Insight of Grocery Shop

When any one question me what you love to do? my spontaneous answer will be analyzing/researching people, others attitude, businesses, mindset, and many come in the list. Here is one of the my analysis or so called research.

A middle aged man running a grocery shop in my street.

His actual routine goes this way:

shop working hours -- 7 am to 1pm & 3 pm to 9 pm.

Quality of the products -- excellent

history -- opened in 1980 by his beloved father and 
he took full charge on it when he was 20.
                                            Now he had two sons studying 3rd and 5th standards.

shop type -- proprietary

helpers -- his wife or father in peek hours

competition -- heavy competition with similar grocery shops in the locality.

Customer base -- Had many constant customers like me(who dont know how to measure quality in groceries mainly by look and feel) we believe as our mothers believed(from their experiences)that he will provide best quality.

some questions came in my mind which tend me to conversate with him. He talked a lot meaningful concepts in business which one could ever imagine that a grocery shop man could speak. 

when I asked him about the Quality product his straight forward answer is “its best way to  with stand in heavy competition” and doing whole hearted ethical business.He also included the competition from the people who call it shopping experience(Big Bazaar, and other chain of super markets). He is not completely against the chain of super markets or shopping in AC showrooms.He had customer base of all segments.

He questioned me back “ How many time you bought your whole monthly grocery items from Big Bazaar or reliance fresh ? “ when i asked him if his  business has effected after the entry of reliance fresh, spencers and big bazaar in my locality. yes truly I dint ever completely bought all the grocery items from those markets. though i tried a couple of times in reliance fresh still its quality is not upto the mark.

But honestly they bought a great change in the way people shopping their list of groceries. In fact the number and veriety of items people shopped a decade back were very limited. Now a lot of new products they were shopping like three different flavours of ketch ups, jams, substitute in milk products...etc.

consumption has increased a lot. a decade back very few people would buy these jams or gulabjam mix or boost or even branded tea packets. But now they are shopping three to four different flavours of soaps, tooth paste,shampoos, cosmetics, ketch ups , jams, complan ,boost, tea products according to taste of each one in the family.

The major part is my shop opens at 7 in the morning which helps many houses to buy the necessary  early in a hurry while they are running for their lively hood. In case these big bazaar or reliance fresh is the only solution then people should make out some of their time on their week ends and rush to these markets and feel guilt if they miss out any thing from the list and wait for the next week end. For many, time became a criteria for which these online shopping also has come but they cant dare to get the groceries through online shopping so these grocery shops at the end of your street are great time savers. One can give the list in the morning while your leaving to your office and pick up the bag in the evening.

I even know what compulsory items and quantity my customers buy every month. I had few customers whom I pack things and make a call to pick up their groceries every month. This helps them to relax, no need to worry about the kitchen groceries unless there are any special occasions.

Due to all these changes happened people might think there is decrease in customer base but population has also increased, consumption has increased.

This is all the conversation I had in 15 minutes while he was packing my set of groceries which consists of two verities of soaps, milk products , shampoos :) I felt these manufacturing companies are spoiling us or else I would have saved a lot in my monthly consumption of money :)