Modern retailing is changing household
purchasing patterns and I came to know that firsthand only when I observed the women in my life pushing their
shopping carts through the aisles of supermarkets. The
basket of purchase has become more and heavier by the day. Stocks on shelves
beckon them as they are reminded even of the five flavours of essences they
feel necessary to buy for the one cake they sometimes decide to bake! As
products are kept in a neat array and in easy access, they are picked up. I
remember the days when my mom used to prepare a list of things to buy for the
household every month to stock-up and leave it with the grocer to keep ready
for my dad to pick it up on his way back from work. While reconciling the bill with the stocks, I recollect (two
score years ago!), once dad found an unbilled pack of dates in the grocery and
he quickly went back to return it and the grocer said that it was a freebie for
buying for more than fifty rupees in the store! There was not even one item
allowed to be purchased more than the planned ones figuring in the list
religiously prepared by mom. Here we go, with our modern women who enjoy going
on a buying spree every month, often relieving our supermarketers of their 'dump' responsibility! The consumption patterns are fast changing with the way
retailers evolve their strategies and tactics. They have been changing fast
with the way 'urban consumables' are sampled for consumption in smaller
versions (but not stripped versions, mind you) with our rural
brethren! The inauspicious retailing season of the "Aadi", "Ashada"or
"Shravan" month falling between July-August in South India, when
customer off-takes are at the lowest, has been transformed into a
successful selling period, hitting upon the strategy of clearance
sales! Now we have the national festival holidays - Independence day and Republic
Day as BIG sales days! Result oriented activations - true game changers.
The entry of Pantaloon Retail (now Future Group) into value retailing in September 2001 opening four stores within a record twenty two days to launch the format in India changed the modern retailing landscape of the country completely. It surely changed the business for the group since then. Until then Pantaloons was drawing battle lines with others competing only in the large format department store space. The new format now has over 150 stores spread in almost a centum locations, if I am not wrong! Big Bazaar offers the pleasure of discovering great bargains in all its stores. Not only that, there is fashion too at Big Bazaar! A true game changer.
Steve Jobs opened the first Apple store in the year 2001. Since then Apple stores have changed the game. In my friend Surender Gnanaloivu's words, "Apple stores are a rage...but they, unlike his (Steve Job's) products, are fundamentally based on customer needs- geek squad, 100% live products from which one can call for staff assistance, continuous 'instore seminars' on how to maximize the use of their products etc.. Their store design in NY glass cube and Shangai glass cylinder are the world's most photographed stores in which the materials used are inspired by their products design philosophy- never done before! Dared to break the rules and differentiated." I visited the NY Apple cube on the walkway in 2007 with the Doyen of India's Modern Retailing, Kishoreji when he received his International Retailer of the Year Award from the National Retail Federation, USA. Apple stores rock with their amazing Apple Bar geeks who make even confusing applications easy for customers to use. Very interactive as they are, Job's innovations have become extremely customer friendly and above all they have become 'addictive' and not just a 'rage'. We all know the fact: once an Apple user, always remains an Apple user. A true game changer.
The entry of Pantaloon Retail (now Future Group) into value retailing in September 2001 opening four stores within a record twenty two days to launch the format in India changed the modern retailing landscape of the country completely. It surely changed the business for the group since then. Until then Pantaloons was drawing battle lines with others competing only in the large format department store space. The new format now has over 150 stores spread in almost a centum locations, if I am not wrong! Big Bazaar offers the pleasure of discovering great bargains in all its stores. Not only that, there is fashion too at Big Bazaar! A true game changer.
Steve Jobs opened the first Apple store in the year 2001. Since then Apple stores have changed the game. In my friend Surender Gnanaloivu's words, "Apple stores are a rage...but they, unlike his (Steve Job's) products, are fundamentally based on customer needs- geek squad, 100% live products from which one can call for staff assistance, continuous 'instore seminars' on how to maximize the use of their products etc.. Their store design in NY glass cube and Shangai glass cylinder are the world's most photographed stores in which the materials used are inspired by their products design philosophy- never done before! Dared to break the rules and differentiated." I visited the NY Apple cube on the walkway in 2007 with the Doyen of India's Modern Retailing, Kishoreji when he received his International Retailer of the Year Award from the National Retail Federation, USA. Apple stores rock with their amazing Apple Bar geeks who make even confusing applications easy for customers to use. Very interactive as they are, Job's innovations have become extremely customer friendly and above all they have become 'addictive' and not just a 'rage'. We all know the fact: once an Apple user, always remains an Apple user. A true game changer.
Operating in strikingly similar domains with their retail brand architecture singularly comprising a mix of department stores, home stores, hypermarkets or supermarkets, franchised brands, etc., many retailing organizations in India struggle hard to differentiate strategically or distinguish by innovative activations to win customers. All that they need now are true game changers!
- Dr. Gibson G. Vedamani
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