Reliance Industries is bearing the brunt in its last mile retail operations yet again. Fresh from its less than expected results in retail operations and ‘Reliance Fresh’ controversy, it is shutting its much popular petroleum retail outlets across India.
Of the 1400 retail pumps, all those outlets which are owned by Reliance would close down while those operated by dealer would continue to function. But in absence of any viable business plans, it won’t be a while before the dealer owned outlets also decide to shut shop.
When Reliance outlets were started, it virtually created a stir among other state owned oil marketing companies as it was attracting heavy sales with a 14% market share in no time.
To prepare itself from the threat of increased foreign competition post 2009 and need for capital for expansion, State Bank of India has kicked of a process to merge its 7 associate banks in itself. In the first step, it is merging State Bank of Saurashtra with itself, which expectedly is also the smallest associate having assets of Rs 18,847 crore.
The total market share of all seven associate banks are equal to that of India’s second largest bank, ICICI Bank and the merger would place it much ahead of others. Post-merger, SBI’s deposit base will rise 46%, advances by 44% and net worth by 37%. The total balance sheet size would be worth over $ 200 billion.
After Saurashtra, next to be merged would be State Bank of Hyderabad (largest associate bank), State Bank of Indore and State Bank of Patiala. Regarding the listed associate banks which are State Bank of Travancore, State Bank of Mysore, State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur, it is still to be decided whether they would work independently or be merged.
Traditionally a quick service restaurant, Domino’s Pizza is expanding its base in India by opening 500 outlets to add to its current tally of 156 outlets, across 50 cities in India by 2011 with an investment of Rs.1,000 crore.
The organized pizza market in India is worth Rs.500 crore and Domino’s has a substantial 45% market share, and registered a healthy growth of 60% over last year.
The main target for new outlets shall be metro cities though Tier II cities would also receive a fair amount of attention. Currently Domino’s sells around 35,000 pizza every day, of which around 1% are given free on account of its “30 minutes or free” model.
It is also contemplating opening more dine-in stores which is in contrast to its global strategy of having sales through home delivery. This is because Indian people tend to eat out more rather than having outside food taken or delivered at home.
In India, Domino’s major competitor is Pizza Hut which holds around 30% market share. Other players are US Pizza, Pizza Corner, Smoking Joe’s who also have a sizeable national presence. Apart from this it faces competition from snack food restaurants like Nirula’s.
To improve its Indian sales, Domino’s should also start to offer Indian customised offerings catering more to local just like other chains have been doing and which has been received with good response.
RPG Group’s Spencer’s Retail, one of the early entrants in Indian retail business, is on an expansion spree to take on its peers. The company is planning to invest Rs.3500 crore in its retail business during the next 3 years and also come out with a Rs.1000 crore IPO by next year.
The group operates under 5 retail segments – Spencer’s Hyper, Super, Daily, Express and Fresh. It expects to have retail sales of Rs.10000 crore in next 5 years. Apart from it, there are other retail outlets such as Music World, Books and Beyond, RPG Cellcom and Health and Glow. Apart from expansion, it is also renovating its existing stores.
After the successful completion of Vishal Retail’s IPO, with the issue being subscribed 82 times over, the company may stir the packaged mineral water market by launching a 1 litre bottle for as low as Rs.6, to be sold initially at Vishal Megamart stores.
The per capita bottled water consumption in India is less than 5 litres a year as compared to the global average of 24 litres. However, the annual bottled water consumption has risen rapidly in recent times and is worth Rs. 800 crore today and growing at 25% per annum, highest in the world.
Reliance Industries is bearing the brunt in its last mile retail operations yet again. Fresh from its less than expected results in retail operations and ‘Reliance Fresh’ controversy, it is shutting its much popular petroleum retail outlets across India.
To prepare itself from the threat of increased foreign competition post 2009 and need for capital for expansion, State Bank of India has kicked of a process to merge its 7 associate banks in itself. In the first step, it is merging State Bank of Saurashtra with itself, which expectedly is also the smallest associate having assets of Rs 18,847 crore.
Traditionally a quick service restaurant, Domino’s Pizza is expanding its base in India by opening 500 outlets to add to its current tally of 156 outlets, across 50 cities in India by 2011 with an investment of Rs.1,000 crore.
RPG Group’s Spencer’s Retail, one of the early entrants in Indian retail business, is on an expansion spree to take on its peers. The company is planning to invest Rs.3500 crore in its retail business during the next 3 years and also come out with a Rs.1000 crore IPO by next year.
After the successful completion of 
