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In the pursuit of pleasure

PHOTO: K.R. DEEPAK

BIG INDULGENT SPACES: When shopping becomes an experience in itself.

Now, the customer is the king. At the recent India Shopping Centre Forum in Mumbai, the catchphrase was: turn malls from shopping destinations to social destinations. The players are picking up the mantra. “Customer satisfaction is the key. When somebody is spending Rs. 300 on cinema tickets, he should get basic amenities,” says Renuka Kaushik, General Manager, Marketing, Satyam Cineplexes. “It is no longer true that malls are for youngsters. I have seen 75-year-olds coming to our food court regularly. The staff is trained to help them out,” avers Ashustosh Parashar, Head Operations, SRS 7 Days. Once, English used to be the criterion for selection of the staff; today employers are zeroing in on aptitude and attitude. “The competition is so stiff that we can’t survive with one time visitors and it’s the service which makes the difference,” says Parashar. “In smaller cities, malls are gateways to the world for a family,” adds Parashar.

With attractive pricing and mall fatigue, food courts are emerging as the centres of business activity. “The conversion from window shopping to actual spending is highest in food courts. The food court is always placed in the top most floor so that people go through the mall. Almost 90 per cent of mall-goers end up eating at food courts in the mall,” says Gibson Vedamani, CEO of Retailers Association of India. “The idea is, on a weekend, the family should do some shopping, then watch a movie and end the day with a meal at the food court. And on weekdays one of the activities will do,” says Parashar.

Business is primary but the industry has also come up with awards for categories like Most Admired Shopping Centre of the Year: Socially Responsible. This year, City Centre Mall, Kolkata, has won this prize for being ideal for physically challenged, its devotion to socially deprived and for providing a platform for Green Peace activists.

The complaints about goods being overpriced at malls have also been culled by competition. The fact is, the customer is spoilt for choices at never-before prices. In fact, there are instances when rival groups have gone to Advertisement Standards Association of India to decide on claims like who is the cheapest! Kishore Biyani of Future Group, the man largely responsible for turning retail into a success story with Big Bazaars, says, “The law restrains us from selling something over MRP but nothing stops us from selling under MRP.”

“A mall is very much like your traditional market with better shopping and parking facilities. There are a few big names and realtors need them to anchor the mall. These big players bargain heavily over the rent,” says G.D. Singh, Director, Research, Images Multimedia. “And all this euphoria when organised retail constitutes only 5.7 per cent of the retail industry. It is bound to reach 45 to 50 per cent,” he adds.

Photo: Shaju John

A cool place to be seen in: A mall in Chennai.

Talking of ground realities, at the Indian Retail Forum, Biyani emphasised the fact that only 50 per cent Indians have bank accounts. “Where is the consumer? We have to retail consumption first.” As a solution, he has offered to give products off the shelf on credit. “The customer in the hinterland is real but different. His wallet strength is low and retailers have to try some new formats like credit today cash tomorrow,” says Ireena Vittal of McKinsey. The neighbourhood kiranawallah must feel vindicated because he has been doing this for years. Yes, the big players are ready to learn from the unorganised retail sector which still constitutes a huge chunk of the industry and innovate.

But B. Nagesh, of Shoppers’ Stop, maintains, “It is not organised retail vs. unorganised retail; we should all work towards modernising retail.” Wearing a tie and putting some computers can’t parallel the empathy the local shopkeeper enjoys, not to forget the nimbleness he shows in keeping up with the demands.

However, the kiranawallah has some reason to feel threatened. A recent study by The Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER), commissioned by the Indian Government, says that kirana stores situated in the vicinity of big retail chains will be the first ones to be hit by the rapid expansion of organised retail. The study suggests an inclusive model for organised retail. Big stores can co-opt several kirana stores and hawkers drawn from the pool of traditional retailers, and upgrade them with adequate infusion of capital and training. This is what Subhiksha has been doing — convincing the local shopkeeper to modernise his outlet and reap the dividends of scale. “Today the biggest problem of retailers is escalating real estate prices. These traditional shopkeepers are sitting on property, which is either their own or for which they have been paying rents that are not too high,” says R. Subramanium, Managing Director, Subhiksha. With 700-odd stores, the group is also solving the long standing grouse that only car owners can afford to do the weekly grocery shopping at a distant mall.

At the Retail Forum, Bijou Kurien, President and Chief Executive, Lifestyle, Reliance Retail, whose Reliance Fresh faced the wrath of vendors in Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal, was all for including push cart vendors in the supply chain. ‘They don’t converse in English, but they have their skill sets, as they understand the customers’ needs much better.” Singh says, “The advantage of big players in the food sector is they can source the fruits and vegetables from the entire country in quick time keeping the quality and prices in check.” Bijou’s demand for a national retail policy which doesn’t succumb to political climate is, in fact, the need of the hour.

As for cultural redo, Naren Bhikuram Jain, the man behind the Art Mall in Delhi, insists, “It is not a cultural invasion because multinationals are not involved in all the malls. It is a cycle of development which is our own. At the Art Mall we have put the works of heroes of tomorrow, not today. The galleries can’t accommodate these young artistes for want of space. And for customers who want to invest in art it is a one-stop shop. So in a way we are contributing to society.”

Is the country heading for a uniform façade? Not quite, says Siddharth Kak, renowned documentary filmmaker. “India can never be defined in one statement. You can still find a panwallah in front of a mall or an elephant in front of an Internet café. With so much reverse export of culture happening, I am waiting for somebody to come up with a culture mall showcasing the plurality of our country. The world will come to see us, like once we queued up for Disneyland.”

The retail sector employs about 9.7 percent of the total employed in the country, which means roughly four crore people.

The total retail market is estimated to be more than Rs.1,300,000 crore in 2007. Of this, only 5.7 per cent is organised (Rs.76,000 crore).

Retail is growing at 10.8 per cent per annum while organised retail growth in 2007 was 38.5 per cent.

There were 105 operational malls in 2006, and this number is growing to increase to 290 by the end of 2008.

The Total mall space in 2007 was 47.4 million sq ft and this will increase to 87.8 million by end-2008, a growth of 85 per cent per annum.

There is acute shortage of trained manpower in retail.

Some 11 reputed Institutes across India (including a few management institutes) have already started courses in retail management and by the end of this year we would have at least 30 more Institutes added to the list.

(Figures courtesy: Images Multimedia)

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