Here, you'll drop before you shop

Deccan Herald, Bangalore December 27, 2003

Bangalore is seeing the sudden surge of supermarkets, all trying to elbow their way into consumers’ wallets. But the infrastructure in the City doesn't’t match up. Traffic snarls around these malls, especially during the weekends, is common.

Cola wars are not hot anymore. It’s the market wars that are sweeping Bangalore. Today, if you see white banners proclaiming unheard-of prices at the swank new supermarket in your area, tomorrow you’ll see red banners promising better prices, courtesy, the old supermarket. For shopping, these days, is not about haggling with sellers. It’s about interacting directly with the products, which are strategically placed, attractively packed and smartly priced.

With most shopping outlets now being places to buy anything from a washing machine to a ‘chakli,’ B2B (Business to Business) outlets, online stores, discount stores and malls trying to elbow their way into the consumers’ wallet. And thanks to this multi-market phenomenon, some laugh all the way to their already well-stocked homes, while some fume on reading the fine print of the deals.

Consumers are the stuff that battles are made of these days, it seems. Their minds have launched a million research studies. Retailers from over the world are peering into the Bangalore upper and middle-class minds, to find out what to sell, where, when, how and how much.

V S Sudhakar, MD of Fabmall, says, “There seems to have been a sort of explosion in the markets, in last six months. Fabmall has seven physical stores and is planning on reaching 13 by March. One of our supermarkets recently opened at two and half times the previous one, though it was just two months after. This was despite stiff competition from a nearby B2B outlet. Just goes to show that there is a market for many of us in Bangalore.” He feels that it’s going to be years before the markets start eating into each other. “If we want to be uppermost on the customer’s mind, we have to reach him through multiple channels. When he has very little time, he will use our online store. When he has more time, he may go to one of our supermarkets or when he’s free, he may spend the weekend watching a film at the mall and then buy groceries for the month right there.”

A senior spokesperson for Valdel International (Family Mart) says, “A lot of research has been done to find out what the middle-class person in south Bangalore looks for in terms of products, entertainment, quality and facility before Family Mart was opened.”

This super-center, India’s first, is very different from a mall, he adds: “A mall is realtor-driven, which means that one person owns the property and lets it out to many brands and companies.
But in a super-centre, the owner plans wholesome entertainment and product facilities for a
family.”

Which is why the super-centre has a supermarket, beauty parlour, fun Zone, department store, photo-studio and restaurant, with large parking spaces. “ Yet, you may not find parking space on weekends, at most of these all-in-one places,” says Jaysri, who shops only for bread in a new super-market in J P Nagar. “I go for every thing else to the old one down the road as the service is better there”.

“Bangalore’s become an international city and it is good that many markets and markets formats
are providing opportunities, but the problem is that the infrastructure doesn't’t match”, says Sandhya, who recently moved to Bangalore.

Malls are not enough, they need to plan traffic and parking. In Koramangala, on a weekend, you can’t find parking outside one posh superstore. And there’s no underpass or anything to cross the road.

Karen McHarg, a Canadian national, says, “I don’t know why people are so excited about malls and the like. They’re just about recycled air, fluorescent lights and they encourage people to spend money all the time. It’s an unhealthy trend.”

“These places that stock up on everything are attractive and you land up buying things that you don’t need. I’ve swiped my debit card on a whim and felt guilty later,” says Anitha, a degree student. Ranjana adds, “We may be safer in a shopping mall because it’s well-lit and enclosed, but the prices are never reasonable.” Madhu agrees that it’s the prices that make her want to stick to the small shops.