India Against Corruption (IAC)

     Today I had a bizarre argument with two of my closest pals, Soumya Dutta and Nrupal Das, one being doctor and other being a true IT wiz, both intellectually sound enough to beat any argument to dust. India Against Corruption. All I think about IAC is 'what a crap load!'. Soumya is quite a sincere devotee of IAC and Nrupal is quite a supporter too, but a little bit on the neutral side.
      I don't believe in IAC and it's fundamentals. India has already seen it's share of hypocritical freedom fighters, socialites and politicians, in the form of Nehrus and Gandhis. I believe, India has become so corrupted that if by some means, it's corruptions ends all of a sudden then India will come to a stand still. With a population of over 130cr, how on earth can we imagine to bring everything back to normal just like that.
    When Congress ruled this country for 50yrs and in the name of Mahatma Gandhi and Mr Nehru, dragged it to the underworlds of corruption, we believed that the likes of BJP under the leadership of Mr. Bajpayee, would make India see a better and brighter future. But even that govt also proved to have corrupt moles under it's own wings. To rule over a population as big as India's, how can one expect to get each of the touch points of the governing system to corruption free???
     Again, India has a literate to illiterate ratio of maybe 1:10, so the government thus formed is by the poor illiterates, no matter how much we literates argue upon who deserves to rule or how the system should run. Although I agree that poor and illiterate people are now also getting the knowledge of corruption and governments but who can deny the fact that they are still so poor that even a Rs 100 note or even just a blank fire of a desi rifle can lure them to post their votes for the corrupted.
      Today I will shout Anna Hazare and Kejeriwal and IAC and tomorrow I'll find them as much corrupt as I am trying to fight today, then why will I fight and shout at all. Better I'll do my part of helping India by giving  as much as i can to the needy India. For example, I hire poor unskilled manpower where my requirement is semi skilled, at the same wage level. I also donate freely to truly poor and hungry and needy people. By doing so, I believe I am helping India.
      India Against Corruption doesn't have to mean a political party or Kejriwal or Anna Hazare....all it should mean is one's individual step towards betterment of India. Therefore, whenever anyone approches me for IAC, I say the very same words...'what a crap load!'

Target Pressure

One who is in the fields of Sales and Marketing, the word Target is all about mental Pressure. What is target pressure??? In layman's term, it is selling Ice to Eskimos in Alaska. Target pressure is generally a part of all the hypocritical societal competition, that we are part and parcel of. Being a retailer, for me it has always been an equal mixture of customer's smaller pocket sizes and my top management's bigger expectations. at the end of it all, supply and demand can only be equal in a hypothetical market. My Boss was once in my shoes and he must have felt the pinch of target pressure the very same way that I do, but once one grows to the upper level, the delegation of pressure becomes seems feasible and appropriate than to bear it. I understand that he must be getting the pressure from his Boss and his Boss must be getting from his. But before creating such scenarios, shouldn't they be doing a proper customer profiling and catchment study before investing hugely in a market and expecting an even higher return??? Isn't it why they have been appointed at the top levels and isn't it why they are getting paid for???
Consider the situation that I am in now. During my induction only, i was told that my customer base is not who travel by car but are those who travel on two wheeler. Now, planning for that, my top management took a property where there is no parking facility for cars and other four wheelers. During rainy season they expect customers to rush to our stores on their two wheeler without caring for rain and buying out all the stuff that we cater to them. And if at all the Sale is low, even though the operational parameters are high, no one above you will hear the fact that footfall was low and if you even try to give a sincere excuse of rain being the  culprit of hindering high footfall, you'll get an honest feedback from the other end..."this is monsoon and rain happens in monsoon and it cannot be an excuse for low sales". :)

The Conv and Average ticket Size makes all the difference that a Retailer needs to achieve his sales Targets.
Conv%= (Total No.of Bills X 100)/Total Footfall
ATS= Total Sales/Total No. of Bills

ATS varies from market to market and store concept to concept. In a lifestyle store the ATS may range above 2000 whereas a value stores ATS may range above 500, as per the local market and ASP (Average Selling Price) of products catered.

Whereas, Conversion depends on the service thus provided and ASP. For example, if a retailers service provided is good and his impulse item stocking is high, which have a very low price range, then his conversion percentage can be as high as 90+%.

The mantra to success in retail is being 'Adaptable' or being a 'Situational Manager', i.e. one should know when to be a leader and lead by setting examples , and when to be a follower and learn from mistakes and others leaders.

Waybills are the Govt road permits for stock transport. Some states have them some don't. Odisha is very stringent in case of waybill misuse. Generally when stocks travel inter state, i.e from Odisha to some other state or vice-versa, a waybill is required at the check posts, which declares the entire content of the stock, including the type, value, quantity and weight. Every time we use a waybill, we have to show the used waybill to Govt so that it will issue us another waybill. In case of lost waybills, FIR and public notification in news paper, and also a fine has to be paid. Every waybill has a time period. If a waybill is issued and not used before time, fine will be imposed. If a waybill is used but not deposited, then also fine will be imposed. and believe me, these fines are humongous, and the worst part is if you don't pay the penalty then no more waybill will be issued which will affect the stock replenishment drastically. Currently, Odisha Govt is issuing e-waybills only. The mandory requirements to generate e-waybills are, consignor full address, consignee full address, transporter details, transport vehicle No., stock details, Stock Transfer Note (STN).
         Remember, always track your each and every waybill. If its intra state, waybill is not required but if it is inter state, then waybill is mandatory. Never receive a inter state stock, if its without a waybill, because some vendors will send you stock via courier from another state, without waybill, to save tax, although they must have issued a Odisha waybill for the same stock transfer. Always deposit your waybill before deadline. Happy Retailing.

Today I learnt a big lesson... a Store manager is responsible for each and every activity carried out in the store. Although you might be having electricians and Facility management to give you support, although you have commercial and Commercial Team to give you support, although you have warehouse team and Distribution and Logistic team to give you support, you are the one who will be the intersection of all the supports in a ven-diagram. 

For successful Retailer every parameter like product, price, place, promotion, people, service should fall in sync and the harmony thus created will pave the future for the Retailer. But the most important of all the parameters will be Service which will be the ultimate differentiator.