Supermarketwala Quotes

“We know for a fact that when a customer is completely sure she is getting the best value, she lets her guard down, she buys more and in the bargain, the store wins,”
― Damodar Mall, Supermarketwala: Secrets To Winning Consumer India

“It is not wise to take even the smallest risk with the lifetime value of a customer, over the average dispute value.”
― Damodar Mall, Supermarketwala: Secrets To Winning Consumer India

“E-Commerce is where shoppers are the loneliest.”
― Damodar Mall, Supermarketwala: Secrets To Winning Consumer India

“Promotion stocks came to the retailer ahead of the rest of the market. Also, they usually got an extra lot even after the end of the promotion Newly launched products came to the retailer first. The customers got more choice, faster, leading to favourable word-of-mouth publicity Local display and consumer sampling budgets were always directed liberally at the retailer Vendors ensured that no slow moving inventory was stuck in the retailer’s stores; they wanted nothing to choke the pipeline The retailer also received the best in-class margin from the distributor If some items were in short supply, the vendor would ensure the retailer was the last one to go out of stock In effect, the consumers found more products, fresher stocks and more promotions in the retailer’s stores compared to the general market. This wasn’t something actively created by either the vendors or the retailer, but was a byproduct of good trading practices. Just one move based on a trading community insight— everyone has less money in the bank than needed — hurled the retailer into a virtuous growth cycle, with all the vendors pushing in one direction, with them. Most people in the business would not give a second look at changing these trading practices. If the payment norm is eight days why modify it? Surely the wholesalers, too, know what they’re letting themselves in for? And the vast volumes offered by organised retail should offset the stress of extending credit. Isn’t that how it works? One retailer managed to peep behind the curtain of wholesaler business practices and understood what a boon more money in the bank was to the trade. And look at the gains they reaped for this seemingly insignificant insight!”
― Damodar Mall, Supermarketwala: Secrets To Winning Consumer India

“Retail managers know that while their official vendors are large multinationals like Procter & Gamble and Hindustan Unilever Limited, what they are actually dealing with is someone like ‘Agarwal & Gupta Distributors’, the RS of the MNC. And so, while a good relationship with HUL can be developed by promoting their products, the truth is that a good relationship with the RS can be developed mainly by promoting his working capital availability. The RS is not merely a supplier of goods. He is a vital link in the whole retail chain and can be underestimated only at one’s peril. This is exactly what one large retail chain figured out early, and used to get the most amazing competitive advantage. Supermarket retail has a built-in advantage not available to traditional retailers. On the buying end, they buy bigger quantities and get a substantial period of time to make payment to the suppliers compared to smaller retailers, who sometimes have to pay cash on delivery. On the selling side, no customer gets credit at a supermarket. You scan, you bill, you pay and go — that’s the supermarket way. For the kirana, however, most regular customers expect a ‘khata’, a monthly account. Kirana customers buy through the month and pay only at the end. Supermarkets, by design, therefore, buy on liberal credit and sell on cash. Therefore, they are ‘cash surplus’ on a day-to-day basis. Their competitors, the kirana stores, are not. This particular retailer decided to make the payment terms more favourable to the supplier. So where the industry practice was eight days, this retailer reduced it to four days. In effect, the retailer halved the credit period, thus influencing the vendor’s working capital availability favourably. The vendor, in turn, now had a stake in the retailer’s growth and continued prosperity. The relationship soon turned into a win-win partnership. The vendor developed ingenious ways to enhance the retailer’s market share in various catchments.”
― Damodar Mall, Supermarketwala: Secrets To Winning Consumer India

“We have a long way to travel before we make the transition to a can and packet based society. In the meantime, it’s the people who offer to hold the adventurous woman’s hand rather than solve her problems who will win the day. Maggi Bhuna Masala, Ching’s Schezuan Fried Rice Mix, MTR sambhar masala, Smith & Jones ginger-garlic paste - this is what the new India needs. And”
― Damodar Mall, Supermarketwala: Secrets To Winning Consumer India

“Every other urban middle-class family has bought a new, larger fridge in the last few years. Collectively, we urban Indians buy about 4 million refrigerators—that’s a 100 crore- liter ‘cold chain capacity’—every year! The total installed refrigerator capacity is 1000 crore liters, and it is growing rapidly. That’s a significant cold chain inside our own homes! And that extra large ‘cold chain’ at home is slowly, but completely changing the way we buy milk, fruits, and vegetables. We’re stocking-up more, experimenting more, and investing in more frozen items.”
― Damodar Mall, Supermarketwala: Secrets To Winning Consumer India

“Contrast this with what happens in the West, where both the society and stores are better geared for the individual than the group. Prema’s counterpart in Toronto, Brenda, invariably shops alone, literally in the ‘do aankhen, do haath’ manner. Even though she is married, grocery shopping is almost never a family experience. Brenda is seldom excited by the offers that supermarkets in her town bring to her. In their home, going to the supermarket is a chore, not part of their monthly entertainment. Sure enough, the designs of stores that serve Prema and Brenda can’t possibly be the same.”
― Damodar Mall, Supermarketwala: Secrets To Winning Consumer India

“Large retailers need to develop models for getting close to people like Sharad Kaka. Spic and span stores, glitzy surroundings, English speaking personnel and above all, the security and the uniformed staff, obviously don’t seem to do it. The unfamiliarity of this format, its association with authoritarianism and policing, turns away many people who would actually stand to benefit from the many sales on offer at any point in a modern store, sales that can be far richer in quality compared to the normal kirana store.”
― Damodar Mall, Supermarketwala: Secrets To Winning Consumer India

“Vinod’s father, Sharad Pandurang Panchal, or Sharad Kaka (Uncle), as he’s popularly called, is a fitter at a factory near his home. There are a number of shops in that neighbourhood, part of a fairly large and well-stocked market, and Sharad Kaka is used to frequenting those shops, and not the mall. Consider Sharad Kaka’s journey in the mall. As he enters, there’s a uniformed guard waiting to frisk him. Once he’s in, there’s another man in uniform at the bottom of the escalator. At the entrance to the store, there’s yet another security guard inspecting Sharad Kaka’s bags, and ‘confiscating’ them while he shops. At the exit, there’s another uniform to check his bill. For just one simple visit to a store, Sharad Kaka encounters four uniformed people. It is enough to deter him from shopping in the mall. ‘I feel guilty, as though I’ve done something wrong, ‘ he says, when asked about his reluctance to shop at the mall. In his mind, far from protecting him, the uniformed guards seem to threaten him, as though they’re there to check him and snoop on him. He doesn’t view them as his protectors, but his challengers. ‘You never know,’ he explains, ‘when you could get into trouble with one of these guys.’ Uniformed people, explained the man, almost always meant trouble for simple folk like him.”
― Damodar Mall, Supermarketwala: Secrets To Winning Consumer India