23 October, 2014
EMIs to the rescue of Retailers
19 October, 2014
The iPhone Saga continues...
07 October, 2014
6/10 was not the best date: #BigBillionDay
I have been keenly watching the proposed #BigBillionDay of Flipkart for quite some time. There has already been much written about the negative customer experience they created on this day and how competition took advantage of this – by offering products at a much lower price (note: I didn’t say “cheaper” and shall come back to it). Apparently, the Bansals chose 6/10 as the day since it was also the house number where they started their business a couple of years back. I found this to be a weird coincidence, honestly no offence meant. This is that time of the year when the Retail Industry sees a surge in sales – for big consumer brands such as the ones in Consumer Durables and Electronics, Apparel and Watches, the 3rd Quarter of the Financial Year beginning Oct-Dec. contributes almost 40-50% of their annual sales. Brands and Retailers have taken advantage of this proposition during this period, thanks to the biggest festival of the country, Diwali, Id and Christmas which fall during these months. Salman, Shah Rukh, Aamir and all other leading actors of the country plan their movie releases during this time of the year hoping to see a massive box-office opening. In general, people tend to save all through the year only to spend during this time – from cars to bikes to all kinds of shopping, consumers go easy during their respective festival times.
Am sure the Bansals knew this. Or probably not, I wonder. Why would a Retailer, online or offline discount their products during festive season when consumers are anyway going to spend? They would rather increase the bill values and promote big ticket items to cash in on the popularity of the festive mood. While offline Retailers do pass on a benefit to the consumers, it is mostly in the form of a freebie – a gift article or perhaps a Gift Voucher, so as to enable the customer to come back to them again. I have been witnessing over the past few days, full page advertisements by leading brands such as Samsung, Sony, Panasonic etc. about their latest LCD and LED TVs. The screen size seems to be getting bigger while the Selling Price has remained the same or has rather reduced considerably compared to the past few years.
In my humble opinion, Flipkart should not have undertaken this activity during this time. Atleast, they should have refrained with those massive discounts, notwithstanding the fact that the offers advertised didn’t match with what curious e-customers found, apart from the error pages. There was much angst by the public who took to social media sites like twitter and facebook – some published long blogs while many were content with the 140 characters to display their frustration and rejection of the idea of Big Billion Day. I will not get into the mechanics of the promotion, would rather reserve it as a case for another day.
Simply put, the festive season is not for discounting. I find it weird that the Bansals have given an explanation such as the one above for the date that was chosen. We in India, generally like to ape the West mindlessly. The Black Friday Sales that happen in the US is at the end of the year who follow the calendar year to close their books of records. What is given on discount are the older models ahead of new launches starting the New Year. Some intelligent geek who would have shopped in the US during one such sale might have pondered this idea during one of their internal meetings and bingo! The Flipkart Team took it too seriously! From a pure Retail Marketing point of view, I think this is one of the most disastrous campaigns that would remain etched in the memory of consumers and marketers. Many Brands and Retailers have been taken by surprise that Flipkart sold the products at a lower price than what they had offered, sometime even lower than cost. To the astonishment of the Consumer Products Industry, Flipkart claims to be the guiding institute for developing the E-Commerce Industry in the country.
While I do appreciate what they been championing, the method undertaken is not appropriate. E-Commerce shopping in India means Discount Shopping, to the extent that people do not see it as a convenient alternate method for shopping at all. In the process, Flipkart has distanced itself further from fellow Retailers and e-Tailers. It would have helped if this activity was conducted in February, which is one of the leanest months for consumption. Hope they take note of this and plan their marketing better in future.
30 September, 2014
Facebooking Customers
10 September, 2014
Why the iPhone6 will help Retailers!
Sep. 9, 2014 would be an important day in the history of Apple. The company, which regained its ground in the mid-2000s ever since the launch of the first launch of its iPod and later the iPhone has come a long way, with various models, variations and sizes. On Tuesday, Timothy Cook, CEO, Apple Inc. announced the launch of its newest mobile phones, the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. Here is a look at how the phones compare in size with the iPhone 5S which was launched in 2013.
The new iPhone 6 has various interesting features – better camera for higher quality photos and videos, a better battery life (which has been one of the biggest grouses of iPhone users) and a number of cosmetic changes through the new operating system, the iOS 8 which will be released on Sep. 17, 2014. The iPhone models starting with the 4S, some of the models of iPod and iPad would be able to upgrade to iOS8. The new iPhone is much thinner than the current model. Take a look at it.
Apple also announced the launch of Apple Pay, a mobile payment system in which users can pay through the mobile phones over a technology called Near Field Communication in which the user has to simply tap the iPhone 6 on to a terminal, confirm the payment with fingerprint sensor and the payment is done. There is no storage of credit card numbers, so there is very little possibilities of data theft. Apple also claims it would never know how much the user paid, thereby maintaining highest level of privacy for users. The service would be available over 220,000 outlets across the US, a mere 2.7 of the total number of retail stores that accept credit cards. Notably, it would take many years for this new form of mobile payment to even come to India, forget gaining acceptance. Add to that the negligible single-digit market share that Apple has in India anyway!
What’s interesting is the way the iPhone 6 and Plus have been priced. Although the official announcement about prices in India is yet to come, it is expected to be sold around Rs. 50,000 for a 16 GB, around Rs. 58,000 for 64 GB and about Rs. 65,000 for a 128 GB model. Yes, you read that right, 128 GB of storage space in a handheld device! In the meanwhile, older models of the iPhone has been seeing prices coming down over the past few days just before the announcement of the new iPhone. It is further expected to be slashed just in time before the offical launch of the new iPhone 6 in India, which is expected on 17 Oct. 2014, well in time for the festival of Diwali.
I believe the iPhone 6 would not be much of a game changer for the company, atleast in India. The changes made are purely cosmetic, such as the size and a better User Interface (UI), but other than that, I wonder why many first timers would opt for the new iPhone 6. Apple has finally entered the Phablet segment – which is an inbetween platform for phones and tablets with the iPhone Plus. It would take upon the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 directly in competition, although Samsung would lead the way due to its pricing and reach. But what the new iPhone would do is bring down the prices of the existing models considerably, and make them more affordable to potential buyers.
Bundling with a Telecom Player hasn’t seen much of a success in India, although that’s how the first iPhone was launched way back in 2007 in association with Bharti Airtel. Over the years, the company realised that users are not loyal to the Telecom Companies and switch networks as and when they feel, such as moving to a new job (with a different corporate plan) or city. Since 2012, Apple has brought in the much celebrated EMI Schemes in association with Banks and retailers. Most recently, it has also been trading in older smartphones, and not just the Apple iPhones. So, models such as iPhone 4S, iPhone 5 and 5S will see their prices reduced and consumers would be lapping up these phones with delight. However, Apple has an opportunity to build a strong connect and ecosystem with existing Apple users over the next 3 – 5 years. It needs to pump in more and more older models into the market, so users get to understand the Apple experience and would most certainly trade-up with the newer iPhones in future.
07 September, 2014
Sync-ing customers with Technology
Technology Consultancy IDC India projects annual smartphone sales growth of around 40 per cent for the next five years in this price-sensitive nation.
This is a delightful news for Retailers selling mobile phones and accessories. Univercell, Chennai based Retailer of technology products including smart phones, feature phones and related gadgets has grown consistently over the years and is rated No. 1 in terms of their network, Strategic Locations, Innovative Marketing, Friendly service and most importantly, a wide array of products across various brands. The Retailer, recently launched its newest format, rightfully called "Univercell Sync" at the tony Nungambakkam neighbourhood in Central Chennai. The store, spread over about 800 sft is strategically located to enthuse passersby to drop over. While the brand is quite popular in the city, the new "Sync" suffix is sure to attract a lot of people to get inquisitive and enquire the details about the new initiative.
The store layout is interestingly divided as various zones for purposes such as Photography, Music, Work, Accessories and Kids. Gadgets are displayed utility-wise rather than Brand-wise, which is a great way to encourage customers to choose the right gadget according to their uses. Global giants such as Apple, Samsung and LG share the display space with home grown Micromax and Karbon. However, the phones are still displayed price wise within the display areas so buyers can choose within the price range they require.
I was pretty impressed with the Music zone, especially. If CDs killed Music Cassettes fifteen years ago, the iPod killed the CD players a decade ago. Today, most of music is stored and played digitally and handphones have most of them, since people prefer to have a single gadget for making calls, taking photos and for listening to music. The display also includes music gadgets such as speakers, bluetooth devices to stream music, ear phones, head phones and cables to connect. With the touch of a button, its quite easy to connect one's phone to many of the devices and have a live display, which would aid buying the right product quite easily.
I was also quite intrigued with the kid's zone - a special area for interaction with the young ones - kids can hang around and explore various interesting things about the gadgets and the friendly staff are also helpful to teach them a thing or two.
Overall, the store is a notch above the hundreds of retail stores across the city that also "sell" mobile phones. The Univercell Sync stores dont just sell, they rather provide a very unique experience that the next-gen is looking for. Do drop over at the store in the coming days and enjoy a world class experience and share your thoughts.
The store is located at:
New No. 103, Old No. 52,
Nungambakkam High Road,
Chennai.
Landmark: diagonally opp Basics Store.
01 August, 2014
Bye Bye Employment! Hello Entrepreneurship…
July. 31, 2014 will be a big day in my life, personally and professionally since I called it a day at my full time employment and chose to tread a more difficult path that is Entrepreneurship. I have had a keenness to do something on my own since my college days. But I was very clear that I would get into something on my own only after learning substantially in the professional world. Not that I have learned much in the past 15 years, but I think I am now ready to drive things my way.
I started my career 17 years back, as a scoop boy at Baskin Robbins’ first store in Chennai, way back in 1997. It was a part time job and I earned Rs. 400 a month for working 5 hours a day, 6 days a week. I quite enjoyed my work. It was one of the first modern retailers in India who inculcated a habit of removing the cups (of ice cream) after eating the same. Ever since then, I’ve had a liking for consumer businesses. My first full time job was with RPG Retail, initially at Musicworld Calcutta (as it was then known) followed by Foodworld Chennai. Standing on the shop floor, observing how consumers touched, felt and bought products, I realised that Retailing was my first love. And there has been no looking behind ever since.
I moved to Bangalore on 14 Jan. 2004 with just four bags and a big dream at heart – to excel in the field of Retailing and to build a career that I can be proud of. I was part of the core team that set-up the first seamless Mall in India, Bangalore Central at Bangalore, Hyderabad and Pune. I was inclined towards the Fashion Industry and that pushed me towards finding the role of Area Manager for South India at United Colors of Benetton. Then, I got a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to join a team that was building an airport! Joined BIAL and contributed towards setting up the first ever Organised Travel Retail Business in India.
The urge to see the country at large and learn from its diversity drove me to join Cafe Coffee Day as General Manager – Business Development. While I travelled across the metros and mini-metros extensively, I also drank lots of coffee, which has been one of my favourite beverages all my life and made a number of friends in the Retail world all over the country. The E-Commerce bug bit me too and I joined Indiaplaza.com where I set-up the Lifestyle vertical ground-up in a very short period of time. In 2012, I moved back to Chennai to join Royal Enfield where I was responsible for various roles, most importantly building a robust Dealer Network all across the country. I travelled 3 days a week, four times a month for over 100 weeks and visited some of the most far-off places in the country from Bettiah to Baruch, Kapurthala to Karur.
And now, I am on a sojourn which I have dreamt off all my life. In my new role, I would be spearheading my own Retail Venture named Smiling Baby which is a store that caters to young parents and would sell products for newborn kids up to 6 years of age. I have a vision to take this concept across the state and spread modern retailing in this category; let’s see how far I am able to reach. I have also been teaching at B-Schools for the past 8 years and I plan to take this more seriously now. And lastly, I intend to play a role of a Retail Consultant and share my skills and knowledge to help small and medium Retailers.
I have reached this far with the blessings of my parents and elders, support of friends and extended family, encouragement of my Bosses and colleagues, a bit of hard work and of course abundant grace of God. I don’t consider having achieved considerably yet and the journey has just begun. And I have Miles to Go before I sleep.
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