Reliance Retail to sell connected homes concept

Tata's Infinity Retail, Future Group's e-Zone already have tie-ups with Microsoft for the same.

Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Retail has entered into an agreement with Microsoft to launch the ‘connected homes’ concept. GETTING WIRED Connected homes offers users the opportunity to connect all their consumer durables, electronic and IT products at home with their personal computer or laptops through Microsoft software such as Windows Vista and X Box The computer and the products are connected through wireless technology. http://fmcg-marketing.blogspot.com/2007/10/croma-electronics-megastore-tata-groups.html Reliance Retail’s consumer durable and IT format, Reliance Digital, is planning to launch the concept at its upcoming store in Gurgaon in the NCR region.

Tata’s Infinity Retail and Future Group’s e-Zone have already tied up with Microsoft to launch the concept as a pilot project at their stores.

Connected homes offers users the opportunity to connect all their consumer durables, electronic and IT products at home with their personal computer or laptops through Microsoft software such as Windows Vista and X Box, among others. The computer and the products are connected through wireless technology.

Reliance Digital will showcase the Microsoft products in a 500 sqft area in the store. Initially, it will be a pilot project and, depending on the success, the company is planning to open many such kiosks at Reliance Digital stores, which is eyeing revenues of Rs 20,000 crore by 2011, according to company sources.

At present, Reliance Digital has three stores and will have two more by March and aims to have nearly 50 stores by the end of the next financial year.

“If the pilot project succeeds, we will have the connected homes concept in all our stores,” said a Reliance Retail executive.

Reliance Retail has also tied up with Apple to open iStores in the country.

iStores sell Apple products such as Macintosh, i-Mac, iPod, and software and support services. Reliance Retail has three iStores and plans to launch 40 more in the next 18 months.

Tata’s Infiniti Retail has tied up with Microsoft to launch MS@Retail, a ‘connected homes’ concept at Croma outlets from October 2007. It was envisaged as a shop-in-shop pilot kiosk at Croma’s Juhu outlet.

“After the launch of the concept, we have seen a huge surge in our laptop sales. We are also planning to take it to our other stores,” said Ajith Joshi, CEO, Croma.

Croma has nine stores now and plans to add nine more in the next couple of months.

“The connected homes concept has gained popularity in the US and it will catch up in India, too, as users are benefiting from its usage,” said Joshi.

Future Group’s e-Zone, which tied up with Microsoft in January 2008 for its Hyderabad store, is taking the concept to its 28 other stores across the country, starting with a 30,000 sq ft store it is planning at Bangalore.

According to Manoj Kumar, CEO, e-Zone, “After the launch of the pilot, the sale of Microsoft products have gone up by five times. We are planning to take it to all our stores soon,” Kumar said. The company is planning to set up nearly 110 new e-Zones in the next 18 months.

After the success with Croma and e-Zone, Microsoft is believed to be taking the concept to all the major cities of India and ensuring its presence in major outlets.

Croma: Electronics MegaStore: Tata group's Infiniti Retail

Owned and managed by Infiniti Retail, a 100 per cent subsidiary of Tata Sons, Croma receives technical and strategic sourcing support from Woolworths India, a subsidiary of Woolworths. The latter is an Australian retail giant with over 2,000 stores in 12 different formats in Australia.

The above 20,000 sq feet chain at Juhu in Mumbai retails products in eight categories. These are white goods, home entertainment, small appliances, computers and peripherals, communication, music, imaging and gaming software. In each of these categories, the buyer is spoiled for choice, with nearly 6,000 products and 180 brands to choose from.

Currently organised retail is only 3 to 6 per cent whereas the total retail turnover in India was 250 million dollars last year. But organised retail is growing at a speed of 40 per cent. The pie is large enough." These facts were disclosed at an AT Kearney summit held in Mumbai recently.

There are other measures that he hopes to use to attract the customer. These include job-related training and motivational programmes to ensure that the sales staff is able to give optimum service to customers, and extended warranties on products from Tata AIG General Insurance. These measures help give further credence to Croma's claim of "We don't sell, we help you buy."

http://www.tata.com/infiniti_retail/articles/20070305_croma_electronics.htm

Ties-up with Microsoft: MS@Retail

The joint initiative of the two companies brings for the first time networking solutions for every room of a house.

The technology available at Croma, Juhu, will showcase Microsoft connected homes which bring together music and movies, thereby enriching and enhancing the lifestyles of consumers, he said. The MS@Retail shop in shop pilot project kiosk at Croma Juhu would showcase technology that will create homes where everyone is connected to everything.

The technology will help in assisting to connect camera to a Xbox and put up a show for the whole family, watch movies by connecting Xbox to the LCD, as also convert the PC to a gaming machine, thereby providing the unique technology for a completely networked home.

Presently, there are nine Croma stores in India.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News_by_Industry/Tata_groups_Infinity_Retail_ties-up_with_Microsoft/articleshow/2491094.cms