Remember the times we stood in queues to withdraw money from the bank? Now we have ATMs to make life easy. Remember how we had to walk to a physical counter to pay our utilities bills? Now, we can do it online.

Technology has indeed been making life easier and convenient for the customer. And if the kirana stores and small retail joints in India’s cities can use technology to an advantage, they can give the big retailers, even foreign brands, a run for their money.

Consider some simple things a small retailer can do.

• Online ordering. Taking orders online gives customers greater convenience to order at their own pace and time. It doesn’t need a fancy order form. Even a simple mail id to send a list of gorceries to, should help. Get the delivery details – time and address – and create a systematic delivery cycle.

Benefit. Customers get another convenient channel to place their orders. The retailer gets to cut down inventory and save costs.

• Discounts and deals. Big retailers offer customers the advantage of deals and discounts. The smaller retailer can offer similar discounts to regular customers and spread the word online. Again, this doesn’t have to be a fancy mailer. Just a mail stating the product and offer details will do.

Benefit. The kirana store has its own discount-formula to keep customers happy, as the Indian customer does look for deals.

• Online payment. Many small retailers even today don’t offer credit and debit card facilities. Compare this with the payment options the smart retail giants do. Cash on delivery, again a great way of narrowing this gap.

Benefit. The small retailer stays in-sync with the latest transaction trend and can offer some of the conveniences the bigger players do.

Embracing technology will empower the small retailers to compete better with the bigger giants. They’ll also help them connect better with today’s gen-y tech-savvy shoppers, who’ll be the customers of tomorrow.

And if investments in technology sound like an obstacle, cloud based-solutions are the answer. With a combination of some technology adoption, smart but simple online marketing, and efficient and friendly customer service, Indian retailers will be ready, even if FDI in retail does become a reality.

It’s changing the way we work, communicate, buy, travel…

According to some media observers, the Internet and social media could well be changing our notions of leadership too.

At a recent discussion forum in Mumbai, Thomas Friedman, globally-know journalist, spoke on a range of topics – from Anna Hazare’s anti-corruption crusade to the Arab Spring. He pointed out that the Egyptian protests didn’t have a single, central leader. It wasn’t like Mahatma Gandhi leading India’s freedom struggle. He wondered if this came because of a generation thriving in the online space.

The Internet and social media give all its users a chance to hear and be heard. You don’t even need to be at a particular physical location to start a movement. Find a worthy cause – post about it, tweet and create virals! The revolution begins!

How much attention did you pay to the customer testimonial section on your website or brochure?

If it is just ‘another’ section, it’s time for a re-look.

According to a recent McKinsey study on the contemporary Asian consumer, people are doing their research online while buying offline. So, what they read online – reviews, testimonials, product ratings – can influence their purchase decision.

Perhaps it’s not a revelation. People have recognised the power of testimonials; even LinkedIn lets you use them on your profile. But, many websites and brochures are yet to make the most of them.

Here are a few points to help make testimonials on your website more effective.

• Instead of describing how great your work was in general terms, ask the customer to share an instance. An example creates a clear picture.
• Cut out the jargon. Make the testimonial seem like lines from a friendly conversation. It will be easier to read, register, and remember.
• If possible, present them differently. Use a handwriting font, place it on a scroll, or give it the feel of a letter. It breaks the monotony of the pages, attracts attention, and creates a warm, personal connect.
• Don’t restrict them to a page or a section; let them come alive on multiple pages. They make for great blurbs, callouts, and even sub-heads. You can even use them as design elements – they’ll look good, and if what they say is good too, it’s more points for your company.

It’s a beta version, but if successful, it could bring in a new way of accessing and consuming news.

In a social-media experiment, UK’s Guardian is asking users to tweet queries to find information on their news portal. The portal, in turn, will send you links to the latest and most relevant news pieces (from their content). Again through tweets from @GuardianTagBot

Guardian calls it ‘your new Twitter-based search assistant’.  Check http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/insideguardian/2011/oct/27/guardian-tag-bot-twitter-questions

Need a way to help with famine relief in East Africa? Here are 50. Or at least, 50 projects to support to raise funds for relief efforts.

A digital collaborative platform, ‘50-50 Make or Break’ brings 50 projects dedicated to this cause. Choose the one you like to express your support – stay off Facebook for a while, contribute 6 minutes of your salary, get restaurants to donate… Check http://5050.gd/ for more.

This is a great example of technology making life easy – this time for the visually challenged.

Stanford University’s students have turned a tablet into a touch screen Braille-writer. Which means it’s easier to write or type for the visually challenged. The feature we loved – your fingers don’t have to find the keys, they find the fingers!

Who is Amit Gupta? I didn’t know, but wanted to find out. Why? I had read about an online campaign to help him, which was becoming stronger in the U.S. But more than that, there was a name and not a reference to an anonymous Mr. X. I was curious to know how he looked and why he needed help.

Google obliged and I soon learnt he lives in San Francisco and is being treated for leukemia. He needs a bone marrow transplant and since South Asians are not strongly represented in the bone marrow pool, he needs to find the right donor. An online appeal to get more South Asians to take a test and see if they match as donors has turned into a virtual campaign. http://tumblr.amitgupta.com/day/2011/10/06

It all happened very spontaneously and quickly. I often read about movements, campaigns, and causes asking for support online, but none of them have made me this curious. What triggered the reaction was the name. It was a personal touch. It was specific, not an appeal on behalf of a faceless community.

It all boils down to that age-old rule – the personal touch works. Tell a story, bring in a name, help people connect better with the message, and your communication cuts through the clutter.

P.S: Do check the above link to see how you can help Amit Gupta.

There are no words to describe this man, so don’t even know how to write an obituary for this greatest innovator of our times. Thank you for making a dent in our lives Steve.

Now, a North Korean airline has also joined the Facebook community and everyone’s talking about it.

Looks like many businesses – including your competitors – have a Facebook page. Where does that leave you? Should you jump on to the bandwagon and hope to make gains? What should you look at before deciding to invest your time and efforts here? Here are a few questions you should answer, before logging on.

Are you a B2B or B2C business?

Who are your customers and where do they spend time online? It’s great to have a Facebook page, but it needs to be seen by people who matter to your business. If you are a B2B company, see if a business-networking forum makes more sense rather than a social networking one. Take a good look at who you’d like to talk to before you think of how and where.

What do you hope to gain out of it?

Are you hoping to advertise your products, talk to customers, post notes about events, or simply trying to keep up with the competition? It’s ok to have a Facebook page without a grand campaign around it, if that’s the intent. But it’s necessary to understand what you can accomplish and sync your efforts accordingly. This will even help you objectively evaluate other media options to achieve your goals and invest in the ones that hold maximum promise.

Can apps get you the desired results more than a page?

Companies have had great success with interesting apps rather than a mere static page. A photo-sharing app for a travel magazine enabled them to source the entire picture content through users for their inaugural issue. Engaging prospective employees/ customers through apps increases your brand awareness and visibility.

Do you have the resources?

Time, money, and people – a long haul on Facebook needs all three. You’ll need experts to help you sort out your strategy and a team to support execution. If you are looking at getting customer responses through the FB page, you’ll need dedicated resources to constantly manage it.

Is it wise to engage social media experts/companies?

Social media experts are mushrooming as we speak. Check their credibility and their past work before you engage with them. Keep in mind that a successful case study for a brand or product, which is hugely popular already, does not mean a successful social media engagement for you.

Vodafone has a solution. Here’s an interesting 2 minute clip on Vodafone’s blue phone conceptualized by O&M mumbai.