In a different retailing strategy, MyDollarStore which tested leasing its brand to a Mall owner – Prateek Mall in Bangalore, is planning to take this idea further on PAN India basis. MyDollarStore would be supplying the required merchandise, retailers and mall owners would be operating its stores and running customer care programmes on its behalf.
Mr Soumitra Ghosh, CEO of MyDollarstore said,
We are open to new formats for the Indian market. The mall owners and retailers could well be managing and operating while we would be earning commission from the business. At this stage we are looking at opportunities and wherever there are synergies with retailers and mall owners, we could consider having a shop-in-shop format for our brand of stores.
According to our survey, MyDollarStore has 47 standalone stores in 30 towns in India. Apart from high-street and malls, MyDollarStore has also moved in with the petrol stations and IT parks. They are also considering below-the-line advertising and planning some amount of interactive advertising across malls.
Most of the merchandise is European and American brands across various categories such as health & beauty, foods and general merchandise. With its USP [Unit Sale Price] of Rs 99, the company expects “widthd and depth” of imported brands that will make it acceptable to retailers and mall owners.