Cartridge World, the eco-friendly fastest growing Australian speciality cartridge refilling and retailing chain in the world has made hat trick by receiving three awards in a short span of three months. Its CEO Mr. Naveen Rakhecha was conferred the ‘Star Youth Achiever’ award at the Global Youth Marketing Awards held in Mumbai on 4th Feb 2009. The Global Youth Marketing Forum is the single largest rendezvous of Youth experts, Marketing professionals and Brand Specialists behind some of the worlds most successful and sought after brands across fashion, music, technology, sports, retail and lifestyle. The awards are given away as an appreciation for the good work & contribution to Industry.
Cartridge World was also conferred with ‘Reid & Taylor Jury’s special award for Retail Excellence’ by Asia Retail Congress on 3rd Feb’09. The Retail Congress is represented by 60 countries from across different parts of the world and is Asia’s single most important global platform to promote world-class retail practices. These awards are one of the most respected awards in retail industry, which recognize retail brands and their Store and Support team’s efforts for delivering excellence in all aspects of the business. Cartridge World was also nominated in the following categories in the same event:
Innovative Retail Concept of the Year
Retailer of the Year – Home Product & Office Improvements
Earlier on 30th Nov’08 Cartridge World was awarded for ‘Best in Category – Business Services’ at Franchisee and Star retailer awards 2008, organised by Franchise India Holdings (FIH) at Delhi. These awards have been one of the most valuable awards in Franchising recognizing excellence in Franchising, Licensing and Business Development as the event gives enormous opportunity to franchisees and franchisors to benchmark their organizations against the best in the country.
On the occasion Mr. Naveen Rakhecha, CEO, South Asia, Cartridge World said that: “This is a significant achievement by itself. We have received 5 Awards in last 2 years of our operations in India. We were first recognized by the Franchise Industry and now by the Retail Industry and it is a proud moment for all of us. To be recognized as ‘The Best New Concept’ at the Franchise awards ’07 and then subsequently as ‘The Best in Category – Business Services’ at the Franchise Awards ’08 and now the ‘Jury Special Award’ at the Reid & Taylor – Retail Awards makes us feel proud. First it was the idea and now the implementation that has been recognized. I take this opportunity to thank all Franchisees, their staff, our vendors and the Franchise support team for having made this possible. Each one of you has made us all proud, as these awards well and truly belong to you. I believe this Award will encourage all of us to scale greater heights and do better in times to come as customer expectations rise.
He further added, “Cartridge World provides a golden opportunity to the budding first generation and other entrepreneurs who are looking to widen their business horizons during the troubled times of global recession. Hence when other businesses are slowing down Cartridge World is encashing by providing cost effective solutions to the businesses. It is indeed the right time for many more to get associated with Cartridge World and smile away during such hard times.”
Cartridge World stores are now spread across 22 cities within just 2 years of its launch in India. Very soon more stores will be launched across Pondicherry, Jammu & Nasik.
Globally, Cartridge World has helped promote reusing & refilling – the organised way, thereby substantially contributing in creating awareness about the importance of reusing before recycling and saving the environment.
The basic Mantra for environment friendliness is Reduce – Reuse – Recycle, in that order of priority. Reduce – Print only when necessary. Reuse – Paper and cartridges. Recycle – Paper and Cartridges when they cannot be reused anymore. Cartridge Refilling promotes Reuse & Recycle. As a matter of fact, many ‘new’ cartridges that you buy also do contain used or recycled parts. The next time you see an OEM box, look carefully on the side of the box and you may see words to the effect of ‘For the effective use or resources we have implemented a cartridge recycling programme. This cartridge may contain reconditioned parts and remoulded materials.’
Environment Facts- Globally over 900 million empty cartridges are needlessly thrown into landfill every year and this is continuously increasing. India generated 3, 30,000 tonnes of e-waste in 2007. And approx. 5 to 10% is only disposed in a safe manner (From a study conducted by MAIT-GTZ) 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 subsequent 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. Hence, the value for money (VFM) need of the consumers is not being effectively addressed. There is a distinct need for an ‘OEM quality – affordable price’ product that is not being currently met in the Indian Sub-Continent. Cartridge World addresses this gap by offering to refill a customer’s empty cartridge with quality comparable to a new OEM cartridge, at about half the price, resulting in a VFM offering.
Backed by technology and ‘OEM – quality raw material’, Cartridge World refills and returns to the customer, ‘as good as new’ cartridges whose quality is guaranteed. Cartridge World uses more than 270 inks along with 2500+ SKUs and cartridge specific treatment for refilling. Toner cartridges are not merely refilled – they are reloaded. All worn out parts are replaced with parts having quality similar to OEMs. All cartridges are tested before being returned to the customer. Cartridge World customers get much more out of a cartridge – many more refills than normal.
About Cartridge World Organisation
Founded in Adelaide, South Australia in 1997 by Bryan Stokes, Cartridge World began franchising in 2000 after Paul Wheeler became a 50% partner. Today, headquartered in San Francisco, USA and with over 1650+ stores in 51countries, R&D Centres in USA, Australia, Germany & UK, Training Centres in six countries including India, the current turnover of the chain is estimated to be over US$500 million. In July 2007, with Australian private equity firm, Wolseley Corporation buying a majority stake, the financial might of the organization has grown even stronger.
Voted in 2004 and 2006 by Entrepreneur Magazine as the no.1 Toner Replacement Service franchise and one of the fastest growing franchises in the world, 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). Also the drop in entry-level printers is enticing purchase. With the advent and popularity of e-transactions, like e-Tickets, and easy printing of photographs at home, usage of printers even by children has increased multi-fold.
Cartridge World has chalked out expansion plans for the Indian sub-continent. This year, Cartridge World plans to establish their presence in Tier I & II cities of India. In the next financial year, in their second phase, they plan to spread out in Tier I & II Cities and establish presence in Tier III cities of India & expand in the capital cities of Sri Lanka, Bangladesh & Nepal. Cartridge World plans to open 250 stores across the Indian sub-continent by the year 2011.
For more information visit: www.cartridgeworld.in
For Cartridge World franchise opportunity mail to [email protected]
