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Showing posts from September, 2007

Where are The .......

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............Customers ,Some retailers are asking this question , thankfully they are currently in the minority in India , if you have got your location ,the people fit right , store value proposition clearly defined ,backed with a strong loyalty program ,you will have time for your hair to grey ! otherwise it will be tough luck . Most Indian retailers have time to get their act right , as the % of customers using modern retail is very low , dont have numbers on this , but would be auseful number to know Customer is a ghost for most Indian retailers ( maybe the same for all Indian Service companies ) ,who appears once in a while and creates /or demands more Loyalty program is a thing of boardroom discussions but no action , isnt it surprising that the only one of note is the First citizen program of shoppers stop which has evolved to a great extent , lifestyle's inner circle is also on a roll , surprisingly the Pantaloon group doesnt have one yet !! The Customer is not always right

Indian Retail Gurus !

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Indian Retail Legendary Hall of Fame :: maybe the first one ! The known ones :: BS Nagesh ::He must be a Brand by himself , mite be time to put it under a brand valuation study ! A legend now! Kishore Biyani :: The marwari turned retail big shot , who seems to be eyeing the wallets of the consumer for increasing spends in his business , clearly a modern day Pickpocketer ! Govind Mirchandani :: The Sometime eccentric ,marketing plus retail veteran , seems to have fallen into the oblivion these days.Known for building some of India finest brands gopal rao :: The man behind Madura Garments steady and organised growth The Challengers :: the lessor knowns !! Shumone Chatterjee :: The One many army at Levis ( i) is a workaholic plus great eye for detail . plus amazing sharpness watch out for him in the market . Sailesh Chaturvedi :: The man behind Allan solly intially now spearheading Tommy in India and seems to be doing a great job at it ! If you have more names , pls add !

Everyday Trials of a Retail Employee !

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Retail jobs must sound very easy for the people ,not working in retail , but u ask anyone in the front end operations of retail organisation ,u will find their cup of woes ,which they have to go thru day in day out . Pain no #1 :: Standing can just drain you off , for those who havent experienced it and are used to chairs and computer browsing , try a 8 hours to 9 hours stand up and work stint you will realise the pain ! Pain No #2 :: The front end staff are looked at as bottom of the pyramid jobs , there is no way this perception is go away in a jiffy too Pain no #3 ::The salary levels are not the best , and they don't have much hope of a raise either considering the retail model is a low cost operation = success Pain no # 4 :: Half your friends keep leaving , u have to get used u to new faces almost every month , both at your level or your boss keeps changing !! add to this is the boredom factor of doing the samething everyday Pain no # 5 :: You work when the whole world is on

Ultimate guide to Retail !

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New to Indian retail industry or contemplating an entry , then here is what you should know to get over the jargon shock !!:: here goes , the A B C of retail :: Catchment ::The area /zone of the city from which the customers come into for shopping from a particular store , catchment analysis pre launch would ideally decide the product mix and formats of the stores , catchment analysis done after a time gap of launch would also give a correct picture of whats happenng and where to concentrate ur Mktg energies to get more walk ins ! Cash memo size :: CMS = total sales for the month /no of bills generated in the month UPT :: Units per transaction , would give you a fair idea on to how customers are buying more of your products , per person or less per visit , UPT = No of bills generated in a month / total bills generated in the month , the higher trending of UPT with a distinct increase in cashmemo size is a healthy indicator of business .as UPt can be taken up by increase low value sale