French retailer Carrefour has entered at a strategic partnership with Apparel Group of Dubai to reintroduce Carrefour in India. This franchise partnership is expected to signal Carrefour’s re-entry to one of the fast-growing food consumers’ markets that it left in 2014.
Carrefour and Apparel Group has selected North India for their first retail outlet and has planned to open others outlets in major cities of India. The plans for the Carrefour stores in India in this new partnership are that the first stores will be opened in 2025. Carrefour believes this as a good chance to harness on India’s growing buyer’s market given the fact that the country has a population of approximately 1. 4 billion people and increase in purchasing power is other factor.
Patrick Lasfargues, Carrefour’s Executive Director of International Partnerships, emphasized the importance of this move by saying, ”Carrefour entering India is a significant development in our plan to further our franchise in more than 10 new countries within the next five years.”
The alliance between Carrefour and Apparel Group is to establish the identity of the French giant retailer in India and provide the consumer with quality products at reasonable prices. Nilesh Ved, Owner of Apparel Group and President of AppCorp Holding, expressed excitement about the venture, saying: ‘It is our mission to provide the customers in India with the best products at reasonable prices and become their first choice in the world of Carrefour.’
Overall, India’s food market is promising but all the same it has its unique considerations. Despite the fact that the consumer’s purchasing power is gradually increasing, the country is also struggling with a very high food price inflation which is nearly a half of the consumer price index. This inflation is negative impact to rapidly growing economy of India but Carrefour and Apparel Group have a bright vision for the bright future of these challenges in the Indian retail trade.
Carrefour earlier had a joint venture with an Indian partner but exited in the year 2014 due to issues of lack of profitability. But now with this new retail opportunity, the French retail giant wants a new look at the future in India. The Apparel group has decided to leverage the company’s local experience while Carrefour has all the experience in the Indian market retail sales with the intention of developing a successful and sustainable business model.
One of the largest retailers of the world with over 14,000 stores in nearly 40 countries, Carrefour is counting on this new partnership with Apparel Group to be successful in opening up this huge market of retails in India. This new entry into India indicates that Carrefour is ready to face other international and domestic players in the growing and dynamic retail business industry in India that will give it a plus as a leading brand to the Indian market.