HUL adds pizzazz so app can help outdo e-comm platforms
NEW DELHI : India’s largest packaged consumer goods company Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL) is pushing personalized messages and promotions on its business-to-business app Shikhar to drive engagement for small store owners amid greater competition from online platforms. Shikhar is the company’s business-to-business app that allows millions of shopkeepers to place orders directly with its distributors any time. In FY23—1.2 million retail outlets used the Shikhar app to place orders.
Since HUL sells a wide variety of products spanning soaps, detergents, shampoos, washing bars, ketchups to soups and ice-creams, retailers find it useful to place orders directly from the company’s app. However, over the past few years, the popularity of online platforms has changed the dynamics of how consumers and shopkeepers trade goods. These platforms include eB2B companies that supply goods directly to small shopkeepers and quick commerce companies that deliver goods to consumers from dark stores within minutes.
The onslaught of new distribution channels is prompting large companies, including HUL, to rethink how they distribute their wide assortment of goods. Nine out of ten households in India use one or more of its brands. The company recently rolled out the ‘Power to The Retailer’ campaign that helps local retailers offer customized, celebrity-fronted advertisements—a strategy aimed at boosting their store footfall and customer engagement, the company said.
The feature is available to over 1.3 million retailers on Shikhar. In the first two weeks of the campaign going live, the company is generating one customized advertisement every 20 seconds. Shopkeepers can use an in-built feature within the app—within minutes of submitting, a
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