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GaramChai.com >> Book >> Section 4
Consumerism and US Immigrants
Shopping
in a consumerist market can be thrilling and confusing at
the same time. People moving from India to the west need to
ready to be overwhelmed by the choices. Shopping for products
and services can be intriguing because the quality, quantity
or brand alone does not drive prices. On the other hand, the
adage “you get what you pay for” also generally holds
true. The service sector in the US can also be exhilarating.
Over the decades, the service industry has fine-tuned itself
to provide “world class” service to consumers. As a prudent
consumer, you are expected to know your rights too.
In
this section of the book, we will look at the different aspects
pertaining to consumerism in the US including consumer choices,
the service industry and how people try to find their way
around markets. America is known for its world class service
and a mature service industry translates to better customer
satisfaction. We will also look at the aftermath of e-commerce
revolution, how a brand new channel has been opened up for
consumers wishing to shop in the privacy of their homes and
offices. We conclude this section with a look at Indian shopping
in the US.
Consumerism
in the US
America
is perhaps the most consumerist nation in the world. Being
consumerist is a double-edged sword. On one hand, Americans
who love the latest products get what they want, but in the
process, the choices overwhelm many consumers. In any consumer
driven market, the main beneficiaries are the consumers since
the producers and manufacturers bend over their backs to satisfy
their (consumers) whims.
Any marketing
manager will tell you that choice is good, and that it helps
individuals feel better about the products they are buying,
giving a touch of individualism. A mature free market leads
to a proliferation of goods and services, leading to the survival
of the fittest. However it also leaves a lot of room for second
and third rung products that manage to find a niche.
Shopping
in America is an art. Every savvy shopper lives to hunt for
the best deal she can. There is a whole range of shops, malls,
supermarkets, discount chains and specialty stores to choose
from, not to mention shopping online on the web. Prices for
the same (or similar) products vary widely. Even food chains
stock a variety of products and there too the prices can vary.
People who are price conscious generally prefer buying bulk
packaged items at discount and warehouse clubs. On arriving
in a new city, people generally ask their peers, colleagues
or friends to get an idea of the kind of shopping available.
Americans
didn’t always have this kind of variety. Even a generation
ago, people had to be content with a few generic brands of
most products, the same kind that Jones’s next door were getting.
Henry Ford, the legendary founder of the Ford motor company
reportedly once said, “Give them any colour (car) as long
as they are black”. America has come a long way since Mr Ford’s
proclamation sometime in 1906. The choices, when it comes
to cars are astounding, almost mind blowing. The same goes
for every other consumer product — from cereals to cell phones,
TVs to trucks. Consumers have the kind of choices, which are
unimaginable in many other parts of the world.
Take a
walk down any supermarket aisle and choices immediately confront
you. Getting a gallon of milk from the dairy section may not
be as simple as it sounds, especially since milk comes in
over a dozen varieties ranging from zero fat to extra rich
(and a few varieties in between). The same goes for yoghurt
— that ranges from plain, cultured, flavoured, half fat, zero
fat, made by different brands, in different packages and sizes.
I remember
the first time I went a supermarket to buy some breakfast
cereal. I hadn’t gone with any particular brand or category
in mind since I was used to ‘Kellogg’s’ back in India. Most
supermarkets have whole isles dedicated to the display of
cereals and they carry at least half a dozen brands including
national brands like Kellogg’s and Post. Each brand in turn
will have a slew of varieties including honey, crunchy, barn,
oats etc.
How does
one go about deciding what the best brand out there is? Tough!
Trial and error is perhaps one way to do it — go about sampling
one brand at a time and with any luck you will find a brand
(or kind) that you may like. However, just as you get comfortable
with your brand of cereal, the marketing gods might decide
to change the packaging and flavour just a bit, enough to
make you want to start the process again. If you thought deciding
on a brand of cereals is not the biggest problem in life,
you probably are right. For everything that you want to shop
for, you are going to face a similar challenge.
The issue
of choices, when it comes to shopping is exacerbated by the
fact that there is no uniformity or even rhyme or reason behind
pricing. Almost everyone here lives with the nagging fear
that they will end up paying more than Jones or the neighbour-next-door.
People are eternally looking for the ‘right deal’ and sales,
stocking stuff they don’t even need. Because of the wide array
of products and variations being provided by marketers, they
have devised clever pricing plans, bundling in discretionary
promotions and discounts. The end result? The same box of
cereal will not cost the same in two different supermarkets
down the road.
The enormity
of choices available to us was brought home one recent evening
when my friend and I, currently in the market for a used car,
decided to brainstorm over a cup of coffee (Starbucks, latte
with extra cream and sugar, in case you were wondering). In
the back of my mind, I knew that we had come a long way since
Mr Ford made his pronouncement over a century ago; Still,
the availability of brands, models and makes, with the variations
in features, not to mention the colours and prices, did not
cease to amaze. I am glad that we had decided to rule out
new, ex-showroom cars from our already complicated search
algorithm. It is the complicated research process, along with
the lack of transparent information that lead to the theory
of asymmetric information which won George Akerlof, Michael
Spence and Joseph Stiglitz, the Nobel Economic Prize for 2001.
Most consumers
have realised that there is a method in the madness and individuals
device their own strategies for shopping — some focus on pricing
and others on convenience. There is ample scope for everyone
to experiment and come up with their individual strategies.
As you may expect, there are a number of magazines, websites,
radio and TV shows dedicated to educating and informing consumers.
Going to the mall or supermarket is a welcome diversion to
most of us, even if it means using the gray cells to do some
calculative shopping.
World-class
service in America
One
of the best “perks” of living in the west is the opportunity
to enjoy a world-class service in almost every aspect of life.
By world-class service, I mean the day-to-day interactions
we have with our service providers, be it bankers, sales persons
at stores, customer representatives over the phone, check-out
girls at the supermarkets or even online interactions over
the Web.
Let
me illustrate with a personal anecdote. Just the other day,
I had an opportunity to test the limits of customer-service
at my bank in Colorado. I try to complete most of my transactions
— including paying my bills, transferring money and checking
balances etc — over the Web using my PC-bank account. I had
issued a cheque, payable to someone; but later I decided that
I shouldn’t have issued the cheque since I didn’t need the
service. Realising that it would be more cumbersome to get
a refund after the cheque was cashed, I resolved to place
a ‘stop order’ on it. I logged on to my online bank and filled
out the stop order from. A small fee was charged from my account
the next day and I assumed that everything was hunky-dory.
However,
a couple of days later, I was astounded to find that the amount
on the cheque was charged from my account. I drove down to
the nearby branch and explained my predicament to the manager.
She looked at my account and got the details of the transaction
and made a call to the online team and presto, my case was
solved. She assured me that the amount would be credited back
to my account and that I could consider my problem solved.
This
story and incidents like these are repeated hundreds of thousands
of times across the US. Customers and consumers here have
come to expect a certain level of service. As the level of
service increases, the bar is raised and every business and
enterprise tries to become more service oriented.
The
US economy is predominantly a service economy, meaning the
bulk of the revenue generated by corporations come from the
services they provide. The higher level of customer service
includes the ambience of shops, eating joints, malls and supermarkets.
It also includes the ‘standardised’ service that customers
come to expect when they go to a familiar chain like McDonalds.
McDonalds strives to ensure that every outlet across the globe
has a similar look, feel and level of service. Companies in
the west employ a variety of media in order to enhance customer
satisfaction and feedback. This includes use of ‘1-800’ free-phone
numbers, web sites and mail-in customer cards. Most products
and services come with the service description and include
free contact numbers that customers from anywhere in the country
can call.
The
premise behind service culture is simple. Things and systems,
however well designed, can and will go wrong. What makes a
difference in the customers mind is the ‘recovery process’,
i.e. the company or service provider’s reaction to an anomaly
in service and how they recover. Service employees in the
US are empowered to take a decision that will satisfy the
customer. They are also educated and trained to act as ambassadors
of the company’s culture.
Companies
and service providers in the West have realised that the cost
of acquiring a new customer is many times higher than servicing
and retaining existing ones. They also realise that the word-of-mouth
that a good service experience generates, is more valuable
than any advertisement. Customers have come to expect a certain
level of service. As the level increases, the bar is raised
and every business and enterprise tries to become more service
oriented
For
many Indians, who are used to sub-standard service in every
walk of life, the service focus in the West comes as a breath
of fresh air. Of course, a number of Indians are increasingly
travelling to the West and returning to India with world-class
service experiences fresh in their minds. They are starting
to communicate these experiences to the service providers
in India, which has led to an increasing number of Indians
expecting (and receiving) world-class service in their back-alley
too.
Consumerism in the US
America
is perhaps the most consumerist nation in the world. Being
consumerist is a double-edged sword. On one hand, Americans
who love the latest products get what they want, but in the
process, the choices overwhelm many consumers. In any consumer
driven market, the main beneficiaries are the consumers since
the producers and manufacturers bend over their backs to satisfy
their (consumers) whims.
Any marketing
manager will tell you that choice is good, and that it helps
individuals feel better about the products they are buying,
giving a touch of individualism. A mature free market leads
to a proliferation of goods and services, leading to the survival
of the fittest. However it also leaves a lot of room for second
and third rung products that manage to find a niche.
Shopping
in America is an art. Every savvy shopper lives to hunt for
the best deal she can. There is a whole range of shops, malls,
supermarkets, discount chains and specialty stores to choose
from, not to mention shopping online on the web. Prices for
the same (or similar) products vary widely. Even food chains
stock a variety of products and there too the prices can vary.
People who are price conscious generally prefer buying bulk
packaged items at discount and warehouse clubs. On arriving
in a new city, people generally ask their peers, colleagues
or friends to get an idea of the kind of shopping available.
Americans
didn’t always have this kind of variety. Even a generation
ago, people had to be content with a few generic brands of
most products, the same kind that Jones’s next door were getting.
Henry Ford, the legendary founder of the Ford motor company
reportedly once said, “Give them any colour (car) as long
as they are black”. America has come a long way since Mr Ford’s
proclamation sometime in 1906. The choices, when it comes
to cars are astounding, almost mind blowing. The same goes
for every other consumer product — from cereals to cell phones,
TVs to trucks. Consumers have the kind of choices, which are
unimaginable in many other parts of the world.
Take a
walk down any supermarket aisle and choices immediately confront
you. Getting a gallon of milk from the dairy section may not
be as simple as it sounds, especially since milk comes in
over a dozen varieties ranging from zero fat to extra rich
(and a few varieties in between). The same goes for yoghurt
— that ranges from plain, cultured, flavoured, half fat, zero
fat, made by different brands, in different packages and sizes.
I remember
the first time I went a supermarket to buy some breakfast
cereal. I hadn’t gone with any particular brand or category
in mind since I was used to ‘Kellogg’s’ back in India. Most
supermarkets have whole isles dedicated to the display of
cereals and they carry at least half a dozen brands including
national brands like Kellogg’s and Post. Each brand in turn
will have a slew of varieties including honey, crunchy, barn,
oats etc.
How does
one go about deciding what the best brand out there is? Tough!
Trial and error is perhaps one way to do it — go about sampling
one brand at a time and with any luck you will find a brand
(or kind) that you may like. However, just as you get comfortable
with your brand of cereal, the marketing gods might decide
to change the packaging and flavour just a bit, enough to
make you want to start the process again. If you thought deciding
on a brand of cereals is not the biggest problem in life,
you probably are right. For everything that you want to shop
for, you are going to face a similar challenge.
The issue
of choices, when it comes to shopping is exacerbated by the
fact that there is no uniformity or even rhyme or reason behind
pricing. Almost everyone here lives with the nagging fear
that they will end up paying more than Jones or the neighbour-next-door.
People are eternally looking for the ‘right deal’ and sales,
stocking stuff they don’t even need. Because of the wide array
of products and variations being provided by marketers, they
have devised clever pricing plans, bundling in discretionary
promotions and discounts. The end result? The same box of
cereal will not cost the same in two different supermarkets
down the road.
The enormity
of choices available to us was brought home one recent evening
when my friend and I, currently in the market for a used car,
decided to brainstorm over a cup of coffee (Starbucks, latte
with extra cream and sugar, in case you were wondering). In
the back of my mind, I knew that we had come a long way since
Mr Ford made his pronouncement over a century ago; Still,
the availability of brands, models and makes, with the variations
in features, not to mention the colours and prices, did not
cease to amaze. I am glad that we had decided to rule out
new, ex-showroom cars from our already complicated search
algorithm. It is the complicated research process, along with
the lack of transparent information that lead to the theory
of asymmetric information which won George Akerlof, Michael
Spence and Joseph Stiglitz, the Nobel Economic Prize for 2001.
Most consumers
have realised that there is a method in the madness and individuals
device their own strategies for shopping — some focus on pricing
and others on convenience. There is ample scope for everyone
to experiment and come up with their individual strategies.
As you may expect, there are a number of magazines, websites,
radio and TV shows dedicated to educating and informing consumers.
Going to the mall or supermarket is a welcome diversion to
most of us, even if it means using the gray cells to do some
calculative shopping.
World-class
service in America
One of the best “perks” of living in the west
is the opportunity to enjoy a world-class service in almost
every aspect of life. By world-class service, I mean the day-to-day
interactions we have with our service providers, be it bankers,
sales persons at stores, customer representatives over the
phone, check-out girls at the supermarkets or even online
interactions over the Web.
Let
me illustrate with a personal anecdote. Just the other day,
I had an opportunity to test the limits of customer-service
at my bank in Colorado. I try to complete most of my transactions
— including paying my bills, transferring money and checking
balances etc — over the Web using my PC-bank account. I had
issued a cheque, payable to someone; but later I decided that
I shouldn’t have issued the cheque since I didn’t need the
service. Realising that it would be more cumbersome to get
a refund after the cheque was cashed, I resolved to place
a ‘stop order’ on it. I logged on to my online bank and filled
out the stop order from. A small fee was charged from my account
the next day and I assumed that everything was hunky-dory.
However, a couple of days
later, I was astounded to find that the amount on the cheque
was charged from my account. I drove down to the nearby branch
and explained my predicament to the manager. She looked at
my account and got the details of the transaction and made
a call to the online team and presto, my case was solved.
She assured me that the amount would be credited back to my
account and that I could consider my problem solved.
This story and incidents like
these are repeated hundreds of thousands of times across the
US. Customers and consumers here have come to expect a certain
level of service. As the level of service increases, the bar
is raised and every business and enterprise tries to become
more service oriented.
The
US economy is predominantly a service economy, meaning the
bulk of the revenue generated by corporations come from the
services they provide. The higher level of customer service
includes the ambience of shops, eating joints, malls and supermarkets.
It also includes the ‘standardised’ service that customers
come to expect when they go to a familiar chain like McDonalds.
McDonalds strives to ensure that every outlet across the globe
has a similar look, feel and level of service. Companies in
the west employ a variety of media in order to enhance customer
satisfaction and feedback. This includes use of ‘1-800’ free-phone
numbers, web sites and mail-in customer cards. Most products
and services come with the service description and include
free contact numbers that customers from anywhere in the country
can call.
The
premise behind service culture is simple. Things and systems,
however well designed, can and will go wrong. What makes a
difference in the customers mind is the ‘recovery process’,
i.e. the company or service provider’s reaction to an anomaly
in service and how they recover. Service employees in the
US are empowered to take a decision that will satisfy the
customer. They are also educated and trained to act as ambassadors
of the company’s culture.
Companies and service providers
in the West have realised that the cost of acquiring a new
customer is many times higher than servicing and retaining
existing ones. They also realise that the word-of-mouth that
a good service experience generates, is more valuable than
any advertisement. Customers have come to expect a certain
level of service. As the level increases, the bar is raised
and every business and enterprise tries to become more service
oriented
For
many Indians, who are used to sub-standard service in every
walk of life, the service focus in the West comes as a breath
of fresh air. Of course, a number of Indians are increasingly
travelling to the West and returning to India with world-class
service experiences fresh in their minds. They are starting
to communicate these experiences to the service providers
in India, which has led to an increasing number of Indians
expecting (and receiving) world-class service in their back-alley
too.
Aftermath
of the E-Commerce revolution
The e-commerce
revolution and growth left behind technologies, applications
and ideas that are going to stay with us for a long time.
There have been innumerable books and articles written about
the dot.com burst and how it helped propel the economic slowdown
that we are seeing now. However, there is little doubt that
a lot of good came out of the e-commerce revolution that we
experienced. Many Indians, especially tech-savvy youngsters
got a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to launch a career and
set sail to distant shores of Boston, Liverpool and Santa
Clara. They got an opportunity to partake in, what some call,
the largest creation of wealth in human history. Indians who
came to the US as ‘producers’ of e-commerce technologies realised
that they could also be sophisticated users of these technologies.
Many ended up becoming voracious consumers of these slick
e-commerce applications that made life simpler.
Back in
1997, on discovering the joys of Internet surfing, I bumped
into (then) little-known online bookseller who was willing
to take credit card details over the Web and ship the orders
I placed ‘online’. Before coming to the US, I hadn’t even
done any shopping through catalogue retailers and here I was,
giving my credit card details to an online retailer. Doing
this, I knew I wasn’t alone. Of course, it helped that I knew
a couple of Indian friends who worked for that bookseller
Amazon.com who would wax eloquent over the dream that their
company was out to capture the world of book retailing.
Of course,
my friends, colleagues and I gradually started trusting most
of the large online retailers and took to buying goods and
services over the Web. When my bank offered me the chance
to pay all my bills online, I jumped at the opportunity. Eventually
I got sucked in, doing every conceivable thing over the Web
trading stocks, managing my portfolio, planning a vacation...the
whole nine yards. Needless to say, the dotcom burst has done
little to dampen the enthusiasm of my fellow Indians, especially
as consumers of e-commerce technologies that have become a
way of life.
Indians
in the US are among the top ten percentile when it comes to
using online tools and technologies. Case in point: Net meetings,
which started off as a means for geeks to exchange instant
messages over the Internet has become as ubiquitous as telephone,
services and e-mail. Instant message sessions are a convenient
and cheap (actually free) means of communicating with parents,
relatives and friends in India. Voice chat is really giving
a run for the money to all the long distance telecommunication
giants.
Realising
the potential of Indians in the US, a number of entrepreneurs
jumped in to build “portals” targeting this community. Even
a year ago, there were over a dozen portals offering services
ranging from directory listings to chat and bulletin board
services along with news and information. The dot.com burst
didn’t spare them. Giants like ChaiTime.com and GoYogi.com
that were started with a lot of fanfare and pizzazz are nowhere
to be seen. Of course a handful of them are still surviving,
Rediff.com and SatyamOnline.com had the good fortune of cashing
in on their IPO and are not too concerned about burning through
their cash. A few small directories like Sulekha.com and GaramChai.com
have survived, probably because they were not overly ambitious
and didn’t expend too much on buying hype.
A number
of online grocers have also jumped in to capture the Indian
audience. Namaste.com, flush with venture capital funding
seems to be going strong, so is IndiaPlaza.com. The business
model of these retailers is simple Indians in the US still
love to eat ‘dal chawaal’ or ‘sabzi roti’ and they aim to
cater to our tastes. There are Indian grocery shops almost
all the major towns and cities in the US. The online bazaars
are trying to bypass these retailers and sell directly to
us, the consumers. A few brave (and cash rich) Indian grocers
in the US are trying to keep their head above water. Namaste.com
, Rediff.com, IndiaPlaza.com and Eshakti.com may be
down but not out.
E-commerce
as a revolutionary way to do business may be dead but the
mundane applications and business models that the e-commerce
technologies are trying to support are here to stay. Even
after the so-called ‘meltdown’, we are seeing a growth in
the use of technology as a means to connect the ever-growing
Indian populace in the US with life and things back home.
Indian
shopping in the US
Towards
the end of 1994, preparing to travel abroad for the first
time, along with my other apprehensions I was wondering what
I should carry with me. Among other things, my boss who was
on-site suggested that I carry with me some of my favourite
music, Indian condiments and other ingredients. At that time
I did not realize that the world was shrinking and that one
could find just about any kind of Indian spice or ingridients
in Indian stores abroad. Indians living in different corners
of the world have their favourite Indian haunts from Devon
Avenue in Chicago, to Southhall in London, not to mention
the ubiquitous corner shops which exist in almost all the
major cities in the US, Canada and UK. One can also find exclusive
Indian enclaves in Singapore, Mauritius and other parts of
the globe.
Interestingly,
many of the products one finds in Indian shopping shelves
are the same ones being sold in the US and UK. Since they
have to pass through rigorous checks, like those done by Food
and Drug Administration in the US, the products exported abroad
are generally of a superior quality. This works out to a win-win
situation even for the manufacturers and producers since they
get a stamp of “export quality” which they tout aggressively
in their domestic marketing. Even the ease of use and preparation
of some of the ready-to-make Indian products has improved
substantially in the last. For instance, rava idlis made using
MTR’s mix many not be the same as the ones you get in a Kamat
or Udupi restaurant in Bangalore, but they come close, especially
if you are willing to discount the fact that you are making
it out of a tetra-pack, thousands of miles away from Bangalore!
It might surprise some to hear that Indian beer - Kingfisher
and Knockout, compete for market space in the increasingly
glamorous international beer market in the US. They are available
at many large liquor shops across the country.
The
market is huge but fragmented. As per the 2000 census, there
are 1.7 million people in the US who identify themselves as
Asian Indians or Indian Americans first- and second-generation
immigrants or whose ancestors migrated to the US from India.
If even half of this population consumes Indian food at least
four or five times a week, this translates to a tremendous
market. There are a number of established importers of Indian
spices, lentils (dal’s), herbs and condiments who distribute
them through the chain of Indian shops and bazaars.
Another
aspect of our “Indian culture” that people abroad love to
nurture is our love for everything ‘Bollywood’. Although I
don’t watch a lot of movies, I am in the minority. My wife
is the kind of person movie marketers’ dream of - she loves
Hindi movies and music, hence we are regular patrons at the
local India bazaar which also rents videos and DVD’s. Technical
advances, especially in the DVD technology, have made watching
Indian movies a pleasure, especially when one thinks about
the shoddy quality of some of the videos that used to circulate
even a few years ago. In many metros in the US, people have
access to Indian channels on cable. A number of movie-halls
across the country also regularly screen Indian movies. It
is not surprising that Bollywood recovers most of its movie
production costs from “international rights”, especially when
if one considers the exorbitant ticket prices one pays to
watch Indian movies. A list of Indian bazaars and grocers
can be found at GaramChai.com
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