Urban Sanctuary & Retail
It’s been a recent phenomenon with me that I have started looking at things with a philosophical angle. Be it nature, likings, customs, changing youth and even shopping behavior. I have attempted a similar approach in this note “Retail: A Hunting ground rechristened”.
I strongly believe if we look back into history and link it back to our ancestors we would find our present behavior to be an outcome of what we have been in the past. (Well, I am not the first one to state this)
Our behavior today is a reflection of what our ancestors used to do in past. At this juncture it’s worthwhile to look at retail, one of the biggest changes in the history of modern society. I consider this as the biggest change because it has redefined the way societies exist. It has changed our outlook and thinking. Most importantly, it has created a need which is beyond “Roti Kapada and Makaan” . It has changed the dynamics of economy by creating subsidiaries, ancillary business opportunities and works.
Retail has transformed into an experiential media and an entertainment destination. People with nothing to do would wander here to kill time.
Let’s look at drawing parallels between our shopping behavior and our nomadic ancestors.
Sale: It’s a largest possible hunting experience a consumer can get where “A sale synonymous to a rich hunting ground” a deal becomes synonymous to a prey. Water cooler discussions among friends becomes equivalent to designing a hunting strategy. The approach is also similar when we go in groups with predefined objectives we split into different directions and come together at the cash counter. We later relax at a coffee shop discussing the heroic affair of getting the best deals. And when the discussions are over we split our goodies and move on.
Let’s go back to Paleolithic Age the first sight of human as a superior race with an instinct to conquer the world. During the Paleolithic humans were grouped together in small scale societies such as bands and gained their subsistence from gathering plants and hunting or scavenging wild animals.
Supermarkets at first sight are simply a place to acquire goods which modern society has come to take for granted. They often offer a bewildering range of goods that originate from all parts of the world. To ensure the customers have choice and regularly return the supermarket it need to be fully stocked with the goods that the local community desires. But if you closely observe this model and its relationship with the consumer, it is very similar to the ancestral life style where, woods (as super markets) and its relationship with the ancestral females (As consumers) would go there in search of herbs and other essentials.
Searching for a particular stuff or a brand in a super market is an act similar to what the tribal women used to engage in during the day while their male partners were out in the forest hunting. These women would venture out in groups looking for herbs and other essentials. If they found something interesting they would immediately share it with other women.
Similarly today you can observe this if you go to a supermarket with your wife or mother. She would go from one row to another looking for that specific ingredient and if she doesn’t find it, her mobile pops out of her bag to get the details from her confidant.
Coming back home with shopping bags full of goodies is yet another site that takes us back to the stone age where carrying home the prey was a matter of great pride.
Have you ever seen a women shopping “Yeah niche se tisra... nahin uske piche…” This is a very unique feminist character. It is similar to what they were good at in the past
They would dig earth remove stones in search of something useful. Women have this tendency to look beyond the obvious and which is why they can preempt various situations and problems which a man can not.
Similarly if we study human behaviors and tie them back to ancestral lifestyle we can answer a lot of questions related to why we behave in a particular manner. It can help us get some insights that will be more relatable. In case of retail, design, contests and even the displays can be modified based on these insights.
They moved in the jungles looking for an opportunity (A Hunt) and the moment it was within reach they would attack the animal and try and kill as many animals as possible. This was because they were not sure of tomorrow.
Humankind gradually evolved from early members of the genus Homo such as Homo Habilis — who used simple stone tools — into fully behaviorally and anatomically modern humans (Homa Sapiens) during the Paleolithic era. The innovations and inventions were kept as a secret within their respective tribes.
While we are in a different world now and rest is a history the fact is that our DNA acts as a ”Time Machine” and helps us answer the most basic questions of human history: Where did I come from, and how did I get here?
Studies say, DNA can help us go all the way back to the beginning, very early days of our species, to infer where we come from and how we got to where we live today. And the most amazing thing to come out of all of this is how closely related we all are.
(Views and opinions in the above article are personal)
I strongly believe if we look back into history and link it back to our ancestors we would find our present behavior to be an outcome of what we have been in the past. (Well, I am not the first one to state this)
Our behavior today is a reflection of what our ancestors used to do in past. At this juncture it’s worthwhile to look at retail, one of the biggest changes in the history of modern society. I consider this as the biggest change because it has redefined the way societies exist. It has changed our outlook and thinking. Most importantly, it has created a need which is beyond “Roti Kapada and Makaan” . It has changed the dynamics of economy by creating subsidiaries, ancillary business opportunities and works.
Retail has transformed into an experiential media and an entertainment destination. People with nothing to do would wander here to kill time.
Let’s look at drawing parallels between our shopping behavior and our nomadic ancestors.
Sale: It’s a largest possible hunting experience a consumer can get where “A sale synonymous to a rich hunting ground” a deal becomes synonymous to a prey. Water cooler discussions among friends becomes equivalent to designing a hunting strategy. The approach is also similar when we go in groups with predefined objectives we split into different directions and come together at the cash counter. We later relax at a coffee shop discussing the heroic affair of getting the best deals. And when the discussions are over we split our goodies and move on.
Let’s go back to Paleolithic Age the first sight of human as a superior race with an instinct to conquer the world. During the Paleolithic humans were grouped together in small scale societies such as bands and gained their subsistence from gathering plants and hunting or scavenging wild animals.
Supermarkets at first sight are simply a place to acquire goods which modern society has come to take for granted. They often offer a bewildering range of goods that originate from all parts of the world. To ensure the customers have choice and regularly return the supermarket it need to be fully stocked with the goods that the local community desires. But if you closely observe this model and its relationship with the consumer, it is very similar to the ancestral life style where, woods (as super markets) and its relationship with the ancestral females (As consumers) would go there in search of herbs and other essentials.
Searching for a particular stuff or a brand in a super market is an act similar to what the tribal women used to engage in during the day while their male partners were out in the forest hunting. These women would venture out in groups looking for herbs and other essentials. If they found something interesting they would immediately share it with other women.
Similarly today you can observe this if you go to a supermarket with your wife or mother. She would go from one row to another looking for that specific ingredient and if she doesn’t find it, her mobile pops out of her bag to get the details from her confidant.
Coming back home with shopping bags full of goodies is yet another site that takes us back to the stone age where carrying home the prey was a matter of great pride.
Have you ever seen a women shopping “Yeah niche se tisra... nahin uske piche…” This is a very unique feminist character. It is similar to what they were good at in the past
They would dig earth remove stones in search of something useful. Women have this tendency to look beyond the obvious and which is why they can preempt various situations and problems which a man can not.
Similarly if we study human behaviors and tie them back to ancestral lifestyle we can answer a lot of questions related to why we behave in a particular manner. It can help us get some insights that will be more relatable. In case of retail, design, contests and even the displays can be modified based on these insights.
They moved in the jungles looking for an opportunity (A Hunt) and the moment it was within reach they would attack the animal and try and kill as many animals as possible. This was because they were not sure of tomorrow.
Humankind gradually evolved from early members of the genus Homo such as Homo Habilis — who used simple stone tools — into fully behaviorally and anatomically modern humans (Homa Sapiens) during the Paleolithic era. The innovations and inventions were kept as a secret within their respective tribes.
While we are in a different world now and rest is a history the fact is that our DNA acts as a ”Time Machine” and helps us answer the most basic questions of human history: Where did I come from, and how did I get here?
Studies say, DNA can help us go all the way back to the beginning, very early days of our species, to infer where we come from and how we got to where we live today. And the most amazing thing to come out of all of this is how closely related we all are.
(Views and opinions in the above article are personal)
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