Vijay Basrur

Fight inflation, get a membership at Metro cash and carry

I managed to check out Metro Cash and Carry last weekend. I was impressed by the savings it offers but was surprised by the minimum purchase you have to make each time. Well after all it is not for the end consumers like you and me.

The cash and carry concept is pretty simple. You come, purchase in bulk, pay in cash and then carry it out. No free bags here! The minimum purchase value should be 1000 bucks. Some of the stuff needs to bought in bulk. Ex: Biscuits can be picked only in packs of 5. So you may end up with more biscuits than you want unless you plan to sell them to someone else.

To simply put, it is a wholesaler for a retailer. But one look at the prices and it makes you wonder how much “margins” the middle man makes. A Tropicana juice carton costs 75 bucks in any shop. At Metro it sells for 59 bucks leaving the retailer to make nearly 15 bucks (20%) on a 75 bucks item. That’s whopping! I picked up Diapers (what else!) and saved 20% again. Pampers pack of 28 which retails for 275 is available for 225. I was happy

While Metro may be a good thing for retailers since it probably puts any other middlemen out of the value chain, it is no saving grace for consumers who shop elsewhere. Retailers buying from Metro are not goig to sell you stuff for any cheaper. Even a Hyper mart such as Shoprite offers Tropicana for 73 bucks, I think.  This whole distribution seems to be a controlled “cartel like” business value chain allowing retailers to make decent profits squeezing the last bit from the consumer.

So if you live on the Central side (since Metro is located at Bhandup, they have one opening at Borivili in about an years time) you should network with someone who has a Metro card and go get your monthly shopping from Metro.