New Delhi: World's largest retailer Wal-Mart is upbeat over its grand foray into India despite political hurdles.
However, the much-feted India debut could become a damp squib as the high-profile brand name may take a miss at the front-end retail stores in the country.
Hundreds of retail outlets that Wal-Mart plans to open in India over the next five years might not carry the Wal-Mart name at all, says sources.
A Wal-Mart spokesperson in India said the front-end stores would be 100 per cent owned and operated by Bharti, while the US firm would focus on back-end operations like logistics and other supply chain management.
As for branding of the front-end stores, the spokesperson said it was for Bharti to decide.
When contacted, a Bharti official said the company was conducting consumer research and evaluating options at present and a decision regarding the brand name would be taken in due course of time.
However, sources indicated that the US major was open to the idea of giving the Wal-Mart brand a miss at the front-end store level, as it might further fuel the political opposition centred on concerns about a foreign company impacting the home-grown small retail stores.
Bharti group is likely to unveil the strategic roadmap for the business on Monday, while a high-profile team of the US giant, which could also include its CEO Michael T Duke, is also expected in India next week.
While Wal-Mart is betting big on its entry to the 300 billion dollar Indian retail market, its involvement in the joint venture is likely to remain limited to the back-end operations and the front-end stores would be owned entirely by Bharti Retail.
Earlier this month, when Bharti group invited tenders for retail space in the country, the space was being looked at was for Bharti Retail and not the joint venture firm Bharti-Wal Mart.
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However, the two partners also want to cash upon the leverage that a Wal-Mart brand might give to the business in a highly-competitive market and a final decision is still away on the branding, the sources added.
The multinational giant is more concerned about expanding its presence into the country quickly despite the persisting opposition from various lobbies and aspects like branding could be sorted out later, the sources said.
However, analysts and retail market experts are optimistic about Wal-Mart's success in India, despite failures in Germany and Korea where it closed operations last year.
"Wal-Mart has been quite successful in entering international retail markets with a few learning experiences, which will only prepare them and make them better for the next challenge," a former Wal-Mart advisor and chairman of US-based retail investment advisory firm Growth Ventures Group Love Goel said.
The international business contributes an estimated 80 billion dollars in sales, while the company operates about 7,000 retail stores across over a dozen countries.
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