• Investment World
• eWorld
• Brand Line
• Mentor
• Life
• Brand Quest
• The New Manager
• Smartbuy

Stocks

• Quotes
• SE Diary
• Scoreboard
• Open-End Mutual Fund

Cross Currency

• Rates
  
  

Shipping

• Ports
  
  

Archives

• Yesterday
• Datewise
• Resources
• In Focus
• In Depth
• Events 2007

Group Sites

• The Hindu
• The Hindu ePaper
• Business Line
• Business Line ePaper
• Sportstar
• Frontline
• The Hindu eBooks
• The Hindu Images

— K. Murali Kumar

Expanding business: A view of the Metro Cash and Carry outlet at Yeshwanthpur in Bangalore (file picture).

Anjali Prayag

Bangalore, Aug. 12 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 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 modelbrings 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.

More Stories on : Retailing | Strategy

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Copyright © 2008, The Hindu Business Line. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu Business Line