Exploring the markets in Hyderabad

Too much of class work, reading only text books and rote learning can be self-defeating; the real learning is in the field. Learning at the market place is the mother of all learning. Relying only on common sense will not work. As a marketing professional the term‘market’ was always very fascinating.

The word ‘Market’ comes from the Italian word ‘Mercato’. I thought Mercato could only be found in the dictionary. To my pleasant surprise during my stay in Ethiopia, I found a place named MERCATO. Mercato in Addis Ababa is a staggeringly big open market. It is the biggest market place in that part of the world with an astonishing variety of products on display and sale.

A market is a place either physical or virtual where a group of buyers and sellers exist. The buyers determine the demand and sellers determine the supply, together they exchange their goods or services. Markets vary in form, scale (volume and geographic reach), location, and types of participants, as well as the types of goods and services traded. It’s a set up where two or more parties engage in exchange of goods, services and information is called a market.

Ideally a market is a place where two or more parties are involved in buying and selling. The two parties involved in a transaction are called seller and buyer. The seller sells goods and services to the buyer in exchange of money. There has to be more than one buyer and seller for the market to be competitive.

Types of markets

Physical Markets - Physical market is a set up where buyers can physically meet the seller and purchase the desired merchandise from them in exchange of money. Shopping malls, department stores, retail stores are examples of physical markets.

Non Physical Markets/Virtual markets - In such markets, buyers purchase goods and services through internet. In such a market the buyers and sellers do not meet or interact physically, instead the transaction is done through internet. Examples - Rediff shopping, eBay etc.

Auction Market - In an auction market the seller sells his goods to one who is the highest bidder.

Market for Intermediate Goods - Such markets sell raw materials (goods) required for the final production of other goods.

Black Market - A black market is a setup where illegal goods like drugs and weapons are sold.

Knowledge Market - Knowledge market is a set up which deals in the exchange of information and knowledge based products.

Financial Market - Market dealing with the exchange of liquid assets (money) is called a financial market.

Famous Ice-cream: Famous ice-cream joint has a special place in the heart of the old city citizens of Hyderabad. Nestling in the majestic building near Mojamjahi market traffic signals, Famous ice-cream is the most unique ice-cream joint in India. Many other ice-cream shops have come up next but Famous ice-cream is the best among them all.

Famous has the best hand churned ice-creams. These are made mostly from fresh fruits. A wide variety of flavours to pick from, from chicoo, sitaphal, mango, to melon, name it and you get it. I know Famous ice-cream center for more than 25 years. I remember gorging on ice-creams and the bill never crossed ten rupees. Even in 1989, the cost of a pot (two scoops) was six rupees (now it is twenty-five rupees), the pista kulfi was five rupees. That is the USP of Famous Ice-cream. Customers don’t come to admire the place or the ambience, truly a place where you can have ice-creams at the cost of one ice-cream.

Dhoolpet: It is one of the old suburbs in Hyderabad. This place is inhabited by people who migrated from Uttar Pradesh during the Nizam rule. Dhoolpet is popular for Ganesh idols which are made for Ganesh Chaturthi. People from all over Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and even from Maharashtra come over to buy Ganesh idols from this place. People of the suburb also indulge in many other seasonal businesses like idol making for Durgashtami, kite making for Pongal, rakhis for Raksha Bandan, etc.

Jumerat Bazaar: 'Thursday Market' is held every Thursday in Dhoolpet. It is a kind of flea market where most of the stuff sold is supposedly stolen. Jumerat Bazaar comes alive every Thursday morning. People begin gathering on Wednesday night itself with their wares. Things are very cheap and careful haggling can yield you a product for a considerable price.

Bangladesh Market: There is a Bangladesh market in Hyderabad. This is a shopping area in Bholakpur, Musheerabad. Formed in the late 1960s, this area is famous for low priced clothing. Small and petty vendors on their push cart, daily arrive here and sell garments at throw away prices. Come any festivals, the area wears a festive look with buyers making a beeline to buy low priced clothes of their choice.

Jagdish Market: The best place to pick up a mobile phone is Jagdish market at Chirag Ali Lane in Abids, Hyderabad. The market is crammed with stores selling mobile phones and accessories. ‘Fixed rate-one price’- screams out a board from every store. But bargaining hard for a Chinese mobile or any mobile is very much on and it is part of the shopping experience. Also known as Abids shopping centre, the place is filled with all kinds of mobile phones- branded and fake.

There is something for every kind of buyer ranging from second-hand cell phones to ‘box pieces’ (new ones) and Chinese phones. One can pick up accessories like scratch proof screens, tags and fancy pouches for nominal prices.

One can also sell their old mobile phones here. Most store keepers buy them depending on the phone’s condition. Used phones are checked for glitches and undergo a servicing before being sold again and prices depend on brand and condition of the phone.

Abids Sunday book market: The range of books available at Abids is insurmountable. Fiction, non-fiction, classics, best sellers, self-help books, text books, and magazines you name the category and it’s available.

What one needs is a full stomach, strong abs (one needs to crouch down and get up many times), lots of time, a sense of adventure and a knack of bargaining. Should we call it a second hand market? Definitely so but along with second hand books one can get pirated books and low-priced duplicates.

But of late the air of bustling activity is missing from the bookshops which one would witnesses earlier, as that time used to define the beginning of vacation for generations of Hyderabadis. Part of the change is the way books are marketed (mostly online), part of the story is the change in reading habits and part of it is the impact on globalization. People prefer television, internet and social networking. They only want to read self-help books.

The number of readers has gone down drastically. The number of booksellers too has declined. Another factor for the change is the availability of used books 24 x 7 by three or four big businesses who have grabbed a lion's share of the books coming into the market. They have set up regular book shops in the city.

By:DR M ANIL RAMESH