<div style="float: left;">
		<img align="" alt="Metro cash and carry" class="imgCont" height="412" src="https://bsmedia.business-standard.com/_media/bs/img/article/2018-03/14/full/1521044484-4353.jpg" style="border: 1px solid #DDD; margin-right: 10px; padding: 1px; float: left; z-index: 0;" title="Metro cash and carry" width="620" />
		<div>
			German business-to-business wholesaler Metro Cash & Carry is encouraging small retailers and kirana stores to sell products at prices lower than the MRP to stay relevant in the market and take on the Amazons and Walmarts of the world.</div>
		<div>
			The company, with over 3 million B2B clients in India, has been offering much higher discounts than it already does under the &lsquo;Own Business Day&rsquo; initiative, and is calling upon the kirana stores to pass on the benefits to customers.</div>
		<br />
		<div>
			&ldquo;We are telling the small retail stores that those days of selling at MRP are over. If you want to compete with the modern e-commerce companies, you have to start selling below MRP,&rdquo; Arvind Mediratta, MD & CEO, Metro Cash & Carry, India told Business Standard.</div>
		<br />
		<div>
			Under the &lsquo;Own Business Day&rsquo;, which could be looked at as an answer to Flipkart&rsquo;s Big Billion Days and Amazon&#39;s Great Indian Festival sale, Metro Cash & Carry is asking its customers, who are primarily small- and medium-sized businesses, to create special offers for their customers. The company negotiates offers with its suppliers to supply articles at a minimum of 10-15 per cent discount over the wholesale price. For example, the price of a five kg Dawat Rozana rice bag which is sold at Rs 528 as against the printed price of Rs 600, has been reduced by the retailer to Rs 468 during the Own Business Day.</div>
		<br />
		<div>
			The programme, in its second edition this year, had over 150,000 special offers and discounts as compared to only 800 last year. By such an initiative, Metro is allowing small retailers to compete with modern players such as D-Mart and e-commerce majors such as Flipkart and Amazon, said Mediratta.</div>
		<br />
		<div>
			He said that e-commerce companies are losing billions of dollars and spending money on pricing, but a small retailer cannot afford to make losses by giving discounts on its own. Hence, Metro, which clocked in a revenue of Euro 798 million in FY16-17 (October to September), is offering significantly lower prices to retailers for them to take on big companies.</div>
		<br />
		<div>
			The company also claims it is selling electronic goods, which form around 5-6 per cent of&nbsp; its total business, at the lowest prices during the festive season. &ldquo;In electronics, we are guaranteeing our prices to be lower than online. If proved otherwise, we reimburse double the difference in the amount,&rdquo; said Mediratta. The company, which has 27 large-format stores across India, said its advantage is not range but deep discounts, which are around 40-50 per cent below MRP. It is looking at a double-digit rise in sales for the festive season and an increase of 20 per cent in footfalls during the period.</div>
		<br />
		<div>
			Mediratta also said e-commerce sales have not impacted their electronics, kitchenware and homeware businesses at all.</div>
		<br />
		<div>
			<strong>Private labels</strong></div>
		<br />
		<div>
			Metro is also betting big on in-house brands as its share of own brands have doubled in the past one year. It rolled out its pesticides-free staples called Fine Life Bio on Tuesday. This range has been introduced with over 120 products at a competitive price in different categories such as pulses, grains, rice, flours and spices. Metro has collaborated with over 65,000 small and marginal farmers directly and indirectly through associated partners to source around 2,700 million tonnes of pesticide-free produce for Fine Life Bio range. The company is also looking to take on Starbucks through its gourmet coffee brand Rioba which is priced at a third of that offered by Starbucks.&nbsp;</div>
	</div>

German wholesaler offers deep discounts over wholesale price during festive season

Metro Cash & Carry steps in to help small retailers take on online giants

German wholesaler offers deep discounts over wholesale price during festive season