A note on rural haats the oldest concept of rural supermarkets. The author is a marketing expert,specializing emerging class consumer insight and go to market strategy. you can follow him on twitter @val_bhatia

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[Type the document subtitle] | Abhishek Bhatia
IMPACT
COMMUNICATION
HAAT THE RURAL SUPERMARKETS

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Abhishek Bhatia www.ImpactComm.org
HAATS
In different parts of the country, haats are referred to by their local names :
painth in Uttar Pradesh, sandai in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra
Pradesh, shandies or chindies in Kerala, hatwara in Rajasthan.
Haats, are the hubs of rural economy : a place for transactions, a reflection of
the pattern of consumption and production in India’s villages. They are
traditional institutions, an integral part of the rural environment – both
physically and culturally. A haat provides insights into what village people’s
needs are, and how they are met locally. The prominent feature of haats is
their periodicity – most are held once a week, at a fixed location.
Glimpses of a Haat

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Being the oldest form of trading institution today, haats offer rural folk the
opportunity to purchase consumer goods, as well as to sell surplus agriculture
and allied products. In the past, these transactions followed the barter system
( a feature that exists even today in some remote tribal regions, such as Bastar
in Madhya Pradesh ). This has now been largely replaced by money
transactions.
Typically, a haat serves as a marketplace for a group of nearby villages, the
number of which could range from 5 to 15 or 20, and may even go up to two
hundred in Tamil Nadu. It can be a congregation of as many as six to seven
thousand people, all of whom are a floating population. From the point of view
of communication, a haat, therefore offers an excellent opportunity to reach
large numbers of prospects, who are otherwise dispersed. Because the visitors
are in the frame of mind to purchase goods, and are constantly evaluating
their value, this is the ideal place to communicate the brand messages and
values.
Once or more times a week, in most parts of the country, the residents of
several villages come together to buy and sell products of daily need. There
are more than 47000 Haats throughout the country. These periodic
marketplaces of rural India offer one of the best opportunities to overcome
the challenges of dispersion and distance.

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Frequency Percentages
Once a week 75
Twice a week 20
Daily 5
Haat
This market place is organised in 11 states of India : Andhra Pradesh, Bihar,
Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Tamil
Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. The average age of these haats is 55
Years- the oldest being in MP 73 Years old and the youngest being in AP 26
Years old.
Types of Haats
Haats differ in their nature and composition from place to place, within states
and across socio-cultural regions. The nature of a haat is mainly determined
by what goods and services are available in it.
 Some haats sell only perishable foodstuffs such as vegetables, fruits and
fresh meat. These haats are held for short duration.
 Other haats, usually big, have an adjoining section where cattle are sold.
The people who come to such haats carry more money for cattle
purchases, which the other stall owners often capitalize on.

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 Yet another form of haat also includes wholesalers, and the buyers here
purchase goods, which they can sell in their villages, in addition to making
there own weekly purchases.
 Generally, a haat has a potpourri of stalls – from food, to items of daily use,
to farm implements, to clothes, toys and novelties.
 Certain haats are characterized by stalls where cooked food – pakoras,
murukku, jalebis, pooris, - is available. For the people visiting, they offer the
environment of a mela ( fair ), with fun and frolic.
More than 90% of the outlets in Maharashtra and Karnataka mainly cater to
Product needs and not so much services.
Size
The size of a haat is determined by both the number of buyers and sellers
present in it, and by the variety of goods on sale. Some sellers in the haat
follow a fixed cycle of six days, covering a new haat each day. Depending on
where they reside, they fix this cycle. At certain haats in a region, the cycles of
several sellers converge, and this results in a larger number of stalls and
products on offer, and therefore a larger number of buyers.
In the north, big haats cater to as many as forty villages, while in the south, the
number goes up to two hundred. Such haats offer a large variety of products,

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and are usually located near a highway. Such a location makes it convenient
for people to travel, even from far away villages – as buyers, and as vendors.
Small haats on the other hand, are more local in nature – in the kind of
products on sale, in terms of the number of visitors which may be as few as
three or four hundred. Such haats are held usually in the remote villages, and
cater to not more than three or four adjoining villages.
At the national level a Haat caters to 32 Villages on an average. In Karnataka
and Maharashtra a Haat caters to 18 and 14 villages respectively. Though the
average no of outlets are lesser than the All India average but in terms of
value of transactions these are equally big as the country average
Density of Haats in Mahrashtra is more than in Karnatka but is much higher as
compared to National Average

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Facilities in a Haat
Haats have a specific layout for the different categories of outlets, which
operates. The visitors have to follow a defined path to the various stalls. This
path is even better defined in case of haats that are held next to the main
road, and have fixed entry and exit points. Within the haat, areas are
demarcated for similar product categories to be sold. For example, most
services such as cobblers, blacksmiths, and tailors are found near the
entrance. Vegetable sellers occupy a large area on one side of any haat.
Clothes and cosmetics are sold near one another; so are grains and spices.
Meat stalls are in one corner, where it is easy to dispose off the offal. The sellers
occupy the same place in a haat, week after week.
Sales and Purchase
It fluctuates considerably. They reach a peak during the post-harvest season
and are lowest during the monsoon. It has been observed that the average
purchase per person works out to be Rs 50/-. The average sale per outlet is Rs
874/-
It has been observed that a consumer carries with him a minimum of Rs. 15 –20
for incidental purchases.

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Profile of Visitors
The composition of the visitors to a haat varies from region to region, as does
the composition of the sellers. In most places men outnumber women, but the
ratio is variable. In Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, there are at least twice as many
men as women. In Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Bengal, their
numbers are approximately the same. Few children are found at a haat.
The haat is also a social gathering. For some people, it is their day off – as they
not only buy goods, but also spend time catching up on the local news and
entertainment. People use the opportunity for other activities such as visiting
nearby religious places.
Visitors on the Move

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Buyers
People come to a haat primarily to be able to choose from a wider range of
products than might be available in the village shops. In such a situation, they
are very conscious of the value that they get out of their purchase – in fact,
bargaining is an intrinsic part of the haat transaction, and contributes to the
overall noise level.
Men are found in large numbers and spend a greater amount of time at a
haat. Many come alone, or with male friends, catching up on local
developments, and doing more than just shopping for goods. The haat is a
place for them to assess the market situation – what the availability and rates
of various agricultural goods are. Some men may travel as much as twenty
five to thirty kilometers to visit a haat. A significant number of men in any
village visit more than one haat, picking up goods for which they get the best
value from each. Women, on the other hand visit the nearby haats, and
concentrate more on the buying and selling than on the relaxation and
interaction part of it.

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Profile of Buyers
Haats offer very low spillover in terms of TA and caters to mainly the decision-
makers.
Propensity and opportunity to induce trials is more in Mah. than in Kar, Where
90% buyers come with specific list of purchase with them.
Considering this propensity of the consumers as above Haats offer very good
opportunity for the trials through the low unit price packs
Sellers
There are two types of sellers at a haat : those belonging to the village itself
and the immediate vicinity, and those who come from other distant villages or
nearby feeder towns. For the former, the haat is the place to dispose off their
surplus – grains, vegetables & fruits. This category also includes service
providers like barbers, cobblers, repair mechanics, halwais ( food / sweets
sellers ), for whom the haat is the day they can earn more from a larger
number of people than present in their own village. Those who sell and buy
cattle at haats also come from the nearby villages.
The other category of sellers include traders ( the banias ) and hawkers ( the
pheriwalas ). The banias sell groceries, cosmetics, clothes, footwear, utensils
which they buy at wholesale rates from the towns and big cities. They provide
the vital distribution link between urban and rural India. They are the ones who

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sell branded goods. These stalls may be permanent, or the grocers park their
vehicles ( a moped or a bicycle ) behind the stall as protection from pilferage.
Hawkers at a haat sell goods such as children’s toys and trinkets, insecticides,
buttons, tea and coffee. They operate out of pushcarts, bicycles or tricycles
and often travel with the moving crowd. They get their goods from the feeder
town, but on the days the haat is not held, travel to the nearby villages,
offering people these goods at their doorstep.
As we know, the sellers sit in the same place, week after week. The buyers
however move continuously from one stall to another, figuring out who has
what to offer, and at what price, before deciding where to buy from.

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Coverage of one Haat to stock a Retailer with TAAZA brand and visibility will
ensure availability at 4 additional haats as substantial number of retailers ( 77-
80%) cover other haats. Between the group of retailers the availability can be
ensured at 100% haats.
Snapshot of Sellers at a Haat

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Fees at haat and Services
The people who sell products at a haat have to pay a nominal sum for setting
up their stalls. There is management committee/contractors of sorts, informal
or formal, which decides the rental, collects the money and provides basic
services like water, electricity and safety. Their permission is necessary before
attempting any activity in the haat.