mumbai top consumer product marketers and retailers believe the current slowdown in demand will ultimately help them win more loyal customers as they are working on consumer connect in slowdown do what is right for the consumers when the cycle turns we will be a far more consumercentric company than what we are today manish tiwari executive director sales customer development at hindustan unilever said at the et international retail leaders summit in mumbai the countrys top consumer goods firm worlds largest coffee retail chain starbucks of the us and indias largest retailer future group all acknowledged a slowdown in their sectors but said continuing with planned investments is important for a longterm growth retailers sales growth has slowed as rising prices and slowing economic growth are making indians check their household shopping list and in some cases shift to lowerpriced products retailers feel that if consumer companies collaborate with modern trade by clubbing products even of adjacent segments it could help increase volume growth as well as support weaker segments in the basket for instance future group said when it clubbed several products of cleaners from toilets to floor and glass into a single pack it was an instant hit during the recent independence day week sales its akin to the indian thali versus a la carte menu in a restaurant devendra chawla president at food bazaar said sometimes you want to order all dishes separately or you want it like a thali with some dishes together this saves consumer time and due to great value any one of the cleaner which otherwise would not have been picked gets into the home helping increase penetration and consumption he added experts however warned that while discounting could trigger sales to an extent it might not help loyalty marketing consultant harish bijoor said that when he recently conducted a survey covering over 18000 kirana stores that dont offer discounts and over 220 modern trade outlets that thrived on priceoffs he found out that 90 of the customers were loyal to smaller shops compared to around 40 for modern stores yet discounting merchandise contributed over 35 of leading food and grocery retailers sales during the year ended march for global players such as starbucks its value for money is what consumers are really seeking out we dont see any pessimism and indian consumers spend when they see value in the brand said avani davda chief executive at tata starbucks the 5050 joint venture between starbucks corporation and tata global beverages that operates starbucks cafes in the country et bureau published on aug 23 2013 at 0936 am ist telegram facebook copy link be the first one to comment comment now comments comment now read comment 1 all comments post post find this comment offensive choose your reason below and click on the submit button this will alert our moderators to take actions reasons for reporting foul language defamatory inciting hatred against a certain community out of context spam others