One-stop store
HPCL is experimenting with an array of services at different petrol pumps
| And not just the bookstore; the petrol station also has a Ferns 'N' Petals and a Belgique chocolate outlet for company, and if sources are to believed, these will be joined very soonby a Cafe Coffee Day outlet. |
| So, what's the idea? Is the petrol station giving way to a shopping centre? |
| Well, not quite. It is Club HP, Hindustan Petroeum Corporation's (HPCL) promotional outfit to increase footfalls and wheeldrags to petrol pumps run by the public sector undertaking. |
| HPCL's other initiatives at the capital's petrol pumps include a Juice Zone and Debonair Pizza outlets at Bhikaiji Cama Place, a Sanjha Chulha (an Indian food joint) takeaway counter and a Giggles gift shop at Sarita Vihar, a store which has an array of cheese and pickles at Bedi's at Race Course and several others with White Tiger laundry stores. |
| "The idea was to give value added services to our customers. For this we studied different areas with their specific requirements," says Rajnish Mehta, chief regional manager, HPCL. The company wants to convert 85 per cent of its petrol stations all over the country into multi-utility outlets. |
| Mehta says they are further adding to their bouquet with Western Union money transfer outlets, Air Deccan booking counters, and also services such as mobile top-ups, ATMs and MTNL's electricity bills boxes. "We are also looking at providing car hire facilities ," says Mehta. |
| Do these marketing gimmicks make good business propositions too? Are rents or lease amounts proving to be profitable for HPCL? Rajeev Goel, area sales manager, HPCL says it's not about making money. |
| "These initiatives are to promote the brand Club HP and provide a bouquet of services to maintain an upper hand in a business which is opening up to competition." The company also claims that it has taken a lead over competitor BPCL which only has In & Out stores at their petrol stations. |
| So what does it mean to companies opening their oulets there? "Certainly the lease amount is much more affordable than having a space in Khan Market. But there are other advantages. Like people who have to rush to a party or marriage and have no time to go to the market, will pick up flowers from us," says Divya Ved, running the Ferns 'N' Petals outlet. |
| Though currently this store sells 4 - 6 bouquets a day, Ved hopes to sell many more once the concept takes off. But there are any number of florists in and around Humayun Road? "We we are a premium brand and we are open till late at night," defends Ved. |
| Similarly, the Corner Bookstore chief executive, Aalok Wadhwa claims his store gets an average of 15-17 visitors a day of which 11 make purchases. He also says each buyer makes a purchase of over Rs 400. |
| "This model especially works for a chauffer driven car. While the driver is fuelling, one can go and browse. We have designed our shelves in a manner that it takes exactly two minutes to pull out a book and another one minute to pay for it," says Wadhwa. |
| Wadhwa says it's a western concept which is working well in India. His next project is in Jaipur and a couple on the Mumbai-Pune highway, of course with HPCL. |
| Does this suggest that discounts may be available for Club HP members? Goel agrees: "We are working on a model of cross selling so that both the fuel company and those with their outlets benefit," he says. |
| But where is the scope for parking cars at these stations while one browses inside a store? The company says it is talking to the government for having two-to-three layer parking lots. "At Batra's we may have a parking space at the top of the building," says Mehta. |
| These value-added services are also proving to be money makers for HPCL. Mehta himself claims that HPCL's Niti Marg (Delhi) station's convenient store does a business worth Rs 70,000 - 80,000 a day. |
| And all in the existing space. With real estate prices skyrocketing in metros it certainly makes sense. |