would say the key challenge that stands in the way of sustainability is change management - showing the business case, why it makes sense, and influencing and inspiring people to understand why it makes a difference."
"So far, many organizations have viewed sustainability as a bolt-on," says Kees Jacobs, Vice President, Consumer Goods and Retail at Capgemini. "However, when baked into an organization's mission and purpose, sustainability has the potential to entirely change an organization's relationship with its customers and partners. The pandemic has heightened global desire for authenticity and responsibility, particularly from large organizations. As businesses focus on transformation in the wake of the pandemic, they should put sustainability at the heart of their efforts."
Retail trade suffers Rs 15.5 lakh cr business loss due to COVID-19: Confederation of All India Traders
India's retail trade has suffered a business loss of about Rs 15.5
lakh crore in past 100 days due to the COVID-19
pandemic, traders' body CAIT said on Sunday. In a statement, the Confederation of
All India Traders (CAIT) said traders across the country are depressed because
of minimal of the consumers, considerable absence of employees, facing financial crunch and yet have to meet several financial obligations.
"No support policy from the central or state governments is yet another crucial factor which is haunting the traders," CAIT claimed. CAIT Secretary General Praveen Khandelwal said the domestic trade is passing through its worst period in the current century which reflects that if immediate steps are not taken about 20 per cent of the shops in India will have to close down their shutters.
"No support policy from the central or state governments is yet another crucial factor which is haunting the traders," CAIT claimed. CAIT Secretary General Praveen Khandelwal said the domestic trade is passing through its worst period in the current century which reflects that if immediate steps are not taken about 20 per cent of the shops in India will have to close down their shutters.
India's biz environment hinders expansion plans: H&M India chief
Speaking at the sidelines of an event organised by the Retailers Association of India (RAI), he said that number of regulatory obligations and the time and cost required delays operations and expansion decisions.
"Most probably we will see opening 100-plus stores in india, but what is the time span I don't know... The outlook, we thought it would grow faster as per the potential, but what is making slow is the local regulations, which is very costly, taking lot of time and is putting your expansion on bit slow mode," the Country Manager for Hennes & Maurtz Retail said.
"Its challenging," he said, adding, "it's these kind of small things, registrations, trade licences... its about, packaging, e-way bills, GST. Its a lot of about things which are taking time for getting everything into put in place. This is slowing down the expansion of course..."
He, however, is hopeful that the change in FDI norms of local sourcing among other steps by the government would help the business environment improve.
Saturday, May 9, 2020
Post lockdown, online-to-offline strategy to get prominence in retail industry
More and more retailers will be bound to cling to e-commerce platforms and mobile apps as the prevailing situation amid coronavirus lockdown is expected to lead to shift in consumer behaviour, according to LOTS Wholesale Solutions.
"No doubt, there will be some impact of this current situation in the near future. However, in phase-II of the lockdown the situation will normalise with time and the retail sector will embark on its journey towards recovery, albeit slowly," LOTS Wholesale Solutions Managing Director Tanit Chearavanont told.
According to him, the current situation has reinforced the importance of O2O strategy for the retail businesses.
On the prevailing situation and its impact on the retail sector, Chearavanont said, "This situation has also highlighted the importance of the O2O strategy for businesses in India. Retailers will increasingly provide services through e-commerce platforms and mobile applications," he said adding as "more customers are expected to switch to e-commerce options and digital payments".
"In India too, purchasing habits could take longer to return to normal. When the situation normalises, people will start coming back to their normal routine and the demand for non-essential items will gradually increase. We are hopeful that demand for apparel, appliances, houseware items will witness growth," he said.
The company also foresees that phase 2 of lockdown will see "increased production" as the manufacturing will stabilise.
Established in 2017, LOTS Wholesale Solutions operates three stores in Delhi NCR and has plans to add three more this year.
Subsequently, there will be a need to have an omni channel strategy -- Online to Offline (O2O) -- for the retail industry in order to cater to the changing needs of consumers.
LOTS Wholesale Solutions, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Siam Makro Public Co Ltd - Thailand's leading cash and carry operator, said there will be an impact on its business due to the current situation as both industry and suppliers are facing problems ranging from shutdowns, labour shortages, supply chain disruptions, etc.
He further said that anticipating the challenges retailers might have already started working on several strategies.
"They will also need to optimise their omnichannel approach in order to cater to targeted customers," Chearavanont added.
Meanwhile, the government on Sunday prohibited e-commerce platforms from selling non-essential items during the lockdown, four days after allowing the companies to sell all kinds of goods.
The April 15 order had said e-commerce platforms were allowed to sell such items from April 20.
He further said, "The impact is also visible on suppliers who faced some challenges with production due to mass labour migration and other movement restrictions."
LOTS Wholesale also expects that like China, the Indian retail sector will also recover post this crisis.
"As soon as lockdown restrictions ease, there should be an increase in the overall demand for goods. Economic activity will increase having a positive rub-off across industries," he said.
However, he also agrees that like China, which was the first country to be impacted by covid-19, Indian retailers may also face problem in segments such as fashion, apparels, electronic items as people may cut their discretionary spends post lockdown.
According to him, China has already shown the signs of delayed purchases with over 40 per cent consumers wanting to make major purchases when the outbreak completely settles.
While talking about the challenges during the lockdown, Chearavanont said several retailers and FMCG brands worked together to smoothen the supply chain process.
"For instance, at LOTS, we are directly procuring commodities and ensuring we send our own fleets of trucks and workers to bring provisions from distribution centres of FMCG companies," he added.
"Ease in the movement of trucks will also aid in restoring supply chain to an extent. Companies will institute standard operating procedures to ensure the safety of its workforce boosting the confidence of employees," Chearavanont said.
Lots Wholesale Solutions is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Thailand's leading Cash & Carry operator Siam Makro, which is a part of the USD 50 billion Charoen Pokphand Group (CP Group).
Amazon, Future Group in talks over Future Retail stake sale
Kishore Biyani-led Future Group has started talks with Amazon for selling stake in Future Retail Ltd to the US-based e-commerce major, industry sources said. The two parties initiated talks earlier this week for a stake in Future Retail, they said.
"They have initiated talks and these are still in early stages," a person privy to the development said.
The move came after Future group firms defaulted on loans taken against the pledged shares of Future Retail in March, which also impacted its share price. Recently, rating agencies such as Standard & Poor's and Fitch downgraded the credit ratings of Future Retail after the default.
When contacted, the Future Group denied any such discussion saying that they are "speculative in nature". Amazon India said the company does not have any comment to offer on this matter.
At the end of December quarter 2019, the promoter Group entities, which include Future Corporate Resources and Future Coupons, held 47.02 per cent share in Future Retail. Future Retail operates over 1,500 stores that cover over 16 million square feet of retail space in 400 cities.
It has large format stores, Big Bazaar, its flagship chain, besides small store neighbourhood retail chains, EasyDay Club and Heritage Fresh.
In August last year Future Retail had informed stock exchanges that Amazon.Com NV Investment Holdings LLC would acquire 49 per cent stake in Future Coupons Ltd from their promoters, led by Kishore Biyani, for an undisclosed amount.
At that time Future Coupons held 7.3 per cent stake in Future Retail.
As part of the agreement, Amazon was also granted a call option, which allowed the US e-commerce major an option to acquire all or part of the promoter's shareholding between the third and tenth year.
Amazon also has a stake in other retail chains in the country - Shoppers Stop and More.
In 2017, retail major Shoppers Stop had announced raising Rs 179.26 crore from Amazon.com Investment Holdings LLC through an issue of equity shares, which translated to just over 5 per cent shareholding for the American company.
In September 2018, Amazon said it has co-invested in Witzig Advisory Services, the entity which had acquired Aditya Birla Retail''s ''More'' chain of stores in India.
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