A signboard at a home furnishing retail outlet screaming Buy 1 get 1 free caught our attention this evening more so because the brand that was being advertised and was on sale was Bombay Dyeing bed spreads which normally is never marked down. Following the instincts, and of course the prospect of striking a cool deal, went into the store to be greeted by a salesman who began pulling out neatly packed packs of bed spreads. It had been a while since we had this kind of a shopping experience where we were standing across the counter( in a now vanishing Kirana or Mom & Pop corner store) and waiting for the salesman to pull a dozen or so designs for us to choose from. While we were fortunate to find something that we could pick from the limited options we were allowed to choose from. We picked the bags and left immediately after paying. I keep wondering if this model of business will sustain any longer as consumers would like to look, touch,feel and evaluate before buying any product. One of the easiest ways to chase me out of a store would be for sales man to ask if I needed help (sorry! But I can manage myself) and often try to politely say, no, thanks, just looking around. I am not a believer of window shopping but definitely want my share of peace and privacy at any store and I am 10 on 10 times sure of what I need or not need. I always wonder how people manage to still enjoy shopping when being confronted by enthusiastic sales personnel (unless they are security guards in disguise shadowing suspect store lifters). Retail has been kind to me and has fed me and my folks for years and I am a supporter of FDI in retail including multi-brand retail. You will agree with me if you have shopped at a Dick’s Sporting Goods, Sports Authority,Target , JC Penny or even Big Bazar here in India. Any attempt so far in India to allow FDI in retail has been met with stiff resistance and the argument has been that large multi-nationals would sound the death knell for the corner store thousands of which today form the retail horizon in India. Developing economies have successfully built efficient supply chains (the recent onion crisis was largely due to the agricultural supply chain deficiency and the role of the middlemen) and reined in inflation by allowing multi brand retail.
As a consumer, choice, efficiency and easy availability and stable pricing is all people care for and many are realizing this and the poor corner store bloke may be soon left with no patrons unless, he innovates to provide an experience to his shopper who has turned towards the large organized and glitzy retailer ( look at the crowds at Big Bazar and you will know what i am talking about). In an age when even Idlis and Dosas are franchised and soon, the small shop at the corner of the road could be left to fend for himself with his bags of unsold onions…How would a whole generation of micro entrepreneurs innovate to take on the mighty?
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