Shankar successfully ran a small grocery shop. His business, however, had recently hit a roadblock. His regular customers were making a beeline to the new departmental store nearby. Shankar was worried. His daily sales were plummeting. “I need a magnetic sales strategy,” he declared to his family.
They all looked at him in bewilderment.
“To propel people into MY shop! Any ideas?”
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“Appa!” said Vinod, Shankar’s son. “Let’s stock school items. There are kids who forget to buy things needed for the next day’s class. But, we will have to open our shutters at seven in the morning.”
“We have THAT forgetful kid!” retorted Vinod’s mother, sarcastically. “He bunked school yesterday as he forgot to buy a paint box. ”
“Maa!” protested Vinod. “Dhoni was at the crease. He batted all other thoughts out of my head.”
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Early start
So, Shankar stocked school items. Vinod was right. Anxious school kids walked into his shop early morning. Some were even tempted to buy chocolate bars and a packet of chips. He also got customers who urgently needed items for breakfast.
“Glad you now open shop early,” said Mr. Roy. “We just found that we have run out of bread, butter and eggs.”
Shankar put up his mobile number on the shop window. He offered to make home deliveries. All that the customer had to do was ring him up.
There were also customers who wanted to buy items in small quantities.“Why should I buy half a kilogram of tamarind, when I want only 100 grams, or a big, expensive shampoo bottle, when I only want two sachets?” complained elderly Mrs. Sitharaman. “So I came to you, Shankar.”
Shankar began to sell items even late at night. Customers just had to place their order and collect it from his flat, above the shop, by 11 p.m.
Shankar’s wife and son regularly visited the departmental store. They kept a lookout for new brands on the shelves. Shankar would then stock some of them in his shop. These items brought in more customers.
“To pay the bill for one shampoo bottle, I had to stand in a long queue at the department store,” grumbled Mrs. Rao to a friend. “I now buy the latest items from Shankar. If he doesn’t have them, he gets them for me at no extra cost.”
A few months later, Shankar’s wife took a loan from their bank to renovate their shop. They now also sell newspapers and the latest magazines. Shankar now has a thriving business. He is happy his smart marketing strategies helped him attain the impossible.