European wholesale group Metro Cash & Carry will launch five new locations in India by the end of the year.

The firm is also building its supply partnerships with local small-scale “kirana” stores, and has already secured 2000 partners in Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Delhi. It has provided these small businesses with specialised point-of-sale devices outfitted with an app to help owners order items from Metro online, as well as generate daily sales and profit reports and track sales data.

“We believe in helping kiranas in increasing their sell out,” said Metro Cash & Carry India MD and CEO Arvind Mediratta to ETtech, “not just sell to them because if their sell-out improves, and if they think Metro can help increase their sell out, we automatically become their preferred supplier.

“The whole idea is how to make a kirana store smarter in terms of usage of technology, by running business more efficiently, targeting more customers using data analytics, drive more customer traffic and make it more successful and profitable.”

Metro’s devices allow the kirana stores to trade using e-payment services. The firm is also offering loans for remodelling costs to help modernise these outlets.

The firm’s five new cash & carry stores will be established in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. It currently operates 27 such outlets in 17 cities within the territory.