While doing my MBA, I learnt the details of SCM or supply chain management. But it was another subject in our curriculum ’’Strategy Management’’ which really brought the subject into contemporary focus. The primary entities in any Supply Chain can be: manufacturer->Super Stockist->, wholesaler->, Distributor->, retailer->. (Not essentially always). The main point here being that each and every entity makes the customer pay a little bit more, as they all have their cut. This is one reason why portals such as Amazon and e-bay are such big hits. They eliminate the middleman. In India the main e-retailers are:Indiatimes, Bazee, Rediff. These e-shops have a business model different from the orthodox one. Its’s manufacturer->Portal->customer. There is one more entity on which the portal relies heavily on: the courier guys. So you see how e shopping can offer discounts and still make a profit. Now I’ll come to my experience with Rediff. The problem I had seen with Indian e-retailers was that they sold too much junk. The best way to retail on the net is to have associations with big brands, which can be retailed at a discount. The reason being: big brands are recognized, quality assurance is implicit and they are wanted. So when I saw an ad on Rediff for Nike shoes I decided to take the plunge. Main reasons being:I required a shoe; the shoe looked good and there was a discount of 30%. One thing, which Rediff suffers from, is too few choices for the customer. Only 7-8 shoe designs are on display. Having a Rediff account helped and I easily went onto the shopping screen. Here a step-by-step menu of easy choices let the purchase go through. The best thing about Rediff is paying cash on delivery. That way you don’t have to worry about losing your money. I chose a t-shirt first and went for the cash option. In case of the shoe I thought let’s try the cheque option and see. Unfortunately the order became confirmed as pay by cheque. I was in a dilemma. But, help was right there on the screen. Rediff has a toll free call centre for it’s shopping. I called them up and they assured me that nothing much was amiss. All I had to do was not send the cheque!! And in case I wanted the product still, all I had to do was order again and choose the cash option. I was also advised to send a mail to cancel my previous order.
The next best thing about Rediff shopping is service. The call centre made me feel good even though I had made a mistake. They sent a mail confirming that the order was cancelled. The shoes were promised to be delivered in 7 days. They arrived in 3! As a customer I could also track my order through the net. So I knew exactly when the shoes had been dispatched, what was the courier number and the status of the order. In the US, Fed Ex also does the same. But this is India; so getting such good service is great! The t-shirt even though ordered first still hasn’t turned up. But then it had a delivery time of 18 days!! Hope the good experience continues. And yes…for all those who are wondering how I picked up my shoe size, look, feel etc; the answer is simple. I went to a Nike showroom, tried on the shoes and bought them on Rediff! Welcome the new age customer!!!!