Pantaloon launches e-retailing portal

Future Bazaar India Limited, a subsidiary of Pantaloon Retail (India) Limited, launched its virtual retail initiative "� futurebazaar.com "� here on Tuesday.

"Leveraging the tried and tested 'brick and click' strategy, futurebazaar.com is the only e-commerce portal with a strong offline presence, quite different from the current e-commerce players who have adopted a 'marketplace' model. Backed by our end-to-end supply chain and the ability to source nearly a million products, our economy of scale gives the customers the lowest prices," Sankarson Banerjee, chief executive officer of Future Bazaar, told mediapersons.

futurebazaar.com currently has on offer the widest choice of apparel, books, cameras, consumer durables, home decor and entertainment, kitchen appliances, mobile phones, watches and accessories, among others, with guaranteed manufacturers' warranty on all products and door delivery.

It also offers customers the facility to return unconditionally within 15 days articles if they are not satisfied. The portal delivers to more than 1,500-plus cities and towns.

"Around 5,000 products under 185 categories and sub-categories are currently listed on the portal, and lots more are being added everyday," Banerjee said, adding that the portal at present was witnessing around 40,000 hits per day with a conversion rate of 1 per cent.

On the logistics front, he said that the company was operating in a multi-logistic mode -- via its Big Bazaar chain and standard logistics like Blue Dart and Gati.

"The online retail business in India is currently pegged at around Rs 180 crore a year, and we are targeting to garner Rs 300 crore in the first year of operations," he added.