Christmas is classically a peak selling season for retailers in many nations around the world. Sales increase dramatically as all rich and poor purchase gifts, decorations, and supplies to celebrate. In the U.S, the “Christmas shopping season” starts as early as October. In Canada, marketers begin advertising campaigns just before Halloween, (it is a yearly ritual observed in a number of countries to remember all dead people on October 31st), and step up their marketing following Remembrance Day on November 11. In the UK and Ireland, the Christmas shopping season starts from mid November; around the time when high street Christmas lights are turned on to mark the beginning of celebrations. In Mexico it begins from third week.  In the United States, it has been calculated that a quarter of all personal spending takes place during the Christmas shopping season. The winter breeze has a charm in it; shopping in winter is a blissful affair.

Winter season has a rustic appeal. Winter is the coldest season of the year. December and January are chiefly the winter months. Cold winds blow from the north. Thick fog often hides the sun, and cold becomes severe. People are seen basking in the sun, or sitting around the fire, to keep their body warm. In winter, we get lovely fruits and vegetables; it gives us various kinds of seasonal flowers; Dalais, Roses, Lily, Lavender, Primrose, Daisy, and Begonia and many other seasonal beautiful flowers make the season multihued. The winter sky is clear and blue. The roads and paths are clean and dry. You can go for long walks without sweating. The winter sun is mild and warm. Everyone is in full of amusement. The winter season is lit with nice, dim beautiful sconces. The beautiful, cold dew drops on rooftops and ground look as beautiful as pearls. The cold morning with nice music and deep-red rising sun is what people wait for. Winter is indeed a season to be celebrated.

The month of December being the last month of year usually passes fast because of the Christmas and year-end. People usually prefer celebrating year ends in far-off destinations. Therefore after 15^th December you find many people opting for leave. Holiday plans are made well in advance.

And 31st December means celebration for every individual. The New Year carries special symbolism for one and all. And why is the celebration of the New Year so common around the world, as it has been for at least as long as there have been calendars? Behavior that everywhere must surely be tied to something natural in the human beings, something intensely meaningful and important given all the energy and resources we put into both the celebration and our efforts to make good on which we start working well in advance. As common as the celebration of New Year’s Day is, it may be that the symbolism we attach to this one moment is rooted in one of the most powerful motivations of all, and that is our motivation to stay alive another year. And, many of us make list resolutions for the New Year. So what even if we fail to keep most of them…..

At one second past midnight on Sunday, the day will change to Monday, which is otherwise normal ordinary transition that happens every day, with no connotation. But somehow this change, which will end one old year and begin the next New Year 2018. That makes the difference. This unique tick of the clock has always encouraged all of us to celebrate, welcoming the New Year with new zeal and new enthusiasm. On the other hand, some people experience a sense of nostalgia as they reflect on the events that took place in their lives in the past 12 months. To step outside to live day-to-day in which we’re at all times so busy with. For many of us the last day of the year is the day to reflect back; to look flipside, take stock, to assess how we did in the year, and to cheerfully resolve to do better and look forward. Ha! Another year, it’s time to raise our glasses and toast to “our survival” yes, another year to accomplish many more things.

Some people celebrate New Year’s Eve by attending midnight church services, while others gather around in public venues such as hotels, clubs and many gather in friend’s house, grounds etc. The size of festive events for New Year’s Eve varies in size and theme. Some people attend formal masquerade balls while others have costume parties. Many New Year’s Eve celebrations are commenced with firework.

Many people start counting down to New Year’s Day in the last minute or seconds before the last night of the year ends and the New Year begins. Some people tune into watching televised countdowns. As the clock strikes midnight into New Year’s Day, many people celebrate this event by exchanging hugs, kisses, and wish each other a “Happy New Year”. In some parts of the world, including in the United States, many people sing the Scottish song “Auld Lang Syne” during the New Year’s Eve celebrations. The song means can old acquaintances be forgotten and never be brought to mind? The song references the love and kindness that was experienced in the past; it also gives listeners a sense of union and belonging to bring with them into the future. Because of its meaning it’s quite fitting song to be sung on New Year eve.

It is important to note that not all cultures follow the Gregorian calendar in observing New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. But, the Hindus, Chinese, Coptic, Jewish, Islamic calendars differ to that of the Gregorian calendar. However, for businesses around the world, 1^st Jan marks a new beginning of a calendar year.

Here’s wishing you a Merry Christmas!!

]]> https://drvidyahattangadi.com/what-is-the-meaning-of-christmas/feed/ 0 https://drvidyahattangadi.com/happy-diwali/ https://drvidyahattangadi.com/happy-diwali/#respond Fri, 01 Nov 2024 00:00:00 +0000 http://drvidyahattangadi.com/?p=3623

Diwali is one of the most auspicious festivals in India; it’s a festival of lights. Diwali has a unique charm of its own; it is known as festival of prosperity. People start preparing for the celebrations well before the start of the festive season. They clean, pain, decorate their homes and prepare exotic dishes to be distributed among the loved ones. The celebration begins with shopping, buying gifts for distribution. It is difficult to imagine celebrating Diwali without thinking about giving or receiving Gifts. Gifting is a major part of the celebration.

In India, Diwali celebration is a time for the corporate to distribute gifts; from micro, small, medium to big corporate houses all believe in gifting their employees, suppliers, consultants, bankers, channel partners etc. It is one of the best times to reward the employees for all their hard work throughout the year: employees get their bonus, this is a very old method of rewarding the employees.

The rich and the poor all celebrate the festival in their own way. One can add a personal touch and, unique ideas while gifting in Diwali. People give gifts because it helps in strengthening relationship; the gifts are a wonderful way to express affection. For some gifting is a way to celebrate the festival, while for others it is a special occasion to let family and friends know that the giver cares for them. In short, people give gifts as a way of showing thoughtfulness, love and affection. When we give gifts, it brings joy or pleasure to the receiver. In addition, giving gifts is something which usually makes us feels good. When shopping for gifts it does not matter whether the gift is small or big, expensive of cheap, the value in terms of love is beyond measure.

Gifting is an art. It shows the gracefulness of the giver and the receiver as well. Giving a handmade gifts indicates that one is willing to put in the time and efforts for the loved ones. It’s just not crafts or painting which can be given as gifts in this category it can also be homemade chocolates and cakes, self-knitted scarves and more. Gifting handicrafts and items from cottage industry shows how much one cares for the artisans and micro industry workers.  I believe people enjoy gifting because they reaps the biggest psychological gains from a gift. The act of giving helps to think of others. When we think of others and put them ahead of ourselves, we reduce our thoughts about ourselves and thereby resting our ego a little bit. Similarly, when we accept gifts with genuine gratitude irrespective of whether we like it or not, we reduce thoughts about ourselves and thereby our ego. This is a spiritual benefit of giving and receiving gifts.

Gifts are given to mark milestones, and Diwali is one of the most auspicious occasion. Diwali also marks the end of harvest season of the year.  This is the time, farmers measure their harvest from their crops. Farmers gratify the mother earth for the plentiful bounty of the year gone by, and hence they share their happiness with everybody else. In fact this is one important reason why they exchange gifts and sweets.

That said this is not the only reason why we gift sweets. Diwali also means start of a new year. It also marks the beginning of a new farming, starting a new year of business. We welcome New Year by firing crackers, wearing new clothes, visiting temples, visiting the friends and relatives and exchanging sweets and gifts.

Wishing a very Happy Diwali and a Prosperous New Year to all regular and wonderful readers on my blog!!!

Retail reinvention is an ongoing process which is not so simple. Brick and mortar B&M refers to a physical presence of an organization or business in one or more buildings or other structure. The term brick-and-mortar business is often used to refer to a company that possesses buildings; often including retail stores, production facilities, or warehouses for its operations.  In contrast to brick-and-mortar, online shops have no physical presence for shoppers, such online businesses normally have non-public physical facilities from which they either run business operations.

Bricks and clicks is a term for a business model by which a company integrates both offline (bricks) which means shops and stores plus online (clicks) presences. Additionally sometimes retailers add a few extra flips added such as catalogue, telephone ordering and mobile phone apps and telephone sales support. The initiation of mobile web has made businesses operating bricks and clicks businesses very popular, because it means customers can do tasks like shopping when they have spare time and do not have to be at a computer. Most of the bricks and clicks customers like to use mobile shopping sites. A common example of the bricks and clicks model is when a chain of stores allows the customer to order products both online and physically in one of their stores, also allowing them to either pick-up their order directly at a local branch of the store or get it delivered to their home.

The bricks and clicks model has typically been used by traditional retailers who have extensive logistics and supply chains, but are well known and often respected for their traditional physical presence. And, they are famous because it is far easier for a traditional retailer to establish an online presence than it is for a start-up company. It takes years of presence for a retailer to establish a traditional presence, including a strong and well recognized brands, without having a large marketing budget. It can also be said that adoption of a bricks and clicks model where a customer can return items to one of the stores of the organization can reduce costs to a business such as shipping for undelivered and returned items.

PC world is an example of Bricks and Clicks which has both offline and online presence. It provides a range of electronic products but focuses on computers. It is very popular and has numerous stores worldwide. It provides an online e-business system for its customers and clients; to purchase the products online, the customers need to create an account on the stores website. This assists the store in keeping a record and allows the company to keep track of the purchases and payment being made. The financial transactions over the website consists data on the customer as they have proof of the card holders identity which helps them to assist customers in managing any fraudulent transactions. The customers also can make purchases in person with cash at the stores and have repair services or exchanges done to products purchased online.

Advantages: bricks and clicks is beneficial to various segments. For example, supermarkets often have different customer types requiring alternative shopping options; one group may wish to see the goods directly before purchase and like the expediency of quickly shopping, while another group may require a different convenience of shopping online and getting the order delivered when it suits them. Thus, having a bricks and clicks model means both customer groups are satisfied.

Disadvantages: A major factor of concern of this business model is cost controlling, as usually maintaining a physical presence and online presence. Also, online shopping makes price comparison easier for customers, this encourages a ‘race-to-the-bottom’, where retailers only compete on price, with quality and service deteriorating as a result. This is especially dominant because online shopping allow prices to be compared without even visiting a retailer’s website.

The prices listed online many times does not match the prices listed offline. The reasons for this include mismanagement, and managing overhead cost due to the logistic difference between an online purchase and an offline purchase. An online purchase sometimes results in confusion and deviations of expectations for the buyers. Many retailers shy away from this model because It has been observed that a bricks and clicks business model is quite difficult to implement.

Legalities: This model allows customers to purchase goods or services remotely, hence it is legislated in many jurisdictions which grant more rights to consumers. In the UK, for example, any goods purchased online of a bricks and clicks business allows the buyer protection under the Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations 2000 Act, which allows the consumer to return a product or cancel a service within 14 days of purchase for a full refund. Similar rights are awarded in EU countries. In the USA, the Federal Trade Commission legislate allows consumers 3 days to return items ordered over web if they are not satisfied. A British clothing retailer named ‘Next’ was fined for demanding return postage cost from one of their customers.

Channel conflicts: Many Bricks and Clicks retailers have experienced conflicts with their marketing channels, especially with their offline retailers and agents, for example, Compaq feared that its retailers would drop its line of computers If Compaq offered to sell the same computer directly online. Merrill lynch hesitated to introduce online stock trading to compete with ET-Trade, Schwab, and other online brokerages fearing that its own brokers would rebel. Barnes & Noble which is the largest book retailer delayed opening an online site which they did with lot of thinking for giving fight to Amazon. The reason these companies struggled opening on-line sites is the question of how to conduct online sales without cannibalizing their own stores, resellers, franchises, stockiest and agents.

Conclusion: Many companies such as British retailer John Lewis has found success in adopting a bricks and clicks business model, with the online ordering service beating brick and mortar sales. Online auction website eBay has also launched a scheme in cooperation with catalogue shop Argos that allows goods sold by third parties to be collected in a brick-and-mortar location, which allows the customer to collect goods at their convenience rather than wait at home for a delivery company. On the other hand, HMV music retailer went into losses in 2013, despite having operated both brick-and-mortar stores and an online presence. It went into losses due to high overheads of operating the brick-and-mortar side of the business making HMV unable to compete with pure-clicks retailers such as Amazon.com.

Paying for many physical store premises and their staffing requires larger capital expenditure which online only businesses do not usually have. On the other hand, a business selling more luxurious, often expensive, or occasionally purchased products like cars are more common with a physical presence, due to physical attributes being more considered while making the purchasing decision. But, car manufacturers such as Dacia have introduced online configurators that allow a customer to configure and order complete cars online. They visit a dealer only to collect the completed car, and friends this has proven popular with customers.

Do you crave for buying things which you really don’t need urgently? Do you always shop until you drop? I have seen so many people around me who are anytime, any hour, anywhere ready for shopping. Even when they just think of shopping, their eyes glitter. They are happy and just zap out from their seat to shop.

A lot of times people spend over their budget and get into deep financial trouble, spending more than their income. And they don’t regret their decision of unwarranted shopping. They can go all over the mall, and keep shopping.

Some people are such addicted buyers that when they go to buy one handbag, they will end up buying 10 handbags and come out of the shop. And some people will spring out and go on buying spree when they are emotionally low; such people are called ’Compulsive shopaholics’.

‘Trophy shopaholics’ are perfectionists by nature. They want to buy everything that perfectly suits them. They are sticklers. One day I went with a friend of mine for shopping just to kill time; and  got so exhausted; she bought pink, blue, green upholstery, mugs, glasses, pillow covers, bed sheets, linen and what not just to suit her occasional change of wallpapers!

Some guys want to be seen as big spenders. They get a kick out of it. They want to be seen as ‘generous’ spenders. But, such people like ‘flashy’ items. They will buy very gaudy things to show off their wealth.

Whereas, ’Bargain Seekers’ are people who are obsessed with sale; they feel high with discounts, and buy one get one/two/three free kind of schemes. They will purchase items they don’t need, still go for the sale because things are sold cheaper.

And the ’Bulimic shoppers’ are the ones who get trapped in a sadistic cycle of buying and returning items. They will go on haggling with shop keepers about exchanging items they have purchased.

Some are ‘Collectors’ or ‘Connoisseurs’ who are never happy with the number of items stored by them on a typical collection such as wine, rum, perfume, watches etc. They never feel complete unless they have more and more addition to their collection.

“Compulsive shopping and spending are defined as inappropriate, excessive, and out of control,” says Donald Black, MD, professor of psychiatry at the University Of Iowa College Of Medicine. “Like other addictions, it basically has to do with impulsiveness and lack of control over one’s impulses. In most of the nations in world whether progressed or under progressed, shopping is embedded in the   culture of mankind.

There are certainly a lot of commonalities among shopaholics and other addicts. A research says about 10 to 15 percent of the population of world is shopaholics. They are confirmed addicts and they are liked by the marketers. Why not? The shopping addicts make up for half the sale of any brand.

In my opinion the ’Innovators’ and ’Early Adopters’ are typically shopaholics. They are described as curious, adventurous consumers who buy first, talk fast and spread the word to others about the pros and/or cons of what they have purchased. According to Everett M. Rogers in Diffusion of Innovations, the landmark 1962 textbook that popularized the study of how new ideas and technologies spread through societies, early adopters make up 13.5% of the consumers who will adopt an innovation.

You might have some shopaholics in your family; they might be your siblings, kids, and spouse, parents anybody. It is important to note that going a shopping spree once in a while does not mean you are a shopping addict. However, there are several signs and symptoms shopping addicts display that you must watch out.

And, if you are one, please don’t feel shy; visit a shrink before you are gripped with it.