Top Headlines

India's e-commerce industry braces for consolidation
India's e-commerce industry is primed for a shakeup as sales soar, valuations drop and the fitter among the companies gobble up weaker rivals. With Amazon, preparing for the Indian entry, India's best-known and stronger online retailers are taking the lead in the consolidation race, "The Economic Times" has reported.

Multi-brand retail FDI likely to get timeline
The government is likely to announce in the Budget a timeline for allowing 51 percent FDI in multi-brand retail. To show the government’s commitment to reforms, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee may make an announcement on March 16 and give the proposal a fresh lease of life, the "Business Standard" has reported.

Soaring rents worry retail chains
Both Indian and international retailers find the challenge of locating suitable commercial space daunting. Now, such space is also one of the most expensive internationally. So much so retailers say the ‘shocking’ and ‘unbelievably high’ property prices savage their rent-to-revenue ratio, making their business unviable, the "Daily News & Analysis" has reported.

LVMH Watch & Jewellery plans to launch more watches for women
LVMH Watch & Jewellery, which sells Tag Heuer, Dior and Zenith watches in India, plans to strengthen its focus on women by bringing in a bigger range of watches for women. The company sells over 70 percent of its watches to men, "The Economic Times" has reported.

Home Depot 4Q net income climbs on sales spike
Home-improvement retailer Home Depot's fiscal fourth-quarter net income rose 32 percent as it earned $774 million for the period that ended Jan. 29 with homeowners spending more on renovation projects in part due to the mild weather in the US, the "Huffington Post" has reported.

Nordstrom to spend $140m on e-commerce infrastructure in 2012
US department store Nordstrom has reported massive online growth, announcing an investment of $1 billion over the next five years to support its e-commerce infrastructure. Nordstrom will add nearly 400 e-commerce employees to its direct business and flash-sale retailer HauteLook, the "Power Retail" has reported.

Asda cuts back on promotions as customers rein in spending
Asda said it was cutting back on the number of so-called "multi-buy" promotions in response to unprecedented budgeting by its customers. It also said 'single price points', such as £1 or 50p, were becoming more important than buy-one, get-one-free deals, "The Telegraph" has reported.

Wal-Mart's holiday discounts boost sales, but profit slips 13%
Wal-Mart's deep discounts over the holiday season helped the world's largest retailer perk up its revenue, but profit for its fiscal fourth quarter was down 13 by percent compared with a year earlier. The chain had sales of $122.3 billion in the quarter that ended Jan. 31, the "Los Angeles Times" has reported.

New store additions have hit Q3 numbers: Govind Shrikhande, MD, Shoppers Stop
Govind Shrikhande, MD, Shoppers Stop said the new store additions have hit the Q3 numbers by impacting the operating cost because operating cost of new stores is hitting the operating profit, "The Economic Times" has reported.

RIL gets fashion bouquet of 20 global brands via Iconix JV
Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance Brands has struck an equal joint venture with Nasdaq-listed Iconix Brand Group acquiring the ownership and management rights of 20 international lifestyle brands for India including Ed Hardy, Mossimo, London Fog, Ecko and Candie's with combined retail revenue of $12 billion globally, "The Times of India" has reported.

Sanjeev Narula to sell debt-ridden Lilliput
Lilliput, the country's largest kidswear brand, is heading towards a slump sale. Founder Sanjeev Narula, embroiled in a bitter public battle with private equity investors Bain Capital and TPG, will sell the brand and its retail assets, along with his two estranged partners, "The Economic Times" has reported.

Pantaloon unit plans to add stores for young Indian shoppers
Future Value Retail Ltd., a subsidiary of India’s largest retailer Pantaloon Retail India Ltd., plans to open at least 65 new stores in 18 months as consumer demand and retail sales in the nation grow. The company plans to add 40 Big Bazaar supermarkets and 25 Fashion@Big Bazaar clothing stores, the "Bloomberg" has reported.

Metro to invest Rs 560 cr in India to open eight new stores
Metro AG, Germany’s largest retailer, will invest an additional Rs 560 crore this year to set up eight wholesale stores in India to take advantage of the growth in consumption in Asia’s third-largest economy, the "Live Mint" has reported.

High-end retailers report strong profits, but Walmart still struggles
Walmart, Macy’s, Home Depot and Saks Fifth Avenue all reported sales increases for their fourth quarters ending in January. But while Walmart had to lower prices so aggressively that it hurt its profit, retailers focusing on higher-income customers crowed about the solid prices those shoppers paid, "The New York Times" has reported.

Macy's, Saks see sales gains as shoppers trade up
Department store chains Macy's and Saks both expect sales gains this year, helped by improving incomes for both the middle-class and well-to-do who shopped a little more during the holiday season, the "Reuters" has reported.

Younger crowd with buying power fits in with mall
Avenues to shop in Pune yo-yo between traditional havens and the mall culture.Younger people stepping into the malls have begun to dot several areas. Respondents to the Times Of India-IMRB Quality Of Life survey conducted across eight cities gave Pune a score of 3 on a scale of 5, "The Times of India" has reported.

India's e-commerce braces for shakeup
This placement season, e-commerce companies are recruiting in big numbers at the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs), signaling the chutzpah and coming of age of a sector that has cash propelling its ambitions and believers in its potential, "The Times of India" has reported.

Govt releases retail inflation data; Jan CPI at 7.65%
Inflation based on the all-India Consumer Price Index stood at 7.65 percent in January, as per the first nationwide retail inflation data released by the Government today. Overall, retail inflation in rural and urban areas stood at 7.38 percent and 8.25 percent in January, respectively, "The Hindu Business Line" has reported.

eBay delivery plays an important role in charity sales
Charities are increasingly relying on eBay delivery services to sell items online as the charity marketplace moves into the world of ecommerce in a bid to maintain its relevance in the changing retail environment, a report from the Charity Retail Association (CRA) has suggested, the "myHermes" has reported.

Gamestop to J.C. Penney shut Facebook stores
Over the past year, Gamestop, Gap, J.C. Penney and Nordstrom have all opened and closed storefronts on Facebook Inc.’s (FB) social networking site. The stores’ quick failure shows that the social network doesn’t drive commerce and casts doubt on its value for retailers, the "Bloomberg" has reported.

M&S Brand Director leaves after just 9 months
Alison Jones has stepped down from her position as Brand Director for General Merchandise at high street giant Marks & Spencer (M&S) less than a year after joining the firm, the "Retail Gazette" has reported.

Titan on Fastrack to target youth
Watch major Titan's sub-brand Fastrack, which started as a pure watches brand, will add new product categories such as motorcycle helmets, footwear and apparel in a bid to envelop youth, "The Hindu Business Line" has reported.

Shoppers Stop tweaks Hypercity model in pursuit of turnaround
Shoppers Stop is changing business model for its loss making hypermarket stores, Hypercity as the format has taken longer than expected to become profitable. The company is also open to join hands with international retail companies for its hypermarkets, the "Business Standard" has reported.

Lifestyle spending slows down in third quarter
Indians are shopping less for lifestyle goods and the culprit for the tight purse strings is inflation (which is only climbing down now) as a result of which the Indian consumer is indulging a lot less, "The Times of India" has reported.

MTS expands data network in Kerala, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh
Sistema Shyam TeleServices Limited that offers mobile and data services under the MTS brand will expand its wireless data network in Gujarat, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh. MTS India sells high-speed mobile broadband through 43 branded retail outlets, 4,000 mass retail outlets and 150 organized retail outlets across India, "The Economic Times" has reported.

Future Group trims workforce
Kishore Biyani-led Future Group has rationalized its workforce by 3,000 employees in the last 12 months amid mounting debt, which has troubled the country's largest retailer. The jobs which have been shed on a net basis include both natural attrition as well as employee exits due to store closures, "The Times of India" has reported.

Mahindra Group, Godrej Interio, Reliance Retail hire specialists to increase sales
In an emerging trend in the country's Rs 20,000-crore organised retail sector, retailers are increasingly hiring specialists who can influence shoppers, provide personalised shopping advice and thereby increase conversion, "The Economic Times" has reported.

German-French retail rivalry plays out in East Delhi
International retail majors Metro and Carrefour will compete in the cash-and-carry space in East Delhi, just a few kilometres from each other. While Carrefour had set up its first cash-and-carry centre in east Delhi in December 2010, Metro will launch its 10th Indian outlet in Karkardooma, the "Business Standard" has reported.

Indiaplaza.com launches sports store
Online retailer Indiaplaza.com has launched a ‘sports store' as part of its lifestyle segment. The sports store offers a range of sportswear and sports accessories and includes international brands such as Artengo, Kalenji, Inesis and Quechua, "The Hindu Business Line" has reported.

Britons turn to eBay
Devin Wenig, eBay’s President of Global Marketplaces, said that the number of Britons using eBay had seen “double-digit growth year-on-year”, and was outpacing the average ecommerce growth. IMRG puts global ecommerce growth at 15 percent, "The Telegraph" has reported.