Retail India: Customer Service

The customer is the King! Customer is your Boss!

Tired of those phrases? Well be ready for more threats from your boss (customer). With increased awareness and as the population gets better educated, globally aware and advanced in thier own careers, apart from their aspirations and purchasing power going up, they also appear to have very high expectations in terms of delivery and service.

Well there is nothing wrong expecting great service but we still live in a mass market and not a niche market. The customer still wants the price benifit and not quality and service. Although world over we have different classes of consumers and retail formats serving each, India is a complex one. Indian's want the best of both worlds. They want the lowest price and yet expect unbelivable quality and service. Well not that they should be directly unrelated. Not that strategists advocate high prices and high quality and low prices with low quality, but they do have a correlation. And in a price sensitive market where margins are eroded due to competition and consumers purchasing even expensive home furnishings and electronics only through bargaining then the customer is to be blamed for poor service.

India is probably the only place where you would not find any difference how customers purchases grocery in the street markets (by arguing and negoitiating for the lowest price) and at organized retailers be it jewellery, durables, etc.

Well anyways to get to the point, customers who experience bad service usually expect to be treated like kings. And any organization would have experienced this. While in most other countries there is a certain protection from customer abuse, verbal or otherwise, India lacks any such protection. Its a growing phenomenon being experienced by many companies and retailers especially. For every other simple thing, the customer threatens they would go to Consumer Court. Wonder when retailers and others could shoot back against customers resorting to violence, threats and abuse in any form from the customer.

Comments

[devang]

talking of customer service, i think the indian customer is still to shake off the traditional mindset that a big store is unlikely to give you the attention that a local 'kirana' store offers...

we have two food bazaars within minutes of our place but my mom still prefers purchasing from the local shop... the reason - 'whats the difference? is it worth the trouble?' she is right... there is no compelling reason for her to switch her habit.

i think most retailers have attracted a certain set of younger families and its the slightly older and tradition bound segment that the retailers should focus on... it still is a major segment in India.

the challenge is to create a value proposition that will wipe out the local grocer as an option. changing customers habit is one of the most difficult marketing challenges... are the organized retailers smart enough?