Spinneys enters Kuwait through a joint venture with Alshaya Group, marking its expansion into a fourth GCC market.
The retailer plans ten stores, with the first opening in 2026, holding a 51% majority stake in the venture.
Kuwait’s strong disposable income and retail potential make it a key market for Spinneys’ premium fresh food growth strategy.
Spinneys
Spinneys, premium fresh food retailer, announced its entry into Kuwait. This is through a joint venture with Alshaya Group, a leading brand franchise operator. This marks Spinney’s entry into a fourth GCC market and is a step forwards in its regional expansion strategy.
“We are delighted to announce our entry into Kuwait, as a part of the Strategic Middle East expansion plan, a significant milestone in our strategy to bring Spinneys’ premium fresh food offering to more customers. Kuwait is a high potential market and presents strong growth opportunities for us. The first store under the joint venture is expected to open in 2026, paving the way for a long and successful presence in the Kuwaiti market,” said Sunil Kumar, Chief Executive Officer at Spinneys.
Under the joint venture, Spinneys will hold a 51% majority stake. It will also lead the operation and management of all stores under the partnership. In its initial rollout, it is planning ten stores in Kuwait with intentions for the first location to open in 2026.
Kuwait
Its entry into the Kuwaiti market aligns with its growth ambitions to be a top brand choice in the region. Furthermore, as the fourth largest economy in the GCC, Kuwait offers an incentivizing retail opportunity. Additionally, the country’s market has some of the highest levels of disposable income per-capital in the region. Thus, Spinneys aims to meet this demand through premium offerings.
“Kuwait is a dynamic market with a strong appetite for premium offerings, and we believe Spinneys’ proven brand and operational excellence will resonate strongly with local consumers,” said John Hadden, Chief Executive Officer at Alshaya Group.
Consumer companies can cope with the baby bust. They just have to pivot to baby boomers. Birth rates falling to historic lows across the developed world, combined with people living longer, are reshaping the global market for the things we eat, wear and put on our skin.
Yet despite the fact that older people have more purchasing power, the consumer goods world is still far more obsessed with catering to the young. It’s time for manufacturers to pay more attention to the silver economy — where there’s a market for everything from food and personal care items to toys and fashion.
Japan has long been the epicentre for catering to an aging population, from having dedicated malls for seniors to employing robotic carers. But populations are also aging in Europe and the US.
Although children still outnumber older adults in the US, the gap is narrowing, according to the Vintage 2024 Population Estimates, released in June by the US Census Bureau.
Despite older adults spending more on travel and meals out, elderly fashion is often neglected. There is a market for clothing that is stylish yet suitable for silver fashionistas. And given that many older people have accumulated assets over their lifetimes, it’s a potentially lucrative market at a time when demand elsewhere is fragile.
Higher necklines, more pockets and looser sleeves could easily be incorporated into designs. We get shorter as we age, so more length options in dresses and men’s pants would be a relatively simple easy win, too.
For the very old, dexterity becomes more of an issue, making elasticated waists and front-fastenings necessary. Learnings from children’s wear could be valuable here. British retailer Marks & Spencer Group Plc has created a range for children with disabilities or limited mobility, including hidden openings for feeding tubes, softer fabrics and replacing buttons on shirts with Velcro fastenings. It’s not hard to see such features applied to items for the elderly. If technology — such as fabrics that help cool the body — could be incorporated, garments would be even more effective.
But perhaps the biggest opportunity for consumer companies is what trend forecaster WGSN has described as “living for longevity,” in other words preparing for our many later years throughout our lives.
The wellness and beauty industries are most obvious beneficiaries. Collagen production is already a focus for skincare brands and vitamin makers. Nestle is also working on addressing cell decline, which begins in a person’s 40s and starts to accelerate in their 60s. Creatine, which supplies energy to muscles and can also support brain health, is also coming into the longevity picture.
The consumer sector is fascinated with Gen Z and Gen Alpha. Thinking about their later years at the same time as selling them the latest frippery won’t exactly make demographic change child’s play, but it should make companies more resilient.
CHENNAI – From Japan’s Shiseido (4911.T) to France’s L’Oreal (OREP.PA) global cosmetics giants are doubling down on India, betting on the world’s most populous nation as a key growth market for premium offerings while sales slow in developed economies.
India’s luxury beauty market is expected to quintuple to $4 billion by 2035 from $800 million in 2023, driven by its young, affluent, social-media savvy shoppers with rising disposable incomes, consulting firm Kearney and luxury beauty distributor LUXASIA said in a report.
Luxury beauty makes up just 4% of the $21-billion beauty and personal care market, compared with 8% to 24% across top Southeast Asian countries and 25% to 48% in developed markets including China and the United States.
That means there is plenty of room for growth.
Bar chart comparing luxury beauty’s share of the overall beauty market and total market size across countries in 2023, showing India’s low luxury share despite a large market.
“India is the last bastion of growth for premium beauty,” said Sameer Jindal, managing director for investment bank Houlihan Lokey’s corporate finance business in India.
“The Indian consumer is willing to experiment and try out new things.”
U.S. beauty giant Estee Lauder (EL.N) home to the brands Clinique and MAC, expects a strong runway for expansion and long-term growth in India, even as it grapples with soft sales in the Americas and Asia-Pacific.
“India today, within the Estee Lauder network, is looked at as one of the priority emerging markets,” said country general manager Rohan Vaziralli, highlighting plans to initially target 60 million women in the nation of more than 1.4 billion.
Homemaker R. Priyanka, based in the southern city of Chennai, said she was thrilled to have better access to Estee Lauder’s Jo Malone London fragrance in India, as a benefit of the companies’ efforts.
“It is easier than asking someone (abroad) to get it for you every time,” she added.
While global beauty brands might have to modify some of their products for India, which bakes in sultry temperatures in summer and oppressive humidity at other times, they face little competition from homegrown brands.
Kearney and LUXASIA identified only Forest Essentials and Kama Ayurveda as their major rivals, underscoring how domestic brands make up less than a tenth of luxury beauty sales.
In the more established markets of China, Japan and South Korea by comparison, domestic brands account for a 40% share.
“There is, of course, a premium perception gap between globally established brands and Indian brands,” said Devangshu Dutta, founder of retail consultancy Third Eyesight.
Global beauty giants’ huge marketing budgets also give them an edge over domestic brands, other industry watchers said.
WOOING INDIAN SHOPPERS
Estee Lauder is studying online sales patterns to identify the smaller cities to target, such as Siliguri in West Bengal state, partnering with designers such as Sabyasachi Mukherjee, and launching products such as kohl, an eyeliner Indians favour.
It has also invested in Forest Essentials, a brand with herbal ingredients, and in a programme offering funding to domestic beauty start-ups.
This year France’s L’Oreal said it was investing more in India and tapping into the “elevated beauty desires” of the nation’s young, digitally savvy, empowered women shoppers to drive growth. It declined further comment.
South Korea’s Amorepacific (090430.KS), opens new tab, known for brands such as Innisfree and Etude, is trying to leverage the Korean beauty craze in India with products geared to the market.
These include items for the popular “cleanser, serum, moisturiser, and sunscreen” beauty regimen, the country head, Paul Lee, said.
Japan’s Shiseido, with a history of more than 150 years, brought its NARS brand to Indian beauty retailer Nykaa’s (FSNE.NS), opens new tab website this year, and plans to step up growth of its brands in the subcontinent.
Area chart showing India’s luxury beauty market growth from 2018 to 2035, with market size projected to double by 2028 and grow fivefold by 2035, highlighting rising demand.
Area chart showing India’s luxury beauty market growth from 2018 to 2035, with market size projected to double by 2028 and grow fivefold by 2035, highlighting rising demand.
Global brands are very excited about India, where consumers are splurging more to stay on top of trends such as “cherry makeup”, Nykaa co-founder Adwaita Nayar said, referring to a look featuring flushed cheeks, glossy lips, and soft pink eyes.
Amazon (AMZN.O) which has also been seeing a big boom in beauty demand in India, aims to identify emerging global trends and bring in more brands, said Siddharth Bhagat, director of beauty and fashion at the e-commerce company in India.
Retailer Shoppers Stop (SHOP.NS) which also pioneers foreign labels, plans to open 15 to 20 beauty stores in each of the next three years to boost its revenue from the segment to a quarter from less than a fifth now, its beauty business CEO Biju Kassim said.
McCormick (MKC.N) said on Thursday it will raise its stake in its Mexico joint venture to 75% by acquiring 25% more for $750 million as the condiments maker seeks to expand further in Latin America.
McCormick, maker of Cholula hot sauce, said the deal should close early in the 2026 fiscal year and that the transaction should be accretive to adjusted earnings per share within the first year.
Shares in Grupo Herdez (HERDEZ.MX), the Mexican salsa seller and coffee chain operator that has shared the 50/50 joint venture with McCormick, shot up during morning trading, triggering a brief suspension on the Mexican stock exchange.
Its shares were up 25% at 8:45 a.m. local time (1445 GMT), bringing its market value up to nearly 23 billion Mexican pesos ($1.23 billion). Shares in McCormick meanwhile rose nearly 1%.
Connor Rattigan, an analyst at Consumer Edge, said McCormick’s decision was indicative of sentiment by similar firms regarding emerging markets as middle classes expand, but warned of pressures on consumer spending in the United States.
“This is likely not the end of the company’s ambitions for growth in the region,” he told Reuters.
Founded in 1947, the joint venture with Grupo Herdez, known as McCormick de Mexico, has been a dominant player in the condiments and sauces segment in Mexico, Latin America’s second-largest economy, selling a range of McCormick brand products.
The deal is subject to customary closing and regulatory conditions, McCormick said.
($1 = 18.7620 Mexican pesos)
Author Credits- Neil J Kanatt and Paolo Laudani Reuters
As an Associate Vice President With over 16 years of experience, Rohit is known for building and transforming businesses across retail, wholesale, buying, merchandising, ecommerce, and strategic planning. He specializes in P&L management and leading digital transformation to drive innovation and growth. Passionate about leveraging technology to create seamless, integrated experiences, he focuses on optimizing operations and delivering results. As a leader, he values strong teams and a collaborative culture. In this conversation, Rohit spoke about, On the next phase of digital transformation, On bridging online and offline channels, On changing consumer behavior, On the evolution of merchandising and balancing data and intuition.
Imagine you are scrolling through your phone. You see a video that pops up, talking about a particular product, a video tutorial, or an unboxing video, and this captures your attention and without leaving the app you click on buy. This instant and seamless transition from discovering a product and purchasing the product via social media platform is what social commerce is all about.
In other words, social commerce is using social media platforms to enable the buying and selling of products, by integrating the shopping experience directly into the social media environment.
In India, social commerce is rapidly growing and is revolutionizing the way people shop online by blending social media with e-commerce . India is a key market for social commerce because of its high internet penetration and massive social media user base.
According to IMARC, the Indian Social commerce market size was valued at USD 7.2 billion in 2024 and the market is expected to reach USD 54.3 billion by 2033, and is exhibiting a CAGR of 22.40% during 2025-2033.
In India, social commerce is widely used by the Gen Z and millennials, they are the driving force behind the growth of social commerce, especially within the fashion and beauty categories. The in-demand categories for social commerce in the retail and e-commerce sectors are, clothing, footwear, beauty and personal care, and food and grocery.
In the Indian social commerce realm, platforms like Meesho, Shopsy and Deal Share are leading the charge. Alongside well-known players like Amazon and Flipkart. The other key players are, Trell, Roposo, Moj, and Myntra. For instance, Myntra has integrated a social a social commerce feature like ‘Style Squad’ to leverage influencer marketing.
These developments reflect a broader shift in how commerce is evolving, by blending social interaction with online shopping. But how exactly does social commerce work?
First, the consumer discovers products through various social media channels, advertisements, influencer endorsements, brand posts and live streams. Social commerce has made the shopping experience seamless, and consumers can make the purchase directly within the social media platform, usually through integrated shopping carts and payment gateways. It also fosters a sense of community by allowing users to interact with brands share their experience, and connect with fellow shoppers. This in turn creates a sense of trust and belonging. This paired with personalised product recommendations and targeted advertising, caters to the moder consumers preference for convenience and tailored experiences.
This customer centric evolution of shopping not only enhances the buyers experience but also opens the door for business opportunities, especially in a diverse and rapidly digitised market like India.
In India, social commerce is greatly helping retail and e-commerce businesses, by expanding their reach, boosting customer engagement, and driving sales. By taking advantage of social media platforms, companies are able to connect with a broader audience, fostering customer relationships which directly facilitates direct purchases within the platform itself. On that note, social commerce will only work where the social media usage is high and platforms like Facebook and Instagram are well known for shopping.
As digital adoption continues to rise and consumer behaviour evolves, the future of social commerce in India looks promising.
The social commerce space is expected to change course from basic reselling and social selling to a more sophisticated, AI powered retail channel. Major trends include, the rise of full stack commerce within platforms like Whats App and You Tube, the rise in short form videos which engage consumers, advanced customer profiling to deliver hyper-personalised experiences and the integration of AR/VR technologies for immersive shopping.
In Conclusion, Social commerce is changing the way people shop in India by making online shopping more social and interactive. With more people online than ever before, especially younger, tech-savvy shoppers, its helping businesses reach more customers and create stronger connections. New technologies like AI, short videos, and virtual reality are making the experience even more engaging and fun. As people look for easier, more personalized ways to shop, social commerce is set to become a big part of India’s online shopping future, opening up exciting opportunities for both companies and customers.
Today when you walk into a modern retail store, you are stepping into a space that has been engineered by data, driven by algorithms, designed to convert curiosity into customer loyalty. But while technology keeps advancing, what truly drives impact is understanding and engaging audiences at a hyperlocal level.
This interview draws on best practices from The Pant Project, while also reflecting on insights and learnings from leading premium brands. It explores how pioneers in the space are using data, customer experience, and retail innovation to enhance the overall consumer journey.
Sharath Raju expertise lies in retail Operations and Customer Experience. He is a seasoned project manager with an inclination towards fashion, health and wellness and it’s application to users. His skills include new product launches and business development of specialty concepts.
Q: You’ve worked across major D2C brands like Lenskart and now The Pant Project. How have you seen the offline retail journey evolve in the last few years?
A: “The biggest shift has been how technology is deeply embedded in the offline experience to drive both customer engagement and decision making. The most noticeable change we have seen is how technology like 3D Try-On, AI-based search integration on apps and social media, footfall analytics, and customer flow management is being used to elevate in store experience. He also said, what sets successful brands apart is their ability to find the ‘hook’. It is the unique combination of great service and smart tech integration that keeps customers coming back.”
Q: What are some key strategies you’ve seen work well to drive footfall from digital platforms to physical stores?
A: “Within The Pant Project, the ad strategy has worked really well. They identify hyperlocal influencers with strong community followings near specific stores or markets. For instance, they collaborated with a Gujarati influencer to create content and build awareness through a campaign on Meta. This significantly multiplied reach. By the time the store opened, customers were already familiar with the brand through the influencer and had a sense of the experience and value they could expect in-store.
Additionally, regional content has performed well for The Pant Project. In Hyderabad, for example, the brand focused on a specific segment through the Icons of Hyderabad campaign. We’ve taken a similar hyperlocal approach in other cities: in Kochi, we partnered with a local community page (Oh Kochi), and in Mumbai, we worked with the Mumbai Foodie Group. Regional, culturally relevant content consistently outperforms generic campaigns.
Our spend is high on Meta, and we’ve seen strong returns. Beyond that, we’ve been leveraging WhatsApp marketing more strategically, segmenting our data and sending personalized messaging. After implementing this, we observed a clear increase in ATV (Average Transaction Value), which validated the approach.”
Q: Why is hyperlocal or location-specific marketing becoming increasingly important in India’s retail landscape?
A: “For a retail brand, digital performance can be quantified based on CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost). However, in offline they focus more on brand building. It is a two way solve, while they aim to drive footfall, they also prioritise building brand stickiness.
First, when there’s a focused need for footfall, going hyperlocal can drive measurable revenue impact. For example, with MyGate, we executed a concerted effort across 300 societies week-on-week for FSB Mall, and saw a consistent spike in visits. Concentrated efforts like these around specific store locations help drive brand discovery especially when activating new channels or markets.
Second, we’ve leveraged cross-brand recall through partnerships with complementary brands. For instance, a collaboration with Truefitt & Hill worked well, as the audience overlap benefited both brands. These partnerships enhance visibility and organically increase footfall.
This kind of strategy is important because it doesn’t just bring people in, it also builds stronger brand recall and deeper engagement over time.
And finally, in crowded spaces like malls, it’s important to stand out. Fun, attention-grabbing experiences, like stilt walkers or participating in local events like the Hughes Road Marathon, have worked really well for us. They create buzz and give the brand a face in the community.”
Q: What’s the biggest shift you’ve personally seen in how data is used to drive business decisions?
A: “Data gives us micro-level understanding of how customers move through the journey, especially toward checkout. On average we sell around 50,000 pants per month. so having access to that scale of data helps us uncover small but meaningful opportunities to improve efficiency.
For example, at our Tango zone, we noticed that 30% of footfall came from women. That insight directly influenced our decision to expand the women’s category, and we now see it as an AOV growth lever.
Another metric we track is ‘Footfall to Trial’ (FF2Trial), which came out as a strong indicator of in-store engagement and conversion potential. Visual merchandising has also evolved.By tracking customer interaction touchpoints, we’ve made visual merchandising more engaging, highlighting key USPs, top categories, and creating better ‘touch-and-feel’ moments that connect customers with the product.
At the POS level, we use dashboards to monitor category performance, manage replenishment, track AOV, and even forecast inventory. This has helped us be more agile and accurate in how we stock and display.
We’re also excited about AI sizing, we’ve started enabling digital measurement cards for customers, which not only improves fit accuracy but also unlocks a more seamless omnichannel shopping experience.”
Anheuser-Busch InBev (ABI.BR) said on Tuesday that it would invest $15 million in its U.S. brewery, at a time when President Donald Trump is pushing to boost domestic production.
This move is part of Anheuser-Busch’s $300 million investment announced in May to create and sustain manufacturing jobs in the U.S. this year.
Several businesses across the globe have been ramping up investments and expanding their presence in the United States to avoid tariffs and align with the Trump administration’s “Made in America” push.
AB InBev said the investment includes funding for supply chain infrastructure to transport its domestically grown ingredients to the St. Louis, Missouri brewery, and to get beer brands, including Budweiser and Bud Light, to consumers.
In July, the company saw a decline in sales volumes due to tepid demand in Brazil and China, adding to investor woes over the industry growth.
Walmart Inc (NYSE:WMT, ETR:WMT) is set to report its second quarter earnings this week, with Bank of America analysts expecting the discussion to center less on headline numbers and more on the forces shaping the retailer’s longer-term trajectory.
For Q2, the analysts project adjusted EPS of $0.70 and US comparable sales growth of 3.5% for the quarter, in line with the Wall Street consensus.
However, they noted that recent data implies potential upside, citing stronger-than-expected sales trends during the period.
Looking at Walmart’s long-term prospects, the analysts see the company’s ability to leverage ancillary businesses to improve profitability as a key growth driver.
“We see continued gross margin expansion in Q2 helped by digital advertising & other ancillary businesses,” the analysts wrote.
With US eCommerce profitability achieved last quarter, advertising, data, and fintech are becoming increasingly important.
These businesses have delivered 40% annual growth over the last four years and are projected to drive two-thirds of Walmart’s profit growth in the next several, the analysts noted.
Convenience remains a major differentiator, the analysts believe. Over the past year, Walmart introduced the ability for customers to combine grocery, general merchandise, and pharmacy items in a single order and receive it in less than an hour.
Bank of America said this kind of integration, along with plans to extend same-day delivery coverage to 95% of US households by year-end, underscores how Walmart’s stores continue to provide a key advantage in localized fulfillment, especially in fresh food.
The firm also pointed to Walmart’s ability to navigate trade and inventory challenges. The retailer’s size, supplier relationships, and automation “well position it to manage tariffs,” with the added flexibility of shifting goods between first- and third-party arrangements and a lower overall import exposure than many peers.
On valuation, Bank of America acknowledged Walmart trades at roughly 34 times earnings, near two-decade highs, but argued the premium is warranted.
“We maintain ‘Buy’ on Walmart as share gains continue across product categories and incomes (especially $100k+) as its strong value offering & digital convenience resonate,” the analysts wrote.
Shares of Walmart traded at $101 on Tuesday afternoon, up 12% so far this year.
Louis Vuitton has announced the arrival of La Beauté, an “elevated make-up line”, as colour cosmetics continue to be seen as key growth avenues for ultra-luxury labels.
And it comes as the company announces the official arrival of Dame Pat McGrath as creative director, Cosmetics, for La Beauté (although she’s clearly been working on this project for some time).
LVMH’s star brand said the launch expands the House’s vision that’s “rooted in travel, creativity, and savoir-faire,” and introduces a “highly curated offering of the finest quality make-up, housed in objets d’art designed to be kept forever”.
It added that it’s “redefining beauty as a lifestyle, as an experience and as a dedicated art form,” and is setting “a new standard in luxury beauty”.
What this means in practice is 55 lipsticks (after all, LV is 55 in Roman numerals), 10 balms and eight eye palettes with 20 August set for the Chinese launch, then 25 August as a wider digital pre-launch date and a global debut later next week.
The company said those lipsticks, balms, and eyeshadows (priced from $160 to $250) are “objects of desire that echo the trunk-making, artistry, and cultural vision at the heart of Louis Vuitton, each with a McGrath twist. As with the Maison’s most iconic pieces across fashion, accessories and fragrance, every detail has been considered, refined, and perfected”.
And the packaging really underlines the luxury edge. Gilded packs by Konstantin Grcic are linked closely to the established codes of Louis Vuitton and in particular give a starring role to the LV flower.
With the ongoing luxury fashion slowdown and the global luxury beauty market expected to continue a strong growth trajectory, it’s an increasingly important category for even the most successful fashion labels. And the more luxurious the better as the pricing proves.
But while the prices are high, the launch is likely to appeal to aspirational luxury shoppers who may not buy the clothes but may well have a Louis Vuitton bag and will be keen to have a lipstick to go in it.
