It happened in India

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Knowing/reading more about Sam Walton I couldn’t help but compare him with our desi big daddy
of retail in India, Kishore Biyani. For one they are a lot similar: apart from the fact that the Walton’s
started off with the little towns where as Biyani with the metros. From both of them building an
enterprise right from scratch to entering spaces which didn’t make sense, to their incredible timing
at execution and most importantly understanding the grassroots of their respective countries right.
To me which made the most sense.
  Ever thought what if Sam Walton would have replicated exactly what a Carrefour was doing or what
if Kishore Biyani did exactly what Wal-Mart was doing? Not questioning the model, would they stand
where they are today if they hadn’t asked specific questions like Why, Where, When and How in that
particular country?
  It’s hard to tell because every country is different. The Americans travel miles to shop which
happens mostly on weekends while for us, shopping is kind of an outing where the entire family is
accompanied. India is covered with numerous kirana (mom & pop)stores where which pretty much
form about more then 95% of the sales whereas as the relatively bigger departmental stores exist in
the U.S. Biyani’s timing if you ask me was just about perfect where supermarkets and the Shoppers
Stops and Lifestyles pretty much dominated organised retail in India. What’s most fascinating about
him is his India way of doing things, right from the name (Big Bazaar) to the tagline to the store’s
location, choice of merchandises and day to day operations. The Big Bazaars “sabse sata din” to date
I think is one of the most innovative/successful promotions ever. It is 4 day bonanza through the
Indian republic day weekend where there are mega offers and discounts. The entire weeks news
dailies are filled with the product images along their discounted prices. And trust me, if you want to
get a taste of what an Indian customer is you got to visit the Big Bazaar store on this particular day.
Women are moving helter-skelter looking for best deals, bored men standing in one corner with kids
on his side trying best to keep their cool, ground staff trying hard to organise merchandises strewn
all over the place, managers making sure the bill counter is cleared ,guards trying to manage the
batch of frenzied crowd outdoors..wow,all under one single roof! A sight which cannot be missed for
the world..I mean yeh hai India.
  I don’t deny that the Emporio malls and the UB City’s are not ,and believe me I won’t even begin
to the other retails in Big Bazaar space but Pantaloon’s happened at the time when India’s initial
exposure to US was minimal ,the KFC’s ,the Gap’s, the TV shows and the IT boom were just there.
Even though I believe the idea was a little ahead of its time what made it what it is today is the
way he’s got a gradual change in the behavioural patterns of the consumers. He never waited
for consumers to be ready , instead he made sure he was ready for them. Creating value even
before they asked for it for which Kishore Biyani ‘s name is forever inked in the books of retail
revolution in a country where even today is dominated by thousands of street sellers ,hawkers, chat
bandi’s . paan/beedi shops, convenience stores, hand cart and pavement vendors. Yet  Isse Sasta
Aur Accha Kahi Nahi!!