Arvind Singhal: Retailing or just displaying?

MARKETMIND

The last three weeks have been some kind of a disappointing revelation of how much distance Indian retail/consumer product companies still have to traverse before they can come anywhere close to what the current international best practices are.

Wishing to add a few items of clothing to my "winter" wardrobe, I ended up visiting one of the leading department stores (part of a national chain) located in the National Capital Region. They did have some merchandise that I liked, but frustratingly, did not have my size in any of the four articles of clothing that I liked. More disappointingly, three separate salesmen had to take care of my request to find out if they were carrying my size, and none of them had any interest in trying to find me what I was looking for or otherwise try to offer me an alternative.

Wishing to make a decision to invest in a somewhat premium TV set, I made a visit to the company showroom of a leading European consumer electronics multinational that is now trying hard to position itself at the premium end of the product spectrum. Their showroom was thronging with sales staff but almost all of them were busy watching the India-South Africa cricket match including some who were sprawled in the area they had earmarked for their creating a special zone for their high- end plasma products. No one was really interested in providing information that I was seeking, and was perhaps relieved when I walked out in a few minutes. I then went to the company showroom of one of the most respected multinational companies of Asian origin. The experience was worse""it took some effort to even get the attention of any salesman in the store. Some were busy with what seemed liked personal visitors, and others were not interested. Finally, one of them did show up and tried to inform me that the projection TV on display was actually a plasma one.

Around Diwali time, I ended up buying a somewhat expensive Swiss watch from an authorised dealer for gifting the same to my father. Unfortunately, the watch did not function after being used for just a day. When I returned to the showroom to ask for an exchange, the salesman first tried to inform me that the watch had to be worn all the time else it would function for only a couple of hours before stopping! On showing my indignation, the owner of this outlet agreed to exchange the same and kept the defective piece. Next day, he offered the replacement piece that actually turned out to be the same defective one and hence did not work again after a day. There is still no solution to the matter, and I am gearing up to take up the matter with the Swiss parent and the Indian consumer courts.

Finally, on return from one of the recent overseas trips, I discovered that a newly bought expensive hard suitcase from a leading international brand had some damage. Remembering that my wife had mentioned about a 3-year warranty at the time she had bought the luggage set, we returned the same to the authorised dealer. The store manager then made us read the fine print on the warranty booklet that indicated that even any damage caused by handling by airline is not covered, not to mention a whole range of exclusions that essentially imply that the warranty shall work only if the luggage is kept at home, indoors!

Several thoughts and suggestions come to mind. First, all those who believe that retailing in India has already arrived and there is no need to invite international retailers since we are doing OK, should make a visit to Dubai or Singapore, if not the US or UK and then compare their shopping experience with the one that is offered in India, where we generally believe that the "customer" is always wrong, and that retailing is just about "displaying" merchandise.

Secondly, for all the jargon currently in vogue, e.g. CRM, and all the investment in high-technology buying and replenishment systems, it would be a good start if the top managements of major retailers and consumer goods companies visit some of their stores now and then, and see how customers are being attended to. The quality of the sales staff has to be commensurate with the profile of targeted customers and the product range, and especially at the premium end of the market; it is even more important to have sales staff that has the capability to attend to the products and the customers. Sales staff at all retail formats has to be trained better not only for attending to the customers, but also on the art of up-selling so that the customers end up buying more rather than less. Technology has to be used first to ensure the "availability" itself since very rarely, retailers in India would be tracking sales lost on account of non-availability of the desired merchandise or the size/colour/model number sought by the customer.

It is going to be a tough battle for all marketers to get a share of the consumer's wallet. The customer experience at the retail outlet is the "moment of truth" for all marketers to discover if they can succeed in getting their share!

arvind@ksa-technopak.com