Bucking the trend, RPG Publications’ ‘Open’ to launch by March-end 2009

RPG Publications is set to beat the slowdown gloom and is readying to launch its feature and current affairs weekly magazine, 'Open', by the end of March 2009. The magazine, priced at Rs 40, will be targeting metros with an initial print run of one lakh copies. RPG Publications is the newly floated print media venture of the RPG Group, one of the largest business groups with presence in key sectors of the economy and a turnover of $3.25 billion.

Commenting on the content and the differentiating factor of 'Open', its Editor Sandipan Deb said, "I don't think we are going to compete with India Today and Outlook, except that we are weekly. We are not positioning ourselves as a news magazine, we calling ourselves as a feature and current affairs magazine. My reader, I expect, has already been overloaded with information newspapers, which are thicker than ever before, news channels, and the Internet, so we are not looking at feeding our readers with the news of the week once more. We will concentrate more on features, which is trends; we go beyond what is already known to the reader. If we cannot add any value to the information that our reader is familiar with, we will not make it the cover story."

He further said, "We will do more think pieces that are more of commentary and essay rather than just reporting. The reporting would be through the photographs. We don't want to be 'me too', instead want to create a category for ourselves. We will have 60 pages of editorial and 10-15 pages of advertisement initially. 'Open' is modeled on the lines of 'Time' and 'New Yorker'."

On the target audience for the magazine, Umesh Kumar, Publisher, RPG Publications, said, "We are looking at person who is well-educated, is more likely to be a post graduate professional or self employed or in a MNC set-up, a person who is career-focused and who wants to enrich his knowledge. We are looking at a person who is well aware and evolved in terms of his media consumption."

Talking about the distribution, Kumar said, "We will be present on newsstands and will be outsourcing our distribution."

Commenting on the marketing and advertising plans, Kumar said, "We have a Delhi-based advertising agency called 'Shop', which is headed by Freddy Birdy and Naved Akhtar. We will be taking a complete 360-degree initiative and will be advertising across platforms. The promotions will happen close to the launch of the magazine."

Deb added here, "We will have a strong web strategy. The name of the site is still in the process of being finalized, but we do assure to bring in completely new stuff that no other magazine website has done."

Explaining the pros and cons of entering the market when it is in the grip of a slowdown, Kumar said, "I believe it is both ways; it's a good time because it gives you a lot of opportunity to hire good talent, because the market is down and nobody is really hiring, so can acquire good talent. Secondly, on the marketing front, at this time if one is able to innovate and do things in a different way, the cost of entry could be lower."

"At the same time, there remains a challenge in the advertising revenue side, because like any other media brand, we are going to be advertising revenue driven, so that would remain a challenge with the current market scenario. Nevertheless, if we are able to demonstrate and showcase the value to the advertisers, we should get our share," Kumar added.

 

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Retail: The quiet crisis

The industry shed more than a half-million jobs in 2008. But that doesn't get a lot of attention in Washington

 

There's a major American industry that lost 522,000 jobs last year and is on one of the longest sales losing streaks in its history.   But the retail industry's crisis isn't getting the kind of government attention being showered on the nation's automakers.

Monthly store sales have declined for six straight months. In the midst of the longest recession in decades, the industry has lost more than three times the 163,000 manufacturing jobs shed by the auto industry last year.

Marshal Cohen, chief retail analyst with NPD Group, said he's especially concerned about this significant erosion of retailing jobs.  Unlike with the auto industry, Cohen fears the issue of retail job losses either isn't getting its fair share of attention from Washington or keeps "getting swept under the rug."

"When the industry is losing 34,000 jobs every couple of weeks, you better pay attention," Cohen said. He was referring to Circuit City's announcement last month that the electronics retailer, which employs 34,000 people in the United States, was going out of business.

"Retailers are the largest group of private employers in the country," Ullman said during a panel discussion last week at the National Retail Federation's (NRF) annual convention in New York.

"We lost twice the number of workers last year than automakers and we hired 45% fewer holiday workers last year," he said. "If that doesn't (press) the point, I don't know what would."

Said Cohen, "Consumer spending at retailers fuels 75% of the economy. So you have to make sure these people have jobs.  "If not, the ramifications are so overarching that it's enough to put the economy in a tailspin," he said. "These people losing jobs are full-time workers, part-time workers, college kids, senior citizens. They aren't only employees. They are consumers and taxpayers too."

Scott Hoyt, senior director of consumer economics for Moody's Economy.com, said he doesn't have a "good answer" as to why the the retailing industry hasn't been as effective as other industries in highlighting the issue of escalating jobs losses.

"If we put it in perspective, although the number of actual jobs lost in retailing is much bigger, the percentage of the total is not as high as for the auto industry," Hoyt said.

The retailing sector employed 15 million Americans in 2008 versus 800,000 jobs in the U.S. auto manufacturing industry, according to the Labor Department.

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Dabur India opens 'newu' store in Delhi

Dabur India’s retail subsidiary H&B Stores has opened its beauty, health and wellness retail chain ‘newu’ in the national capital. Spread across around 800 square feet retail area, the new store in Vasant Square Mall at Vasant Kunj houses 6,000 stock keeping units of leading international and national brands, according to a company press release. “The ‘newu’ brand has become synonymous with easy access to international and national health, beauty and wellness brands. In a short span of time, we have made our presence felt in the retail market in India,” said Manish V Asthana, head (north) for ‘newu’.The new outlet would mark the introduction of ‘newu’ branded private labels in the baby care segment, besides host of new international brands including Turkey’s Moda and QVS from Australia. Meanwhile, the company plans to open another 12-15 ‘newu’ stores by the end of the 2009-10 fiscal, added the release.

Telecom penetration grows over 33% in India

India's growth story in the telecom space shows no signs of slowdown. The country added 113.26 mn new customers in 2008, the largest globally. To put this growth into perspective, the country's cellular base witnessed close to 50% growth in 2008, with an average 9.5 mn customers added every month.

As per industry data released on Tuesday, the country had 346.89 mobile phone users as of December 2008-end compared to 233 mn in the corresponding period a year ago.

As per sector regulator Trai, the total number of telephone connections (mobile and fixed) has touched 385 million as of December-end, taking the telecom penetration to over 33%. This implies, one out of every three Indian has a telephone connection.

On the other hand, fixed-line numbers continued to tumble. The landline customer base was down by 3% in 2008 to 37.90 mn. Mobile customers now out-number landline users by around 9 times. Despite registering close to 75% growth in its broadband subscriber base, the penetration of high-speed internet connections remains dismally low. A mere 5.5 mn users have a broadband internet connection.

The growth in 2008 was led by Bharti Airtel, the country's largest communications provider. Bharti had 85.6 million customers as of December-end, when compared to 61.3 million of Reliance Communications and about 61 million of Vodafone Essar.

In fact, Bharti has more customers than the state-owned BSNL's mobile and landline users combined. The PSU finished 2008 with 46.2-million mobile subscribers and 29.5-million landline customers.

Telecom companies estimate growth in 2009 to be higher: "We are extremely bullish that the growth will continue in 2009. This year, the number of additions will be in excess of 130 million.

While, currently, we are adding about 10 million plus customers per month, this figure will go up to 12 million in the second half of 2009," explained Cellular Operators Association of India's director general TV Ramachandran. COAI is the industry body that represents all GSM players in India.

 

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P&G venture into retail business, quite unsual

Procter & Gamble's decision to invest £5m in a 1% stake in home-delivery company Ocado gives it the opportunity to gain customer insight ahead f its rivals. This is the first time P&G has bought into a retail business, and Ocado, which has yet to turn a profit , could seem like an unusual investment , given that it is best known for selling Waitrose products online.

The John Lewis Partnership handed its 29% stake in Ocado to its pension fund last month, allowing the delivery firm greater freedom to work with companies that compete with John Lewis and Waitrose . Ocado's chief financial officer and marketing director, co-founder Jason Gissing, says: "There was some confusion with John Lewis being both a shareholder and supplier, but Ocado has always been independent and this formalises that relationship."

Unique shopper knowledge

"If Ocado's relationship with John Lewis is coming to an end, Ocado might be seeking to form other partnerships," says TNS' consumer insight director, Matt Stalbridge. "However, I don't think Ocado looks like a serious channel for sales. It would make more sense for research and getting customer information."

A P&G spokesman refuses to be drawn on its relationship with the delivery company . "It's early days in terms of defining our work together,' he says. "We"re interested in the unique shopper knowledge available with Ocado and we see its model as a fertile ground for new ideas."

Tx:ET

Pantaloon Retail Q3 net seen up 21% at Rs 38.4 cr

According to CNBC-TV18 estimates, its Q3 net profit is seen going up 21% at Rs 38.4 crore versus Rs 31.7 crore.

 

Its net sales are expected to go up 37% at Rs 1,688 crore versus Rs 1,226.8 crore. OPM is seen going up by 80 bps at 9.7% versus 8.9%

 

Factors to watch

• Pantaloon continues retail roll out at brisk pace – total retail space now upwards of 12m sq. ft.
• Standalone retail space up 33.5% YoY to 8.6mnsqft
• 3 Big Bazaars (including cut-in Food Bazaars) and 1 Pantaloons department store were opened in Q3
• Sales growth to be driven by these new store openings and the discount sales during the quarter
• Efforts to manage operating costs, especially renegotiation of peak rentals and easing cost pressures will mean an expansion in margins
• PAT growth lower – To be impacted by steep increase in interest cost and depreciation
• Need to watch out for: Sales and same store sales growth in December, and increase in inventory during the quarter

Infiniti Retail unveils its second ‘Croma Zip’ store

Tata group company Infiniti Retail today unveiled its second 'Croma Zip´ store in the country and the first in south Mumbai at an investment of Rs2.7 crore.  The store offers customers a variety of electronic items including laptops, cell phones, PDAs, CDs, DVD players, cameras and travel-related gadgets among others.

 

"Of the total investment of Rs2.7 crore, Rs1.5 crore is for inventories and Rs1.2 crore towards fixtures. The 'Croma Zip´ store is spread across 3,000 square feet and is the second zip store across the country," Infiniti Retail's CEO and Managing Director Ajit Joshi told reporters.

 

"Despite the size being small, we expect these stores to draw new customers. The format will help to fuel demand by the sheer presence in high footfall areas," Joshi said.

 

The company plans to set up around 32 stores by March 2009 and around 50 stores by March 2010.

 

"We have set a target of 32 stores for March 2009 and 50 stores for March 2010. The total equity investment from Infiniti Retail Limited would be Rs350 crore for building stores and other activities," Joshi said.

 

Croma has set a target of 20% sales contribution by March 2010 from its private label 'Croma´ and Joshi said that the company was already receiving a good response from its customers.

 

"The youth are looking out for newer technology and are always in search of better and new products," he said, adding that, "it is important to cater to the needs of customers and we are trying our best to fulfil the expectations of our customers".

 

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DLF announces Rs 550-cr office-cum-retail venture

DLF Commercial Complexes Ltd announced expansion plans worth Rs 550 crores in Punjab with the launch of its first office-cum-retail venture "The Galleria, DLF Ludhiana", at a press conference here today.

However looking at global meltdown impact, the prices of retail and office spaces have been reduced by about 25% in the commercial sector for Ludhiana Galleria. This was announced by Ajay Khanna, MD, DLF Commercial Complexes Ltd.

The Galleria is coming up on 2.25 acres of land on Ferozepur road, which will cater to a catchment area including Sarabha Nagar, Rajguru Nagar, Aggar Nagar, BRS Nagar, Model Town, Kichlu Nagar, Rishi Nagar, Pakhowal Road, Gurdev Nagar, Mullanpur, Jagroan, Moga and Ferozepur among other areas.

Khanna, said, "The commercial complex will comprise of seven floors in which shopping arena will extend over the ground and first floors. The second floor will also house a mini air-conditioned market. There will be a space for restaurants and a multi-cuisine food court. Office areas will be spread from the second floor to the seventh floor."

 

Two level-parking facility, 100% power back-up and many other facilities have been included in this Galleria.

 

Tx:EI

India: Quick Facts

• India has the fourth largest billionaire population in the world, according to the Forbes list of world billionaires
• India's financial capital Mumbai ranks as the seventh largest city, in terms of billionaire population, according to Forbes
• India's fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) industry has seen the launch of 251 new products up to October CY07, against 191 in the same period last year
• India's telecom industry is expected to reach a size of US$ 87.33 billion by 2012, with a growth rate of over 26 per cent
• India is rapidly emerging as one of the world's media powerhouses. With 54 per cent of its 1.1 billion people aged under 25, it is potentially one of the world's largest markets for TV
• India's telecom industry is expected to reach a size of US$ 87.33 billion by 2012, with a growth rate of over 26 per cent
• Mobile phone production in India will grow at a rate of 28.3 per cent - from 31 million units in 2006 to 107 million in 2011
• India has overtaken the US to become the second largest cotton producing country in the world, as per the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Application
• Indian consumer spending could more than quadruple to US$ 1.77 trillion by 2025 - from about US$ 431.69 billion in 2005 - steered by a ten-fold jump in its middle-class population and a three-fold rise in household income, according to a McKinsey study

 

Raymond set to open 100 outlets

At a time when most retailers are shutting down their stores or halting expansion, Raymond Apparel is launching the first of its kind format in the country to tap the growing men's accessories segment, reports Shruti Sabharwal in Bangalore.

The company, a subsidiary of Raymond, is planning to open 100 stores under its new chain Neckties & More. Raymond Apparel, one of the largest players in the menswear segment in India, has decided to launch the format after recording a strong growth in their accessories business in the past few years.

According to Shreyas Joshi, president, Raymond Apparel, the company has been recording over 30% year-on-year growth in the accessories segment. At present, accessories contribute 5% to the total business and the company expects this to go up to 10% in the next two years.

Since the company views accessories as largely an impulse purchase, it will be opening stores in footfall areas with high visibility like malls and airports. According to Mr Joshi, they have done a soft launch two months ago at the Hyderabad airport and in a few malls in Mumbai and received a good response.

 

Tx:ET

India Story, Chapter 2009: No. 2 in growth race

India will be the second fastest growing economy in the world after China, Goldman Sachs, the American financial services major has said.

Goldman Sachs expects India's economy to grow 5.8% in FY 2010 due to fall in external demand and a slowdown in investments. The US, EU and Japan are likely to experience a significant contraction in economic activity in 2009 and possibly in 2010.

Significantly, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh too had expressed a cautious note on the outlook for the economy while speaking at the The Economic Times Awards For Corporate Excellence, on Saturday. However, the CEO of the largest private bank in the country, ICICI Bank, is more optimistic. Mr KV Kamath predicted at the same event that the economy will clock a growth of around 7% for FY '10.

Speaking to ET, Tushar Poddar of the Asia Research Team, said. "India will be the second fastest growing major economy in the world after China. However, due to rapidly falling exports and slowing investments, we have maintained an under-weight on the Indian stock market." He further said, "Four important themes — spending by the rural consumer, government spending, low inflation and low-cost housing — are identified as themes which the investor can play for downside protection in 2009."

He said, the rural consumer demand is largely unaffected by the global crisis since rural India has not borrowed much. Besides, agriculture has done relatively well and the government has assisted the rural population through schemes like waiver of agricultural loans and National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) which provides every rural family with paid employment.

Low inflation is also going to translate into a lower import bill and low input cost. "In an environment of rapidly falling input costs, sectors which have a high proportion of variable cost compared to fixed cost are likely to benefit from falling input prices," the report said.

Higher government expenditure on account of tension with Pakistan and coming general election is also expected to spur demand. Also, the sixth pay commission payouts and implementation of NREGS will also add to the consumption demand in the economy.

 

As for low cost housing, the report notes: "With a supply shortfall of over 30 million units, continued demand growth due to favourable demographics and urbanisation, and more immediately, falling construction costs along with massive fiscal and monetary incentives suggest to us that low-cost housing is an opportunity whose time has come."

 

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M&M enters retailing with Mom & Me stores

At a time when most retailers are holding back expansion plans, auto company Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) has made a quiet foray into the retail sector with the soft launch of its specialty format Mom & Me to sell infantcare and maternity products.

The company, which had announced its plans to enter the retail space more than a year ago, has launched two outlets in Ludhiana and Ahmedabad. The company has invested close to Rs 100 crore in the venture.

Interestingly, Mahindra has been looking at hiring young mothers, as advisors in the stores for a better connect with target customers.
In this segment, Mahindra is likely to have little competition with the only other major player being British brand Mothercare, which entered India in partnership with Shoppers Stop three years ago. Most of the other stores in this segment are part of the unorganised sector.

Mahindra Retail is a part of Mahindra Intertrade, a fully-owned subsidiary of Mahindra and Mahindra.

While announcing its retail foray, the company had said it was a logical extension of its current business, as Mahindra Intertrade had tie ups with Walt Disney, Aqua, Mattel and Lego to market and distribute kids' toys, apparels, accessories in India. Some of the other diversified groups that have entered the retail space, include Bharti, Reliance and the Aditya Birla Group.

 

Tx:ET

Tesco tunes in to the art of Twitter

The supermarket chain's

American convenience store chain Fresh & Easy, which opened on the West Coast in

November 2007, is harnessing the text-based messaging service to interact with customers and inform them of new offers and store openings.

In addition, it is answering customer queries about missing products in certain stores, and about services offered.

A sample Twitter exchange from earlier this week involves a customer called "songrytr" noting that stock levels had seemed "a

little sparse" on recent visits to his local branch, to which Fresh & Easy responds that levels tend to be a bit low at the end of the year due to shipping schedules.

Though perhaps not gripping correspondence, Twitter does help to establish loyalty by giving customers an active way of communicating with the company's management.

The Fresh & Easy Twitter feed has 915 followers – a fair number given that a chain the size of Starbucks only has 30,591 followers.

While it is increasingly common to find US companies on Twitter – cable company Comcast and airline JetBlue to name two, in addition to Starbucks – uptake by British companies is less common.

This may be because the technology is in its infancy – the site only opened in 2006 – or because it started life with a different aim in mind – to enable friends to tell each other what they were doing by answering quick, simple questions.

Nevertheless, a recent survey – the Cone Business in Social Media Study – found that 93pc of those questioned expected to see companies online.

Fresh & Easy, which now operates more than 100 stores across Nevada and Arizona, as well as California, also uses a regular blog on its website to keep customers informed.

 

Tx:Telegraph