Quasi Malls?

Virtually every one of us would have walked into one of the spanking new malls across the country. The larger than life corporate store it seems, has replaced the friendly neighbourhood shop. The mantra seems to be to provide everything under one roof.

But have these malls always existed in every city? Even before the corporates came calling…

Almost every Indian city has its signature markets for certain types of products. Computers and gadgets is a typical case in point.

“Electronics? Go to Ritchie Street” a Chennaite would tell you. Nehru Place in Delhi and Chandni Chowk in Kolkata are other such examples.

Many of these markets consist of small “Hole in the wall” shops. On the outside one would think that each shop would be able to stock only limited number of goods. You won’t get the range that a large mall provides. But walk inside and ask for any gadget and the chances are that the seller would nod his head and reach for the phone.

One or two phone calls and wallah.... “The price of the model you want is Rs. xyz Sir.”

How does a tiny shop able to act like a large mall offering any variety of gadgets. The answer is networking.

Each shop may not be big in size but is able to act like a mall offering thousands of varieties of goods just by informal 'networking' with other stores. Networking ensures that any product available with other shops in the area can be sold by the shop where the customer enters. Networking translates to a concrete benefit to the customer; No need to walk out of that store for any of his electronic gadget requirements. The shop is virtually a mall as far as the customer is concerned, a quasi-mall.

Maybe there is a lesson in this for modern retail.