YO! India!

In India, after the monsoons, consumers are the next most unpredictable. They change their choices and preferences faster than the politicians change their statements. They love to start their mornings with stuffed paranthas coupled with a nescafe; wear  Levis jeans with Ganesha imprinted tees, travel by Piaggio autos,Tata buses,  Mitsubishi metros or  race past in Audis to their offices. Call their foreign clients, sell them old Chinese goods and abuse them in Hindi. Take girlfriends out on dates to CCDs and Baristas, but enjoy the monsoons with a sip of cutting five rupees chai from the chaaiwalaas. We go to  high end streets for styling ourselves but purchase from “Sarojni Nagar” or “Chandni Chowk” in Delhi and  “Linking Road” or “Heera Panna Road” in the case of aamchi Mumbai.

                          

In India that’s how retail has been working for so many years. We want everything but we are happy with anything. Our carefree nature makes us a country of 1.2 billion crazy citizens. One can sell anything in India, if he knows the tricks to catch the pulpy hearts of the palpating nation. Baba Ramdev started it by selling free yoga to elders on T.V at 5:00 AM in the morning and now his shop is selling everything from Ayurvedic medicine to Pehlwaan Atta in stores till midnight. He did not do anything wrong. The point is he saw the opportunity and used it well. That is what every innovator or entrepreneur should be doing. Products are the same but they are selling it with a little Indianness leveraging on the customer's emotions.

I love my India and so do I love the politicians here. They are the most innocent species whom you can see in parliamentary sessions, not for discussion on the agenda but for fighting with dandas. They went on foreign trips for months to learn their policies and developments but are not likely to implement the same in India as in the case of Retail Reforms.

Last but not the least, “Take my advice for FREE”, we Indians are too obsessed with free goodies that we are ready to buy them at any cost. Like in case of talk time, with a recharge of Rs499, calls to any number are free for a month. . It gives us EXTRA satisfaction.One can fondly remember the bubble gums,bought for the sake of free tattoos.We never really grow up. That is why marketers love us. We Indians focus only on free things.

Let me take a break to find an EXTRA PEN so I can write an EXTRA SHEET on tomorrow’s exam so I get some EXTRA MARKS.