Diwali 2014 is likely to be a turning point for the retail industry. As per the survey undertaken by Assocham, online shopping for Diwali is likely to rise by almost 350% and cross the 10,000 crore mark.
This phenomenon is mainly due to the improved internet accessibility especially the smart phones along with highly attractive discounts offered by e-retailers. On the other hand, traditional retail stores and shopping malls could witness down surges to the extent of 50 – 55%.
Assocham’s survey titled ‘Indian Online Retail Sales Surge in Festive Season’ was conducted in top Indian cities – Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chandigarh, Chennai, Delhi-NCR, Dehradun, Kolkata and Hyderabad. The survey estimates nearly 49.5% decline in footfall of malls in Delhi followed by Ahmedabad at 48.2% and cities of Chennai, Mumbai and Hyderabad to the extent of 48.2%, 42% and 39% respectively.
The reasons causing these decreasing footfalls in malls can be contributed to increasing fuel prices, convenience factor, ample choices, online discounts and security issues. E-retailers selling jewellery, gifts, footwear, accessories and branded apparel are performing quite well especially on account of doorstep delivery and lower then market prices.
LogicSpeak:
People are definitely going to take advantage of heavy discounts and services offered by online shopping this Diwali. The competition/ongoing tussle between– viz. traditional and online market is likely to mature over a period of time, till then its Advantage Customers!!
Source: https://goo.gl/6ooMxV
YepMe Gets Shahrukh Khan as its Brand Ambassador
Shahrukh Khan to promote YepMe!!
Yepme, one of the leading fashion e-tailer has signed up Bollywood superstar, Shahrukh Khan as its brand ambassador. As per the news received, Shahrukh Khan is likely to get a stake in YepMe in the near future.
Considered this is as much required initiative as YepMe has to compete with seasoned e-retailers such as Myntra and Jabong which have powerful promotions in place. In the coming times, YepMe has plans to spend nearly Rs. 15-20 crore in advertisements and promotion across various media channels with Shahrukh Khan as its brand ambassador. For this initiative, YepMe has appointed Prasoon Joshi form McCann Erickson to chalk out the latest advertising campaign.
Considering the fact that YepMe is likely to bank on sales from apparels of private brands apart from electronics and mobiles which are likely to take a back seat now, the going for YepMe seems to be quite tough.
At present, YepMe is in talks with two more venture capitalists along with its existing partners Helion Venture Partners and Capricorn Venture Partners for fresh round of finance of nearly $30-million.
Source: https://goo.gl/GNGzTi
