You guys should read this article before the link dies (it's good only
for a week):
http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB118651168871890705-lMyQjAxMDE3ODA2ODUwMTgxWj.html
An interesting user experience-related issue.
<quote>
On a tour of one of his supermarkets, Kishore Biyani notes that shopping
carts are getting stuck in the narrow aisles, wheat and lentils have
spilled onto the floor, black spots cover the onions and it's difficult
to hear above the constant in-store announcements. He grins and
congratulates the store manager.
Mr. Biyani, 45 years old, has built a large business and a family
fortune on the simple premise that, in India, chaos sells.
Americans and Europeans might like to shop in pristine and quiet stores
where products are carefully arranged. But when Mr. Biyani tried that in
Western-style supermarkets he opened in India six years ago, too many
customers walked down the wide aisles, past neatly stocked shelves and
out the door without buying.
Mr. Biyani says he soon figured out what he was doing wrong. Shopping in
such a sterile environment didn't appeal to the lower middle-class
shoppers he was targeting. They were more comfortable in the tiny,
cramped stores -- often filled with haggling customers -- that typify
Indian shopping. Most Indians buy their fresh produce from vendors who
keep vegetables under burlap sacks.
</quote>
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Madhu Menon
Shiok Far-eastern Cuisine
Indiranagar, Bangalore
Visit us @ http://www.shiokfood.com
Phone: (080) 4116 1800
My food photos: http://flickr.com/photos/themadman
