Boston Days - Part 2

(I am writing “Boston Days” as a series of articles for quick reference for myself and other retail pilgrims. This article covers the “Challenges of optimal merchandising”)

After dinner on Sunday night, my batchmates bid goodnight even as I entered Circle K convenience store in downtown Boston. One of them asked me what I was going to shop. I replied that this is just another classroom for me to learn! 

There are moments in a retail professional’s life when the store does the teaching, and you simply have to be still enough to listen.

Inside, I found what you’d expect from a well-run c-store. 

Snacks, packaged food, bakery products, beverages — Pepsi, juices, bottled water stacked neatly. A tobacco wall doing what tobacco walls typically do. No alcohol — this particular outlet had clearly made its choice on Boston’s licensing landscape.

I walked the store in under three minutes. Nothing caught my eye particularly — until I reached the billing counter.

There it was. A universal travel adapter. USD 15. Sitting right at eye level, at the point of sale, as though it had been waiting specifically for me.

I had been struggling for two days with my Indian plug and the American Type A socket. I’d improvised, but barely. And here was the solution, placed precisely where it would find me at my most receptive.

I picked it up. I paid. I was back on the street in under ninety seconds.

That one transaction has stayed with me as a retail practitioner.

Here is the thing about category management — the discipline we teach, debate, and deconstruct in every retail seminar — placing the right product at the right place at the right time at the right price for the right consumer. 

Every retailer I have worked with knows this, almost by reflex.

And yet, how many of them apply it rigorously to the non-glamorous, non-FMCG accessories that sit quietly, almost apologetically, in their stores?

Planogram optimisation, when practised honestly, should begin with margin contribution per centimetre of shelf space — not with brand equity, volume targets, or vendor negotiation leverage.

FMCG products — biscuits, shampoos, soaps, beverages — are essential. They drive footfall. But net margins rarely cross 8-12%. Trade schemes, returns, damages, and seasonal promotions erode even that thin number further.

A travel adapter, a universal charger, a power bank, or a cable — priced at a healthy premium, placed at the billing counter, propelled by pure necessity — can deliver 50–60% gross margins with zero promotional support and zero scheme cost.

No gondola end negotiation. No loyalty programme. No scheme. Just the right product, in the right place, for a consumer with no time and no alternatives.

The Indian convenience retail sector is still in its formative years. But the lesson from a Circle K billing counter in downtown Boston is clear and directly transferable.

High-margin functional accessories are hiding in plain sight. They deserve a planogram. They deserve a category manager who sees beyond the FMCG gondola.

They deserve, at the very least, to be placed where a distracted Indian retailer — jaywalking through life — can actually find them.

(I am writing “Boston Days” as a series of articles for quick reference for myself and other retail pilgrims.)

Read Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8 and Part 9 here.

A mega transformation in the anvil

When we entered this project in Nov. '25, my only request to the Board of Directors was to allow us to redesign the entire 15-acre property, instead of us merely leasing the 4 lakh sq ft of retail spaces. 

Texvalley was designed and established over a decade ago to enable buyers of textile materials from all across India and the world to choose their partners under one roof.

Subsequently, the project has gone through several iterations all the last 15 years. 

When my colleagues and our extended team members sat and stared at the blueprint, we were not just buzzing with ideas, but also put them in a perspective. 

We sliced one large 15-acre plot into 9 different offerings -

1) Retail areas spread over 3 lakh sq ft

2) F&B spread over 1 lakh sq ft

3) 4-screen multiplex with an estimated 8,17,600 admissions per year

4) Sports arena with access to 51 different kinds of sports

5) Office spaces spread over 1.5 lakh sq ft to house 2,500+ people

6) A shopping destination for wedding needs spread over 30,000 sq ft including sarees, dhotis, gold, silver, diamond and artificial jewellery, wedding planners, vendors, etc.

7). 40-keys business hotel - the only one on the Coimbatore - Bangalore NH and / or Co-living spaces to house over 250+ people

8). Convention Hall cum Wedding arena spread over 70,000 sq ft

9). Last but not the least - India’s largest EV Charging point where 100 vehicles could charge simultaneously on a National Highway in India! 

In a span of just 100 days, (but with a lot of strategy applied), one property spread over 15 acres became nine different concepts. 

We estimate the footfalls to the premises to grow 20x once all these amenities in place. 

That the Tidel Park Neo is next wall to the property is an icing to the cake. the facility is expected to be ready by late 2027 and over 2,000 people are expected to work here.

The team at Miles2Go is proud to have been part of this project, as we bow out of this incredible opportunity. 

For me, personally, this is a great breakthrough in my Consulting career, even as I have stood so many days between 2016-2019 while driving on the same National Highway, staring at the project and wondering how could I be a part of it.

Grateful to the Almighty to have given me this role to play.

CX – the only tool to retain customers

It’s all about how customers are treated – the eternal philosophy of modern retailing. 

During the recent shopping spree ahead of Deepavali 2024, I witnessed this first hand and could only comfort myself that more than the 4 Ps of Marketing (or 5, or 6 as the list gets elongated from time to time), it is the Customer Experience offered at the retail store that can entice shoppers to spend more. And later, speak about the positive experience to others and further drive themselves as well as more people to the brand / store.

Actually, we had four such instances over the last fortnight – one where we felt a bit cheated by the brand due to the overtures of the staff who were thinking they were doing good to the brand by saving the discounts we deserved. And another, where the staff overwhelmed us with known and unknown promotions that led us to buy more.

Let me start with the positive one first.

My wife and I decided to spend a couple of hours together (no, not the typical husband-wife “me time” without the kids tagging along), rather to explore the Phoenix Mall to see what could suit our needs and budget. Frankly, we went without an agenda (a rarity for your’s truly).

We started exploring at the Fab-India store which was for a change, absolutely empty (it was 11.30am). I tried a kurta first and the girl staff was keen to showcase more designs to me. Within the next few minutes, I had picked up a handful of clothing, once again a rare thing for me, as I prefer to buy clothes from across various brands.

Then, we visited a few other stores until my wife suggested we enter and explore “Avantra” by Reliance Retail. It was my first to the brand store and I was mighty impressed with their assortment. Not that I am a regular buying stuff for my wife, but with a little knowledge of how sarees are displayed and sold, I was quite surprised that the brand had gotten everything right. 

Almost.

The lady staff was quite enthusiastic to showcase the collection to my wife and to her surprise, the product and pricing was just apt. Add to that, a dash of friendly support by the store staff that we ended up buying a lot more from the store, way above our budget. We still decided to bill what we had picked up, to ensure the staff who served us were happy. And the staff offered us a surprise by giving us Gold coins weighing 0.25 gms - 3 units for our shopping! Whoa. 

Passing by aisles of the mall, I quickly entered the “Home Centre” store to pick up a few coffee mugs to sip my filter coffee on Deepavali day. Now, this is the kind of store where customers “indulge” in shopping therapy, especially picking up a number of discretionary items, buoyed by impulse and a push by the staff. 

Alas, we were not so lucky to be prodded by any such staff. Honestly, we found none until we reached the Cashier, who was busy explaining the “Exchange Policy” to another shopper who had come to replace a few things he had picked up earlier.

The most disappointing experience was when we landed up at a women’s fashion apparel store 2 weeks back, (I choose not to mention the name and admonish them here) where my daughter discovered a fabulous collection that suited her needs. She had almost given up on her Deepavali shopping not being able to find what she wanted, having explored over half a dozen small boutique stores as well as 3 department stores earlier in the day at another mall.

What makes a dad happy is when the kid is happy. And happy I was, to pay for more than what we had planned to buy. At the time of billing, I got a message from the brand on my Whatsapp that we are entitled to Rs. 500 off on our next purchase. So, we decided to hold one dress to be billed the next day, as our total bill was a healthy 5-digit figure already. However, the staff wasn’t too happy that we were trying to save some money. She sulked when I informed her that we would bill the item the next day. 

When my wife went the next day to bill the product, the same staff displayed a fuss, that a discount code was required to ensure she was able to deduct it from the bill. Just that we had not received any such code from the Brand. After all, the code gets generated only when they trigger it, which she clearly did not. 

We were anyway going to buy the dress, so my wife decided to proceed without the much desired discount. She did make a mention to the staff, that her husband was part of the retail industry for decades, right after which the staff decided to trigger the code. 

Bingo! I received the code on my Whatsapp and I passed it on immediately to my wife, and then to the staff. Billing was over, product picked up. But my wife wasn’t appreciative of the entire experience.

As the store was just 2 kms from our home, we had discussed the previous day that we shall come here more often, as my kid liked their collection. But the bitter experience made us think twice, if this is where we would spend our hard earned dime.

Through the retail network, I tried to reach out to the brand owner, a second-generation entrepreneur from the city. The gentleman was rather unapologetic to my wife when he called her. Instead of saying “sorry” for the poor experience, he insisted that the brand will reimburse another Rs. 500 to our account which we can reimburse during our next buy.

Sorry, but we were not harping for the discount for which we escalated the matter to the owner. The young man, with limited experience in retail, perhaps, wasn’t able to understand our dismay and rather focussed on the monies. We earn, spend, loose sometimes and the cycle is repeated. But the way the entrepreneur justified the entire episode on a professional Whatsapp group in front of 200 others, was rather in poor taste. His explanation as well did not include the word “sorry”.

This is what happens when business owners presume that Pricing (and Discounts) are the only reason consumers attach themselves with brands. Not sure, whether he understood the magnitude of the issue on hand, but I did. And I decided, that I will ensure such a poor customer experience is never accorded to anyone in such cases where I am involved.

The bitter experience however did not deter our Deepavali celebrations. We had a great time as well as enjoyed when the kid wore the dress from that particular store, as much as we did, when family members wore clothing from Fab-India and Avantra.

Here’s to more celebrations and much better Customer Experiences.

People, passion and processes

In a recent post on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter), a user from Bangalore posted her recent experience of being a female delivery partner for a day. She chose to work in the “gig economy” at one of India’s top 3 Q-commerce delivery apps, Blinkit.

She narrated the learnings of her day at this part time role in a long thread which gained a lot of attention from many users, including from Blinkit Founder Albinder Dhindsa.

She conceded why she did this trial, that it was just out of curiosity how Blinkit (and other Q-Commerce companies) could deliver orders within just 10 mins.

She highlighted abysmal working conditions at the dark store - a mini warehouse with just a fan, from where delivery partners pick up the stuff, technical flaws, and a few potential improvements in commercial queries such as insurance payouts, how to earn payments, etc.

I initially felt that this was a great PR exercise led by the brand in a surrogate manner for hiring new staff, however when I saw that she had mentioned poor working conditions, I realised that wasn’t the case. The user, who goes by the name Sneha had mentioned that the working conditions were quite poor, without a proper seating place or access to drinking water for the delivery staff.

She also narrated her ordeals getting stuck in the notorious traffic that the Garden city is known for or having to ride through narrow roads and that she apologised to customers for her delayed deliveries.

Sajal Gupta, CTO of Blinkit replied to her a day later that a few enhancements were done in the app, as well as improved working conditions at the dark stores such as putting up seating.

I was curious to note why would a young lady wish to go-the mile to understand a delivery process. When I looked up on Linkedin, I learned that her company is a SaaS platform in warehouse management operations. 

Hopstack, Austin, Texas based company has offices in the US as well as in Bangalore, serving over 25 clients with over 12 mn orders. The company’s key goals include precision in fulfilment coupled with realtime insights and seamless integration.

Now, why I am writing about this episode?

Because I would like to stand up and salute the passion that Ms. Sneha carried in her work. 

While it was her inquisitiveness on how delivery partners operate in a market like India, it was also a very fulfilling exercise to the lady on the professional front, as she could learn first hand what are the pain points that Q-commerce giants in India are currently facing and the associated pangs at the warehouse / dark stores.

Though there are just three top (surviving) players today in the Q-commerce market, such as Swiggy’s Instamart, Zomato’s Blinkit and Zepto, all serving around USD 1 Bn worth of deliveries annually, the space is hotting up with several others pivoting in this format. 

Flipkart has recently launched “Minutes” service, and market is abuzz that Ola (Cabs) is coming back to the delivery business.

Nothing better than to learn first hand at the job role. This professional took that effort, much to the chagrin of her mother as she narrated in another tweet.

Over the years, I have seen so many disinterested staff members who do not move from their coveted seats at workplace and wish to see the world from the little lenses of their eyes. 

First hand knowledge – and it is different across industries – is so vital for professional growth.

Ask any CEO who is leading a large FMCG company today anywhere in the world and these women and gentlemen would have walked the streets, travelled in despatch vehicles and stood beside the shopkeepers to understand how people shop during their formative years.

In my own experience when I used to work for Foodworld Supermarkets around the turn of the millennium, I would stand and observe how home makers, housewives kids and men would shop at India’s first organised grocery retail chain. This was my daily routine from 6pm – 9pm.

When I set-up and ran India’s first airport retail business at Bangalore International Airport in 2008, it was a delight to watch how air passengers would shop, across various categories. There are nights when I have turned up around midnight to witness the shopping patterns of international passengers who were departing from, or arriving in to India.  

However, I have also had the misfortune of working with several co-workers ranging from those with 20+ years’ experience, all the way to freshers and new comers, who prefer the digital route for learning ground realities. 

The result, is that many of them end up suggesting incorrect decisions to the Management, which lead to their, as well as the company’s downfall. 

Ms. Sneha, took the plunge to experiment a gig job, largely known to be a male bastion, all for the love of learning more about the industry she works for. Kudos to her again, her passion and perseverance for taking this initiative.