EVOLUTION AND TRENDS IN ORGANIZED RETAILING

INTRODUCTION:

India’s retail market which is seen as THE GOLDMINE by global players has grabbed attention of the most developed nations. This is no wonder to the one who knows that the total Indian retail market is US $350bn. (16, 00,000 crore INR approx.)  of which organized retailing is only around 3 percent i.e. US $8bn (36,000 crore INR approx).

“Retailing includes all activities involved in selling goods or services directly to final consumers for personal, non-business use. A retailer or retail store is any business enterprise whose sales volume comes primarily from retailing.” Retail is India’s largest industry, accounting for over 10 per cent of the country’s GDP and around eight per cent of the employment. Retail industry in India is at the crossroads. It has emerged as one of the most dynamic and fast paced industries with several players entering the market.

The urban retail market has been embracing various new formats and the malls turned out to be the trend setters by promising the concept of shoppertainment. The trends in the rural market also have been changing from the old Haats and Melas to the rural malls like ‘Chaupal Sagar’ launched by ITC, DCM Shriram Groups one-stop shopping destination called ‘Hariyali Bazaar’, Godrej groups agri store ‘Adhar’ etc.

EVOLUTION AND TRENDS IN ORGANIZED RETAILING: FORMATS AND REACH OF RETAIL OUTLETS.

EVOLUTION:

 Historical Indian retail market consisted of weekly markets, village fairs and melas and the 19th century gave birth to the retail outlets which took the form of convenience stores, Mom and Pop stores/ kirana stores. This helped the consumers on to stick to a particular store for their day to day requirements and also avail the credit purchasing facility. And in the 1980’s people have seen the new formats like supermarket, departmental stores and discount stores entering into the Indian retail space.  In less than a decade hypermarkets have gained all the applause of the retail market and stood above all the other formats by bringing in the concept of “one stop shopping.” This stood as an opening door for the new generation of the retail industry. And very soon the malls became the trend setters in the new millennium.

 This has coined the term of ‘shoppertainment’(shopping and entertainment) which can be attributed to the changing life styles of the people.

Weekly Markets

Village Fairs

Melas

 

Convenience Stores

Mom and Pop/Kiranas

PDS Outlets

Khadi Stores

Cooperatives

Exclusive Brand Outlets

Hyper/Super Markets

Department Stores

Shopping Malls

Traditional/Pervasive Reach

Government Supported

Historic/Rural Reach

Modern Formats/ International

Source of Entertainment

Neighborhood Stores/Convenience

Availability/ Low Costs / Distribution

Shopping Experience/Efficiency

EVOLUTION OF THE INDIAN RETAIL MARKET

 

                        The above given diagram is the pictorial representation which depicts the evolution of the Indian retail market formats based on their category and value proposition. And a brief description above formats based on some of the parameters like their offerings, space occupied etc. is also given below for better understanding.

 

 

TRENDS IN PRESENT RETAIL MARKET:

New Product Categories:

For a long time, the corner grocery store was the only choice available to the consumer, especially in the urban areas. This is slowly giving way to international formats of retailing. The traditional food and grocery segment has seen the emergence of supermarkets/grocery chains (Food World, Nilgiris, Apna Bazaar), convenience stores (ConveniO, HP Speedmart) and fast-food chains (McDonalds, Dominos).

It is the non-food segment; however that foray has been made into a variety of new sectors. These include lifestyle/fashion segments (Shoppers’ Stop, Globus, LifeStyle, Westside), apparel/accessories (Pantaloon, Levis, Reebok), books/music/gifts (Archies, MusicWorld, Crosswords, Landmark), appliances and consumer durables (Viveks, Jainsons, Vasant & Co.), drugs and pharmacy (Health and Glow, Apollo).

Increasing competition in the retail market:

            New entrants such as Reliance, Bharti Enterprises and the AV Birla group will compete against well-established retailers, such as Pantaloon Retail, Shoppers’ stop, Trent, Spencer’s and Lifestyle stores. Foreign retailers are keenly evaluating the Indian market and identifying partners to forge an alliance with in areas currently permitted by regulations. With an estimated initial investment of USD 750 million, Reliance is planning to launch a nationwide chain of hypermarts, supermarkets, discount stores, department stores, convenience stores and speciality stores. These 5,500 stores will be located in 800 cities and towns in India

CONCLUSION:

 

            Organized retailing in India has been maturing by passing through many trends with the entry of many big players trying to build and strengthen their retail muscle by pumping in a lot of money in the retail space. And in the light of this situation some feel that the conventional stores may loose out their existence. But the very fact that the US unorganized retail market accounts to only 20% of it’s entire retail market which is still bigger than the Indian retail market reveals that the conventional stores and the modern retail formats will co-exist.

C.Pavithira, M.Phil Scholar, Department of Commerce, Periyar University, Salem-11

C.Pavithira