The Tea-Master's Column

Today, politicians are discussing of opening up the retail sector and the possibility US retail major Wal-Mart opening stores in India. But I had never heard of Wal-Mart till I made my first visit to US in 2003. Even then, I could have never imagined a retail store could be as big, could have as many items, as many varieties and be almost like a warehouse. The first thing that stuck me after entering this giant store is “Everyday low prices”. I really did not understand the meaning of the statement till I asked a few friends. One gets the best and cheapest items at this place. And as I traveled around America, I saw Wal-Mart stores in every city. It triggered a lot of interest in me and this concept of such large scale retailing. So, when I chanced upon the autobiography of Sam Walton, “Made in America”, the founder of Wal-Mart, I knew I had to read it. Sam Walton was born in the year 1918 in the United States of America. Early on, he was very hard-working, passionate and would exce...

Secondary data from Roy Morgan Marketing Research firm done in 2006iii provides some interesting results on customer reactions to petrol price hike: 76% Australians would drive the same in spite of the petrol price rise1 41% Australians are willing to spending less on other items to make-up for the increased cost of fueliii35% said that they will drive less than usual if the petrol price reached AUD 1.50- AUD 1.59 but 16% won't cut back on the amount of driving regardless of the price of fueliii Hence, we may infer that Australians give preference to convenience of driving to higher petrol prices and willing to sacrifice on other costs to do so. The following data from Annual Reports of Woolworths, Caltex, Shell and Coles seem to indicate that people prefer using the convenience store at a petrol station: Petrol retailer, Caltex has a network of 470 stores jointly branded with supermarket retailer Woolworths. Total average convenience store sales in 2005 were 4.6% higher than in 20...