Now, DVDs on cycle carts

RETAIL: Moser Baer movie DVDs and VCDs will be available at your doorstep, with the company wheeling out branded cycle carts.

The next time you hear a vendor down the street trying to attract your attention, it might not be your green grocer or ice cream vendor "" it could well be your friendly neighbourhood Moser Baer CD vendor.

Moser Baer movie DVDs and VCDs can now be available right at your doorstep, with the company wheeling out its new branded cycle carts that will move around in localities selling movies on CDs and DVDs.

The company has already rolled out 100 such carts in the country and is aiming to increase this number at a robust pace.

"The response to these carts have been pleasing, we are planning to increase the number of carts to over 2,500 in this fiscal. It not only takes the product to the consumer right at his doorstep but also provides good employment opportunities," says G Dhananjay, chief operating officer of Moser Baer's entertainment division.

As prices of DVDs and VCDs reach levels comparable to vegetables, the company is aggressively pushing its DVDs in the market.

"We want our CDs to be mass market products, given the prices at which they are available. Such a roll out will help us to penetrate into the smaller towns," says Ratul Puri, executive director, Moser Baer.

"We are also tying up with various FMCG firms to make our CDs easily available to our customers," he adds.

The influx of Chinese goods in the market has led the price of a DVD player to be as low as Rs 1,500. This has led to a sharp reduction in the prices of VCDs and DVDs.

"The price of CDs are co-related with the price of the players. With the availability of cheap DVD players, the demand for DVD players as well as DVDs also rise, leading to a sharp reduction in prices," says Puri.

Moser Baer VCDs are currently available at a minimum price of Rs 30 for catalogue movies, or old classics, while the VCDs of recent movies come at a price of Rs 34. Meanwhile, a catalogue DVD at present costs Rs 39, while a DVD for a recent release costs up to Rs 49.

Justifying the recent price rise of the movie CD, Puri assures that it was a result of operational costs such as higher freight costs, VAT and other such expenditure, which was passed on to the consumer.

Three carts were first rolled out in August on a trial run in Kolkata and the official country-wide launch came through early this year. Each cart that can carry about 35 titles with five CDs of each title, comes at a substantial investment of Rs 20,000-Rs 25,000 each.

"We are yet to reach the breakeven point. Currently, we sell about 15 CDs per cart per day. To break even we have to sell a minimum of 20 CDs per cart per day, which we hope to achieve soon," he adds.

"Customers want the latest releases at their door steps. This poses a bit of a challenge for us as obtaining the rights for latest movies is not easy, but we are trying to assess this situation and will find a way out," he says.

On an average, every cart has about 70 per cent new movies and 30 per cent catalogue. "Each cart carries about 35 movie titles of which about 15 will be catalogue while the rest 20 are new movies," he adds.

Moser Baer currently has about 10,000 movie titles in its portfolio. These carts have been rolled out in the eastern parts of India including Kolkata, and northern parts like Delhi, where it plans to introduce about 200 carts in the next six months.

"We have already launched these carts in eastern and northern parts of India, and within the next six months we will launch them in the western and southern parts too," says Dhananjay.

The content of the carts will be customised according to the area in which they are sold. "If a cart is rolled out in Kolkata, it is obvious that it will contain Bengali movies as well.

Though the look of the carts are standard, the content will somewhat vary according to the region and area in which they are being sold," he adds.

The company has not resorted to any aggressive marketing strategy for such carts. Dhananjay reasons, "We are waiting for this business to acquire scale for us to launch various marketing campaigns and offers on CDs."