The Hindu Business Line : Cos vie to retail products at Defence canteen stores

New Delhi, Dec. 31 With 60 years of retailing firmly behind it, the Canteen Store Department (CSD) run by the Defence Ministry is becoming a favourite with many companies to retail their products. From shoe laces to automobiles, marketers are vying for a pie of the CSD market by branding their products in the media-dark CSDs.

For long, what has been the Indian Defence Services very own shopping mall, the ‘canteen’ can boast of 3,000-odd outlets in the remotest parts of the country and over Rs 5,600 crore in annual turnover.

Recently, Nielsen Company had conducted research to help sharpen the marketing programme of brands. According to the research, “Over 75 per cent of the audience in CSD is male. The consumer spends between 30 and 60 minutes in every visit to a CSD canteen and the frequency of visits varies between once every fortnight and once every month. Purchases included a large portion of liquor, juices and groceries.”

According to Ms Niloufer Dundh, Central Sales Officer, Out-of-Home Media India Pvt Ltd, “It is the right time for brands to invest with a focused marketing communication plan to reach out to consumers in the CSD network. Even sectors such as insurance have evinced interest in entering the CSD network.”

Garnering attention

Currently, OOH TV Screens are the only AV media present in CSDs. There are over 270 screens in the largest CSD Canteens in 12 cities, providing an opportunity for brands to reach out to over four million households of serving and retired armed forces personnel and their dependants.

Says Mr A. Satish Kumar, Managing Director, Henkel India, “With the Sixth Pay Commission coming into force, marketers are targeting this segment. Being a non-profit service provider, the marketing activities in CSDs are restricted, and so marketers do not have distribution or promotion control. However, we do a lot of in-shop activities to garner consumer attention.”

Liquor company Radico Khaitan, whose lion’s share of the business comes from the CSDs, notes that of the total 12 million cases of liquor sold in CSDs, three million come from Radico’s stable.

“CSD is showing exponential growth. We do a lot of on-site promotional offers and give out freebies with our products as direct advertisements are banned,” said Mr Raju Vaziraney, COO, Domestic Business, Radico Khaitan.

According to the Defence Ministry Web site, in a bid to make CSD more efficient, the Government is also looking to introduce retail procedures such as bar-coding of inventories and introducing consumers’ empowerment programmes. CSDs, along with companies, are also conducting camp/melas to provide after-sales services just as any other retail channel.

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