When it comes to rural India, there are several limitations with our call centres. Villagers are usually not comfortable speaking with call centre executives or to a machine. Rural users prefer to be served in the local dialect by a local person. The rural space is very important to us as two-third of the new additions (of mobile phones) are expected to come from this segment from next year onwards. We tried a pilot to set up Rural Airtel Service Centres in Rajasthan. We are following the ‘four As’ model — availability, awareagent. They are not on the rolls of Bharti Airtel. These agents sell and exchange SIMs, (subscriber identification module cards in phones), they are empowered to activate, reactiness, accountability and affordability. The rural centres help us address these aspects. In all villages, we have identified an entrepreneur, who runs a multi-brand outlet, or a general store or any outlet, and have trained him to be an Airtel vate and recharge mobile connections and sell valueadded services amongst other things.

How has the experience been so far?

Post the pilot project in Rajasthan, we have established 3,000 such centres in the past couple of months. This will be expanded to 20,000 by March, with an aim to have one such centre in every village. We have noticed that the project acts as a big differentiator for our services. For instance, SIM replacement is a major concern in rural areas as they often get damaged.

Customers have to go to the nearest city to replace the SIM cards.
And how does the rural vendor who runs the Airtel centre benefit?

The vendor can increase his revenues by selling a host of services — from hello tunes, to music-on-demand and ring tones — and help customers activate and stop services on their mobiles. This would serve as an add-on revenue opportunity for him, already running another business.

In the past few years, shoppers have recognized and increased their purchases of foods containing desirable ingredients, including whole grains, fiber and protein. That number continues to grow, the study notes, with 32 percent of shoppers reporting that they are buying more foods based on nutritional components versus last year.

Customers are attempting to make more of their calories count for better overall health, the study reports, with 55 percent of shoppers switching to whole grain bread, 33 percent showing an interest in protein on the label (up 10 points since 2009), and 30 percent switching to Greek yogurt (up 9 points versus 2011).

“More and more shoppers are making the switch to foods with benefits,” said Cary Silvers, director of consumer insights for Prevention. “They are steering away from empty calories and asking, ‘What’s in my food, and how is it good for me?’”

The desire to eat healthier and the stagnant economy appear to be two drivers that have led consumers to do more cooking at home — 57 percent of people surveyed said they tried a new healthy recipe in the last year, an increase of 5 points from 2009, the study notes. Shoppers find recipes through a variety of sources, including the Internet (39 percent), cooking shows (37 percent), magazines (34 percent), cookbooks (33 percent), word-of-mouth (31 percent), recipes on labels (26 percent), culinary magazines (12 percent) and supermarket recipes (11 percent).

With the economy still in a slow growth mode, many of the tactics shoppers started using in 2008 are still in place, the study says, with 63 percent of shoppers reported buying only what they need (down 1 point from last year), and 60 percent switching to store brands (up 6 points from last year). While switching to private label products began as a money-saving tactic, improvements to quality, labeling and promotion have strengthened their position versus national brands, the study says.

Consumers are aware of their options at the grocery store, as 54 percent of respondents recognized the effort of food manufacturers to reduce sodium level in their foods. Sixty-seven percent of shoppers say that sodium is important to them, with 32 percent of shoppers saying that they are buying more low-sodium products versus 2011, the study notes.

“Our food retail members are witness to these trends on a daily basis,” said Cathy Polley, RPh, vice president of health and wellness and executive director of the FMI Foundation. “Just as consumers are increasingly aware of the health-conscious opportunities afforded to them in the grocery aisles, FMI is also renewing its emphasis through its advancements in health and nutrition research and education with its foundation.”

To purchase the study, visit the FMI Store at FMI.org or call 202-220-0723.

Soruce: http://www.pgstorebrands.com/top-story-shoppers_focusing_on_nutrition__showing_increased_interest_in_private_brands-1649.html