Of Lockdowns and Beyond

Just when airlines thought they had got their act together and would fly higher into profits, the Covid-19 has virtually grounded them all. Domestic flights too, till April 14th. (in India)

So after the lockdowns end, when they do, will normality return to air travel, hospitality, and all the rest? Business travel is likely to pick up first, followed by a cautious uptick in personal travel, and finally, leisure travel or tourism. People are likely to be wary of international travel for a few months at least.

What about retail? A lot of business has actually come to the small kirana stores, as they are within walking distance of most houses, and are an essential service. Maybe bigger stores will take a while in India at least, to get back all their customers. They might have to incentivise customers. We are, in the meantime, re-discovering the virtues of small businesses. Hopefully, mom and pop stores will continue to thrive in India, and not just for groceries- given the employment challenges, they have the potential to keep the families working.

Hygiene-related products may see a sustained interest, because this crisis has taught everyone the importance of washing hands and disinfecting surfaces that you can.

A simpler lifestyle might result for a while, having got used to the necessities and being able to live without a lot of discretionary spends. Marketers of many discretionary goods will have to work harder to attract customers.

Getting the lost mojo back into many economic sectors will take quite a while. Hope it happens within a year or two. If not, education may also suffer-higher education, more so. Hopefully, allocations to the health sector will go up across countries.

Minimalism

This means making do with the minimum that will serve the purpose. Art, food, drink, clothes, transportation, shoes, bags...

If we all became minimalists, it would be a disaster for the world economy.

Doctors would go out of business, as would slimming centres, diet advisors, ...

Retail stores would see their business resemble that of the 1929 depression.

GDP of all countries would resemble that of Sub-Saharan Africa (not sure where that is, but I thought it sounded appropriate).

Names would become shorter, because you don't need so many letters in it. Russian names of people and cities would eliminate all those unnecessary consonants...Awich and Bpova might become common.

Movie names would only have their short forms, like DDLJ and RHTDM, instead of the full forms.

Worst of all, marketing as a discipline may cease to exist...or re-invent itself as Mktg.

Bellampalli Memoirs

Bellampalli literally means Gud-gaon. Gud as in jaggery. We lived there for around 7 years, from 1970 to 1977. I was a teen then. It's a small mining town in Adilabad district.

It was a one-horse town, and I will concentrate on the merchants there.

We had a cloth store. It was run by a sweet-talking Marwari called Banwarilal. His patented dialogue, once you selected something to buy, was "Hum aapko purane rate se deta hai. (I will give it to you at the old price)."

Then there was a tailor, Laxmi Tailors by name. The proprietor's name was Mondi. We went and sat in his shop to collect clothes left for stitching, and it usually was a fairly long wait, because the clothes had gone for ironing, or for fixing buttons.

And then there was Jeetmal Moolchand Chitalangi, where we got our monthly groceries. In a narrow lane, the shop was badly lit. But Mr. Jeetmal was always bright, and made good conversation with us, his customers. Maybe we got a free toffee once in a while, or a cold drink if we were lucky. All in all, a pleasant experience.

There was a movie hall, Rama talkies, where I remember watching Haathi Mere Saathi, Hare Rama Hare Krishna and Saawan Bhadon, Navin Nischol's debut film.

Jetsetting and Shopping Spiced Up

SpiceJet is to open retail stores, according to a headline I just read. I had seen online shopping, and on-board shopping before, but this brings me back to earth.

I have a few suggestions for them.

Have the same selection process for shopping assistants as they do for flight stewardesses/stewards.

As you enter the shop, they give you a warning to leave your senses behind, and shop till you drop. If you do drop, they have a first-aid kit that they demonstrate how to use. The mask drops down from above where you have dropped,...

Drone delivery is free, if you use the self-billing kiosk.

Makemytrip can offer pick-up and drop service for customers if they promise to buy goods for 2000 bucks.

You can shop in one town and have SpiceJet carry it with you as free baggage allowance to another.

Program for Trent Executives

We are doing an extremely interesting training program. It is an exciting blend of marketing, operations and finance for store managers and merchandisers/buyers of Tata Trent which is into fashion retailing, along with a few more product categories in their department stores.

Organised retail in India has had a chequered growth compared to its global counterparts, because of consfusion over its impact on small conventional stores selling similar goods. Government policy has also further muddled the issue, and FDI in multi-brand retail is still frowned upon.

The situation is made even more interesting by the disruptive e-commerce players in India, such as Flipkart, Amazon and Jabong, which are making losses but increasing sales rapidly.

An enthusisatic group of participants and a lot of senior management visiting to keep everyone on their toes is another unique feature of this program. To more such programs at IIM Indore....

If Women Ruled All Countries

There is a joke going around that says if women headed all the countries, we would have no wars-just a lot of countries not talking to each other.. wouldn't that be good? On these lines, a few other things one might expect in a country that was headed by an all-women govt. (disclaimer: this scenario may not resemble reality, and is a flight of fancy)-

The National Animal- Teddy Bear
National TV channel- FTV Men
Banned- Arnab Goswami, as he stifles women's self-expression
Man of (our) nation- RaGa, for supporting Women's Empowerment

Free land for Retail chains, or anyone promoting shopping in any way
National Pet- Kitty Cat
National Pastime- Kitty Party
National Icon- Ekta Kapoor
National Brand- Joy Alukkas (a gold jewellery retailer)
National Award- To any film that resembles a marriage video, such as Hum Aapke Hain Kaun

Traffic- Whatever women do is right
Banned-Parking fines
Admissible Cause for Divorce- Not listening
Punishment for Call Drops-Death by hanging

Birthday and Anniversary Reminders through large outdoor hoardings at major traffic junctions for all females residing in the area (meant for male commuters), in addition to SMS provided free by service providers.
Chocolates and flower shops to be mandatory every 200 metres on major roads.
National greeting- Awww..

Made in America by Bill Bryson

Bryson has been a favourite (British spelling- my salaam to the CROWN) since I first read his non-travelogue exposition of all the science in our world's history. But his travelogues are good too. This one is a mix of sorts, that traces the history of everything American- mostly meaning the U.S.

For instance, he tells us that lots of food stuff that's known as Italian was actually invented in the U.S.- spaghetti with meat balls, fettucini something or the other....and so on. So were lots of phrases, including (gasp) Keep a stiff upper lip, phoney, baloney, and lots of others. Thanks to the Perry Mason stories, I am familiar with many of these.

He also traces the history of the modern retail stores, and of malls. The original idea of a mall was a comfortable place to hang out in, like European streets. Shopping was secondary. I still practice that, but I am in a minority. Mall owners have removed, as Bryson astutely observes, most benches or made them backless, to prevent hanging around.

There are chapters about movies, education and its state in the States, immigration and its role in U.S. prosperity, and inventions like the first plane ride in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina- which I have visited once. All in all, a good ride.

Obama, India, Fog and Storms

Quite a diverse set of topics to deal with. If Obama makes it to the White House again, he would be the longest Black president to live in the White House. How's that for a new take on the elections? I think he is a smart guy being ed astray by the 'establishment' which is into routine things like finding the next country to bomb and so on. No novelty, or out-of-the-box thinking.

India has elections going in the state of Himachal Pradesh, and I have no clue about the issues there. FDI in retail appeared shortly in TV debates, but disappeared just as quickly. Prices of apples, maybe?

Delhi had a few fogged-out days, which was the result of some unusual weather, and it was not a reflection of our fogged-out brains. The Chennai storm Nilam had something to do with it, plus other things.

Now, if only we had something more interesting on the anvil- actually, there is. The old classic Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro is re-releasing. Should do a world of good in a humourless world. Go see it at a theatre near you. I somehow don't feel enthused by the new Bond.

Bogeys

The bogeyman is useful to scare your kids in childhood. But the problem is that he does not go away in adulthood. We as individuals, society, nation have our favourite bogeymen. FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) seems one such to me. It is occupying undue share of talktime on our airwaves and print waves right now.

Wal-Mart if it comes into India, is painted as a monster which will eat up people. Far from it. They will make products available cheap for you and me. In fact, any Indian retailer could be as big a monster under existing law. So what is the big deal if another monster joins them?

Similarly, we have the bogey of religion, terrorism, and so on. Nothing has happened to India in centuries of invasions that could not be reversed. Our resilience is amazing, and will not be easily disturbed by blips on the radar of time. So, chill madi (Kannada version).

Sitting Idle

I suddenly had a thunder and lightning revelation. That a lot of people are just sitting around the whole day, doing almost nothing. And that might well be what they are supposed to do, in some cases at least.

Single shop owners in a mom and pop store, restaurant cashiers, chowkidars (watchmen or 'security' as they are mistakenly addressed), and so on. These guys are sitting around all day, except when a customer/visitor disturbs them. Maybe in the newer organised retail stores, they stand rather than sit. Or re-arrange the inventory, or clean the shelves.

Drivers is another category: their lives must be boring as hell, when they are not driving. Imagine having to sit and wait for hours. They can't go anywhere, in case they are needed. But if they aren't? Just wait endlessly.

If we count this population as a percentage, it might be substantial. Maybe the ipods (or their local counterparts) are a solace to some of them, if they are interested in music. But I cannot even begin to understand what the rest of them do.

FDI in Retail and Education

Let's try and separate the truth from the lies. The lies are everywhere for all of us to see. I feel as if I was back in the 1960s, or 1980s, where licensing was the norm, and supply was artificially constrained, to help a select few- among them were the traders and the license holding manufacturers. All strangled by a massive red tape.

We seem to be back at square one. This time, though, the opposition parties have got it completely wrong. Don't know if they genuinely believe what they are saying- hope not, because it is anti-consumer, and it is utter nonsense.

For instance, this stop Wal-Mart business is ridiculous. Would you be OK if an Indian retailer becomes as big as Wal-Mart with the same effect on the categories of people (small trader, blah, blah...) that are supposedly threatened by it? Because nobody under the current law can stop an Indian Wal-Mart from happening. So what's the big deal about Wal-Mart?

Most importantly, what if the consumer benefits? Does anyone care for him? DR. Manmohan Singh is absolutely right that it is good for the country if competition increases. I would not have dreamed of flying or making 5 phone calls a day in the license Raj those days.

Better choices in education, anyone? Let the foreign universities in. Half the guys won't need to go to the U.S. anymore. And, the Indian Universities will improve-because they won't have a choice.

Retailing Conclave and Mumbai Alumni Meet

An interesting week that saw me in Pune, Mumbai and back. The occasions were a Mumbai alumni cum corporate meet. Followed by a Retailing Technology Conclave at Mumbai Exhibition Centre, Goregaon. I did not know of the existence of this Centre, the venue. It is a huge, sprawling place in the heart of the crowded metropolis and feels like a farmhouse. Excellent facilities for an exhibition. Lot of technology providers to retail industry had stalls there too. Many good speakers from industry-retail and branding/marketing from India and abroad. In all, a professionally done program which was useful to understand where Retail in India is going. Poised for the entry of multi-brand retailers from the world over, Indian retailers still haven't reached optimum efficiencies, barring very few.

Challenges they face include manpower related challenges. May be an opportunity for small town India again, for a lot of frontline jobs are to be filled in the next few years as these guys grow in size and stature. The Wal-Marts and Carrefours of the world will surely enter and spice up the proceedings. The session on Social Marketing or Digital Marketing by Mahesh Murthy was very good, with some interesting stats. For example, that Social Media have the same reach as IPL matches-every day! And are probably more trusted than multi-million rupee ads. Mostly, these are free to use by the marketers. Of course, with some caveats. Like, it requires IQ to make use of these intelligently.

The alumni meet saw around 120 IMT alumni and 20 plus corporate invitees turn up. Numbers that are encouraging!