Matahari striving to meet challenge from foreigners

Matahari striving to meet challenge from foreigners

JAKARTA (JP): Retail giant Matahari Group chairman Hari
Darmawan said on Sunday his group was striving to answer the
challenge posed by the presence of aggressive foreign retail
chains in the local market.

"We have employed a concept emphasizing pleasing customers and
enabling them to be happy during their shopping, and it works,"
Hari said, adding that there has been a significant rise in the
number of customers at Matahari stores.

He said the presence of foreign retail chains in Indonesia
caused local retail companies to suffer a drop in turnover
because customers preferred to shop at the foreign outlets due to
lower prices.

"Mega M, one of our outlets at the Pluit Mega Mall here, for
example, suffered a 40 percent drop in turnover over the past two
months after the opening of a Continent hypermarket here in
March," Hari said at Mega Mall in North Jakarta.

Matahari Group, which has assets of some Rp 3 trillion, runs
several chains, including Matahari, Galleria, Yaohan and Mega M.

Promodes, the French retail giant which operates the
Continent hypermarket, opened its second outlet in Jakarta in
Mega Mall Pluit in March. It opened its third outlet in Plaza
Cempaka Mas in Central Jakarta on July 14.

Hari said Continent was able to price its goods lower than
local supermarkets by selling in larger quantities.

"They only need to realize a slight profit on items sold by
employing the concept of mass selling," Hari said, adding that
the foreign retail giant also had a superior store layout.

"Their stores better manage the goods on the shelves and have
superior store lighting. For example, their store lighting is
brighter than ours," he said.

After working to improve the image of its stores, "customers
are again coming to the Mega M supermarket. Their numbers now
reach about 20,000 per day on the average, compared to only 1,000
customers per day in March and April," he said.

One of Mega M's efforts to attract customers was a fish
fiesta, which was held on Sunday. The promotional event allowed
customers who spent a minimum of Rp 20,000 at the store to grab
as many fish as they could in one minute.

An artificial fish pond was set up on the store's ground
floor, and there were also a number of huts with palm roofs from
which items were sold.

Hari said the event succeeded in bringing back customers who
had been shopping at Continent.

"We will continue with other strategies to compete with the
foreign chains," he said.

Meanwhile, customers who visited Mega M supermarket on Sunday
said they preferred to visit stores which sold cheaper items.

"The change of layout here does not entice me to shop here,"
Sumardi said.

Sumardi, who was shopping at Mega M with his wife, two
children and mother-in-law , said he went to Continent because
they offered more and cheaper items. "But, some items like
biscuits are cheaper here."

Another customer, Fatimah, 40, said he comes to Mega M to buy
clothes, but he purchases his daily necessities at Continent.

"Mega M and also Matahari have more clothes," said the
resident of Teluk Gong in North Jakarta, who was shopping with
her children on Sunday.

The debate on the presence of foreign retail giants here
heated up recently after a number of local retailers accused
hypermarket operators of dumping their goods.

However, foreign retailers said they were able to sell items
at lower prices by trimming their profit margin.

Matahari Group has 73 stores in 32 cities across the country
and is set to expand its business to Yemen. Stores under the
Matahari Group sell a wide range of products, from electronics to
daily necessities. (asa)