I wrote this a few months after moving to Canada from India.
I believe this may still be relevant, especially to newcomers.
Having recently moved to Canada from India, we are still in the unlearn / relearn phase in quite a few aspects of life. Grocery shopping for starters. Presented here a few “learnings”…
- Wear your sneakers / walking shoes
Wondering what that has got to do with shopping ? Well, quite a lot.
That is because the average store size here is well, quite large, compared with what we see in India. Dominated by the supermarket / convenience formats, the average Indian store is around 3000 – 5000 sq feet.
A mere 10% of the smaller Western supermarkets !
Add to the mix new store layouts, more navigation and possibly many iterative trips – well, a pair of good walking shoes are your best friends – and maybe a bottle of water too !
2. Start reading the signs
Since we weren’t the first set of shoppers to be dazzled by the store sizes and layouts, the stores had put up signs that help people find the way around. But that is just one piece of the puzzle. Old habits of looking at shelves, comparing products, checking out assortments, planograms and displays meant that your’s truly took a while to register their presence. Also, unlike India, there aren’t too many employees on the floor to ask directions from.
Of course, now I am a semi-pro, but, please learn from my mistake !
So, look up and read the signs… (reference image from the internet)
3. BYOB – a.k.a Bring Your Own Bags – because like in India, they’re charged. And its good for the environment
4. Carry your quarters : No I am not alluding to the measure of liquor serving popular back home. 25c coins are required to unlock shopping carts at some retailers. Don’t be alarmed, you get it back !
5. The Voyage of Price Discovery
Having negotiated a contract or two, I had developed a set of reservations about the Maximum Retail Pricing regime back home. Simply put, every SKU in the store carries a manufacturer ascertained printed price. It is believed that such a system will prevent over charging and keep prices in check. However, it starts to hurt when you’re negotiating a mark down margin on the sticker price. Also, since MRP doesn’t change frequently, balancing discounts with profitability becomes a tight rope walk.
That said, it was a little disorienting at first at not being able to realize what the right price would be for a particular product. Prices for the same branded goods vary across retailers – because like the brands they sell, each retailer also strives for different competitive positioning, and prices goods accordingly. This makes it even more confusing at first. The key to solving this riddle lies in not taking the printed price at face value (something which was a given earlier, and a slightly harder instinct to shake off), and always take a look at the information which the retailers provide themselves.
Which manifests each week in the form of a printed flyer, delivered right into your mailbox.
This helps you plan your shopping basket smartly. The Indian equivalents were the full page newspaper ads announcing sales, or the Metro Mailer, but these are quite different in scope and application. There is also an app which hosts e-flyers, but browsing it becomes a little tedious.
Some retailers also offer price matching – if you find a cheaper price on a competitors catalog, they match it – no questions asked. Typical caveats are restricting the number of products, and ensuring that the competing offers are from the same time period. That said, this is a good way to balance the basket and not make rounds of too many stores for grocery shopping !
5. The visual experience
Stores here are a visual delight to explore. Despite being packed with large assortments, it seems that the in store visibility norms are much more stringent and enforced. Neater, cleaner layouts (ref the banner picture), which are easy on the eye – and a lot of constraints for channel marketers (guilty plea here) who excelled in designing creative, “clutter breaking” ideas previously!
6. Self check outs & Wave pay
Stuck in a slow moving queue (don’t they all feel slow moving?) with only two items to pay for. Well, there is help at hand. Save your time and go to the self checkout. Scan the bar codes, loyalty card and use your Wave pay card when prompted.
Side note : I still feel a little jittery using the wave pay option – but it is reassuring to know that the upper limit on these cards can be capped basis individual comfort levels- which is a relief !
Summing up : Letting go of older, established mental models and building new ones has been a mix of emotions in varied measures. That said, the contrasts between two retail environments provide a fertile environment for observation and generation of new ideas. Worth the fun, for sure !
#retail #grocery #shopping #India #Canada #immigrantlife