As the Food & Grocery Forum India 2012 came to an end, independent retailers following the traditional methods and retailers from the modern format chains discussed about the need of bridging the gap between traditional and modern trade methods. The last conference at the event, ‘FGFI Grand Conclave of F&G Brands and Retailers’ saw retailers such as Anil Kankariya, Owner, Navjivan Super Shop, Jalgaon; Saumil Thanawala, Director-Marketing, Amalgam Specialty Foods; Sunil Sanklecha, MD, Nuts ‘n’ Spices; Vikas Bansi, head-modern Trade and CSD, Abbott Nutrition International (India); Yukio Mogi, Country Manager, Kikkoman Corporation; R.S Rekhi, CEO, Aadhar Retail (Future Group); and Rajendra Aneja, Group Head, Switz Foods Group foreseeing the future of food and grocery retail market in India.
Aneja said that even though there has been a considerable growth in modern retail sector, it will still continue to have a meager share in the market than that of traditional retail methods until the next 20 years. Traditional retailer Kankariya, who has seen a stable growth of 33 percent every year added, “Traditional retailers know the trick of this industry and that is, keeping the customer happy. We not only maintain a good rapport with the consumers but also see to that their needs are fulfilled. They should get everything they require under one roof. We also organise events like haldi kum kum and celebrate festivals with our customers. On their anniversaries, we arrange for a marathi play every year. This is how we maintain a good communication with our clients.”
Be it traditional or modern format, consumers need to know about the products well. So, the retailers should make sure that their customers are made aware and are educated. In traditional trade, the retailer himself can directly be in touch with the customer, but with respect to modern trade, retailers need to have good and well-maintained staff who will look after the consumers well.
Keeping aside the two forms of retail, what matters the most is that a retailer should know what he is offering to his consumers. “When we started in the year 1999, we just had some lakhs as our turnover. But, now even though the numbers are not that huge but we still manage an annual turnover of Rs 43 crore. We have also expanded in store numbers. The reason behind people thronging to our food outlet is because we have sustained ourselves well by providing the same quality of food at all our eatery outlets,” said Sanklecha. Commenting further on the efficiency of a modern retail format store, Bansi added: “A new brand can be launched easily at a modern retail format store. With the ease of branding a product to providing knowledge about the new product entrant, customers can easily purchase them. Such is not possible at a general store where retailers might not have knowledge about the new brand or product.”
Coming to a conclusion, panelists agreed that traditional trade and modern trade should go hand-in-hand not only to maintain a relationship but also make the sector run profitably. They also advised the retailers to believe in themselves and focus more on the development of both the forms of retail in India.
-Tista Sengupta
