India’s forthcoming DIY-Marketing Platform ‘InstaaPR’ announces Knowledge Sessions to decode Opportunities in the New Era

Business Leaders collaborate to boost the Start-ups, MSMEs and Entrepreneurs community.

InstaaPR, India’s forthcoming, no-touch, DIY-cost-effective marketing platform is organising an informative webinar on “How to redefine your sales strategies for the new era”. The webinar is intended to support small and medium enterprises to cope with the pandemic struck economy and keep the business cycles going. 

COVID-19 has altered the way companies operate, employees work & interact with customers and the external world. Moreover, the sales and marketing functions have also come to a standstill. The webinar will focus on these two areas as enterprises were impelled to explore effective ways of continuing their operations.

Taking the lead on this webinar, Sanjay Kher, President & Chief Business Officer, Oceanic Consulting will augment the sales and marketing processes to boost sales in these trying times. 

Moderating the session will be Rachana Chowdhary, CEO, InstaaPR, who will help deep dive the discussions through and help demystify information for immediate business use. “InstaaPR Webinars aims to deliberate upon the very basics of business and life, ground realities. We aim to make our participants feel enlightened and empowered after every session. We have observed that information overload and complex business processes as a way of the busy corporate infrastructure, is often restricting people’s thinking skills and creativity. We aim to deliberate upon the very basics with our participants, to thrive in the new normal.”

Sanjay Kher, President & Chief Business Officer, Oceanic Consulting says, “Times are tough, and businesses are struggling with finding the new normal in sales and marketing departments. With companies losing business, it's the right time to adopt an aggressive sales and marketing strategy and rebuild confidence in business.”

“In this webinar, we will not only discuss expert strategies to boost sales but also decode, some of them immediately available opportunities for the MSMEs, Start-ups, SMEs to benefit.”

Finding alternative sales strategies is of paramount importance in these trying times. Enterprises should think lateral and reinvest their resources in curating new sales and marketing tactics. This also is a great time to engage with existing clients and be truly invested in their success.

The webinar session is scheduled for May 21st, 2020 Thursday from 12 PM to 1 PM. 

Click here to Register now

To learn more about the partnerships, alliances with InstaaPR – DIY Marketing Platform, please write to support@instaapr.live

About Oceanic Consulting Group

Oceanic Consulting Group is a boutique consulting firm offering offer sales, marketing & growth advisory to SMEs & startup’s.  It offers advisory from a Single-Attribute Improvement to a 360-Degree Analysis of firm’s Sales & Business Performance". www.oceanic-group.net

About InstaaPR

InstaaPR is a premium automated digital & social news publishing platform, where we revolutionize the way PR functions. We provide you with an effective and efficient online reach to increase your online presence. www.instaapr.live

Guardian GNC Reports Growth in Interest in Immune Health Supplements During Pandemic

As India enters lockdown 4.0, initial confusion, uncertainty in general about life and concern for the basic daily 'essentials' is settling. Search engine results indicate people are now proactively looking at different ways to learn about and improve immune health for themselves, as well as their families. Given the current lifestyle shift that has become an integral part of most 'Urban' Indians lives, an increasing number of Indians are turning to health supplements to boost their immune health, along with age-old proven home remedies and Ayush ministry's guidelines.

One such company that is corroborating this trend is Guardian Healthcare. They were among the first to introduce a wide range of health supplements to India in partnership with GNC - a global health and wellness brand that helps people live well. Guardian GNC India reported that in March & April, the number of Indians that are searching for GNC's immune health supplements, multivitamins on its website has grown by three times compared to the same time last year. There has been a growth in demand for whey protein supplements too.

"These are unprecedented times for all of us and our key focus has been to support our communities and our global GNC family. Even during these trying times, we have been working with the authorities to ensure continuity of deliveries of our essential supplements through Guardian's website as well as Guardian retail stores," said Shadab Khan, CEO of Guardian GNC.

"Immune health has always been the core part of our body's normal functioning, but prior to the COVID-19 outbreak, consumers weren't prioritizing these products in the same way that they are today," said Mayank Jha, E-commerce Business Head, Guardian GNC. "Furthermore, consumers' mindset in most developing markets usually begins with the desire to build strong muscles and lose weight. The COVID-19 outbreak became an eye opener for consumers to focus on their immune health first, leading to a sharp jump in the demand for supplements that support the immune system - and my team is working around the clock to provide the best consumer experience during this pandemic through various educational tools on our website and social media."

About Guardian GNC India:

GNC is a leading global specialty retailer of health and wellness products that takes pride to be the world's largest company of its kind devoted exclusively to help its customers improve the quality of their lives. Headquartered in Pittsburgh, US, and with over 9,000 locations in approximately 50 countries, In India, Guardian Healthcare Services Pvt Ltd. tied up with GNC as a sole franchisee with exclusive distribution and marketing rights. Founded by Ashutosh Taparia, who has over two decades of expertise in healthcare, Guardian has a vision of establishing a thought leadership position in the Indian Nutraceuticals market.

Retail News Bureau

NYKAA content reflects self care, wellness and grooming during lockdown

With the onset of the pandemic and the ongoing lockdown, to best serve customers and reflect the need of the hour, Nykaa, India’s leading beauty, and lifestyle retailer focused on wellness, fitness and DIY content, as well as conversations with leading influencers. The change in focus resulted in increased engagement across all Nykaa’s content platforms including social media, Nykaa Tv, emailers and the user-generated community platform, Nykaa Network.

Through its Instagram handles Nykaa focused on lives and takeovers engaging with experts across various fields. Focusing on self-care and wellness conversations, fitness expert Anshuka Parwani, nutritionist Suman Agarwal and dermatologist Dr. Apratim Goel spoke on fitness, nutrition, and skincare routines. With everyone adjusting their lifestyles under lockdown, industry influencers like fashion designer Masaba, model Diva Dhawan, fashion icon Pernia Quereshi, celebrity stylist Anaita Shroff Adajania took followers through their new lockdown routines. Celebrity hairstylist Amit Thakur spoke to the male customers about their hair concerns. We also had live interactions with actor Shibani Dandekar, celebrity makeup artist Namrata Soni, and celebrity stylist Esha Amin.

Nykaa’s YouTube channel Nykaa TV saw a 120% increase in watch time during this time compared to average through a focus on upskilling customers during the lockdown with makeup, skincare, and haircare classes. The channel also launched the ‘Beauty On Duty’ show to collate and answer community questions on YouTube stories. Nykaa Network, the user-generated community platform which focuses on community-led solutions for queries, saw users create awareness of the pandemic by answering questions to help people not just cope but also to uplift their spirits. The platform also launched weekly challenges and contests to keep our audiences engaged resulting in a 3X increase in the new monthly subscribers as compared to average.

Nykaa recently launched on Tiktok with the popular drop the brush challenge. On the mailers, the change in logo symbolized a simple communication on safety and care where Nykaa’s tagline - ‘Your Beauty. Our Passion’ was replaced by ‘Your Safety. Our Passion’. Nykaa Beauty Book has on-demand featured more content on at home DIYs like hair color, hair styling, hair trimming, makeup hacks, skincare routines, expert advice, detox & de-stress routines, etc.

According to Madhavi Irani, Chief Officer, Content, Nykaa “As a leading beauty and lifestyle influencer, it is our responsibility to curate our channels that have a cumulative community of  10.7 million+ followers, to offer sensitive, relevant and user-friendly content during the lockdown. We feel it is important now more than ever to engage with followers with relevant conversations especially interactions with experts across wellness, self-care, mental well-being and fitness”.


About Nykaa
Founded in 2012 by Indian entrepreneur Ms. Falguni Nayar, Nykaa was created with a vision of providing a carefully curated range of products for every beauty solution. Derived from the Sanskrit word ‘Nayaka’ meaning one in the spotlight, it rests on three ideals - curation, content, and convenience. Nykaa currently has a portfolio of 1500+ brands across makeup, skincare, haircare & wellness offering a one-stop, personalized product availability and solutions to consumers across India. All Nykaa products are sourced directly from the brands or authorized distributors to ensure 100% authenticity. The Nykaa website and app welcome over 60 million visits per month, of which 80% are loyal repeat customers. Nykaa has created an engaged community of beauty enthusiasts across India, emerging as a leading beauty influencer through conversations on social media, emails, videos, and beauty blogs. The use of cutting edge artificial intelligence and machine learning tools allows Nykaa to create a personalized beauty regime for each customer.

The retailer has also been operating on an omni-channel model and currently has 68 physical stores across the country in two formats - Nykaa Luxe and Nykaa On Trend. Nykaa also offers a specialized experience for male grooming with the Nykaa Man website and app. To foster the sharing of advice and recommendations Nykaa introduced Nykaa Network - an online community for beauty enthusiasts.  Additionally, the Nykaa Pro platform caters to all professional beauty needs with special access and offers. Nykaa’s in-house collection of beauty products - Nykaa Beauty, includes cosmetics across lips, eyes, face, and nails, skin, and body care with Skin Secrets Sheet Masks and Wanderlust Bath & Body collection, naturals, and fine fragrances.

To foray into fashion, Nykaa launched Nykaa Fashion in 2018 - a ‘high on style’ fashion curation e-commerce platform of 450+ Indian and international brands across the high street, designer labels and accessories.


Retail News Bureau

Landmark Group, The Jagtiani Foundation, and The LIFE Foundation Commit Support Towards COVID-19 Relief Efforts in Mumbai

- Commit over ₹30 Cr. to support communities impacted by COVID-19 across India and Middle East

- Partnering with the local government authorities and NGOs to serve the most vulnerable communities with food and medical supplies

- Supporting COVID-19 Relief efforts with ration & food kits for over 43,300 people and over 18,500 medical kits & supplies for hospitals, communities and frontline workers in Mumbai

To help meet the critical needs of those severely impacted by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Landmark Group - the parent company of retail brands Lifestyle, Max, Home Centre, Easy Buy & SPAR, along with The Jagtiani Foundation - the private philanthropy arm of the Jagtiani Family, and The LIFE Foundation - a registered trust founded in 2000 by Micky Jagtiani that supports the public education system, have formed a united front to help with the relief efforts in Mumbai and adjoining areas.

Led by the values instilled by the family and the Group's CSR mission which focuses on the health and wellbeing of local communities, a sum of over ₹30Crores has been committed towards supporting and empowering those affected by the pandemic in India and the Middle East. In India, the group has committed ongoing support towards COVID-19 relief efforts in Mumbai, Coimbatore/Tiruppur, Bangalore, Delhi, and Chennai.

Launching the first phase of its COVID-19 relief initiative in Mumbai, the group has joined forces with public health partners, non-profit and civic organisations to ensure urgent help for vulnerable communities, providing food rations for local low-income families and daily wage earners. Relief efforts are focused on providing important resources like medical equipment and supplies to frontline workers in collaboration with partner factories. The group, in Mumbai alone, is contributing food kits, medical kits & supplies for hospitals, communities and frontline workers. The LIFE Foundation, which typically works in over 2,000 anganwadis (childcare centers) and in over 160 schools, has also pivoted its programmes to provide aide to underserved populations and workers on the frontline.

Renuka Jagtiani, Chairwoman and CEO, Landmark Group, said, "The Middle East and India have been home to us for several decades, and therefore we have pooled our resources from the Group & the Jagtiani Foundation to work on ground and support those who have been impacted by the crisis. We have tried to reach people across our value chain and by prioritizing the health and safety of our employees and customers, as well as continuing to engage our partner factories in relief efforts and with communities in garment hubs across India. In addition, we are working closely with accredited NGOs, food banks, and healthcare workers on the frontlines to provide aid to help local communities where we operate in need directly in the GCC and India.

So many people across the globe have been impacted by this pandemic, and our thoughts are with everyone whose lives have been affected."

Vasanth Kumar, Managing Director - Lifestyle International Pvt. Ltd. added, "We are driven by the need to support the communities who are facing unprecedented hardships due to COVID-19. We aim to bolster the efforts of NGOs, health care workers, and the local government authorities with our combined network and resources. In Mumbai, with support of NGO partners, we are distributing food & dry ration kits for over 43,300 people and over 18,500 medical kits & supplies for hospitals, communities, and frontline workers. We will continue our community relief efforts for COVID-19 on an ongoing basis."

Mrs. Poonam Lalvani, Managing Trustee, The LIFE Foundation said, "Since 2001, we've been dedicated to empowering youth and marginalized communities through a holistic approach that includes education and health. During these challenging times, we remain committed to our most disadvantaged populations across Mumbai, as well as Thane, Alibag, Chennai, Meghalaya, and Bangalore. To date, we've distributed over 100,000kgs of food provisions to vulnerable people, including low-income families and migrant workers. We're also working to support public hospitals and frontline workers by providing medical supplies, including a recent donation to the paediatric ward ICU in Nair Hospital. We will continue to work tirelessly to serve the community, ensuring we're agile in responding to daily changing requirements and that we're truly reaching those in need on the ground."

An Overview of COVID-19 Relief Efforts by Landmark Group in India

In India, the Group's brands, alongside The Jagtiani Foundation and The LIFE Foundation have pledged to support and empower affected communities including migrant and garment workers, front-line personnel, low-income families, and other vulnerable individuals.

•  The Jagtiani Foundation is working directly with government hospitals to provide Personal Protective Equipment and masks to frontline healthcare workers, working with Max India to leverage the Group's partner factories in India to channel resources through its existing supply chain and working communities. The Foundation is also working with a network of reputed local non-profit organisations, such as Apnalaya, Jan Sahas, Oscar Foundation, SAVE, and READ, to provide access to food for underserved populations including low-income families, daily wage earners, and migrant workers. Since its inception, READ has been working on prevention, protection and rehabilitation for young workers from Textile industries and Garment Units located in & around Tiruppur, Erode, Coimbatore and nearby districts and SAVE, a reputed organisation with its roots in the Tiruppur area in Tamil Nadu, has been one of the pioneers in bringing out the issues of textile and garment workers to the world, and eradicating child labour in Tiruppur. In addition to funding these organisations, the Jagtiani Foundation, as well as The LIFE Foundation have also partnered with SPAR Hypermarkets to ensure good quality rations are made available in the quickest possible manner. The Foundation, in its first phase, is focusing resources in Mumbai, one of the hardest-hit cities in India, as well as in Coimbatore and Tiruppur, a major textile and knitwear hub contributing to 90% of total cotton knitwear exports from India.

•  The LIFE Foundation has dedicated its COVID-19 efforts to providing food rations and hot meals for labourers, villagers, street dwellers, elderly citizens, and children, as well as PPE Kits, sanitizers, masks for frontline workers in police stations, and public hospitals. The LIFE Foundation is also working to provide medical equipment, having recently donated to the pediatric ward ICU Nair Hospital, Mumbai.

•  Lifestyle International Private Limited (LIPL) will continue to work with its partner NGOs, pivoting existing programmes to address the immediate needs of those impacted by COVID-19, providing humanitarian relief, and strengthening public health systems. This includes working providing food packs to daily wage earners and migrant workers, as well as medical supplies to government healthcare facilities.

About Landmark Group

Founded in 1973 in Bahrain, the Landmark Group has successfully grown into one of the largest and most successful retail organisations in India and the Middle East. An international, diversified retail and hospitality conglomerate that encourages entrepreneurship to consistently deliver exceptional value, the Group operates over 2,100 outlets encompassing over 30 million square feet across the India, Middle East, North Africa and South East Asia. 

In 1999, Landmark Group entered India, to revolutionize retailing in the country with the introduction of Lifestyle Stores. Currently in its 21st year of retailing in India, Landmark Group has launched several innovative retail concepts in the country including Lifestyle, Home Centre, Max and hospitality concepts, Spar Supermarkets and Hypermarkets, Fun City, Citymax and Krispy Kreme. The Group brands ensure the delivery of a seamless shopping experience to customers through a keen focus on their e-commerce and omni-channel capabilities.

For more information, please visit www.landmarkgroup.com

Retail News Bureau

Diamond Markets Reflect Uncertain Outlook

Diamond trading was restricted in April due to the coronavirus pandemic and global lockdowns. The sentiment was weak, with dealers frustrated by the inability to resume business. The industry was focused on the Far East as China and Hong Kong started to open, while the outlook for the US remained uncertain.

The RapNet Diamond Index (RAPI™) for 1-carat diamonds was basically flat for the month due to the low volume of trade. The index was down 8.5% since the beginning of the year.
 

RapNet Diamond Index (RAPI™)
	April	Year to Date  Jan. 1, 2020, to May 1, 2020	Year on Year  May 1, 2019, to May 1, 2020
RAPI 0.30 ct.	-1.0%	-4.2%	-5.7%
RAPI 0.50 ct.	-0.7%	-5.6%	-9.2%
RAPI 1 ct.	0.2%	-8.5%	-12.5%

© Copyright 2020, Rapaport USA Inc.

The diamond industry is trying to limit supply to support the market, with Indian manufacturers considering a one-month voluntary suspension of rough imports beginning May 15. Miners have paused operations or reduced production. Some mines have been placed on care and maintenance and are unlikely to resume operations at current low prices. Mid-tier miners are under pressure and unlikely to generate the cash required for their debt payments.

Global rough production in 2020 is projected to decline 16% to 119 million carats by volume and 29% to $8.5 billion by value, the lowest level since the 2009 recession, according to estimates published in the April Rapaport Research Report.

There is more than enough rough and polished in the pipeline to satisfy demand as trading centers start to reopen. Belgium and Israel have eased lockdown restrictions, while India has allowed select manufacturing in Surat and special shipments to Hong Kong.

The return to “business as usual” will be gradual. It will take some time before demand returns to levels prevalent before the pandemic. The industry has an opportunity to refresh its messaging as consumer values shift toward strengthening meaningful connections and relationships. A significant investment in marketing is necessary for the industry to capitalize on this moment and ensure long-term growth.

For the in-depth diamond price, supply and demand data, subscribe to the Rapaport Research Report here.

Retail News Bureau

Dreamwood™ Offers Olfactive Warmth, Cosmetic Benefits and Positive Impact

Firmenich, the world's largest privately-owned perfume and taste company, is proud to launch its newest exclusive, captive ingredient Dreamwood™. Inspired by the iconic Mysore sandalwood, Dreamwood™ offers the signature mystical, creamy olfactive warmth with demonstrated cosmetic benefits, and delivers a positive impact on the planet: 100% natural, 100% renewable carbon and ultimately biodegradable.

Julien Firmenich, Vice President Sales, Ingredients, Perfumery said: "Dreamwood™ is the cornerstone of sustainable innovation and represents the future of our ingredients business, integrating positive consumer benefits at the core level of product composition. This innovative captive opens new creative territories for sandalwood fragrances, with the full benefit of responsible business, in one ingredient."

Dreamwood™ is Firmenich's latest white biotech innovation, after leading the industry with the successful launches of Clearwood® in 2014, Ambrox® Super in 2016 and Z11 in 2018. Thanks to major investments in fundamental & applied research programs for over 20 years, Firmenich continues to develop its sustainable palette to respond to today's needs and future challenges.

"Consumers are looking for renewable, sustainable solutions. Individuals and companies alike are examining how they can do their part to minimize their impact on the earth. Ingredients produced via biotech are one way of doing this," said Sarah Reisinger, Vice President, Research & Development, Biotechnology.

Dreamwood™ is the first Firmenich ingredient to feature cosmetic benefits. As demonstrated through rigorous laboratory testing, it can also bring some of the cosmetics benefits traditionally associated with sandalwood oil. Because of its antimicrobial effect and soothing properties on skin cells*, it may have a positive benefit in skin care products for special needs, including blemishes.

François-Raphaël Balestra, Principal Perfumer, Director of New Ingredients Discovery summarizes: "By being sustainable and affordable, Dreamwood™ is reviving natural sandalwood notes for modern perfumery creations. Dreamwood™ reveals its full naturalness and deep creaminess especially in heart and base notes."

Firmenich is recognized for its industry-leading palette of biotech ingredients, naturals and molecules for both fragrance and flavor creation. Customers benefit from a palette of over 2,000 ingredients, from natural sourcing of Rose Centifolia Pays in Grasse and Red Fruit Naturome in Scotland, using state-of-the-art technologies including super critical CO2 extraction (SFE) and white biotechnology, to innovative, renewable and sustainable molecules designed with green chemistry principles such as new musk Sorbettolide®. For over 125 years, Firmenich has created iconic fragrance ingredients such as Hedione®, Ambrox® Super and Helvetolide®.

For more information about Dreamwood™, visit www.firmenich.com/dreamwood

About Firmenich

Firmenich is the world's largest privately-owned perfume and taste company, founded in Geneva, Switzerland, in 1895. Driven by its purpose to create positive emotions to enhance wellbeing, naturally, Firmenich has designed many of the world's best-known perfumes and tastes, bringing delight to over four billion consumers every day. Renowned for its world-class research and creativity, as well as its leadership in sustainability, each year, Firmenich invests 10% of its turnover in R&D to understand and share the best that nature has to offer responsibly. Firmenich had an annual turnover of 3.9 billion Swiss Francs at end June 2019. More information about Firmenich is available at www.firmenich.com

*laboratory tests, patent-pending

Retail News Bureau

Capillary Technologies and INCREFF Announce a Strategic Partnership to Empower Retailers

                                     

Capillary Technologies and INCREFF entered into a strategic partnership, combining Capillary's expertise in omnichannel commerce technology with INCREFF's best-in-class inventory fulfillment, warehouse management and merchandising capabilities.

With e-commerce emerging as the preferred way of shopping for consumers in the post COVID-19 world, retailers need to accelerate the adoption of technology enabling them to sell across multiple digital channels, while also ensuring that their physical stores operate efficiently and remain profitable. The traditional boundaries between offline and online business need to blur, enabling stores to offset reduced walk-ins by taking their collection online to their customers and with brands being able to fulfil orders placed on their website or marketplaces from a store nearest to the customer in addition to a centralized warehouse, thereby improving operational and economic efficiency.  

The Capillary-INCREFF partnership will enable retailers to create a unified omnichannel experience, allowing them to capture demand across all consumer channels including stores, brand websites, social channels and online marketplaces and fulfill the same via their warehouses, and more importantly from their retail stores.

"We observed that 85% of shoppers did not return to stores in the initial weeks after the lockdown in Wuhan was lifted, and sales were still 40% down YOY, even after a month. We continue to see a similar behavior in India as well as the Middle East as the lockdown restrictions are getting relaxed. This spurred us to look for ways to help our customers overcome the challenging times ahead," said Aneesh Reddy, Co-Founder and CEO of Capillary Technologies. "The partnership with INCREFF is a result of this pursuit. With this collaboration we will now help retailers optimize their inventory across retail stores and help them recover sales even with reduced footfalls."        

"The Capillary-INCREFF partnership is a powerful combination. INCREFF's ability to create a unified view of inventory across all consumer channels, distributed network of managed warehouses and intelligent merchandising platform acts as a strong compliment to Capillary's omnichannel commerce platform," said Rajul Jain, CEO INCREFF. "This extends our expertise in helping retailers optimize the costs of inventory management and warehousing with the ability to fulfil from stores and boost sales across all consumer channels."

By combining the strengths of both platforms, this partnership represents a tectonic shift in the way both Capillary and INCREFF can address the changes in the retail consumer landscape. 

About Capillary Technologies:

Capillary's technology solutions help businesses get ahead of the digital evolution and stay 'Always Consumer Ready'. Over 400 marquee brands across 30+ countries, including Pizza Hut, Kontoor Brands, Walmart, Al-Futtaim, KFC, Asics, Madura Garments, Courts and Samsung, trust Capillary to enable easy and seamless consumer experiences. With over 300 million consumers and 35,000 stores on the platform, Capillary is Asia's leading SaaS product company. Over 800 Capillary associates across 11 global offices are continually innovating to find new ways for brands to make their consumers' lives easier, and experiences memorable.

Explore more at https://www.capillarytech.com/  

About INCREFF:

INCREFF helps brands optimize inventory and improve sales velocity by 2 to 3x via ASSURE and IRIS platforms. Founded by IITians and backed by Binny Bansal + Sequoia + 021 Capital, Increff serves the likes of Arvind, Future, Reliance, Landmark, Puma, Tablez, Myntra, Mango, Blackberry's, Celio, Wrogn among others.

ASSURE is arguably the world's simplest and most accurate warehouse management system along with fastest inventory and order syncing, which enables brands to sell every single piece of inventory across all online and offline sales channels simultaneously.

IRIS is an end to end merchandising platform helping merchandisers take  pre-season and in season decisions like what, when  and how much to buy and where to showcase inventory via 100+ customizable patent pending algorithms designed specifically for fashion and lifestyle business.

Explore more at https://www.increff.com/

Retail News Bureau