The Goliath cometh
The most hyped joint venture in India’s retail industry, between Bharti and Wal-Mart, has also been the most awaited. The duo came together in 2006 and got into a JV in August 2007 for a cash and carry format; till date only the Indian partner has something to show for its efforts—Bharti Retail has put up three Easy Day stores in Ludhiana, the neighbourhood store format (spread over (2,500-4,500 sq. ft).
As for Wal-Mart, its cash and carry B2B stores will make their India debut sometime in 2009. To be fair though, establishing a back-end supply chain is a time-consuming task. Bharti Retail is now open to partnering with local store owners on a franchise basis, possibly to catch up with the other established players who have raced ahead with stores in every nook and cranny of India’s cities.
According to a Bharti-Wal-Mart spokesperson, Wal-Mart’s cash and carry formats are under development— and even then, it does not intend to rush into the market. The next seven years, for instance, will see just 10-15 stores opened under the cash and carry JV—concentrated largely in Tier 1 and Tier 2 cities across northern India, especially Punjab. The Wal-Mart B2B stores will have a maximum area of 100,000 sq. ft.
