The cash and carry segment of the country’s Rs 14-lakh-crore retail sector is getting competitive.
Metro Cash and Carry India, a 100 per cent subsidiary of Metro Cash and Carry International GmbH, Germany, the first to foray into the country more than five years ago with a store in Bangalore, currently has four stores and is opening a fifth one in Kolkata soon.
With today’s announcement of a partnership with the Tata group’s Trent, UK retailer Tesco is the latest player to enter the business, after Wal-Mart declared an exclusive tie-up with Bharti Retail last year.
“The market potential for the cash and carry business is huge, in fact, as big as the retail sector in addition to the demand from hospitality players, traders and farmers,” said Mr Gibson Vedamani, CEO, Retailers Association of India.
The cash and carry model brings the small retailer into the organised channel by helping them buy in an organised manner, points out Mr Vedamani. In addition to this, entrepreneurs and retailers in Tier-II and Tier-III cities would have access to the entire range of products available in the market, he says. The cash and carry business intends to reduce several layers in the wholesale business.
“We believe that the cash and carry format brings significant benefits to small businesses such as retailers, traders, hospitality segment and farmers with its unique business-to-business format. The cash and carry segment was opened because the Indian Government recognised the benefits it brings to economies such as ours and is welcoming new players in the industry,” said an official spokesperson from Metro Cash and Carry, India.
Metro stocks approximately 19,000 SKUs (stock keeping units) in the food and non-food segment across various product categories.
August 13, 2008
Source: Hindu Business Line
