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The wholesale or similar trading models will die gradually. Only manufacturers and retailers will exist in the future
Sanjay Agarwal, Director Berlia Compu System, Kolkata |
Speed breakers
Though retail is a good opportunity for partners, it comes with its set of challenges. These include having the right location, utilization of space, managing overheads, getting good manpower and offering prompt service.
While investment in real estate is the biggest hurdle, the next in line is making use of every inch of space and even getting paid for it from vendors. Skilled and specialized manpower required for selling at retail counters and infrastructure difficulties can also act as speed breakers to growth at times.
Partners also have to be in touch with market needs so that they can predict what is selling best and what they need to push accordingly. They also need to understand the shopping style of their customers and cater to it accordingly. A hurried shopper who knows what he wants does not want the details of several products thrown at him. Similarly a confused buyer has to be guided through the features of the product he wants to go for and then helped into making a purchase decision.
“We need to evolve ourselves and continue doing good work and win customer confidence. Besides, stock maintenance is a big job. Providing good service to customers is important for which we are choosy about our manpower and we also conduct time-to-time sales and product trainings for them,” said Agarwal.
Another set of challenges that partners face is calculating profit margins.
Because every market has its own style they need to calculate all the major pros
and cons. No doubt a lot of cost is incurred in the set-up and maintenance of a
lavish retail showroom but in the long run the investment is going to pay back.
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Though we started LG Shoppe in Delhi in May 2006 we never had plans to shift from distribution to retail. Seeing the scope in retailing we plan to continue with this business
Ravikant Gupta, Proprietor, Comhard Systems, New Delhi |
Focus area
With increasing competition, every outlet is making an effort to become the first choice of customers. In the race, they have to be at par with the standardized service that actually gives them a distinguished identity. Service plays a major role in enticing customers because that is the ultimate thing that they look for. That also includes delivery across the counter, which has to be fast as customers have become time conscious. Moreover, service is not limited till the counters and it gets extended to after sales support for which customers are very demanding.
With the mushrooming of retail stores, options have increased for customers to choose from and hence brand has become a major deciding factor. Brand building plays a great role in popularizing and differentiating a retail store from another. Any failure to create differentiation is likely to result in shrinking customer traffic and evaporating margins.
Space also plays an important role in attracting customers as it helps in explicitly showcasing a large range of
IT products and accessories
of different brands that offer
the customer with manifold options.
Channel partners need to keep their focus extremely sharp so as to gain a better position among customers. There are various elements that partners play with to give an identity to their services like price of the products, location, experienced staff, quality and service. They also need to adhere to the practice of ethical business,
as that is the best way to
grow anywhere.
Indian consumer will finally see a plethora of retail store options in IT. And this trend
will be across all formats including specialty, department store, supermarket, discount hypermarket, cash and carry, direct-to-home through multi-level marketing or Internet and other formats.
To put a conclusion, all businesses including retail must put an aesthetic and purposeful effort to develop their own trademark and go for a sustained investment in terms of effort, finances and management attention to ensure that there is a continuous enrichment of quality service.
AMRITA TEJASVI
(With inputs from Piyali Guha in Kolkata, Subbalakshmi BM in Bangalore and Syeda Beenish Khalid in New Delhi)
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