DuPont to cast Net wide, plans B2C foray

To sell car accessories and home care products in India

DuPont India, the Rs 1,000 crore subsidiary of the US-based diversified group, is planning to expand its business in India by adding a business-to-consumer division to its existing business-to-business model DuPont Direct.

DuPont Direct is a private e-commerce system for existing customers to order products online. This capability is currently in place for some of DuPont's product lines in Canada, Mexico, South America, US, Asia and Europe.

The company has decided to bring in car accessories and home care products from its international portfolio, aimed at end users. DuPont, which has been in India for over 30 years, has restricted its activities to the industrial sector thus far and this will be its first retail focus in India.

"From the parent company's point of view, India is one of the fastest growing market and we have been making constant efforts to make our products more affordable here. The B2B to B2C shift is also a part of our strategy to tap this booming market," said H P Nanda, business manager-non-wovens at DuPont India.

DuPont has forayed into the retail product market with its tyvek range of products, which is one its leading non-woven fabric products accounting for 6 per cent of the company's global revenues. Its business strategy for the next four years include bringing in other retail products into the market.

The company will sell the products under the DuPont Tyvek brand and is aiming to set up 100 distributors who will make its home care products available in over 2,000 retail outlets by 2004-end.

For car accessories, the company has signed up original equipment manufactures such as Tata Motors and Mercedes Benz to stock the products at their showrooms. It hopes to tie up with other car makers soon.

The Tyvek range includes car protection accessories, home care products such as mattresses and bedsheets, rain coats, protective clothing, bags and other related products.