Retail : In the growth trajectory

Retailing: the next driver of the Indian economy… the good job that was started by industries such as IT/ITeS, Insurance has now been taken over by retail. While other industries keep up the pace of the growth, we have a new kid on the blocks.
However, how new it may sound, the concept of retailing started back as late as in1863.
Since then, the economy had seen few players in the modern or organized retail…. Companies like Pantaloon Retail, Pyramid Retail, and Shoppers Stop have been the “Big Players” of the industry
Retailing is the largest employer in India. The Indian retail industry is about 9.9 lakh crore.
The question is what has made industry people al of the sudden stand up and take note of it?
The answer lies in the change in the spending by consumers with increase in the number of middle class households acting as a catalyst. The average income of Indian middle calss family is increasing and so is the need for quality at the right price…

Right now, the organized retail forms a mere 3% of the total pie, hence the potential in terms of growth is immense, in fact 30% to be precise over net 3 years (source: KPMG-KSA Techno park-FICCI survey 2005). 97% showcases stores like mom and pop which is the most popular form of retailing in India.

Growth in organized retailing is happening also because of the formats that are being adopted by the retailers. From the known format of life style retailing, retailers have come up with supermarkets, hypermarkets and discount stores such a Big Bazaar, Spencer’s, Sabka Bazaar etc..
These stores offer the same quality available at any mom and pop store but at a discounted price which is usually lower than the MRP.. Another aspect that mobilizes footfalls is of “one stop shop”. One can find from a pin to a printer under one roof.
Big Bazaar is one instance which is changing the buying habits of consumers and that too fast. Regular innovative schemes such as “exchange mela” keep the buyer in the loop and Kishore Biyani, MD, Pantaloon retail knows that pretty well. “We focus on giving customer, value for money” he said in a recent interview with a business magazine.

The Indian market is warming up quite nicely to the organized retailing and stores like Big Bazaar; spencer’s are preparing a perfect competitive environment for the likes of Wal Mart and other international players for the time when they enter Indian market



Coming Up Next: Organized Retailing: Opportunities & Challenges

A letter to Greg Chappell

A letter to Greg Chappell

Hi Greg, hope you are doing fine and find this letter in the best of your finger.
I can understand the kind of pressure you have being the coach of number 3 cricketing nation in the world and physical injuries are just a part of it…. And whether media or Indian public believes it or not I very well understand that hurt finger needs a bit of air and you need to stick out of the compact window to nurse the injury

Media highlighted the agitation against you in kolkata when dada was dropped for ODI’s what media forgot to notice was that agitation was definitely against you but to show their aggression towards you for taking this decision too late. After all, how can a man with the highest success rate of captaincy along with qualities like sweet timer on the off side and power full hitter on the on side can be ignored…

You made or supported the right decision, he had to go… after all we are building a team for world cup 2007 and we need fresh blood, experience is already present in plenty….
So what if Rahul started his career at the same time when Saurav did. He hardly get any appreciation for his wonderful knocks, he had to over come the shadow of great cricketer and how can he do it… well I m sure u knew the answer, As a captain he has become your man as u are for Kiran More, I must say that you both form a great pair and why not?, you both share similar mentality and process…

Being a silent spectator is not easy and you did a wonderful job by not entering in to the famous argument between Surav and Rhul. I am sure that the argument would have been moving the direction u wanted to… smart move huh… and that is why I love your style… you are so smart!

Saurav did the wrong thing by entering the public arena and accused you for following malpractices and here’s why I adore you so much… before media could report the whole incident, you were ready with your story... (No, don’t take me otherwise, I am sure u told the “true story”) about Saurav asking you for favours before you becoming the coach…

You have time and time again proved consistency in your methodology, after the Saurav episode happened, every body expected you to act in the bizarre manner and drop Sehwag and Kaif but you adopted the right approach by maintaining the trend of keeping your faith on youngsters not performing and overlooking experienced performers… fresh blood, youth, energy, innovation… performance doesn’t matter alone, mere presence of them makes the team look more young.. At least from your vision and I must salute your wisdom which still so fresh and young and even at this age!

And finally I would like to thank you for your “Australian” style of working here in India, and if even now, Saurav thinks he has been treated badly… he must go back a few years ago and see what happened with Steve Waugh…

Keep up the good work Greg, I am sure “your men” would bring the world cup and the upcoming tour of West Indies would help you in understanding the best possible way through which it can be “picked up”

Regards
Your biggest fan!

The BPO wave...

“Thank you for calling HP Total care, may I have your name and phone number please”

Been there, done that…

The state of Indian economy has never been so good with sensex crossing all milestones. One industry which has contributed like anything is one which we all love to hate and hate to love.. BPO, astonishing however it may sound but removing these three words from the economic map of India can spell doom for the whole nation not just in terms of GPD growth but also in terms of number of employees this industry employs not every year, not every month but every single day….

We as in Indians have made our self addicted to such high growth and job opportunities that criticizing it can be a big suicide.
After all, what this industry has which is driving the Indian youth towards it and has made them as forever slaves of its ever-growing empire

The answer is very much clear in the hi-fi lanes of gurgaon and noida…
What all a B com or a BA graduate can expect n that too in 3rd class?

I f I would have asked this question 5 years back, the answer might have involved a stressful and struggle filled 9-5 job with little money to spare..
But now the same graduate can have a job that offers..

5 days a week, free pick up n drop in AC cabs, Ac office with hi tech infrastructure and cool environment and salary as high as hard u can work as your every extra hour or extra day other than routine can fetch u overtime money!

All one needs to have is good control over English language and willingness to work in nights which anyways has become a part of any mid teenager in a metro.

BPO has no doubt filled a huge gap of unemployment with fuelling all fii’s resulting in high growth in terms of GDP….

But somewhere down the line the policymakers have let go this industry with out control and as a result what we r witnessing today is that Indian youth becoming addicted to such kind of jobs because of the money factor, take a quick survey around and u will find very few who have a clear cut vision about their career growth in a BPO.
With undergraduates actively forming an important share of the workforce, there is a clear loophole in the hiring norms of these so called multinationals.

To add fuel to the fire, Call centers have mushroomed all over the places to get advantage of cheap labor and not all are serious recruiters. One would find hardly 2 or 3 BPO’s offering an employee what he /she is worth of.

Such companies hire young blood by promising them a fast track career growth from an agent level to team leader and so on…
However the reality is far from it and one sees him/her self as being the part of never ending cat and mouse game where employee is always a loser, once out of this job, one finds him/her self at the starting point as industry doesn’t recognize their efforts as a valid work experience and rightly so as guiding an American about how to install his new computer is hardly a value add to one’s profile.


On my personal front, BPO has always done a great favor from winning the debate at college level (supporting the fact that it is a hurdle to nurture future talent of India) to being a part of it for the second time to earn some quick bucks!

Willingly or unwillingly, BPO has become a sore pill which has to be taken in order to keep the economy healthy and strong…

A visit to heaven..!

If beauty can be expressed in words, If God can be expressed in religion, if love can be expressed in moments spent, if gratitude can be expressed in eyes , if memories can be expressed by nostalgia, …

There she was, a sheer beauty right in front of me in its full glow, getting readying for her next big endeavor, looking like a newly married bride.

My trip to Chandigarh was no less than a one day military training camp. No sleep for over 48 hours, traveling like hell and walking almost unstoppable and yet at the same time enjoying every bit of it.

Never before I thought I would witness her and just like an artist’s expression, she was right there in my heart glooming with beauty with each passing day.

As GOD would help a true lover meet his destiny, we got a help from one of our friend for reaching to her doorsteps.
Long journey, lack of sleep and excessive walking took its toll on me and I went in to a slumber and as they say, the silence before the storm…

Someone shook me and I got up to see the one of the most beautiful creations of GOD, off course made more graceful by humans.

Her outer looks depicted a picture perfect. A picture, which was beyond my imagination. Had I been a poet or writer, it would have presented a perfect plot for bestseller.

But as outer beauty doesn’t always depict the inner character, her premises from outside looked no less than a princess castle and there she was in her full glory and beauty emanating rays of charm and pride, being served with utmost care….

If you are still expecting a woman, I m sorry to disappoint you….
Ground depicted a green carpet, with seats so modern and scoreboard looked like a vacant canvas ready to be filled with colors of action between India and England test match to be played in the next few days..., for a moment you would pinch yourself to believe that you are in Mohali and not in Lords!

Witnessing perhaps the best cricket ground in India was no less than a privilege and that too when it was getting ready for a big match…the images of covered pitch, lush green outfield, empty scoreboard, flags of India and Sri Lanka right above the pavilion and hoardings of “Ambuja cement” are still fresh in my memory and would never die until new one takes over which I m sure would be when I would get an opportunity to watch an ODI at this blissful place…

Last but not the least, I would like to say that for any cricket lover in India, if there is heaven on this earth, then it is Mohali cricket ground,
If u think I wrote too much or over reacted, then go and give your eyes a treat to watch, give your senses a feel which would be beyond sensation…visit mohali cricket ground and trust me you would believe that you have visited heaven….