FabMart.com, part of Bangalore-based Madanapalle Retail Private Limited which runs under ‘RU-BAN’ an e-commerce model catering mainly to the Tier III and Tier IV town customers, is aiming to reach 250 towns by December 2012.
RU-BAN, which piggybacks on a technology-enabled platform where consumers can place orders at any of the FabMart franchisee retail partner outlets, aimed at addressing the demand-supply needs of customers in smaller towns in India. FabMart’s franchisee partners are given a tablet where consumers can come and place their orders by browsing the portal.
“We pilot-launched the model in Andhra Pradesh last year, and presently, we are operating in 20 towns with 50 franchisees in Andhra Pradesh from Chittoor, Kurnool, Kadapa and Anantapur districts. We have plans to have 500 franchisees across 250 towns in AP, Karnataka and TN by December this year,” Alphonse Reddy, chief executive officer of FabMart.com, said.
India has over 5,000 towns. According to a published Nielsen report,
“Consumers in smaller towns have been increasingly demanding a similar shopping experience,” he said.
India has over 5,000 towns. According to a published Nielsen report, “Middle India is home to 100 million Indians and constitutes up to 20 per cent of the country’s fast-moving consumer goods market. The FMCG (fast moving consumer goods) market in Middle India will grow from Rs 28,700 crore in value presently to Rs 4 lakh crore by 2026.
“We have set a target to have 2,500 franchisees by 2013 and around 12,000 franchisees by end of 2014 pan-India,” Reddy said. The company now offers 5,000 products under 9,000 SKU (stop keeping units) under its platform.