The Hindu Business Line : AFL launches `convenience services' retail chain<br>To offer money transfer, international telephony, e-ticketing

`AT YOUR CONVINIENCE': Mr Cyrus Guzder (left), Chairman & Managing Director, AFL Pvt Ltd, and Mr Manoj Chandra, Head-Market Development & Bran Communication, at a press conference in Mumbai on Tuesday. - Shashi Ashiwal

Mumbai , Feb. 21

TO reach out to its retail customers, AFL has launched AFL TouchWorld, a `convenience services' retail chain that will offer a range of services including buying and selling of foreign currency, money transfer, low-cost international telephony, international and domestic courier, travel insurance and e-ticketing.

These small format outlets will focus on servicing the growing market of people of Indian origin (PIO) travelling to India, relatives of PIOs in India, Indians travelling abroad and foreign nationals travelling to India.

"Today, courier companies have to sell their products through multiple channels to cater to all segments of customers. With the TouchWorld chain, we hope to service our walk-in customers better," said Mr Cyrus Guzder, Chairman and Managing Director, AFL.

The supply chain services provider has tied up with a number of companies such as Western Union, Phonewala and Air Deccan for these services.

According to a company official, customers will be able to make calls to the US and the UK at Rs 3-4 per minute, as the service used will be based on the low-cost Internet protocol technology.

The first TouchWorld store has been opened in south Mumbai and the company plans to set up 50 stores in all the major cities over the next three years at an investment of Rs 5 lakh to Rs 7 lakh per outlet.

The company will also open TouchWorld stores through franchise arrangements to reach out to customers in the smaller centres.

According to AFL, the inward remittance market is estimated at $23 billion per annum, and the low-cost airline e-ticketing market is expected to capture 30 per cent of the total air passenger traffic at about seven million passengers by 2007.

Queried on the possibility of AFL launching a freighter service, Mr Guzder said the circumstances were not yet appropriate for the launch of freighter services.

"We have to decide whether the high cost of operating flights is justified by the capacity and the demand for such services."

However, Mr Guzder added that the company would continue to study the option of a freighter service.

The express market was becoming larger, more mature and interesting every year, he said.

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