Cartridge World has launched four stores in two days, in India, located at Ameerpeth, Begumpeth, and Balanagar in Hyderabad; and C.G. Road, Ahmedabad. The stores will offer services that will include refilling inkjet cartridges and reloading laser cartridges - both backed with money back guarantees, along with printer repairs and free customer education on cartridge care. The stores will also stock OEM Inkjet and Laser cartridges, high quality speciality paper, OEM printers and other office supplies.
Commenting after the stores’ launches, Mr. Mike Fuller, MD-Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa, Cartridge World said: “Cartridge World India is growing as per our expectations. It is great to have a dedicated team working with us in India. Our focus has always been on strengthening our footprint in India and the strategy is to provide technical support with the help of intensive research activities carried on by us.”
He further added: “Refilling of cartridges is successful business in the developed countries. I am confident that people of this sub-continent are going to gain from this business and help the noble cause of protecting the environment.”
Mr. Naveen Rakhecha, CEO, South Asia, Cartridge World said: “We are not just into refilling – we are into the business of helping customers to print better and at huge savings. Refilling is a scientific process and involves micro manufacturing and engineering. Refilling in India takes place in the ‘drill & fill’ way and most of the times, the same ink / toners are used to refill any and every cartridge brand and make. This can severely not only damage the cartridge but also the printer. But at Cartridge World, we use cartridge specific OEM like ink, toner, parts and refilling processes to ensure that our customers get OEM like output both in print quality as well as yield. At the same time we respect the OEMs patents and ensure that we do not in anyway impinge them.”
The store in Ahmedabad is the 45th store in India and now Cartridge World has stores in 19 cities within just 2 years of its launch in India.
Cartridge World India was recognised as the ‘Best Business Concept of the Year’ at The Franchise Awards’ 2007 and awarded the “Best New Concept in Franchising 2008” by the Franchise Association of India held recently.
The Cartridge World franchise store owners from Hyderabad and Ahmedabad said: “We are pleased to be associated with Cartridge World, the world’s largest cartridge refilling brand and offer its services to the people. Our team has received training in Mumbai and are all geared up for this challenging & exciting new venture. We believe that with support of the Cartridge World team we will make a difference to the customers by offering them world-class quality, service and products.”
They further added that: “Using Cartridge World refilled cartridges does not affect printer warranty.”
According to Cartridge World, over 900 million empty cartridges globally are needlessly thrown into landfill every year and this is continuously increasing. A laser printer cartridge is said to take over 450 years to decompose naturally. More than 3.4 litres of oil is needed to manufacture a laser cartridge. In one year, if the world's discarded cartridges were stacked end-to-end, they would circle the earth more than three times.
The Market - Printer cartridges in India are today replaced by expensive new OEM cartridges or compatibles or poorly refilled cartridges. The refill industry is largely unorganised. There is a big difference in the quality between the 1st and the 2nd options. There is no organised retail chain of refilling services in the Indian sub-continent. Hence, there is no or very little quality alternative to OEM cartridges. There is a distinct need for an ‘OEM quality - affordable price' product that is not being currently met in the Indian Sub-Continent.
About Cartridge World Organisation
Cartridge World in the Indian sub-continent is represented by its master franchisee AFL Pvt. Ltd. India’s leading Supply Chain Management Company and a strategic partner with UPS. The first store in India opened in November 2006 in Mumbai.
Demand for cartridges is expected to increase from 12.25 million in FY05 to about 30 million in FY09 in unit terms and from Rs.1600 crore in FY05 to about Rs.3000 crore in FY09 in revenue terms. The key influencing factors will be .
Higher economic growth and enhanced corporate spending thereby provide impetus to IT expenditures. With higher adoption of MFPs, consumers are presented with more opportunities to print (print, fax, copy & scan).
Cartridge World plans to open 250 stores across the Indian sub-continent by the year 2010.
From:therecycler.com