Anuj Puri, Chairman and Country Head at JLL India, a leading market research analyst, speaks about the growth of Indian retail, logistics and warehousing sectors, investment scenario and impacts of government’s policies on the sectors in 2016. Excerpts…

What are investment options do Retail, warehousing and logistics sector offer to Overseas and PE funds in India?

Apart from the favourite asset classes of office and residential, private equity (PE) has been taking increased interest in warehousing, logistics and retail real estate. PE investors and overseas developers are already looking at opportunities to enter India’s industrial and warehousing sector by investing in various development projects.

Investors from other nations, in general, and Asian countries such as China, Japan and Korea, in particular, have shown a lot of interest industrial development projects. A few key announcements that show their increasing interest are:

• ‘Wanda Industrial New City’; Dalian Wanda Group
• Industrial Parks by China Fortune Land Development Company Private (CFLD)
• Development of smart cities by ZTE Corporation
• Neemrana Japanese investment zone
• Mandal Becharaji, Japanese investment zone
• SUPA, Japanese investment zone
• Chinese industrial zone in Vadodara
• Ascendas-Singbridge exploring multiple portfolios of industrial and logistics parks across India.

What will be the impact on logistics and warehousing sectors when GST becomes a reality?

With the implementation of Goods and Service Tax (GST), warehousing and logistics’ spaces will start to see a consolidation of assets. Unlike earlier (small assets in various states), developers will focus on the development of large-scale, technologically advanced warehouses. Such assets will attract private equity (PE) investors, since they can deploy a larger amount in fewer assets, making monitoring easier. If they perform well, such assets can even fetch a better valuation when monetising through REITs or other ways.

How do you find the demand for commercial retail assets in 2016?

In the past few months, key leasehold retail assets across the country have come on the PE radar. A few reasons include well-managed Grade-A malls starting to enjoy better occupancy with rent escalation on the cards, after a lull of six to seven years. Such well-managed assets/ entities will attract investor focus.

A few key deals seen in 2016 were:

• GIC bought a 50% stake in Viviana Mall of Sheth Developers in Mumbai
• Blackstone acquired the retail portfolio of Alpha G Corp through an entity level deal
• Blackstone has progressed well in acquiring a stake in the retail assets of L&T in Navi Mumbai
• Blackstone buying 50% stake in Pune’s Westend Mall

What were the impacts of government’s recent regulations on retail sector?

Leasehold retail property usually has a higher probability of success as the developer is actively involved in the key functions of mall management, especially tenant management. Various new regulations like easing foreign investment for single-brand retailers, longer shopping hours and an updated framework for establishing Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) have attracted the attention of various private equity funds like Blackstone, Xander, GIC, Morgan Stanley, towards the Indian retail real estate sector. Various retail mall developers are also looking to sell their existing retail assets and raise funds for expansion.

Mr Jonas Keng, Sales Director at Godex International, Taiwan, who visited India recently, speaks to JusTransact about growth of Indian retail market, Godex’s expansion plans, revenue target and future products envisaged for Indian industry and retail businesses. Excerpts…

What is your opinion about Indian retail market compared to other South East Asian peers?

Indian retail market is one of the fastest growing among the neighboring markets. Due to unprecedented growth in logistics, ticketing, entertainment and e-commerce sectors, the demand for barcode printers, label printers and other allied products has grown manifold. We envisage a huge demand for such products in India in another five years. We are rightly placed here with our rugged and technologically advanced desktop and industrial barcode/label printers to tap the market along with other products such as scanners which can be integrated with any other input devices to give a complete retail solution for businesses in India.

In China and Korea, thousands of retail businesses including food courts and eateries have automated their operations with POS products. We expect, India, being the largest economy, will also see a wide-scale usage of such products by millions of unorganized business establishments to meet the huge demand for customized and quality services.

What are your expansion plans in India?

We are currently in consolidation mode. We want to reach out to industries with our existing product range as we have started well with desk-top versions in India. We believe that our association with Millennium will help us promote our brand among industries and retail businesses across the country as they have wide presence and market exposure. We will also impart training to dealers and stockiest across India to handle technical and other product-related issues. We will be conducting road shows and retail events in all major cities in the coming days as part of our plans to expand our reach across India.

You are specialized in barcode printers, scanners and mobile printers. What are the other products in the pipeline for India?

We will introduce more hardware products for Indian market after due BIS certification. The current one in the pipeline is DT 4C, a simple and compact printer ideal for printing labels and tags. Once we get the BIS certification, we will start marketing the product. Our strength lies on output devices in the AIDC domain. We are not planning to venture into input devices like touch screen POS terminals. However, all our products can be integrated with other brand’s devices to create a complete POS solution. Along with hardware, we also offer software support where customers can customize their preferences, be it a label or a simple tag.

What is your revenue target for India in the current financial year?

In Taiwan the financial year starts from January and ends in December whereas in India it’s between April-March. We have started late this year. As per our estimate, we should do business not less than half-a-million USD in this current fiscal which will put us comfortably ahead to look for USD one million target for 2017-18.

- K. Ramanathan   ram@justransact.com

Bixolon is the world leader in providing cutting edge technology products to various industries with their application oriented devices. The Korea-based technology giant has created niche for itself in supplying world-class Mobile Printer, Mobile POS devices, POS printers, Label printers, POS peripherals and accessories to leading manufacturers and retailers across the globe. Growing at rapid pace in India, Bixolon has a huge catalogue of products to cater to Indian retailer and non-retailer community.

C Anton Jebadurai, country Manager, Bixolon India speaks about the company’s growth projection, future plan, product line-ups and advantages of mobile printers. Excerpts…

You are one of the world’s leading POS & Mobile Printer brands. What are your plans for India?

We have been developing advanced Receipt, Label and Mobile Printers and maintaining our position as world leader in this segment. We have been chosen as world’s leading mobile printer brand by the leading research analyst Chunichisha for the last three consecutive years. We are extremely proud of this prestigious honor.

In India, we are currently having channel partners with whom we have been working for many years. Recently, BIXOLON has also created a sales office in the region to further provide sales and technical support to the market. We saw the need and demand for mobile printing solutions growing at a rapid rate, especially in the transportation and logistics fields with delivery receipts and issuing invoices. We were able to successfully penetrate this emerging market and we aim to uphold our status as market leader by introducing products with cutting-edge technology that continue to solve industry problems.

Can you brief Bixolon’s product line for Indian retailers?

BIXOLON offers a sophisticated and comprehensive line of mobile, desktop POS and barcode label printers.

Our mobile printers include the sleek and lightweight 2-inch SPP-R200III and 3-inch SPP-R310. Both of our next generation mobile printers come equipped with Easy Bluetooth Paring via embedded NFC tag, ruggedized and water-resistant designs, and long battery lives, suitable for all industries that require portable receipt and label issuing.

BIXOLON’s POS and label range includes the ultra-reliable SRP-380 POS receipt printer, the water and dust resistant front exit SRP-F310II, perfect for restaurant and bars and the durable SLP-TX400 barcode label printer. All of these models can be used with any smart device for issuing a customer receipt, printing a kitchen order or retail shelf and inventory labeling.

Finally, BIXOLON’s complete lineup also solves the problem of connecting multiple POS peripherals with smart device based applications, by introducing the B-gate. Our mPOS hub solution easily connects up to 4 standard peripherals, such as printers, customer displays, cash drawers, scanners and scales, with tablets or smart devices via its powerful Bluetooth or Wi-Fi interface.

All the BIXOLON’s product lines are ready-to-sell in India market with BIS certification.

What are the industries you cover and your specialization?

BIXOLON offers the latest in mobile printing technology for a range of trend sensitive applications. As the mobile application market grows, BIXOLON’s mobile printers have been globally accepted as the mobile printing product of choice and integrated into a wide range of applications. Some of these applications include: delivery notes and invoice printing in logistics, mobile payment and queue busting solutions in retail, table-side ordering and delivery solutions for hospitality, price management for retail inventory, ticket and citation issuing for public workforce, and in-flight sales for aviation, just to name a few. The possibilities are endless as we continue to provide world-class solutions for industry mPOS demands.

Can you elucidate the advantages of using Mobile Printers for retail businesses?

From every aspect of the retail industry, mobile printers can be used to solve a problem. They can assist with customer wait times and overall satisfaction by queue busting and mobile checkouts. They allow retail employees to update price tags and print shelf labels directly from the sales floor, saving time and preventing shrinkage. Finally, mobile printers are used in direct store delivery (DSD) to print invoices and provide proof of delivery on the spot, eliminating the need for bulky, inconvenient and confusing technology.

BIXOLON’s full range of 2, 3 and 4 inch mobile also include various accessory options such as vehicle chargers, quad chargers, shoulder straps and protective cases. All current mobile printers support Apple (with MFI Certification), Android & Windows platforms, via cable, Bluetooth or Wi-Fi. BIXOLON’s mobile printers provide simple connectivity to Tablets, Smartphones or any Smart Handheld devices. Our comprehensive line mobile printers and accessories, create the ultimate printing solution, combining convenience, style and innovative technology.

- K. Ramanathan   ram@justransact.com