Ashick Ali

Shibin Chulliparambil Appointed Head of IT at Malabar Group. Shibin Chulliparambil has taken charge as the Head of Information Technology at Malabar Group, one of India’s largest and most respected retail conglomerates. Known for innovation, scale, and customer-first strategies, Malabar continues to redefine excellence across sectors. 1. 20+ years of IT and digital transformation leadership across global and Indian enterprises. 2. Former Head of IT at Blue Star Limited and CIO at Mafatlal Industries Limited, with parallel CEO roles at Vrata Tech Solutions (India & UAE). 3. Held diverse tech leadership positions at Cipla, from Software Engineering to IT Strategy & Solution Architecture. 4. Recognized with honors like Most Inspiring CIO of India, Security Icon, and Innovative CIO Award. 5. Strong academic mix: MBA in Cybersecurity, BCA, and executive programs from ISB and IIT Bombay. At Malabar Group, Shibin will lead secure digital transformation, tech-enabled growth, and IT innovation aligned with global expansion goals. As retail and tech converge, what role will cybersecurity and cloud innovation play in shaping customer trust and scalability? #Leadership #DigitalTransformation #RetailTech #Cybersecurity #ITLeadership #Innovation #MalabarGroup #CareerMoves #CIO #TechStrategy #EnterpriseIT #TechnologyLeadership #DigitalRetail #CloudComputing #DataSecurity #Omnichannel #SmartRetail #ITStrategy #AwardWinningCIO #ScalableTech #ExecutiveLeadership

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What DMart - Avenue Supermarts Ltd announced yesterday is unprecedented, given their history of slow expansion. India's biggest value retailer, known for its calibrated, cluster-based expansion strategy, is now set to accelerate its growth by opening more stores than its usual pace. They plan to double down on expansion now. In their annual call, Neville Noronha confirmed that over the next 6 to 8 months, he would personally be focusing his time on expansion in India’s most populous state, Uttar Pradesh, which is a new cluster market for them with huge potential. He also admitted that if there’s one thing he could have done better during his tenure, it would have been increasing the store count to around 600–650 by now, compared to 426 today. This will now be the key focus area for the incoming CEO, Anshul Asawa, who emphasized that the business needs to scale across more geographies. From an investor’s perspective, this shift brings fresh energy and could accelerate the path to greater value creation for shareholders. At Finding Outperformers, we recently turned positive on the stock from a medium- to long-term perspective. Market may have overestimated the impact of Q-commerce on its business model, while value retail continues to be a large, untapped opportunity. Read our full thesis in the blog posts shared in the comments below⬇️ (do own research before investing)

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From Corner Stores to Category Leaders: How Zithara.AI is Reimagining Indian Retail In Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities across India, shopkeepers once knew every customer by face—but not by data. That was the gap. 📍That’s where Zithara.AI stepped in. Launched in 2022 without VC backing or Silicon Valley buzzwords—just a bold vision, relentless founders, and one mission: 👉 To democratize AI-powered customer intelligence for every Indian retailer. The insight? Indian retail was rich in footfalls, but poor in follow-up. No CRM. No segmentation. No structured retention. Loyalty was assumed, not engineered. So, the Zithara team built a solution from scratch: A full-stack retail CRM platform — 9 products, one unified interface. Simple enough for a paanwala to use. Smart enough for a luxury jeweller to rely on. 🚀 From pilot stores in Hyderabad to 500+ high-intent retailers across India, Zithara is now driving: ✅ 3x repeat sales via precision WhatsApp marketing ✅ 28% lift in customer retention ✅ 25% increase in acquisition through referral automation ✅ 100% lead capture from every channel — walk-ins, social, or digital ✅ True omnichannel orchestration — SMS, Email, RCS, Meta, Push, and more But this journey wasn’t just about tech. It meant winning trust in a market where pen and paper were still the CRM. Where “data” was seen as optional, not transformational. Zithara didn’t just build a platform. It built a new way for Indian retailers to think about customers — as relationships to grow, not transactions to close. 💡 The belief that carried them forward? “Solve for the user, not the investor.” No vanity dashboards. No hollow metrics. Just tangible outcomes. ⸻ In just two years, Zithara.AI has become the quiet force behind India’s smart retail revolution — powering everyone from local kiranas to national chains. Because in tomorrow’s India, even the smallest shop deserves enterprise-grade intelligence. Made in Bharat. Made for Bharat. Scaling beyond Bharat. This is just the beginning. Sridevi Reddy Varun Kashyap

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Sachin Tendulkar just launched shoes at ₹5,499 and targeting ₹35 crore revenue within 18 months. First, the timing looks smart. India's athleisure market will hit $21 billion by 2033. That's massive growth. Sachin entered at the right moment. But let's talk about the competition: 📍HRX by Hrithik Roshan crossed ₹1,000 crore in revenue.  📍Virat Kohli invested ₹40 crore in Agilitas Sports. These aren't side projects anymore. They're real businesses fighting for the same customers with lower prices. Now here's what Sachin is doing differently with Ten x You which he launched few days back: → He partnered with Karthik Gurumurthy as CEO. Karthik Gurumurthy scaled Swiggy Instamart to ₹600 crore monthly in 2.5 years. That's not celebrity window dressing, that's serious operational muscle. Also, they're backed by Peak XV Partners and Whiteboard Capital shows they're serious about scale. → Sachin isn't just the brand face. As Chief Inspiration Officer, he's involved in product design. They have actually tested shoes with cricket academies since March. Designed for wider Indian feet, not just copied Western sizing. → The pricing is premium. ₹5,499 for regular athletic shoes, ₹9,000 for cricket-specific. They're not competing on price. They're betting on quality and brand loyalty. Their revenue target: ₹35 crore within 18 months. But here's where my 22 years in sourcing makes me pause. Premium pricing works only if you can maintain quality at scale. Most celebrity brands collapse when orders are increasing, vendors renegotiate, quality drops, customers switch. Karthik's operational experience gives them a real shot. But supply chain execution is what separates lasting brands from launch-day hype. Would you spend ₹5,499 on shoes from a celebrity brand?

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Flipkart has appointed Rajarshi Guin as Vice President – Home & Furniture, marking a key addition to its leadership team. In his new role, Guin will be responsible for steering business growth in the home and furniture segment, with a focus on deepening consumer insights and sharpening execution strategies to accelerate expansion. Guin moves to Flipkart from Amazon, where he spent more than 14 years, most recently serving as Director, Category Management, Media. Over his tenure, he played a pivotal role in building and scaling multiple verticals including private labels, books, toys, and personal care appliances. He is credited with helping shape Amazon India’s marketplace in its formative years. 👉 Read More: https://lnkd.in/gyFj_7Gi #rajarshiguin #flipkart #vp #vicepresident #home #furniture #homeneeds #lifestyle #ecommerce #retail #amazon #proximus #infosys

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Old Stitch vs New Stitch : The Fashion Retail Face-Off.... on a lighter note ! Once upon a time in the bustling malls of Mumbai or the high streets of Cannaught Place, stood a fashion retailer who knew his customer like he knew his morning coffee ...strong, loyal, and predictable. Enter the Gen Z retailer.... hoodie on, TikTok open, and ready to disrupt “the system” before brunch bro. Let’s be honest: the battle isn’t about style it’s about survival. The experienced fashion retailer has weathered recessions, denim explosions, and even the rise and fall of cargo pants (twice). They believe in product margins, supply chain hygiene, and customers who walk into stores. They trust in footfall the way Gen Z trusts in "engagement." They still think a CRM is something that helps build loyalty not just a popup on a website. On the other hand, the Gen Z retailer doesn’t even own a cash register. Their store? A swipe-up story. Their model? Drop culture meets influencer hype. They sell out before legacy retailers finish aligning their assortment plan. But ask them about return rates, last-mile costs, or inventory holding and you might at times get a blank stare followed by “Let me check with my growth hacker bro.” The experienced retailer wins on scale, process, and predictability. The Gen Z-er wins on agility, noise, and memes. One builds brands. The other builds communities. But both are now in the same playground trying to win the same fashion-forward, budget-aware, short-attention-span consumer. In the end, the smartest player may not be the oldest or the trendiest but the one who learns fastest, fails cheapest, and adapts quickest. That’s fashion Darwinism, darling. So, who wins? The jury’s out.... But the runway is open. #RetailWars #FashionFaceOff #OldSchoolVsNewGen #RetailHumour #FashionBusiness

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General trade will humble you. Over the past year, building distribution for multiple brands across 1,500+ kirana stores has been equal parts chaos, jugaad, and learning. Here are 3 things I wish I knew when we started: 1. Store ≠ Sale Listing means nothing if your product doesn’t move. Shelf space is not shelf success. 2. Distributors are not your sales team They’ll move your cartons, not your consumer. If you want sell-through, you need to create pull from the shelf outward. 3. Retailers remember everything Your margins, your packaging, that one delayed delivery — they know. And they talk. GT is a market of memory. And momentum. Curious to know what others have picked up from their own GT journeys 👇 #FMCG #GeneralTrade #RetailReality #DistributionLessons #FounderNotes #KiranaEconomy

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Spykar Lifestyles Pvt. Ltd. has announced the appointment of Nipun Dhingra, former manager at Kearney, as its new Chief Transformation Officer. In this leadership role, Dhingra will drive initiatives focused on innovation, operational excellence, and sustainability for the fashion and lifestyle brand. Read more: https://lnkd.in/g_WA8JqK #retail #business #news #market #update #appointment #spykar #expansion Sanjay Vakharia| Rajesh Sharma| Gautam Jain| Khushboo Ahuja| Arun Sharma| Ronak Dedhia| Varun Chamoli| Nagendra Singh| Deepali Katyal Mathur| Pooja Goel| Diksha Gupta| Yumna Vaqar| Twinkle Roy| Biki Gupta

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