TMS Ep177: Foreign retailers, Indian start-ups, markets, fast fashion

Metro AG has reportedly decided to exit India after over 19 years. The German retailer’s decision came about eight years after another European retail giant, France’s Carrefour, wound up its operations and left. And reports have it that Walmart too is not keen on opening direct-to-consumer physical stores here. So why is Indian physical retail a hard nut to crack for international retail giants? Is it the government’s policies? Or a business model tilted in favour of local firms -- like what we have seen in most other countries? Find out the challenges involved in India’s supermarket wars.
 
Like the foreign retail giants, the start-ups too are on a shaky ground in India. Japan’s SoftBank-backed Cars24 laid off over 600 workers last week, just days after ed-tech unicorn Vedantu fired 424 employees. And startup accelerator Y Combinator has asked founders of its portfolio firms to prepare for the worst. With foreign investors tightening their purse strings, start-ups are shedding weight to stay afloat. So is there a scary twist ahead in the Indian start-up story? 

The sentiment on Dalal Street is also sombre. In line with the ongoing global rout, domestic equities have been ravaged this year on stinging inflation and a spate of interest rate hikes. Amid talks of an impending recession, select pockets in the market have been hit the hardest and have entered the bear zone after two years. Find out the fundamental and technical outlook for these sectors.

After the bloodbath on stock markets, let us turn our focus to the environment. Did you know that the global textile industry emits more greenhouse gas than those from shipping and international air travel combined? The emergence of fast fashion has played a big role in it. Find out about this phenomenon and more in this episode of the podcast.