Biyani eyes direct sales to households with Big Bazaar Direct

Big Bazaar Direct, the new venture of Future Group chief executive Kishore Biyani, is likely to become a bigger success than his flagship Big Bazaar stores as it seeks to partner kirana stores in a mutually beneficial business format.

Under the Big Bazar Direct format, the group will appoint partners across the country, who will act as its official franchisees, providing the kirana stores more opportunities to grow business while at the same time expanding its own customer base.

The franchisees will personally visit consumers and take orders for products, which will then be delivered from Big Bazar Direct stores in 3-7 days.

Franchisees will not have to stock or deliver goods to customers. They also stand to gain with maximum returns on minimum investment.

"Big Bazaar Direct is a model on a table and if it works well, it will be bigger than Big Bazaar," Biyani said n the sidelines of the India Retail Forum 2013 in New Delhi.

"Our country does not have good internet or credit card penetration, so human intervention is a must," Biyani said.

The direct sale model has already been launched in some parts of Vidarbha district in Maharashtra and will soon be expanded to the North East and Gujarat in the coming months, he said.

"Through this partnership, franchisees will be able to offer an additional 2,000 SKUs (stock keeping units), without having to build the inventory....They should get business worth Rs40-50 lakh easily," he said.

Biyani said the retail industry was faring well despite the current difficult macro-economic situation.

"Despite headwinds, small ticket items continue to do well," Biyani said.