Mitsukoshi is one of Japan’s oldest retail chain having branches spread across the globe including Munich, Paris and Shanghai. The company had recently implemented RFID technology in several stores in Japan witnessing a 13.3% increase in sales.

Mitsukoshi’s “Smart Shelves” scan the contents of the shelves and alert store employees when supplies are running low or when theft is detected

The technology is being increasingly experimented with by retailers like WalMart and Tesco. One of the earliest to start experimenting with wireless inventory was Metro Group’s Future Store Initiative. As with all new technologies, RFID has its own share of shortcomings with read-range and cost being a couple of them. But with stores like Mitsukoshi who go on to experiment and optimize business processes using the technology, we can hope for more good things to come. RFID’s potential is best realized when implemented across the supply chain, making inventory and logistics simpler and more actionable.

Read The Mitsukoshi Case : interaction design for RFID Retail

I’ve just finished reading Shantaram on the recommendation of a friend and its by far one of the most compassionate stories I’ve read.

This lucidly written book is a true story of the author Gregory David Roberts. His addiction to heroin after the collapse of his marriage, lures him to commit armed robberies that gets him convicted and imprisoned in New Zealand. He manages to escape from New Zealand and travels half way across the globe to arrive in Bombay which becomes the backdrop of this thriller.

Shantaram is a story on how he begins a life anew in Bombay. He learns to speak Marathi and Hindi, runs a clinic for the poor in the slums, works for the Mumbai mafia, falls in love, acts in Bollywood movies, fights with the Mujahideen in Afghanistan, etc. Its a book that got me hooked right from page 1 and if I had to sum it all up in one word, it would be : Brilliant!

Actually, one of the other reasons that triggered me to get this book was while watching Jaan-e-mann. In the penultimate song sequence, Preity Zinta is seen sitting on a couch with a copy of Shantaram. Thats when a eureka moment happened with a friend sitting close by and suggested that this was one book that I shouldn’t miss reading. He was right.

Britannia has recently launched the new packaging for one of its most successful brands, the Milk Bikis. I’ve been addicted to this brand ever since I can remember and is a constituent of my daily staple diet. The blue and white and rather milkier packaging is a refreshing change.

The styling has undergone bold changes with the typeface being more bigger and heavier than the earlier one. The Britannia logo on the top left has decreased by almost 50% giving more emphasis on the brand than the company behind the brand as it should be. The new packaging focuses on the multi-vitamin goodness with a red and blue table on the lower half. The nutritional information has been neatly tabulated and pushed to the back of the package.

The old package on top vis-a-vis the brand new look

The biscuit itself has undergone a noticeable change. It now comes in a ‘grid format‘ that gives its more texture and better strength when dipped in tea or coffee. The earlier one would easily break off when dipped in piping hot tea, which was quite depressing if you’re the type who enjoys biscuits dipped in tea. The whole new packaging makes me feel happy and has also helped to sprinkle some good looks to my kitchen cabinet. As for the taste, its the pretty much the same thing we’ve all loved for years!

Previous biscuit packaging review : Parle-G