CARPLUS: Retail Therapy

Vikram Gour      

Lucas Indian Service Limited (LISL), a part of the TVS Group has ventured into a bold new territory of organized car accessory retail with the launch of their own chain of stores by the name of CARPLUS.

CARPLUS is arguably India’s first organized stand alone retail chain for car accessories. Following with global trends, this new retail venture is a sure delight for the discerning car owners who wish to add to the list of accessories available in their car. The company launched the first such store in Gurgaon, Haryana recently and will open the Mumbai outlet in September and the Ludhiana outlet in October. Apart from these cities right now, details for other centers have not been shared; however the company does add that they have elaborate plans to spread this network across 32 cities with a total figure of 108 stores in the next five years.

The concept of launching a retail chain for car accessories was reached after a two year consultancy with Technopak consultants, who looking at LISL’s business strengths; felt that this is the way forward for the company. It is in line with the business framework of LISL, however this is the first time that LISL will work directly with the consumer.

The accessories available at a CARPLUS outlet will comprise of the top brands available in India. This is not a single brand shop, as pointed out by Mr. Sandeep Abbi, President, LISL, as the company intents to be a one stop shop for all car accessory needs. To do so, they will have to have stock of all the best brands in the business in order to cater to customers properly. Each CARPLUS outlet will cater to the following-in car entertainment and connectivity, car interiors, car exteriors, tyres and wheels, safety and convenience, power and lighting, car care and chemical services, and lifestyle products. The individual list of products is extensive and from the looks of it, a CARPLUS outlet seems to be the best place to go to in order to give your car a complete makeover.

In order to deliver the best service, each CARPLUS outlet will have well equipped technicians on hand to help with the fitting of any accessory. This might seem small, but considering the technicalities involved with fitting in some of the high end accessories available today, this is actually a rather big plus point for CARPLUS.

CARPLUS stores, as they widen their spread across the country will be seen in three distinct formats. The smallest store will be of the Express format and will cover an area of  just 2000 square feet. This store will have a high focus on convenience categories, and old car accessories mainly. The Express format will spread out to ten cities in India. The slightly larger and most popular format is the Super Center. A typical CARPLUS super center store would cover 4000 square feet and have just about every accessory on offer. Super Centers will be found in 32 Indian cities according to the roll out plan.  The third and final store design is the Flagship. The CARPLUS Flagship outlets are destined for the four metros and will cover a ground area of 10,000 square feet. These outlets will have every accessory on offer plus a host of other facilities for customers, making these stores destination points for car enthusiasts who wish to accessorize their rides.

With the car accessory market estimated at Rs 4200-4500 Crore in 2009, the timing couldn?t have been better for CARPLUS as the market is set to grow to Rs 8200-8500 Crore by 2014. India is moving forward, more car brands are entering the market,, and on the whole the future looks bright for the auto industry in India. CARPLUS intends on capitalizing on this by offering an unparalleled service in the car accessory department.