#7 | Seetha & Harish— Kirana Chronicles
There is an art, it says, or, rather, a knack to flying. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss. ― Douglas Adams, The Ultimate Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
Packed between a row of similar-looking houses in a rather quiet neighbourhood, was a small dimly lit store with an assortment of vegetables on display. As I walked towards the store, out came Seetha, a woman in her late 40s. She smiles and nods in acknowledgement. A moment later her husband Harish arrives on his bike. He drags a chair from inside the shop and gestures me to sit. “Sit, sit down”, adds Seetha as she pulls another chair from inside.
Short Story
Seetha and her husband run a small vegetable store in a quiet residential colony in Bengaluru. The 6-year-old shop sells vegetables, fruits and small household commodities. The shop that started as a way to pass time, to keep Seetha engaged has now turned into a full-time job for her.
Business
Seetha, a resident of a small town in Andhra Pradesh, moved to Bengaluru when she was to be married to Harish, a sales agent for a multinational company in the city.
As the years passed, the kids grew up and went off to school, Seetha would often try to pass time, reading magazines and watching television shows at home. Meanwhile, Harish would spend time at work imagining all the ways of starting something that he could call his own. Soon, Harish rented out space in the vicinity of their home. The small space of the size of a room was turned into a store to sell vegetables.
Over the years, the store has seen a shift in the usage of technology, it has moved on from dealing with vegetable vendors in the local vegetable market to now making most vendor transactions online on an app on the phone.
To illustrate, daily routine:
The couple has a system in place to run the shop and look after one another. Their day starts at 5 in the morning when the previously ordered goods get delivered to their doorstep. Harish pays the suppliers through a digital wallet or a payment app. Meanwhile, Seetha prepares breakfast for the family and gets the kids ready for school. The store open at 7:30 am. The kids are then dropped at school by Harish. Harish now goes back home and rests for the day. Seetha looks after the store until lunchtime arrives. She returns home at 1 and makes lunch for the family. Seetha goes back to the store, opens again at 4:30 pm and closes at 9:30 pm. Harish goes to work at 5 and returns late in the night.
Payments
- Seetha accepts payments through cash or the QR Code sticker stuck on the wall at the shop. When the QR codes fail to scan, she provides Harish’s number to the customers, payments are made to his number. On some occasions, a scanning issue causes the customers to hand over cash.
- Harish pays the online vendors through payment apps or the digital wallets available on the vendors' app.
“When the scanning does not work, they pay cash and go.”
Banking
- Harish mentions that the increased availability of online delivery services has reduced the need for him to visit the bank.
- He had recently borrowed money from a digital lending service. For Harish, the amount borrowed acted as savings than an expenditure.
- Harish mentions that borrowing money, big or small amount puts a lot of stress on the borrower.
“Monthly it’ll become like a saving amount for me. For now, daily money comes in and goes out too for one thing or the other. I don’t realize where it goes and from where it comes. But in this, I’m able to see that I’m paying this much, saving this much.”
“The more the loans, more the tension. So if we pay back quickly, its easier for us.”
Accounts
- Seetha offers credit to some of her regular customers. These transactions are maintained in a book that is always available at the store.
Seetha: I maintain separate sections for every customer.
Apoorva: How do you know which page is for whom?
Seetha: That I can identify.
Harish: We are also a type of bank only. (laughs)
- Harish keeps track of the payments made online through the payment app. The app shows him a detailed summary of the transactions made at the store.
“Every morning I check how much has gone into my account through online payments. It’s easier for me to track if the amount gets credited before the day starts.Then I know that this much has come through online and this much cash transactions have happened.”
Vendor management
- Seetha informs Harish of items to be ordered, he then places these orders with vendors through ninjacart (online B2Bdelivery platform). He travels to the market on his bike during rare cases of unavailability of items online.
- Harish mentions that making transactions online has proved to be more convenient considering his need to stay committed to his job which requires him to work at odd hours of the night. This reduces his need to be present at the shop or have to make multiple visits to the market.
“We don’t keep track of the items like biscuits packets and all. When it comes down to 2–3 packets, we order more.”
“They’re very efficient, they fix and respond immediately. In case we don’t have cash when they come to deliver, then we pay them through Paytm or something. So in Ninjacart, they have this in their app. The items will be delivered to us by 5 in the morning. In this, I just have to have money in the wallet.”
Customer management
- The store has around 80–100 customers visiting them on a daily basis.
- Credit is offered to a few regular customers. These customers pay back their dues at the beginning of every month.
“We don’t force them to pay back their dues by saying — give give!”
“Some customers have credit. So we maintain those records. They pay back every month.”
Technology
- Seetha manages to operate the digital payment apps on her phone. However, in case of any issues with payment or the app, she struggles to communicate it to the customer support executives. She depends on Harish to be present at the store when a support executive calls or visits the store. Due to this, there is an unresolved issue making rounds since several weeks. Although Harish is grateful to these platforms for making business easier, he expresses his disappointment with the issue resolution process.
- Harish mentions that like typical corporate jobs, other jobs also require people to meet targets and deadlines.
“My wife knows only Kannada. She sits at the store mostly. When someone calls her she talks only in Kannada, if I’m there when they call then I will give them details of everything. That is an issue.”
“We all have jobs. In the corporate job they give you deadlines and targets. So you expect them to do it. You’re answerable to other higher authorities.
All that was not told
Observations of the researcher that were not covered as a part of the research.
I ask Seetha how the store has helped her, to which Harish quickly responds “It is better than getting bored at home.” Seetha, however, sees herself as a contributor to the household expenses. “It helps me, I can help him. Instead of him working alone. It’s very difficult to run a family in Bangalore with just one person working.”, she says with gratitude on her face; to which Harish adds “This store was set up for her. She’s only the CEO.”
Our conversation was interrupted by a man who was now standing at the counter; “10 Rupees lemons”, he says. Seetha goes back in and grabs some lemons from the basket. “Change illa” (Translation: I don’t have any change), she says as he hands over a 500 Rupee note to her. The man starts to count the coins in his wallet; after a few minutes of patiently waiting, Seetha insists “Irli, next time pay maadi.” (Translation: let it be, you can pay next time).
About the research:
This documentation is a result of the in-person interview, along with the participants’ consent. The interviews might be conducted in their native languages and translated to English in the best possible way to reach a large audience.
Disclaimer: The identities of people and places in this documentation have been changed to honour the privacy of the participants.
About D91 labs:
This research was executed and documented by D91 labs. D91 labs is an open-source initiative by setu.co to help Bharat build great fintech products. We organise and publish user research, insights, and frameworks for fintech in India. Please follow us on medium for more exciting stories and insights on Bharat.
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