How Patanjali is redefining FMCG Retail in India?

Patanjali - Redefine FMCG retailPatanjali currently has a product portfolio spanning 800 SKUS in 37 categories, and now competes with every major FMCG in one or more categories. In addition, it is consistently adding new categories and setting up new plants across India – thereby broadening its manufacturing, customer, and revenue base. Currently, Patanjali has a reach of 200,000 outlets vs. 4mn for larger FMCGs; however, it is continuously expanding its reach by appointing new distributors. With the top management comprising majorly of visionaries, and middle and lower management recruited from top Indian/MNC FMCGs, the company is building the right human resource base for (more…)

Developments in Internet Retailing in India in Last 12 Months

Internet Retailers in India The last 12-18 months have seen a sobering effect on the Indian internet companies, wherein the focus has shifted from GMVs (Gross Merchandise Revenues) and growth at all costs model to per unit economics and long term sustainable profitability. While it has not meant that the internet companies are under undue pressure to turn profitable within an immediate short term, increasingly investors are demanding a clear path to profitability. Another issue that PE / VC investors are often facing is the lack of exit opportunities from their investments.

The funding issues notwithstanding, the fundamentals of the (more…)

Trent Ready to Accelerate with WestSide

Westside CustomersTrent’s Westside has retained its LTL growth leadership (6% as of 2QFY16 vs -0.1% for the rest of the listed retailers). This phenomenon, which has now been evident over the last eight quarters, deserves a more generous viewing, given that the company has sustained this growth against a backdrop of intensifying competition from ecommerce.

The company continues to invest in its product portfolio to improve LTL sales and we saw material changes in the product portfolio during our (more…)

Momark Services – Transforming offline retail and customer engagement

Momark RewardsMomark Rewards, a unit of Momark Services is a tech start up that’s silently transforming offline retail scene in India. One of the unique customer engagement solutions, Momark Rewards enables brands as well as the smallest retailers to launch their own loyalty and coupon programs, view customer analytics, launch marketing campaigns and more with ease.

Momark changes the way offline merchants and customers transact, interact and engage. Thus, they are bringing about paradigm shift in what small retailers know about their customers and (more…)

No Credible Competitor for Jockey in India

Jockey IndiaPage Industries, Master Franchisee for Jockey in India has no credible competition in the Intimate Fashion & Nightwear Market of Mid-Premium segment. Hanes, which was projected to emerge as the second significant brand in India post its licensing deal with Arvind Lifestyle Brands in February 2013, has not been aggressive in building presence in the channel as of now. On one hand, companies such as Chromozone and Enamor, which have built good business models, lack scale to pose a credible threat to Page while on the other hand, companies that have the requisite scale (Rupa) have not been able to build a credible brand in the (more…)

Raymond Emerging Stronger after the Storm

Raymond Enhances Retail ExperienceRaymond Ltd has some of the strongest brands in the apparel retail segment like Raymond, Made-to-Measure, Park Avenue, Parx, and ColorPlus. The company’s tagline, “The Complete Man. From Raymond” has been among the most influential brand campaigns and supported it well in maintaining brand equity and recall. The management’s strategy of focusing on each brand and creating a separate identity for each brand should lead to better inventory management.

As per industry estimates, the (more…)

Shoppers Stop India’s Largest Departmental Store Chain Reports Modest Growth

Hypercity Retail GrowthShoppers Stop Same store sales growth recovered to 4% in Q4 led by improved growth in March. Growth was strong in the apparels segment; from the geographic perspective, South and East witnessed stronger growth. The management expects same store sales growth to pick up further from the next quarter. Average sales per sqft was flat at Rs2176 in spite of a 2% increase in transaction size and 6% increase in average selling price. LTL volume decline was at 1.7%. Customer entry was down 4.4% on an LTL basis; this was the sixth consecutive quarter of LTL customer entry decline.

No new store was added in the (more…)

Nike / Adidas Group’s – Direct to Consumer

Nike Direct to ConsumersAlthough all 3 brands – Nike, Adidas Group & Universal Armour (UA) will likely benefit from a growing global category over the next several years, we name Nike the winner of our Head to Head report versus adidas and UA given strong sales growth and global market share leadership, its strong digital presence, the potential for gross margin expansion opportunity driven by pricing power and innovation in the supply chain, its ability to leverage costs.

Our topic of Research is the Direct to Consumer Initiative from all the 3 Big Brands. Direct To Consumer (DTC) remains a profitable focus for all three players. DTC includes outlets, full price stores and e-commerce. Nike’s DTC is ~24% of the total company vs. adidas’ 26% and UA’s 30%. Each player is expecting to grow the division through (more…)