Coffee business in India is not as new as it appears to be. Coffee came to India in 1800s or so. In its current 'new and improved' cafe' avatar though, coffee business is a symbol of cultural changes in India.
Conceptually, sit down cafes are just what would work in India - what with people looking at meeting friends ad acquaintances outside of homes ...and not all of India can go to 5 star hotels. So, cafes' it is. Implicit here that coffee 'to go', 'on the go'. 'take away' doesn't seem to find many takers in India - what with large part of India having detailed breakfasts at home, and if you are down south then there is 'filter coffee' available outside at your lane at Rs 5 !!
That said, the customer who goes to the cafes spends upwards of 1/2 an hour there. What it means is he is looking at more 'eats'. Also, to this customer, it doesn't seem to be important whether there is 'circulation space', 'comfortable seating' etc. (Now that explains, the upright wooden chairs at Barista and 1 1/2 half feet aisles at Cafe Coffee Day. (Why am I thinking of having read that 'Indian customers enjoy the jostling').
Anyway, so the atmospherics don't seem to be very important. But most people feel that the taste and temperature of coffee are important. More about my study on atmospherics vs product quality in Indian cafes at another juncture.
Keep coming back.
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