Billing for your supermarket in Meghalaya
Aisles of packets, a corner of local greens, a godown behind, and the families who buy for the month.
Bara Bazaar's traders, Garo jewellers and Jaintia farmers: who fills a Meghalaya supermarket trolley
A supermarket sells to everybody in its district, and these three districts show who they are.
- In Shillong, Bara Bazaar (Iewduh) has shops for traditional Khasi materials and household items, and Police Bazaar sells Meghalaya merchandise, regional apparel and handicrafts.
- West Garo Hills' district site lists local makers of tribal-design jewellery and accessories, including Seven Cherri and Amis Jewellery in Tura.
- In West Jaintia Hills about 70% of people depend on agriculture, with potato, ginger, garlic and turmeric as key cash crops.
The local corner paid by the basket, vans ticked at the back door, and a traveller's basket billed before the bus
The local corner, paid by the basket and counted with the rest
Note the weight of every basket when it comes in and the rate for the day, and sell it as an item by the kilo from the same screen as the packets. At the end of the day the local corner and the packets are in one report, so the corner is not a separate notebook. A customer who asks for last week's bamboo shoots can be told whether they are still in stock. The basket's weight and the day's rate are all you write at the door.
Growers and vans at the back door, ticked in one pass
Write the week's order for the suppliers and the growers on their pages. When the van and the women with baskets come to the back door, tick each against what was asked for in one pass, standing at the door. What did not come is on the page that afternoon, and the call to the supplier is about a number.
A traveller's basket billed in seconds, every line there
In the tourist months the buses stop for a short while. Every traveller picks water and snacks, and some add a jar of honey and a bag of turmeric to take home. The bill adds itself as the lines are chosen, and each bill takes its jars off the count, so at the end of the week you see how many jars of honey the buses took.
A shelf of packets, a corner of local greens, and a tourist who has ten minutes before the bus
One corner of greens that villagers carry in baskets
One corner of the store is not packets at all: mustard greens, bamboo shoots and a few local fruits that villagers carry in baskets. They are priced by weight on the day, and the grower wants her money in cash or on a set day. A basket comes in at nine and by noon half of it has gone with nothing written, so nobody is sure what is on the stall at four o'clock.
The Sunday crowd comes all at once, after church
After church on Sunday, families come in together for the week's shopping. Three counters run in a line and the bills fly. The line reaches the door, each cashier has a customer in front and four behind, and the boys carry cartons from the godown over the heads of the queue. Nobody has a moment to write a single thing down until the shutter is pulled.
Honey and turmeric in the same basket as water, and no count of the jars
In the tourist months the travellers' baskets hold water and snacks beside a jar of local honey and a bag of turmeric. The bill made in a hurry is one amount, so the jars are not on it as jars. At the week's end you cannot say how many jars of honey the buses took, and a missing line is found only in the evening.
Tools for a store with a godown behind it and small makers at the back door
Godown stock
On Monday the staff read the godown count first, restock the aisle for what the Sunday crowd cleared, and then open the shutter on a shelf that matches the book.
Orders to suppliers
The woman who brings greens to the back door is told at once, from the order on your phone, what was ticked and what was not, so she carries home an answer and not a promise.
Many shops, one owner
Shillong's store with its godown, and the small branch in Tura with only a shelf, each with its own stock and sales, read from one account.
Questions Meghalaya supermarkets ask
Two growers bring the same greens on one morning, one dearer than the other. Can I sell them as one item?
Make each grower's greens its own item with its own rate. The counter finds both, and the report shows how many kilos of each sold. Each grower's page holds her baskets only.
Customers ask whether the greens are local. Can I put the grower's village on the item?
Yes. The item's name is whatever you type, so Mustard greens, Umling, is the line you see in stock and the customer sees on the bill.
The hostel's cook comes every day for greens and rice, and the warden pays at the month's end. Whose name is on the bill?
The hostel's. The cook's trips go on the hostel's page as lines with the day, so the warden reads one list at the month's end and the cook does not carry cash.
Iewduh's upgrade and Laimu's Sunday
In May 2025 Meghalaya announced Rs 21 crore to upgrade Shillong's Iewduh, or Bara Bazar, one of the oldest and largest traditional markets in the Northeast.
Residents gather at Shillong's Laitumkhrah Bazaar, known locally as Laimu, to shop for vegetables, meat and groceries, says Incredible India.