Displaying items by tag: retail

Bolivia: Fábrica Nacional de Cemento (FANCESA) has agreed to open up where it sells its cement. Previously the producer mostly sold its products through authorised vendors, according to the Correo del Sur newspaper. New vendors will be subject certain conditions under the new marketing policy, including making a request to the cement producer. However, the company has not decided whether it will change its prices. Shareholders of the company have requested a market study to assess the situation. FANCESA is expecting demand for cement to drop by up to a quarter in 2021.

Zambia: Zambezi Portland Cement has allowed retail purchases directly from its integrated Ndola plant to reduce price exploitation. Chief executive officer Gomeli Litana said that the plant had made the decision to help small consumers, according to the Times of Zambia newspaper. He added that the producer was implementing a fixed price and was not attempting to interfere in the general retail market.

What’s in a name? Well maybe quite a lot when the company in question originally formed as a ‘merger of equals.’ So the news this week that the shareholders of LafargeHolcim have agreed to change its group name to Holcim suggests quite a lot. The name will only apply to the group company name and all market brands will remain as they are. Yet something fundamental appears to have changed.

As readers may remember, the original merger arrangements between Lafarge and Holcim ran into difficulties in early 2015 when Holcim’s shareholders expressed discontent at the perceived difference in value between the two companies in 2014. The deal was saved with a move away from a proposed 1-1 share exchange ratio towards one more in the favour of the Holcim shareholders and the removal of Lafarge’s chief executive Bruno Lafont as the designated chief executive of the new entity. However, from this point onwards the nagging suspicious was that the merger was really a glacial takeover of Lafarge by Holcim. Lafont and LafargeHolcim’s first chief executive officer (CEO) Eric Olsen became embroiled in legal proceedings surrounding Lafarge’s historic conduct in Syria. Then in mid-2018 LafargeHolcim decided to close its Paris headquarters, Lafarge’s old hub. During an extraordinary general meeting in May 2015 held by Holcim it was agreed to rename Holcim Ltd as LafargeHolcim Ltd as part of the merger process. The latest decision by shareholders in 2021 has reversed this.

For consumers of building products the bit about market brands staying as they are, as LafargeHolcim changes its name, is probably more important than the corporate wrangling over whatever the faraway parent company may or may not be called. So, Holcim Argentina’s plans this week to open 1000 new branches of its Disensa retail chain by 2024 may be far more important for existing and potential customers in that country. This is an enormous number of hardware stores for just one country by most reckonings and its gives one an idea of LafargeHolcim’s ambitions in the sector. It also carries echoes of the trend of business chains taking over the previously independent convenience store sector in the food sector in other parts of the world in recent decades. The Disensa franchise already operates over 2500 stories in eight countries - Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Mexico, Nicaragua and El Salvador – and it holds claim to being the largest building materials network in Latin America. And they aren’t stopping with just selling building materials. One innovation announced in April 2021 was the introduction of financial services to small businesses wanting to buy building products at its stores.

LafargeHolcim isn’t saying how much its retail chains contribute to the bottom line but no doubt it’s helping in a variety of ways. During an earnings call for its fourth quarter results in 2020, for example, its chief financial officer Geraldine Picaud noted that growth in Latin America in the second half of 2020 was driven by branded product in all distribution channels, including the Disensa chain. She also added that the region had the highest margin in the group at the time. Another thing to consider is, if the rumours about LafargeHolcim preparing to sell its operations in Brazil are true, what will it do with the local Disensa chain? Divesting carbon-intensive heavy industries, such as cement production, but migrating outwards and upwards in the building materials supply chain would certainly suggest that the company is preparing for its place in a low-carbon future.

Yet with all this talk of what LafargeHolcim or Holcim wants to call itself it is interesting to note that it was under Holcim in 2005 that Disensa was turned into a franchise network in its original home of Ecuador. A similar version of this model called Binastore was expanded and launched by LafargeHolcim in 2018 for Africa and the Middle East. ‘Joe Public’ or rather ‘José Public’ may not care what LafargeHolcim is called when they are buying cement from their local Disensa store. Other hardware stories are of course available.

Argentina: Holcim Argentina, part of Switzerland-based LafargeHolcim, has announced plans to open 1000 new branches of its Disensa retail chain by 2024. The Diario Financiero newspaper has reported that the chain opened 40 new locations during 2020.

General manager Natalia Soler said, "Being considered an essential sector, builders merchants continued to operate during quarantine. This scenario benefited us, coupled with the number of customers who took advantage of the context and their savings to make repairs to their homes."

Cameroon: Cimenteries du Cameroun (CIMENCAM) has signed an agreement with YUP Cameroon to accept online payments via YUP’s mobile phone-based banking system. Orders can be made via on CIMENCAM’s online portal. YUP allows its customers to access financial services without a bank account. The system started in Ivory Coast and Senegal in 2017 and is now present in Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Guinea, Ghana and Madagascar.

India: JSW Cement has hired US-based Yalochat to supply software for transactions with trade customers. It says it is among the first Indian cement companies to introduce conversational commerce services to this marketing segment. The software promises to increase the company’s ease of doing business by integrating customer service into transactions via the WhatsApp messaging platform. The producer says that this will help differentiate it as it transitions to 25Mt/yr of production capacity by 2023 from 14Mt/yr.

Managing director Parth Jindal said, "Digital technology is shaping the long-term sustainable growth strategy of all JSW Group businesses. We are in a unique position to deliver integrated home-building solutions to Indian consumers. Our digital transformation will ensure the ease of doing business to our customers through continued improvements in the overall brand experience combined with efficient operations for well-synchronised and timely deliveries."

Uganda: Hima Cement has introduced Kafluu, a chatbot-led initiative that lets customers order products via WhatsApp. The subsidiary of LafargeHolcim says that customers can use the platform 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to manage their orders and transactions. The automated chatbot software guides customers through the ordering process, gathering specifics like the product type, number of bags, delivery site and payment options. Payment is available via MTN MoMo Pay or bank transfer.

“We are always looking to improve the customer experience and Kafluu is able to respond quickly and effectively, enabling customers to place orders, make payments and input their delivery information with ease,” says Israel Tinkasimiire, the Hima Cement Sales Director.

The initiative is being piloted in Mbarara first before rollout in the rest of the country.

Americas: Switzerland-based LafargeHolcim has begun its roll-out of ECOPact low-carbon concretes in its Latin America region, launching the product range in Ecuador, Colombia and Mexico to “meet growing demand for green products.” The company says that the launch in other markets will follow in early 2021. It said “this roll-out of ECOPact builds on its successful market adoption across Europe, the UK, the US and Canada.” The producer additionally plans to introduce its ECOLabel “to transparently communicate the environmental benefits of its green cement range” across the Disensa retail network from December 2020, enabling customers to “easily identify products that comply with the company’s green criteria, including lower carbon dioxide (CO₂) footprint and recycled content.” Every country in the region will have at least one ECOlabel product, according to the company.

Latin America regional head Oliver Osswald said, “With the roll-out of the widest range of green building materials in Latin America, we are committed to leading the way in sustainable construction. Building on our region’s excellent third quarter 2020 results, demonstrating strong resilience despite an unparalleled health crisis, Latin America is well positioned to tackle the challenges ahead. We have a clear and unified strategy supported by two strong pillars: a rapidly expanding Disensa retail franchise network, and a fully orchestrated regional push toward green building solutions.”

LafargeHolcim’s Latin America retail network Disensa will reach 2500 stores in 2020, almost double the number in 2018. The company said, “Disensa will become the central network to reach millions of consumers with a diverse product portfolio, based on quality and environmental benefits by offering ECOLabel products on a wide scale. Disensa will also introduce new digital experiences to the buying process and eventually become a full line of stores from Disensa Express to Disensa MAX!”

LafargeHolcim will host the First Latam Virtual Convention for current and potential Disensa franchisees from 25 – 27 November 2020, with participants from eight Latin American countries.

India: Dalmia Bharat subsidiary Dalmia Cement has awarded a contract to payment solutions specialist Paytm for digitisation of its payment processes. United News of India has reported that Paytm will enable customers to use Paytm Wallet, Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and other cashless means in purchasing Dalmia Cement’s products from over 30,000 dealers and retailers across 22 Indian states and union territories, according to the producer.

Head of marketing and executive director Pramesh Arya said, “Dalmia Cement's emphasis on being digital first has helped our dealers and retailers carry out their day-to-day business transactions easily. Paytm has always stood for ease of use and convenience in the world of digital payments. Through this partnership, we aim to help our dealer community accept contactless and secure payments using Paytm Wallet, UPI, debit or credit card and online banking.” He added, “The idea is to maintain social distancing, reduce cash handling and minimise the risk of coronavirus exposure. This partnership is yet another step in Dalmia Cement's pursuit to bring Future Today - our brand credo - to life.”

Russia: Eurocement subsidiary Maltovsky Portland Cement has announced that it will be selling wholesale and retail products from its plant in Dyadkovsky, Bryansk Oblast from a newly opened shop at the site. While the new sales format is being trialled, customers are able to purchase 50kg bags or big-bags of CEM-II cement or 1750kg pallets of CEM-III cement. Eurocement commercial director Natalya Strzhalkovskaya said, “Customers thereby eliminate the risk of buying counterfeit goods and can be sure that they are purchasing reliable and high-quality Maltovsky Portland Cement products.”