The Rise of Retail in India Professor N. Viswanadham The time has come for Indian retailing. The signals are there all over. The newspapers, business press, the governments, the Chief Executive Officers of large corporations, all talk about it day in day out. The Indian economy is likely to continue its steady growth with enhanced […]
THE ROAD AHEAD In the financial year 2001-2002, the combined turnover of all three units of Haldiram’s was estimated at Rs. 4 billion. The company targeted a growth of 15% for the financial year 2002-2003. Analysts felt that, given the competition in the industry, Haldiram’s needed to develop new initiatives achieve this growth. The competition
POSITIONING The above initiatives helped Haldiram’s to uniquely position its brand. Haldiram’s also gained an edge over its competitors by minimizing promotion costs. Appreciating the company’s efforts at building brand, an analyst said, “Haldiram once was just another sweet maker but it has moved into trained brands first by improving the product quality and packaging.
PROMOTION Haldiram’s product promotion had been low key until competition intensified in the snack foods market. The company tied with ‘Profile Advertising’ for promoting its products. Consequently, attractive posters, brochures and mailers were designed to enhance the visibility of the Haldiram’s brand. Different varieties of posters were designed to appeal to the masses. The punch
PLACE Haldiram’s developed a strong distribution network to ensure the widest possible reach for its products in India as well as overseas. From the manufacturing unit, the company’s finished goods were passed on to carrying and forwarding (C&F) agents. C&F agents passed on the products to distributors, who shipped them to retail outlets. While the
PRICING Haldiram’s offered its products at competitive prices in order to penetrate the huge unorganized market of namkeens and sweets. The company’s pricing strategy took into consideration the price conscious nature of consumers in India. Haldiram’s launched namkeens in small packets of 30 grams, priced as low as Rs.5. The company also launched namkeens in
THE MARKETING MIX PRODUCTS Haldiram’s offered a wide range of products to its customers. The product range included namkeens, sweets, sharbats[1] , bakery items, dairy products, papad[2] and ice-creams . However, namkeens remained the main focus area for the group contributing close to 60% of its total revenues. By specializing in the manufacturing of namkeens,
Introduction Over a period spanning six and a half decades, the Haldiram’s Group (Haldiram’s) had emerged as a household name for ready-to-eat snack foods in India. It had come a long way since its relatively humble beginning in 1937 as a small time sweet shop in Bikaner, in the Rajasthan state of India. In 2001,