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It may be a better strategy to find a distributor first who can help you to get your products in smaller chains or individual stores, and then help you to get to the big names. Or to start online.
In this article you will find more information on the retail market and guidance on how to convince retailers and distributors to work with you.
Our local consultant will help you find the right distributors or retailers and convince them to work with you.
India, located in South Asia, is the world’s second-most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.3 billion as of 2023. Known for its rich cultural diversity, historical heritage, and vast geography, India plays a significant role in global affairs.
The Indian economy, with a GDP per capita of around $2,100 USD in 2023, is characterized by a mix of agriculture, manufacturing, and services. Agriculture remains a key sector, supporting a large portion of the population. The service sector, particularly IT and software services, has seen rapid growth and global integration. Manufacturing is also expanding, with initiatives like ‘Make in India’ promoting industrial development.
India’s major imports include crude oil, precious stones, machinery, chemicals, and pharmaceuticals, vital for its growing economy and population.
Key cities include New Delhi, the capital and a political hub; Mumbai, the financial and entertainment center; Bangalore, the IT and tech city; Kolkata, known for its cultural heritage; and Chennai, an industrial and cultural center.
Reliance Fresh: A subsidiary of Reliance Industries Limited, it operates thousands of stores across more than 600 cities in India, offering a variety of groceries and other items.
HyperCity: Known for its large format stores, it has more than 25 outlets nationwide, offering a wide range of products including fresh fruits, vegetables, and more.
Big Bazaar: Part of Future Group’s retail network, it operates over 200 stores across India, known for a wide variety of products at competitive prices.
More Supermarket: With over 230 stores, it offers a vast range of grocery items, packaged food products, dairy products, and more.
Spencer’s Retail: Operating 250+ stores across the country, it offers an extensive range of products including groceries, fresh produce, dairy products, and more.
The best preparation for doing business in any country is visiting it. This way you can experience the culture, check the shops and build your network.
Where it comes to hotels, research shows that if you check these platforms, in 80% of the cases you have the lowest room rates.
If you have a consumer product that you can’t sell directly from your home country to your end customer, you need at least one step in between. This can be a distributor (who also acts as wholesaler or importer), a big retailer directly, or it can be a large web shop. Let’s look at the pro’s and con’s of each option.
Distributors are risk averse, they know the portfolio they have and tend to be happy with it. They can’t just add a product or service to their range, since it will cannibalize on others:
Getting your products imported and delivered in a specific country can be a challenge. I have good experience with Tecex, who can act as your importer of record and even physical distributor. If you leave your details, they will contact you.
I always put a lot of emphasis on drafting a good distributor pitch. Even if you already have great sales materials for your end-users, this often does not make clear what the benefits are for a potential agent, distributor or retailer to work with you.
When you approach potential sales channels with your standard documentation, chances are high that they are holding of. If you make it crystal clear what are the benefits for them, like in the example presentation, you will get a much higher response rate.
Please note that it helps to put concrete data in your presentation. You may think it is sensitive, but just know the secret is in how you achieve the rotation or the low returns level, not in the data itself. So share it here, in order to get the right attention.
Be well prepared. All retailers expect you to prove why they are going to make more money with your product than with their current assortment. So you must know the competition.
