Don't mind the customer, much

You, dear ET reader, must have noticed how most of hoi polloi in India love being provided high-touch service - extra nazar and personal interactions, suggestions with much banter and a cold drink/glass of chai thrown in. While this may work for the main street sari-salwar shop, where a little 'bhau' and heavy-petting can go a long way, the high-street, high-end lux-'n'-tux retail shops should be going in the opposite direction.

Why? Because it'll be good for business. Unlike the rest, where customers raise a hullabaloo because they may not know on which aisle a particular brand of basmati is sitting, or how to get the latest laddoo-yellow ghagra set ₹200 cheaper, the high-end shop would like to send out the signal that its customers fully know what to buy - say, a Megan Kothari-designed Aaryah diamond ring. That they know even if they don't. So, no incessant assistance, hyper-hardsell in these stores, please. Keep them near-empty, with not a 'helper' in sight. Let customers go straight to the one or two shop floor assistants, ask for The Thing, maybe try it out once, pay, and unsmilingly walk out as if this is the last time they'll be walking in here. (Don't worry, they'll be back.) The staff must also maintain a snobbishness, bordering on rudeness (but don't push it) to make the visiting grandees feel grand. Try it. Tu ne regretteras pas.