I must admit when I stepped in Chennai for the first time, I was skeptic of how to approach a localite with whom I did not share any common language and ask him for a few directions. When it was announced that we had to go for a marketing assignment on observing and conversing with the very same people, it struck me, "Oh, soo that's what this MBA actually has in store for me!". I understood that it will make me do anything and everything that I have till now very conveniently escaped and avoided. So here goes my observation:
While choosing the assignment I was very clear in my thought process of what I wanted. It would be a small Individual outlet run by a local resident and I will try to understand his business. I stumbled upon a mobile phone shop right in the heart of Anupuram market, it was a perfect fit.I observed for approximately two hours the customer traffic and flow of the shop. In between I also tried to find out all the nook and cranny of his business.
Name of the store: Nellai Traders
Name of Owner: T. Vel Kumar
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| Front View of the shop |
The shop was opened around 4 years back by Mr. Kumar. He at that time was the only seller of mobile phones in the market. Communication (as I had feared) was the biggest barrier between me and the owner. He did not know a single word in English or Hindi. I tried conversing with him and squeeze out all the information I could.
I immediately noticed that the shop was very basic in terms of infrastructure. It was evident he was following a model of a "need to have" basis in terms of infrastructure. They had 2 counters with display glasses showcasing various mobile models. On the wall there were shelves containing spare parts and memory cards for the phones.
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| Shop Sign board |
The next immediate thing that caught my attention was that he only kept "CHINESE" mobile phones. This intrigued me a little since although the town is a relatively remote area the presence of these Chinese phones was dominant. I asked the owner of why was he keeping these phones and why not superior branded products such as Nokia or Samsung. At first he said that the price is a crucial differentiating for his costumers. I was somehow not convinced with his answer and decided to ask him again the same question but this time with a different perspective...his own angle. I asked "what's in it for you to keep such phones?" And pat came a different reply with a huge grin on his face..."NO GUARANTEE Attached!"
He explained that if Nokia or some other branded product sold by him gets broken or has any other issue, the costumer directly comes to him for repairs and demands a refund. This leads to a lot of quarrels with the costumers and also effects the shops reputation in a negative way. Since the villagers are not well educated they tend to believe that the person who sells is the person who repairs the product.
I asked him various questions of his day to day business, and mercifully he had the patience of trying to understand everything I asked of him.
• I gathered that on a daily basis they get approximately 10-15 costumers who are buyers of Mobile phones or its accessories
• On festivals they do provide sales in order to boost their sales.
• The price range of mobiles offered by him was between Rs. 800 till Rs. 2500
• The peak time of costumers is around 5:30 to 6:30 pm
• He is running the business on his own and does not hire any staff.
I was about to enquire about other aspects of his business but unfortunately he had to shut shop to go to attend a family function. Next time ill plan to go earlier and try to collect additional information about the mobile store business in Anupuram market.
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