From today, I am starting a new series in this blog where I will be reviewing some of the stores and retail establishments I visit every now and then for purchases or just window shopping and will be sharing my experiences and any offers I find and how they fare in this retail jungle. To start with I am planning to review the store More which is the latest entrant in the booming Indian retail segment. More is from the stable of Aditya Birla Group and they are the latest entrant in this ever increasing retail bandwagon in India which was already having bigger names like Reliance, Subiksha, RPG's Spencer's, and Big Bazaar and soon Wal-Mart with Bharti Group. After taking over Trinethra, Aditya Birla has started this store named as More which is just like Trinethra with selling groceries, house hold items, and fruits and vegetables. I have no idea whether they are going to rename all the existing Trinethra stores into More or is this going to be a separate entity, may be the readers can shed light on this, but I saw significant number of Trinethra products at More.
I visited the More at their new branch at Velachery which is the most happening and fast growing place in Chennai. Every retail establishment is fighting it hard to get a piece of land here, which is hardly available though. They have opened at Velachery Main Road, just diagonally opposite to the exisitng Reliance Fresh Store. There were already other stores like Fresh @ and Spencer's Daily nearby and to add to it More has opened its shop.
I saw the board as More For You and thought that that was the name of the store but eventually found out that "For You" in More For You is just a tag line and not the name of the store. First of all there was not enough parking space, the frontage was sufficient only park four to five bikes, that's all and if you come here by car, you will not find a space here and have to park it on the road which is not possible on this road especially. May be since they have planned it only for the residential area nearby who can walk in and make their purchases.
I went in on a Saturday evening, and I was expecting a very huge crowd just like I used to see in Reliance and Big Bazaar but surprise, surprise, there aren't hardly any customers inside. First thing I noticed and liked about this store is that it is spacious unlike some Reliance Fresh store and Fresh @ Store which were really congested and there is hardly any moving space available. They have planned and placed the shopping racks in such a way that there are sufficient moving space for the customers. From the outside, I thought this store would be small, but to my surprise, it is quite big inside.
I was expecting the customer service here to be just like when Reliance Fresh opened, like greeting on entry and after billing with "Vanakkam," which is a greeting in Tamil. But another surprise awaited me and no such polishing of customers happened unlike Reliance such gestures existed only for a few days and eventually no one bothered to even help the customers, that's a seperate story.
There was no air conditioner at all on that day and when inquired I found out that they have opened it up the store only this week but have not installed a/c but will be fixed up by Monday which is rather an amusing and surprising with such big co's like Aditya Birla, because if they have not fixed up the a/c and not ready to be opened really and will be ready only by Monday, then they should have opened it only on Monday rather than opening it in a hurry and let customers suffer inside the store, it was really stuffy when inside the store at that time.
I saw all the products displayed in a well arranged manner, really, and the fruits and vegetables despite not having air conditioner looked fresh too.
Since I was suffocating inside without the air conditioner, I did not bother to browse through all sections, but did visit all the sections in a hurry and found it as just another Departmental Store and found nothing unique, except finding all the household needs that all stores stock out there and found both Trinethra and More Branded products and the pricing also seems just like other stores and I did not find anything cheaper than other stores.
At the billing counter I was really satisfied to know that I can purchase using my credit/debit card for any amount and there is no minimum price barrier, as I like to do my purchases only through either one of them most of the time, I liked it. Whereas in Spencer's Daily, you need to purchase for a minimum or Rs. 250/- to use your card. The counter guy really found it hard to handle me and my very small purchase, it seems he could be new, and was asking for help for everything from printing to swiping the card. I felt they should have trained him more efficiently before asking him to hit the floor. I also felt that they have opened up this store in a hurry, I don't know why.
Just another departmental store.
I would rate 2 out 5, where 1 is poor and 5 is excellent, for More "For You" from Aditya Birla Group.
3 comments:
Went in to the store for the first time yesterday after seeing a pamplet from the store depicting some good discounts.
After shopping, billing and paying for things for about Rs.600/- I found I had just got a discout of Rs8/- for the total purchase.
Even small retail stores sell things for less than MRP and in one particular store in Coimbatore, we get about 10 - 15% discount on almost all of the branded items (they are passing on to us their bulk purchase discounts).
I dont mind paying the price but why should they give a pamplet saying great discounts and "more for you" when they do not give any.
I rushed home and reread the pamplet, I found that they displayed about 10-12% discounts for only small packings. If they are passing on the discounts they get, what about the discounts they get for larger packings? Also I found - in small words that the discounts will be only from jan 1 to jan 31 or till stocks last. And they gave the pamplet somewhere in feb 1 st or 2 nd week only.
I felt cheated. They should not have given pamplet if they were not ready to give discounts.
If you look forward to something and not get it you will feel more disappointed. I dont think they will survive long if they continue this pricing.
You are right Uma, these so-called big stores or new retail stores have been playing with customer mentality in the name of discounts, but in actuality those discounts are nothing when compared to what the neighbourhood kirana stores are offering and I guess from your experience even the More the store from Aditya Birla Group is no exception!
hi,i am charu.i made some purchases at the more departmental store today at sec.27c mkt,chandigarh i was shocked that while discount was mentioned on the shelves for different items but the same was not granted to me in my bill.when i brought it to the notice of the cashier he guided me to his seniormost authority in that dept.store.when i told the problem to that gentleman,he told me that the discounts are mentioned but not applicable.to my utter disbelief when i said it is wrong to mention the discount on the product & then not give it,he said,"fine then,don't come to the store at all" & walked away.i was in a good mind to return the products purchased & ask for my refund but then i couldn't stoop down to the level of that gentleman.
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