Introduction:

Reliance Retail, Ltd. operates retail outlets in India. Its retail outlets offer foods, groceries,
apparel and footwear, lifestyle and home improvement products, electronic goods, and farm
implements and inputs. The companys outlets also provide vegetables, fruits, and flowers. It focuses
on consumer goods, consumer durables, travel services, energy, entertainment and leisure, and health
and well-being products, as well as on educational products and services. The company was founded
in 2006 and is based in Mumbai, India. Reliance Retail, Ltd. operates as a subsidiary of Reliance
Industries, Ltd.

Reliance Fresh is the convenience store format which forms part of the retail business of
Reliance Industries of India which is headed by Mukesh Ambani. Reliance plans to invest in excess of
Rs 25000 crores in the next 4 years in their retail division. The company already has in excess of 560
reliance fresh outlets across the country. These stores sell fresh fruits and vegetables, staples, groceries,
fresh juice bars and dairy products.

A typical Reliance Fresh store is approximately 3000-4000 square feet and caters to a
catchment area of 1-2 km.
 RELIANCE FRESH

History of Reliance Fresh

Post launch, in a dramatic shift in its positioning and mainly due to the circumstances prevaling in
UP, West Bengal and Orissa, it was mentioned recently in news dailies that, Reliance Retail is
moving out of stocking fruits and vegetables[. Reliance Retail has decided to minimise its exposure
in the fruit and vegetable business and position Reliance Fresh as a pure play super market focusing
on categories like food, FMCG, home, consumer durables, IT and wellness , with food accounting
for the bulk of the business.
The company may not stock fruit and vegetables in some states. Though Reliance Fresh is not exiting
the fruit and vegetable business altogether, it has decided not to compete with local vendors partly
due to political reasons, and partly due to its inability to create a robust supply chain. This is quite
different from what the firm had originally planned.
When the first Reliance Fresh store opened in Hyderabad last October, not only did the company
said the stores main focus would be fresh produce like fruits and vegetables at a much lower price,
but also spoke at length about its farm-to-fork theory. The idea the company spoke about was to
source from farmers and sell directly to the consumer removing middlemen out of the way.
Reliance Fresh, Reliance Mart, Reliance Digital, Reliance Trendz, Reliance Footprint, Reliance
Wellness, Reliance Jewels, Reliance Timeout and Reliance Super are various formats that Reliance
has rolled out.
In addition, Reliance Retail has entered into an alliance with Apple for setting up a chain of
Apple Specialty Stores branded as iStore, starting with Bangalore

The Reliance Retail had to face various difficulties before the launch of Reliance fresh, because of
the various circumstances prevailing in Orissa, West Bengal and UP, along with the news focusing
on the dearth of vegetables and fruits stocks.

The retail business of Reliance then minimized its exposure in vegetable and fruit business, as a
result established Reliance fresh positioning a pure super market play focusing on various categories
like IT, consumer durables, home, FMCG and food.

The retail company of Reliance may not supply the vegetables and fruits in a few states, the Reliance
Fresh decided to not to race with local wholesalers partly because of the political reasons as well as
its incapability to maintain a healthy supply chain.
 VISION OF RELIANCE RETAIL:

With a vision to generate inclusive growth and prosperity for farmers, vendor partners, small
shopkeepers and consumers, Reliance Retail Limited (RRL), a subsidiary of RIL, was set up to lead Reliance
Groups foray into organized retail.

Since its inception in 2006, Reliance Retail Limited (RRL) has grown into an organisation that
caters to millions of customers, thousands of farmers and vendors. Based on its core growth strategy of
backward integration, RRL has made rapid progress towards building an entire value chain starting from the
farmers to the end consumers.

Reliance Retail continued to expand presence of its value and specialty formats. During the year,
Reliance Retail opened 90 new stores spanning across 'value' and 'specialty' segments. In-store initiatives,
wider product choice and value merchandising enabled the business to achieve robust growth during this
period.

Its presence in the optics business is in partnership with Grand Vision. 51 new stores were added
during FY-11 taking the total presence to 100 stores across key markets in the country. The retail chain offers
single brand optical products including Vision Express frames, lenses, contact lenses, sunglasses, solutions
and accessories.

For the very first time, consumers in India got the opportunity to experience Hamleys, which is
considered to be the world's most wonderful toy shop. The brand was launched in India with opening up of
2 stores during the year. iStore by Reliance Digital is a one-stop-shop for all Apple products and services.

Reliance Brands also announced exclusive licensing arrangement with two leading international brands:
Steve Madden, a leading designer, wholesaler and retailer of fashion-forward footwear
and accessories for women, men and children.
Quiksilver, a leading outdoor sports lifestyle company to launch their core brands
'Quiksilver' and 'Roxy'.

Across India, Reliance Retail serves over 2.5 million customers every week. Its loyalty
programme, "Reliance One", has the patronage of more than 6.75 million customers.

A subsidiary of Reliance Industries of India that is headed by Mukesh Ambani, Reliance Fresh
is primarily a supermarket that strives to provide all the essential household commodities under one roof.

In addition to fresh fruits and vegetables, the store also sells staple food items, diary products,
packaged food products, baby products, electrical goods, and the like.
 BACKGROUND

Reliance Fresh a convenient store format, is governed by the Mukesh Ambani and is the most important
part of Reliance Industries retail Business. Reliance Ltd. has planned to invest more than Rs. 25000
crores in the retail division.

It also comprises more than 560 reliance fresh stores all over the country. The outlet sells fresh fruits,
staples, dairy products, fresh juice bars, groceries and vegetables.

A distinctive Reliance Fresh outlet is around 3000 to 4000 sq. feet and accommodates catchment area
of one to three Kilometers.

In the present day, there are 560 outlets of Reliance Fresh across the country, and in the next 4 to 5 years
the company plans to invest Rs. 25,000 crores in this venture.
Growth of Reliance Fresh

The first ever a Reliance Fresh store was established in Hyderabad, wherein the company,
mainly focused on the fresh produced vegetables and fruits at comparatively low price
along with an introduction of farm to fork theory.

This was the idea, which was anticipated by the company was to take the supply direct
from the farmers and then sell straightaway to the consumers removing the middle-men
off the beaten track. Reliance introduced several formats in the marketplace to cater to
needs of common people, which includes Reliance Fresh, Reliance Super, Reliance
Footprint, Reliance Timeout, Reliance Jewels, Reliance wellness, Reliance Mart and
Reliance Digital, to name a few.

In addition to this, the Reliance Retail also entered into a treaty with Apple, which is a
leading Information Technology company, to set up a series of Apple Specialty Outlets
branded as IStore, with its first ever store in Bangalore.

With an idea to produce inclusive prosperity and growth for farmers, consumers, small
shopkeepers and vendor partners, Reliance Retail was set up in order to lead the foray of
Reliance Group into an organized retail.

NEWS ARTICLES ON RELIANCE FRESH

WHEN RELIANCE FRESH OPENED

Monday, Nov 06, 2006 , Financial Express : Reliance Retail, the 100% subsidiary of Reliance
Industries, on October 28 unveiled Reliance Fresh, the first of its multi-format retail foray involving an
investment of Rs 25,000 crore. Reliance Fresh is the companys brand for neighbourhood freshfood
outlets. It will also sell kitchen equipment and other edibles. Besides, it has planned hypermarkets,
supermarkets, discount stores, department stores, convenience stores and specialty stores, to be unveiled
shortly. The next stop for Reliance Retail will be Ahmedabad, where the company will launch an outlet
on December 28, the birthday of RIL founder Dhirubai Ambani. After that, it will move to West Bengal
and Punjab, followed by simultaneous launches in Delhi and Mumbai. These stores, ranging from 2,000
to 5,000 sq feet, will provide customers with a variety of fresh fruits, vegetables, staple foods and other
products in a world-class ambience, said Gunender Kapur, president, foods business, at the unveiling
ceremony.

The strategy is to open one Reliance Fresh store in a radius of three to four km to serve 1,000-
2,000 families. This means about 30-40 stores in the major metros. The air-conditioned stores recorded
combined sales of Rs 22 lakh on the inaugural day itself. Reliance Fresh is selling vegetables and fruits
sourced from farmers through the companys agri hubs.
 AN HOUR AT RELIANCE FRESH

Reliance Fresh has opened up retail supermarkets selling fruits and vegetables in major cities of
India. A few days ago, we visited the local Reliance Fresh supermarket in New Friends Colony and this
is what we observed

1. Range of products- Regular vegetables, fruits, Reliances own brands of packed pulses, Maggi products
and Pepsi.
2. Prices - The price was marked in paisas just like at American stores. For example - Potatoes were
priced at 5.90 per kg while onions were 15.90 per kg. Yeah right, what difference does 10p make?
3. Comparable Cost - The rate of vegetables like onions and potatoes were 10p less than that of local
vegetable sellers. The rate of other products were however much higher than they should have been.
Seems like Reliance Fresh applied the same strategy that McDonalds uses to attract customers - ice cream
for Rs. 7 and Cola for Rs. 20.
4. Customer Service The staff in red shirts were mainly checking to see if people were shoplifting and
didnt seem to know much about the products or company. The guards kept yelling at everyone to have
their bags checked before leaving.
5. Checkng Out There was a long queue that moved very slowly. VAT or value added tax was added
to the bill which increased the cost of the vegetables just bought.
6. Parking Absolutely zero parking. The guard was yelling at local rickshaw pullers to move away from
the entrance.
7. Customers - were middle class folk from my apartment block. They kept touching and turning around
each vegetable before selecting them just like they do at the regular vegetable sellers. This looked really
out of place and added to a huge crowd

Reliance eyes retail JV with Marks & Spencer

Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambanis deal-making spree to get the best domain
expertise in the retail sector is poised for the big one now. Reliance Retail (RRL), is locked in substantial
discussions to float an equal joint venture with iconic UK fashion retailer Marks & Spencer (M&S) for
apparel, gourmet food and cafes, multiple sources said.
The deal, slated to be clinched in the next three weeks, would see the UK retailer bringing
in new formats like food and cafes into India. M&S core business apparel and lingerie is already
operational in the country. According to a source close to the deal, the gourmet food format is likely to be
integrated with Reliance Fresh wherever possible, (upmarket localities) as a shop-in-shop format. This
would help M&S get immediate scale in food business. There are 491 Reliance Fresh stores that sell food,
FMCG and fruits and vegetables and this figure is likely to touch 1,400 by the end of next fiscal.
 The implications of this particular JV are much deeper. Its much more holistic in nature
and therefore taking long to seal, the source added. The $16-billion M&S, operating in the country
through a franchisee arrangement with Planet Retail since 2001, is in the midst of charting a new India
strategy aimed at accelerating expansion in the domestic market. It recently slashed prices by 20% to
attract more footfalls in the stores and taking prime space in malls to open more stores

Reliance Retail ties up with UK's Wincanton for back-end biz

NEW DELHI: After having signed up at least half-a-dozen partnerships for specialty formats,
Reliance Retail is now entering into a joint venture with leading European supply chain specialist Wincanton
for its food and grocery and hypermarket businesses.

The synergy would enable Reliance to efficiently run its critical back-end operations, which
essentially include warehousing of goods and transporting them to stores on time.

The latest move by Indias largest corporate house, which jumped on the retail bandwagon two
years ago by promising to do everything on its own, seems to suggest that it now needs a partner for almost
every retail initiative.

Industry observers believe that the company has expanded very fast and has managed to set up over
600 stores across various retail formats in less than two years, but its supply chain is in a mess. How to get
the right merchandise to the stores on time has been its biggest problem. Youd often not find the goods you
want in Reliances food and grocery outlets, said a source.
 Problems faced by Reliance Fresh

The following graphs are a clear indicator that Reliance Retail of which Reliance Fresh is a major arm that
Reliance Fresh is even at current state facing problems

As the winds of economic reform have swept across the Indian economic landscape since the 1990s, the
slow pace of retail liberalisation has become increasingly conspicuous. Most notably, foreign direct
investmentfreely permitted in most sectorscontinues to be banned in the retail sector, with the
exception of single-brand retailing. Now it was the turn of domestic corporate retailers to face the heat.

The trouble began in late August 2008 , in Uttar Pradesh, Indias most populous state, when the state
government cited law-and-order problems to order the shutdown of all stand-alone corporate retail outlets
selling fruit, vegetables and groceries. This was in response to violent protests against new Reliance
Fresh stores set up in the cities of Lucknow and Varanasi by Reliance Industries, an Indian corporate giant
with ambitious retailing plans. As of mid-October, protestors against organised retail had targeted Reliance
and other corporate retailers in Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, West Bengal, Mumbai and Orissa. Though counter-
productive in terms of efficiency and modernisation, this opposition to organised retail is easy to explain.
Before Indias recently acquired image as an economic powerhouse, it was sometimes disparagingly
 referred to as a nation of small shopkeepers. Indeed, there are currently over 12 million retailers in India,
and the sector provides a livelihood for a huge number of people. Most of these shops are tiny family-run
businesses operating with meagre capital. There is also an enormous number of retailers selling fruit and
vegetables from carts or on the roadside. Meanwhile, Indian corporate giants such as Pantaloon Retail,
Reliance Industries and RPG Group, seeking to profit from the forces of consumerism unleashed by
economic growth and liberalisation, have been scrambling to expand their retailing operations. Not
unreasonably, small retailers feel threatened by the big companies plans.

EXPECTATION IN FUTURE

a) Small scale industries and existing brands will not be able to compete with these behemoth
international players with enormous amount of capital:

Most of the economies have developed their industry, agriculture and services in order to increase their
pace of development. In case of India, manufacturing has seen hardly any growth since our economy has
opened up. This has lead to unemployment at one end, and at the other end it has lead to huge setback to
the existing industries. Many of the national brands have been lost, decreasing the number of employment
in manufacturing sector. When the retail chain takes over, it will have access to all the products of the
world, and will sell the best at the cheapest, leading to further closure of existing industries which in turn
will lead to loss of economy and massive unemployment. Small scale industries will suffer the most in this
present context, where at one end, MNCs are allowed to have 100% FDI in small scale industries in SEZ
and on the other hand cheap goods could be imported by the retail giants. Our SSI is not properly organized,
and suffers the economies of scale, thus will never be able to compete with the retail giants on the price
aspect, which seems to be a matter of serious concern for the existence of SSI in India. In a situation where
the existing SSI is already going through a very tough time, this would serve as a fatal blow.

b) Impact on farmers and consumers

Influence on farmers

After independence there was a general feeling that agricultural markets do not function in a proficient
manner. Apart from inefficiencies in distribution, including wastage of agricultural produce, the farmers
suffer due to exploitation by traders on different accounts. To overcome such problems different state
governments enacted their respective APMC Acts. These Acts made stringent provisions to save the
farmers from exploitation, promoted efficiency, etc. Structure of Agricultural Produce Marketing
Committee (APMC), the apex decision making body in respective mandis was made such that farmers
were in overwhelming majority and chairman of the Committee would also be a farmer. It also ensures the
transparency of trade and accountability of the trader and mandis towards the society. Every day the rates
of the products are fixed in the mandi depending upon demand and supply and no trader can buy more than
a certain limit( to avoid hoarding). There is no question of monopoly here as there are a number of buyers
and sellers; this in turn keeps the prices of the commodities fair. Moreover there is a government check on
all the trading that happens through mandi, so that no unfair practices can take place.

The Model APMC Act leads to de-democratisation of agricultural markets and therefore limits the rights
of the farmers to control agricultural markets. The experience world over and even in the states where
private yards have been allowed to be established by the companies, heavy profits have been made by these
companies without giving any benefit to the farmers. For instance the average price of Soya paid by ITC
to the farmers in Madhya Pradesh was around Rs. 1150/- per quintal, it was sold by the company at an
average price of Rs. 1555/- per quintal. Even the rules of contract farming, given by Model APMC Act and
adopted by various state governments also favour multinational agribusiness firms. Small and marginal
farmers, which constitute 90% of the farming community, have been left at the mercy of these firms. Not
only this, even the definition of an agriculturist have been changed to suit the best interests of these
corporations. In earlier Acts agriculturist was defined as one whose livelihood depends directly on farming.
Now a change in the definition of agriculturist is contemplated as - A person who is a resident of the
notified area of the market and who is engaged in production of agricultural produce himself or by hired
labour or otherwise.

In the case of these huge retail chains, there is lesser possibility of transparency of prices paid and the
amount stocked. They are permitted to stock huge amounts of food supplies, as per their business model,
without having mechanisms for transparence. In such conditions it is not very difficult for them to hoard
and act unfair. For example let us see two commodities wheat and apple. Private corporations had bought
huge quantities of wheat from the farmers directly last year and we had to import wheat from other countries
and all of us know about the hike in the price of wheat this year. Similar is the case of apple, in last season,
these companies had bought around 30% of the apple production straight from the local mandis of
Himachal and Kashmir, and we can see the prices of apple this year are very much higher compared to
earlier years, even though there was good production of apples last season.
ii) Consumer

In due course of time if these retail outlet completely overtakes the traditional system, we would see a series
of change. First if the traditional system is gone, we will have only one mega retail outlet in the vicinity,
and the choices given by the outlet, has to become choices of the consumer. In such a case there is an
expectation of formation of cartel amongst the chain and the prices of the commodities will shoot up. But
at that time we will have no other option but to procure our goods from one of these outlets, at whatever
prices they demand from us. We have seen this in the case of UK, where the average spending on food and
beverages as a percentage of the total income of an average household has shot up since these giant
corporations have come into retailing. Moreover the choices the consumers are left also decrease with the
coming up of these stores; every thing is standardized the personal choices of the consumers are not taken
care of. This is a system where the consumer adjusts himself to the product and not the vice versa.
Latest Policies followed by Reliance Fresh
FARM-TO-FORK MODEL ADOPTED BY RELIANCE FRESH

Traditional Model of Retail Reliance Farm to Fork

Reliance is leaving no stone unturned and is poised to hit back aggressively and is taking
following steps and adopting policies to turn itself into a profitable venture and compete
effectively with its competitors
 Reliance is trying cash and carry model again in retail

From grocery, Reliance Retail plans shift to supply : Refereed as Farm to Folk model by Ambani

Reliance Retail was faced with massive opposition from the trading community. But like every
great visionary Reliance had a prepared back-up, and this time it was much more powerful than the earlier
one, throwing solutions to every previous dilemma . In a dramatic shift, it decided to turn into a trader
itself. It entered the food-trading business as part of a major restructuring of its food and grocery initiative.

On 3 June 2011, at the 37th annual general meeting of RIL, chairman Mukesh Ambani announced
that Reliance Retail would launch its cash-and-carry stores this year. RILs past experience in the retail
business has not quite had the same success that its other businesses oil exploration, refining and
petrochemicals
Reliances re-entry into the business assumes significance even as global retailers such as Walmart,
Tesco, Metro and Carrefour are expanding their presence in India, and amid anticipation that the
government is likely to ease foreign direct investment (FDI) norms in retail. Currently, FDI is allowed only
in the cash-and-carry business.
But I think Cash-and-carry is, as yet, at a nascent stage in India. Third Eyesight, a retail consulting
firm said Its a modernisation and organisation of the wholesale business, and an intermediate step needed
in modernising the fragmented retail business. Something that Ambani has said he always believed in,
which he called farm-to-fork. Most cash and carry operations are targeted at hotels, restaurants and
cafeterias the so-called Horeca market, which accounts for close to 60 per cent of sales. Package sizes
of goods are larger (meaning more per sq. ft sales and greater volume growth). Reliance Retail officials
say that the Horeca segment will not be the primary focus of their cash-andcarry business. Rather, their
target audience apart from their own chain of Reliance Fresh stores will be other retailers, or the
kirana stores.
The cash-and-carry business is an integral part of a retail supply chain in a country like India,
where distribution and logistics are major problems and Reliances entry into the segment will help improve
its other retail formats. Typically, retailers attempt to own the supply chain to give them control and better
prices that benefits the end consume

It would thus be able to profit from commodity trading as well without worrying about the steep
overheads and discounts that tied its hands in its avatar as RelianceFresh..

Company has already signed up with Spencer retail chains to supply cut fruits and vegetables.
Establishing itself in Mandis

WHOLESALE TRADING (WST) : Reliance formalized its second supply chain model to shift itself from
grocery retailer to grocery supplier by focusing and establishing itself in Mandis

STEPS IN WTS MODEL:

1) Reliance has owned farms on contract basis for production of specific crop which Is decided after
extensive research depending on :-

SOIL CONDITIONS,
CLIMATE CONDITIONS,
RETURN OVER COSTS INCURRED.

So as to yield best possible results.

2) Different vegetables and fruits from such farms are collected through reliance own logistics and
brought to collection Processing centers where quality check and otherrequired processing is done.In
processing centers workers wearing balaclavas, woolen trousers and bulky jackets work inside a room kept
at a constant 30 degree Centigrade, peeling and chopping vegetables,spinning them dry and then heaping
them in small plastic packets before placing them in plastic transport crates. At the other end of the 5,000-
sq-m warehouse, men unload crates of fruits from a truck pulled up to a spotless loading dock. A quality-
control expert samples every tenth crate; if the fruits are good a team will ready them for delivery within
hours to Reliance fresh stores around different places like U.P and as far away as Hyderabad and even
Mumbai.If they are not, workers will inspect the entire shipment and discard anything below standard.

3) Merchandise from these collection processing centres are collected and loaded for wholesale
mandis. As this merchandise is to be made available by 4 A.M in morning thus deliveries in trucks are sent
at time depending upon

4 ) From Mandis where the trucks have been unloaded ,roadside vendors and pull carters buy fruits and
vegetables to supply in households
Recruiting best of talent in retail from all around the world
Recently in August 2011 Mukesh Ambani did a 3rd rejig of his top management at Reliance Retail.
Rob Cissell of Walmart will be taking over as chief executive officer (CEO) of Reliance Retail. Cissell has
been with Walmart in China for several years and has recently resigned.

He will be accompanied by one of his former colleagues from Walmart China called Shwan Gray. He will
be taking over as chief operating officer (COO) of the Reliance Retail business. Their mandate is to turn the
business around and make it profitable within the next two years.Initial contract has been signed for two
years only. They will have to focus primarily on food, FMCG and electronics business. Secondly, they will
also have to focus on the big plans for the cash and carry segment that Mukesh Ambani announced during
his speech in the last AGM. These core focus areas which are expected to turnaround the retail business for
Reliance.

Early last year Gwyn Sundhagul who was with Tesco team in Thailand was hired to takeover Reliance Retail
business. He along with 20 senior managers moved in from Tesco Thailand to take over the business. They
restructured the entire value format and started focusing on the big format of Reliance Retail. However,
things did not match up to the expectations of the top management of Reliance Industries. So lets see how
much success the new management team could bring to the loss suffering chains of Reliance Retail

Door to door selling by Reliance Fresh

Reliance Retail is the first national retailer to try direct selling

Basic motive is to increase the sales of its private labels which always had higher margins than national
brands as in previous years private labels of Reliance has not been such a success compared to its
competitors Future Group

Reliance Retail has begun door-to-door direct selling through housewives and housing societies to boost
sales of its private brands such as Sudz detergent, Amara soaps and Healthy Life food items.Its subsidiary
Reliance Home Products has launched a 'Home Club' initiative on a pilot basis to sell products at consumers'
doorsteps at 30% discounts through members-primarily housewives-who will earn 10% of their sales
amount as commission.This is an attempt to sell our products at wholesale prices which could not only
exhaust the inventory that has been piling up but also create a new sales channel
 Competitors Move:

The following are the reasons for changes in Reliance Freshs Strategy and some of the highlighting
news articles related to the competitor: Future Groups Big Bazar

Pantaloon earmarks Rs900 crore for retail space news

Leading retailer Pantaloon Retail India Ltd (PRIL) has allocated Rs900 crore over the next three years on
9 million square feet of retail space, which it had already booked for expansion across India for expansion.

The move by the Kishore Biyani-promoted Future Group is being seen as a measure to ensure it had
enough expansion space in the event of multinational firms expanding their footprint into the Indian retail
sector with the entry of FDI in multi-brand, when it is allowed.

"Supply of fresh quality real estate space within large Indian metropolises is increasingly becoming
scarcer. The demand for this space is also expected to increase significantly in the near future as more
retail companies vie for this space," PRIL said in an investor document.

The group said, envisaging the future scenario, it launched an aggressive strategy of securing quality real
estate for its future expansion plans and had booked over 9 million square feet of retail space.

Sources say, the group had set aside Rs800-900 crore for the purpose.

Around 60 per cent of the total retail space that the group had booked would be used to set up Big Bazaar
stores.

Big Bazaar Assists Tata Motors Increase Nano Sales

Kishore Biyani's discounted retail format Big Bazaar, which commenced the idea of 'Sabse Sasta Din'
some years back, is now selling Tata Motors produced worlds cheapest car Nano.
In a new move, Tata Motors has inked a deal with Future Group to sell the smallest car in Big Bazaar
outlets.
Future group's Customer Strategy president Sandip Tarkas, who heads this initiative at Big Bazaar satted,
There is a lot of commonality between Big Bazaar consumers and prospective Nano buyers. Big Bazaar
as a concept appeals to the masses and with over 150 million footfalls every year, we are trying to see how
we can sell Nano, which has a similar positioning. This is the initial time Big Bazaar is selling a car in
India. As per industry functionaries, Big Bazaar has already sold over 450 Nanos since the trial started a
month ago.

IDBI Securities research head Sonam Udasi said, Tata Motors may have now realised that for a product
like Nano, conventional distribution system such as car showrooms can only help to an extent. Big
Bazaar's customers, mostly value conscious people, will directly fit in the profile of Nano buyers," Sonam
added Walmart in talks to pick up stake in Future Group's Big Bazaar

MUMBAI: At a time momentum is building to allow foreign players into front-end retail, senior officials
of the Future group and Walmart have met at least five times in the past four months, raising the
possibility of an alliance between India's largest retailer and the world's largest retailer. If the alliance
fructifies, it could reconfigure organised retail in India.
Four executives from the two camps with knowledge of the talks confirmed that Future Group owner
Kishore Biyani visited Walmart's headquarters in Bentonville, US, last December where he met
Doug McMillon, president and CEO of the American company. Biyani was accompanied by B Anand,
director of finance, and Damodar Mall, director of integrated food strategy at the Future group. Since then,
Hong Kong-based Leigh Hopkins, vice-president (M&A Asia) of Walmart, has visited the Future group's
office in South Mumbai at least thrice, the latest being last week, said three of those officials. Biyani
declined comment on the talks with Walmart saying, "There are too many issues". "There is nothing
there," he added. Walmart India President Raj Jain denied the talks. "At the moment, we are not in any
alliance talks with the Future group," he said after a long pause, carefully measuring his words. Walmart
US did not respond to an email sent last Friday.
The meetings between the two sides could have an impact on their respective partnerships in India an
existing one for Walmart and a prospective one for the Future group, both of which have been beset by
issues. Walmart has had an equal joint venture with the Bharti group since 2006: Bharti Walmart.
However, this partnership is 'non-exclusive' in nature, which means Walmart can forge other alliances in
India. Bharti Walmart operates in the wholesale and back-end segments the two areas in retail where
foreign players are currently allowed. Walmart, the world's largest company with revenues of $408 billion
in 2010, has reportedly been frustrated by the joint venture's slow pace of expansion. So far, it has opened
five wholesale stores under the brand name 'Best Price Modern Wholesale'. In calendar 2009, according to
data from the Registrar of Companies, the JV lost Rs 151 crore on revenues of Rs 198 crore.
"Maybe Bharti is not investing so much as Walmart would like it to do," said Harminder Sahni, founder,
Wazir Advisors, a boutique consultancy. "So, there is a possibility of Walmart bringing another equity
partner to ramp up."

Big Bazaar special offers for different events (Cricket World Cup)

VIJAYAWADA: With the aim of connecting cricket lovers to the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011', retail
major Big Bazaar unveiled a range of merchandise at a fashion show held on Wednesday. Ranji cricketer
Swaroop unveiled the collection during the show.
Store manager K. Bhanuprakash said that lovers of cricket around the world were gearing up for the ICC
Cricket World Cup 2011 with just about 44 days to go for the start. We are delighted to be associated
with the ICC as the authorised retailer for the World Cup merchandise. Through our range of offerings in
apparel, home and personal care, we attempt to cement a strong relationship with our customers by
enabling them to express their appreciation and cheer for cricket by sporting the fan look, he said.
Cricketer Swaroop said: It has been a pleasure to be associated with this event at Big Bazaar. I would like
to invite all cricket lovers to show their spirit for their favourite team and the player by wearing the
authorized ICC CWC 2011 fan merchandise available at Big Bazaar stores.
Mr. Bhanuprakash said Big Bazaar offers specially designed cricket merchandise for men, ladies and kids.
The range includes sports tees, active dry tees, track pants, shorts, sweatshirt, caps, head bands and more.

Future Group To Open 30 Big Bazaar Outlets By 2012

Future Group promoted by Kishore Biyani , which runs Indias largest retail chain in both value and
lifestyle formats, on Thursday said it plans to open 25-30 Big Bazaar outlets by June 2012, and will invest
Rs 300-crore for the same.
We are planning to add 25-30 stores on the Big Bazaar front. Our target for this year is 30 stores for Fashion
at Big Bazaar and we already have 13 stores, so real estate provided we should be able to achieve our target,
Future Group Future Value Retail Joint CEO (East & South) Sadashiv Nayak told PTI. The Future group
currently owns 152 Big Bazaar stores in the country. We will be investing Rs 300 crore for Big Bazaar and
 for the stand-alone (Fashion) it should be another Rs 7080 crore, he said on the sidelines of Amar Chitra
Katha (ACK Media) scholarship event.

Revamping Reliance: Our own Business Plan

In context of India we consider ourselves no less than people hired from Walmart ,no is sure whether they
would we able to turn Reliance Fresh into profits but we are confident about ourselves that our plan would
definitely make Reliance one of the top three players in organized Retail business

Though reliance is there on the top in terms of market capitalization in our stock market,and have a very
operates in different kind of businesses ranging from oil and gas to communications , retail,construction and
many more.But from past one year it is also seen the share of Reliance Industries Limited is on a decline
though this point may not be directly related with our case but somehow it is evident that people are loosing
hope in Reliance as a brand

There we cannot be sure about the reasons for it as Reliance as a whole.in some businesses like marketing
operations in Petroleum was a complete failure.Now coming to retail it is already discussed in the case the
problems they faced.

According to me the only major problem Reliance Fresh had was the protests from local vendors and
vegetable sellers. Some how they failed to understand the political environment which plays an important
role in doing a business in India.But again that was much of an exaggeration and hype created by Reliance
about their future plans.But now the whole scenario has changed , now there are many more players in
organized retail and there is no protest from local sellers as the market is big enough so that both the segments
could flourish well successfully.

Once I was thinking that no retail chain work on certain factors which could make them successful in business
and have them to have a competitive edge .That certain factors have already been acted upon by Reliance in
recent past and that we have done in modern policies adopted by the chain ,If you analyze them carefully
you would see they are not leaving a single stone unturned and you name a management function whether
its supply chain, direct selling they are good in it and somewhere better than their competitors too
 But where as other chains such as Big Bazaar are much ahead of Reliance Fresh both in terms of profits and
revenue. So definitely the chain need to be revamped. So critically analyzing the case we came out with our
following plan on which they could work upon .

Reliance need to work upon a term known as Value which never reflect in any of their business.You cannot
be successfully just by hiring top people that Reliance Fresh itself knows from their past experiences.
Customer should get something more by coming to your store and just not the product they are coming for.
There should be a feel good factor as we are just selling hopes in the market and not the product or services.
So following things could be done by Reliance Fresh in order to revamp itself.

An extensive Market Research

They could hire a firm who could research for them on following aspects:

Are people aware about Reliance Fresh?

Whether they have visited the store or not?
Were they satisfied or not?
If not satisfied why not?
What all improvements could Reliance Fresh do?
What is the most important factor that motivates you to go to a particular grocery and fruit and vegetable
chain?

As we know market research takes a time till then following actions could be taken by Reliance Fresh
in order to revamp itself

WAREHOUSES

A lot need to be done to create a brand image about the chain and as talked earlier also about the value
generation, so if Reliance fresh is successful in doing it by some value to the society it would have a lasting
effect and position our brand in customers mind

Though our plan for this value creation might seem aggressive but is absolutely feasible keeping in mind the
potential of Reliance group as a whole.
 As we all are aware about the fact there is shortage of warehouses in India which every year result in wastage
of thousands of tonnes of wheat, rice etc and also somewhat a cause of food inflation in India. So Reliance
could collaborate with government that is a PPP model and set up warehouses in various parts of the country
where government would let the farmers and even other local retailers store their grains in exchange of a
minimal charge. In return the government would give the grains to Reliance at subsidised rates which it
would sell to people below poverty line people through their special counters in front of Reliance Fresh stores
and people above poverty line will also get grains at discounted prices.

So this will create a wave in India about Reliance as a valuable brand and point of sales being Reliance fresh
will revamp the image of chain and customer will definitely some other products also will they come to buy
grains at discounted prices

So this single activity could benefit Reliance Fresh in following ways

1.Positive word of mouth about Reliance Fresh

2. Good contacts and positive relations with government agencies and local vendors , the main cause of
shutdown of its various stores in 2008
3. Definitely a noble cause for BPL people and could be termed as a greatest CSR activity by any company
in recent past

Venue to Launch Good/Service

As we could see majority of players are only playing on Pricing strategies, discounts and promotions and
none of them is focussing on the customer feel good factor. So here we have a strategy :

As you know there are beverages, biscuits or any ready to eat dishes which are being launched everyday by
various companies. So we would allow them to distribute free samples in our store to the people shopping or
they during initial month of the launch they could have a kiosk give the product at discounted price to make
customer try your product and it is always difficult to make the customer buy your product first time, if your
product is good then definitely he will buy it even without discounts.

The company who is putting its stall have a benefit here that the customer is already in a mood to shop which
is not always when they display a new product at road side

They are getting air conditioned space for their stall or salesman giving samples free of cost
Reliance Fresh is benefiting as it would create a brand recall and some customers would come just to get free
samples and will land some other products from the chain also

Customers would feel happy obviously when they come tired from somewhere and on the entry they get a
energy drink as a free will obviously lift their motives to buy something and would make them feel special
which should be the ultimate goal of any business

You might be thinking that is not always that some brands would be there to give drinks and other products
as free samples then this strategy would not work but then also we have chalked a plan and that is positioning
your Private Labels whether it is biscuits, jam, butter , bread or drinks. As a retailer everybody wants
their private labels to be successful as it always had 15-20% more margin than national brands, but as stated
in the case private labels of Reliance Fresh have not been that successful and people are still hesitant to buy
them so it would be a great way to promote them Never Experienced Comfort in Retail

This is a concept I guess never had been done by any retail chain the world

It is usually we Indians imitate the models of business run in western countries, but we know consumer
behaviour of Indian people is one of the most complex and not easy to understand

Take the case of Restaurants we still prefer the food to be served at our Table instead of self service , even
in a buffet system people prefer some things like Tea or toasted breads to be served at table rather than do it
themselves and now take the case of our houses we have maids for washing clothes, dishes and cleaning
home something different from our western counterparts so we are somewhat spoilt or we could say we could
afford it due to cheap labour available in India

So why not introduce this concept in a retail store.

Suppose I just need bread and butter and that too of a size and brand I always tale so there is no other brand
I want to see and I am coming tired from our office and I dont want to go to the other side of the big retail
store just for these 2 products

Here comes our plan to the rescue

Why not there could be some helpers standing near the cash counters or the main entrance of the store
and could take your order and bring you the necessary items and in the same time I could be there in
the cash counter line which also sometimes take time.
 So it benefitted the customer in the following ways
Saved from the physical labour
Saved time

A feel good factor

Now I would like to answer the possible questions which would come in your mind after reading this point
of ours

Everybody will order the goods to the helper standing there and will result in chaos?

But you should not forget that everybody have not decided exactly which product, brand ,size , quantity they
have to buy so it is not meant for them , some people just come to these outlets for these purposes only that
the goods here are properly displayed and they properly compare the prices and other features and then only
buy

What type of customers are you targeting by this policy?

Who usually are tired after coming from their businesses or jobs and does not want to roam in the store

Who are usually short on time

Who have pre decided on the product, brand, size and quantity of product they want to buy

Who are too old to learn and does not fit themselves in this concept of buying product,
I would like to give my example of my parents itself. I am from Roorkee and recently an Easy Day store
opened there and my parents was quite satisfied with the availability of goods there, that time I was with
them and searched all the items what my mother told me she wants, now when I came to hostel my mother
said she never went there again as she does not want to search the products there and just dont like the
concept as she is used to her early habit of ordering the goods. So there is a large class of people we are
targeting here which is still left by almost every grocery and fruit retail chains present in India

While I was writing this point an another concept came in my mind that is somewhat related to the ordering
thing only but its ordering pre ordering on the phone or through internet. It would again save a lot of time
and would be convenient for todays tech savvy generation for sure.

Customer could just order the products we want on the phone or internet and the store would keep them ready
in a bag and the they can pay for it while collecting the goods from the store or could just pay also through
their net banking accounts or debit/credit cards

In addition to this mobile application could be developed for ordering and even payment delivery. As we
know with changing lifestyle and increase in smart phones it is the most convenient method for many
nowadays.
Even the concept of mobile wallet has come in which you could have pay your various bills or avail other
facilities without having a banking account and just having balance in your mobile wallet . So possible
collaborations could be done in this field too.

Wi fi Enabled Stores

Again we are leveraging on the technology and targeting youth generation and office goers by this policy

Though it may sound a very small policy but I am sure it would be again a first in a food and grocery retail
chain. Though for you and me internet might not be so important that it might urge you to go to a Reliance
Fresh store to access it but for some it is definitely

For someone access to share market is an essential every minute , for some an e-mail might change their
fortunes and more some just to update a status on Facebook or to see what people have commented on the
picture I recently uploaded on their facebook accounts..

So its for sure todays generation feel handicapped without Internet and we are their support or just a
motivating factor for a child to accompany his parents to a reliance fresh store

Now the reader have a question in mind that what if people would come to just access internet and not buy
anything??? Definitely it would happen but again on the positive side we sell hopes and even if just 1
customer buys from 5 who just came to access internet it is a success for our chain and definitely do not
forget again the +ve word of mouth and brand value it would create

Special assistant for pregnant women and senior citizens

Just after reading this point it comes in your mind that usually pregnant women and senior citizens do not go
to shop alone but then you are not aware about the changing demographic patterns and lifestyle in India. It
is usually seen in metros the concept of joint families in almost coming to an end and more and more nuclear
families are coming into picture and even both husband and wife are working.

So keeping this in mind there would be employees that too ladies employed to keep care of such strata of
people and would assist them in buying anything they needed and even bring goods from them if it is located
somewhere far in a store

A whole new re branding need to be done

Though it would be expensive on the companies part but still it is essential once and they could leverage it
benefits in long term. It could include

Sponsoring a sports event preferably a cricket series a first by a retail chain of its kind
 They could also rope a brand ambassador
Designing an ad which highlights the points discussed above like its
Ready to help
Have something for everyone whether you are student, working professionals, housewife, senior citizens
Availability

Tie up with big stores in semi urban areas-

It is essential for any chain to widen its reach and expand itself to more and more cities

But according to us retail is all about Space and People. So with ever increasing property prices it is not
feasible for any chain to keep buying land in which ever city they want to enter, even getting land on lease
at appropriate place is not always easy in a city /town

So they could have a tie up with the popular store of a town which should have following criterias fulfilled
Should be big enough

Should be popular among local citizens

Should be credible and reliable

So how did local store benefit from it?

They get to use the name of Reliance Fresh which is a big brand in itself in return of a margin they have to
give to Reliance
Renovation of shop and new paint and boards free of cost
They would have a flexibility to use supply chain of Reliance Fresh or he could his own suppliers
Management tips from Reliance on various aspects of business
He would be able to sell the goods at cheaper rates compared to other stores in the town
How did Reliance Fresh benefit from it?

Help them to extend their chain in semi urban cities

Saves the cost of buying land and setting up a store

Access to the customer base which already trust their local shopkeeper
 Feedback System

As said in service sector a dissatisfied customer never complaints but does not returns back

So a proper feedback system needs to be there to ask people

Whether they are satisfied with the services given by the chain or not ?

What all could be improved in our existing model?

What is the most important factor you consider in a while going to a particular grocery and vegetable retail
chain?

Transparency and surprise audits at regular intervals

There should be surprise inspections at various stores to keep in check

Whether inventory is properly handled or not
No goods should go out of the store without proper bills that is to stop leakage
Employees are properly trained or not to handle various queries of customers and are courteous to the
customers
No employee is leaving the store before time or taking leave without permission
Immediate action should be taken against an employee if he is found guilty

This fear of surprise checks will help Reliance Fresh to keep things in control