Challenges in the day of a Kirana store Shopkeeper
"we have to spend our own money and time on home delivery"
have to make multiple visits to the same shelf to get items in list placed non-adjacent to each other
Often have trouble finding certain small, rarely sold items instantly
"Dikhaiyye": Customers like to see and compare item varieties before purchase
more trips to shelves
more time
up-selling/ give recommendations
Oftentimes, the visit to the shelf shows that they do not have a particular product. They have to go back and report this to the customer
Counting items received from dealer takes a lot of time
dealer has to wait to get paid
items have to be put on display/ carried to the store inventory
have to make note of what item is going scant in stock
dedicated task
as and when
while dealer visits with a list
wastes dealer's time
daily ritual, wastes time everyday
may not have time during peak hours
Orders taken on phone waste more time as the shopkeeper has to make a list and note the address
Separate payment for an accountant who converts manual records to digital every 2-3 months
Customers often add items to the list if they remember something
On the go additions and replacement in the list
verbal list (one by one) #
Making a list of purchase before dealer visits #
Cash payments preferred at most kirana shops
Lose a vast number of customers who are used to digital money
time spent in giving change is more
Cannot attend telephone orders while attending to customers at peak hours
"We write sales at the end of the day from galla inspection. Subtracting it from the purchase gives profit"
Cannot explain variety to a customer ordering on phone
Customers in queue have to wait while we attend to one customer
"We don't cater to multiple customers at once when both have lengthy lists" #
Increases wait time for both
shop appears more crowded
Manual calculation of bills is slow in case of large orders (to reduce billing errors)
bills are not legible
calculators are often not used to add bills
intend to save steps
do not want to waste time in input of numbers
trust mind more than a machine
discount %
rate x quantity
shoplifting may occur
do not care much until the loss is not very heavy
mobility of the shopkeeper is compromised
Even less-educated shopkeepers are fairly adept at manual bill-making
Do not remember the rates of packaged goods and have to check sometimes