Bargaining and the nature of war

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: As the retail revolution sweeps India—with shopping becoming the national past time and malls and stores shouting hoarse through discount stickers and posters—Indian consumers are desperately trying to come to terms with a traditional itch: the itch to bargain. What is the big deal in bargain? What does it say about us as consumers? Can big players in retail exploit this itch to win in the world of cut-throat retail competition?

Let’s first try to understand what bargain actually means and then try to fathom the mystic passion this word unlocks in our minds. I referred to the lexicon to get the varying nuances of the word. The dictionary definition of ‘bargain’ as a noun is good buy/good deal; as a verb this word denotes haggling.

In other words, if you want to convert the activity of buying into a feel-good emotion, you need the act of haggling. Bargain is backed by a sense of victory. The act of buying remains incomplete if you don’t win.

Winning is a powerful universal emotion; for Indians it is more so because this commodity/emotion is desperately in short supply in our lives. Bargain in the marketplace is one small tournament, which we feel we have a fair chance of winning, and thus we should, by all means. “Just guess how much I paid for this article,” is the common guessing game in an Indian household.

The idea of bargaining is probably inherent in our Indian sense of valuation. The worth of a thing or of a being is not in the appearance. The true value needs to be fathomed, arrived at and understood. Valuation is a mind game that needs to be played with argument and counter argument, logic and judgement. Deny your consumer this drama and you are depriving him of the fundamental flavour of shopping.

Ask any marketer and he will agree with the adage, consumer is the king. Discount never makes one feel like one. Discount appears as a cold, one-sided instrument. It is like an ex parte judgement. It is decided in your absence and it will continue to be there in your absence. That’s why, in spite of its attraction, there is always an air of resentment and mistrust around discount offers: “Do you think they are actually giving 50% discount?” “Have they inflated the price? Is it a gimmick?”

Perhaps, the complaint is not so much against the staged presentation as against depriving consumers the central role they have enjoyed traditionally.

Bargain is participative and interactive. It allows the scope for action and drama. A commercial transaction is taken to the level of a stage performance. Emotions are unlocked and the codes of win and defeat are played in high theatrical pitch. The whole game starts with a mock transfer of ownership: “Yeh aap ki shop samajh lo.” The consumer apparently is given a free hand to decide price: “Jo marzi de do.”

And then the dramatic exchanges start. The consumer’s onslaught on price is countered by the seller’s cries for mercy. The gestures of submission and disarming laughters are interspersed with dialogues like “If you pay me that price I will surely die. Please keep my pot boiling.” There are continuous references to the customer as malik/madamji, saab/ memsaab. The seller downplays himself as a small trader, chhota aadmi, garib vyapari till the game of stooping to conquer comes to a happy end for both.

The seller has managed to get his desired price and also an impressed customer who will, in all probability, come back for the second time. The buyer goes back happy relishing every moment of his financial victory. The saga will be a part of his engrossing narrative in the next social gathering.

Most of the local big stores who have already adopted the straight jacket of fixed price have also managed to keep a diluted version of this bargain drama through their teams of salesmen who whisper to the consumer to approach the owner. The owner obliges. “Just to honour your words.” Or, “You being the first customer...” Or some similar immunity clauses are put before exceptions are allowed. A nation that has been brought up on a generous diet of upri and bargain, declared discount are bound to appear bland to the consumer.

As malls and stores vie with each other, and retailers try to get a bigger pie of consumer pocket, it may be a good idea to look into the old bargain strategy as a new success formula. Give the bargain blood hounds the taste of blood. If not in its undiluted version, at least a ritualistic version can do wonders. Why can’t a discount be packaged in the cloak of bargain?

I visited the famous GR Thanga Maligai Jewellery shop of Chennai on the akshay tritiya day. A troop of security guards was trying their best to control a huge crowd queued outside waiting to gain entry. The shop has meticulously segmented itself according to price, weight, range and type of jewellery and is plastered with stickers carrying the “fixed price” message. But I found customers engaged in the discount dialogue with the salesmen.

Once the final discounted price was worked out the customer was given a parting tip by the salesman: “If you want more discount, approach the store manager.” The look of elation and disbelief on the face of the customer when she got more discount from the manager ought to be seen to be believed.

The taste of victory is always sweet but that of an unexpected one is sweeter. Discounts are visible, but bargains are created. It has the magical quality of producing value from thin air. As long as retailers deliver this magic, consumers would love him. Consistently delivering this commodity will be the most challenging job for tomorrow’s retailers. Who knows the retail store may need to rebrand itself to do that. If discount stores have appeared can Bargain Bazaars be far behind?