Test riding a cycle is not often how a cyclist buys a product. It’s often based on reviews, feedbacks and online ratings. In a first in the country, Element Retail has opened an experience centre for Giant cycles.  On the close heels of launching the experience centre, Aditya Bafna, MD and CEO of Element Retail, who has brought Giant cycles to India, talks to Indian Retailer. He speaks about the experience centre, the challenges for cyclists in India and why the brand wants to stagnate for the next couple of months. Excerpts:

“Athleisure is now a global phenomenon,” says Sunil Anchal, founder of Gurugram-based Arcley, a sportswear brand. And why not with industry reports suggesting that the athleisurecategory is growing at a rate faster than the rest of apparel categories, athlesiure has been trending the whole season. In 2016-17, Athleisure grew at a rate of 20-25% annually andin the global activewear market, India is expected to grow at a CAGR of 13.9 %, in terms of value. In a conversation with Indian Retailer, Anchal traces the journey of his brand, the evolving non-Metro markets and more. Excerpts:

Early stage venture fund focussed on consumer brands Fireside Ventures announced six new investments recently. With this, Fireside Ventures has expanded its portfolio from 12 consumer brands to 18.

Prestige Clean Home, the fledgling division of TTK Prestige, unveiled the world’s first electric mop and a new range of water purifiers. The range of home cleaning solutions is expected to contribute 8-10 per cent to the company’s topline over the next three years, fuelled by new product launches. T.T. Jagannathan, Executive Chairman, TTK Prestige Limited, speaks to Indian Retailer during the launch of the products recently.

Online or offline- customer is the king and who better than Lifestyle understands this. As technology evolves, so have the customer expectations. And the onus is always on the brand to meet the rising expectations and provide convenience to customers, says Srinivasa Rao, CMO, Lifestyle, in a quick chat with Indian Retailer.

The $108 billion dollar Indian textile industry has transformed in several ways in the last three decades. Growing out of the clutches of middlemen mafia, today, the industry is led by technology, skilled staff and advanced machinery. Although the industry is expected to grow to double its size to $223 billion by 2021, one of the country’s largest exporters BeePee Group MD Anup Poddar thinks that textile manufacturing in India has no future.

Often, anything from lose pajamas to shorts tick off as after office wear or night wear. With only a few brands catering to high-quality nightwear, loungewear is still a fancy fashion choice for many Indians. Breaking many myths, 23-year-old Riddhi Jain, founder of NeceSera, highlights what quality comfort wear can do customers of all age groups. In a conversation with Indian Retailer, she talks about her international designs, price-conscious customers and the challenges to create higher brand value.

After more than two decades in the business, exclusive men’s wear brand Blackberrys is trying its hands on rebranding and launching new store formats. From hipster collection to formal wear, the brand has ventured into newer collections and wider options. Close on the heels of its new brand identity launch, Ramesh Kaushik, VP (Brand Experience), Blackberrys tells Indian Retailer that the new identity will help the brand establish a deeper connect with its customers. Excerpts:

It may have been over a year since demonetization, but the after effects of going cashless still linger on. From a small baker to an international trader, everybody is making the switch to digital payments. Taking the next big step in this direction, homegrown startup Ridlr has introduced ticketing with digital wallet as it joins hands with Amazon Pay. In conversation with Indian Retailer, Ridlr founder Brijaraj Vaghani tells why digital payments are the future in India.

Less than a decade ago, it wouldn’t have been possible to imagine that handloom products in India, all produced in remotes parts of the country, could be purchased online. The sector, which was plagued by middlemen and less demand, has received a fresh breath of life through GoCoop. As GoCoop founder Siva Devireddy and his team prepares for the launch of their new brand Good Loom, Devireddy interacts with Indian Retailer during a recent trump show. 

After two decades in the coffee industry, major coffee exporters SLN group has ventured into the instant coffee market with the launch of its brand new product ‘Levista’. As the group expects the top-line to touch Rs 1,100 crore with it new brand, SLN group director N.Sathappan speaks to Indian Retailer during the launch of Levista recently.

It’s not every day you visit a pop-up store, but imagine having an exclusive, online pop-up store that comes down to you at your doorstep. Notching up convenience one step further, a mompreneur is making online pop-up a reality. At a time when offline pop-ups are making a comeback across all geographical borders in India, online pop-up is setting some serious trend goals. Excerpts from the interview with Pop-Up Galleria founder Ranu Bathwal:

With tech giants Alibaba, Amazon and Flipkart foraying into selling groceries online, it makes sense that this sector is the next battleground for e-commerce players. Although reports suggest that online grocery sales have taken off slowly and grown sluggishly, this year has been robust for the e-FMCG market with 60% yoy growth. Now, with Tata entering the e-grocery segment, the competition is only fierce, and in a quick chat with Indian Retailer, Big Basket co-founder Hari Menon tells why competition is good.

Artificial intelligence and machine learning may have changed the way a consumer approaches a brand and the way a consumer shops and spends time on buying, but the heart of online or offline will always be a consumer. As technology dives more and more into retail, shopping is all about convenience, says Aditya Soni, Business Lead, Flipkart, in a conversation with Indian retailer.

Quirky is fun. Quirky appeals all and quirky sells. A teapot in the shape of a scooter or a Beagle dog sculpture to adorn your home décor- the collection at Bent Chair is not something you often see at stores. From luxury to anything-but-ordinary, the online home décor and furniture start-up has been conceptualizing, designing and manufacturing its products. In the wake of its summer-spring collection launch, Bent Chair founder Natasha Jain speaks to Indian Retailer. Excerpts

Tell us about your new Rocky Star Collection.

Early stage consumer-focused venture capital firm Fireside Ventures has closed its first fund with a corpus of Rs 340 crore. The venture capital firm, which is backed by Premji Invest, ITC, RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group, Emami, among others, has now three key industry experts as advisory board members. Amazon India Head Amit Agarwal, Marico founder Harsh Mariwala, and Bain & Company India Pvt.Ltd. Chairman, Sri Rajan have joined the firm. Addressing the media, Kanwaljit Singh, Managing Partner, Fireside Ventures said that their vision is to help build 25 iconic brands in the next 15 years.

US-based footwear and apparels firm Skechers is looking to beef up its presence in the tier II and tier III cities of India as part of the next leg of its expansion. During a recent store launch in Bengaluru, Skechers South Asia CEO Rahul Vira spoke to India Retailer and shared the company’s expansion plans.

Craving for some Ratnagiri Alphanso mangoes sitting at your office in Chennai or some handpicked berries? For many, who have moved from one city to another, a three-year-old e-commerce start-up is helping relive the memories by bringing their favourite things from their favourite city. With defined migrant population as its target customers, SaleBhai, an e-commerce platform, has over 1 lakh loyal customers. As they continue to grow and target 2 lakh customers this year, SaleBhai co-founder Vishwavijay Singh speaks to Indian Retailer.