Features: Magazine | Literary Review | Life | Metro Plus | Open Page | Education Plus | Book Review | Business | SciTech | Friday Review | Cinema Plus | Young World | Property Plus | Quest | Folio |

The better deal The snazzy display at the mega malls either attracts customers or intimidates them as against the no-nonsense approach at the kirana store

With bustling mega-cities and small towns like Mangalore coming under the umbrella of giant corporate retail chains, a lot of the debate seems to be centred on pricing.

An executive of a large mall in the city confesses, “Our prices are a little higher than what the local grocer offers. We have to pay taxes, our employees are paid much higher salaries, and we constantly discard old stock. We can’t compete with the local grocer purely on pricing.”

Manohar Shetty a shopkeeper in Central market echoes his up-market counterpart, “We cannot compete with the prices that big corporations offer. We rely on regular customers for survival.”

It is people’s perception of price advantage that is either driving them to corporate outlets and malls or away from them. The answers to the questions, “Why do you shop in malls?” and “Why do you shop at the local grocer’s store?” are perplexingly the same – “because it is cheaper.” Almost everyone justified their shopping preference with this line of argument.

Sushma Poojary is a die hard fan of the local grocer. She has never actually walked into a mall, “It looks so expensive from outside. Everything is so clean and all the people who shop there look like they are from rich families. My local grocer is cheap and gives me the best.”

Conversely, Shashidhar Rao who is a recent convert to corporate retail outlets seems to have made a strategic shift. “In malls you might pay more but you get the exact quantity of the items you pay for.

If a small shopkeeper is giving you a discount he is also cheating you by giving you less quantity. It all evens out.”

Ashok Kumar says, “The discounts and offers are really worth it. I get much more for less.” Rathnavathi Chenappa says, “I have multiple payment options. I can use a credit card, Sodexo coupons, tickets. It really helps.”

Geetha Umesh says, “Why do I need to use a credit card? My local grocer offers me credit. I can go to him and pick up whatever I like whether I have money or not.” The marketplace changed permanently after shopping became an ‘experience’ and the shopper was placed firmly in the throne of a ‘king’. A lot of corporate retailers work very hard to make their outlets pleasurable places – interior designing and layout designing is taken very seriously. Despite their best efforts, however shoppers like Sunil Bangera manage to spring another surprise.

The same things that go into beautifying malls, intimidates Sunil. “Malls scare me. It is too big, too clean and too perfect…like a five star hotel. I don’t know how I will be treated,” he says.

Lalitha Babubettu has a more serious problem. “All the boards and labels are in English. I don’t understand anything. There is nothing in Kannada,” she says.

Raimando Mendonca is visiting his parents in the city. “I live in Mumbai and there are many retailing outlets selling everything from vegetables to branded toiletries under one roof. It is all so convenient. It is good that a lot of these outlets are coming up over here.”

Shashidhar Rao reveals that he loves the treatment he gets at the malls.

“The sales people respect me. The watchman salutes and opens the door. Everyone is so polite. The place is centrally air-conditioned.”

On the other hand Robert Mendez, a senior citizen, scoffs at the idea of a swanky retail outlet.

“Everything is so fake. The sales people will smile even if you behave like a complete brute. It is all just a business. I have been going to my grocer for the last 40 years. There is a human touch; there is relationship that has been built. In malls everything is cold starting with the air conditioning.”

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail