Welcome to India — We are like that only!

When Sam Walton opened his first store all those years ago, he had the luxury of being a pioneer and could afford to experiment, make mistakes and perfect the model — without being under the public glare. However, the first store of Bharti Wal- Mart cannot afford this luxury. Apart from being in retail, it is a joint venture with a leading Indian and US corporate. Its every move will be watched and commented upon, second-guessed and debated.

A couple of thoughts came to my mind while reading about the opening of the first store.

First is the name, Best Price Modern Wholesale (BPMW). Phew! That’s quite a mouthful I wonder at the logic behind such a long name that defies most branding principles. Unless the expectation of FDI being allowed in the venture has prompted an interim name which can be changed without much impact on the consumer’s psyche. Even though this is a cash-and-carry with a dedicated B2B customer base, the name does play a role and as of now, it is purely functional and more like a statement. Maybe considerations of a future dispute over the brand name prompted this call? I can only speculate.

Next is the core of any retail enterprise – the sourcing and supply chain. India’s enormous geographical spread makes this a daunting task at best. The existing system of wholesale markets offers an easy and cost-effective alternative to direct sourcing, especially in the grocery and fresh categories. Wal-Mart already has sourcing machinery in India, but that is more for non-food merchandise. The game changer would be to establish a true farm-to-fork chain. Sounds nice on paper — easier said than done.

Grassroots-level sourcing initiatives would be a competitive advantage as long as they are done for grocery, fruits, vegetables, meat and fish. If this is limited to the branded products and the non-food that is already being sourced by their global sourcing team, the stores would be just another addition to the retail landscape.

This is typically a chicken-and-egg story. Does a chain first build enough stores to amortise the cost of an elaborate sourcing and supply chain mechanism, or vice versa? The temptation to build stores first is obvious. Revenue flows in from day one. I recently read a news article about how retailers shun direct procurement. I can understand this temptation from the perspective of managing the OPEX. However, this is not what retail is all about and I have written an extensive piece about this on my blog.

I assume that the revised roll-out of stores within a shorter time frame is to leverage their efforts at a comprehensive and grassroots-level sourcing mechanism. However, the proposed $100-million investment seems to be more towards setting up stores, assuming an average set-up cost of $5 million per store. So, where is the money for backward integration?

Next is the issue of India and its peculiarities. It is a unique country and cannot be treated with a cookie-cutter approach. I remember the first hypermarket of a foreign operator that opened in Mumbai. They had an entire run of paints with various shades and pack sizes, no doubt based on their international experience with DIY customers. Did the chain have Indian managers? Of course! Were their inputs taken about Indian consuming habits? Very doubtful. Integrating international best practices with Indian peculiarities is a must-do, without which the best practices would lose their relevance. Be it the number of car parking slots required or the IT systems, India is different and needs an indigenous solution.

BPMW has got the timing right and has a golden opportunity with regard to scripting a new chapter in the Indian retail story. What would actually set it apart would be out-of-the-box solutions for the customers. Value is not only price. In that context, even though the name suggests best price, the stores would become winners by offering holistic value to the customers.

The BPMW team should explore simple but far-reaching ideas to make a positive impact on the businesses of their customers and more importantly explore ideas that create a strong emotional connect. For example, the customers could be offered life insurance for free based on annual purchase slabs. Given that this customer segment usually does not have such a financial safety net, the emotional and actual benefits of such a simple step would have far-reaching implications.

That the existing cash-and-carry stores are now expanding is proof that this format has found acceptance with the B2B customers. Anyway, almost 30 per cent of the small traders purchase from the wholesale market and for them this format is a good alternative.

Hotels and restaurants find tremendous value in the offerings because of the range of food products made available. One of the existing cash-and-carry operators works towards offering specialised food products, including special cuts of meats for its customers. In a way, this is good for BPMW as there is an existing benchmark. They need to match the value offering and better it in the coming years.

The MTV spoof of yesteryear which ends with the line “We are like that only”, about sums up India.

Accepting and managing the environment and consumers should be a key guiding principle. I sincerely hope that the team sheds its legacy of greatness, experiments and finds a brilliant working model for the Indian marketplace.

And in true Indian style, let us welcome this new addition to the Indian retail landscape and wish them well.

Source: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/

451 Marketing Announces the Launch of its "B2B Social Contest"

Boston, MA (PRWEB) June 1, 2009 -- 451 Marketing, a Boston-based new media communications agency, announced the launch of its "B2B Social Contest" today. To demonstrate the power of social media in generating new business leads for business-to-business (B2B) companies, 451 Marketing will give away a free, 6-month online lead generation campaign (a $42,000 value) to the business that best describes why social media will help it grow.

"We have decided to launch this campaign in direct response to the emergence of social media as an integral component of any B2B marketing campaign," said 451 Marketing Founding Partner AJ Gerritson. "B2B companies now recognize the importance of cultivating leads online through social media marketing and inbound marketing strategies, and we look forward to offering our expertise to the contest's winner."

The contest will run from June 1, 2009 through September 1, 2009. B2B companies that wish to enter the contest must, in an e-mail, describe their company, its mission, product or service, and what differentiates their company from its competitors. Most importantly, they must convey why and how they think social media marketing will positively impact their B2B business. Upon receipt, these e-mail submissions will be posted on The B2B Social Contest Blog.

Companies are encouraged to ask their clients, friends, and colleagues to comment on their company's post. On September 1, 2009, 451 Marketing will tally the total number of comments each post received over the course of the 3 month contest. The five posts with the most comments will be considered finalists, and 451 Marketing will select the winner from this pool.

About 451 Marketing:

451 Marketing is a Boston-based, Inbound Marketing agency that specializes in leveraging new media technologies to generate new business leads for B2B companies. We are experts in social media marketing, search marketing, digital public relations (PR 2.0), and Web site 2.0 design and development. For more information, contact us at moreinfo (at) 451marketing.com.

Source: http://www.prweb.com/

Capturing the Value of Content Marketing

Click on one of your shortened URLs in Twitter, and your analytics may show a referral from Twitter. But if you click on that same shortened URL in a Twitter client like TweetDeck, the click-through will probably show up as a direct visit, because TweetDeck doesn’t pass along the referrer string in the URL. How many other sources of your traffic are like this? Probably more than you think.

Content marketing is very effective for B2B marketers. Think about all of the case studies, white papers, brochures, technical papers, newsletters you have. Likely, many of these assets are in pdf form. They took a lot of time and money to create. When it comes to analytics, you may know how many people download these assets, but you probably have no idea whether these assets help drive people back into your site.

Smart marketers put links into their pdfs. They know many people never print a pdf; they view it electronically. Ideally, links in the pdf drive readers back into your site for deeper engagement. The primary value of these marketing assets isn’t measured by how many people download them. It’s much better measured by whether readers of those assets take further action. Unfortunately, if you’re like most marketers, a click-through from one of these assets shows up as a direct visit. There’s no way to attribute it to your content marketing.

Suppose you’re searching your analytics for prospects. Suddenly, you find five direct visits from a Fortune 500 company in a span of three days. Each visit is fairly long and deep, but it’s also broad; and you really can’t determine their particular interest or what issue prompted that interest. Wouldn’t it be nice to know that these visits came from a particular white paper? That would give you tremendous insight into the visitor’s interest and motivation.

To begin capturing that information, you need to tag the URLs in your links. If you’re using Google Analytics, you can use Google’s URL Builder to append information to the URL. Then use these tagged URLs in the links you put into pdfs and other similar media (e.g. PowerPoint assets you make available). In doing so, you’ll not only be able to track click-through from certain channels of content marketing (e.g., white papers), but you’ll also be able to drill down within that channel to see how much traffic each white papers is driving. If you’re using another analytics platform, find out how to use its tagging capabilities.

If you use shortened URLs in these content marketing assets, make sure you tag your URL before shortening it. Incidentally, you can also do this for your tweets that contain short URLs linking back to your site. That way, in your analytics, you’ll be to identify click-through from people using tools like TweetDeck and distinguish it from direct visits.

Source: http://searchengineland.com/

Who will benefit from the ecommerce boom in China?

Implications

Chinese ecommerce grew over 120% last year, projected to grow very rapidly in the next 3-5 year. who will benefit from the ecommerce boom in China? Portals like sina/sohu? search engine like baidu? any other potential players in the market?

Analysis

Chinese ecommerce grew over 120% last year, projected to be in high growth for the next 3-5 years. Now large companies such as Mcdonald, KFC, Haier, Gome, Lancome are all going ecommerce, who will benefit from the ecommerce boom in China? consumers of course, some businesses as well.

Companies that are already in this industry will no doubt thrive on the growth. Alibaba, who is not only the largest B2B ecommerce platform in the world, but also owns the largest C2C website in China - Taobao.com, though Taobao is not very proftable due to the free listing strategy(beats ebay out of China this way), it does have dominant position and could quickly turn into a cash machine once good model is implemented. Its new ad system had a pretty good feedback. Other large ecommerce companies such as dangdang.com and 360buy.com will likely to be on a short list of future public companies.

Baidu, and other search engines will be the largest indirect benefitors. They has been largely replying on advertising dollar from traditional SMEs. It's all going to start to change once ecommerce takes off. Google has hugely benefited from ecommerce. Chinese search engines will probably do the same. However, a couple of minor drawbacks for baidu are its technology and some doubtful business practices. SEM for ecommerce is very much data-oriented. Baidu need to have better technology to support advanced bidding and optimization. Baidu is also notoriously known for its somewhat bad practices such as, dont allow tracking, high fraud clicking, blacklist etc. They have to change before its too late. the only good thing is that they do have a very strong position in the market, and consumers dont have any other good alternatives to go to. (well google.cn is good, but its so damn hard to spell for Chinese )

Portal and vertical media will benefit as well. A lot of ecommerce companies will have to rely on advertising on portal sites to build their brands. Verticals are very good places to advertise to their target audience. We have already seen that the search engine traffic is not enough for ecommerce businesses in China. therefore portals and verticals could become good complimentaries of traffic source for large ecommerce businesses.

Networks, mostly performance based will experience a large growth as well. Analaytics, SEM based companies, leads generation and web consulting companies will somewhat benefit from ecommerce boom as well.

In a way, the nature of ecommerce, will bring Chinese online advertising to a new level where data became much more important. In the past, this area is hugely underdeveloped.

Source: http://www.glgroup.com/

India copper futures edge lower on rupee

MUMBAI, May 20 (Reuters) - India's copper futures edged lower on Wednesday pressured by a strong rupee locally, which makes the dollar-quoted asset cheaper, analysts said. The most active June copper contract MCCM9 was 0.25 percent lower at 219.45 rupees per kg at 5:51 p.m..

The Indian rupee trimmed its early fall and rose as a large corporate and exporters sold dollars, but further gains were capped due to the drop in domestic shares. See [ID:nBOM424647]

A weak dollar against other currencies and higher equity markets limited the downside, they added.

The dollar hit its lowest level against a basket of currencies in more than four months as slight gains in U.S. stock futures prompted some investors toward perceived riskier assets. See [ID:nLK960296]

World stocks rose for the fourth session in a row on Wednesday and Wall Street looked set to open higher. See [ID:nLK465622]

"It is trading in a narrow range since three days," said Navneet Damani, an analyst with Anand Rathi Commodities. Copper may trade in the range of 218-224 rupees on Wednesday, said Damani. May zinc MZIK9 was 2.92 percent lower at 69.80 rupees per kg, while lead for May delivery MLDK9 was 2.67 percent lower at 69.15 rupees per kg at 5:53 p.m..

Source: http://in.reuters.com/

BtoB Technology PR, Marketing Firm Arketi Group Offers Tips On Attaining Thought Leadership

Learn how to create killer content, promote it and use it to generate leads for your business-to-business organization

05.26.2009 – Arketi Group ( www.arketi.com), a high-tech BtoB public relations and marketing firm consistently recognized as one of the nation's “Top BtoB Agencies”, offers tip to technology PR and marketing pros on how they can position their organization as thought leaders.

Business-to-business technology companies often face two combined hurdles: how to generate content for public relations and marketing campaigns, and how to increase leads for the sales team.

“In order to keep prospects energized and interested in your products or services, public relations and marketing teams must have relevant and compelling content to deliver,” said Mike Neumeier, APR, principal at Arketi Group. “Often companies struggle in developing original content to use for PR and marketing efforts because, simply put, they are focused on delivering their core business. This puts B2B marketers in a bind.”

1) Create killer content

One way to break out of this uncomfortable situation is to commit to a thought leadership strategy grounded in unique industry research. Architecting and executing focused survey campaigns is one of the strongest ways to deliver a unique form of thought leadership that generates persuasive content, and that can be leveraged across multiple marketing avenues.

Creating content your company can own also permits you to highlight your company’s expertise and differentiate it from the competition with fact-based data. By elevating the conversation to trends and issues – and away from features and benefits – you can stake a claim to a true thought leadership position. (For an example, click the Underwriter Survey on Xerox Mortgage Services’ homepage .)

2) Publish and promote your content

Now that the marketing team has content, how can they harness it?

From a PR perspective, news releases, bylined articles or interviews with subject matter experts rank high on the list for using your content. A series of presentations and panel events at trade shows are easy extensions and can be coupled with distributing the survey findings at the event.

In addition, thought leadership-based content also provides the information necessary to drive a series of webinars, whitepapers or direct mail efforts that extend beyond the usual product- or service-based marketing programs. These marketing efforts raise your organization above the expected marketplace messages and position you as a true industry discussion leader with new thinking and ideas. (See this in action for Sprint .)

3) Arm Sales with your content

Every industry has a unique sales cycle, but the common thread for most B2B companies is that the sales force always wants more leads. Today more marketers are using thought leadership-based content to generate leads.

Start by merchandising thought leadership content online. Create a sales sheet highlighting new industry insights and “fast facts” with professionally designed graphics and charts. This becomes a unique collateral piece for the sales team, as well as an effective website download offer that can attract site visitors, increase traffic and grow your leads database.

Survey findings can also be leveraged in customer and prospect e-marketing efforts. For example, pay-per-click campaigns can be constructed to help disseminate the information and also attract prospects to your website.

Thought leadership-based surveys support and complement other marketing tools such as whitepapers, presentations and media coverage. When using these calls-to-action on your website, don’t forget to employ the “give-to-get” model by adding a registration page for to capture the lead, before users can download the item. (Check out StatCom’s 2008 National Survey on Patient Flow Challenges and Technologies.)

With a smart thought leadership program, B2B companies of all sizes can create compelling and insightful content, repurpose it for multiple marketing efforts, and use it to support the lead generation efforts.

Source: http://www.pitchengine.com/

BtoB Technology PR, Marketing Firm Arketi Group Offers Tips On Attaining Thought Leadership

Learn how to create killer content, promote it and use it to generate leads for your business-to-business organization.

05.26.2009 – Arketi Group ( www.arketi.com), a high-tech BtoB public relations and marketing firm consistently recognized as one of the nation's “Top BtoB Agencies”, offers tip to technology PR and marketing pros on how they can position their organization as thought leaders.

Business-to-business technology companies often face two combined hurdles: how to generate content for public relations and marketing campaigns, and how to increase leads for the sales team.

“In order to keep prospects energized and interested in your products or services, public relations and marketing teams must have relevant and compelling content to deliver,” said Mike Neumeier, APR, principal at Arketi Group. “Often companies struggle in developing original content to use for PR and marketing efforts because, simply put, they are focused on delivering their core business. This puts B2B marketers in a bind.”

1) Create killer content
One way to break out of this uncomfortable situation is to commit to a thought leadership strategy grounded in unique industry research. Architecting and executing focused survey campaigns is one of the strongest ways to deliver a unique form of thought leadership that generates persuasive content, and that can be leveraged across multiple marketing avenues.

Creating content your company can own also permits you to highlight your company’s expertise and differentiate it from the competition with fact-based data. By elevating the conversation to trends and issues – and away from features and benefits – you can stake a claim to a true thought leadership position. (For an example, click the Underwriter Survey on Xerox Mortgage Services’ homepage .)

2) Publish and promote your content
Now that the marketing team has content, how can they harness it?

From a PR perspective, news releases, bylined articles or interviews with subject matter experts rank high on the list for using your content. A series of presentations and panel events at trade shows are easy extensions and can be coupled with distributing the survey findings at the event.

In addition, thought leadership-based content also provides the information necessary to drive a series of webinars, whitepapers or direct mail efforts that extend beyond the usual product- or service-based marketing programs. These marketing efforts raise your organization above the expected marketplace messages and position you as a true industry discussion leader with new thinking and ideas. (See this in action for Sprint .)

3) Arm Sales with your content
Every industry has a unique sales cycle, but the common thread for most B2B companies is that the sales force always wants more leads. Today more marketers are using thought leadership-based content to generate leads.

Start by merchandising thought leadership content online. Create a sales sheet highlighting new industry insights and “fast facts” with professionally designed graphics and charts. This becomes a unique collateral piece for the sales team, as well as an effective website download offer that can attract site visitors, increase traffic and grow your leads database.

Survey findings can also be leveraged in customer and prospect e-marketing efforts. For example, pay-per-click campaigns can be constructed to help disseminate the information and also attract prospects to your website.

Thought leadership-based surveys support and complement other marketing tools such as whitepapers, presentations and media coverage. When using these calls-to-action on your website, don’t forget to employ the “give-to-get” model by adding a registration page for to capture the lead, before users can download the item. (Check out StatCom’s 2008 National Survey on Patient Flow Challenges and Technologies.)

With a smart thought leadership program, B2B companies of all sizes can create compelling and insightful content, repurpose it for multiple marketing efforts, and use it to support the lead generation efforts.

Source: http://www.pitchengine.com/

Long-term Cooperation and Mutual Benefit

Linyi Yonggu Wood Co., Ltd. was established in 2003 in Linyi, China's center for plywood. Our company specializes in the production of film faced plywood and commercial plywood. Our products sell well both in the domestic market and overseas market, including the Middle East, USA, and Europe.

In 2008, we became a Gold Supplier on Alibaba.com. From then on, we had more and more chances to connect with customers from all over the world. On Alibaba.com, we can display products, post Selling Leads and learn useful negotiation skills. After some time, we got more inquiries. We noted that the more products we uploaded to our website and the more often we updated our Selling Leads, the more inquiries we got. More and more inquiries gave us more confidence. We treated all inquiries seriously and offered exact quotations on time. That’s when the orders poured in.

Our inquiries come from all over the world, and we have made friends with some foreign customers through Alibaba.com. During communication, we introduce ourselves, explain advantages of our products, and also provide customers with detailed information on the packing, delivery and payment terms to make them fully understand our products and business procedures. Sometimes we suggest which specification is better for them. We treat every customer sincerely with the best service. Most of them give us test orders and then re-order more. Some even introduce us to other buyers. Now we cooperate with each other happily. Alibaba.com not only brings achievement and revenue to a company but also changes the way that a company exists, develops and grows.

We have been deeply impressed with the orders brought to us by Alibaba.com. We believe that Alibaba.com will bring more customers and benefits to us.

Source: http://news.alibaba.com/

Manufacturing Sector on the Road to Recovery

After witnessing a lull in industrial activity over the past 8-9 months, the manufacturing sector is finally showing signs of recovery. The SMEs in the industrial sector, which were anticipating a bleak 2009-10, are now heaving a sigh of relief as some segments in the manufacturing industry have posted moderate growth in 2008-09.

CII survey indicating positive signs

A recently released report by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII)-ASCON has indicated slight moderation in the growth figures of some industrial segments in the second and third quarters of the last financial year.

Small manufacturing units engaged in the production of fertilisers, low and high-density polythene, pig iron, steel and mopeds showed marginal improvement during the second half of the previous financial year as compared to the corresponding quarters in 2007-08.

“Though the manufacturing sector has slowed down considerably on the whole, with most of its segments posting negative growth on a yearly basis, a few sectors have managed to clock modest growth figures during the second half of 2008-09,” commented K Nihalani, Director Adelina Investments, a mid-sized investment consultancy firm in Kolkata.

“Green shoots of growth have been observed by some small firms despite the challenging conditions,” added Mr Nihalani.

According to the CII report, SMEs engaged in manufacturing asbestos cement, switch gears, power cable equipment and capacitors reported robust growth. However, small businesses did not fare well in sectors like commercial vehicles, capital goods, distribution transformer, industrial valves, energy meters and motor starters, and posted negative growth for the second half of 2008-09.

“Last financial year proved to be a dismal one for auto component, machine tools and motor starters manufacturers as the demand in these sectors remained weak for most part of the year. However, contrary to general perception, some industrial segments have reported balanced growth, raising hopes for brighter prospects for this sector,” said A Ghosh, an executive working with Kamal Engineering Works, a small-sized manufacturer of engineering tools in Kolkata.

Though the manufacturing sector is slowly gaining momentum, small units need to stay on their toes and follow the market movements closely till a complete recovery happens.

Source: http://www.bestsyndication.com/?q=node/29690

TAITRA Features Recession Beating Global B2B Tools on Taiwantrade

TAIPEI, Taiwan--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) features recession beating B2B tools on Taiwantrade. Designed to meet the rapidly changing requirements of global trading during challenging times, Taiwantrade provides instant access to B2B commerce tools to international small and medium enterprises who are members. Taiwantrade is going to launch a promotion to offer free memberships and elite bonus to all worldwide suppliers and buyers next week.

Essential tools include an electronic bulletin board showcases numerous buy and sell business opportunities posted by Taiwantrade members from around the world, and alerts for new products, biz exchange trade leads, new suppliers, special offers, and trade-related news. Taiwantrade also provides an extensive business and trade database. A personalized homepage will highlight exactly the information that was specified while signing up as a member.

Taiwanese companies play a major global role in supplying the world’s requirements in sectors such as electronics, communications, computers, auto parts, and motorcycles. Associations representing these industries work closely with Taiwantrade to enable global buyers and suppliers to obtain the latest information on products and manufacturing services offered by these Taiwanese enterprises.

In 2008, TAITRA organized 28 international trade shows, provided services to 10,072 local and foreign exhibitors. TAITRA updated a domestic suppliers' database that features more than 240,000 companies, and established a foreign buyers' database that includes more than 1.12 million companies. TAITRA provided enterprise-portal services over 30,000 companies, compiled 240,000 pieces of new electronic product catalogs, initiated 706,600 trade leads, and racked up 7,668,176 visits to the Taiwantrade and TAITRA websites. TAITRA also sponsored 68 promotional seminars concerning eMarketing, increased foreign company members by 27,364, and organized 23 international online trade shows. Plus, TAITRA arranged 915 purchasing tours for foreign buyers to come to Taiwan.

Mr. Yuen-Chuan Chao, the President and CEO of TAITRA stated that “The e-Procurement Site service of Taiwantrade helped foreign buyers and sellers create 54 global business transactions in 2008, of which value reached up to US$800 million. We are redoubling our efforts in 2009 to overcome the challenges of the difficult times. Taiwantrade is a major component in our strategies.”

With the B2B commerce tools on Taiwantrade, it has never been easier for worldwide buyers and sellers to locate online vital global trade information that exponentially increases business opportunities.

About Taiwantrade

Taiwantrade is an interactive e-business portal designed to provide small and medium enterprises (SMEs) with immediate access to B2B e-commerce activities, and to help them gain a digital edge over their competitors worldwide. Backed by a wealth of trade promotion resources and strong support from different trade and industry associations, e-marketplaces, and popular trade websites, Taiwantrade offers the utmost online trade and promotion services. Taiwantrade is sponsored by the Bureau of Foreign Trade under the Ministry of Economic Affairs and administered by the Taiwan External Trade Development Council.

Source: http://www.businesswire.com

Kolkata auto and spares

Riding on a car or two-wheeler is a great combination of luxury and comfort that everybody enjoys. But to have a smooth and comfortable journey, one has to make sure that the vehicle he/she is riding is fully fit to run on the road. But as the automobiles are nothing but machines, one cannot predict malfunctions and disturbances. Hundreds of spare parts of different shapes and sizes play important roles behind the running of an automobile on the road and some of them may get damaged or defect may occur at any time. So what would you do? Won’t you get out on the road with your car or two-wheeler just because it may stop running at any point of time? No you wouldn’t. Nobody thinks that way because there is no reason to worry if you know about places from where you can buy auto spare parts.

Selling and repairing of auto spare parts is a very lucrative business all over the world and with the gigantic rise in the percentage of people having automobile vehicles, this business is sure to flourish. Auto spare parts shops are available in all developed cities in large numbers and they earn quite well. Kolkata is not an exception to that. Kolkata, the capital of West Bengal is among the largest and the five metropolitan cities in India. The city is home to billions of people significant percentage of which maintains a high standard of living. The percentage of people owning more than one automobile vehicle is quite high here. So is the number of people selling auto spare parts For citizens of Kolkata, finding out a shop of auto spare parts is not very difficult but for visitors or people who have just settled here it is a challenging task. Getting stuck to your ‘break down’ car at the middle of a busy road is quite an embarrassment. But you cannot rule it out. So before you get out on the streets of Kolkata with your vehicle, it is better to have an idea about places from where you can buy auto spare parts. You need not to buy a yellow page or a city guide for that. Just log on to the Kolkata-based B2B portals and get the solution to your problem within seconds.

The Kolkata-based B2B portals are information portals that introduce outsiders to the city. Detailed information on everything in Kolkata is available on these portals. These portals are the perfect and most advanced city guides for you. From tourist spots to pilgrimage sites, shopping malls to markets, theaters to multiplexes, restaurants to food parks, information on everything that the city has got is available on these portals. So how can one miss out the auto section? Almost all the Kolkata-based B2B portal has got a separate section for automobiles from where you can find all kinds of information regarding cars, two-wheelers, show room for automobile vehicles, car rental companies and of course on companies that manufacture auto spare parts and shops where those are sold. What you need to do is to log on to any of the Kolkata-based B2B portal and search for auto spare parts. You will find a long list of names of places and shops that can provide quick solution to your problem. Just download the addresses and the contact numbers of shops and then get out for a ride with a relaxed mind. Don’t worry, with information collected from the Kolkata-based B2B portals, you are always at a safe journey.

Source: http://www.bignews.biz/

IDI Launches New Programs

The Israel Diamond Institute Group of Companies (IDI) today launched the third stage in its “Together Works” strategic marketing plan.

Being rolled out throughout 2009, “Together Works” provides support to Israeli diamond manufacturers and exporters while offering real-time assistance and services to the Israeli Diamond Industry’s international trading partners. Stage 3 of the program introduces an unprecedented service especially geared to the Asian markets, a key export target for Israeli diamantaires.

Stage 3 also launches a new seasonal magazine called "Reflections – Diamonds. Fashion. Trends. Clearly." to promote the beauty of diamonds, focusing on jewelry retailers and their customers for 10,000 readers in the US.

In other IDI news, the group also announced a Russian version of the Israeli Diamond Industry Portal (www.israelidiamond.co.il), the definitive B2B website for the Israel trade. The Russian language website comes on the heels of successfully launching English, Hebrew and Chinese version of the website since 2003.

The Israel Diamond Industry Portal, www.israelidiamond.co.il creates a B2B marketplace for the exchange of business contacts and diamond requests that lead to actual transactions. With 7,500 registered users in 125 countries, the portal is a dynamic site, with content being updated throughout the day.

The informative section of the portal is open to all users. Russian members of the diamond and jewelry trade are invited to register as members, free of charge, to gain access to the secure section of the portal which offers information about Israeli companies, and entry into the diamond supply and demand platform.

Source: http://www.jckonline.com/

Jewelry exporters in Kolkata

The beauty of Bengali is well known all over the world. With their traditional attire, hairstyle and natural elegance, Bengali women stand several steps ahead of women of other provinces of India. But apart from their inborn sweetness, attire and hairstyle, another thing that adds a lot to the beauty of Bengali women is the golden jewelry. The dazzling golden jewelries with exquisite finish make Bengali women attractive in the eyes of all. One just cannot think of Bengali women without ornaments, such is their connection with golden jewelries and if anybody deserves credit for that, it’s the goldsmiths and jewelers in Kolkata and Bengal. Though Kolkata is not a pioneer in golden jewelry manufacturing, the ornaments that are produced here are of always of high demand all over India. In fact, today, the popularity of Kolkata-made golden jewelries is no more confined within the national boundary. It is very much an international product now and among the most sought after things for women all over the world. Thanks to the jewelry exporters in Kolkata, getting hold of an exquisite golden jewelry set is not a very big deal for people living in different parts of the world.

The jewelry exporters in Kolkata have strong business relations with several countries but the leaders are the Gulf countries. Huge volume of golden jewelries are exported to developed cities of the Gulf countries throughout they year and during Diwali, one of the biggest festivals of the Hindus, the demand for ornaments reaches the maximum limit. One of the major reasons why the Gulf countries are leaders in importing golden jewelries from Kolkata is the significant percentage of NRI population. But apart from the NRIs, traditional Indian golden jewelries are also appreciated by foreigners.

However, even if you are not an NRI and not a resident of any Gulf country you can buy a Kolkata-made golden jewelry set easily because the jewelry exporters in Kolkata have their operation in different corners of the globe. There are franchisees that deal with Indian jewelries that are exported from Kolkata., Besides, you can order for products directly to the manufacturers. Don’t have any idea about jewelry exporters in Kolkata? Don’t you worry. Just search for it on the internet. You will find a long list of Kolkata-based B2B portals that will guide you.

The Kolkata-based B2B portals can be said to be electronic yellow pages from where one can get all kinds of business related information about the city. These portals have come up as an useful medium of communication between buyers, sellers and different other entities of business activities. As getting information from the internet is much faster compared to all other mediums, the business-class people are using these portals for their benefit. They are enlisting their names and full profile in specific sections of these portals and when people are searching for that section, they are getting a long list of names of persons that they are looking for. If you are looking for jewelry exporters in Kolkata, just search for it and you will be provided with a similar list. Jewelry exporters in Kolkata are not very few in numbers. By searching on the city-based B12B portals you will get complete details about them. Some of the city-based 2B portals provide interactive tools like SMS and live chat that you can use to communicate with the exporters. And if you are in real hurry you may also opt for buying products online. Just log in to any Kolkata-based B2B portal and search for exporters who are ready to sell their products online. You can be rest assured of getting the latest and most genuine information.

Source: http://www.bignews.biz/

Alibaba looks to open wider

The sole sizeable survivor of the dotcom frenzy for online business procurement exchanges, China-based Alibaba.com, is preparing to introduce premium services in Australia, where it already has 200,000 customers.

The company offers its 38 million small and medium customers access to millions of others in web-based networks that let them source parts and products as well as selling their wares without the slower process -- and expense -- of using consultants or intermediaries.

Late last year, the company stitched up a local alliance with listed hosting and domain name group Melbourne IT.

Alibaba is a key way for Australian small businesses to source products through its millions of users in China.

It has three marketplaces, in English, Chinese and Japanese.

"Australia is a very important market for us," Alibaba chief executive David Wei said. "We will be launching premium services here very soon."

Its business model is simple: companies can either use the marketplace or pay a yearly membership fee.

Melbourne IT will be selling Alibaba's TrustPass service, a paid membership package that helps suppliers stand out in the business-to-business marketplace, it claims.

The TrustPass offers third-party verification and authentication of the seller's business to give buyers confidence. This enables them to keep a firm eye on their costs and, for Alibaba, eliminates the need for messy and complicated commission systems and expensive billing platforms.

Mr Wei said Australia was unusual in that about 96 per cent of Alibaba's customers here just used the site for purchasing and not selling. "It seems they are not very good at selling offshore, but hopefully this can change."

Alibaba was founded in 1999 by Chinese schoolteacher Jack Ma and a group of colleagues. Mr Ma has since developed a reputation as the country's Mr Internet.

Mr Wei, 39, has worked at the highest levels of banking and retail for China B&Q, a home improvements group, before joining Alibaba in 2006 and quickly progressing to the top job. He is also on the board of The Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking group. Alibaba made its initial public offering on the Hong Kong stock exchange in November 2007 -- worth $US1.7 billion.

After just catching the last wave of the bull market, it is now finally starting to add more serious revenue and profits to its once-massive valuation.

In its 2008 full-year results unveiled on March 19, the company said it had more than 11 million users -- 7.5 million in international marketplaces. Its revenue rose 39 per cent per cent to 3 billion yuan and posted a profit of 1.1 billion yuan ($220 million).

Mr Wei said the company saw the global financial crisis as an opportunity to help small and medium business customers use the internet to cut costs and increase the flexibility and productivity of their operations.

Source: http://news.alibaba.com/

Major Chemical Manufacturer Wins PM100 Award for MRO Project with Elemica

EXTON, Pa., May 11 /PRNewswire/ -- Elemica, the industry-leading B2B supply chain execution network, announces that client, The Dow Chemical Company, has won the 2009 Progressive Manufacturing 100 Award (PM100) from Managing Automation Media. This is the second consecutive year that an Elemica client has won the prestigious PM100 for a project with Elemica. This is also the second consecutive year that Elemica has been named a PM100 Technology Partner.

The Dow Chemical Company won in the Supply Network Mastery discipline which recognizes companies that have improved the operations of their material procurement, production and execution aspects of their supply chains to achieve faster time to market, cost reductions and efficiencies, and higher customer satisfaction ratings. Dow automated the procurement of maintenance, repair, and operations (MRO) supplies using Elemica's Procurement Solution, eliminating paper and manual processes, resulting in significant cost savings and operational efficiencies. Dow has migrated hundreds of key suppliers to Elemica to centralize and standardize their global purchasing operations. By standardizing transactions with hundreds of suppliers through Elemica, Dow has eliminated complexity in the Procurement process, and simplified their internal infrastructure. In making the transition from manual to automated procurement processes, Dow has gained a significant improvement in business process efficiency, data quality, and reduction in human error.

"The Dow Chemical Company has leveraged Elemica's 'Connect Once. Connect to All.' eCommerce platform to cut structural costs from the supply chain. Dow is most deserving of this prestigious recognition as a progressive company, and we congratulate them," said Mike McGuigan, CEO of Elemica. "This second PM100 Tech Partner Award for Elemica reaffirms us as an industry leader in reducing supply chain costs and simplifying procurement processes that mean real cost savings for our clients."

"This achievement would not have been possible if were not for the outstanding project management and implementation services provided by Elemica. An effort of this magnitude requires the utmost in technical and organizational competency; Elemica outperformed on each account," said Mark Farley, Global Procurement Technology Leader, The Dow Chemical Company.

"In the face of one of the worst economic downturns in history, these winning companies dramatically underscore how the manufacturing industry will not only get through this period but emerge in an even stronger position once a recovery takes hold," said David R. Brousell, Editor-in-Chief of Managing Automation Media. "The projects that enabled these companies to become PM100 winners reflect great creativity and inventiveness, a determined willingness to take risk, and an enduring resilience to continually improve every aspect of their business. These companies are leading the way to a better future for all industry."

source: http://news.prnewswire.com/

Britain garment manufacturer moves operations to Cambodia

PHNOM PENH, May 11 (Xinhua) -- A major garment manufacturer will move its product development center from the United Kingdom to Cambodia, a sign, according to some experts, that despite the effects of the economic crisis, the Cambodian garment sector continues to remain internationally competitive, local media reported on Monday.

Britain company New Island Clothing is setting up "a high level standards product development center," making the company one of the first to conduct the whole garment-production process -- from development to the placement of orders -- in Cambodia, New Island General Manager Kevin Plenty was quoted by the Cambodia Daily as saying.

The company, which has been in Cambodia for nine years and produces up to 75,000 men's shirts per week, had decided to set up the center here because it makes "the whole production process quicker for our customers," as the majority of materials come from the ASEAN region, said Plenty.

Kaing Monika, external affairs manager of the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC) said New Island's strategy showed the factory's "long-term vision and commitment in Cambodia," adding that most Cambodian factories only do "cut, make and trim" -- a production formula in which raw materials and designs are supplied and factories only really stitch the clothes together.

Tuomo Poutiainen, chief technical adviser for the International Labor Organization's garment sector program Better Factories Cambodia, said New Island's decision was "very positive for industry" and showed there was "enough confidence in the Cambodian garment sector to invest even in bad times."

Hundreds of factories have constituted the backbone of the garment sector of Cambodia, which used to generate above 70 percent of its total annual export volumes.

However, due to the global financial crisis and rising labor disputes, at least 60 garment factories have been closed and more than 50,000 garment workers lost their jobs since late 2008 and the sector's export volumes have also seen an obvious slide in the first quarter of this year.

But Plenty said he believed that the industry will see an economic turnaround within six months, and that he is not the only one within the garment industry to feel that way.

Source: http://news.xinhuanet.com/

Alibaba steers small producers to home market

Alibaba.com, the world's leading business-to-business e-commerce services provider, has started to steer some of its member manufacturing companies to the domestic consumer market due to the lingering slowdown in exports.

Chairman Jack Ma Yun plotted that course over the weekend at the company-sponsored Online Merchant Trade Fair in Guangzhou, where it assisted 400 small and medium-sized manufacturers to connect with potential customers among Taobao's 30,000 merchant users.

Alibaba.com and Taobao, the mainland's largest consumer e-commerce firm, are both subsidiaries of Hangzhou-based Alibaba Group.

"The world is on the cusp of a new model that shifts power away from big business and gives it to consumers, small manufacturers and e-retailers," Mr Ma said.

Forming new relationships could help export manufacturers offset the temporary decline in demand from international markets by supplying their goods to domestic consumers, a situation that could also provide Taobao's top online merchants with new sources of quality goods, he said.

In the first quarter, the mainland's exports dropped 19.7 per cent to US$245.54 billion. The biggest decline came from Japan, falling 25.7 per cent, followed by Australia, with a decrease of 20.1 per cent.

Taobao, the largest internet retail portal on the mainland with more than 100 million registered users, is to share data on trend information on buyer queries and purchases made on its website to help Alibaba.com's member-manufacturers promptly meet market requirements.

Alibaba.com has about 32 million registered users on its Chinese business-to-business marketplace (Alibaba.com.cn), including more than 400,000 domestic suppliers.

A Morgan Stanley Research report said: "Alibaba.com is positioned as a one-stop shop to solve the bottlenecks for China's 40 million-plus small and medium-sized enterprises, the most robust growth engine for the country's economic boom."

Source: http://news.alibaba.com/

2009 China Textile Industry Summit To Be Held June 11

The 2009 China Textile Industry Summit, themed "Crisis and Opportunities," will be held June 11 - the day before the grand opening of the 14th International Exhibition on Textile Industry (ShanghaiTex 2009) - at The International Conference Centre in Shanghai.

Keynote speakers include Secretary General of the Boao Forum for Asia and world business expert Long Yungtu, who will examine the global market situation and the impact of the financial crisis on China's economy; a Shanghai city official, who will focus on modern service industries and Shanghai; and a leader of the China National Textile and Apparel Council, who will discuss the impact of the financial crisis on China's textile and machinery industry and the industry's development trend.

The Summit is organized by Shanghai International Exhibition Co. Ltd., Shanghai Textile Technology Service & Exhibition Center and Hong Kong-based Adsale Exhibition Services Ltd., and is sponsored by Shanghai Textile Holding (Group) Corp., China Council for the Promotion of International Trade Shanghai Sub-Council, China Chamber of International Commerce and Shanghai Chamber of Commerce. Supporters include China National Textile and Apparel Council and Shanghai Textile Industry Association.

Source: http://www.textileworldasia.com/

TradersDiamonds.com - A new and easy diamond solution for Jewellers.

Today, for most jewellers, sourcing solitaires is a very tedious and time-consuming task. In such a scenario, buying solitaires online would be an idea to scoff at, a distant, unfulfilled dream. . But B2B portal www.tradersdiamonds.com is well on its way to making that dream come true, making the process of sourcing solitaires for jewellers as convenient as paying bills online.

Set up by Mr. Srinivasa Gopalan, a seasoned entrepreneur in information technology and founder CEO of Lister Technologies and Mr. Mithun Sacheti, a GIA educated jeweller gemmologist who belongs to well-known jewellery family, Jaipur Gems, Traders Diamonds is a pioneer in the online trading of diamonds for jewellers.

Mithun Sacheti, Director, Traders Diamonds gave Roli Gupta details about the Traders Diamonds brand, its raison d’etre and its vision for the future…

RG: What is Traders Diamonds?
MS: TradersDiamonds is a B2B website that sells certified loose diamonds to jewellers & other members of the diamond trade. This “exclusive trade-only” website allows traders to browse to a selection of close to 80,000 solitaires of every colour, cut, clarity grade combination in carat weight starting from 0.30cts to 10cts and above. Our model is based on aggregating the diamond inventory of manufacturers across the world and bringing it directly to jewellers in India using our website– www.tradersdiamonds.com.

RG: Why did you set up Tradersdiamonds.com?
MS: In the course of doing business in India for the last few years, I have met a whole lot of jewellers who get a lot of solitaire enquiries but they invariably prefer to let the business pass because solitaires are extremely time consuming and expensive for most jewellers – firstly because they are a high price item and secondly because of the various cut, clarity, color and size combinations, a jeweller will have to keep a very large number of pieces to be able to offer his customers a wide range which essentially means large investments in inventory.

Secondly, there are more than 5000 manufacturers in the world. A jeweller’s chances of getting the best priced diamond are proportional to the number of manufacturers whose inventory information he has. The market is highly fragmented and unorganized. So getting this inventory information is physically impossible. That means the jeweller often ends up buying a more expensive diamond, purely for lack of organized information. This was another opportunity area waiting to get tapped.

Thirdly once he receives the enquiry, the jeweller spends a lot of time calling different manufacturers to find the right solitaire for his customer. So, time that a jeweller would typically like to spend with customers is spent on diamond procurement. This again is a huge pain point with jewellers.

I have been in the US, where I have seen how online models have benefited the diamond trade. And I have seen how online companies which aggregate information on flights or financial products have changed industry dynamics in India.

So there is a need and we felt that an online model would address that need. And that is how TradersDiamonds.com came into being.

RG: What is its USP? What makes it different from the others in the same field? What sort of competition does Traders Diamonds have?
MS: TradersDiamonds.com has no like competition, as of today - one which offers an aggregated inventory online. That said, we do look forward to having that kind of competition. Then there will be more people working together to change the mindset of jewellers and convincing them about the benefits of an online model.

Competition however comes from the other diamond suppliers. There are basically two types. There are the manufacturers themselves, many of whom have a trade website as well. But their inventory is far limited as compared to ours and that gives us a huge edge. Then there are the brokers and wholesalers. Again, their database is limited to a few vendors and we can offer a far larger range of options. Secondly, our users can easily access our inventory whereas they can only call to get information from the brokers and wholesalers. In both cases, our larger inventory helps us to frequently find a lower priced diamond. Then, there are a few other trade portals which typically serve as aggregators. However these are subscription based and the subscription costs are fairly high. So a small jeweller who has only a few transactions may not find them expensive. Our model however is purely brokerage based and there is no subscription fee.

In addition to that, we have created a website which makes it extremely easy to search for diamonds. We also have a dedicated customer service team to help the jewellers with their requirements.

Our association with foreign manufacturers gives us another USP in terms of inventory of fancy shaped diamonds. We are far better positioned to offer a range of options in most of the popular fancy shapes, even in large sizes.

Finally, we have a dedicated team of GIA trained gemmologists. This team offers diamond advisory services to the jewellers, helping them with the finer technical issues. There are various issues like the grading of Zimbabwean stones, which jewellers are unclear about. Our advisory service often comes to their rescue.

RG: How do you plan to position it?
MS: Our positioning is very simple. We want to be the one –stop shop for all kinds of diamonds and solitaire requirements for all kinds of jewellers. Once a jeweller comes to us, he need not go anywhere.

We don’t want to be labeled as just an online retailer for the internet savvy jeweller. We have combined the advantages of the internet with good old diamond expertise and offline measures to be able to offer the best range of diamonds to all kinds of jewellers.

Source: http://diamondworld.net/

Less Cost and More Effects, Only on Alibaba.com

YUNDA FILTER was founded in 2001. Our main products are water filters and related accessories. We are one of the earliest free members of Alibaba.com. But as a new company, we did not invest much in internet promotion. After 6 years' development, the export accounts for 80% of our total sales. We realized that joining Alibaba.com, the global outstanding online marketplace, had becoming a top importance and a big advantage for us to promote our products in overseas market and to be outstanding in the fierce competition.

We joined Alibaba.com as a Gold Supplier in 2008 and got the good result immediately. We received 6 to 10 inquiries per day. We have developed cooperative relationship with many new customers from Middle-East, South East Asia and America, some of which have placed several orders. We combined the knowledge and experience learned from the professional training courses with our own practical situation. We arranged a series of trainings for our trade team and developed an Order Process Procedure to improve their judgment to inquiries, ability of negotiation and risk control so as to improve the probability of transactions and stability of orders. The other harvest we got from Alibaba.com was a great deal of information which helped us to adjust products' specifications, appearances and packing according to the analysis of the competitive strength of our products in different markets and special requests from these markets.

So far, we are not obviously affected by the economic crisis of 2008. We still kept a turnover valued 6 million dollars in 2008. We think it is directly related to our experience in Alibaba.com.

The annual cost of joining Alibaba.com is even lower than that of attending one international trade fair, but its coverage and effects are far more than a trade fair can provide. In the future, we will pay more attention to the operation of Alibaba.com, to be more careful in details, and actively participate in various training courses. We believe that we will make a breakthrough in 2009.

Source: http://news.alibaba.com/