Indian Retailer

Big Apple, a unit of Express Retail Services Private Limited in India, (a $25 million food and grocery retailer) has announced an investment of $10 million towards the consolidation and expansion of its business.

Big Apple is the Indian version of the popular US retail chain 7-Eleven.

With shopping becoming another casualty of long working hours, Express Retail Services Pvt Ltd expanded its Big Apple chain of convenience stores with 25 stores already merchandising 2,500 products including FMCG, grocery, fruits and vegetables, company managing director Munish Hemrajani said.

With 65 operational outlets in Delhi, Big Apple looks forward to add another 35 stores and take this number to100 in the next phase of expansion. Express Retail Services Private Limited is Delhi's first ever company owned retail chain.

Consumers are now looking at branded groceries and the new retailing fever is redefining grocery and farm produce retail in Delhi.

Big Apple has direct tie-up with farmers in Haryana, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, provides consumers with uninterrupted and qualitative product supply every single time, it is learnt.

''The objective is not only making profits, also to bring the convenience and money saving shopping experience to Delhites within the walking distance of their homes. The stores are also designed to give hygienic and pollution free environment, which makes shopping experience a real pleasure,'' said Munish Hemrajani of Big Apple.

The company is currently sourcing its Ready to Eat (RTE) food products from Indian leading processed food companies like ITC Limited and Kohinoor Foods.

2008-09 was a year of across-the-board losses for retailers. Shoppers Stop, Reliance Retail and Aditya Birla were some of the big names to post losses, while chains such as Straps, Etam, Subhiksha and Pyramid headed the list of high-profile casualties forced to fold. But now the blues are being shrugged off, and Indian retail is emerging wiser from the experience. When the crunch from the GFC hit India in the second half of last financial year, it surprised as industry too caught up with the good times.

Too many retailers were expanding fast, chasing too many stores and pushing too many products, formats and promotions than what the market was ready for. Too much of focus was on what competitors were doing rather than on viable and sensible market strategies.

Really, at that time, our industry was in a bubble and the result of the downturn was to prick the bubble. It was tough, but it forced businesses to trim fat.

Those that survived have moderated the pace of their store openings. Prudent stock management, focus on proven formats and products, leaner teams, optimising costs are now the mantras for revival. This new self discipline has also helped companies deal with other problems. In reaction to the recent doubling and tripling of power costs, Shoppers Stop has been able to cut power usage by 14%.

A number of external factors have also helped to boost industry’s optimism. At the height of the boom, rental prices skyrocketed. And when the services tax on rent was introduced, rentals accounted for a whopping 35 % of all costs for most retailers. Fortunately, with the downturn, rental prices have normalised and landlords are now open to revenue-sharing agreements in combination with lower minimum rents.

Likewise, key consumption indicators are up again; stock markets have revived & the global economy is slowly recovering.

This combination of improved externals, along with Indian retail’s renewed focus on profitable growth, has not only shrugged off the blues, but has also been a blessing in disguise. At Shoppers Stop, we think we now have a business model that can weather future downturns.

For the third year in a row, India has recorded the highest rate of pilferage in its Rs3.7 trillion retail industry, according to the Global Retail Theft Barometer 2009 (GRTB 2009) survey that was conducted across 40 countries, and results of which will be released Tuesday.

The shrinkage, or losses caused to the retailer, or shrinkage, caused by shoplifting, employees, administrative error, or vendors, amounted to 3.2% of the total size of the country’s retail industry, including the unorganized sector. The survey is prepared by the Centre for Retail Research, Nottingham, UK, and is funded by Checkpoint Systems Inc., a US-based security systems provider.

“The shrinkage increased by 3.2% over last year,” Dharmesh Lamba, country manager for Checkpoint Systems, told Mint.

At 45.2%,, shoplifting was the leading source of retail shrinkage, followed by employee theft (23.3%). Electronics, cosmetics, alcohol/ food, clothing and jewellery were among the leading items of theft.