Believing in what you sell is one of the most critical aspect in retail.

David Ogilvy, one of the gurus of advertising is credited with this quote; “I never assign a product to a writer unless I know that he is personally interested in it. Every time I have written a bad campaign, it has been because the product did not interest me.”

Decades later this maxim holds true for not only advertising but actually about almost everything we do in life. If we truly believe in something, we give it our best and the outcome is invariably a positive one.

This reality becomes critical in retail as the shopper is driven and motivated by the trust he or she reposes in the store. In reality, it is not even in the store but in the staff and their service.

It is no wonder that the staff are referred to as the “Face of the Retailer”.

In spite of this, the majority of training initiatives are focused on customer service, smiling and wishing the customer, etc. Very rarely have I come across a retailer who takes the trouble to sell their merchandise to their own staff and make them to truly believe in what they are being asked o sell.

That was the crux of the issue that was mentioned to me by a young retail manager and which led to this “Business Line” article; Do you believe in what you sell?

Apart from the interesting anecdote about my interaction with this your retail professional, the article also captures an essential milestone in the journey of modern trade in India, especially that of food/ supermarket formats.

To be launched soon...

March 20th, 2009 is a memorable day as that is when I started the blog “An Indian and A Retailer”. It was actually started suddenly on a whim and before I knew, it had gained a life and momentum of its own. A whole lot of people saw the blog, wrote to me and commented on the posts. Very soon, it was being quoted by Retail and Strategy consultants during their presentations.

I came to know about the widespread popularity of the blog when one such consultant referred to a post during their presentation regarding supply chain. Several members of the audience were my good friends and ex colleagues. Obviously they wasted no time in calling me up and congratulating me.

The blog has been receiving a steady viewership and the walk-in counter is set to cross the 12,000 mark soon. Indicating that on an average 1,000 odd people view my blog every month. 30, persons a day. Not bad for something I started just like that!

My sincere thanks to all those who have steadily viewed and supported the blog.

This support and motivation was voiced to me by several visitors to the blog in the form of a suggestion. Why not write a book. Their contention was that given the depth and detail of Retail information and knowledge available, why not expand on the same and publish a book. It would reach more people and benefit them.

In June 2009, I started acting on this suggestion and worked on putting a book together while contacting publishers. March 2010, this dream effort is ready to see the light of the day. Just ahead of the first anniversary of this blog.

Presenting - “The Indian reTALEs”

The book should be published shortly and for now the cover and an overview can be viewed on @ unicornbooks (dot) com.

Look forward to a similar support to the book. Please do spread the word; Post on your Facebook profiles, Tweet about it, mail your contacts, etc. Please help propagate the news of “The Indian reTALEs”.

Customers are predominantly honest!

In continuation of one of my previous post about shrinkage and in defense of customers, I would like to share this interesting incident.

Going back to my favorite period of reminisces, the early days of Foodworld, we were constantly trying to figure out why customers still preferred the neighborhood kirana store as compared to the air conditioned and more convenient supermarkets. After talking functional issues like pricing, the preferred quality of groceries, home delivery, etc., we were still unearthing some interesting insights.

One such insight was the comfort level that the housewife has in being able to send back stuff she is not happy with. In one of my earlier articles, I have mentioned how shopping is a habit, especially given the fact that we do not have adequate inputs for making truly rational purchases. In that context, the comfort that the store would take back/ replace something is a significant cushion for the housewife. I can’t say that the same holds true of today’s consumers. But that is another story.

A program was initiated to popularize the replacement policy, wherein anything excepting razors n similar personal items could be replaced/ returned with a defined number of days. No questions asked.

Surprisingly, the resistance to the program came internally from the store team. At the briefing meeting they were vehement in their protest and the biggest argument was how this would be grossly misused by customers. And so a pitched battle ensued between marketing and operations.

Finally the then head of Foodworld stepped in and mandated that the program should be given a chance. But, to be fair to the operating team we would meet again in a month and review.
The program was rolled out. Lots of banners all over the place, posters at the store, shelf edge material, etc. Basically, no customer could miss that message.

A month went by quickly and we were reviewing this initiative. I had not heard of any major incident of the program having been misused. But, I had also not heard any positive feedback of acceptance from the store team and was looking forward to what would be mentioned.
Finally when we discussed this program, it was a bit of an anticlimax. If I remember correctly there had been a few cases of misuse including a lady who brought back a half eaten can of cheese with fungus on it!

When compared to the total number of customers, the percentage of such instances was miniscule and the benefits of creating this kind of trust far outweighed the few cases.
Having said that, in most countries where retail is mature customers also evolve. Or rather people who want to misuse the systems and processes also evolve and therein lies the challenge for a retailer today.

To trust or not to trust!

Will leave you with this experience of mine at Makro, UK. While at the customer service desk I was aghast to see the lady staff accept a supposedly defective hand drill for return/ replacement. When I pointed out that the drill could be working, the lady drawled in her Manchester accent, “It could be working, luv. But if I were to check and got a shock the company would pay far more than what the drill costs. Also luv, why would anyone want to return a working drill”!! Is it any wonder that we get to read how some people purchase a nice dress on Friday and return it on Monday, after the weekend party!

A delightful surprise

The anniversary of the first store had stirred up a lot more of emotions than I had thought!! I was fortunate to be at the store today morning and ended up participating in the Birthday celebrations. The customary cake cutting was there and I was invited to join in in my capacity as an alumni!! Shared some of the memorable nostalgia that people have mentioned, especially the vastu and puja bit.

Another picture for posterity and fond memories. Cutting of the cake and Mr. Murali offering the cake to Mr. Atanu. Truly Old is Gold!!

P.S. - I realised that the cake cutting happened at almost the same spot where Smt. M S Subbulakshmi had lit the lamp, 13 years ago!

Guest post by Mr. Ganesh Chella on the Anniversary

Mr. Chella in his comment, has expressed the keen nostalgia which runs as a common thread right through. A part of the founding team of Indian Corporate Retail - his comments for you as a Guest post.

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Dear Rajesh

This is a great initiative and my best compliments for doing this!

I continue to get nostalgic every time I think about my days at RPG Retail. Hiring all you guys at 30% less pay than what you last earned which was in any case very low, seeing the excitement with which all of you worked because you were creating history and not because you wanted to make money, working in the store, solving the innumerable problems for which we had to write rules every day and creating new knowledge which to date remains the only knowledge in organised retailing. We may not have become the biggest and in any case those things seem irrelevant today. But we created a legacy, a great bunch of Retail professionals who knew what they were doing and were deeply passionate about it and who remain the only blue blood retailers to date.

I cannot forget my first day at the R A Puram store. We ran out of sugar and atta by 11.00 am. Raghunandan and I went to our distribution centre (sorry, warehouse, sorry, godown) to pick up some replacement supplies and rush back in our car!!!I cannot forget all the great one liners - "bay watching", "gave Rs 10 for 9" (description in a petty cash voucher) and all the other hilarious events that unfolded every day.I cannot forget all the training programs we conducted in premises amidst construction, I of course cannot forget RIRM, the institution which created the finest front-line staff that India has ever seen.

Let us celebrate this spirit and be proud of what we created!

Ganesh Chella

Special Thanks

Whoever sees this on May 9th 2009 or later, history remains unchanged. The passion and commitment that went into creating a sustainable Corporate Retail model has its players and witness’s!

I sincerely thank everyone who responded to this emotional call to celebrate and reaffirm what we have done and achieved. Special thanks to Mr. Sundaram, who provided almost all the pictures you all saw and enjoyed!

I enjoyed putting this together. Thanks to everyone, once again!

Happy Birthday to Indian Supermarket Retailing!

May 9, 1996 is a special day in the history of corporate retailing in India. That was the day when the first Foodworld (The current Spencer’s Daily) store opened at C P Ramaswamy Road, Chennai and led the way for corporate retail to grow and establish itself in India.

For skeptics and detractors of this view, I quote what was written about the Wright Brothers in Wikipedia; “Although not the first to build and fly experimental aircraft, the Wright brothers were the first to invent aircraft controls that made fixed wing flight”

Similarly, there have been supermarket chains before and after Foodworld. However, Foodworld redefined the perception of grocery and monthly shopping and influenced the consumers to make the switch to self service formats in a sustainable manner. In a manner of speaking this early mover and the footfalls they were able to generate would have surely influenced many of the current operators to look at Retail as an investment option.


Hence, it would be correct to say that Foodworld is the pioneer of today’s corporate chains.
Some names who were a part of this historic moment: The senior team comprised of Mr. P K Mohapatra, Mr. Raghu Pillai, Mr. S Raghunandan, Mr. Shiv Murti, Mr. Ganesh Chella and Mr. Arindam Guha. The others in the team were Late Mr. K P Ramachandran, Mr. Ashoke Bhaskaran, Mr. Atanu Chakraborty, Ms. Geetha Mahadevan, Mr. Eby Mathews, Mr. Sundaram, Mr. G’boy Varghese, Mr. Rajat Das Gupta and so many more.

It would be remiss if I did not mention Late Ms. Usha Ravi, the store manager for the first Foodworld store. Possibly India’s first woman store manager!

The store was inaugurated by the Carnatic music icon, the late M.S. Subbulakshmi - a memorable moment. This went on to herald the pattern of huge crowds without which there never was a Foodworld store opening. With the crush of people inside the 2,400 sq. ft. store increasing and the four cash tills sprouting long lines, Corporate Supermarket Chains had arrived in style that day.


Ah, those heady days of pioneering work!




P.S. - I had mentioned about Indian Corporate Retail being like a teenager just a few days ago. It is indeed a teenager now. It is 13 years old.

Reminisces by Mr. P K Mohapatra about the launch

Guest Post by Mr. Raghu Pillai regarding the launch

" May 9th 1996". Ultimately History will be the judge; but I genuinely believe that this date marked the formal launch of "organised" retailing in India. The date and the details are etched in my memory as if it happened yesterday rather than almost 13 years ago. ......... The mad dash to the home at 3.30 in the morning from the store to change into a "Dhothi" for the puja starting at 4.30......... The anxious wait for the crowds........ The arrival of Shrimati M S Subbulakshmi and the almost magical two hours she spent at the store..... The sales that day... 3 odd lacs..... The press frenzy and the mad mad crowds in the evening...... The furious cops helplessly watching the worst traffic jam in Alwarpet’s history..... All those make memories, which will remain for a long long time.

I have been involved with over 1200 store openings post that day but the magic of 9th May 1996 will always be the freshest, most endearing and precious in my mind!

Raghu Pillai

Reminisces by Mr. S Raghunandan on his memories of the launch

Timeless Endurance!

The picture is of my late father’s Rolex wrist watch which is more than 50 years old! This was gifted to him on the occasion of his marriage. I occasionally wear it and whenever I have taken it out to wind it up and wear it, it has worked like a charm without missing a beat.
My father used to tell a story about this watch which drives home the basis of what creates a sustainable brand value.

Once, after about 20 odd years of using the watch, it developed some problem. Coincidentally this was when he was travelling in Europe. He promptly took it for service to one of the Rolex centers in Geneva. The counter executive took a look at the watch and reverted that since the watch was more than 2 decades old, they would find it difficult to obtain the parts to service it, and even if they did it would take time. My father explained the sentimental value of the watch – that it was his wedding gift and he was given the Rolex because his wife’s father believed it was forever! He also told them that he was going back to India in just a couple of days and could they help?

The request was escalated and the service centre in-charge was called. He examined the watch and upon hearing the ‘value’ attached to it, assured my father that he would personally get the details pertaining to this model and have it serviced.

If I recollect correctly, the parts of the watch were procured from Rolex HO within 24 hours and the watch impeccably serviced and returned. All this in a day and age when Email, Internet or Mobile phones did not exist! And that was the last time it was serviced and that must have been more than a few decades ago. What a simple act, but such an impact. Strong enough; that I remember this story every time I wear the watch and today I am sharing the same with all of you. If I decide to gift something of timeless appeal, no prizes for guessing what I would buy.

Nostalgia; "Best of the Best" in APAC

During a recent trip to Kolkatta I met an old friend and well wisher; Mr. S K Chowdhury (or Subrata as he is fondly called) of Music World. We met in 1997, when we were both toiling hard to open the first of its kind music store in India. It was a futuristic store and we have some great memories of the various little incidents leading up to the launch including an awkward moment with a leading star, whom we had approached to launch the store. I used to be involved in the marketing for Music World till I got pulled away into other formats and rolls.

But being in the same office it was but natural that we meet and catch up daily. In fact the day would seem incomplete if we had not done so. Being a part of the start up team we also shared a fierce pride in having started specialty retail in India. When we met recently it was but natural that we should recall one of the most memorable instances and that's what I would like to share.

One of the recognitions for the pioneering effort of the RPG Retail team was being awarded the "Top Retailer of India" and more importantly the "BEST OF THE BEST" award across the Asia Pacific region. Five such top retailers were selected for the "Best of the Best" award out of entries from countries like Australia, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, etc.

The then head of RPG Retail directed Mr. Chowdhury and myself to attend the function in Singapore and receive the award on behalf of the team. The function was held on 28th October 2004 and we knew that we had been short listed for the Top Retailer of India. We were both expecting that and quite excited about that itself.

Five retailers from across APAC were selected for the "Best of the Best" award. Imagine our absolute surprise, happiness, pride, etc., etc., when RPG Retail was announced as being one amongst this five! A memorable day for the team and more importantly for Indian Retail and Indian Professionals. We could hold our own and come out on tops while being compared in an industry where operators in all the other countries had years and years of experience as compared to the RPG Retail team, which had been running the show for Just over 8 years!!

Population Pressure

Standing inside the lift going to the ground floor, I have often been faced with a barrage of a human wall on the ground floor. Rushing to get inside the lift!!! And similarly in an airport transit bus, where everyone gets in and crowds around the entrance or rather the exit!

I have mentioned 2 instances to showcases very different scenarios.

I recollect an incident where I called out loudly “Hey guys, this building does not have a basement. The lift stops here. Unless we get off, you can’t get in”
Increasingly I reflect on this incident as also my various interactions with people from out of India who wonder about this phenomenon and have come up with this theory called “Population Pressure”.

As a race, we Indians or rather people from Asia which comprises of a large population are conditioned from childhood to push, shove, elbow, barge in... In short fight for our place in the good ‘Ole Earth.

In the presence of such overwhelming numbers, we can’t afford the niceties of holding a door open or waiting! If one does not MOVE, they are left standing. I remember reading about the Tokyo Metro system, where you have staff to push people inside the compartments so that the doors can close!

What is this population pressure?

Conditioning.

Growing up in an environment where there is nothing called as personal space and the least amount of space will be willingly taken up by another human being, the tussle between social grace/ manners and the pressure to get something out of life is an ever present reality in our lives’.
- Rushing into a lift
- Driving in the wrong lane, even though we want to turn right.
- Vehicles blocking the free left turn lane
- Elbowing into a line
The list can go on.

Is there a solution to this?

Not really, because the population explosion that continues is driven largely by people who cant and don’t read blogs. Or rather, can’t read at all. Period!

Is there a solution? NO. This is a social phenomenon and will take its own course to correct/ change/ morph.

So, what does this have to do with retail?

As a customer we don’t mind browsing and shopping for s long as we want. It could be a few minutes or a few hours. But, the billing counter is a barrier to freedom. Ideally, from a psychological perspective we would like to browse, pick and choose and walk out with what we have taken. FREEDOM, in its absolute sense.

Although the self service concept panders to this inherent whim in our minds, the Billing counter is a reality check. A barrier to be crossed. (I shall write about this in detail later)
Going back to the population pressure theory and linking it to this perceived barrier, is a CRUCIAL factor for any retailer.

Typically a cashier faces challenges, such as –
- Customers lining up and a customer’s bill is taking too long, because many products are not found while scanning! One needs to actually manage a cash till to understand the dynamics. Forget, “If looks could kill”, in a line at the cash till, it’s more like “If thoughts could kill”. And the cashier is not immune to it.
- Population pressure kicking in – Regular customers or someone who has purchased a few things, try to elbow themselves out of this barrier by requesting to be billed first.

As a retailer what can one do?
- Make the staff aware of this reality
- Discourage people from line jumping
- Train the staff to manage “Population Pressure” which is all the more evident during the evenings and weekends.

Successful retail is all about creating, managing and meeting expectations. The key being creating the right level of expectation. That’s another topic for another day!

Have a great weekend.

Falling between the tables

I have been travelling and it was a great experience to observe new things and ruminate, so that I can share with all of you. I visited some of the stores during this short trip of mine and was reminded of an interesting anecdote, when I saw a few stores trying to morph into something else.

Long, long ago, in an earlier assignment I was witness to a very curious discussion. The HR head and the top honcho of an FMCG company were discussing and the comment was: "We lost a good sales person and created a bad manager". Upon enquiring it was explained that a top rated sales person was promoted to motivate him. It ended up with disastrous consequences. Being a poor leader he was unable to manage the team and what used to be a great contribution from him as a sales person was also lost to the organisation.

A lot of the stories I hear from the emerging retail sector resonate with this thought because -

When someone sees a success, it is quite natural to try and replicate it. Hoping to even better it. Very early on someone told me that "There is no success formula; Every Successful person has a formula". Retail validates this concept. Duplication is not a recipe; Differentiation is!!! How is your store different and more importantly is that difference in alignment with all other elements of the retail strategy. For example: A discount store opens in an upper middle class locality and customers patronise the store. Just because a boutique opens next door, if this store tries to morph into one, the existing customers might actually be confused and those who chose to go to the boutique store would anyways not bother.

I am leaving a few thoughts on the table for your comments and feedback. Would expand and expound on this and the training bit over the weekend.

P.S. - I realised that the Blog is like a store. Shall expand on this thought also, later!!!

Call the cops!!!

Hope you all had a great weekend and a greater still start to the week. At least the stock markets were on an upswing and it is a historic day for every Indian. 'Nano' was launched. A promise made was kept and as an Indian, it swells my heart.

My post to start the week has been prompted by one of the comments wherein it is mentioned that the staff did not even know the name of the product. This is a common enough occurrence and a huge problem for any retailer as also the customers. This is definitely due to the expectation that is created in our minds the minute we walk into an air conditioned, brightly lit store. The root of this issue lies in a variety of reasons, the least of which is the reality that most staff come from a very economically challenged background. Shall delve into that later this week.

This challenge has led to several awkward situations in a store, many of which were outright hilarious, like what happened in this incident.

One of the new staff at a store was very excited and enthusiastic. They had just attended the training program and the "wish the customers" rule was fresh and being actively followed. Suddenly this person rushed up to the supervisor who was busy checking something and stage whispered "Madam, please call the police immediately. It is urgent". The supervisor was initially alarmed, but decided to enquire as to what the matter was, before reacting.

Upon enquiring, the young staff, wide eyed and in a louder stage whisper said; Customer is asking for drugs!

The poor lady who turned out to be an elderly person had been asking whether brown sugar was available; for BAKING!

The supervisor in charge of the store later narrated this incident to highlight how one has to learn and improve continuously as training cannot be like in the film "Matrix"; load a disk and they get to know everything!

Will write more about this and some ideas that have worked. Have a great week.

New OPEX cost!!!

Oh and I forgot!!!!
During, one store launch we had to reimburse the cost of a windscreen for a customer's car. Because, a large pumpkin was placed on top of the large format banner to ward off the evil eye that this 'attractive' communication might garner and attract to the entire building. The famous sea breeze of Chennai led to the banner fluttering and sent this pumpkin crashing down!

Since then, I wonder whether the pumpkins help or not!

Where is the banner/ Balloon rice!!

In the early days of corporate retail, with limited budgets I had to think of every kind of gimmick to stretch the marketing budget. One innovation (Thanks to a Hindi Pop Concert!!) was the large format drop down banner and the large gas balloons. This became such an identification sign that, customers would walk in asking for the Banner or Balloon rice!!

P.S. - Thanks to a concert in the indoor stadium at Chennai, where large format drop downs were noticed by my team mate Usha and myself, this became SOP for launches for some time, leading to the term - Banner rice!

P.S.2 - The large gas balloons were as effective as dangerous. One had to get all kinds of permission and be very careful when using them. In spite of all this care, a balloon flew off during a launch. Last reported; some flights were being diverted to Chennai or Madras in those day! Because, the passengers wanted to purchase the balloon rice!!!!

Please allow me into the store!!

One of my most memorable and early memories of modern retail in India is the launch of the first Foodworld store in Hyderabad (or was it Secunderabad!!!!) in the late 90's.

Anyways...

It was around 7 p.m. and the 3000 sq. ft. store was just about ready to qualify for the record of "most people inside a confined space". The operating team of which I was a member of, decided to request customers to wait and not enter the store and if possible return the next day.

After all customers had to move out before anyone could come in...

My very dear friend Saurabh, the business head and myself decided to man the entrance and announce to the customers to wait or return the next day. While we were battling the crowds and explaining to the various customers why they cant enter the store immediately, our worry was that the glass door should not break and injure anyone!

While grappling between the crowds and the glass door, a person slowly pushed his way towards us and held out his hands to us for a hand shake. We politely shook his hand and were explaining that he would have to come back the next day or wait till the crowd lessened, when I had to suddenly pull my hand away, as something was being pressed into my palm.

At that point, the customer became hysterical and said "Please take 50 or 100 rupees and let me into this place. I have come from far to show this place to my children and cannot come again". Obviously we could not not do that and we tried explaining that to the customer while keeping the entrance barricaded.

Finally that person left. Convinced or dejected, I do not know, till this day.

The incident had a great learning for me as a retailer and a marketeer. Don't create expectations, which you cant meet and ideally surpass. In subsequent store launches we planned it like a 1 day match to manage customers. But, that's another story for another day.

Today when I think about that incident I wonder if that person even bothers to go to a chain store for his regular shopping, let alone a new store launch!!!