A short flight that I enjoyed…

On 4 Nov. ’24, I stepped down from my role as Executive Vice President, Minmini app. Touted as the world’s first hyperlocal social media platform for global Tamils, the App was launched amid much fanfare on 22 Jan. ’24. The buzz was just great across mainstream media as well as social media. I thoroughly enjoyed my time working with a bunch of enthusiastic colleagues during and right after the launch.

Ahead of the Pongal festival in 2023, I met Mr. Bala Adityan, Chairman and Managing Director of the eponymous Daily Thanthi Group, world’s largest Tamil language publication with over a million prints a day of the mainstream newspaper, read by over 2 million people everyday.

The hour-long meeting was all about my career and my understanding of the Indian Retail market. The cordial discussion ended as it was meant to be, and I moved on with my Consulting work, travelling across Tamil Nadu which I endear the most.

In April 2023, I was again prodded by the Management at DT to consider taking up the top role which I was quite skeptical honestly. Somehow, my gut said that I should take up yet another adventure ride and boy, it was more than what I thought it would be.

I was the seventh employee at the newly formed entity and had the unique distinction of “007” as my employee Id. Among others, I was fortunate to work with some of the brightest minds from M/s Accenture, the Strategic Consulting and Technology Partner for the app.

Over the next couple of months, we brainstormed about various facets of the app, features that would keep users engaged, components of the app that users would come looking for regularly and most importantly, recruiting over 100 super-champions for various roles.

Though my offer letter restricted me to oversee Sales, Marketing and Business Strategy, I took up keen interest in various other areas including Legal, HR, Recruitment, etc. As I have actioned some of these in my previous roles, it did help me to hone my skills better.

There were numerous occasions when teams from M/s Accenture and ours got together to debate, discuss and decide on various initiatives. Some were overtly excruciating, while many were interesting and eye-opening sessions.

By end-December, we had roadshows across a dozen centres in Tamil Nadu during which we introduced the App and its interesting features to the revered Agents and ecosystem partners of the Daily Thanthi Group, a mammoth operation spanning two weeks, that involved coordinating with various stakeholders within and outside the group at large.

As we got nearer to the D-Day of launch, adrenalin was overflowing from all quarters and every one of us were fully geared up for the challenges.

The Management was kind enough to offer a largesse – an iPad for all employees numbering over 60 on the day of launch as memorabilia, with an engraving of the brand trademark, much to the delight of all of us. We conducted workshops at various colleges across the state to gauge the interest and engagement of users.

As days went by, we had mixed responses from users – some were about the lack of a unique features in the app, some which were about unexpected tech-related lapses and some which were about the positioning and marketing of the app in itself.

Minmini became the official “Social Media Partner” for Chennai Super Kings for IPL 2024 season, and this brought in a bounty of tickets for the home matches that CSK played at the Chepauk Stadium. 

Users won tickets to these matches, which drew daily active users to the App, though it was short lived and just around till the season was over.

Thereafter, we decided to pursue a slow-down mode, rethinking our strategy and the way forward. What was meant to be a few weeks, got extended to a few months. As I write this piece, an enthusiastic team is putting the bricks together for the mighty firefly to fly higher. 

I am sure the purple-coloured bee would reach great heights in times to come.

CX – the only tool to retain customers

It’s all about how customers are treated – the eternal philosophy of modern retailing. 

During the recent shopping spree ahead of Deepavali 2024, I witnessed this first hand and could only comfort myself that more than the 4 Ps of Marketing (or 5, or 6 as the list gets elongated from time to time), it is the Customer Experience offered at the retail store that can entice shoppers to spend more. And later, speak about the positive experience to others and further drive themselves as well as more people to the brand / store.

Actually, we had four such instances over the last fortnight – one where we felt a bit cheated by the brand due to the overtures of the staff who were thinking they were doing good to the brand by saving the discounts we deserved. And another, where the staff overwhelmed us with known and unknown promotions that led us to buy more.

Let me start with the positive one first.

My wife and I decided to spend a couple of hours together (no, not the typical husband-wife “me time” without the kids tagging along), rather to explore the Phoenix Mall to see what could suit our needs and budget. Frankly, we went without an agenda (a rarity for your’s truly).

We started exploring at the Fab-India store which was for a change, absolutely empty (it was 11.30am). I tried a kurta first and the girl staff was keen to showcase more designs to me. Within the next few minutes, I had picked up a handful of clothing, once again a rare thing for me, as I prefer to buy clothes from across various brands.

Then, we visited a few other stores until my wife suggested we enter and explore “Avantra” by Reliance Retail. It was my first to the brand store and I was mighty impressed with their assortment. Not that I am a regular buying stuff for my wife, but with a little knowledge of how sarees are displayed and sold, I was quite surprised that the brand had gotten everything right. 

Almost.

The lady staff was quite enthusiastic to showcase the collection to my wife and to her surprise, the product and pricing was just apt. Add to that, a dash of friendly support by the store staff that we ended up buying a lot more from the store, way above our budget. We still decided to bill what we had picked up, to ensure the staff who served us were happy. And the staff offered us a surprise by giving us Gold coins weighing 0.25 gms - 3 units for our shopping! Whoa. 

Passing by aisles of the mall, I quickly entered the “Home Centre” store to pick up a few coffee mugs to sip my filter coffee on Deepavali day. Now, this is the kind of store where customers “indulge” in shopping therapy, especially picking up a number of discretionary items, buoyed by impulse and a push by the staff. 

Alas, we were not so lucky to be prodded by any such staff. Honestly, we found none until we reached the Cashier, who was busy explaining the “Exchange Policy” to another shopper who had come to replace a few things he had picked up earlier.

The most disappointing experience was when we landed up at a women’s fashion apparel store 2 weeks back, (I choose not to mention the name and admonish them here) where my daughter discovered a fabulous collection that suited her needs. She had almost given up on her Deepavali shopping not being able to find what she wanted, having explored over half a dozen small boutique stores as well as 3 department stores earlier in the day at another mall.

What makes a dad happy is when the kid is happy. And happy I was, to pay for more than what we had planned to buy. At the time of billing, I got a message from the brand on my Whatsapp that we are entitled to Rs. 500 off on our next purchase. So, we decided to hold one dress to be billed the next day, as our total bill was a healthy 5-digit figure already. However, the staff wasn’t too happy that we were trying to save some money. She sulked when I informed her that we would bill the item the next day. 

When my wife went the next day to bill the product, the same staff displayed a fuss, that a discount code was required to ensure she was able to deduct it from the bill. Just that we had not received any such code from the Brand. After all, the code gets generated only when they trigger it, which she clearly did not. 

We were anyway going to buy the dress, so my wife decided to proceed without the much desired discount. She did make a mention to the staff, that her husband was part of the retail industry for decades, right after which the staff decided to trigger the code. 

Bingo! I received the code on my Whatsapp and I passed it on immediately to my wife, and then to the staff. Billing was over, product picked up. But my wife wasn’t appreciative of the entire experience.

As the store was just 2 kms from our home, we had discussed the previous day that we shall come here more often, as my kid liked their collection. But the bitter experience made us think twice, if this is where we would spend our hard earned dime.

Through the retail network, I tried to reach out to the brand owner, a second-generation entrepreneur from the city. The gentleman was rather unapologetic to my wife when he called her. Instead of saying “sorry” for the poor experience, he insisted that the brand will reimburse another Rs. 500 to our account which we can reimburse during our next buy.

Sorry, but we were not harping for the discount for which we escalated the matter to the owner. The young man, with limited experience in retail, perhaps, wasn’t able to understand our dismay and rather focussed on the monies. We earn, spend, loose sometimes and the cycle is repeated. But the way the entrepreneur justified the entire episode on a professional Whatsapp group in front of 200 others, was rather in poor taste. His explanation as well did not include the word “sorry”.

This is what happens when business owners presume that Pricing (and Discounts) are the only reason consumers attach themselves with brands. Not sure, whether he understood the magnitude of the issue on hand, but I did. And I decided, that I will ensure such a poor customer experience is never accorded to anyone in such cases where I am involved.

The bitter experience however did not deter our Deepavali celebrations. We had a great time as well as enjoyed when the kid wore the dress from that particular store, as much as we did, when family members wore clothing from Fab-India and Avantra.

Here’s to more celebrations and much better Customer Experiences.