SDM Project - Group 2 - Britannia
SDM Project - Group 2 - Britannia
SDM Project - Group 2 - Britannia
Group Project
Group Details:
Boost market share in product categories like biscuits, dairy and bakery items.
Monitor competitors’ actions.
Adjust strategies to capture a market share.
Distribution Reach
Objective: Expand distribution channels
Sub Objectives:
Qualitative Objectives
Brand Perception Enhancement
Objective: Enhance brand perception and reputation among consumers in North West Delhi.
Sub Objectives:
Conduct brand awareness campaigns to highlight Britannia's values and product quality.
Foster positive consumer sentiment through engaging marketing initiatives.
Customer Satisfaction
Objective: Enhance overall customer satisfaction and loyalty towards Britannia products.
Sub-objectives:
(B) Sales and Marketing Strategy for new product (Britannia Croissants)
Target Audience: working professionals, individuals with busy schedules looking for a quick and tasty
breakfast or snack option, urban families, parents searching for nutritious treats for their children
Sales Approach:
Unique Selling Point (USP): Emphasize the freshness, rich flavor and traditional French recipe
of Britannia Croissants.
Sales Strategy: Highlight the convenience, versatility and affordability of Britannia Croissants.
Incentives for Distributors: Provide volume based discounts based on volume kits including
display stands and recipe booklets and participation in bakery product tasting events.
Shopper Engagement
Branded Initiatives: Team up with coffee chains or cafes to introduce combo meals featuring
Britannia Croissants
Category Management: recommend placing croissants, near items like jams, Nutella or cheese
slices that go well together.
Bakery Events: Display Britannia Croissants with bakery goods at industry gatherings.
Retailer Support
Product Knowledge: Teach salespeople about the characteristics of croissants and ideal pairings
Sales Resources: Provide them with brochures, recipe cards and promotional materials to share
with retailers.
Data Analysis; Study sales data to pinpoint underperforming stores, popular consumption times
and opportunities for promotion.
(C) Channel Information System at Britannia
Britannia has implemented a channel information system based on SAP S/4HANA to upgrade its
business operations and foster innovation. This system enhances data accessibility and visibility
throughout the organization enabling increased automation and analytics for decision making.
The channel information system plays a role in aspects of Britannia’s sales and distribution
processes:
Procurement and supply chain management: Utilizing SAP Ariba solutions Britannia
accelerates digital onboarding, contract management and procurement procedures for its
extensive supplier network. This streamlines sourcing ordering, invoicing and payment
processes while reducing costs and risks.
Inventory optimization and product availability: Leveraging CIS Britannia digitizes
over 80 manufacturing units and 50 warehouses to enhance inventory management
efficiency and accuracy. This results in reduced wastage and stock outs ensuring timely
product deliveries to customers.
Customer Loyalty: By leveraging CIS Britannia boosts customer relationship
management capabilities offering service, support, and feedback to both current
customers & potential ones. This strategy enhances customer retention rates while
attracting customers through personalized offers & promotions.
Market Analysis:
Existing Customers: We need to analyze historical sales data from previous years and also use
the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system to identify and analyze the performance
of all the sales channels of Britannia like Kirana (general) stores, modern trade outlets, and
HoReCa customers.
Prospective Customers: A market research survey needs to be conducted with the help of
surveys and interviews to identify who are Britannia’s potential customers and those who buy
from competitor brands like Parle and ITC.
Competition: We need to analyze and understand what Britannia’s competitors in different
segments are doing and how can we improve and adapt our plan by theirs.
Additional Considerations:
Visibility and promotions: Britannia can improve its offline visibility in traditional & modern
retail outlets by partnering with them for in-store banners and promotions.
Festival seasons: India has a variety of festivals throughout the year; Britannia should introduce
special packaging for that along with increased production and promotions.
Incentives and Recognition: The high-performing salesman should be rewarded by
understanding their motivation to work, which can be a bonus, commission, or any form of
recognition reward.
Building relationships: The frontline salesman, who is the face of Britannia, should build strong
relationships with key decision-makers to understand & grow in their target market.
2 b) To understand the process of how Britannia’s Frontline salesman should scout for new retailers let’s
take a hypothetical case of Britannia’s salesman approaching stores in Navi Mumbai to sell their JIMJAM
biscuits as they expect increased demand due to improved connectivity –
1. Lead Generation:
Comprehensive Market Analysis: Analyze the stores currently present in Navi-Mumbai to identify
potential opportunities for Britannia's JimJam biscuit in that area. Understanding the trends of products
similar to JimJam would be beneficial.
Utilize Data and Technology: Using Britannia's existing data and other tech tools by partnering with
data analytics firms would help them. Complementing this with CRM tools and social media trends in
that area would help them gather data.
Networking and Partnerships: To compete with already prevailing biscuits in the Navi- Mumbai market
Britannia needs to develop partnerships and a strong network of distributors, along with this participating
in exhibitions & events would make the process faster.
2. Prospecting:
Targeted Approach: After the frontline salesman has understood the trends in Navi-Mumbai using
relevant data, they need to develop a targeted approach to service new retailers based on the different
requirements of the retailers.
Segmentation: As an approach to service the retailers is being made, it’s important to segment them
correctly based on the type of products the customers demand in that area. So for a product like JimJam,
retailers in areas with high demand for biscuits should be targeted.
3. Qualification of Prospects:
Strategic Criteria: To shortlist the retailers from the list of them in Navi-Mumbai, there should be
clearly defined criteria that align with Britannia’s brand value. E.g. – Qualifying based on revenue,
profitability, location, scale, etc.
Engagement and Feedback: The salesman should regularly interact with the shortlisted retailers in the
area to understand the needs and needs of the customers in their area.
4. Pre-Approach:
Research and Customization: The salesman should customize their approach to reach out to the retailers
by understanding their business values, culture, and decision-making criteria and aligning them with
Britannia’s values, which will help in resonating their interest.
Value Proposition: The salesman needs to help the retailers understand Britannia’s value proposition,
USP, nutritional benefits, and other benefits that they will gain by offering Britannia’s products to their
customers.
5. Approach:
Personalized Outreach: A well-planned approach is required to be undertaken by the salesman of
Britannia, which includes using a mix of communication methods like mail, calls, and in-person visits,
along with personalizing their approach.
Relationship Building: To reap the benefits of the partnership, it is important to develop a long-term
relationship with the retailers which are based on trust and mutual respect. This will also help the
salesman develop a good word of mouth in that area.
7. Objection Handling:
Proactive Anticipation: The salesman should use his/her experience from the past to anticipate the
general queries that they usually the retailers do have and also be prepared with answers backed up by
data to answer their new queries.
Empathy and Understanding: If there is a disagreement between the retailer and salesman or they have
different perspectives, the salesman should approach the situation with empathy and understand their
concerns and objections.
8. Closing:
Collaborative Negotiation: During the closing stages of negotiation, the salesman should focus on all the
important parts of the agreement like pricing, and terms of agreement, and work on achieving a mutually
beneficial agreement for a long-term partnership.
Clear Call to Action: It is helpful for a smoother and efficient closing process to set up clear timelines
for all the deliverables and do regular follow-ups on the deliverables. To speed up the process a call to
action like a promotional offer or added benefit increases the chances of closing the deal.
Broadly, Britannia has classified its products into 6 categories; Biscuits, dairy, bread, rusks, cakes, and
health bars.
The consolidated revenue for the nine months ended December 2023 was Rs 12,532 crore, up 3.6% from
the year before, while operating profit increased 16% to Rs 2,162 crore [Q3 published results]. Britannia
generates around 90% of its revenue from its popular product category of – Biscuits, dairy products and
Bread.
Britannia has specialized distributors for some product segments like bread because of its relatively
shorter shelf life. Although the distributors are dealing with different product segments, the distribution
system and the process for Britannia remains the same for all the types of products.
It also follows a relatively straightforward distribution model with companies appointing distributors and
those distributors catering to the needs of dealers and retailers.
- Extensive tie-ups with small shops and customer management for distributors
The distributors are serviced directly by Britannia with emphasis on 0-day delivery. During the data
collection process, one of the observations was that the distributors frequently changed in tier-2 cities and
hence most of the distributors serving in the city of Ahmedabad were relatively new distributors. The
distributors are supported by Britannia and there are formal / informal meetings 5-6 times a week between
Britannia Sales Manager and the distributor for daily updates and issues if any.
Revenue and Earnings: The distributor enjoys around 4-5% of margin while the retailer can have as
high as 8-10%.
Our project aims at distributors and retailers in the tier-2 cities such as Ahmedabad and we have classified
the distributors into 3 parts:
Typically, Biscuit Products Distributors enjoy far greater revenue as compared to the other kind of
distributors. For a second-tier city such as Ahmedabad, Biscuit Products Distributors generate revenue
somewhere between 70-90 lacs while the Breads and Cakes Distributors generate revenue somewhere
between 4-8 lacs depending on the area covered by the distributor.
The distributor is responsible for maintaining the sales team and bearing the expenses of running it
smoothly. Distributor takes care of the transportation of goods as well as the transportation cost of
Salesman is also borne by the distributors. A distributor typically has 5-6 salesmen in its team with
average salary ranging from 12000-16000.
So, the distributor enjoys the 5% margin but the additional costs such as salary of the salesmen as well as
transportation are deducted from the 5% margin
Britannia prides itself for its customer service and fast deliveries. So, the distributors are able to supply
the order to retail within a day of the order.
Also, distributors cover a vast area and are aware of the buying habits of the consumers and the emerging
trends as compared to other retailers. Hence, distributors also aid retailers in making an informed decision
about purchase order as there are also few products that have shown seasonality trends over the past
couple of years.
Also, the distributors make sure that the products are made available to its retailers and offer an
assortment of the products that are offered by Britannia. Typically, the salesperson from the distributor
Team visits a single retailer 2-4 times a week (depending on the retailer) to make sure that the retailers
do not run low on the availability of the products. All 3 teams visit the retailers on different days
The distributors use an app – Bhub AW App (commonly referred as Sales App by the Salesforce of
Britannia) to track the movements of salespeople and to determine whether the beat is completed or not.
This App aids the salesman to log in its sale and log in the order with Britannia which can then deliver the
order in a timely fashion.
To sign up for the role of Britannia’s distributor, there are certain prerequisites which add to the initial
investment as well as recurring costs for the Distributors.
Credit Policy:
The distributors are termed as Cash Distributors because the distributors have to pay upfront for all the
products they need to purchase.
All these transactions happen on an online platform. When the distributor sells the products forward, the
distributor allows credit ranging from 1-2 weeks. The credit period depends on distributor-to-distributor
and the individual distributors usually don’t change the credit periods for different retailers.
The company policy allows distributors to offer 1% discount for all the transactions on cash payment.
The return policy of Britannia is applicable for products that are expired or damaged -
b. Sales Force:
Every distributor employs around 4-6 salesmen with beat routes that are prescribed by Britannia and not
by the individual distributors. The pay range of each salesman is the range of 12000-18000. The target of
each salesman varies on multiple parameters such as the city, area and the type of products the salesman
is selling. Typically, the salesman dealing with Bread products has a target of about Rs. 1,00,000/-
Although there are targets, there’s usually no to very little incentive for the salesman for Britannia. The
beat of the salesman is tracked via Bhub AW as well as location sharing apps and the transportation cost
of the beats is handled by the distributor.
c. Retailers:
The retailers typically enjoy a margin of 8-10%. The retailers are usually keen on storing certain kinds of
products that are usually fast moving. Upon conversing with retailers, the most popular products are; Jim-
Jam, followed by Good Day and then Milk Bikis.
Since, the retailers range from large shops to pan-parlours, the scouting of these avenues for sale is also
handled by Britannia.
Retailers who were in the Business also mentioned ‘Undercutting’ which used to happen a while ago but
has been stopped. Undercutting happens when 2 distributors share some common area and they try to
convert the shops in the common area to their customers. In the process of Undercutting, the distributors
offer prices lower than the prices they are allowed from the company resulting in price war and profit
reduction. Undercutting has been fairly abolished in the Britannia distribution environment. If there are
distributors who share a common area, then, the company penalizes them 11000-21000 depending on the
extent of the area shared.
Typically, large retailers are supplied by distributors whereas small pan parlors and shops are serviced by
wholesalers.
All the kinds of investments of retailers are done for the retail shop and not exclusively for Britannia so
it’s safe to say that retailers don’t need any additional heavy investments for Britannia products.
- Technology Adoption: Incorporate technology like EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) for
streamlined ordering and inventory management. This reduces paperwork and potential
errors.
- Data-Driven Collaboration: Utilize sales data sharing to optimize product assortment,
pricing, and promotions at the store level, benefiting both Britannia and its channel
partners.
- Joint Marketing Initiatives: Develop collaborative in-store displays and local promotions
to boost brand visibility and sales.
- Training and Development: Provide regular training and support to distributors and
retailers on product knowledge, merchandising techniques, and enhancing customer
service.
Limited Reach: Traditional distributors may lack established networks in new suburbs.
Higher Costs: Expanding to new areas might increase transportation and logistics costs for
distributors.
Lower Order Values: Smaller suburban stores may initially have lower order values, making
them less attractive to distributors.
Infrastructure Limitations: Sparsely populated areas or underdeveloped infrastructure in
some suburbs might pose logistical hurdles for timely delivery.
Opportunities:
Untapped Market Potential: Suburban areas represent a significant untapped market with
potential for 15-20% revenue growth.
Increased Household Spending: Data suggests suburban households tend to have higher average
spending compared to urban households
Data-driven Insights: Utilize data from online platforms to understand suburban preferences and
optimize offerings.
Changes Needed:
Premium and innovative items: Attract a premium segment and showcase brand quality.
Essential products: Cater to everyday needs and build customer loyalty.
Seasonal and limited-edition offerings: Drive excitement and encourage repeat purchases.
The content strategy developed should have engaging product descriptions, high-quality images, and
customer reviews to enhance product discoverability and trust.
B. Fulfillment and Logistics:
Britannia can utilize a hybrid approach when it comes to fulfillment model, consisting of:
Direct fulfillment: Leverage existing logistics network for major cities with high order volume,
aiming for 2-day delivery.
Marketplace fulfillment (FBA): Partner with established e-commerce platforms like Amazon or
Flipkart for faster deliveries in other regions, considering their existing fulfillment infrastructure.
Live Chat Support: Implement live chat, providing real-time support and personalized assistance.
Personalized Recommendations: Utilize customer data (purchase history, browsing behavior) to
offer tailored product suggestions, aiming for a 15% conversion rate increase.
Order Tracking and Transparency: Provide real-time order tracking, estimated delivery windows,
and clear communication throughout the purchase journey.
Multiple Payment Options: Offer various options including, cash on delivery (COD), catering to a
wider customer base, especially in non-metro areas.
SEO and PPC Strategies: Invest in Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Pay-Per-Click (PPC)
advertising to improve website visibility and reach target audiences.
Social Media Engagement: Utilize social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook to
showcase products and recipes that can leverage Britannia's wide assortment.
Run targeted ad campaigns: Foster brand loyalty through interactive content and community
engagement.
Influencer Marketing: Partner with relevant food and lifestyle influencers to promote products
and reach new customer segments.
Please find the exhaustive list of the distributors and retailers that have contributed to our project –
1. Distributors -
- MahaLaxmi Distributors - 9825347157 (Ahmedabad)
- Anmol Distributors - 9427317620 (Ahmedabad)
- Kaushik Enterprise – 9913604050 (Ahmedabad)
- Bhavani Distributors – 8866463613 (Baroda)
2. Retailers -
- Shri Umiya Enterprise - 9998848524 (Credit Sales)
- Gayatri Super Mart - 9909415548 (Credit Sales)
- Vijay Stores – 9724678999 (Credit Sales)