16 Habits

1. Stop purchasing items that you can do without
2. Don’t purchase without a discount coupon
3.  Say no to impulse buying If you see something you want, put it aside and think about it for at least a couple of days. Chances are, the impulse should pass
4. Wait for prices to fall to a discounted rate before buying (applies especially to electronics items)
5. Don’t buy an item just because it is on sale unless you need it
6. If you do eat out, buy gift certificates for half price meals same thing applies on movies use your master card, visa card to buy 1 ticket and get 1 free
7. Get at least 5-6 quotes when shopping
8. Save money when buying clothes for the following year at the end of the season / during the off season. You can get great mark down prices
9. Don’t buy any Computer software unless you need it check indiafreestuff.in periodically and you can get many genuine licensed softwares for free
10. Pay your bills online this will save your time and fuel
11. Read your local newspapers online
12. When you receive a gift that you are sure you won’t use, re-gift or sell on ebay.in
13. Save money when shopping next time at the supermarket like Reliance mart and Bigbazaar by remembering to check the lower items nearer to floor level as they are often much cheaper than those at eye level
14.  For your friends and family who do not feel slighted by this, send e-mail cards for holidays, birthdays and as thank you cards. In addition, e-mail family and friends who live far away, instead of calling long distance, you can also use free zoomin postcards
15. Send sms from online sites which offer free sms and save money
16. Make sure you never use a credit card unless you plan to pay off the entire balance each month. If you owe money on any card, cut it up and throw it away

R. Mukundan, managing director, Tata Chemicals

 

The Tata group company is launching its spices under a newly created umbrella brand— Tata Sampann. All its existing products, such as I-Shakti besan (gram flour) and pulses, will now come under the Tata Sampann brand, except the iconic Tata Salt.
“All our future products in the consumer products and food segment will be launched under Tata Sampann, which will be addressing the need gaps in the Indian consumer market over a period. One of the key categories is the ready-to-assemble food segment,” said R. Mukundan, managing director, Tata Chemicals.
Tata Chemicals plans to focus on quality assurance and play in the “above mass-market space with better value propositions”, said Mukundan.
Besides 100-gram packs, Tata Sampann is launching single-use sachets of spices (five small sachets of 20gm each in a 100gm packet) that the company thinks will offer better value. Initially, it is launching chilli, turmeric and coriander powders and a few mixed spices.
“Tata Sampann will focus on offering everyday nourishing foods that form a part of the Indian thali, as they enable delivery of health and wellness to a wide cross-section of consumers,” Richa Arora, chief operating officer (consumer products business), Tata Chemicals, said.
Tata Chemicals has been selling pulses since 2010 under the I-Shakti brand that is available at over 70,000 retail outlets.
The same network will be used for spices and products that the company will launch in the future.
Pulses, according to industry estimates, account for over Rs.100 crore of the company’s business.
Tata Chemicals has a strong presence in fertilizers, chemicals, crop-protection chemicals, speciality fertilizers and branded food products and food additives. Its consolidated revenue for fiscal year ended 31 March was Rs.17,202 crore, according to filings with the BSE.
The overall food market in India, according to Mukundan, is estimated at about Rs. 6 trillion crore. The packaged food market was estimated at $20 billion (Rs.1.29 trillion) in 2014, according to a study by retail consulting firm Technopak Advisors.
“This is a huge opportunity for us,” added Mukundan.
The spices market in India is estimated at Rs.40,000 crore. Of this, just about 15% is branded, dominated by brands such as Catch, Everest, MDH and Ramdev, among others, according to a study by Technopak Advisors.
Tata Chemicals engages with 150,000 farmers across four states for sourcing pulses, in an initiative led by Rallis India Ltd, a Tata enterprise. “We monitor the entire supply chain—from farm to consumers in order to ensure quality,” said Mukundan.
Tata Chemicals is expanding its retail footprint to about 2.5 million outlets, from the current 1.43 million.
However, other fast moving consumer goods(FMCG) and packaged foods companies have wider retail presence.
ITC Ltd products are available at 4.3 million retail outlets, Hindustan Unilever Ltd reaches about 6.3 million outlets and Swiss packaged food company Nestle India Ltd’s total reach is 4.5 million stores.

    
Leading Indian e-retailer Flipkart's co-founders Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal are the latest billionaires in the country, with $1.3 billion (Rs.8,582 crore) net worth each, according to leading business magazine Forbes India' rich list released on Wednesday.

"Indian e-commerce has added its first billionaires with Flipkart's founders (Bansals) making debut on our rich list at number 86, with $1.3 billion net worth each," the magazine said in a statement in Mumbai.

Though Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) chairman Mukesh Ambani tops the rich list for the ninth consecutive year, his net worth, however, declined $4.7 billion to $18.9 billion (Rs.127,700 crore) from 2014 owing to lower oil prices that hit his oil and petrochemicals giant.

Sun Pharmaceutical's Dilip Shanghvi also retained the second spot, with $18 billion net worth, acquisition of drug major Ranbaxy Industries for $4 billion by his company notwithstanding.

Wipro chairman Azim Premji also retained the third spot in the list, with a net worth of $15.9 billion though $500 million less than in 2014.

"The generous billionaire has pledged 18 percent of his stake in Wipro to his charitable trust, in addition to a 21 percent stake already given," the statement noted.

"The combined wealth of India's 100 richest remains largely unchanged at $345 billion, as compared to $346 billion in 2014," it added.

Similarly, wealth of 10 tycoons slumped by $1 billion over the year owing to global and domestic factors, including a volatile stock market and currency fluctuations.

Fortune of steel magnate L.N. Mittal (65) declined by $4.6 billion to $11.2 billion and his ranking in the rich list slipped to eight from five year ago, as his and world's largest steel major ArcelorMittal was hit by imports from China.

"India is facing a reality check in 2015 after the euphoria in 2014. Though it has impacted several big fortunes in the top 100, the country's entrepreneurial spirit remains buoyant, as evident from a dozen new faces on the list," said Forbes Asia's India editor Naazneen Karmali.

Other top 10 billionaires are Hinduja brothers ranked fourth with $14.8 billion net worth; Pallonji Mistry (86), fifth, $14.7 billion; Shiv Nadar (70), sixth, $12.9 billion; Godrej family, seventh, $11.4 billion; Cyrus Poonawalla (74), ninth, $7.9 billion and Kumar Mangalam Birla (48) tenth, $7.8 billion.

Gujarat-based Adani group's founder chairman Gautam Adani (53) is ranked 11th with net worth of $7 billion and Kotak Mahindra Bank vice-chairman and managing director Uday Kotak (56) is 12th with $6.5 billion net worth.

Only two women figure in the top 100 billionaires' list - Leena (Gandhi) Tewari (58 years), chairman of drug major USV Ltd, is ranked 54 with $1.9 billion net worth, while Indu Jain (79 years), chairperson of the country's largest media group Bennett, Coleman & Co Ltd, is ranked 57 with $1.85 billion net worth.

Five co-founders of global software major Infosys Ltd figure in the rich list- N.R. Narayana Murthy (69) ranked 53, $1.92 billion; S. Gopalakrishnan (60), 67, $1.67 billion; Nandan Nilekani (60), 69, $1.61 billion and K. Dinesh (61) 96, $1.19 billion.

Mahindra group chairman Anand Mahindra (60) is ranked at 99 with a net worth of $1.12 billion.

The rich list also has 12 new comers, including IndiGo budget carrier co-founder Rakesh Gangwal at 70 with $1.6 billion net worth, while his friend and co-founder Rahul Bhatia moved up 12 positions from last year to 38 with $2.4 billion net worth.

The biggest gainer is Poonawalla, the vaccine magnate, whose fortune increased to $7.9 billion from $6.2 billion in 2014 and entered the top 10 list at nine. He recently bought heritage property Lincoln House in Mumbai for $110 million.

"This year's list reflects the churn in the global economy and the growing clout of emerging sectors like ecommerce in India," Forbes India editor Sourav Majumdar added.

Volatility remains the order of the day on Dalal Street, with the S&P BSE Sensex recouping some losses after falling as much as 302 points; and in early trade the index was up about 250 points.

ET Now spoke to various experts, and here's what they have to recommend for today's trade:

Ashwani Gujral of ashwanigujral.com

M&M Ltd is a 'BUY' call with a target of Rs 1265 and a stop loss of Rs 1200

Asian Paints Ltd is a 'BUY' call with a target of Rs 815 and a stop loss of Rs 760

Colgate Palmolive Ltd is a 'BUY' call with a target of Rs 2120 and a stop loss of Rs 2040

Cipla Ltd is a 'BUY' call with a target of Rs 715 and a stop loss of Rs 688

Mitesh Thacker of miteshthacker.com

Coal India Ltd is a 'SELL' call with a target of Rs 350 and a stop loss of Rs 370

Reliance Industries Ltd is a 'BUY' call with a target of Rs 495 and a stop loss of Rs 416

State Bank of India is a 'BUY' call with a target of Rs 290 and a stop loss of Rs 273

Adani Enterprises Ltd is a 'BUY' call with a target of Rs 760 and a stop loss of Rs 709

Sandeep Wagle, Founder & CEO, Power My Wealth

UPL Ltd is a 'BUY' call with a target of Rs 543 and a stop loss of Rs 513

Cipla Ltd is a 'BUY' call with a target of Rs 720 and a stop loss of Rs 678

Union Bank of India is a 'BUY' call with a target of Rs 171 and a stop loss of Rs 154

Prakash Gaba, CFT, prakashgaba.com

MCX td is a 'BUY' call with a target of Rs 1102 and a stop loss of Rs 1037

Syndicate Bank is a 'BUY' call with a target of Rs 110 and a stop loss of Rs 104

M&M Ltd is a 'BUY' call with a target of Rs 1248 and a stop loss of Rs 1200

Kunal Bothra, Head Advisory, LKP

DB Realty Ltd is a 'BUY' call with a target of Rs 70 and a stop loss of Rs 65

JSW Energy Ltd is a 'BUY' call with a target of Rs 114 and a stop loss of Rs 105

Dish TV Ltd is a 'BUY' call with a target of Rs 82 and a stop loss of Rs 75

Gaurav Ratnaparkhi, Technical Analyst, Sharekhan

Allahabad Bank is a 'BUY' call with a target of Rs 109 and a stop loss of Rs 99.50

Asian Paints Ltd is a 'BUY' call with a target of Rs 820 and a stop loss of Rs 760

JSW Energy Ltd is a 'BUY' call with a target of Rs 118 and a stop loss of Rs 105

(Views and recommendations expressed in this section are the analysts' own and do not represent those of EconomicTimes.com. Please consult your financial advisor)

Flipkart believes online retailing will reflect the offline trend of smaller apparel brands making up the lion's share of future sales.

The Bengaluru-based e-tailer has launched an exclusive Handloom Store for saris and related products and is working with small entrepreneurs and weavers to bring them on board.

"If you look at offline retailing of fashion products and apparel, branded goods are a small fraction of the market. A lot of sales comes from small entrepreneurs, manufacturers, and weavers," said Ankit Nagori, senior vice-president, marketplace, at Flipkart.

"With our fashion business scaling up so fast, it is important that we start replicating the offline mix," he told Business Standard.

India has close to 20 million small and medium entrepreneurs manufacturing products that can be sold through e-commerce. According to Nagori, only about 30,000 small sellers retail online.

Brushing aside concerns of quality of unbranded products, Nagori said Flipkart ran two levels of checks, proactive and reactive, to ensure consumers received what they ordered. Flipkart audits each seller before bringing it on board by checking capabilities and quality of offerings. It is building a system to predict seller behaviour. Higher than acceptable faults will result in action to protect consumer interests.

"There is no reason why unbranded products cannot sell online. Product reviews and ratings make buying decisions easier. Specific sellers will become brands on their own because they sell great quality for less," Nagori said.


In September 2014, Flipkart launched its exclusive Handloom Store, where it brought on board weavers from Varanasi. The company began with 20 sellers and is looking to expand to 100 soon.

Nagori said handicraft and hand-woven products would be cheaper online than at emporiums because of the exclusion of middle-men. He expects the descriptions and detailing of products on Flipkart's website to encourage consumers to buy them. Return policies will also reassure customers.

Flipkart is running several training programmes across the country to bring more small entrepreneurs on board. It is also partnering industry and government bodies to reach more sellers.

BEING INCLUSIVE

    A lot of sales comes from small entrepreneurs, manufacturers, and weavers, according to Ankit Nagori, senior vice-president, marketplace, Flipkart
    Flipkart aims at replicating this trend in online retail
    In September 2014, it launched its exclusive Handloom Store, where it brought on board weavers from Varanasi
    It is running several training programmes across the country to bring more small entrepreneurs on board
    To address concerns of quality of unbranded products, Nagori said the company ran two levels of checks to ensure consumers received what they ordered

 "Where is Flipkart's complete business model? Forget about valuation. I want to know Flipkart’s business model. I want to know how you will be profitable?" thundered Rakesh Jhunjhunwala in an interview to CNBC-TV18 with fellow investors Ramesh Damani and N Jayakumar.

The discussion was on irrational valuations of e-commerce companies. When Jayakumar asked if these valuations is similar to the 2000 dot com party, Jhunjhunwala smirked and replied ‘You have any doubt’.

So why are smart investors shying away from investing in e-commerce companies like Flipkart, while private equity players are willing to bet on them?

In the CNBC interview, Jhunjhunwala raised questions on the completed business model. A business model is complete only when the company posts cash profit and becomes self-sustaining. Flipkart and other e-commerce companies are surviving on private equity money. None of them are profitable and nowhere close to being profitable in the near future. Jhunjhunwala is right in questioning the astronomical valuations commanded by these companies.

Flipkart raised nearly $2 billion in 2014 with the final tranche of $700 million being raised at a valuation of $11-12 billion. Flipkart’s valuation had zoomed in 2014 among the private equity players. The company raised $210 million in May 2014 at a valuation of nearly $3.5 billion, its second funding of $1 billion in July 2014 was done at a valuation of $7billion and the last one in December 2014 was around $11-12 billion. Valuations have jumped 3-4 times in a span of one year.

During this entire period, the company has shown no signs of becoming profitable. However, to its credit the company has grown rapidly in terms of gross merchandise value (GMV). Between 2013 and 2014, Flipkart has grown five times in volume terms and currently does a GMV of $4 billion. The company intends to double this to $8 billion (Rs 50,000 crore) by December 2015.

But does it make money. The answer is a clear no. As per data from the Registrar of Companies accessed by Mint,  Flipkart India entities did business of Rs 3,035.8 crore and reported a loss of Rs 719.5 crore for the year ended March 2014. In FY13, these entities had posted a revenue of Rs 1,195.9 crore and loss of Rs 344.6 crore.

But for Flipkart, making losses was a conscious decision. In an interview to Business Standard (Read here), the company’s promoters said “Profitability is not a focus area. It’s a strategic decision. We can be profitable from today if we want. We can stop investing in one area and start making profits; it’s definitely possible. But we don’t want to remain as a small profitable company.”

This seems to be easier said than done. The company is now looking at tapping the equity markets for raising money and needs to tighten its belt and turn profitable. For this, the company has recently recruited Sanjay Baweja as its CFO. The former Tata Communications CFO has already got into the cost cutting mode to streamline its operations. In an interview he said that the company is moving in a cost containment mode where their fixed costs will become smaller. The aim being to make most of the cost variable.

A back of the envelope calculation based on the numbers with the Registrar of Companies and the GMV data shows that Flipkart earns around 10-12 per cent of the GMV as revenue. But it’s cost of handling these goods are around 15 per cent. Since volumes are only ensured by huge discounts and high advertisement cost, cutting costs will not be easy.

The company will need serious cost cutting just to turn profitable. As Rakesh Jhunjhunwala said in the interview, the real companies who have given returns to investors had been built by the cash flows generated by the business and not by spending investor’s money. Flipkart has a long way to go.

Unfortunately, none of the  e-commerce companies have managed to handle growth and profitability at the same time. The cash burn model of Flipkart is good to raise valuation in the opaque private equity market but in the real world (read equity markets), the company will have to show real profits and give returns to investors to raise more funds.

Since Flipkart’s model is a money guzzler, the real test of the company and the model will be post listing of the IPO. Had Flipkart been listed a few years back, they would not have been able to raise money as frequently as they did last year. Perhaps, we are nearing the doomsday when either the bubble will burst or we will have some rationality and fewer discounts in the e-commerce space. "Where is Flipkart's complete business model? Forget about valuation. I want to know Flipkart’s business model. I want to know how you will be profitable?" thundered Rakesh Jhunjhunwala in an interview to CNBC-TV18 with fellow investors Ramesh Damani and N Jayakumar.

The discussion was on irrational valuations of e-commerce companies. When Jayakumar asked if these valuations is similar to the 2000 dot com party, Jhunjhunwala smirked and replied ‘You have any doubt’.

So why are smart investors shying away from investing in e-commerce companies like Flipkart, while private equity players are willing to bet on them?

In the CNBC interview, Jhunjhunwala raised questions on the completed business model. A business model is complete only when the company posts cash profit and becomes self-sustaining. Flipkart and other e-commerce companies are surviving on private equity money. None of them are profitable and nowhere close to being profitable in the near future. Jhunjhunwala is right in questioning the astronomical valuations commanded by these companies.

Flipkart raised nearly $2 billion in 2014 with the final tranche of $700 million being raised at a valuation of $11-12 billion. Flipkart’s valuation had zoomed in 2014 among the private equity players. The company raised $210 million in May 2014 at a valuation of nearly $3.5 billion, its second funding of $1 billion in July 2014 was done at a valuation of $7billion and the last one in December 2014 was around $11-12 billion. Valuations have jumped 3-4 times in a span of one year.

During this entire period, the company has shown no signs of becoming profitable. However, to its credit the company has grown rapidly in terms of gross merchandise value (GMV). Between 2013 and 2014, Flipkart has grown five times in volume terms and currently does a GMV of $4 billion. The company intends to double this to $8 billion (Rs 50,000 crore) by December 2015.

But does it make money. The answer is a clear no. As per data from the Registrar of Companies accessed by Mint,  Flipkart India entities did business of Rs 3,035.8 crore and reported a loss of Rs 719.5 crore for the year ended March 2014. In FY13, these entities had posted a revenue of Rs 1,195.9 crore and loss of Rs 344.6 crore.

But for Flipkart, making losses was a conscious decision. In an interview to Business Standard (Read here), the company’s promoters said “Profitability is not a focus area. It’s a strategic decision. We can be profitable from today if we want. We can stop investing in one area and start making profits; it’s definitely possible. But we don’t want to remain as a small profitable company.”

This seems to be easier said than done. The company is now looking at tapping the equity markets for raising money and needs to tighten its belt and turn profitable. For this, the company has recently recruited Sanjay Baweja as its CFO. The former Tata Communications CFO has already got into the cost cutting mode to streamline its operations. In an interview he said that the company is moving in a cost containment mode where their fixed costs will become smaller. The aim being to make most of the cost variable.

A back of the envelope calculation based on the numbers with the Registrar of Companies and the GMV data shows that Flipkart earns around 10-12 per cent of the GMV as revenue. But it’s cost of handling these goods are around 15 per cent. Since volumes are only ensured by huge discounts and high advertisement cost, cutting costs will not be easy.

The company will need serious cost cutting just to turn profitable. As Rakesh Jhunjhunwala said in the interview, the real companies who have given returns to investors had been built by the cash flows generated by the business and not by spending investor’s money. Flipkart has a long way to go.

Unfortunately, none of the  e-commerce companies have managed to handle growth and profitability at the same time. The cash burn model of Flipkart is good to raise valuation in the opaque private equity market but in the real world (read equity markets), the company will have to show real profits and give returns to investors to raise more funds.

Since Flipkart’s model is a money guzzler, the real test of the company and the model will be post listing of the IPO. Had Flipkart been listed a few years back, they would not have been able to raise money as frequently as they did last year. Perhaps, we are nearing the doomsday when either the bubble will burst or we will have some rationality and fewer discounts in the e-commerce space.

5. Demand in India exists across 4,000-5,000 towns and cities, but there is no significant presence of physical retail in almost 95% of these. High real estate cost is one of the main reasons why organised retail is unable to expand at speeds expected earlier. Real estate as a percentage of sales is 14 times higher than in the US. For large retailers in India, it is 7% of sales as compared to 0.5% for Walmart.