On the 6th of August, 2021, the Supreme Court of India ruled in favor of Amazon - to stall the sale of Future Group to Reliance Industries. India’s apex court stated that the order by a Singapore arbitration court in 2020 that had ruled to stall the agreement among the 2 Indian giants is enforceable and legally binding in the country. What has been the latest interruption in progress or setback for cash-starved Future Retail that operates India’s 2nd largest
retail chain is the Supreme court’s order on August 6th. Reliance Retail, a year ago stated that the company had reached a deal with Future Group to acquire Future Group’s retail & wholesaler business, along with its logistics and warehousing business.
Things started to become intricate shortly as Amazon – the American e-commerce giant that had invested in one of Future Group’s units 2 years ago, claimed that the Indian organization of violating its agreement and went to the Singapore arbitrator to stop the agreement between the Indian companies. Future Retail’s deal with Amazon had provided the latter with the 1st right to refusal on buying more stakes in the Indian company, Amazon stated.
Significant Evolution of Indian Retail
The Indian retail industry has significantly evolved at a remarkable pace, right from Kirana stores to modern trade and
e-commerce platforms and trade. In addition to it, the pandemic has augmented the rate of change, since lockdowns and store closures caused retailers and consumers to oscillate to digital faster than expected.
As per McKinsey’s consumer pulse survey, ninety-four percent of Indian consumers have tried a new, different, and various shopping behavior since the pandemic, and what’s astonishing about it is most of them intend to continue with the same style of shopping behavior. While a few of these shoppers are exploring new digital shopping methods or different retailers or brands or websites etc., the others are experimenting with private labels or store brands.
As online shopping is becoming more popular, e-commerce segments in the country are all set to grow rapidly, and they are driven by online grocery, E-pharmacy, social eCommerce, D2C models, etc. Some of the trends impacting retail in India are Contactless engagements, Digital as a platform, the Shift to Direct-to-Consumer model, the importance of local Kirana stores, and many others.
