The sun., 1919-11-05
TRADE WITH INDIA
.lCALLS FOR STUDY
American Prices for Manufac-
tured Goods Too High for
Mass Of People.
SPECIAL LINES NEEDED
Seller Must Have Direct Rep
resentatives on the Spot
to Get Results.
SPECIAL LINES NEEDED


we'll be entitled. "some pointers on
trade between the United States and
india" was prepared by the represea-
tative in India Of q weii-known Lon
don firm. 1t contains certain on-the-
spot inforTnatio In regard to marketing
American goods in india that should
prove OF Inherent to the manufacturers
Of the United States.
There are several very serious diff
hculties In the way of establishing bus
mess In India In many lines of Amer
lean manufacture which could be en-
tirely avoided II the American exporter
were better apprised Of the conditions
prevailing In these markets.
~ rule American prices for manu-
factured articles are too high. II be-
Inc necessary to understand that al
though the population Of India is some-
where In the neighborhood Of $50. .00o,.
goo, the purchaaing power of about
0o.00o.o00 of thesc people Is prac-
tically nil. Wages do not average more
than l shilling. or 25 cents. per diem
over the whole country; and when the
cost OF living 10 taken out Of this II
will be seen that there IL a very small
margin left for anything in the way Of
what Western people would consider
even modern conveniences, much less
luxuries
In catering for the indian market,
therefore. 1t II necessary that the man
ufacturer shall endeavor to place his
goods at price which will bring them
more nearly within the reach Of the
people, and this can be done In most
cases by making a quality to meet the
situation. IL II also highly essential
that the type of goods demanded by
the market shall be carefully studied;
and for this purpose, unless a represen-
tative Is on the spot, II Is to be recon-
mended that samples Of actual lines ct
present being sold should % obtained
by the American manufacturer in or
der that he may match them, or, pref
erably. 20 one better.
Packing. Trade Marks and Designs
Another question is that of packing.
The packing that, will do for temperate
climates, or even some other tropical
countries. Is In many cases absolutely
unsuitable for India. Take. for instance,
such things as dry products In the shape
Of milk foods, &c, and powdered forms
OF chemicals. It Is absolutely essential
IN most cases that these shall be packed
In glass containers. otherwise the humid
ity OF the climate causes metal packings
to sweat and the contents, to. become
spoiled. In such matters also as the
packing Of heavy chemicals for the mill
Ing industries nitric, sulphuric, and
other acids-tfre packing preferred for
these. instead Of being carboys, Is -
pound eartAenware Jars. packed two In q
case, the cases being very strong to pre-
vent breakage. In ali instances hooped
packing cases should be used. as the.
soods are subject to very rough hand
ling by the native labor at the docks
and railways. Considerable loss Is often
occasioned to manufacturers through the
use Of fragile cases: tho cases split. and
the contents are not only damaged but
suffer also from n very considerable
amount of pilferage. .-...-..
Care must be exercised here that no
design is used that would be likely to Of
fend religious prejudices. This, again. is
q very complex matter on which expert
sdvice needed. 1t does not matter how
good the article may be. II II 10 labeled
or marked In any way that offends the
religious views Of the people. the article
will be quite taboo. II IL well TO remem-
Der that the Hindu and Mahommedan
both carry their religion into their every
day life. thus coloring their attitude
toward everything they touch.
Another point for serious considera-
tion IL that of payment for goods 1t Is
the practice OF many American manu-
or I. a. s. American ports. and this does
not meet with the requirements Of the
Indian market. The Indian merchant al
ways desires c. l. T. quotations. 80 that
he will know the exact laid-down cost
Of the goods In his warehouse. Careful
consideration is all that is needed to en-
able manufacturers to surmount this dif-
ficuity. tho merchant even being willing
to pay q little more for the convenience
thus accorded. Germany and Austria al
ways gave every facility in this direc-
tion, and through their study Of the
market requirements and the desires OF
mer chants had achieved a most wonder
full success In this field.
Choice of Advertising Mediums.
Az in every other country. advertising
plays q very important part In placing
goods on the Indian market. but here,
again, much discretion must be used.
The uninformed advertiser 10 apt to
spend a lot. of money on papers which
exc out a precarioua existence by means
Of obtaining Advertisements and whose
circulation and influence are % small
as to be practically negligible. II 10 to
be regretted that in many cases ao-
vertising firms farm out quite a number
of insignificant native papers. selling
space to people who cannot Judge OF the
advertising value Of these, and thereby
causing q serious loss 10 the manu-
facturer
Summing the position up. It 10 ad-
visabie that the American manufac-
turer who wishes to develop his trade
In the Indian market should get In
touch with some reliable house having
an organization on the spot. which
would, In their mutual interest give its
best advice and assistance In develop
ing thA huatnAaa and conaerxinr thu