LOTS to invest Rs 10 bn in 5 yrs, launch e-commerce platform in 3 weeks

LOTS Wholesale Solutions, a 100 per cent subsidiary of Thailand-based Siam Makro PCL, will invest Rs 10 billion over the next five years. The company, a part of $50-billion Charoen Pokphand (CP) Group, opened its first store in New Delhi on Wednesday.

The company, which plans to take on Walmart and Metro Cash and Carry, will launch its e-commerce platform within three weeks.

LOTS plans to open 15 wholesale distribution stores in the next three years and follow the mixed model of leasing and buying commercial spaces for its stores and cold chain network. It will also lease farm land for growing fresh produce.

For now, the CP Group plans to run business-to-business (B2B) cash-and-carry stores in the country. The company has forayed into India through the 100 per cent foreign direct investment (FDI) route. 

Headquartered in Bangkok, CP Group has interests in agri-business, telecom, plastics, automotive, pharmaceutical, property and financial investments.

“We are looking at about 15 stores in the next three years. We are also looking to transport fresh produce through temperature-controlled trucks,” according to Tanit Chearavanont, managing director, LOTS Wholesale Solutions.

To differentiate itself from Walmart and Metro Cash and Carry, LOTS plans to provide customers with full backend inventory management and ordering system. 

“We are focusing on technology. We have a ‘sales application force’, employees within the store who will go out in the market and take orders on a digital platform. In the next three weeks we will launch our e-commerce platform,” he added.

The company plans to initially follow a ‘hub-and-spoke’ model for its online marketplace.