" Today is no Exception "

Sunday, May 20, 2007
" Today is no Exception "



A tangible benefit of staying for about 35 days after our arrival here,is seeing places - in a way I should say ' merry go round ' like. I used to think world is a very big place but after appreciating how Americagoes about, I am of the opinion that the world is a small business village due to globalisation techniques- a big globalfamily, beautiful in its diversity.

There has been a squeezing out of middle line in Corporate America - tobe more precise the middle man is out.

In today's world, the Society is becoming bi-polar, that is 'haves '
and ' have-nots'. America is a Nation of ' haves '. The Country realizes that " A CUSTOMER IS THE MAIN ACTOR IN THE MARKETING DRAMA '. Consumers demand a multiple of choices, varieties,etc. Consumers want it now.

" TODAY IS NO EXCEPTION ". This is the motto in the underlying commitment to provide the best service, overall value, and wide varieties of products possible - every day to the general public. There are many " Ways ", in U.S. to cater to this commitment.

1) " SUBWAY " is the name of a multinational flag ship fast food restaurant franchise that mainly sells Sandwiches and Salads. 'Live to eat'or 'eat to live' may be an enigmatic for a ready answer but an average American, male or female,live to eat, as evident from their healthy appearance. Subway meet their wants, which is the fastest growing chain. Subway functions inside Wall Mart Stores also. Their growth can be
attributed to the growing concern in health care which Subway has taken
advantage as a marketing strategy. Giant or King size sandwich is also available. They serve mainly Co-Cola. Pepsi , Pizzas , are added attraction, of late.

2) Subways also refer to mass transit system. Manhattan's sky-scrappers may be world famous but the Big-Apple's most impressive feat lies in the underground fast rail cars. Transportation needs are also taken care by call taxis, and "Ride"(s) .

3) Safe Way is a Fortune 500 company. It is the second largest Supermarket chain in U.S. Safe Way is a brand name used by several supermarket chains around the world. They are in Ireland, U.K., and Safe Way Australia is a subsidiary of Wool Worth Ltd, to site a few examples.

4) WALL * MART is currently world's second largest Corporation behind the oil giant Exxonmobil. It is the largest grocery retailer in U.S. WALL*MART Discount Stores sell general merchandise products and selective food items. Wall*MART operates Sam's Club , a chain of warehouse clubs that sell groceries and general merchandise.

5) KING SOOPERS is grocery chain stores with significant presence in Colorado. Bakery, diary , frozen foods, meat, pharmacy, snacks, liquor, books are the main products. Those who buy 20 items and more can move to the fast lane and make the payment. Self scan and check- out facility is also available. Baby seats are available in the cart to enable mothers to carry out the shopping needs along with the infants.

6) Home Depot is an American retailer for home improvement and construction products. There are more than 2000 stores where 35500 people are employed. They operate big box format stores for a turnover of US$ 91 billion and currently occupy the 20th spot in Fortune 500 .

7) Target is the 3rd largest seller of music in U.S. They are mass merchandise seller and 6th largest retailer behind WALL*MART in U.S. Target is recognized as the largest seller of gift cards in America.

8) India Market or India Stores operate in most of the counties in U.S.A. They take care of the needs of Indians. Most of the vegetables, Pickles, Basmati Rice, Atta, snacks like'murrukku', 'thenkoszal' etc., groceries & provision and masala items are shipped from India. Indians manage the stores and U.S.Indians have no grudge in not locating their sweet home nostalgia products, some of them, though at a premium..

9) Walgreens is a pharmacy chain, mail service pharmacy, in U.S. There are more than 5500 walgreens and annual sales from each store amounts to US$7.9 million. they operate 24 hours, all days in a week. They also have a photo lab, cosmetics and select merchandise. In selected cities, certified staff diagnosis, treatment for general illness is available.

10) Communication needs are met in a novel way in U.S. I find " NEWS STAND " in all locations where movement of people in their vehicles are more. There are two are three green colored boxes stand on the floor with suitable titles. " Denver Post ", other popular magazines like ' Home ', "Mail', etc., are all available and one can pick up their likes on pay and carry basis. They have a system of dropping the news paper wrapped in a polythene cover at the outside of the house which will be lying unattended in sun, rain, snow and mist. People take them home as when they return or at their leisure if at home. The news papers are dropped by the driver of the carrier vehicle.

11) Besides this, there are full pledged libraries for every county and the residents become automatic members. We have started reading New York Times Best selling authors like Nora Roberts, James Patterson, Noel Hynd, Gresham etc. When we return the books, there is no need to go into the library. We can simply drop the Books in the four big drop boxes kept in the run way. As we are taking the turn in the car, we can drive near to the drop boxes and just shove the books and keep going. The computerized system take care of the records towards books issued and returned.

12) Fuel filling is carried out by the respective vehicle owners by swapping the card and setting the gauges.

12) Monday is one day fixed in a week for clearing the garbages for which every house is provided with a 4' high, green colored container with wheels. The house wife are seen busy on Monday early mornings to dump all the week's garbage in the green container and move it just up to the elevated curve outside the house. A vehicle between 7 to 8 a.m. will clear the debris and leave the empty greens inside the car garage.

Note : - There are many other retail markets in U.S. which may not find mention in this article, probably we might not have had a chance to pass thru' or visit so far.

The retail markets ask the consumers " Tell us how we are doing " by opinion survey with a printed format where the evaluation is carried out by the consumers in 1 to 5 rating scale about the produce , price and services. Customer Service Specialists are available for this purpose. Take for instance any retail market say King soopers or SubWay. Each one of them is standardised in respect of space, inside lay out, design of stores, type of produces, service area, number employed, through out United States , so much so the King Soopers in New York , Colorado or Ohio may all look alike.

Pl.read the third line in para 3 above where I have commented that a customer is the main actor in this marketing drama. The U.S. is conscious about the strategy and en devours to keep this important actor satisfied always - today is no exception.