Next to the office is a nice reminder of home, Tata's Star Bazaar hypermarket. Now Tata is an Indian conglomerate, much like Bharti and Reliance, that has its hands in many businesses from automobile manufacturing to retail to IT consulting. For retail, these groups own the market and if a company like Wal-Mart wants in, they typically have to partner with one of this sovereign entities. At least, that's how I remember the basics when I visited back in January 2011 when we spent time with the executives from Bharti Wal-Mart.
So what is the shopping experience like? Quite similar to the U.S. actually...
While not nearly as advanced as the U.S. retail experience where every single inch of floor space is meticulously analyzed and optimized, I can appreciate this small reminder of home.
As far as brands go, 75% percent of them I have never seen but there are a few familiar brands that have a strong presence here...
Kellogg's has the cereal game on lockdown (at least at this location)...
Frito-Lay is one of the most prominent brands here. My personal opinion is the flavors are horrible, but I'm so used to U.S. processed foods that I probably can't appreciate a truly flavorful chip. Baked Lays have to suffice for now. The "ketchup" chips are interesting but only a few at a time. Prices are pretty cheap, a small grab bag goes for about 22 rupees which converts out to $0.39 USD depending on the day.
Coca-Cola is another American classic brand that is well represented here. India is a unique country in that it's a critical market for soda companies. The amount of branding you see from the small village stand to the hypermarts like this is amazing. Must be working too as Coca-Cola has some great growth numbers here.
It's nice to see General Mills get into the game here although I think a merchandiser would have issues with this display.
So while the experience is still maturing, you can see that it's not a complete change from some of the comforts we have in the U.S., which makes this time here for me a little more comfortable.
I did find one local Indian product that is awesome...
These cookie/wafer like treats are delectable and I'm not a big sweets person. Plus they have energy!
Cheers!
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