Sales & MarketZing !

Convenience wud soon,if not already , be as important a driver of business growth ,along with the normal imperatives like customer service ,distribution ,talent etc ..think about it ...convenience is a key factor among consumers for brand and service switch . Convenience USP is basically derived from strong consumer insights ,convenience backed with innovation would be a potent tool which business can leverage for the period that it doesn't get replicated ! The biggest risk of convenience plank is that it's easy to replicate in most cases and involves some extra costs which can be offsetted off if volumes go up due to this . However there are numerous examples to prove ,that prove that it works ,some classic ones are below :: NEED ::the am pm stores ,the 7 /11stores which work on convenience of being open when u need them ! SPACE :: stores which get more traffic due to the fact of them having more parking spaces DELIVERY ::convenience off getting the consumers thru various cha...

Modern trade has evolved as a key channel for all major brands , however its interesting to note that a lot off brand switches among consumers is getting triggered at this channel on per second basis here's why the consumer is on his or her own to take a decision at a modern trade store , to start with ,unlike the old traditional outlets where the shopkeeper wud dictate which brand to take or will not have a whole range to showcase ~ help the consumer in making the choice ,in an easy manner consumer , loyalty is very minimal these days across categories , except maybe in toothpaste or hot beverages category so if the customer likes what she or he sees and feels , the switch is done .~ Getting dressed is the key ~and be visible backed this with some combo offers and discounts the switch factor is matter off seconds ~ shud be part of your game plan Multiple choices spoils the consumers for sure , and sometimes does confuse the consumers and in that state the switch does happen ~ on...

As mentioned in the earlier posts on the coming wave of online shopping in India , saw a new site on the block namely , http://www.zovi.com/ , the model is interesting that it aims at removing the inefficiencies / costs of the brick and mortar model , namely the high rental cost and other retail costs like salaries etc , so zovi is a online shirt and belt brand currently and is all set to take off to be India's Vancl , with its various payment modes and return policy , wud need to get its marketing mix right , assuming the cost lines for the their various key verticals like sourcing , logistics are right , they need to activate a mobile site also as a lot of browsing is still done thru the mobile handset With the coming Internet boom in India , due to both the cost of pc coming down , tablets becoming a necessity and mutiple modes of connectivity like BWA , 3 g and the classical wired broadband , e commerce sites have business to garner for sure , those who establish themselves fi...

..its an ever interesting topic the dynamics of buying ! termed as B(u)ynamics a number of books have been written on this . Well fact remains that buying these days has no occasions like the good old times ,these days there are 365 days occasions , the festivals are just one reason for buying More and not the ONLY buying reason like in the past . So what makes us BUY or Buy more ! here is our take on B(u)ynamics ! others have it ! so i will have it too ::,classic one that would clearly elaborate this is the recent Ipod phenomenon or the good old walkman , you need to be the in thing ! u c buying is like eating out !:: it happens at the spur of the moment and is completely unplanned these days unless there is a an important occasion like a wedding , travel ,monthly shopping etc . Plastic money ! ::more Indian's are surely getting enrolled into credit or debit card lure , numbers in terms of cardholders are low , but are shooting up .As long as it was cash deals alone we were un...

mens underwear index( MUI ):: is used to indicate the fact that when the economy is flat and stable so is the sale of underwear in a country ! when economy is tight so do men hold on to their underwear tightly ! critics say that this no correlation as men anyways don't change underwear in a hurry ! :) coca cola index :: consumption of coca cola has been used as an indicator of the wealth of a country , its seen that higher the wealth of a country , higher the consumption ! as the graph ( by the side ) indicates ...theres also a measure of PPP , ie purchasing price parity that a bottle of coke cost is used for , so costlier a bottle of coke the more developed the country , so is the theory atleast ! Big Mac index :: The burger methodology has limitations in its estimates of the PPP. In many countries, eating at international fast-food chain restaurants such as McDonald is relatively expensive in comparison to eating at a local restaurant, and the demand for Big Macs is not as lar...

A lot of common people think that Retail brands make a killing in terms of profits ,however the truth is that retail is a very very thin margin business , lets c how ! A good brand typically has its set of retail stores which are its advertising medium , one might say , a store for a common man looks inviting , neatly laid , and sometimes gives good deals too , but lets try breaking the store into some numbers ! a typical P& L of a store starts with the Sales /turnover Minus the Cost of good sold ( basically the cost of producing the goods ) typically varies 28 to 30 % of sales for mid segment brands and lower for premium brands as the MRP itself would be higher . Sales - COGS ,would give the Gross margin of the store , which is around 70 % ( 100- 30 ) of the store from the Gross Margin minus the COR, ie the Cost of retail . The COR of retail includes the the rental as the major component , operating expenses of the store , like salaries , electricity , pilferage ,repairs and main...

we decided to predict the way consumers would shop in the future in the next 10- 15 years , here is our prediction of shopping in the future the future consumer( the current youth and toddlers ) would be completely set of pampered lot , they wud expect everything at their door steps mobile and pc ( e comm) led market place , than only street led ie a majority currently , there would be some big brands getting created in this( mobile and pc ) space soon . shopping would be less frequent ,but done in bulk from large format stores , by a bigger mix of consumers the consumer would be the king , queen and the shopper ! the far flung hinterlands of the country also would have a shopping destination coming up or already up , near by . loyalty programs would run galore for everything , retail outlets would recognise you as soon as you walk in thru rfid or smart cards and guide you to your favourite sections traditional shops wud survive but a majority wud turn out to be delivery store...