Modiv Media said that the roll out began December 2008 with a second DeliVision launch in the West Roxbury, Massachusetts location. Overall, nearly 400 stores in 10 states, including Stop & Shop, Giant Eagle, Giant Food, Ukrop’s Super Markets and Roche Bros, are now using DeliVision.

According to Modiv Media, Modiv DeliVision combines queue optimization, convenient self-service kiosk ordering, and targeted promotions delivery.

Jeff Dineen, director of retail information systems at Roche Bros, said: “We have been extremely impressed with DeliVision’s performance during the pilot at our Westwood location. The addition of DeliVision across the chain dovetails perfectly with our corporate mission of delivering unequaled service and courtesy.”

WHILE the world debated and discussed the $570 billion fiscal stimulus package announced by the Chinese government, few noticed a unique and innovative policy decision from the government across the straits in Taiwan. The Chinese had drawn up a massive bill, largely funded by tax payers’, to be spent by the government itself in boosting the economic activity. Taiwan, on the other hand, decided to give back some money to its citizens to spend by themselves, thereby creating demand for products in local markets, which in turn could boost economic activity and job creation.

Under a new policy announced in December 2008, the island’s 23 million people regardless of age or wealth were given 3,600 Taiwan dollars or around $165 as shopping vouchers. “The programme is aimed at boosting the economy and is expected to contribute to a 0.64% increase in 2009 GDP,” explained Premier Liu Chao-shiuan. The core belief behind this programme was government spending is not effective due to leakages and delay in execution, whereas private spending is far more efficient in boosting economic activity, creating demand for goods and services and raising employment levels. The idea of the voucher and stimulating growth through private consumption has been powerful enough for even the governments of Japan and Germany to consider such a move.

In India, private consumption demand has been the key driver of economic growth, with private final consumption expenditure contributing over half of India’s growth in the past decade. In fact, almost 68% of India’s GDP is accounted by private consumption, as against 39% in China, making the case for stimulating the Indian economy by growing private consumption far stronger than anywhere else in the world.

Yet, most policy prescriptions in India have focused more on government spending and some tax rebates to selective industries. Rather than depending on policy prescriptions that have been tried before, it is time, we start exploring innovative measures that can positively affect the economic scenario in India. With a young demographic profile and growing urbanization, increase in private consumption can have a much longer and sustainable impact in creating demand and jobs across the country.

Given the right policy prescriptions, modern retail could also play a major role in stimulating private demand in India. Contrary to popular sentiments, this year has truly been an inflection point for modern retail in India. One of the biggest stumbling blocks for retail to develop in India was the rising cost structures, led by the rise in real estate prices. For the first time in many years, we are witnessing a scenario wherein real estate costs are falling and the retail business is becoming more and more viable. Along with it, people costs and operational costs are also stabilizing. There are distinct signs of consolidation about to take place in retailing in India.

As the share of modern retail grows, so will its impact on the domestic economy. By 2012, modern retail will directly employ over 1.6 million people at shop floors. Almost all of them will come from lower income groups and lesser educational backgrounds and who might not have found employment in other sunrise sectors in India. In addition, retail will create millions of more jobs in support services like security, mall and facilities management, construction and supply chains. Reports by consultancy major, McKinsey & Co, point out that for the government level, modern retail will help improve indirect tax collection by 1%, add to GDP growth and play a role in controlling inflation.

Cities in India have few public spaces for people to converge. With the growth of modern retailing, shopping malls and high streets have emerged as modern India’s public spaces where the middle class comes and spends time with their family.

Yet, the role and contribution of modern retail in India is yet to be acknowledged. Even when sectors as diverse as IT, hospitality, multiplexes and real estate enjoy various fiscal incentives from the government, modern retail is largely ignored by policy makers. In fact modern retail is viewed as a luxury, and imposed with more taxes, discriminatory power rates and stiff regulations.

As we step into a new year, we are also entering a new era of business and economic environment. A new era calls for fresh thinking, exploring new scenarios and new solutions. Whether it is through deficit-financed tax cuts that will put more money in the pocket of consumers, or through vouchers that encourage people to spend immediately, we have to explore ways and means to further boost private consumption. And as modern retailers acquire size and scale, we have to work on government advocacy that ensures modern retail plays a far more decisive role in the country’s economic growth and development.

CLOSE your eyes and you could be in any mall, anywhere. At each end is an overstuffed department store with roving fragrance spritzers and makeup artists. In between are children’s stores showing pink clothes on the left, blue on the right, interspersed with teen clothing stores where the lighting is dim and the salespeople are rail-thin. Throw in numerous shoe stores and another version of The Limited or The Gap. Hungry? Don’t fret: Somewhere in this mall are warm cinnamon buns.

That’s the problem. According to new Wharton research, consumers are aggravated and uninspired by the sameness and predictability of shopping malls, which for decades epitomised America’s consumer society. It’s not exactly the news mall developers want to hear, given the already difficult holiday retail environment.

In their fifth annual survey of consumer dissatisfaction, Wharton’s Jay H. Baker Retailing Initiative and The Verde Group, a research consultancy specialising in customer retention, found that 80% of shoppers had at least one problem during a trip to the mall in the prior month. Earlier Wharton dissatisfaction surveys concluded that fewer shoppers (50%) found fault with individual stores — an indication that the mall environment these days has become even less appealing.

The two most frequent complaints cited in the survey are first, a lack of anything new or exciting at the mall and second, a limited selection of restaurants. These criticisms were each cited by 35% of those surveyed. The third most-mentioned problem, cited by 28% of respondents, was that too many of the stores carry the same merchandise. Parking was the fourth most frequently mentioned problem, with 25% of shoppers experiencing trouble in mall parking lots. While mentioned less frequently than sameness as a problem, survey respondents told researchers they feel parking is the most serious problem they face on a visit to the mall.

“If the mall is boring and the infrastructure is not that great, it’s easy to see why people are stepping back and skipping the holiday buying frenzy” that is normal for this time of year, says Wharton marketing professor Stephen Hoch, who is director of the retail initiative. “Clearly people are spending less time shopping aimlessly. I think this is a long-term trend. People are still shopping and spending but they do it less often and it has to be more purposeful.”

According to Hoch, generations ofshoppers have grown up exploring malls, which were once modern wonders with fountains, food courts and kiddie rides. “People have had a lot of experience in malls. It’s not that there are no new elements in them, but that people have higher expectations,” says Hoch. “The same set of usual suspects is in every mall. In the biggest malls, it’s the same stores you have seen a zillion times, just more of them.”

Today’s mall shoppers are underwhelmed by the nation’s 1,200 enclosed and open-air lifestyle centres filled with chain stores designed specifically for success in the mall environment. “People go to the mall and nothing stands out or makes the experience fun or exciting,” Hoch adds. “There is no sense of discovery. Nothing catches the eye. It’s the same restaurants and the same stores in every mall.”

Hoch predicts as much as 10% of the nation’s retail infrastructure could disappear by the time the current recession ends.He also suggests that the dissatisfaction survey’s results canhelp guide mall owners who are interested in repurposing space that will be abandoned in a pending retail shakeout. Owners “need to think hard and ask if there is something else they can add that creates an element of novelty. Is there a way to mix it up?”

The Baker Retail Initiative and Verde Group Researchers surveyed 900 customers in October and November. They found that the typical shopper will visit five stores on an average trip to the mall and travel 23 miles to get there. A third of the shoppers surveyed spend two to three hours in the mall, and 90% make at least one purchase, with the majority spending an average of $150. Apparel is the top sales category at malls, although open-air malls have a greater emphasis on electronics and home goods compared to enclosed centres.

HANGOUTS FOR TEENAGERS

Beyond complaints about the ho-hum nature of mall shopping, consumers also find problems in three areas of basic mall infrastructure that drive loyalty:

COMFORT: Is the mall clean and well maintained, with easy-to-find washrooms and visible security?

ACCESSIBILITY: Is it easy to find convenient parking spots?

NAVIGATION: Is it easy to find the mall and understand its layout, and is there adequate signage?

What Aisles Them?

Paula Courtney, chief executive of The Verde Group, which has offices in Toronto and Atlanta, says the survey also tracked problems that were most likely to prompt negative wordof-mouth about a shopping mall. Earlier customer dissatisfaction surveys show that when people have a problem, they tend to talk about it with three other people. As a result, half the people who hear about a negative incident experienced by someone else at a store will avoid that retailer. In the latest survey, teenage loitering was cited as the problem shoppers were most likely to complain about to others, setting off a chain of bad-mouthing about a mall.

While 80% of all shoppers experience a problem at the mall, that figure rises to 97% for shoppers aged 18 to 24. Courtney says the high number of complaints is probably because they spend more time than other age groups at the mall, giving them more time to experience trouble. Those in the 25 to 40 age range are the top-spenders, dropping $188 on average. Their biggest complaint is a lack of restaurants. Shoppers over 60 complained most about being unable to find signs directing them around the mall.

The researchers examined the relationship between the amount of time spent in the mall and customer satisfaction. They found that those who spend more than two hours in a mall are more loyal, visit the most stores, report a better shopping experience and spend more money. At the same time, longer shopping trips apparently lead to more opportunity for problems, such as complaints about crowds and teenagers.

New visitors represent opportunity for malls. The survey shows they travel greater distances to shop, visit more stores and spend more, on average, than other shoppers. The problems they experience are related to finding their way to and around the mall, which is not a problem they are likely to complain about to others. Frequent visitors to the mall tend to live closer and are more satisfied with their experience than other shoppers, according to the survey.

The survey, which was heavily weighted toward women by a factor of 2 to 1, reflects gender differences among shoppers. Men say they experience more problems than women, have more trouble parking and finding their way around the mall, and are more turned off by the sameness of malls than women. But while men have more problems, women are more likely to tell others about it. Working women were more dissatisfied than other women with malls, complaining about a poor selection of restaurants, and a lack of interesting shops and special events.

According to Courtney, the survey results should offer mall owners some clear and simple solutions to shoppers’ complaints. “The message to developers is that there is hope,” she says. “A lot of these issues are actionable. There are many ways developers can draw shoppers into their malls.”

A first step would be to evaluate the mall’s common areas. Mall owners can use the space they control to develop programs to counteract the sameness of the stores and merchandise that is turning off mall shoppers. For example, survey results show that shoppers were disappointed in the level of malls’ sensitivity to environmental or green causes. Therefore, malls should initiate more community-based events taking into account each centre’s own demographic footprint. They should understand that different types of consumers come to the shopping experience with varied expectations and different triggers that will generate mall loyalty. Improving signage is an easy and inexpensive fix that would respond to a frequent complaint that surfaced in the Wharton research.

“Consumers don’t have money, but developers probably don’t either,” says Courtney. “So instead of trying to make broad sweeping changes, they should focus on low-hanging fruit, such as signage. Creating opportunities for discovery in the common areas and thinking of the mall as a destination will encourage shoppers to stay at the mall longer.”

One innovative use of common areas she cites is a partnership between mall owners and Coca-Cola known as the Red Lounge. It is a section of the mall with red seating where Coke products are sold and teenagers are encouraged to gather. The lounge generates sales and brand awareness for Coke, while containing teens in a designated spot, thereby reducing the opportunities for them to annoy other shoppers.

Verde research in Atlanta revealed some other ideas. Shoppers suggested that stores put individual numbers on their doors co-ordinating to the mall’s map. They also asked for more sitdown restaurants rather than food courts, better lighting and more trees in the parking lots. Valet service should be free with a purchase, and valets should be made to park at the far edges of the parking lot to free up spots closer to the mall for other shoppers. They also suggested that malls create more environmental, educational and entertainment programming.

But because there has been a massive investment in malls and in the chain stores that fill them, Hoch notes, it will be difficult to recast this retail infrastructure to provide a better sense of ‘discovery’ for shoppers. One major obstacle: Some of the abandoned space is likely to be created by the departureof large anchor department stores with many entrances that are not easily transformed into new uses.

Despite shoppers’ dissatisfaction with the sameness of shopping malls, Hoch suggests it is unlikely that local independent retailers with niche concepts will find a place in malls. “People are complaining about the same-old, sameold, but I think it’s not clear that mall shoppers are the most creative group out there. They do go for predictability,” he says, adding that mom and pop establishments are usually highly specialised destination stores that would not benefit from paying high mall rents to capture sales from walk-by traffic.

“Malls need to figure out what to do, because there is going to be more and more excess space as chains close down their less profitable outlets,” he says. “There’s going to be a lot of space in the mall that is dark. Malls have to be very concerned because if parts of their properties go dark, it can [look like] an abandoned neighbourhood.”

Play.com and Amazon beat high street rivals according to the survey by the National Consumer Satisfaction Index.

Out of 6,000 shoppers questioned, Play.com came top with a rating of 87 out of 100. Waitrose was the favourite bricks and mortar retailer with a score of 82.

The worst-scoring retailers included electricals chain Currys and Somerfield, which came bottom with a score of 61.

Chief executive of consultancy CFI Group Sheri Teodoru said:  “As the economy slows, the big challenge for retailers of all types will be how to compete to retain shoppers who are becoming increasingly conservative with their spending.

“Here customer satisfaction is key: companies that provide the most satisfying experience stand the best chance not only to survive, but to thrive financially in a down economy.”

The program is seeing rapid adoption by consumers, driving sales lift and locking in revenue for Future Group.

Pine Labs’s solution is a completely closed-loop, online payment solution that combines the robust security standards of credit card networks and the flexibility of a high-end CRM solution.

Highlights of Pine Labs’s Gift Card solution:
Increased revenue:<font generate double-digit sales lifts through additional traffic and locked in revenues
Reduced fraud: lower shrinkage and fraud by switching to electronic processing at your POS
Automated processing: accelerate check-out and streamline your back-office operations
Higher margins: double your full-price sales from gift card shoppers
Supports sales promotions: offer discounts and bonuses to drive revenue to new stores, on slow weekdays or special holiday sales
Additional working capital: generate valuable cash to reinvest in your business
Enhanced brand recognition: provide a superior form factor versus paper vouchers with “front of wallet” branding

WITH the economy performing below normal, many retailers who preferred having a physical presence are looking to go online at minimal costs and keep the cash registers ringing. Compared to a traditional brick and mortar storefront, an e-commerce store is a relatively small, convenient and lowcost startup. The only costs involved in the e-commerce platform include the monthly hosting and ISP bills. With a website, an e-tailer has the capability to gauge the market condition and make alterations accordingly. Taking into account all its benefits, e-commerce can be considered ideal during a recession as it helps retailers to stay globally competitive.

Serving retailers and consumers
Today leading global e-commerce retailers earn more than 10 billion in revenue on every portal they own, and this shows the shifting trend towards e-tailing. Affirming this, Pawan Gadia, VP, Ferns ‘N’ Petals (FnP), says, “We are achieving 60 percent growth year-on-year, thanks to e-commerce. In fact, 10 percent of the total turnover of the FnP Group comes from online sales.”

Videocon is also aiming big on e-biz. “In 2009, our target is to earn online sales of Rs 10 crore, and our current sales are very much in line with our targets,” adds Arindam Bose, VP–IT, E-biz and Exports, Videocon.

Consumers today are more open to the online medium. This trend is further catalysed by various product and price comparison websites that enable users to perform research on products that they intend to purchase. Moreover, increasing fuel costs, large mall crowds and low disposable incomes are motivating buyers to shop online. Mr Gadia says, “Contrary to a physical store that has issues of timeline, visibility, etc, an online store is more flexible. An FnP store closes at 8 pm every day, but the online store runs 24×7, thereby giving us more customers. We serve more than 2000 clients everyday on our online site.”

The e-commerce option caters to customers in the current economy because it offers products at lower costs. “E-biz reduces the logistics cost as the goods go directly to the end consumer. Any business model that removes layers and brings the consumer nearer to the manufacturer benefits all,” agrees Mr Bose.

Choose intelligently
Despite its potential, many people don’t know how to get started with e-commerce and are often confused about the numerous options available. Several solutions allow retailers to sell items online, but it is always advisable to approach retail-specific vendors who can customise solutions according to customers’ business needs. “Each customer has a different requirement. Some want a pure Web shop, while some want integration with CRM or ERP, and yet others seek telephonic booking. Each requirement should be considered individually before offering a solution,” says Manu Agarwal, CEO, ANMsoft and Naaptol.com.

Though most solutions may differ, some are fundamental for every online business enterprise, and these are listed below:

Design customisation solutions: Setting up a business involves considerable time, energy and money. It is necessary to create a brand that customers find familiar. Many ecommerce solutions force retailers into a particular site layout, template or theme, making them just another cookie-cutter, faceless, online store. An e-commerce service provider must understand the objectives of an e-tailer to equip the latter’s website with aesthetic solutions.

Scalability solutions: Retailers do not want solutions that limit the number of products on display or the amount of traffic that the site can generate. Therefore, e-commerce solutions must equip retailers to add dynamic features to his existing site.

Payment solutions: Many e-commerce solutions force customers to register before making a purchase. Forcing customers to leave a site when they are ready to purchase products is not a smart business practice. If a customer finds the payment options in the website too cumbersome, he/she may switch to another shopping site. Therefore, a retailer must ensure that customers are hooked on to the website until they have completed their transaction.

Order processing solutions: These solutions are specifically designed to save operating costs. In the absence of these automated solutions, a retailer has to maintain the inventory and keep a track of orders and process them.

Search engine optimisation (SEO) and Search engine marketing (SEM) solutions:
To drive traffic to the website, a retailer must employ an SEO or SEM. SEO is more popular because of its low costs and better results. However, a retailer must ensure that the SEO uses the right keywords to improve his website’s page rank. The website must contain the right keywords so that when a user searches for a particular product, the retailer’s website appears at the top.
According to Mr Agarwal, “A majority of the people who go online end up buying nothing or may not even visit a particular website. This is because the retailer and the service provider may have not set up means to direct traffic to the site.”
Coupon solutions: In the face of rising prices, consumers have once again begun clipping coupons. Giving away gift coupons serves to increase sales. People are always looking for discounts and freebies, and a site that offers similar incentives often sees repeated visits. E-tailers can send coupons as an SMS with unique promotional codes that shoppers can use on their e-commerce website, and receive discounts on online purchases.

Shopping Cart and Delivery Solutions: A customer should be given a free hand to add products to his/her shopping list, remove products, change their quantity, recalculate the order before processing and even come back to the same after logging out. On the delivery front, most clients prefer websites that offer free home delivery and, therefore, e-retailers must have a user-friendly delivery solution in place.

Innovations to help you save
In lieu of the ongoing recession, retailers have started exploring innovative ways to cut costs. Many e-tailers are outsourcing their retail operations to specialised retail vendors for reducing labour costs. One of the affected areas during this slowdown is advertising, and very few retailers seek to manage advertising costs. Retailers should ideally adopt online advertising tools like e-mailers, newsletters, etc. “Retailers can send e-mailers, promotions, gift coupons to their existing customers at a very low cost, and still enjoy sales benefits,” admits Mr Gadia.

In order to grow in the existing scenario, a retailer should place his merchandise where his potential customers are most likely to be. Going by this, the retailer should view e-tailing as a cost-effective channel to lure sales.

While the likes of Future Group, Shoppers Stop, Westside and Reliance Retail are driving the focus on customer relationship management (CRM), restaurant chains like Speciality Restaurants (SRPL) are also gung-ho on the same. “The CRM programmes are important for any retail chain and they work, especially during a recessionary trend. They give customers some comfort and ensure that they keep coming back again and again,” SRPL chairman and MD Anjan Chatterjee told ET.

SRPL’s loyalty programme currently has 70,000-odd customers within its folds, who account for 30-35% of their sales. “We are now planning a marketing blitz to penetrate into 70% of our target audience by July-August,” said Mr Chatterjee.

Within six months, Future Group is planning to roll out a single loyalty programme that spans across formats. The group is currently investing heavily on the IT backbone. Currently, the group’s Green Card loyalty programme at Pantaloons accounts for 55% of sales.

“As the first step towards a uniform loyalty scheme, we have rolled out a prepaidcum-loyalty card in Pune and Kolkata. We’ve clocked nearly Rs 15 crore business out of this. Eventually, we expect 70% of our sales from lifestyle formats to be generated from loyalty scheme customers,” said Future Group president-customer strategies Sandip Tarkas.

Interestingly, Reliance Retail already operates its ‘RelianceOne’ loyalty programme across formats with four million customers. “We see a significant percentage of our sales coming from our loyalty card holders,” said a Reliance Retail spokesperson.

Shoppers Stop has just launched a new loyalty scheme for its hypermarket ‘Hypercity’. “The loyalty programme is a long-term strategic initiative, which drives repeated purchases. We add nearly three lakh customers under loyalty every year,” said Shoppers Stop MD BS Nagesh. As of end-2008, the retailer had more than 11.8 lakh loyalty members.

Westside has relaxed the entry norms for its loyalty programme ‘Clubwest’ to cash in on the large footfalls the store is witnessing due to Nano bookings. Earlier, to become a silver member, one had to shop for Rs 2,000 on one occasion and register. “Now, a customer can enrol for the programme even by shopping for Rs 500 and subsequently get upgraded, if he completes Rs 2,000 billing within three months,” said Westside marketing-head Smeeta Neogi. The chain currently has over eight lakh members, who generate over 50% of sales.

The company says that as well as being environmentally friendly, the system allows customers to keep track of their expenses and retailers have the option of placing additional advertising on the online receipts.

Shoeboxx says that it is in negotiations with several major retailers to set up pilot programmes of the service. The basic business model would involve it being free for both retailers and consumers to use; with the company behind the site making money by charging only for enhanced services, such as corporate customers who want to use it as an expenses tool.

PureHMV allows customers to collect points for transactions, then trade them in for ‘money can’t buy items or experiences such as autographed guitars or concert tickets.

EHS Brann Discovery is supporting the launch of the unique scheme, which has now gone nationwide after a six month trial across 33 stores in East Anglia and the West Midlands. The agency’s approach will utilise reward scheme data from multiple sources including HMV’s point-of-sale systems and in-store and website sign-ups, all of which will feed hourly into the CRM system.

The system will analyse sales data by customer types and spending behaviour to allow for better targeted and more relevant communications on promotions and offers. This aims to make the customer’s journey more personal, relevant and valuable and HMV’s marketing more efficient, profitable and insightful.

“The implementation of a CRM system will enable HMV to maximise the value it derives from PureHMV, and provides the tools to ensure that its approach to customer loyalty remains current and credible. Investment in customer loyalty generates a vast quantity of customer insight, and by carefully analysing this data and applying it to the interactions it has with its customers, HMV can continue to enjoy profitably and long term relationships,” says EHS Brann Discovery managing director Richard Greenhalgh.