“Any new reform in India is often clouded by debates and discussions about its need and viability. Opposing a change comes naturally for the self appointed so called public messiahs of the country. One such reform that has not been able to meet its due fate is the issue of FDI in retail. Anaggh Desai shares an interesting take on the benefits of FDI from a customer perspective”…..This article appeared as a Perspective in StoRai magazine Jan-Feb 2012.

A debate on this question has been going on for a long time; with government wishing to introduce the bill, it just gathered momentum recently.

The past couple of weeks, every platform/gathering somebody or other has asked me the question ‘Why should FDI be allowed in India?’ I do not object to the question on principle, it is quite amusing to note that everyone has a view about why it should be allowed/not allowed – mostly like East Bengal & Mohun Bagan match in Kolkatta. Read the rest of this entry »

This article first appeared in StoRai magazine page 44 and can be read here.

With the pundits, government and people believing that the economy is on an upswing, there are some learning’s that the past year or so has provided.

1) Stay the course - It is extremely relevant to continue on the same course, adopted in the past year such as control of costs, evaluate each project, product before taking a plunge, in short not to get swayed by the hubris of good times.

2) Capitalize on the spurt of business opportunities - The idea is to explore different business opportunities that have come up or grown with things looking better.

3) Capitalize on market place opportunities - The past couple of years have shown a trend that besides the metros, different niches & markets have sprung up, which would only grow in the years and it’s important to capitalize before it becomes to expensive.

4) Focus on consistent awareness - A key area, be consistent in creating awareness of your brand, product, merchandise through the bad & good times.

5) Acknowledge potential increase in consumer’s knowledge & changes in shopping behavior - The past year or two has shown a consumer who is intelligent, gathering knowledge from multiple sources & looking for value and as a brand it is critical that this is kept in mind.

6) Emphasize authenticity, optimism & connection - Piggy back on the optimism wave connecting to your consumers, sharing the authenticity of your brand and value provided to them.

7) Maintain constant and consistent dialog with loyal consumers - These are the people who have carried you through the turbulent times and it is important to keep in touch with them, talk to them continuously and consistently.

Focus on developed brands - Do not get gungho about launching a slew of brands, focus on the developed brands for the immediate two quarters before introducing new ones.

I am always asked, how do you manage to recruit people without paying them the Sun, Moon & earth - that too in Retail.

I do not have many points or gyan on this, except that I am Upfront:

I tell people you’re in a very competitive industry.
I am always honest with them.
I tell them that I am Not right everyday, neither do I expect them to be. As long as they are 6/10 times and keep me informed about the others, it works for me.
The reason this works, because in the retail business, you’ve got to be right every single day. There is extremely high day to day intensity associated with retail.

The last couple of weeks have been really tough in terms of bringing Projects up to speed. There has been a constant back and forth where my expectations and deliveries were a complete mismatch. A couple of colleagues kept asking, ” How do you make Project work” especially when I kept pushing the 90 day turn around. And this is what I shared with them.

Build your team (existing or new)

List all the people who are part of the project team
Factor all the skills that are required
Talk to each member about his/her skill set
Match people to the skills & tasks required

Once this is ready, it is important to list down:

Steps to schedule Management

1) Know which deadlines are sacrosanct (hard and fast) and which have some flexibility
2) No task should last longer than 4-6 weeks
3) Don’t schedule more detail than you can yourself oversee
4) Develop schedules according to what is logistically possible
5) Record all time segments in the same increments such as in days or weeks
6) Have some flexibility in project schedule for handling problems that might occur later

Believe me this works wonders for execution. If you feel something more can be added, please comment & I will update the post.

This has been a major irritant to me for the past 10 years or more, particularly since when the so called automation has taken place.

Earlier the complaint had been bad handwriting, carbon paper amongst other things, but everyone thought computers would change it.

However, invoices started looking nice, since they were printed on Thermo Sensitive Paper (Fax paper to the uninitiated) which over a period faded. The terms & conditions said you needed to carry the Receipt for exchange!

So, there you have a classic scenario created by the Indians, for the Indians! Read the rest of this entry »

I have been a admirer of Mr. Kishore Biyani since the time I first met him some 7 years ago. Over the years, I have had the chance of sitting with him in a group, hearing him speak at close quarters and agree with some of his comments about consumers.

Whilst I am not privy to how the group functions, what are the SBU and who makes what money, I am definitely sure that Big Bazaar after constantly being fine tuned has turned into a good money making machine which probably at times is supporting some of the smaller SBU’s.

Recently Big Bazaar celebrated its Anniversary Sale. Whilst at the Gym in Mega Mall last Monday, I received a call from my wife, requesting me to pick up some stuff. In my enthusiasm I replied in the affirmative & proceeded to the basement where it is located.

No 1 - There was a sea of Black Humanity extending right up the escalators. Looking at my confused state, one of the gaurds asked me if I wanted to Shop - ‘Of course, otherwise why am I here’ ; he gestured to me to use the right side & come down. On reaching there, I understood that the Q was for Gelato (Special offer Rs.9/-) Chaat (Rs.10 -15/-)   Learning: It is still possible to bring in people with a lead in that has no/little relevance to actual business done. Here the marketing write off may just be the space!

No 2 - Going inside, saw families treat the store as an Pre School Outing. Clothes, Stationery, Linen, Groceries all where ever there was a deal - it was being dumped - in trolleys with shouting across aisles ‘Kaun sa color’ ‘4 ya 6 lena’ Learning: Timing - Anniversary, school opening, related offers, price points, complete volume & value game.

No 3 - The vegetable & fruit side was nice & cool with practically no body really shopping. Answered soon enough by the staff - Wednesday everything will go off with the offers.                                                                                              Learning: Specific, Constant, Consistent ensured people & staff were clued in & ready.

No 4 - There were some good to great deals going on - some from the FMCG companies, some from Big Bazaar it self that are definitely not available anywhere else.                                                                                                                             Learning: Whilst Private Labels introduced & were gaining ground, the volume game or marketing tactics ensured that other Brands did not suffer, but were still in play.

No 5 - Cash Counters manned & opened all across, with Express ones making exceptions also.

Some Negatives that can be overcome immediately -

• Cleanliness - No housekeeping visible at any place whatsoever.
• Customers allowed to drink water, soft drink inside leading to problems.
• Staff whilst friendly, need to be neatly dressed or rather cleanly dressed
• The internal banter amongst staff, gaurds need to be controlled.

However, all said & done the consumer pulse & reaching into their pockets is what matters at the end. AND here Big Bazaar straddles the right spectrum, integrating itself completely with the needs of the consumer. It bridges the gap from the small, neighborhood kirana store & a hypercity, something which Subhiksha was also keen on doing, but failed. It provides half or more of what common man aspires - AC environment, in a mall, ability to look, touch things, decide on their own without push - all at probably less than the Kirana store (OK not all items). This leads to most of the consumers focusing on Value that they end up buying Volume, thus helping Biyani laugh all the way to the bank.

Eventually, some of these consumers would graduate to the next level and try Hypercity, Star Bazaar and be replaced by others - very similar to Gopinath’s Deccan Aviation and what I love to call the “Funnel Theory”

Soon after moving, studying, working across the country, we relocated back to Bombay as I remembered it and continue calling it.

Having settled down in our Palace (that could fit into our bath or kitchen back in Calcutta, Baroda) my wife went on finding spree, which being a Bombayite fluent in Marathi posed no problems, not that it gave her problems in Calcutta also.

Finding a dhobi, vegetable vendor (honest, good but important would give her the kind of vegetables she wanted) and finally the milkman. Our requirement was minimal on this front, nuclear family and all that jazz.

Found one at 4 bungalows - Sharma Dairy Farm - tied up & the delivery started. He grew his business, obviously not because of us, though thru references & neighbours did help.

A couple of years down the line, our nuclear family exploded, parents shifted to stay with us, we shifted houses yada, yada….the milk man followed…..

Some 5-7 years ago, one fine day, after the advent of mobiles, got a call from my wife to pickup some extra milk since some unexpected guests had landed. Asked the driver to take the road past the Dairy & park.

For the love of God I could not locate the dairy, but dreading the “kuch kaam ke nahi” tag if I called my wife up; braved the stupid looks people were giving me in my suit avataar marched up to an restaurant & enquired with a young pleasant looking gentleman on the counter.

Prompt came the answer ” You are standing in Sharma Dairy!” Then the man we knew came out, insisting that I have something kyon ki aap kabhi aaye hi nahi; bhabhiji knows & wished us etc. etc. Upon further enquiries, turned that his eldest son had completed his studies & so “thoda sa expansion kar liya”. Promising to visit them sometime again went away.

Over the years, found myself passing by, with a smile on my face whenever I passed the location. The delivery boys changed, older ones started sitting on the counters, became managers at the dairy. My wife also said his younger son was studying.

Today morning, on receiving a notice,

Milk Management Notice

I concluded that his younger son has completed his studies even MBA since I could see PPP implementation (Price, Productivity, Penalty) implementation happening at my old Sharma Dairy Farm….that was surely turning into a conglomerate, maybe a small one but still!

And this generation is bound to give headaches to the New Organized Retailers! They have everything going for them:

• Location
• Operation Capabilities
• Loyal & Trained Staff
• Structured Finance
• Ownership
• Focus to grow

Do let me know in case I have missed out something

This is a Mall that I had developed respect for.

Owned by a builder - not the rahejas, etc. who managed to get decent brands in, has a food court that is doing well; also has my gym the membership which my wife has gifted me.

But the past couple of months, there has been a problem that not too big, but irritating to say the least.

According to the Mall Management & Security, Oshiwara Police has asked them to cordon off the area in order to ensure no cars are parked near the mall side.

However, it is a different matter that double parking continues happening & nothing is done about it, leading to traffic chaos every evening.

Having met the Mall Management & Security twice, they have been unable to answer some basic questions:

• What is the name of the PI at Oshiwara Police Station who has asked them to do this?
• If it is official why is there no board to say so?
• The Police man who sits inside has no clue about this; saying that this is done by the Mall people
• People like cattle have accepted what is done & continue merrily on their way.

A couple of weeks ago, on a thursday, back from the gym, with nobody at home decided to grab a subway @ infiniti mall.

After passing through the mandatory checks, parked the car & took the lift up to the food mall.

Since it was already late & a couple of nice english movies waiting at home, decided to grab a take away. Once the packing was done,  tried to take a lift to the basement. With the light still on, the lift refused to come up from the basement. Besides me a couple of other people with children were waiting peacefully.

Finally we went to the other side, where I asked the security, who told me that after 9 pm only one lift worked. Fair enough, in fact good that electricity conserving was being implemented. BUT, upon being asked that it was after 9 that I had come up & why was there no notice informing visitors of the same. No answer except the standard one, please ask the office.

So down I went in my citizenary zeal & asked the customer service who looked completely blank at me, maybe since I interrupted his personal call to his girlfriend or whatever. After making me repeat the questions twice, he called the Security head, who had his own version & called the security gaurds, firing them for not informing me, coolly side stepping the fact of the notice.

Anyway NO ANSWER except being asked to call up the Infiniti Mall Office on 26374530 the next day and check with them. But yes they asked me not to take photos:)

YES! Did so twice, some vague, white wash offered & today more than a month later still NO SIGN!

I do not understand

• Why Malls cannot spend a small amount on communicating with consumers?
• Why citizens prefer to take the easy way out, instead of following it through?

It is small things like this which ensure that lethargy continues, the same corporators win, the same lok sabha shall come & all this Jaago Re! shall remain Soja Re!……