23:43
Shivaram
Time was when, during the Licence Raj era, the Retailer had all the aces up his sleeves. He knew the price. the supply sources, when there would a short supply, the customer knew very little, was happy with what he got etc etc.
How times have changed, the customer knows when the international product was released, what is the USD price, when is it likely to be officially released in India, how to even get it even before its official release here . Similarly, even for an Indian product, he will know, what is the price of it in a physical retail store, in an online store, in a "factory outlet " store, what discount he can get in a franchisee run store, what he cannot get in a company run store etc etc.
What it all means, is the CUSTOMER is now in Control. The "Control" has shifted from the Retailer to the Customer.
Learnings :-
Each Retailer has to work to get the "Control" back to him, and this is only possible through building "relationships" and giving a suitable "experience". Price is neither a "relationship" or an "experience" in itself as some of the "price warriors" will soon find out, that a low price is not a very sustainable offer for too long. The party will have to end some time.
One of the "relationship" the retailer of any kind can build with the customer is his "PEOPLE" at the front end customer facing side of the business. For too long, these "last mile connectivity" people have got the short end of the stick .
Training is a very good starting point and from the basics of selling to more detailed knowledge of products, to complex behaviour training, can help significantly. A small percentage improvement in the conversion of the walkins will more than compensate for the price paid for training, with a substantial ROI .
Checked us out on http://www.retailgurukul.com
vote for us on http://www.wagonrsmartideas.com
Enter the wagonr contest and you could win the Rs. 10 lakh award and the Wagon R car !
Best of luck.....
How times have changed, the customer knows when the international product was released, what is the USD price, when is it likely to be officially released in India, how to even get it even before its official release here . Similarly, even for an Indian product, he will know, what is the price of it in a physical retail store, in an online store, in a "factory outlet " store, what discount he can get in a franchisee run store, what he cannot get in a company run store etc etc.
What it all means, is the CUSTOMER is now in Control. The "Control" has shifted from the Retailer to the Customer.
Learnings :-
Each Retailer has to work to get the "Control" back to him, and this is only possible through building "relationships" and giving a suitable "experience". Price is neither a "relationship" or an "experience" in itself as some of the "price warriors" will soon find out, that a low price is not a very sustainable offer for too long. The party will have to end some time.
One of the "relationship" the retailer of any kind can build with the customer is his "PEOPLE" at the front end customer facing side of the business. For too long, these "last mile connectivity" people have got the short end of the stick .
Training is a very good starting point and from the basics of selling to more detailed knowledge of products, to complex behaviour training, can help significantly. A small percentage improvement in the conversion of the walkins will more than compensate for the price paid for training, with a substantial ROI .
Checked us out on http://www.retailgurukul.com
vote for us on http://www.wagonrsmartideas.com
Enter the wagonr contest and you could win the Rs. 10 lakh award and the Wagon R car !
Best of luck.....
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