Famous Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw once said, “Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.” And looks like big retailers like Shoppers Stop, Lifestyle and Spencer’s have realised that the way to grow & prosper in today’s retail market is to change their route and join the ecommerce bandwagon.
There is no denying the fact that the current retail scene is completely dominated by online shopping sites which has led to decline of Mall culture.
After witnessing the growing popularity of ecommerce, business tycoons like Ratan Tata, Kishore Biyani and Kumar Mangalam Birla forayed into Indian Ecommerce. And now it’s the turn of existing retailers to enter the e-field and sell their products online.
In spite of brick-and-mortar stores like Shoppers Stop increasing the number of ‘Sale’ days during last year, their profits declined nonetheless. What added to the woes is that ecommerce ventures who are heavily funded can afford to spend on promotional strategies, acquiring new customers and discounts. This liberty is not available to physical retail stores. Consequently, the talks to sell their products on popular ecommerce portals like Amazon, FLIPKART, JABONG and Snapdeal came into existence.
Managing Director of Shoppers Stop, Govind Shrikhande laid out very honestly without mincing any words, “It is clear that Indians are adopting to online space faster and this adoption will only grow in the years to come. Also, it is becoming clearer that discounting is going to be the norm of these (e-commerce) guys because they are GETTING FUNDED and you can’t really face this disruptionists. So, either you join the battle or leave it. You can’t be a bystander anymore.”
A similar sentiment was reiterated by Kishore Biyani who had slammed Flipkart for ‘Big Billion Day Sale’ and later charted out a business deal with Amazon in order to face the stiff online & offline war.
Although it is a great step ahead, business owners will have to be careful that this tie-up doesn’t result in offline retail stores drying up completely. Because people who want to shop physically still expect better deals & quality products without feeling cheated.
Developing new product designs to be sold exclusively online is one strategy that will keep online as well offline customers happy. Putting a non-negotiable price & discount bracket in the agreement will also be wise so as to main price uniformity across all shopping platforms.
Most retails brands like Shoppers Stop and Lifestyle do have their own website but it is not fully functional or user friendly. Companies should invest in technology and build technically advanced websites to direct customers on their portals. But the continued existence of conventional retail depends largely on ‘omni-channel retailing’, the strategy which is adopted by most retail brands as it helps to build customer loyalty.
Editor team is specialized in introducing the marketplace content targeting the Indian online sellers. They plan and coordinate to bring the appealing content for the small businesses on how to partner with the e-commerce sites like Amazon and Flipkart and strategies for improving their online business.
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