Impecunious Shopkeeper

Being a shopkeeper is not an easy job. People see their prosperity but don’t see what they have to go through to achieve it.

 

Golden Era of business has gone back about 15-20 years back. I speak to one of my uncles and he recounted those days. In his viewpoint number of shops use to be less. Shops were usually run by big families and the competition was not tough as it is today.

 

He is having very valid reasons about how difficult it is to do business today. He curses globalization for this.

 

“Every big city is having big air-conditioned shopping malls. Why will customer come to us, when he is getting so many facilities there! Good offers, variety to choose are shopping malls plus point. At shops, we provide them that item which gives us more profit and to buy it they have to stand in an open area and in a queue. At Shopping Mall, they are like king strolling in his garden.”

 

“And, this is not enough! Then Shopping Websites entered the market to murder retail shops. Nowadays, one can buy at the comfort of his or her home any stuff he wants. There was a time when ladies use to hesitate shopping their personal stuff and usually buy other stuff also to curb over their embarrassment but now they can buy easily from home, goods will be delivered in a box, nobody knows what it is and that’s it.”

 

“But I have heard a few frauds of online website.” I interrupted him.

 

“Yes, my dear! It happened and we actually celebrated it as it brings back the customer to our shops. We also ran a few campaigns on social media and it was helping.”

 

“So you should be happy now, why are you sad?”

 

“Now a new thing has entered the market, reselling. Now everyone is becoming reseller easily and it is being supported by shopping sites itself as their items are being recommended to customers by their known person so it gives a better chance of closing of a deal. It is a new trend and it is taking over the whole market now”

 

He continued, “Now what customer do he choose an item to buy, checks all shopping websites, visit malls, visit resellers and then visit shops to find a better price or a replica product to show off and then buy. It has killed all margins and sometimes we are forced to sell at a loss so that stock doesn’t get a dump.”

 

He gets full into tears while saying so and I am thinking how time has changed and the customer has become the king of the market.