Shopping for the humble bathing soap has now become an arduous task for the tiny tot’s mother. She now has to choose not just among proven national brands like Johnson & Johnson or Himalaya, or for that matter Wipro’s Baby Soft; time permitting, she has to examine the benefits of picking a Doy Kids versus a Woodwards or a Mysore Sandal baby soap, and carefully evaluate the pros and cons of deploying shapes such as elephant, lion and bear and many others that grace the shelves of modern retail. FMCG and food sections in such stores have seen an influx of smaller and regional brands in recent months. But the rules of distribution for modern chain-stores are very different from distribution for kirana stores. While the tussle between large brands and retailers make news headlines, smaller brands have more often grappled with margin issues, delayed payments and supply chain shortfalls. Enter FSC Brand Distribution Services (BDS), a subsidiary of Future Supply Chain Solutions (FSCS), the logistics arm of the Future Group. A Big Bazaar or Food Bazaar may or may not stock the above brands but an outfit such as this helps brands of any size access a full-fledged modern trade servicing team, complete with logistics, store management as well as strategy. More than the large pan-India brands, it is the regional brand which stands to gain by riding on modern trade. Devangshu Dutta, chief executive, Third Eyesight, a retail consulting firm, says, “Small or new brands offer the modern retailer more margins while the retailer, in turn, affords them consistent demand and a scale to grow. Future Group has done it more aggressively than others.” First Steps Into Modern Retail Most of the brands that have signed up with BDS first came into modern retail, and often wide national circulation, through Big Bazaars and Food Bazaars which stock non-food FMCG products as well. Modern trade may still comprise 5-6 per cent of the overall FMCG market of Rs.
Shopping for the humble bathing soap has now become an arduous task for the tiny tot’s mother. She now has to choose not just among proven national brands like Johnson & Johnson or Himalaya, or for that matter Wipro’s Baby Soft; time permitting, she has to examine the benefits of picking a Doy Kids versus a Woodwards or a Mysore Sandal baby soap, and carefully evaluate the pros and cons of deploying shapes such as elephant, lion and bear and many others that grace the shelves of modern retail. FMCG and food sections in such stores have seen an influx of smaller and regional brands in recent months. But the rules of distribution for modern chain-stores are very different from distribution for kirana stores. While the tussle between large brands and retailers make news headlines, smaller brands have more often grappled with margin issues, delayed payments and supply chain shortfalls. Enter FSC Brand Distribution Services (BDS), a subsidiary of Future Supply Chain Solutions (FSCS), the logistics arm of the Future Group. A Big Bazaar or Food Bazaar may or may not stock the above brands but an outfit such as this helps brands of any size access a full-fledged modern trade servicing team, complete with logistics, store management as well as strategy. More than the large pan-India brands, it is the regional brand which stands to gain by riding on modern trade. Devangshu Dutta, chief executive, Third Eyesight, a retail consulting firm, says, “Small or new brands offer the modern retailer more margins while the retailer, in turn, affords them consistent demand and a scale to grow. Future Group has done it more aggressively than others.” First Steps Into Modern Retail Most of the brands that have signed up with BDS first came into modern retail, and often wide national circulation, through Big Bazaars and Food Bazaars which stock non-food FMCG products as well. Modern trade may still comprise 5-6 per cent of the overall FMCG market of Rs.