Business Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Wednesday, Mar 26, 2008
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version
Business Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Wednesday, Mar 26, 2008 ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version |
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Marketing
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New Products & Services DHL to step up retail presence with Gift Express The whole idea of retail is to be involved at every stage of the customer’s life. Purvita Chatterjee Mumbai, March 25 Attempting to enhance its retail presence, DHL is introducing yet another service – Gift Express. In addition to its existing services such as Mango and University Express, Gift Express would be more generic in nature helping Indians send gifts across countries primarily in the Asia Pacific region and Europe. Mr Chandrashekhar Pitre, Head-Marketing, DHL Express, told Business Line, “We want to increase our retail presence and want to come up with more products and offers in this segment. Currently retail comprises 8 per cent of our turnover and we would like to take it up to 15 per cent going forward.” Having acquired the local operator Blue Dart in the past, DHL has added domestic express services as part of its operations making it the largest express company in the country. Adds Mr Pitre, “Today we want to move from the B2B to the B2C segment by entering into lifecycle management of the customer.” Starting with the person’s university days to the time when gifts are required to be sent to the near and dear ones, DHL wants to be ready with its branded retail services for the different categories tapping into the entire lifecycle of its customers. “The whole idea of retail is to be involved at every stage of the customer’s life. The purpose is to build loyalty programme and get a share of the wallet of the customer, ” claims Mr Pitre. In fact, DHL is also looking at expanding the number of stores from the current 125 outlets to take it up to 1,000 outlets which would include shop-in-shop formats. Staying away from a franchise-run operation, DHL is expected to own its outlets. As Mr Pitre says, “We believe in having company-owned outlets and at the moment all our outlets are profitable”.’ Besides, DHL is also in the process of creating an ‘import ad’ to highlight its services which involve bringing in goods into the country. With its marginal presence on television, the express company would be stepping up its presence in the media and highlighting its ‘import’ business is its next communication idea for the Indian market. Meanwhile, DHL is again back on board as one of the sponsors for the Lakme Fashion Week this season. “We did stay away for a while but now we are here to understand designers and customers,” says Mr Pitre. This season, DHL would be setting up branded counters under the name of ‘Fashion Track’ where buyers and sellers from the Lakme Fashion week could meet and discuss business. With the onus of providing logistical support for designers, DHL is looking at this opportunity as brand building opportunity for the designer community. More Stories on : New Products & Services | Supply Chain Management
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