ENTICING THE NEW CONSUMER IN THE 21ST CENTURY

Speaking at the recently concluded International Advertising Convention, Future Shock, Michael Fernandez, Mckinsey & Co, stressed the need to organise retailing in India.

With international players like Kingfisher, Dairy Farm and Marsh showing keen interest and large Indian Business houses like RPG, Tata, AV Birla, Zee, Piramal and Raheja in the fray, there is an increased supply of organised retail. Sourcing options have improved, with Indian suppliers supplying to world-class retailers. Global sourcing is becoming increasingly viable due to liberalisation of tariffs and proliferation of products driven by manufacturers. Growing incomes and the changing role of the Indian housewife has brought in an increased demand for a better shopping experience.

But Indian retailing is still not organised. 1998 figures show only 2% of the total market is in organised retailing; the rest are through traditional channels. (In the United States, the same year's figure shows 85% of the market is organised retailing). But this is all changing. There is a new consumer on the block, what some people call an 'evolved customer'. The retail channel is also transforming parallely. The Indian woman has changed, she is demanding more conveniences like one-stop-shops and pre-cooked foods. For lack of time, she wants the decision-making process to be simplified. There is also a demand for 'time-pass' activities and shopper-tainment. Added to this is a demand for aspirational products.

The key issues are the emergence of the retailer as a brand.(Top-of-the-mind examples in Chennai are Foodworld, Lifestyle, Shopper's Stop, Niligiris etc.) This scenario demands the extension of the brand to beyond functional benefits. The market has to increasingly become customer-oriented. Knowing the segment and the consumer is very important and so is value delivery.

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