28 | TV VEOPAR JOURNAL | DECEMBER 08 | adi-media.com | An ADI Media Publication

Ajit Joshi, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Infiniti Retail Limited

On Croma stores

Infiniti Retail Limited is a 100 percent subsidiary

of Tata Sons and operates Croma, a national chain of mega stores of consumer electronics and durables. Currently, we are operating a total of 25 Croma stores in India – nine Cro-ma stores and a Croma Zip store at the domestic airport in Mumbai; two Croma stores in Ahmedabad; three Croma mega stores in Pune; one in Surat; three in Bengalooru; one in Delhi; five Croma stores in Delhi NCR – Faridabad, Greater Noida, and Ghaziabad respectively; and one store in Vadodara. We expect to be 35 stores chain by March 2009 and 100 stores chain by March 2011.

On private labels

We have successfully launched our private label across select catego-ries in all our stores. In less than a month, we have witnessed some good numbers. Products that have currently hit the shelves and have picked up well are:

Croma wine cooler – almost l

stocked outCroma split AC 1 ton – picking up l

Croma split AC 1.5 ton – very l

good response Croma wet and dry vacuum clean- l

er – within a week clocked good numbersCroma handy car vacuum cleaner l

Our strategy for bringing in prod-ucts under our label is two fold:Products that are premium in quality, that is, at par or better than the lead-ing brand in that category but priced 20-30 percent lower. These are target-ed at smart shoppers who look at qual-ity products at the best possible price.Secondly, products that are innova-

Infiniti Retail

tive and are a unique assortment available only to Croma customers.The premise behind launching our own label is to strengthen our philosophy of helping customers buy by bringing in a carefully selected assortment that suits their requirement to the tee. Our collection therefore is called Hand-picked by Croma, though the brand we will operate under it will be Croma.The USP of Croma brand is:

Tata seal of authenticity l

Involvement at each stage to bring l

the best possible productFull ownership and responsibility l

Giving our customers a l No Ques-tions Asked Replacement War-ranty and an extended warranty absolutely freeStringent quality control – regu- l

lar quality audits by reputed agenciesAttractive finance and exchange l

schemes We thus want to leave no stone un-turned to give our customers com-plete peace of mind and assurance that it’s truly the best buy. Our

private label brand ambassadors will guide customers on the product benefits and features to help them make informed decisions.Soon we shall cut across categories by launching products ranging from mixers, microwave ovens, toasters, massagers to music systems, lap-tops, and LCD TVs. List of some products that are expect-ed to be in stores by January are:

Microwave ovens: grill, convection l

and soloBoom box : 2 types of LCD TV and l

iPodDigital photo frame l

Oven-toaster-griller l

Blender and chopper l

Toasters l

Cordless kettle l

Massagers – foot, mini massager, l

bendable massagersLaptop bags of 3- 4 types l

Fans – box fans, standing fans, l

tower fansWe are also in the process of rolling out dedicated CRM for private label to ensure customer satisfaction.

Infiniti Retail.indd 28 12/30/08 1:16:41 PM

30 | TV VEOPAR JOURNAL | Q-III | DECEMBER 08 | adi-media.com | An ADI Media Publication

Sunil Mehta, Chief Executive Officer, Next Retail India Limited

On sales trends in 2008

Next is a multi-brand, multi-product outlet and stocks an

entire range of consumer durables including air conditioners, LCD and plasma TVs, home theater systems, washing machines, refrigerators, microwave ovens, and small home appliances of the brands LG, Sam-sung, Sony, Electrolux, Kelvinator, Whirlpool, Onida, Philips, Kenstar, Videocon, and Sansui. Next also stocks Xbox of Microsoft, computers and laptops of Acer, HCL, Lenova, and HP. Next has recently intro-duced imaging and accessories prod-uct categories and plans to expand operations in these categories to all outlets in the current year.

Next aims at changing the way an Indian consumer shops for electron-ics. Next Retail India Limited has more than 370 outlets across 16 states with a presence in 187 towns spanning metros and large towns.

Next has more than doubled its last year’s turnover in the current finan-cial year. Plans ahead are more am-bitious with a targeted turnover of Rs. 1,250 crore for the current finan-cial year with 500 plus outlets.

Next stands by its brand promise of Best brands. Best bargains. It has opened up a world of choices for shop-

Next Retail

ping enthusiasts (including home-makers) across all demographic and psychographic segments.

On emerging product categories and fast selling products

LCD TVs and home theaters are the major focus categories as they are witnessing massive growth. The primary reason is drop in the prices by all brands which made the cat-egories within reach of wide section of consumers. Also, the increased

aspiration of Indian consumers has brought these categories into focus.

In today’s market scenario, digital still camera is one of the fastest growing categories along with LCD TVs. Split ACs with flat fascia pan-els have gained popularity. Due to this, the contribution of split ACs has gone up to 60 percent whereas 40 percent is contributed by win-dow ACs. Frost free refrigerators in metros have grown more than the direct cool segment. The growth in fully automatic washing machines segment is higher than in semi auto-matic washing machines segment.

On issues to be addressed

The key issues to be addressed by any retail organized today are trained manpower; managing con-flict of interest with traditional channels; proposition of private la-bels; and IT Infrastructure.

“Next has more than doubled its last year’s turnover in the current

financial year.”

Next Retail.indd 30 12/30/08 3:11:47 PM

An ADI Media Publication | adi-media.com | DECEMBER 08 | Q-III | TV VEOPAR JOURNAL | 31

Peshwa Acharya, CMO & Head - Marketing & Consumer Experience, Reliance Digital Retail Limited

On sales trends in 2008

Reliance Digital is a Rs. 500 crore company on an annual-

ized basis. For 2009, we are going to register four-fold growth over the cur-rent year targeting Rs. 2,000 crore.Our focus is on consumer technology solutions. Our idea is not just to sell consumer brands and products but also the relevant technology solutions. Our endeavor is to understand what consumers want and suggest them the right products. Reliance Digital is a premium format with relatively greater emphasis on premium catego-ries like LCD TVs and frost free refrig-erators over CRT TVs and single door refrigerators. Reliance Digital has in-troduced Reliance resQ, a network of in-house service centers that will pro-vide post-sales support services. It is managed directly by Reliance Digital. Reliance Digital carries out strong na-tional promotional campaigns, which have been created into marketing properties Anniversary Promotion in May and You are the King Diwali pro-motion in Oct 2008. Such promotional campaigns receive fantastic consumer response and our sales shoot up.

On emerging technologies

There is a clear shift toward laptops, which are clearly becoming a house-hold use product. Wi-fi is another emerging technology, transforming the way Internet is used at home. Gaming consoles and gaming as a cat-egory are also becoming very popular. Digital cameras are growing at a fast pace. In the music segment, MP3 play-ers are taking off. LCD TVs, double door refrigerators, and fully automatic washing machines are the emerging products. Home theaters are becoming

Reliance Digital

more sophisticated and multi format.

On fast selling products

LCD TVs, digital cameras, laptops, mobile phones, and split air condi-tioners were the fast selling products during the year.

On private labels

In private labels, our focus presently is on accessories and not on parent prod-ucts. Our aim is to primarily establish Reliance Digital as a destination for national and international brands. Once this goal is accomplished, we will start selling more private labels. Pri-vate labels are already contributing 5-10 percent to the overall turnover of Reliance Digital, which may increase to 20 percent in 2009.

Issues that need to be addressed

Most of the costs of retailing are going up, while in digital retail, the year-on-year consumer realization may actually come down. The other issue is that rentals are skyrocketing and

need to be brought down. Retaining and training of good manpower is an-other challenge. Also there is a high cost of informing and communicating with our target consumers, which is becoming expensive; it is getting more difficult to catch the premium, time stretched consumers. Also, vendors, brands, and manu-facturers should try to understand the special significance of modern retailing. We should jointly focus on creating fantastic consumer experi-ence, which no other traditional or small formats can create. So, modern vendors should capitalize on this op-portunity. Modern retailing can re-ally be the seeding point for many of the new categories and technologies like wireless routers, MP4, Full HD, Blu Ray, mobile blue tooth, gaming, etc. This is where they can conduct seeding, consumer understanding, test trials, product modifications, un-derstanding the needs of the Indian consumers, and thus drive home new concepts to consumers easily.

Reliance Digital.indd 31 12/30/08 3:11:16 PM