Retail Dude

And now, George Bush is the new proverbial ‘boot dodger’. The newfound proverb applies on a person who gives a last shot at saving his a** after making false promises and fake pretense. The surprising fact about ‘boot dodgers’ is that one can find them in all walks of life be it cricket, politics, business et al. Though, the concern for us, retail professionals, remains the increasing number who belong to this category.

Some of us might be able to relate this concept to the ‘Gap Model’ under retail marketing. For those unaware, the gap model constitutes four types of gaps viz

• Knowledge Gap
• Standards Gap
• Delivery Gap
• Communication Gap

All but the Communication Gap pertain to the internal loopholes within any organization. Communication gap more about the company’s positioning in the consumer’s mind. Simply put the communication gap means the gap between what the retailer advertises and what he offers. A boot dodger situation arises when the retailer makes big promises, about his service/quality et al, without having the sufficient resources to fulfill them. Though, he does manage to generate a few footfalls, but in the deal causes consumer’s disappointment, which can cost him plenty in the longer run. So in order to revive his sales the retailer gives a last shot at regaining the lost consumers with the age old trick – ‘discounts’. For some it does work, but for most it’s too late, as someone has already taken the retailer’s hot seat by then (pretty similar to what happened in the Bush case).

Moral of the story

For Retailers - Honesty is the best policy

For Consumer – Identify a ‘Boot Dodger’ well in time

- Vivin Wason

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The title is “borrowed”, from S Mitra Kalita’s latest column on Mint.

Borrowed, simply becuase it touches a very sensitive chord. The opreative words are very & sensitive here.

Now, the columns had nothing to do, directly, with retail! So, why am I using its essence here?

Simply because retail, like most other “new” business processes in India, hinges almost entirely on human resources!

Yes, its a fact that we (the humans), most of the time, take humans (ousrelves) for granted!

We talk about globalising supply-chain systems, just-in-time procurements, lean-models and so many other techno-babblish topics. BUT, very rare;y about “us”!

Let me ask you a few very straight questions:

1. Out of the last 10 meetings & high-level forums that you have attended, how many were about hr?

2. In these forums / meetings, how many instances do you recall where you’ve found BIG honchos hunched together & discussing industry specific soft issues they MUST address? and

3. While a debate / round-table / presentation was on, what percentage of time was spent on the hr angle of the subjects?

Now, I do expect you guys to  sift out the contents from pure-play hr forums of course.

Be honest.

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