Hypermarket and Supermarket

Note : The information is taken from Wikipedia.

Hypermarket :
In commerce, a hypermarket or multi-department store is a superstore which combines a supermarket and a department store.The result is a very large retail facility which carries an enormous range of products under one roof, including full lines of groceries and general merchandise.When they are planned, constructed, and executed correctly, a consumer can ideally satisfy all of his or her routine weekly shopping needs in one trip.
Hypermarkets, like other big-box stores,typically have business models focusing on high-volume, low margin sales. Because of their large footprints — a typical Wal-Mart Supercenter covers 150,000 square feet (14,000 m²), a typical Carrefour 210,000 square feet (19,500 m²) — and the need for many shoppers to carry large quantities of goods, many hypermarkets choose suburban or out-of-town locations that are easily accessible by automobile.

Supermarket:
A supermarket is a departmentalized self-service store offering a wide variety of food and household merchandise. It is larger in size and has a wider selection than a traditional grocery store and it is smaller than a hypermarket.
The supermarket typically comprises meat, produce,dairy, and baked goods departments along with shelf space reserved for canned and packaged goods as well as for various nonfood items such as household cleaners, pharmacy products, and pet supplies. Most supermarkets also sell a variety of other household products that are consumed regularly, such as alcohol (where permitted), household cleaning products, medicine, clothes,and some sell a much wider range of non-food products.
The traditional supermarket occupies a large floor space on a single level and is situated near a residential area in order to be convenient to consumers. Its basic appeal is the availability of a broad selection of goods under a single roof at relatively low prices. Other advantages include ease of parking and, frequently, the convenience of shopping hours that extend far into the evening. Supermarkets usually make massive outlays for newspaper and other advertising and often present elaborate in-store displays of products. Supermarkets are often part of a chain that owns or controls (sometimes by franchise) other supermarkets located in the same or other towns; this increases the opportunities for economies of scale.

Coming Soon

Coming Soon : Is retail , next IT ?

Book and Battle

I recently read the book ' It happened in India' and the story is about making of a monster - Big Bazaar and its parent retail company Pantaloon retails. The book is written by founder of the group himself , Mr. Kishore Biyani.
The book has impressed me in many ways :

1. The contents are straight forward. I dont see any masala being added to it.
2. Also it is written in pure business english. Apart from few unknown words(1 or 2), the book can be read by a 15 year old reader.
3. The book is sold at Rs.99 and so anybody can afford it.

My takings and conculsions from book are many :

1. To win the battle of retails, chains have to Indianize their store, Indianize their thinking and Indianize their approach to customers.
2. Plan in advance on where to setup the store and study the neighbourhood to fix the commodities to be sold at the store.
3. No two stores in India will be same. Customise -> Customize and -> Customize !
4. Indians love offers, so once in a while open the shop with as many offers as possible.

A Buddhist maxim says - "Your enemy is your best teacher". So other retailers have to learn from Big Bazaar and prepare for war, cos few battles are without oddities.

The piper at the gates of dawn - II

SD's retail tale for Vishal Megamart looks as shown below :

Net-net , the store needs to maintain itself and will reap the benefits in near future. It tailors to various needs and I loved the store cos it had some good features.

the GOOD :

• Store has in-house cafeteria and small refreshment section.
• Buns and other bakery products are prepared fresh and at the location.
• First store where I have seen the sports section.
• Outside store , VMM has allowed Mehandiwallah to use some space. So till dad/husband shops, girls can get mehandi on their hands.

the BAD:

• Store needs to be better managed.
• The floors are so big that people don't understand the exact location of each section.
• The ground floor, with everyday groceries, has to have some shelves to keep the items.

the UGLY:

• Clothing section is on wrong floor and totally mismanaged.
• The grocery items are kept in cardboard boxes and it looks nasty !

Net-net, I believe there is lot of scope for improvement for Vishal megamart. Overall rating stands at 6.5 out of 10

The piper at the gates of dawn

Couple of weeks back, news flashed on my PC "Public issue of Vishal Retail has received tremendous response from investors. Overall, the issue oversubscribed 81 times."
And few months back, when Vishal Retail issued details about its IPO it made no news. People still did not know about the company and only few had seen its stores. But it pulled-off beautifully in the end and now its 81 times oversubscribed.
Sir Terry Leah, TESCO's chief executive once said " In retailing, there aren't huge barriers to entry. That's one of the reasons you cant hang around and trial this thing. You have to launch & go". Same was the case with Vishal. With one store in mid 1980s, now it has grown into 51 stores in 39 different cities. And good to see them launch at right time and so going will be good. There is a saying wrt war- If you are not on table, then you are on menu. I see that Vishal did not want to be in menu.It wanted to be in war and so it's battlefield response was a smooth display of combined operation - good development in recent years, open minded,took risks.

I had a chance to visit one of its stores in Pune. The store needs lot of improvement in its clothing section. The last floor was one of the best I have ever seen in any store.

Coming soon : SD's retail tale for Vishal megamart(VM)

The grass is greener, the light is brighter - Part II

Its been raining cat / dogs / elephants in Pune. So magazines and books are best way to spend time. I did not get chance to go out and visit any retail store this weekend. But will continue on Big Bazaar(BB) and its tale.
BB's tale:
BB looks strongly positioned in war. Uncertainty over how long it can last as king will depend on its efforts in near future. But for now it's overall rating stands at 8 out of 10. As doctors say "when weakness attacks the body, it goes to the weakest part", BB should try and work on it's non-profitable sections and turn it into most profitable section. And I believe, its clothing section is pretty useless. Wasting an entire floor on its own brand of clothes(very cheap quality) seems confusing. So guys, get it out !

The grass is greener, the light is brighter

Floyd's song 'High Hopes' has these wonderful lines :

The grass was greener

The light was brighter

The taste was sweeter

The nights of wonder

With friends surrounded

The dawn mist glowing

The water flowing

The endless river

Forever and ever

The song is all about things one may have gained and lost in life. All the lines just hit the right chord when one thinks of his/her own past. Same is the case with Big Bazaar(BB) and in the past it has done all right things. For it, grass "was" greener and still continues to be. Its the way the store is designed and managed , which attracts people.

BB was among the firsts to enter India's retail war . I haven't done any R&D to explain what BB might have done to do so well, but I believe it carries out an immense amount of market research, so that it gets under the skin of its customers. If that is the case, I think BB is winning the war .Also if it goes where others have been sorry to have trodden and test some new paths which Indian consumers like, then we surely have the winner in form of BB.

The song ,HIGH HOPES' best lines are

Encumbered forever by desire and ambition

There's a hunger still unsatisfied

Our weary eyes still stray to the horizon

Though down this road we've been so many times

BB is encumbered by desire and ambition to be the leader and though it is now, its hunger is still unsatisfied.

SD's retail tale for BB looks good but as always it has its own good/bad/ugly areas.