Amritsar: Six months after it first opened, Bharti Wal-Mart's store is well on its way to changing the life of the people of Amritsar. Ironically, it is the local kirana store-owners who have welcomed the international 'cash-and-carry' chain. Offering low-priced wholesale products, 'Best Price Modern Wholesale' Bharti Wal-Mart's store has enabled kirana store-owners increase their profit margins significantly.

Located on the Amritsar-Jalandhar highway, the mega store has quickly begun to cater to more than 35,000 kirana store owners in Amritsar alone. According to the company, the store has seen an average footfall of 75,000 kirana owners a month, reports Business Line.

Shop-owners in the Ranjit Avenue area of Amritsar, some 10 km from the Bharti Wal-Mart store said, "Our profit keeps increasing if we buy products in bulk. The prices offered at the store enable us to sell it at lower prices than our competition and still make a profit. For example, after buying products from Bharti Wal-Mart for about Rs. 10,000, we can easily make a profit of about Rs. 3,000 and still offer better prices to the customer." A Bharti Wal-Mart spokesperson pointed out that the chain caters to the local mom and pop stores as well as electronics retailers. "In fact, some of our electronics items offer retailers amazing profit margins," he said.

Apart from prices, Bharti Wal-Mart also offers a massive range of products under one roof spread over close to 50,000 sq. ft. The store has 6,000 SKUs (stock keeping unit) ranging from raw food to consumer electronics. By sourcing meat and dairy products locally, Bharti Wal-Mart also strives to maintain a high quality of food products. "At Best Price Modern Wholesale, our focus has been on measuring food miles - how much distance food products have to travel before reaching the consumers' plate - and finding ways to reduce food miles by developing local and regional supply chains instead of national supply chains. For example, Best Price Modern Wholesale sources all produce meat, milk and eggs for stores within 150 km of the stores," said a Bharti Wal-Mart Spokesperson.