Once again it is interesting time in Retail, yet I can not say with any certainty if it is blowing hot or that is blowing cold in Retail. Here is ‘Why’ of it:

There is a new store in the town. Being in Phone-biz they need to ‘Express Themselves’. And Express they did. It seems they announced their arrival with Laser Beams and Curtain Raising Ceremony. During the event half a dozen girls in their micro-minis were dancing in the picture windows. And by the way, that is not the news. The news is no one was paying attention to the event. No heads turned, no crowds gathered. If Kishore Biyani’s Team learnt their lessons of the ‘crowd management’ at different religious shrines; it is time anxious Retailers turned their attention to ‘ God & God’s-Own-Men-n-Women’ who have tremendous pull with people. And why should one be ashamed of it. When Gods can be invoked on the staircases, and compound walls to prevent people from spitting or relieving themselves, Retailing is surely a ‘Nobler’ venture.

And speaking of Kishore Biyani, I must say that it wouldn’t be any news if Kishore & his own Retail Associates appear to be in the same boat. Everyone knows Kishore Biyani’s Retail Empire has more exploded than expanded and ‘merchandise assortments’ have undergone a change. When such a thing happens the Retail Associates have difficulty in telling what they have and what they may not have in the store. I think Kishore must have a similar feeling about his own enterprises. Just imagine the scenario, on one of those rare occasions when he is in his own office and an Executive walks in. The Exec. Ass.  must whisper to him, ‘Sir, you are about to meet so-n-so, he works for such-n-such company. You hold so much percentage of stock in that company. The market cap of that company as of noon today was so much. Wal-Mart thinks such-n-such about this company; and Ambani thinks this-n-that about it. And then Kishore’s asking, “Which Ambani?” Only to be told “Of course Mukesh!” And suddenly Kishore is lost in to his own thoughts. “This guy Mukesh, does he ever think? Where did I read about him? Was it Asian Wall Street Journal or Business World? This guy went around hiring any one who could spell the word ‘Retail’. He hired them and projected his own pay packet in to their pay packets and then every thing went up-n-up. He has made hiring so difficult for everyone. How can a new entrant find a decent Retail Executive for less than a Crore? Thank goodness we have some bright and enterprising Associates manning our floors and we were able to pull out of the situation with the entire burden on other chain’s shoulders and our bandwagon is light as usual.” [I hope this flight of my imagination is entertaining and remains only a flight of writer’s imagination.]

Then what is true? It is Indians’ love for Retail. There is a joke in the sporting circles about ‘Why India does not figure in the top notches of Football? They say, you show an Indian a ‘Corner’ and next thing you know is he has started a Retail outlet over there. And because Indians love Retail almost any thing goes. You would remember what some Retailers call the customer. When they are training a ‘helper’ in their shop they indoctrinate him by saying’, ‘always remember, Customer is God’. Having said that he is God, they go about abusing customers in all possible manners, even on lines similar to those described earlier. This tendency is also visible in some chains stores that have pedigree and ancestry. I wouldn’t have said this if I did not have an eyewitness’s testimony. Some time back I went to a store whose ancestry is like the T-20, the world cup India won. So for the sake of brevity let us call it TR. TR stores take pride in its assortment of Apparels and Accessories. This store was decked up and ready for the current festive season. They were flaunting their pick of the season through a VM item prominently in their lobby. The display showed ‘Mother-n-Daughter’ wearing their pick. I saw that the daughter was a ‘head-less’ mannequin. I asked an Associate jokingly if such a display is a reminder to all the Associates that competition is ‘Cut-throat’.

And speaking of competition I’m reminded of the words once spoken by Aristotle Onassis:

“I have no friends and no enemies - only competitors.”

Navendu Mahodaya
Motivator-Trainer-Consultant
nmahodaya@hotmail.com