Category Archives: shopping
Why Walmart Should Worry About India
Until recently, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) was not open to retail in India unless it was a single brand retail store (e.g. an Adidas store). However, under recent reforms by the government, multi-brand retailers such as Walmart and Costco can now set up shop in this huge, growing retail market.
There has been an outcry from the Indian public in various sectors to what has been see as a threat to employment and business by the locals.
For example, in the area of fruits and vegetables, the outcry has come from many angles where middlemen would get impacted due to allowing foreign direct investment.
The supply chain for fruits and vegetables is convoluted at best, but who knew?
The video below, produced by the Wall Street Journal shows how produce gets transported from farmers to your friendly neighborhood store.
It is eye-opening.
Indian Road Trip: Produce’s Long Haul to Market
Perhaps Walmart can simplify this supply chain but it’s not going to be easy.
But hey, welcome to India, Walmart!
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Malls are Simply Bursting at the Seams
Ever been to a mall in India? Try going to one on a Saturday or Sunday.
While America’s economy lies battered, and its people are learning how to save whatever they have, attempting to leave behind their uber-consumer personas of the past, something very different is happening here. And, I mean, happening!
Today, America’s malls are more often than not empty, shops are closing or closed, and there is a general depressed mood in the air. Malls in India, on the other hand, are vibrant beehives of activity and energy. The picture below gives you an idea. This is not just on special occasions, such as Christmas, either. This is the scene every weekend!
Admittedly, the shops themselves are not bustling with the same level of activity. The movie multiplex, the food court, the kid zones, the restaurants – that’s where you find the crowds, and I mean, crowds. During weekends, curiously more on Sundays than Saturdays, malls appear to have become the go-to place – especially for youngsters and young families. Where else can you find air-conditioned comfort and clean, open spaces for virtually nothing? Plus entertainment galore and a tasty bite or two at affordable prices.
No wonder then that there are more malls cropping up everywhere you look. And each one boasts a title, it seems – largest in Mumbai/Chennai/Bangalore/…, largest in South/North/Eastern/Western India, largest in India, largest in Asia (I know of two malls in India that seem to be claiming this title).
It remains to be seen, however, just how sustainable they will be given that most people go there for cool air, comfort, food and entertainment, rather than for shopping and serious retail therapy. But, after the increasingly slow pace of mall life in America, a weekend visit to a mall here can indeed be a sight for sore eyes!
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Photo: By ashwinrb (Flickr) [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
The Yin and Yang of Life Anywhere 