Tuesday, June 12, 2007

Subhiksha - A True Desi store

After reading this blog, you might not feel like visiting the Subhiksha stores. But the observations and ratings are based on personal experience of author and his companion Jaydeep Rathore(JD). Reading a four page ad last Sunday did not change my attitude towards this store . The way it is managed is worse than pop&mom stores. As Floyd line goes "There is no dark side of moon, for the fact whole moon is dark", we can apply similar reworded line "There is no worst part of Subhikha, whole store is worst!". It is being managed in old Indian fashion and so requires a lift-over.





SD's retail tale for subhiksha goes like this :

I feel bad writing "the GOOD, the BAD, the UGLY" section for Subhiksha. But this is my passion. I write what I see. So Subhiksha fans/employees don't think that I work for any competitor. The blog is managed by a common man and a naive customers whose expectations match 60% of Indian population !

the GOOD:
  • I spoke to few frequently visiting customers and the reason they visited the store was due to low pricing of some products.
  • Another highlight of store was fresh idly / dosa dough at the location. I just LOVE it !
  • The price was mentioned in form of 'MRP Price - 10 / Subhiskha Price - 9.12' . This is good for customer when she thinks of buying something .
  • Subhiksha are fast moving into building a good customer database. The membership cards were available on-the-go and I am already a member. But the data was entered in a torn notepad and not in an online database - GUYS USE TECHNOLOGY !

the BAD & the UGLY:

  • The store was too dirty and congested.
  • Product variety was missing . We found tea box in toothpaste section
  • Store is not at all managed and haplessly maintained.
  • It is pretty small to be called a retail store. My local ma-pa store is bigger and cleaner.
  • One of the sections where you get atta and dal is like a dungeon and you dont like revisiting it.

Net-net, Subhiksha is a old-styled, desi retail for which management and customer base is not the target. All it might be looking at is high sales growth and I believe the day is not far when you will hear the king of acquisitions, WAL-MART, acquiring Subhiksha.

2 comments:

SUDHINDRA said...

This is a great one!!!

The concept of a Retail Store and how Subhiksha fails to fit into that category has been presented wonderfully!!!

This blog will go a long way in making people aware of what exactly happens inside Subhiksha....

Anonymous said...

DEAR MADAM/SIR,

I AM VERY MUCH IMPRESSED WITH THE MANAGEMENT OF SUBHIKSHA. HENCE I WISH TO OFFER MY PREMISES FOR OPENING OF MORE AND MORE NEW OUTLETS. IF THE AUTHORITIES AGREES, I CAN GIVE DETAILS. KINLDY CONTACT ME AT +91-9899281850 OR aaqil_nafees@yahoo.co.in