Wednesday, September 8, 2010

It all comes back to you!

In my life as a Retailer the most common feedback/ complaint has been about bad service.
  • The staff are not helpful.
  • They don’t know anything
  • They are rude.
Etc. Etc.

However no one pauses to thing how rude, insensitive and demoralizing we are as customers. Today, while shopping there was a pregnant lady who insisted on barging in to ask questions when the staff were attending to me. Subsequently, even while billing, she landed up again and bombarded the cashier with questions although the cashier was billing my purchase. Finally the cashier turned and asked her to please wait at which point the lady turned around in a huff and walked away.

Before someone justifies this behavior to the hormonal issues and stress related to pregnancy, let me ask : how often does one behave this way - man or woman?

Very often is the answer.

Is it any wonder that service levels are dropping?

At the end of the day it all comes back to you. Be a boorish, insensitive and rude customer - you get bad service. Watch this funny video which captures the essence of what I say.

Next time you shop, try smiling, wishing the staff, put back things that you dropped from the shelf and you will see a whole new level of customer service unfold before you.
Video courtesy – Neo Naem, Facebook.

Saturday, September 4, 2010

Are Chain Stores promoting Cherry Picking?

Increasingly I read about promotions which make no sense. Some even border on the ridiculous. For example, many apparel stores offer promotions like buy 3 and get 5 Free or get 50% off and then 40% off.

Either the merchandiser is completely lost and is drowning in inventory and therefore desperate to liquidate stocks or someone forgot to tell them that promotions are very powerful tools and each type of promotion has a specific purpose. For example a bill value based offer is supposed to increase the overall average bill value and needs some thought and date to fix the optimum slabs. Recently I was reading about a promotion where there was an offer on a particular category’s purchase value coupled with an overall bill value and then additional discount for a specific credit card and so on. Does this make sense?

Absolutely not!

Promotions are tools to drive walk ins and also build loyalty through repeat purchase. One of the cardinal rules for promotion planning is that a single SKU cannot have multiple offers.

The other cardinal rule is the selection of SKU itself, especially for advertisements and other public communication. Today, I saw an advertisement for a leading supermarket chain. The communication highlights refilling the groceries and home needs. In other words it is trying to capture the monthly shopping of the household.

In such a case the core products and KVI is mandatory because that is what the customer will relate to immediately and it will also deliver the message of a better price.

Consider this advertisement, which does not feature Rice, Toor Dal or Sugar - some very important KVIs. Oil is featured but a 5 litre jar whereas the average consumption of oil in Chennai Households is 3 litres. What it does feature is Basmati rice, Slice and 7 Up. It does have a sweeping statement about groceries being available at prices expected by the shopper. Such statements rarely have any impact and I shall detail why in a subsequent post.

To be fair, I have seen other such bright advertisements which ignore core SKUs and highlight offers on SKUs which might not influence the monthly shopping decision.

In this context I wonder what the objective of the merchandising and marketing team is. Do they wish to have people looking to buy only Slice and 7 Up come searching for the offers on such SKUs or do they wish to increase the share of monthly shopping baskets in the catchment?

Something does not seem right.

Friday, July 23, 2010

Will you pay for someone to shop for you?

A few weekends ago I coerced my kids to accompany me for the weekly vegetable buying trip, as my spouse was travelling.

Amongst the various reasons/ excuses given by my children for not coming to do vegetable shopping was that it was boring. To reiterate this point of view my college going son strongly stated that he would never go for vegetable purchases when he grows up. When I teased him about being chauvinistic, he replied with a simple statement of fact that it was boring and that most people in that age group regardless of gender would not be interested in “wasting” their time in such tasks. They would rather hire someone to do this for them.

Initially I dismissed this perspective as a youthful one. However, it has been at the back of my mind. I am now beginning to wonder if India would see a sudden shift in shopper behavior which would not only spawn new services but also lead to paradigm shifts in Indian Retail.

The reason why I am debating this is due to a study that was done more than ten years ago to understand price and value perception amongst housewife. It was interesting and an eye opener to say the least. One of the things thrown up in the study was how a housewife would readily pay a Rupee (Bear with the text till I get the new font!!) more for cleaned Rawa while she would not do so for cleaned Rice. The reasoning was that the perception of the effort justified the extra Rupee as also the fact that she anyways cleans and rinses the rice before cooking.

So, the question in my mind is;

Are shoppers changing? Will they pay and outsource functional (AKA boring) shopping? Is India heading towards a personal shopper service of a different kind?

My personal view is that as of now I don’t see the majority paying to get shopping done. I am basing this on my observation of shopper behavior and price-value perceptions. Even today an advertisement for a Rs. 149/- tawa draws a crowd! However, this could change. How soon, I don’t know!!

Please share your comments and views on this topic. I shall also explore this further and post more regarding the same.

Thursday, July 8, 2010

Discussion Paper about FDI in Multi Brand Retail

In April 26th DIPP had announced (as reported in the press) that the discussion paper would be released and discussions would start next month. Promptly the next day the Commerce Minister categorically states that the government is currently not working on the possibility of FDI in Retail. This changing stance seems to find an echo in the paper even after it has been finally released. To quote a point stated right at the start of the note “The views expressed in this discussion paper should not be construed as the views of the government. The department hopes to generate informed discussion on the subject, so as to enable the Government to take an appropriate policy decision at the appropriate time”.

DIPP is a department of the Commerce Ministry. This is a detailed discussion note prepared by this department and quotes several facts, figures and refers to several research and studies done including one by a Parliamentary standing committee. Yet, it starts by absolving any Government perspective to the note. In light of this, how seriously can anyone take this note? Is it yet another document put together for the want of anything else to do?

A detailed perspective about this was published in "The Hindu Business Line"  today.  Look forward to your feedback and views.

Unleashing the Human Resource Potential in Retail

Coincidentally on the same day of my critique of the DIPP discussion note an exhaustive article of mine was carried in the “Brand Line” which is a supplement of “Business Line”.

Apart from detailing how Retail can harness India’s Human Resource potential, the article talks about how the same can have a significant impact on the Indian Economy. In a context where Retail is already amongst one of the largest employers in India contrasted with the reality that the majority of people employed would not even be paid minimum wages, Industry status is the most pressing need for Indian Retail.

The full article can be read online at Brand Line

Sunday, June 20, 2010

"The INDIAN reTALEs" launch event pictures


The book launch event went off very well thanks to the presence of all the well wishers. After the book was formally released by Mr. P K Mohapatra and he spoke about the book and Indian Retail, the forum was thrown open for questions.

Very interestingly there followed a spirited and informed Q&A about Indian Retail, Kirana's and formats which would work in India. I was surprised and impressed by this participation and this is an endorsement of my view that "The INDIAN reTALEs" is a book for every one's reading. Looking forward to reader responses, feedback and queries, which I would like to post on this blog and share with all of you. Last but not the least, a special thanks to the Landmark team who made this event possible.

Saturday, June 12, 2010

I am happy to share that "The INDIAN reTALEs" is off to a decent start and a big thanks to all of you who have supported this book by purchasing it and spreading the word about it. A formal book launch event is being planned for the book and I would like to invite you and your friends for the same if you are in Chennai.

Monday, May 31, 2010

Can Retail succeed where politics and diplomacy seems to be stuck?

The North Eastern part of our country has never been the center stage whether it was in terms of politics or commerce. In fact people from the North East have migrated to other parts of India and are slowly becoming a dominant factor in the Retail work force as per a recent media report.

It is in this region that our brotherly neighbor who was till recently our bhai bhai, started playing visa games by issuing a visa on separate pieces of paper under the pretext that the visa is actually an internal travel document and not a visa. In that context, it would do well for anyone who thinks of this as a supportive gesture that, in India, one can travel anywhere without any such “internal travel document”. Anyone can wake up tomorrow and book tickets to go to Leh or Kanya Kumari or Porbandar or Itanagar in Arunachal Pradesh. That’s India and one of the many reasons why I am proud to be an Indian.

Anyways, let’s get back to the topic at hand.

I have been reading about how our friendly neighbor has been insisting that a large portion of the north eastern area is actually not a part of India!!!

A few days ago I read a report in Business Line dated 12/5/10 that retail outlets such as Arrow, Titan, Big Bazaar, etc., are making a beeline for this region. When a few Retailers go, others can’t be far behind.

So, will India do a repeat of the East India Company in reverse? Will Indian Retailers establish such a strong presence and more importantly a consumer base, that our friendly neighbor’s claims are no longer tenable?

I think this is possible and my Retail brethren should prove me right by opening as many stores as possible in the “7 Sister states” as possible to create a vast customer base, who are a part of the larger Indian Customer base.

Last, but not the least is the reality of economic growth that Retail will bring to this region and bind it to India forever. And in that context, the Government of India should encourage any Retailer who is ready to take this step without turning a blind eye to the same.

Jai Hind.