Mumbai: Tata Steel on Sunday said it has taken major retail initiatives, including doubling its outlets to 1,000 in the next 2-3 years for its branded products, to promote sale of its steel products in the country.
The second step would be to increase the number of steel junction outlets in the eastern region through franchises to sell all kinds of steel items like furniture, jewellery, cutlery and home building items and branded products of the company, a Tata Steel official said.
The Jamshedpur-based steel major started its retail initiative in 1999 to reach out to the buyers. It has around 10,000 distributor-owned exclusive shops, including 3,000 in rural India, to sell its branded products.
In order to take the retail initiative forward, the company had in 2003 started the “retail identity programme” wherein certain shops were identified to be converted as exclusive outlets for branded products.
“Currently, out of these 10,000 outlets more than 500 are exclusive retail shops form where customers can get services like product weighment, assured price, door-delivery, roofing accessories, plumbing solution and product eduction,” the official said.
These shops are not company-owned but fully controled and monitored by the respective brand groups. These retail outlets sell assigned brands in allocated territories because the company believes that the buying behaviour of the people differers from brand to brand and market to market, the official said.
Around four years back, Tata Steel launched Steeljunction, which marked the company’s entry into the organised retail space. These stores sell all kinds of steel items like furniture, jewellery, cutlery and home building items produced by the company.
The company now has five steeljunction outlets in and around Kolkata, of which four are run on franchise model.
“Steeljunction is in the process of selecting franchise partners in Jharkhand, West Bengal and Orissa for further expansion,” the official said.
Domestic steel majors are expanding their retail presence to increase sales in the domestic market as the export market was on the wane.