Comments on: (Online) Battle of The Indian Supermarkets

By: Shrish Bajpai

Shrish Bajpai — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 09:00:54 +0000

Niligiri website address is http://www.nilgiris1905.com/

By: Raj

Raj — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 11:24:31 +0000

Venu: Yeah, its not a bad idea but I think it would qualify as cybersquatting.
Prasad Naidu: Thanks!

Deepak: Hey , thanks for visiting. I am aware of Fabmall.com (now Indiaplaza.in) but didn’t mention it since I was focusing on the online presence of the supermarkets and not on online stores. And as Nikhil calrified, Fabmall supermarkets have been acquired by Aditya Birla Group under its brand “More”.

I also hate the fact that even most big Indian companies have horrid online presence. And yup, you should come back and exploit the market

By: Nikhil Narayanan

Nikhil Narayanan — Sat, 24 May 2008 17:58:56 +0000

@Deepak
Fabmall-online store became Indiaplaza.in
Brick and Mortar version-acquired by A Birla. Integration with their more. brand still on.

By: Deepak

Deepak — Sat, 24 May 2008 16:21:31 +0000

Hey Raj,
Visited your blog after a long time but its refreshing as ever. Why don’t you try writing up a book. I believe you can certainly do better than Chetan Bhagat .
Okay, here is a little piece of info, which might not be new but I didnt see it mentioned in your post so I thought perhaps I will share it with you.
Fabmall is India’s largest online store and VERY good at it - www.fabmall.com only it got acquired by IndiaPlaza a couple of years ago and is now known as www.IndiaPlaza.in . I have been their platinum customer and they had exceptional quality (products, customer support). I am, however, not too cognizant about the Birla groups involvement, perhaps, they took over the retail store chains.

Also about the whole scenario of a web presence, I personally do not like India’s lack of online existence but for now the major players believe that India does not offer good enough online market. Here in the states, online stores are more than popular (we get better deals, wider selection to look at, at our convenience, same 30 day return policy etc.). I wish India boards the online bandwagon soon. Perhaps, I can come back and do it for them .

Deepak

By: Prasad Naidu PV

Prasad Naidu PV — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 10:19:12 +0000

Good analysis.

By: Venu

Venu — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 17:56:46 +0000

I too remember searching for spencer store near my place and I could easily locate it with no trouble ! However I had bad experience searching for ezone or say staples.

I guess its too expensive for these guys to build and maintain a proper website ! Also looks like I could pickup some of these supermarket domains and sell for a higher rate
Check this link as well http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Supermarkets_of_India

By: Raj

Raj — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 08:47:50 +0000

@Vineet: These big companies are pure evil! Even if I give them idea (though its really a very basic thing), they won’t pay me

@Nikhil: Well, since the pages are already “in under construction”, lets hope for a better experience from them soon.

@Neale: Hey, thanks a lot!

@Reader at DesiP: Whoa, how did you find that website? I tried multitudes of searches but didn’t find it. I don’t believe the Heritage site links to it either.

Apparently one could shop online there, but doesn’t seem to work on Firefox at least.

Most Indian websites just about work on IE so lets not expect too much

@abhinav: I have no idea what Retail Merchandising System is but it shows how all these players want to get a share of the lucrative market without much long term planning.

@Becky: Heh! Its good that you find something of interest

By: Becky L

Becky L — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 15:46:52 +0000

Okay, so I know NOTHING of Indian industry. But, I do like the name “reliance fresh”

By: abhinav

abhinav — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 17:14:17 +0000

Great work Raj … awesome research.

Its surprising that these guys dont have proper websites and they plan big to launch themselves in India.

Well what can i say .. being in retail .. i know some of these guys do not even have a Retail Merchandising System … i just hope these guys get their act together soon

By: Reader at DesiP

Reader at DesiP — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 05:47:12 +0000

Fresh@ website : www.freshat.in
Apparently one could shop online there, but doesnt seem to work on Firefox at least.