Five things retailers don't get

Why the 'great shopping experience' is a myth in India

I envy inveterate shoppers, buying and bargain-hunting for great deals through the year, navigating crowded marketplaces and shopping malls. Okay, let me correct myself: I envy their patience, their ability to cruise through the crowded floors of the Big Bazaars and Easy Days, the cornucopia of houseware, apparel and china, without getting frustrated by the attention or the lack of it from the shop floor staff.

It is fascinating really to see how unprofessionally the whole organised retail business is run in this country. Things that should ideally be neatly stacked on shelves would be dumped here and there. Sections are moved without notice - if the kids' section is right at the ground-floor entrance this week, it will be at the back of the basement next. Then, just when you reach the end of the long billing counter, you will encounter an empty desk because it is shift change/lunch time or there has been a paper jam/network crash. No point taking your problems/queries to the nearest attendant, he will be clueless.

Most of us know the problems as customers. Here are a few that can be dealt with without much investment.

• Make the billing process faster: One of the things that can really turn off a customer is a slow or difficult process at checkout. No point having 20 billing counters if only two are working on your "sabse saasta din", or for that matter, any day. The consumer won't be interested in the 101 excuses that the harried billing executive will proffer for the inordinate delay once she has hauled the grocery up the isles and down the stair cases.

Instead of providing recreational browsing opportunities, you may consider increasing the number of check-out counters, adding self-service ones (as hypermarkets abroad do), divide them based on the number of items in the basket or transaction currency (like cash, card or even coupons).

• Don't redesign stores at the drop of a hat: Great navigation and neat on-shelf display reduces buying time and leads to a higher degree of product discovery, right?

Wrong. At least, if you go by the speed with which retailers are changing the floor plan these days, chaos is the new… ummm… order.

Now consider it from the point of view of the customer. Most supermarket shoppers are in the auto-pilot mode: she visits your store regularly, say twice or thrice a month and runs up a huge bill every time. One would assume this variety of shoppers is every retailer's dream. But no, our retailers don't seem to like her. Why? The "auto pilot' customer enters the store with a definite path to purchase in mind, steers her way around, strikes off the items on her list and exits. This, say retailers, is a huge opportunity lost. If she doesn't roam around aimlessly, she is not really giving the retailer an opportunity to display his entire repertoire. No snap decisions equals no impulse purchases. So, the best way to get her to shop more is to get her to explore more.

Interesting logic; the only thing is you might be putting off the time-starved shopper, who happens to be a sizeable part of the consumer population these days, who is likely to make her way into the next outlet, one that looks more friendly and familiar.

• Make loyalty plans easier: Loyalty programmes and referral programmes, so successful in the other global markets, still makes little sense for the average Indian consumer. Simply because the givebacks to the consumers are lower. In the US, for instance, bonuses range between 15 and 20 per cent, in India, it's not more than 5 per cent. Clearly, the ability for a consumer to earn value points is lower compared to her counterpart in the West. Also, the consumer in India redeems her points against things like free parking, free fuel, or get discounts on groceries and movie tickets at the most. In short, not exciting.

Second problem: too much hassle redeeming those points. First you need to carry your loyalty card in most places. Then you have to go and get the credit notes against the points in one corner of the store and the goodies in another. In short, not worth the effort.

• Train your shop-floor staff: Yes, they are all over. And they have this uncanny ability to spring up right behind you when you least expect them. But clearly they don't know what they are selling. Or where they are in the first place. Ask them where a certain category of products are, you will draw a blank. Ask them if a certain product has a certain feature, chances are they will call out across the section and ask another equally hapless chap for help. It isn't their fault, really. Someone at the corporate headquarters simply forgot all about training.
  

 

Don't foist Mahindra Holidays on the hapless shopper: No issues against the brand per se but somehow it has managed to get its sales people all over the place. Outside the shops. Inside. At the food court. There will be a piece of paper where you'll need to fill in some personal details. "It will take only two minutes, madam." And no, they will promise you, it's not another sales pitch from Mahindra Holidays. But believe me, 99 per cent of the times it is.

Start with these and my bet is you will have more satisfied consumers.