April 5, 2017
The stores will offer memberships that will give those shoppers steep discounts.
Fuels Resources Center
MUMBAI, India – The Future Group has plans to open around 10,000 convenience stores over the next four years. In many ways, these will be typical stores but with one crucial difference: Shoppers will purchase memberships to shop at those stores, similar to the Costco mode, the Economic Times/India Times reports.
“No one can match the prices we will offer. We have built the entire ecosystem, such as logistics, partnership with FMCG companies and customer database, around the stores. The concept is a hybrid between the kirana (neighborhood) store, connected commerce and [the] large supermarket,” said Kishore Biyani, CEO of The Future Group. “Each store will also have merchandise suited for that locality and consumer base. Data analytics will help us determine what to stock.”
Each store aims to enroll 1,500 customers for an annual fee. Those shoppers will receive a 10% additional discount on each transaction on top of any coupons or storewide discounts. Members also receive access to online shopping, consumer credit cards and home delivery.
“The knowledge of the local market, insights into local consumer behavior, and a strong private-label presence across food categories supply the building blocks for a viable neighborhood store business, in our view,” wrote Nillai Shah and Indira Badrinarayan in a Morgan Stanley investor note about The Future Group’s plan.
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