http://desicritics.org/ Superior South Asian bloggers on Culture, Media, Politics, Sport, Business, and Technology. en Copyright 2006 by the authors Wed, 26 Mar 2008 23:10:07 EDT http://backend.userland.com/rss BC custom software http://desicritics.org/2008/03/24/111556.php#comment-327005 i think the lack of engagement on part of the sales people is borne out of the outdated cultural and social maps that Indians navigate with in their daily lives. there is no concept of 'please', 'thank you', 'May I...', 'Can I help you' in majority of interactions that take place in the indian shopping experience. In recent times, Indians have forsaken politeness, patience and grace in their interactions and this invariably reflects in the shopping interactions. i wonder if this has been brought about by, in addition to other factors like the exigencies of living in a overcrowded country, the puerile stereotypes peddled by Indian movies where the hero always gets what he wants without bothering about niceties ('Chalti kya Khandala?..' song is an example of uncouth beseechment..sorry i don't know of any recent songs as i haven't watched new movies for a long time now)..and i don't discount the effect of indian movies on indian youth at least.. i agree that if there is a gora, then the indian salesperson suddenly loses his constipated inter-personal behavior and adopts a puppy dog approach to gratify. however i have seen the opposite happen in the west, though rarely, if you switch the colour of the indian salesperson and the white shopper. in India, I have found the small stores better as they wish to retain and repeat your custom. so after shopping once or twice in Vishal megafart and few other supermarkets in Gurgaon, i started shopping for vegies in the monday/saturday markets and for groceries at a biharis' store where the salesperson would offer to carry my stuff to my car.. 327005@desicritics.org Wed, 26 Mar 2008 23:10:07 EDT http://desicritics.org/2008/03/24/111556.php#comment-326970 On my recent trip to India I had occasion to shop in the malls in Gurgaon and my experience parallels yours. There was one grocery store where there were about 10-12 floor staff standing around and two customers (including me). I browsed and picked up what I wanted and then stood in the line to pay. There was just one person ahead of me and after 10 min I was still waiting to pay! I finally put down my basket and walked out without buying and not one of the staff members asked to know what was wrong. My Westside experience wasn't as bad as yours. However, it was unnerving to be followed around by silent personnel as I browsed. A few times I accompanied some of my European friends to the mall and it was interesting to note how the level of service improved when there were "foreign/white" people around! At the opposite end of the spectrum was my experience at Akbar Alis departmental store in Mumbai. There we were positively smothered by attention by each and every sales person on the floor. It was so bad that I was scared to even look at a display in case I got cornered by the sales person there! The main reason why I prefer malls to individual stores is that I can browse on my own without having to rely on the salespersons' idea of what is suitable to be shown me and also, there is less pressure to buy. A lot of storekeepers get sulky and rude if you choose not to buy what they show you! The big chain stores however, make up for this with rude/non-existent service. I wonder why these stores arent interested in turning a profit by training their sales people. Are these stores just meant to turn in a loss and save the parent company a lot of taxes? 326970@desicritics.org Wed, 26 Mar 2008 16:55:10 EDT http://desicritics.org/2008/03/24/111556.php#comment-326942 Oh you didn't mention Lifestyle! Accidentally went shopping to lifestyle in Hyderabad on women's day. They had an guy with a mic going around harassing unsuspecting customers. "Hello Mam (he actually pronounced it that way), what are you doing? how many times can you say kachcha papad, pakka papad?" and the woman would go on to do a rendition of the pappad song much to the agony of the rest of the shoppers. Then the constant checking. Checking they fisrt you when you go into the changing room, frisk you when you come out. i don't understand why i need to be frisked a 100 times! When i finally reach the end of the line at the cash counter i'm told the line is for members only...ggrrr..where the hell is the sign?!! No answer. Get in another line, make the payment. The guy tells me if i spent 3000 bucks then i'll get a gift. The gift is a luck draw. i draw, colour plus shirt, size 44, mens. What the hell!!! who does a lucky dram for size? the men in my family wear a maximum of 42. Rudeness unlimited from the staff. They thought the gift was a favour or something. Threw it back and went home extremely annoyed! 326942@desicritics.org Wed, 26 Mar 2008 09:07:51 EDT http://desicritics.org/2008/03/24/111556.php#comment-326836 Is it a case of retail maturing or the consumer differentiating? As the author pointed, M K Ahmed was enjoyable experience and you go into the store with an expectation and you are satisfied and you become a repeat customer. I think shopping in the sabji mandis is also a unique experience. Also bargain hunting in the fashion streets. Searching in a chor bazaar or burma bazaar has its own thrills. The big retail chains introduce uniformity for their price points. You know what you expect in a bigbazaar, you will have to wait in a queue. But then shopping experience is deliberately created to make you spend more. Greed/excitement takes over your senses and you forget the basics. a) Am I looking at alternatives b) IS this really what i wanted c) Is this my budget d) Should I count the bill, it is a big queue e) Oh it is a promotion, i will save a lot of money Do we ever engage the salesperson. It is we for whom he is there. Though much is said about the salesperson job to sell, it is also important how we use his skills and get out task. a) So many times I have walked into a store and have been advised that many things I never knew. b) Most of my fashion clothing pick is defined on my eyes peeking at the reaction of salesperson nod. Especially when we are children I also pity the people when customers shout at them and treat them unfairly. Indian retail is much more different to other countries and I love each experience as we learn a lot there. We see different shopping attitudes. I remember asking for the difference in 28, 52 inch High definition TVs between Sony, Phillips, Panasonic, and list goes on, with different models. The decision is so unsure one, but everyone likes to make one. That is retailing and end consumer experience. 326836@desicritics.org Tue, 25 Mar 2008 12:03:12 EDT http://desicritics.org/2008/03/24/111556.php#comment-326803 I was involved in a few IT backend for a) westside b) reliance fresh c) Vishal mega. This topic is indeed interesting from the enduser perspective. How many of you really look at the bill receipts . Do you see "the discounts, promotions, bonus buys" Do you make a choice based on these promotions? 326803@desicritics.org Tue, 25 Mar 2008 08:06:33 EDT http://desicritics.org/2008/03/24/111556.php#comment-326802 Good observations. I have always had better experience with shopping at small stores compared to the so-called "retail giants". To give an example, I needed an electric hot plate (as standby when I run out of gas). I went to Big Bazaar, eZone, and Spar, and none had any. In fact, I was told it is not available in India. I was actually contemplating getting one from abroad. Then a couple days ago, I ventured into this hole-in-a-wall kind of store in Jayanagar, and asked for it. Sure enough, they had them and I bought one. Mind you, this was not even some exotic foreign brand, but a local brand which is quite good. And in Food World, my favourite snacks would be out of stock for a month or so. They would take their own time in restocking an item. On the other hand, a mom-and-pop store that I used to frequent would always have those (fast moving) items. Never once was I told they were out of stock. These "giants" have a lot to learn from the local grocer in supply-chain management. Plus, these retail chains think they are following "Western" practices. Most of them were not even air-conditioned till a couple of years ago. And under those conditions, vegetables (which they religiously seal in plastic pouches without any ventilation) would rot in no time. After a couple of bad experiences, I stopped buying vegetables from these chains. Of course, now the situation has improved since most outlets do air-condition (at least their vegetables section). And you are right, many of these stores are overstaffed by incompetent employees. A typical Health and Glow outlet will have 10 employees and perhaps two or three customers at any given time. I wonder why waste money on hiring so many employees then. 326802@desicritics.org Tue, 25 Mar 2008 07:49:20 EDT