The 'real' one-stop shops

PETROL BUNKS stopped being merely just that some time ago. Most have received lavish face-lifts all over the city. In fact, they have even become an accepted feature of cityscape.

Its not over yet. Hold on, the changes are still on. It is beyond bright illumination and provision of modernised dispensing units. There is much more in store for the consumers, at least for those patronising six outlets of Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) in Chennai.

A range of value-added services have been introduced for them, all beneath one roof under the banner of In and Out Stores, at the six outlets - one each on Venkatanarayana Road, St.Mary's Road, Cathedral Road, Nelson Manickam Road and two at Kodambakkam.

Starting with the automated teller machines (ATMs), the In and Out Stores will be a one-stop shop for a host of other services such as bill payments for credit cards, cellular phones and pagers. Powered by Tata Nova, the Internet Cafes are set to make surfing a ``different experience'' with Apple iMac front-end machines. Courier services at the Stores would be taken care of by DHL.

A photo-shop also forms part of the In and Out Store for which BPCL has tied-up with Kodak. For music, the company has roped in HMV Saregama and Sony. All these will be in addition to the Store selling ``impulse items'' to tingle the taste buds with snacks, Qwiky's coffee, Kwality Walls ice-cream and Pepsi. There will also be other facilities such as communication centre, the financial service counters distributing application forms for mutual funds, fixed deposits, primary issues and shops for household replenishments.

But, the interesting aspect of the Stores that would be launched soon is the Ticketing Kiosk. The web-enabled kiosk could be used for booking tickets for your favourite movie and other music and entertainment shows besides sports matches. Also, on the anvil is the `Surf Laundry Service' where the consumers could avail of dry cleaning and mending of garments. Piloted in Mumbai, the concept involves dropping the garments at the In and Out Stores and picking it later. The laundry would offer a regular 48-hour service, an express 24-hour service and a lighting eight hour service.

The decision to introduce a range of value-added services at the bunks, explains Mr.S.Ramesh, Deputy General Manager-Retail Strategy, is part of a larger restructuring strategy towards making the outlets a ``convenience retailing proposition''. Moreover, the impending dismantling of the controlled pricing regime is making all the oil companies to fine tune their strategies at least to exist, if not to grow. Based on the response at the six stations and depending on the availability of space, the value-added services would be extended to at least 15 more BPCL outlets in Chennai before the end of this financial year.

By N. Ravi Kumar

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