By partnering Australian company Woolworths, the Tatas are expected to give an impetus to consumer electronics and durables retailing in the country. Tata Sons' recently-floated subsidiary company, Infiniti Retail, will soon launch its first multibrand durables store, Croma, in Juhu later this month. While Croma's entry will not make an impact on prices initially, it will raise the benchmarks and standard of services in consumer durable retailing. Mr Nabankur Gupta of Nobby Brand Architects & Strategic Marketing Consultants, says, "Prices are already aggressive in India and it will be in standard of services where this venture is expected to make a difference in durables retailing in the country. The brand experience in this segment will get better and the large formats will give a new look and feel to the category." The new categories being introduced will also add to growth of the venture. The Croma stores will have 6,000 products across eight categories. The range is vast compared to that being sold by local and regional players such as Vijay Sales and Sumana. According to Mr Bipin Gurnani, CEO, Piramyd Mega Store, "The Tatas Woolworths venture is expected to create new zones and categories within durable retailing. New categories such as mobile, telecom, accessories are not the categories which the traditional retailers have. However, it will be a challenging business since consumers are loyal to city-specific retailers such as Viveks in Chennai and Das in Pune. Besides, it may not be able to replicate the buyback offers where discounts are involved since such practices do not happen internationally but is the norm in India." MULTINATIONAL APPROACH Giving his take on the new venture, Mr Rajeev Karwal, President & CEO of Reliance Retail's durables venture, says, "Both Tatas and Woolworths have retail experience and enjoy consumer confidence. The market is more than ready for them than the retailers themselves. Consumer. electronics, IT; telecom and home appliances are the only segments where there is still no national-level chain. "The Tatas-Woolworths deal will have a multinational approach and will bring in better consumer experience. Prices are already competitive and there will be no major price play by the new entrant." Mr B.A. Kodandaraman, CMD, Viveks Ltd, said the pressure exerted by such chains won't be felt immediately but as they grow there will be pressure both on manufacturers and small dealers. Other consumer electronic brands expect the benchmarks in durables retailing to get raised. Says Mr Amitabh Tiwari, Business Head, Consumer Electronics, LG Electronics, "Woolworths and Tatas will bring in professionalism. They will bring in trained manpower where the customers would stand to benefit. But there will be no drastic change in pricing since they will also be buying in bulk like the others and will be expecting similar schemes and incentives and additional margins. But at no point do we see ourselves supplying to them a procured OEM brand. That will happen only if they become like Wal-Mart in India." Adds Mr Vivek Sharma, V-P, Marketing, Sales & Services, Mirc Electronics, "Woolworths will bring in sophisticated processes, systems, especially at the back-end, and this is where the Indian operations will benefit from day one. This will lead to cost -efficiencies and better margins for the durables retailing business." MORE OF A FOODS COMPANY However, the CEO of a hypermarket chain was surprised that Tatas tied up with Woolworths, which he says, is more of a foods company than an electronics giant. "It's all about sourcing," he says, "and Woolworth's sourcing strength may not be as large in electronics as in foods." According to Mr Girish Rao, V-P, Marketing, LG Electronics, the increase in such retail formats would provide a convenient shopping ambience to the consumer as well as improve consumer interaction with the brand. However, as the infrastructural costs at such chains will be higher, they will bring value by selling high-end category products such as LCDs. Though overall there will not be an impact on franchise/ dealer expansion, as 45 per cent of the sales come from rural areas, there may be some impact on franchise expansion in the bigger cities, he added. HELP GROW MARKET Mr Kamal Nandi, V-P, Marketing, Godrej Appliances, says that this is an extension of organised retailing. "We expect the share of consumer durables sales through modern trade to increase to five per cent this year from three per cent. It is unlikely that the traditional sales channels will be significantly impacted as the penetration level in the category is still very low. Overall this will help to grow the market." Mr Amit Adarkar, Director, Synovate, however, feels that it will be an uphill task for Tata. "The market is already discounted and price-led. Most companies have their galleries and this is only for image. The market is difficult, you need a different value proposition to make money. It will be interesting to know what they are bringing to the table."