It has planned to invest Rs. 1,400 crores to achieve annual turnover of 5,000 crores within four years. In addition to internal accruals, the company could look at raising resources through promoters and public offering of shares after 12 to 18 months. The group has so far invested Rs. 125 crore in the business, says a DNA report.

Currently, the group is operating 90 food and grocery (F&G) and six home products stores. The group expects to increase the number of outlets to over 200 by March, 2008, says the report.

Wadhwans are quite aggressive on both organic and inorganic fronts. Besides, organic growth, the group in the recent past has bought out 13 stores chain operating under brand name of “S-Mart” in Bangalore and acquired Mumbai-based direct retail business ‘Sangam Direct’ of FMCG giant Hindustan Unilever Limited. Apart from this, the group also acquired control of Mumbai-based Maratha Co-operative Store and acquired Delhi-based retail chains operating under ‘Home Market’ and ‘Sab Ka Bazaar’ brand names.

In the meanwhile, the group’s flagship DHFL has picked up 19.9% stake in the company for an investment of Rs 5 crore.

The synergy would enable Reliance to efficiently run its critical back-end operations, which essentially include warehousing of goods and transporting them to stores on time.

The latest move by India’s largest corporate house, which jumped on the retail bandwagon two years ago by promising to do everything on its own, seems to suggest that it now needs a partner for almost every retail initiative.

Industry observers believe that the company has expanded very fast and has managed to set up over 600 stores across various retail formats in less than two years, but its supply chain is in a mess. “How to get the right merchandise to the stores on time has been its biggest problem. You’d often not find the goods you want in Reliance’s food and grocery outlets,” said a source.

Wincanton, the UK-based $4-billion supply chain solution provider, has been roped in precisely to tackle this problem. It is expected to completely take over the supply chain, find the right warehouses for goods and transport them in time and in the right quantity to Reliance Retail stores.

Supply chain solution providers, Wincanton, for example, have IT systems in place to update them with regular data on inventory level in stores.

So, even without a store manager calling up, the warehouse manager would know the stores’ requirements. Wincanton serves several companies across industries, from FMCG to retail, automotive and oil. Its client list includes retail giants Tesco and Woolworths, auto companies Ford and DaimlerChrysler, and consumer goods firms P&G, Nestle, SAB Miller and GSK.

For Reliance, an alliance such as this means a major shift in its strategy. The season of alliances has begun at Reliance with specialty stores and is now fast extending to almost everything. Two years ago, when India’s largest private telecom operator, the Bharti Group, announced a tie-up with the world’s largest retailer, Wal-Mart, many thought it had got a headstart over other Indian corporate biggies foraying into retail.

But unlike Bharti, Reliance had decided to go solo. It made the ambitious announcement, not unusual from the house of the Ambanis, that Reliance Industries had earmarked Rs 25,000 crore for its retail business. Reliance had evaluated the options of partnering with a foreign retailer as well as buying out an existing Indian retailer, but had not found it very exciting.

True to its form, Reliance built scale fairly rapidly, spreading from one city to another. The growth was achieved through a team of professionals poached from existing Indian retailers, but the pace of execution dwarfed rivals’ achievements.

Reliance, however, realised it needed to do a lot more on the back-end to continue the pace of expansion and return early profits, which its shareholders usually expect.

“It didn’t take Reliance long to realise that retail was a different ballgame altogether. It’s not just about some long-term government policy or certain business competency, which it’s known to manage well. The variables in retail business are far too many. There could be a number of factors such as general economic downturn, terror scare, shorter wedding season, cricket season like an IPL or a political protest, which can affect store sales. You need to be able to manage that,” said a source close to Reliance.

The company has entered into alliances with foreign companies for several specialty stores, including opticals (Pearle Europe), toys (Hamleys) and apparel (M&S).

In most cases, the foreign retailer has the majority stake. This model, however, can’t be extended to front-end retail in food and grocery or hypermarkets as Indian laws don’t allow FDI in multi-brand retail. But it could be done in the cash and carry segment or retail back-end, an area where Reliance is in urgent need of help.

The flagship development of Emaar Malls Group, The Dubai Mall is one of the world’s largest shopping, lifestyle and entertainment destinations featuring over 1,200 retailers. Of these, more than 165 are opening in Dubai or the Middle East region for the very first time, offering a fresh international retail mix that spans fashion and apparel, accessories to homewares, jewellery and entertainment concepts.

Galeries Lafayette, the prestigious French retailer and Bloomingdale’s, America’s leading department store are confirmed key anchors, marking the first time each retailer will be opening a store outside their country of origin. Hamley’s, London’s famous toy store is launching their Middle East flagship store in The Dubai Mall to the delight of children and families across Dubai.

A 55,304 sq ft Waitrose, ‘voted Britain’s best high street retailer’, is the mall’s anchor supermarket and the largest in the growing Downtown Burj Dubai development. Waitrose in The Dubai Mall will be the first ever store outside the UK, and a regional first. Expected to have a loyal following in Dubai, Waitrose’s commitment to freshness and innovative, quality food products will be on offer in its bakery, butchery, fishmongers and market-style fresh fruit and vegetable area.

Mr Yousif Al Ali, General Manager, The Dubai Mall, said: “The Dubai Mall is not only revolutionising the shopping mall experience, but providing a revitalising boost to the city’s retail offer by introducing over 165 new stores from around the globe. To deliver a fresh retail experience, it was important for us to bring in names that are new to the region. Therefore, we developed partnerships with leading international retailers for opening their doors for the very first time here. These top names in the retail industry will further enhance Dubai’s reputation as one of the prime shopping and leisure destinations in the world.”

Kinokuniya, is a bookstore chain originating in Japan with widespread global presence. Already popular in Australia, Far East Asia and the United States, Kinokuniya makes its Middle East debut with a 68,850 sq ft store in The Dubai Mall. Featuring tens of thousands of quality publications across multiple languages, Kinokuniya will be one of the largest bookstores in Dubai.

Retailers opening in Dubai for the first time, or opening up their first-stand alone store at The Dubai Mall cover a range of product categories including fashion, jewellery, food and beverage, home furnishings and specialty stores. Alberta Ferretti, Joseph, Alexander McQueen, Manolo Blahnik, Agent Provocateur, Galliano, Tom Ford and Lanvin are leading names in the fashion sector. Armani/Casa, Walentowski Gallery and Bloomingdale’s furniture offer first-time services in home furniture, while Burj Al Hamam, Fauchon Café, Rainforest Café, Café Nero, MBCo (Montreal Bread Company), Vapiano, Carluccio’s, Ping Pong Dim Sum, Roadster Diner and The Noodle Factory add to the food and beverage roster.

Bubbles & Giggles, Armani Junior, Tommy Hilfiger Kids, Kids Puzzle, Theopille & Patachou and Cacharel Paris are new names in children’s and maternity wear, while Jacob & Co, Piaget Boutique and Panerai are new entrants in the watches and jewellery sector.

Emaar Retail has also announced a strategic partnership with Armani/Casa to develop Armani/Casa stores across the UAE, with the first and flagship store at The Dubai Mall. On the leisure side are SEGA Republic®, an exciting indoor theme park; the Olympic-size Dubai Ice Rink; the world’s largest indoor Gold Souk; KidZania®, a unique children’s ‘edu-tainment’ concept; and a 22-screen Cineplex, REEL Entertainment, which is a joint venture between Cathay Organisation and Emaar Retail.

Over 1.1 million sq ft of gross leasable area dedicated to new retailers or first-time standalone stores, Fashion, accessories, food and beverage, homewares, jewellery stores and entertainment among the unique retail mix.

The Dubai Mall has a total area of 12.1 million sq ft, with an internal floor area of 5.9 million sq ft and a gross leasable space of 3.77 million sq ft. It will feature more than 1,200 stores and over 160 food & beverage outlets. There are over 14,000 undercover car park spaces and the adjoining The Address, Dubai Mall luxury 5-star hotel with 250 rooms and 450 serviced residences. The Dubai Mall expects an estimated 30 million visitors within the first year of trade.

Waitrose opened its first convenience store yesterday, in Nottingham. The 5,815 sq ft (540 sq m) shop, in the city’s Trinity Square, is located opposite the John Lewis department store and is the first of a four-branch convenience store trial.

The shop has fresh fish and meat counters, a bakery and a self-service food bar where shoppers can select from smoothies, granola and yoghurts in the morning and sandwiches and salads for lunch and evening meals.

Waitrose managing director Mark Price said: “We believe you shouldn’t have to compromise on the standard of your shopping experience just because a store is smaller and designed for convenience. We want to revive the traditional service typical of convenience shops, which customers value, but within a fresh and contemporary setting.”

Waitrose plans to open a second convenience store in Bristol in the spring.

* Published: 12 December 2008 12:47

Family Mart convenience stores, for instance, will launch three new kinds of meal boxes at a unit price of NT$50, lower than the previous price of NT$60.

Lin Chui-chuan, public relations manager of Family Mart, said that Family Mart will launch the “one NT$50 coin can settle one meal for you” campaign to attract patronage from more office workers starting March 10.

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With an investment of USD30 million from Lotte Group, construction of the new supermarket will start in April 2009 and is expected to be completed and opened on October 1, 2010. Covering an area of 36,000 square meters, the supermarket will focus on the sales of apparel, footwear, food, and home appliances. After the project is putting into operation, it is expected to realize annual sales of CNY400 million.

The coming of Lotte Mart will further add to the commercial functions of Weihai Economic and Technical Development Zone, which will benefit the creation of a business cluster in Weihai and will stimulate the development of service industry in the city.

Lotte Group currently owns 58 Lotte Marts in South Korea and with the implementation of its globalization strategy, the group plans to set up 300 Lotte Marts in China by 2018.

With an investment of USD30 million from Lotte Group, construction of the new supermarket will start in April 2009 and is expected to be completed and opened on October 1, 2010. Covering an area of 36,000 square meters, the supermarket will focus on the sales of apparel, footwear, food, and home appliances. After the project is putting into operation, it is expected to realize annual sales of CNY400 million.

The coming of Lotte Mart will further add to the commercial functions of Weihai Economic and Technical Development Zone, which will benefit the creation of a business cluster in Weihai and will stimulate the development of service industry in the city.

Lotte Group currently owns 58 Lotte Marts in South Korea and with the implementation of its globalization strategy, the group plans to set up 300 Lotte Marts in China by 2018.

eBay was the traffic winner despite posting a 44% traffic decline. 6.5 million shoppers visited eBay Clothing, Shoes and Accessories last month, Zappos was second in line with 5.2 million visitors, a 55% increase from a year earlier.

Visitors to Mary Kay spent on average a whopping 2 hours and 23 minutes on the make-up site—far longer than Avon, which ranked No. 2 with nearly 50 minutes.

The top 10 online apparel and beauty shopping destinations in March with unique visitors in millions this year compared to a year earlier and the percent change, according to Nielsen Online were:

* eBay Clothing Shoes & Accessories, 6.57,11.64, -44%
* Zappos.com, 5.23, 3.38, 55%
* Victoria`s Secret, 4.89, 4.20, 16%
* Avon 3.94, 4.20, -6%
* Lands’ End, 3.88, 3.47, 12%
* The Gap, 3.81, 2.38, 60%
* Old Navy, 3.54, 3.36, 5%
* eBay Jewelry and Watches, 2.72, 4.81, -44%
* L.L. Bean, 2.48, 2.70, -8%
* Shoebuy.com, 2.25, 1.94, 16%

Unique visitors count only once each shopper who came to a site, no matter how many times the shopper visited. This is a custom list compiled by Internet Retailer of the top e-commerce sites in this category based on Nielsen Online data. Rankings may contain multiple web sites from the same retailer or manufacturer.

By length of visit, the top 10 apparel and beauty sites in March (hours:minutes:seconds), according to Nielsen Online, were:

* Mary Kay, 2:23:10
* Avon, 0:49:58
* Lane Bryant, 0:30:17
* Woman Within, 0:18:49
* Blair.com, 0:18:25
* OneStopPlus.com, 0:16:30
* Victoria’s Secret, 0:16:24
* Sierra Trading Post, 0:15:11
* DavidsBridal.com, 0:14:45
* eBay Clothing Shoes and Accessories, 0:14:04

The top eight consumer goods industry segments in terms of online ad impressions (in millions) in March, according to Nielsen data, were:

* Food & Beverage, 3,490.70
* Personal Care, 3,354.67
* Print Publishing, 1,159.02
* Home & Garden, 985.01
* Apparel & Jewelry, 685.80
* Automotive Supply, 417.50
* Toy & Hobby, 150.57
* Recreational Gear, 146.14

eBay was the traffic winner despite posting a 44% traffic decline. 6.5 million shoppers visited eBay Clothing, Shoes and Accessories last month, Zappos was second in line with 5.2 million visitors, a 55% increase from a year earlier.

Visitors to Mary Kay spent on average a whopping 2 hours and 23 minutes on the make-up site—far longer than Avon, which ranked No. 2 with nearly 50 minutes.

The top 10 online apparel and beauty shopping destinations in March with unique visitors in millions this year compared to a year earlier and the percent change, according to Nielsen Online were:

* eBay Clothing Shoes & Accessories, 6.57,11.64, -44%
* Zappos.com, 5.23, 3.38, 55%
* Victoria`s Secret, 4.89, 4.20, 16%
* Avon 3.94, 4.20, -6%
* Lands’ End, 3.88, 3.47, 12%
* The Gap, 3.81, 2.38, 60%
* Old Navy, 3.54, 3.36, 5%
* eBay Jewelry and Watches, 2.72, 4.81, -44%
* L.L. Bean, 2.48, 2.70, -8%
* Shoebuy.com, 2.25, 1.94, 16%

Unique visitors count only once each shopper who came to a site, no matter how many times the shopper visited. This is a custom list compiled by Internet Retailer of the top e-commerce sites in this category based on Nielsen Online data. Rankings may contain multiple web sites from the same retailer or manufacturer.

By length of visit, the top 10 apparel and beauty sites in March (hours:minutes:seconds), according to Nielsen Online, were:

* Mary Kay, 2:23:10
* Avon, 0:49:58
* Lane Bryant, 0:30:17
* Woman Within, 0:18:49
* Blair.com, 0:18:25
* OneStopPlus.com, 0:16:30
* Victoria’s Secret, 0:16:24
* Sierra Trading Post, 0:15:11
* DavidsBridal.com, 0:14:45
* eBay Clothing Shoes and Accessories, 0:14:04

The top eight consumer goods industry segments in terms of online ad impressions (in millions) in March, according to Nielsen data, were:

* Food & Beverage, 3,490.70
* Personal Care, 3,354.67
* Print Publishing, 1,159.02
* Home & Garden, 985.01
* Apparel & Jewelry, 685.80
* Automotive Supply, 417.50
* Toy & Hobby, 150.57
* Recreational Gear, 146.14

“We want to ramp up the volumes,” said Mark Price, managing director of Waitrose. “Delivery charges are a real irritation for customers when they’re spending £90 on a shop.”

Britain’s worst recession in more than two decades has heaped pressure on supermarket chains to pitch their pricing strategies correctly as customers tighten their belts.

Waitrose, with 200 branches across the UK, has benefited as people eat out less, according to Mr Price. The chain, which recorded a 6pc jump in sales over Easter compared with last year, said it was winning customers from rivals such as J Sainsbury.

Owned by The John Lewis Partnership, Waitrose is betting that its move will help prise shoppers away from rivals in the online grocery market, which it claims will enjoy sales of £13bn within four years.

The charges will cease from Wednesday although the Waitrose Deliver service will still require a minimum order of £50. Waitrose Entertaining, its service for party food and drink, does not have a minimum order requirement.

The decision to scrap the charges comes in the same week that shoppers at online delivery service Ocado will be able to buy Waitrose food cheaper online than from the supermarket for the first time.

John Lewis Partnership has a stake in Ocado but does not fully own it, so the internet delivery company is able to charge what it likes for Waitrose products.

Mr Price has said there are many promotions that Waitrose runs in store that Ocado does not offer. The free delivery is not being offered by Ocado.

Mr Price said trading in the first three months had been better than expected and he was in the optimists camp regarding the rest of 2009.