Is this a question to ask? Is it relevant to anyone?
Yes it is a good question to ask, and often the answer is one or the other. But I have mine.
It is more difficult selling shirts. I can tell you why.
Retailing is about anticipation.
Anticipation of what the consumer wants next to make her happy, (happier) and how much, where and at how much. Is that simple enough? Well any retailer who has thousands of transactions everyday will tell you that Anticipation is the most difficult part of the business.
Anticipating the needs of the consumer for Fruits and Vegetables is not that difficult. Seasonally there are certain ranges that are available across the country, and over years consumers have ethnically developed cooking habits and dishes that suit such availability. For instance white pumpkin is very popular in Tamil nadu, not so in Mumbai, where dudhia is more preferred. The difficult part of the business is the perishability of the produce. This is a matter of skill. The lead time to decide the quantity is short, say 16 hours, but then the loss you make on wrong judgement is just one day's stock. The consumer also is used to variations in produce in the market. So F&V is able to garner an image of "expertise" for the retailer if it is done well. It is not an easy business at all but compared to shirts (read apparel), it may seem a shade easier.
Apparel has long lead time of 6 to 12 months, preferences are "fuzzy logic", residing in the innermost recesses of the consumer's mind, and there are regional and ethnic preferences in apparel as well. Sizes vary hugely - Punjab versus Kerala, for example - average sizes are vastly different.
Hence to guess the right range (colour and design) is difficult, but because it is fuzzy logic, designers are able to influence the consumer more easily in moving from pleated to unpleated pants, from normal to low waist, etc. More easy convincing a Mumbai consumer to consume white pumpkin if dudhia is not available.
Wrong decisions in apparel are far more expensive than in F&V, considering that apparel holds 12 to 20 weeks of stocks at anytime.
Apparel is a far more difficult a category to sell than F&V. Do it you will know it.
Yes it is a good question to ask, and often the answer is one or the other. But I have mine.
It is more difficult selling shirts. I can tell you why.
Retailing is about anticipation.
Anticipation of what the consumer wants next to make her happy, (happier) and how much, where and at how much. Is that simple enough? Well any retailer who has thousands of transactions everyday will tell you that Anticipation is the most difficult part of the business.
Anticipating the needs of the consumer for Fruits and Vegetables is not that difficult. Seasonally there are certain ranges that are available across the country, and over years consumers have ethnically developed cooking habits and dishes that suit such availability. For instance white pumpkin is very popular in Tamil nadu, not so in Mumbai, where dudhia is more preferred. The difficult part of the business is the perishability of the produce. This is a matter of skill. The lead time to decide the quantity is short, say 16 hours, but then the loss you make on wrong judgement is just one day's stock. The consumer also is used to variations in produce in the market. So F&V is able to garner an image of "expertise" for the retailer if it is done well. It is not an easy business at all but compared to shirts (read apparel), it may seem a shade easier.
Apparel has long lead time of 6 to 12 months, preferences are "fuzzy logic", residing in the innermost recesses of the consumer's mind, and there are regional and ethnic preferences in apparel as well. Sizes vary hugely - Punjab versus Kerala, for example - average sizes are vastly different.
Hence to guess the right range (colour and design) is difficult, but because it is fuzzy logic, designers are able to influence the consumer more easily in moving from pleated to unpleated pants, from normal to low waist, etc. More easy convincing a Mumbai consumer to consume white pumpkin if dudhia is not available.
Wrong decisions in apparel are far more expensive than in F&V, considering that apparel holds 12 to 20 weeks of stocks at anytime.
Apparel is a far more difficult a category to sell than F&V. Do it you will know it.
The problem arises when we sell shirts with fruits:) Also I feel you have a one dimensional opinion of this issue.
ReplyDeleteCustomers shopping for apparel are conditioned to browse through several outlets before they find their choice of brand/color/design/fabric (not size:). Incase the customer doesnot find the garment he is looking for , he is less likely to be disappointed. In a sense there is less probability of the retailer losing the customer because of product unavailability. So you may be left with a lot of stock in one category but you still have a good chance of retaining the customer for your other categories.
Can the same be said for f&v? will I ever go back to rr fresh if he is constantly out of stock of alphonso mangoes during mango season? or keeps stocking white pkin instead of dudhia? or capt cook salt instead of tata salt? My mom&pop dont and I am pretty sure I wont. This causes the retailer to lose the customer, thats like losing a fixed deposit with assured returns!
I think its far more easier to build/lose brand perception through the f&v category than apparel. Hence in a hyper market scenario f&v category is far more important than apparel. The difficulty in selling a product is a function of the understanding of the category and the customer. So for an f&v guy apparel might be difficult and for an apparel guy f&v might seem difficult to sell.