By Vipin Agnihotri
The $ 4.5 billion auto major, Mahindra & Mahindra has decided to mark its footprint on the Indian retail scene. At this moment of time, group markets and distributes products such as kids apparel and toys of international brands to wholesalers and distributors through group company Mahindra Intertrade.
It is worth mentioning in this regard that Intertrade also markets, imports and exports steel, metals and engineering products. Mahindra & Mahindra is the fourth big Indian business group to announce a retail venture, after Reliance Industries, the Aditya Birla Group and Bharti.
Unlike the other three, which plan to sell household groceries or farm fresh produce targeting the mass market, Mahindra’s retail offering is going to be a more specialized one. In my opinion, specialty retailing is a big opportunity. Everything cannot be sold by one hypermarket. In that sense, what Mahindra is doing seems exciting.
Furthermore, taking into account the fact that Mahindra & Mahindra has businesses in real estate, logistics and infrastructure, there is a good chance that its retail plans may extend to other areas too. For example, Mahindra & Mahindra group company Mahindra ShubhLabh Services Limited, which was set up in 2000, exports fruits such as grapes and pomegranates to retailers and malls in Europe.
Because of this, there is a buzz in the media that Mahindra & Mahindra might actually make a foray into food retailing, which by the way accounts for the lion’s share of the $328 billion Indian retail market. According to experts, the organized retail market in India is growing at a very rapid pace and Mahindra has tapped this opportunity at just the right time. The best part about Mahindra strategy is that they are charting out a retail business plan keeping in mind lifestyle related products that will attract maximum consumers.
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