Nestlé Lanka officially announced the launch of the Nestlé Market Place, the first model market of its kind to be established in Sri Lanka. The official inauguration took place during the visit of Mr. Nandu Nandkishore, Executive Vice President of Nestlé S.A., Zone Director for Asia, Oceania, Africa and Middle East, in the presence of Hon. Rishad Bathiudeen – Minister of Trade and Commerce. The Market Place will serve the purpose of being Sri Lanka’s first ‘retail lab’ by simulating sales channels in a real market place situation.
Located within the company’s head office premises, the Market Place features the following sales channels - ‘Large Grocery’, ‘Small Grocery’, ‘Wholesale’, ‘Pharmacy’, ‘Modern Trade’ (Supermarkets) and ‘Tea-shop’. Every replicated sales channel functions as a ‘live’ sales outlet with vendors and numerous brands, products and merchandising.
The Market Place’s primary objective is to help entrepreneurs such as Nestlé retailers and distributors gain the expertise and skills they need to better operate their own sales outlets via the company’s Market Place Dealer Development Programme, where experienced Nestlé sales officials will provide a consummate training to participants.
Commenting on this Managing Director of Nestlé Lanka, Ganesan Ampalavanar said, “As a company that has been in the nation for over 100 years, we operate with a sense of responsibility to create ‘shared’ value towards society; this is an integral aspect of our business. In line with this, we have launched the Nestlé Lanka Market Place with the aim of empowering budding entrepreneurs who want to venture into the retail market. Our proficient Sales personnel will share their expertise by giving them a well-rounded academic and practical training on the essential practices and current trends of the retail market to ensure that these individuals are well equipped to embark on their own business ventures.”
The Market Place’s secondary objective is to benefit Nestlé’s Sales and Marketing employees by having a test market model at arm’s reach. Vice President of Sales, Chandana Fernando said, “We aim to use the Market Place as a launching pad to test products, standards, and merchandising techniques that will enable us to gauge their performance in an actual market. This will give us an insight on how to secure the best outcomes for products before officially releasing it to consumers. We believe that by opening this out to our dealers and distributors, they too will be able to make use of this unique opportunity to learn the ropes from expert Sales personnel from Nestlé.”