How retailers upped the ante to deal with supply chain constraints

The biggest lesson in the situation is redefining the hygiene of the shopping environment, which will now be an ongoing exercise, says Big Bazaar CEO Sadashiv Nayak.

The lockdown announced last month imposed curbs on everyday life without precedent in peacetime. After the initial shock, retailers have found ways to deal with the supply chain constraints, upped the ante on in-store people, product and hygiene management. “While production and distribution of non-essential sectors have come to a virtual standstill, essential goods retailers have kept the ball rolling, pinning their hopes on the government to keep their supply chain undisturbed,” says R N Iyer, CEO and founder of Vayana Network, a platform that connects corporates and their supply chain to financial institutions.

To start with organised retailers such as Big Bazaar, Spencer's and Reliance Retail have all announced that their supermarkets and convenience shops would limit customer numbers, though the limits are different for different branches based on the footfalls and the number of tills, with shop managers using their judgement on customer numbers and when the shop is at capacity. Many have enforced a one-in-one-out policy to enforce social distancing. Some are also using volunteers or marshals to help manage queues outside shops and remind customers about the government’s social distancing rules.

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Two things stood out from our conversation with retailers — that the ones with online delivery and click and collect services are working at full capacity. And that supermarkets are asking customers to pay with cards or any other form of virtual money rather than cash at tills as a way to help contain the spread of the virus.

Now the thing to remember is, that these retailers have to tackle challenges at two ends — the front end or the shop floor and the back end or the supply chain. The front end is relatively easy —it's more about tackling store traffic and hygiene. Sadashiv Nayak, CEO, Big Bazaar, says people are going to congregate at food stores and so the prime focus is on maintaining hygiene and taking safety precautions. “We are making sure we don’t have too many people at the store at a time. So they are being asked to queue up outside the Big Bazaar stores, maintain a distance of one metre from each other and even inside the store, we are ensuring there is no crowding. There is mandatory temperature checking at the entry point. This gives confidence to the authorities that Big Bazaar is well-placed to serve consumer needs.”