Retailers grow as consumers become brand conscious

Non-grocery retailers are growing rapidly in urban areas in response to the rising disposable income of the population. PHOTO: FILE

LAHORE: 

As Pakistani consumers are becoming more image and brand conscious, the non-grocery retail segment is likely to remain a strong and emerging component of the economy in coming years.

Non-grocery retailers enjoyed a growth of 14% in value terms in 2012, marginally slower than the 17% growth for 2011. Total value of the sector stood at Rs873 billion in 2012 compared to Rs766.1 billion a year earlier, says a Euromonitor International report on the state of non-grocery retailers in Pakistan.

The decline in growth was observed due to the apparel specialist retailers, which suffered a drop from 17% in 2011 to 13% in 2012, according to Euromonitor, a market intelligence firm.

Non-grocery retailers are growing rapidly in urban areas in response to the rising disposable income of the population. The presence of such retailers though is less prominent in rural areas where income levels are much lower than in urban centres and there is less consumer demand for products beyond basic necessities of life.

However, non-grocery retailers have started to move into smaller cities and towns where it is acknowledged that there is a huge potential for growth, says the report.

Non-grocery retailers include both established brand retailers and smaller traditional retailers.

Established brand retailers position themselves according to high-quality product ranges and the modern store design. Brand value, premium location and sophisticated interior design also add to the specific value of the products sold in such outlets.

Goods sold by these retailers are often of established brands and sell for higher prices. Hence, they usually target middle to high-income population segments.

Sales of non-grocery retailers constitute about 31% of the total store-based retailing compared to 69% for grocery retailers in 2012.

Expected growth

According to the report, over the next five years – from 2013 to 2017 – non-grocery retailers are predicted to achieve a constant compound annual growth rate of 5%. This is almost the same as in the previous review period from 2007 to 2012.

This growth is expected to be driven by apparel retailers, beauty specialist retailers, electronics and appliance specialist retailers, furniture and home ware store retailers.

The value of apparel specialist retailers, which stood at Rs443.8 billion in 2012, is expected to reach Rs584.5 billion in 2017. For electronics and appliances retailers, the value, which was Rs76.5 billion in 2012, is expected to touch Rs101.8 billion in 2017.

Similarly, for health and beauty retailers, the value is likely to rise from Rs43.2 billion in 2012 to Rs48.1 billion by 2017.

Home and garden retailers, which had a value of Rs16.6 billion in 2012, could see their worth increase to Rs20.9 billion.

In the same way, the value of leisure and personal goods specialist retailers, which was Rs120.7 billion, is expected to reach Rs134.1 billion in 2017. The value of mixed retailers may go up to touch Rs43 billion in 2017 compared to Rs27.4 billion in 2012.

The value of other non-grocery retailers was at Rs145 billion and is expected to hit Rs171.3 billion in 2017.

Total value of non-grocery retailers is expected to touch Rs1,103.8 billion in 2017, up almost 26% compared to Rs873 billion in 2012.

The number of such retailer outlets was 128,362 in 2012 and estimates suggest that the figure will reach 137,813 in 2017.

Pakistan tightens rules on Islamic banking windows

PHOTO: FILE

KARACHI: Pakistan’s central bank has issued new rules for the operation of Islamic banking windows, aiming to strengthen their role in country. 

The new requirements come at a time when Pakistan is stepping up efforts to develop Islamic finance, prompting several banks to expand their operations in the sector.

Banks will have to obtain written approval from the State Bank of Pakistan before opening each Islamic window, as well as providing the regulator with additional details on staffing, training and marketing arrangements.

Islamic windows allow conventional lenders to offer Islamic financial services, provided client money is segregated from the rest of the bank.

As of December, Pakistan’s full-fledged Islamic banks had a combined network of 767 branches while conventional banks had 441 Islamic branches and 96 sub-branches, the central bank said.

Different approaches to the Islamic window format have emerged over the years: In Oman, windows are allowed only through standalone branches, while in 2011 Qatar banned Islamic windows outright.

The rules could help consumers better distinguish Islamic financial products from conventional ones, improving the industry’s perception and overall uptake.

Regulators in Pakistan hope to expand the industry’s branch network and bring Islamic banking’ s market share to 15 percent of the system by 2018.

As of December, Islamic banks held assets worth 1 trillion rupees ($10 billion), a 21.1 percent increase from a year earlier and representing 11.2 percent of total banking assets.

Some conventional lenders are also opting to convert their operations into full-fledged Islamic banks.

Last week, the majority shareholder of Karachi-based Faysal Bank said it would convert the bank into a full-fledged Islamic unit in the next two to three years.

And last year, Summit Bank said it would convert itself into a full-fledged Islamic bank over a three- to five-year period. It opened its first Islamic banking branch earlier this month.

Varun Dhawan’s Marriage Depends On Salman Khan

Varun Dhawan has made no bones and has stated very clearly that he is deeply inspired byAmitabh Bachchan, whom he considers his idol. On the other hand, papa David Dhawan too has made no bones and has stated that he wants his son to be like Salman Khan as he will only allow Varun to marry post Salman Khan’s marriage. Oops!!

“I am not in the race for the hundred crore club. For me, the most important thing is that the audience enjoys my film and feels that the movie was worth spending on,” stated Varun, who is doing all that he can to promote Main Tera Hero.

On the other hand, his father, David Dhawan, finds his son naughty, grounded and talented, but under no circumstance will he let his son get married soon and stated that he will get his son married as soon as Salman Khan gets married.

David Dhawan fells that his son has got what it takes to be a star. According to him, Varun is extremely passion about his work and has a killer instinct.

Coming to Varun’s latest film Main Tera Hero, well this romantic comedy film that stars Ileana D’Cruz and Nargis Fakhri has all the ingredients to rock at the Box Office.

Varun stated that he has tried really hard to give his best for this film.  He feels that with his film his intent is to bring humor and entertainment into the lives of audiences, who have to deal with a lot of stress in their everyday lives.

Varun, who made his Bollywood debut with Karan Johar’s Student Of The Year, said he, too, had to struggle to make a name in the industry despite being the son of an established filmmaker.

“I also had to struggle in the industry despite being the son of David Dhawan. My first film was directed by Karan Johar, and he is not even my father’s friend,” he said.

German Bundesliga: Heynckes laid foundation for win, says Guardiola

German giants Bayern Munich secured yet another Bundesliga title in record time after defeating Hertha Berlin 3-1 on Tuesday. PHOTO: AFP

BERLIN: Pep Guardiola secured the Bundesliga title in record time on Tuesday; then promptly praised the work of his Bayern Munich predecessor Jupp Heynckes, whose record the Spaniard broke.

Bayern claimed their 24th German league title with a 3-1 win at Hertha Berlin as Guardiola’s European champions claimed the domestic league title with seven games to spare.

The Bavarian giants broke their own record for the earliest confirmed league title win, set last April under Heynckes en route to the treble of European, league and cup titles, by one match.

“We won the title with hard work and when you see what Jupp Heynckes achieved last season, that was the only way we were going to better that,” said Guardiola. “He laid the foundations.”

“Obviously I’m delighted that we have retained the title,” said Guardiola as his side opened up an unassailable 25-point lead over second-placed Borussia Dortmund.

“I want to thank my players and the club who have helped me achieve this.

“Tonight we were very active from the start, but in the second half we lost a little of our control. I am just happy we have finally managed the feat.

Bayern’s 19th consecutive Bundesliga win also extends their record unbeaten league run to 52 matches.

They are still on course to become the first side to finish a Bundesliga season unbeaten.

“It’s unbelievable to clinch the title on the back of an unbeaten record,” said winger Arjen Robben.

“We’re all unbelievably proud of the team and our achievements this season

PCs set to lose more ground to tablets: Survey

A woman looks at an Apple iPad at one of the company's stores in Paris. PHOTO: AFP/FILE

WASHINGTON: Sales of traditional computers will lose more ground in 2014 to tablets and other mobile devices, a market tracker said Thursday.

A report by the research firm Gartner said the overall market for connected devices – PCs, smartphones and tablets – is likely to grow 6.9 per cent to nearly 2.5 billion devices in 2014.

More people will dump their PCs for other devices, but the drop in PC sales will moderate to around 6.6 per cent this year, with unit sales of 276 million. Some surveys showed a drop of around 10 per cent in PC sales last year.

“Tablet substitution of notebooks will start to dissipate from this year onwards as consumers and businesses align the right device with the right usage pattern,” said Ranjit Atwal, research director at Gartner.

“As they do this, we will see where dedicated devices (such as tablets), or hybrid devices (detachable or convertible devices), fit in the overall portfolio.”

The global tablet market is expected to grow 38.6 per cent, with much of the increase coming outside North America, Gartner said. Total tablet sales will nearly equal that of PCs at 270 million, the firm said.

“The adoption of tablets has been largely concentrated in the US, with the dominance of Apple,” Atwal said. “Market dynamics in other regions are different, as the uptake of lower cost, smaller, non-branded tablets, becomes more apparent.”

Mobile phones, the largest segment, is seen as growing 4.9 per cent to 1.9 billion units – led by “the lower end of the premium phone market and the higher end of the basic phone market,” Gartner said.

The Google Android platform is expected to extend its lead in overall devices, with more than 1.1 billion units in 2014, mostly in mobile phones. Microsoft Windows will remain the number two platform with 339 million

Iraq reports first suspected polio case since 2000

The case in Iraq could have originated in neighbouring Syria where confirmed cases have sparked a region-wide alert. PHOTO: UNICEF

BAGHDAD / NEW DELHI: Iraq’s health ministry said Wednesday it had found its first suspected polio case in 14 years, while India, Bangladesh and Southeast Asian countries were certified polio-free under the WHO certification process.

The case in Iraq could have originated in neighbouring Syria where confirmed cases have sparked a region-wide alert. The suspected case was found in a young boy in Bab al Sham near Baghdad, ministry spokesperson Ziad Tariq told AFP.

He said the case was not yet confirmed and that samples had been sent to the United States for further testing, with results expected on Sunday.

If confirmed, it would be Iraq’s first case of polio since 2000.

“We suspect the case originated in Syria,” Tariq said. “We are afraid of that, we have thousands of refugees from Syria, and the health situation is complicated because Anbar is bordering Syria.”

Anbar, a predominantly Sunni province in western Iraq, has been long been a source of unrest in Iraq.

In early January, anti-government fighters took control of all of the Anbar city of Fallujah, and parts of the provincial capital Ramadi, some of which they still hold.

Late last year, the UN confirmed that at least 17 children in war-wracked Syria had been paralysed by polio, in the country’s first cases of the disease since 1999.

Fifteen of the cases were in the eastern province of Deir Ezzor, large swathes of which are under rebel control.

The outbreak in the midst of Syria’s three-year-old civil war prompted the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) to launch a vaccination campaign for 23 million children across the Middle East, which got under way in earnest this month.

Tariq said a vaccination campaign was already under way in Iraq and would run until April 6, over and above routine childhood vaccinations.

80% of the world polio-free

80% of the world’s population now lives in certified polio-free regions, the WHO reported in apress statement on Thursday.

The WHO’s South-East Asia Region, which is home to a quarter of the world’s population, was certified polio-free by an independent commission under the WHO certification process. This is the fourth of six WHO Regions to be certified polio-free.

The region includes Bangladesh, Bhutan, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, India, Indonesia, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Timor-Leste.

“This is a momentous victory for the millions of health workers who have worked with governments, nongovernmental organizations, civil society and international partners to eradicate polio from the Region,” said Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh, Regional Director for the WHO South-East Asia Region.

UEFA launches Nations League

UEFA president Michel Platini speaks at the European federation's congress in the Kazakh capital Astana, on March 27, 2014. PHOTO: AFP

ASTANA: European countries agreed Thursday to launch a Nations League tournament in 2018 to run parallel to the World Cup and European Championship.

The tournament could take on immediate importance as it will offer four places in the European Championships finals.

The 54 UEFA countries will be divided into divisions with promotion and relegation and offer an extra chance to qualify for the European Championship.

UEFA’s Congress in Astana voted unanimously to start the league. “This is a big step for national teams in Europe and we hope that fans will support the new format,” said Wolfgang Niersbach, chairperson of the UEFA competition committee.

UEFA president Michel Platini said countries wanted a change from “the friendlies that don’t interest anyone.”

Though the final details have yet to be agreed, the current plan is for four divisions, which will be sub-divided into four pools of three of four teams.

Each country would play four to six matches in the first tournament between September and November 2018 — soon after the World Cup finals in Russia.

The four pool winners would play for the title in early 2019. The pool winners will get places in the European Championship finals.

Europe’s top clubs, always wary of additions to the soccer calendar, gave cautious approval to the new tournament.

The European Club Association, which groups top clubs in all UEFA member countries, said it “has taken note of UEFA’s announcement.”

“The European clubs do not oppose such project, as the number of international matches in the calendar remains unchanged,” said an ECA statement.

“Once more details concerning the competition format are available, ECA will analyse the possible impact on club football.

ECA chairperson Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, chief executive of Bayern Munich, said: “A positive aspect of this new concept is that our players will no longer have to travel around the world for friendly matches.

“I am not worried about the Champions League; it is a prime product and the Europa League as well will continue to flourish,” he commented.

The English FA strongly backed the new tournament.

“The prospect of England playing three or four teams from the best 12 or 16 countries in Europe on a home and away basis should be very exciting,” said English FA general secretary Alex Horne.

“It means we will go from a major tournament such as a World Cup straight into a set of three international double-headers between September and November that will really mean something.

“There will be the threat of relegation too so there will really be something at stake.”