Artificial Intelligence Powers Next-Gen Fashion at Myntra

Bangalore, October 1, 2015: Changing the way fashion trend forecasting will be managed, Myntra has introduced a revolutionary concept that leverages Artificial Intelligence and big data analytics to significantly shorten the fashion production life cycle. ‘Artie’, an indigenously developed smart bot, gathers consumer insights to create a range of on-trend, fast fashion apparel under the ‘Moda Rapido’ brand.

The AI platform was developed with the objective of leveraging technology to develop a better understanding of consumer interest/ likes and shorten fashion life cycles. The smart bot, created by a team of 25 Myntra technologists and fashion experts over the past eight months, gathers all fashion-related information in real time and uses it as a base to determine trends and forecast demand.

The complex yet seamless process shortens the design to production cycle from about 6 months in the traditional practice, to only 3 weeks. This significant reduction will benefit brands, by reducing inventory and enabling time-to-market collections as apparel brands need to spend little time designing products.This platform is therefore intended to disrupt the conventional method of forecasting fashion,based on expert opinion.

According to Gautam Kotamraju, SVP, New Initiatives, Myntra, “In all the pre-pilot studies we have conducted, this technology has mirrored what people want in terms of their style in real-time. What Artie does is, it allows us to offer trendy apparel synonymous with the current style that is prevalent on the fashion streets. We have put together a nimble supply chain which allows us to produce real time fashion and bring it to our customers in under 21 days. So, no longer does one have to look into a crystal ball for fashion which is at least six months away from the current fashion.”

Moda Rapido currently offers a collection of tees, jeans and sweatshirts for men and jeans for women. A new Fall/Winter collection has been launched and is available on the Myntra app.The product line will be extended to other categories in the coming months.

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SpiceJet launches the ‘Freedom to Fly’ Sale

Gurgaon, India, Aug, 20: SpiceJet, the country’s favourite low-cost carrier, today announced the launch of its ‘Freedom to Fly’ sale, putting more than 1,00,000 seats on offer with one way fares starting as low as Rs. 799/- (excluding taxes). An additional 10% percent discount will be available for those booking through SpiceJet’s mobile app on Apples iOS and Android.

The one-way fare for this sale ranges from Rs. 799/- to Rs. 2,699/- and covers popular destinations such as Delhi, Mumbai, Goa, Bengaluru, Srinagar, and many more.

The lowest fare of Rs. 799 is available on routes such as Delhi-Chandigarh, Mumbai-Goa, Bengaluru-Kochi, Madurai-Chennai, Jammu-Srinagar, Kolkata-Agartala and many more.

The three day sale starts from 20th August 2015 and will remain open till midnight, 22nd August 2015. The travel period covered in this sale is 25th August 2015 to 26th March 2016. The sale is valid only for direct flights within SpiceJet’s domestic network.

Shilpa Bhatia, Sr. VP and Head of Sales and Distribution, SpiceJet, said, “We are known as the airline that has made air travel more affordable for more Indians than ever before, revolutionizing the industry and driving record growth in passengers in the process. With this sale, we continue to promote the Freedom to Fly for more Indians in our long standing tradition."

Tickets for this sale can be booked on www.spicejet.com, SpiceJet’s official mobile apps of iOS and Android, on online travel portals, and through travel agents. The sale is not available at SpiceJet’s call centre or at SpiceJet Airport Ticket Offices.

Tickets under this offer are non-refundable (taxes and fees are refundable) though they are changeable with a change fee and fare difference.

There is limited inventory under the offer, and seats will be available on First-Come-First-Served basis. Sales fares are not applicable on group bookings. Fares vary from sector to sector depending on the travel distance and flight schedules and timings are subject to regulatory approvals and change(s).

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LatestOne.com crosses Milestone of 1 Lac orders in a month

Hyderabad Aug 4: LatestOne.com has successfully crossed the milestone of processing 100,000 orders in a single month within one year of operations. Having commenced sales in Aug 2014 with 3,000 orders in the first month of business, LatestOne.com processed over 1 lac orders in Jul 2015. This further strengthens the position of LatestOne.com as the market leader in online sales of tech & mobile accessories. LatestOne.com receives 25% of orders from Mumbai-Pune, 20% from Delhi-NCR, 15% from Bengaluru and 40% from rest of India.

In the month of Jul, LatestOne.com received more than 1.0 lac visitors daily of which 35% are repeat visitors. Of the one lac orders received in Jul, 20% were placed by repeat customers buying second time or more. Customer Satisfaction levels are high, with replacements & refunds remaining below 1%. By stocking more than 10,000 SKUs in their warehouses, the company offers the widest range of products in the tech, mobile & tablet accessories space, which include covers & cases, audio-video & HDMI cables, blue-tooth devices, power banks, Mini PCs and others. The motto of the company is to offer timely delivery and full product satisfaction to the customers by taking order only for those SKUs, which are already stocked at the company warehouses. As the name suggests, LatestOne.com continuously innovates and introduces latest gadgets & accessories on their site. In the month of July LatestOne.com introduced Bluetooth virtual laser keyboards & Bluetooth paper planes. In August they will be introducing a new range of health bands & smart watches.

Further as a mark of celebrating this 1 Lac mark, Mr. Ameen Khwaja – CEO &; MD said “The company is launching a Flat 80% off sale on mobile and tablet accessories from 5th of August till 7th of August 2015. This 80% discount sale would be basically our way of showing gratitude towards our customers, who helped us reach this 1 Lac mark in such a short time. I also hope that many new customers take advantage of this big discount sale. It will be the largest of its kind in the country with 10,000 SKUs and more than 3.0 lac pieces offered on sale from a single store online.”

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B2X announces Rapid Expansion in India

B2X, the leading technology provider of customer care services for smartphones, today announced a massive rollout of smartphone customer service centers called SMARTBARs in India. B2X India currently operates more than 80 stores in 50+ cities and will continue to expand through 2015. Now the biggest and fastest growing supplier of customer service for smartphones in India, B2X was able to grow quickly through the successful acquisition and rebranding of The Service Solutions (TSS) service center locations for Apple as well as adoption of the company’s proprietary Aftersales Management Software (AMS).

India is currently the third largest market for smartphones in the world and by 2016 it is estimated that it will surpass the United States to become the second largest. Additionally, India’s smartphone growth rate is the fastest in the world at 27% according to IDC. By end of 2015, analysts predict there will be 212 million smartphone users in India.

“India represents a huge market for us, and it’s one that is quickly growing, particularly in the smartphone space. Therefore, we’ve been very pleased to see the pace with which B2X India has integrated into the broader B2X Smart Service Platform,” commented Thomas Berlemann, B2X Chief Executive Officer. “In addition, we’re seeing big technology innovation from the Aftersales Management Software (AMS) developed by TSS that will also be rolled out globally, now that TSS has become B2X India.”

The B2X India SMARTBAR service center network now has a presence in 50+ cities across 14 states in India supporting key brands including Apple, Motorola, Samsung and YOTAPHONE, among others in the region; all powered by its AMS technology. "Our goal is to be the go to brand for both consumers and OEMs when it comes to providing customer support for smartphones. Excellent customer experience is at the forefront of all our service locations unlike the traditional service ecosystem," said Sreevathsa Prabhakar, MD of B2X India.


In addition to rebranding existing service centers to B2X branded SMARTBARs, B2X has integrated its AMS technology platform to monitor and optimize the entire aftersales process of devices. It is a brand and product neutral system across all types of service networks that is highly scalable and offers a secure architecture with data segregation. B2X will integrate the AMS platform into its broader Smart Service Platform but also plans to license it to the entire OEM, retailer and service provider ecosystem.

The platform provides OEMs, retailers and service providers with a range of benefits, including an improved customer experience, full transparency for operations management and warranty cost reduction through process control and penalty management. Consumers receive fast and high quality service as well as fully transparent device tracking and status notifications. The Service Partner Network benefits from automated process and working capital control as well as an embedded knowledge base.

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Indian Real Estate Steps into Year 2015 with Positive Outlook

Indian Real Estate Steps into Year 2015 with Positive Outlook

Mr. Raja Mukherjee, Head - Sales & Marketing, Concorde Group
Bangalore, Karnataka, India

Year 2015 is just round the corner and everyone wants to know what lies in the New Year for them. Real estate world is one such sector which with positive outlook has a potential to fulfil many dreams. Market pundits have already started begun to forecast 2015 as the best year in the current decade when it comes to real estate absorption. According to PWC’s latest report, India will see increased economic growth, and the removal of barriers to FDI will ‘spur demand for construction’ over the coming 12 - 18 months.

Clauses in our policy like lock-in requirement and exit route along with the repressive minimum threshold for built-up area were some of the major factors in reduced inflow of FDI in Indian construction sector. However, following the election of a new government, India’s construction sector is forecast to grow at 7-8 % per year for the next ten years. Government has reduced minimum built-up area as well as capital requirement and have eased the exit norms.

The increased inflow of FDI due to easing of rules in Indian construction sector will surely provide a boost to the real estate sector. It is a positive announcement and will certainly encourage more investors to consider investing in India. It will also help developers get liquidity (much needed) into the system. With such positive announcements, we will see more and more foreign players venturing into promising Indian real estate market. This will also reflect into making things easier for the middle class and real estate more affordable.

An estimated US$1 trillion is being spent on infrastructure over the five years to 2017 and there is increased investment in industrial projects by the government. However, it is the private housing sector that the PwC report highlights as a key growth area.

The Government of India has proposed to release the Real Estate (Development and Regulation) Bill which aims to protect consumer interest and introduce standardisation in business practices and transactions in the sector. The bill will also enable domestic and foreign investment flow into the sector.

'Under the Sardar Patel Urban Housing Mission, 30 million houses will be built by 2022, mostly for the economically weaker sections and low-income groups, through public-private-partnership, interest subsidy and increased flow of resources to housing sector', according to Mr M Venkaiah Naidu, Union Minister of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation.

Another report from PwC titled 'Emerging Trends in Real Estate Asia Pacific 2015' ranked three major metros among the 22 cities surveyed across the region. While Mumbai climbed to 11th position, Delhi's ranking improved to 14th and Bangalore to 17th, indicating a significant improvement in investor sentiment in the country.

Foreign Institutional investors (FII) across the globe are watching changed economic and political setting in India, and are now beginning to have a consideration about India - a stark difference from the situation just a couple of years ago. Limited Partners also note that if the golden era of the real estate in India were to start now, it would last longer.

However, there are few hurdles before real estate industry hits the top gear. Policy reforms will play a key role and have to be implemented in the next 12-18 months to sustain the interest going forward. With the not-so happy return experiences from the past in the region, Limited Partners are quick to add that cautious optimism on the macro front might not necessarily translate into dramatic turnaround for the Indian real estate sector yet.

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How to Retain Customers?

How to Retain Customers? 

In business, customer is considered as God, who never wait for anyone. While doing business, one should take correct approach to deal with customers. Maintaining customers is a great art, and by adopting it into business one and lead upto the top.

Customers are the final reviewer of products, when judge after using it. Always remember, customers look for quality in the product - so that they would use it for a long term. And when they are most happy about the product, they start refereeing it to others.

Approval of customers about the quality is the best certificate about the product, there is not alternative to it. Successful brands of late, are having millions of satisfied customers across the world. And once the product is worth winning hearts of customers, it would become a brand that is associated with a tag as 'customers approved'.

Feedback about the products from customers should be taken carefully by the companies and need to focus on all the aspects that customers liked and disliked. Many companies have been spending huge amount of money on market research inorder to find out the actual customers view point about their product, which would give them a good return in future.

Marketing a product is not a easy task, if the quality of products is good enough, then customers would make it a world class product. The success of marketing is too depending on the choice of the customers.

In the case of close competition with rival company or similar product in the market, customers do support the product having good quality. When we talk about good quality, in customers point of view, they would consider good quality in product with best deal or price for the same.

Success of product is solely depending on the customers and their choice. While it must be also considered that best competition price is the key to attract customers. Marketing is the way to sale the products, while branding is to establish a signature style for the same product.

Branding would give a style and uniqueness about the product - that customers do remember for ever. Customers have been always look for the best deals to get their favourite product, and companies those understand & implement this concept - would at the top gaining and retaining customers all the time.

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E-commerce blues: Online Sales Vs Retail Sales

E-commerce blues: Online Sales Vs Retail Sales

The mega sale advertisement in India has triggered question - whether the online sales would enough to impact high on retail sales.

E-commerce has been taking a giant share in business arena, where customer have been preferring to buy online.

Considering the traditional business model in India, this development could hit the retail market and small business units.

The technology advancement has made the shopping more easy and hassles free, and thanks to the E-commerce trade in India.

Now just browse the sites - online portals, chose your product and pay through any means , and some of those also allowing cash on delivery.

Now lets check, what it would be like if we go for shopping in traditional way - you will start you journey from home to market, reach the shop - chose the products, then you will pay and back to home.

Purchasing online could be more easy considering the purchasing at retail outlets or shops. Internet would help you know many more options to get best deals for the products your are looking for.

The impact of the e-commerce would be high on retail sales, as the number of internet users have been increasing rapidly in India.

The more number of internet users - more customers for the online shopping portals or e-commerce customers.

Just there is shift customers to e-commerce customers.

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Maruti Suzuki shares soar Four Years High

The shares of Maruti Suzuki India Ltd at BSE touched four years high on Monday following rising sales in December 2012. At 11 am on Monday, early trade, the shares were being valued at 1,592.65 (+48.65).

The shares rose by around 3.15 per cent on the first day of the week the highest since December 15, 2009. And depreciation of Japanese Yen was also another cause for the rise in the shares of Maruti on BSE.

The BSE Sensex was up on Monday morning at 19,799.85 points with 15.77 points up or 0.08 per cent increase. And Nifty, in the early trade, zoomed around 0.04 per cent at 6,018.60 with 2.45 points up.

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Maruti Suzuki sales up by 7 percent in 2012

Maruti Suzuki India has witnessed an increase in sales by 7 percent in 2012-13 as compared to 2011-2012. As per the data published on Maruti Suzuki website, at the end of 2011, Maruti Suzuki sold 773361 units of vehicles, including both domestic and international sales. The 2012 sales figure for the same is 827725, which is 7% more than 2011.

If you compare the December month sales only, you’ll find that the sales also increased by 3.2% as compared to 2011. The passengers cars sales also increased by 3.9% as compared to 2011 till, even there is a 0.9% dip in December month sales.

While domestic sales are increasing, the export sales have dipped by 3% and that to 11% in December only. Domestic sales have risen up by 8.4% in December and by 5.9% compared to annual sales of 2011.

Alto, A-Star, WagonR, Seift, Estilo and Ritz are the most selling vehicles of Maruti Suzuki, while SX4 and Kizashi are witnessing a huge dip in both annual and monthly sales. Utility vehicles have seen a huge increase in sales in 2012 with selling more than 60,000 units which was 4,500 in 2011.

For the detailed report follow the Maruti Suzuki sales report.

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Advertising is all Glitter and Little Truth

Companies invest lot of money in the advertising, they want their products to reach the people and want them to be remembered by the people.

The main idea behind advertising is to convey the features of the product, and its uses. We cannot deny the fact that, there are people and there are companies who use advertising as a medium to cheat people and to sell their products. But how long people will believe the advertisement.

Until people choose the particular product. Advertising helps to make the people purchase the product for the first time, but not every time.

The second time people think of buying a product, it will only be the quality of the product that will make them come back to you. So, all companies are not alike and not all people are alike.

So, keeping in mind those few people who cheat and use advertising as a medium, to convey wrong information to the people about a product.

It is not right to say that all people are so, and all advertisements convey false messages, you may find one or two that are so, but to say that every advertisement is so, will be wrong.

When companies or people go for advertising a particular product. Their reputation and companies reputation is at stake.

If after spending so much of money for advertising, no one would want, their company to earn bad name.

Definitely not a company that is looking for a long term business. So, some times may be you can find those kinds of advertisements that are aimed at generating temporary benefits, but this is not definitely the route, that will be chosen by people or companies.

That plan to do a long term business and want to have good reputation in the market, advertising will help to reach the customers..

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