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Margin Free outlets are typical discount stores, offering one-stop-shop convenience and self-service facility at significant discount to its customers. Most of these customers, in time turn out to be its permanent customers, by taking discount cards, which permit them to obtain larger discounts than the non-card holders. The necessity to offer protection against the rising prices gave birth to the idea of 'Margin Free Markets'.
An enthusiastic entrepreneur named Mr. N. Ravikumar conceived the idea. The idea turned out to be an instant success in Kerala especially because Kerala is more of 'consumer' state than a 'producing' state.

Kerala depends on her neighbouring states for her consumer needs. Due to the large number of intermediaries involved and the transportation costs, the prices are high and there is a wide fluctuation in prices of groceries, fruits and vegetables. Groceries and FMCG goods are brought directly from the production units of the neighboring states. In the process of direct purchase from farmers and manufactures, the intermediaries are removed and a part of the margin or 'profits' earned is disbursed among the consumers. The distribution to the different outlets under the chain is taken as a collective responsibility and is done with the objective to reduce the total transportation costs.

The baseline of the chain of supermarkets run by the society is `making consumer the king'. "The wide acceptance gained by this concept over a very short span of time speaks for itself," says R. Gopakumar, the founder-president and one of the key members of the society. And when one juxtaposes the fact that the people of Kerala are one of the most price and quality conscious consumers in the country, the larger impact of this movement dawns upon us. From a solitary shop in downtown Thiruvananthapuram, the society has grown into a full-fledged retail supermarket chain with a presence all over Kerala.

"While thousands of retailers and stockists slug it out in the market place to lure the consumer back through lower prices, one thing is clear for the moment in Kerala. The consumer will definitely have the last laugh!" - www.indiainfoline.com June 30, 2000

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* Contributed by -
Thomas Cris Sarasam,
B.E. (Elec. & Comm.), Karunya Institute of Technology, Bharathiar University,
Currently pursuing MBA (Systems/Marketing), College of Engg, Trivandrum.