Tag: retailer

  • IKEA India on boards Murali Iyer as chief financial officer

    IKEA India on boards Murali Iyer as chief financial officer

    Mumbai: Swedish home furnishings retailer IKEA has appointed Murali Iyer as its new chief financial officer for its India business. He will be part of the IKEA India leadership team reporting to the CEO and chief sustainability officer Susanne Pulverer.

    Murali takes over from Preet Dhupar who has moved into a global role within Ingka group which is the parent company of IKEA.

    In the new role of chief financial officer, Murali will lead IKEA India’s CFO function with purpose towards profit, leading the finance controlling, business navigation, legal, tax, customs, and business risk & compliance teams.

    Murali brings with him over 22 years of successful track record in financial leadership, having worked with the Volvo Group in India and Sweden in multiple roles. With a keen business acumen and curiosity to learn, his experience across geographies and cultures has enabled businesses to overcome challenges for an inclusive growth.

    Commenting on his appointment Murali Iyer, said, “I am excited to begin my journey in IKEA India and contribute to its ongoing growth journey. We are focusing on our priority markets and building a strong home furnishings foundation through our omnichannel expansion to be more accessible, affordable, and sustainable for the many people.”

  • Ikea to open its first city store in Mumbai on 9 December

    Ikea to open its first city store in Mumbai on 9 December

    Mumbai: Swedish home furnishing retailer Ikea (part of the Ingka Group) will open the doors to its first city store in India at Worli here on 9 December, the company announced.

    The Worli City Store will span across 80,000 sq ft and is smaller than its traditional big box stores that typically spread across 400,000-500,000 sq ft. The city store format allows Ikea to be adapted to smaller spaces in an urban context and makes it more convenient for customers to experience the entire Ikea range based on a well-integrated digital and physical shopping experience, the company said in a statement.

    “This is an important milestone in our Mumbai journey. As the first city store in the country, we are coming near to more of the many people. This is a new concept for customers to shop with Ikea. They can enjoy an omnichannel shopping experience at this store, browse and order our entire range through various digital tools,” said Ikea Worli City Store India store manager Dawid Gałka on the occasion of the wordmark unveiling.

    “Currently, the whole team is working towards creating an excellent customer experience with all safe shopping measures in place when we open. We are looking forward to fulfilling home furnishing needs through a range of digital tools as well as the new city store format,” he added.

    As a part of promoting a safe shopping experience, customers who are looking forward to shop at IKEA Worli City Store, need to follow the latest COVID-19 guidelines by being fully vaccinated with two doses and should have completed 14 days after the second dose, shared the retailer.

    Currently, the home furnishing major has two stores in the country, its first one in Hyderabad which opened in August 2018 and the second in Navi Mumbai which opened in December 2020.

  • Just Buy launches marketing campaign targeting shopkeepers

    Just Buy launches marketing campaign targeting shopkeepers

    MUMBAI: With an aim to empower retailers, e-distributor Just Buy Live has launched a marketing campaign – Just Buy, Ek App, Ek Awaaz, which highlights the brand’s emotional connect with retailers and the challenges they face.

     

    The campaign began with teaser ads comprising four thematic TVCs centre staging challenges faced by small retailers. The week-long teaser campaign culminated with the reveal of Just Buy Live. The TVCs were launched simultaneously on YouTube.

     

    Just Buy Live’s ATL campaign was conceptualised and executed by Ferry Wharf Communications (FWC).

     

    Just Buy Live chairman and CEO Sahil Sani said, “As the world’s first e-distributor we had to resist the temptation of simply announcing: ‘here’s a revolutionary product’. Instead we took a step back and looked at why we came up with Just Buy.”

     

    “Just Buy was born out exasperation with traditional distribution systems that put the retailer, the Aam Dukandaar, at a disadvantage. Add to it the real threat to the Aam Dukandaar’s business because of the discount-scale model of online retailers, and we have a potent combination of status quo (of distribution) colliding with frustration and uncertainty experienced by the Aam Dukandaar,” Sani elaborated.

     

    Just Buy Live co-founder and managing director Bharat Balachandran added, “For me, Just Buy is not only the world’s first e-distributor. It is a movement, a revolution that will give back the Aam Dukandaar his confidence, financially and emotionally. The only difference between a retailer and us is that everyone only seems to care about us. Us as in you and me, the consumers.”

     

    FWC director Theron Carmine said, “In the process of getting a product from the manufacturer to the customer, the most important point is where the customer actually interacts with the product. That point is the retail store and surprisingly, it is the most neglected link in the chain. The average shopkeeper doesn’t understand the online retail model, valuations, funding etc. and is perplexed by the fact that online businesses are making losses and yet have big bucks to spend on advertising campaigns. He is unable to understand this loss-making business model and wonders why it is the darling of the media and those in power.”

     

    Network Media executive VP Nilesh Patil said, “The challenge was to target a segment that had no available media consumption data; we had to go beyond traditional thinking and market information. That’s where learning’s from past market visits came handy. We planned the media with a combination of data, gut feel and experience. The results are validating the approach, with a substantial number of downloads from the moment the reveal happened on TV.”

     

    “When the only thing you know to earn a living is under threat, you feel trapped. This feeling of entrapment triggers a bunch of emotions. Some look outside for help and hope for a messiah, some explore the possibility of violent protests, while others see a conspiracy against them. On the other hand, when the family earnings suffer, the family suffers too. These very emotions have been captured in the TV commercials in both the teaser and reveal phases,” added FWC creative head Deven Sansare.

     

    “The important emotional aspect that the TV campaign explores is the feeling among retailers that they are pitted against forces much larger than them. It is the classic David versus Goliath scenario that is playing out in the retailers’ minds and on the business front. Just Buy is the Aam Dukandaar’s voice, his awaaz. All we have done is given it a loudspeaker,” voiced Sani.

  • Just Buy launches marketing campaign targeting shopkeepers

    Just Buy launches marketing campaign targeting shopkeepers

    MUMBAI: With an aim to empower retailers, e-distributor Just Buy Live has launched a marketing campaign – Just Buy, Ek App, Ek Awaaz, which highlights the brand’s emotional connect with retailers and the challenges they face.

     

    The campaign began with teaser ads comprising four thematic TVCs centre staging challenges faced by small retailers. The week-long teaser campaign culminated with the reveal of Just Buy Live. The TVCs were launched simultaneously on YouTube.

     

    Just Buy Live’s ATL campaign was conceptualised and executed by Ferry Wharf Communications (FWC).

     

    Just Buy Live chairman and CEO Sahil Sani said, “As the world’s first e-distributor we had to resist the temptation of simply announcing: ‘here’s a revolutionary product’. Instead we took a step back and looked at why we came up with Just Buy.”

     

    “Just Buy was born out exasperation with traditional distribution systems that put the retailer, the Aam Dukandaar, at a disadvantage. Add to it the real threat to the Aam Dukandaar’s business because of the discount-scale model of online retailers, and we have a potent combination of status quo (of distribution) colliding with frustration and uncertainty experienced by the Aam Dukandaar,” Sani elaborated.

     

    Just Buy Live co-founder and managing director Bharat Balachandran added, “For me, Just Buy is not only the world’s first e-distributor. It is a movement, a revolution that will give back the Aam Dukandaar his confidence, financially and emotionally. The only difference between a retailer and us is that everyone only seems to care about us. Us as in you and me, the consumers.”

     

    FWC director Theron Carmine said, “In the process of getting a product from the manufacturer to the customer, the most important point is where the customer actually interacts with the product. That point is the retail store and surprisingly, it is the most neglected link in the chain. The average shopkeeper doesn’t understand the online retail model, valuations, funding etc. and is perplexed by the fact that online businesses are making losses and yet have big bucks to spend on advertising campaigns. He is unable to understand this loss-making business model and wonders why it is the darling of the media and those in power.”

     

    Network Media executive VP Nilesh Patil said, “The challenge was to target a segment that had no available media consumption data; we had to go beyond traditional thinking and market information. That’s where learning’s from past market visits came handy. We planned the media with a combination of data, gut feel and experience. The results are validating the approach, with a substantial number of downloads from the moment the reveal happened on TV.”

     

    “When the only thing you know to earn a living is under threat, you feel trapped. This feeling of entrapment triggers a bunch of emotions. Some look outside for help and hope for a messiah, some explore the possibility of violent protests, while others see a conspiracy against them. On the other hand, when the family earnings suffer, the family suffers too. These very emotions have been captured in the TV commercials in both the teaser and reveal phases,” added FWC creative head Deven Sansare.

     

    “The important emotional aspect that the TV campaign explores is the feeling among retailers that they are pitted against forces much larger than them. It is the classic David versus Goliath scenario that is playing out in the retailers’ minds and on the business front. Just Buy is the Aam Dukandaar’s voice, his awaaz. All we have done is given it a loudspeaker,” voiced Sani.