This is the best time to be a consumer

Ten years ago, being a consumer was painful. The auto-rickshaw wala at the airport will ask a thousand rupees for a ten kilometer ride. The shopkeeper would charge a bomb and show us the “Fixed price. No discount.” sticker when asked for a discount.

The so called “consumer-centric” economy wasn’t so consumer-centric.

We were over billed. We were charged a bomb for home delivery. Return of items was unheard of. And hefty discounts were never on the cards unless it was an ‘Aadi Sale’ at one of those stores at T.Nagar. Also, getting gold loans at our doorstep or flexibility of paying credit card bills in installments without interest were only a dream.

But, the rise of startups has single-handedly tilted things in our favor.

Today, we use our phone to get an auto-rickshaw in one minute, get groceries delivered to our doorstep in 10 minutes, get food delivered from our favorite restaurant in under 30 minutes.

Gold loans are given to us at the convenience of our homes, and you can now pay your credit card bills in three installments without any extra charges.

Every day, we’re given discounts, coupon codes, cashbacks and scratch cards to get the best deal. And the moment we start hating a company, someone else launches a similar company in a month with more coupons, discounts, and a better customer support.

For the first time in many decades, we’re spoilt for choices. Reason? Companies are becoming aware of our buying power. We make the “total addressable market”, a term startups use while pitching their idea to convince venture capitalists that there are x million people who would pay x dollars if given the right discount or cashback.

It’s good to feel pampered as a consumer. The only downside is we lose control over our spending. All of a sudden, we feel like we want to buy everything.

Master control, and this is the best time to be a consumer.