recruit shopkeepers in small towns and villages arming them with smartphones to place orders for local residents and relying on them to deliver goods in communities that often have no street names or house numbersamazon and reliance retail did not reply to requests for commentmore and more aggressively they are trying to onboard kiranas said rajat wahi a partner at deloittes consumer services practice in new delhi all the volumes go through that channel albeit in very small lots so the objective of these players is how do i get more active selling to these momandpopstoreswalmarts iyer wouldnt say how much the company is investing to win these shopkeepers over but he said 26 more of its best price wholesale stores were planned by 2023 with each location costing between 8 million and 10 million and another 8 to 10 new sites were being identified each year for after thatwalmarts strategy allows shopkeepers to see and touch products before purchasing unlike amazon and doesnt compete with its customers by selling direct to consumers which ambani doesour members when they come here they will not find their customers shopping in the store iyer said without naming any competitor i will sell only to small resellershe said no integration with flipkart is planned the ecommerce firm has its own board and ceo while walmart india is a wholly owned subsidiary of the us parentinstead the best price wholesale business is using the internet to try to build loyalty among its clients its running a pilot program to help buyers sell goods online to their own customers best price also has its own website and app that allow clients to order online for those who are uncomfortable placing orders on the web walmart sends out employees called business development associates with tablet computers to help shopkeepers and even provide free consultations to modernize their kirana storesthat can include changing the store design most kiranas look like oldfashioned general stores where the shopkeeper gets what you need from behind the counter but many customers prefer the selfservice model of western supermarketsfor two weeks they helped a lot the initial set up said rajnikanth 42 an investment adviser who like many south indians goes by one name he decided to start a shop in the southern indian city of hyderabad after noticing his neighborhood lacked such selfservice stores almost morning to evening every day they worked herehis sai best buy super mart has aisles of lays potato chips next to packaged versions of traditional indian snacks like moong dal and head shoulders shampoo beside the almond and coconut hair oils beloved by indian women almost all of the stock comes from walmarts store about 10 minutes awaystanding outside the store rajnikanth said walmart gave him advice on how to compete with organized retail chains like ambanis reliance retail with tips such as offering free local delivery even if its for only one itemthis fraternity is wanting to innovate wanting to