Tag: retail

Customer Engagement

Ideas for Big bazaar to improve their check-out situation..

I am one of the many people who dread the thought of going to Big Bazaar for shopping but do so due to other social compulsions. The reason I dread going there for shopping is the time it takes to check out once you have completed your shopping. There have been instances when it has taken me more than 60 minutes to check out. There have been times when I’ve dropped the articles I had selected after seing the que at the check-out counter and left for home as I thought it is not worth standing in a que for […]

Customer Engagement

My adventures in buying a dining table and lessons for retailers

Recently, me and my wife decided that it was time to buy a dining table. My wife always wanted to buy a 6 seater wooden dining table. I wanted chairs without any cushions. We had a budget in mind (INR 20K). Now, if you have bought a dining table in Bangalore anytime in the recent past, you would know that it is near to impossible to get a dining table which met all the three conditions above. Still, we visited a lot of stores just like other married couples. After having seen what’s on offer almost in all the shops […]

Customer Engagement, Strategy

What retail industry can learn from networks

I was reading a blog by Om Malik on his discussion with Pradeep Sindhu, co-founder of Juniper Networks. They had a long discussion on the future of networks. What stood out for me was how much can retail chains learn from the way the networks are evolving. There are quite a few parallels that we can draw from networks/clients to retail industry. For example, lets equate network providers to retail chains, the bandwidth to the inventory on offer and clients (mobile and otherwise) to the retail outlets. In such a comparison, the following aspects come out of the entire discussion: […]

Sales, Strategy

Next wave of Growth for Banks – Retailer Credit Card

Farmers in India are offered Kisan Credit Cards to provide adequate and timely support from the banking system to the farmers for their short-term credit needs. The banking industry can take a clue from this and introduce a retailer credit card for exclusive use by small-time retailers to pay to their suppliers.  The idea:  Banks to offer small retailers a Retailer Credit Card with a minimum credit limit of 10000 INR.  This offer will also come with the credit card swiping machine which the retailer has to use in his retail counter. The rent will be waived off if the retailer does a minimum […]

Business Model

Zero Inventory Retail Business Model

I recently came across a company, CornerStone which has implemented a unique retail business model where the physical stores do not hold any inventory at all. All the inventory is maintained at the central warehouse from where all shipments are made. I think they should go one step further and tailor the garment only upon the receipt of an order. They also provide an online store from where you can purchase. The business model is unique in the industry as it combines the best and worst of the virtual and real world models. Low or zero inventory at the retail […]