"GAJRA" RE

Nature implicitly dominates our existence and “flowers” contribute immensely to this entire essence of social survival. Every important human emotion and every social occasion remains incomplete without them.  A combination of aesthetic supremacy and spiritual pious, flowers have an enigmatic relation with femininity. The use of flowers as ornaments for women dates back to our epics. Though flowers have been replaced by other attractive, superior & durable forms of adornment, yet the strong culturally driven parts of South India have preserved this traditional endowment in the form of “Gajra”-a small garland of flowers that is worn around a hair bun or in a braid. This small member of a local market (south Indian) really attracted me and I decided to explore its business dimensions.

A bird’s eye view of the Mahabalipuram market brought into light nearly 6 shops of these Gajra vendors. However, the very first time, I decided to explore the biggest one- Rajendra Flower Shop. Being the biggest flower shop in the entire market, it enjoys the privilege of the highest market share. Also, since the shop has been there for generations, it has a whole lot of loyal customers. The USP of the shop is the variety of Gajra it offers. Compared to other small shops, it has quite a designer lot of Gajras(even I was tempted to buy one). This USP adds to attracting new customers especially a lot of foreigners. The owner, Mr Rajendra, is very hospitable and is well versed in English.  He even offers tourists to experiment with Gajra making, adding more value to the entire experience of buying a garland of flowers. This made me connect to our Marketing Management lesson- It’s not only the functional aspect of a product or service that makes it sell, it involves a lot of factors, environment/ambience being the one in this case.

Having explored the marketing strategy and the hold the shop enjoys in the market, I went on to explore its operations and day to day working. The shop has a well developed distribution network. It procures its raw materials (various kinds of flowers) on a daily need basis from a wholesale dealer in Chennai. The rates (supplier) largely depend on the prevailing market conditions. For transportation of raw materials, the owner has established a contract agreement with a transport agency. The secondary raw materials like thread, needles etc are procured from the local market itself. The shop has four employees and they are paid on a daily wage basis. The owner, as well as the employees, is involved in the assembly process. Generally, the finished goods (Gajra) are all ready by 7.30 am.  The fixed customers are catered to a door to door service and the rest of the Gajras are kept in the retail outlet. Maintaining the freshness levels of the product is a very important aspect and this is done by sprinkling water at regular intervals.  The overall inventory turnover rate is low, only 24 hours since it a perishable good. The Gajra amounts to an average sales of 2000 INR per day.

While exploring this cultural endowment of South India (Gajra), I realized that flowers here have lots more to offer. The numerous temples here are a big industry to these flowers. Also flowers form an equally important part of occasions especially Tamilian Weddings. Hence, I decided that my next visit would have an objective to explore the other functionalities of flowers that this shop offers and also I was determined to try my hand at the manufacturing process.