SAP to transform India's $37-b FMCG biz with Ganges

German software giant SAP on Wednesday launched its business network for Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) companies made mostly in India based on its in-memory computing solution HANA as it plans to transmute India's $36.8 billion FMCG business.

Named Ganges, the solution would connect the last mile in retail consisting of CPG companies, distributors, banks and retail stores. Developed in India for the Indian market, Ganges is a business network for CPG companies to reach the last mile in their supply chain – kirana stores or what is popularly known as mom-and-pop stores.

These are the stores where SAP would install the point-of-sale (POS) terminals, that would cost anywhere between $100-200, compared to the traditional market price of $600-100 for a similar terminal. This terminal would be connected to the SAP network and thus the data would reach the CPG companies in real-time, allowing the company to assess the demand and supply scenario with much ease.

“Software and communication technologies are reshaping the world around us and amplifying our ability in the process in unprecedented ways,” SAP Executive Board Member (Products & Innovation) Vishal Sikka said.

The idea had emerged 2.5 years back when the company wanted to get into disruptive technologies based on their database management system HANA.

After India, which is one of the fastest-growing retail markets in the world, SAP plans to roll out Ganges to other retail-intensive economies like Brazil, South Africa, China and Indonesia.

According to Boston Consulting Group (BCG), the entire Indian retail market is worth $500 billion and by 2015, it estimates that the market will be worth $775 billion, of which modern retail will constitute $80-85 billion.

SAP Ganges Vice-President and Initiative Lead Abhijit De, the man behind the platform, said that the team consisted less than 10 members from SAP India and was supported by crowdsourcing by another 75 from its global team.

“It would enable banks to assess credit eligibility of retailers and to adjust credit limit periodically based on retail store sales and they would get credible data from the Ganges database,” De explained.

A kirana store owner in Bangalore, Anand Babu told Deccan Herald that the POS terminal was installed at his shop on a trial basis eight months back and it has helped him grow his credibility as a retailer owing to the receipt generated by the POS terminal.