Indian Retailing: Present Scene

Retailing consists of the sale of goods/merchandise for personal or household consumption either from a fixed location such as a department store or kiosk. Retailers are at the end of the supply chain. Marketers see retailing as a vital part of their overall distribution strategy. (Wikipedia, 2006) Retailing covers varied products such as apparels, consumer goods, financial services etc. In the developed countries, the retail industry has developed into a full-fledged industry where more than three-fourths of the total retail trade is done by the organized sector. In India retail giant like Mc Donald, Big bazaar, Subhiksha, Reliance are now replacing the individual small stores. Large retail formats, with high quality ambiance and courteous, and well-trained sales staff are regular features of these retailers. Worldwide retail chains like Wal-Mart, Carr four Group, Sears, K-Mart, McDonalds, etc. are considered as major players in organized retail.


Rank/Retailer/No of stores owned/Annual Sales/(in US$ Millions)

Please read the below mentioned stats in the order mentioned above.

Showing worldwide top 10 retailers


1 Wall-Mart Stores Inc. (USA) 4178 $180,787
2 Carrefour Group (France) 8130 $61,047
3 The Kroger Co. (USA) 3445 $49,000
4 The Home Depot, Inc. (USA) 1134 $45,738
5 Royal Ahold (Netherlands) 7150 $45,729
6 Metro AG (Germany) 2169 $44,189
7 Kmart Corporation (USA) 2105 $37,028
8 Sears, Roebuck and Co. (USA) 2231 $36,823
9 Albertson's, Inc. (USA) 2512 $36,726
10 Target Corporation (USA) 1307 $36,362


The United States of America (USA) has been a pioneer in the evolution of retailing. Today, the organized players handle 80% of the retail trade in the US. Wal-Mart alone handles 6% of the total retail trade and the top 50 retailers control 36% of the organized retail. There are following factors that contributed towards the growth of organized retailing in the US:

 Increase in population
 Increased per capita spending
 Dual income families
 Urbanization
 Covering distances has become easier

India is the country having the most unorganized retail market. In India, things started to change slowly in the 1980s, when India first began opening its economy. Textiles sector (which companies like Bombay Dyeing, Raymond's, S Kumar's and Grasim) was the first to see the emergence of retail chains. Later on, Titan, maker of premium watches, successfully created an organized retailing concept in India by establishing a series of elegant showrooms.

Traditionally it is a Family’s livelihood, with their shop in the front and house at the back, while they run the Retail business. More than 99% retailers function in less than 500 square feet of shopping Space. Present Retailing in India is still evolving and the sector is witnessing a series of experiments across the country with new formats being tested out; the old ones tweaked around or just discarded. Some of these are listed in Table below.


Retailer/Current Format/New Formats./Experimenting With

Please read the below mentioned stats in the order mentioned above.

Shoppers' Stop Department Store Quasi-mall

Ebony Department Store Quasi-mall, smaller outlets, adding food
retail

Crossword Large bookstore Corner shops

Piramyd Department Store Quasi-mall, food retail

Pantaloon Own brand store Hypermarket

Subhiksha Supermarket Considering moving to self service

Vitan Supermarket Suburban discount store

Foodworld Food supermarket Hypermarket, Foodworld express

Globus Department Store Small fashion stores

Big Bazar Supermarket Considering moving to self service


Global retail consultants KSA Technopak, have estimated that organized retailing in India is expected to touch Rs 35,000 crore in the year 2005-06. The Indian retail sector is estimated at around Rs 900,000 crore, of which the organized sector accounts for a mere 2 % indicating a vast potential market opportunity that is waiting for the consumer-savvy organized retailer.

Nb- This is the abstract of the paper presented by me on Indian Retailing: present scene at a National Seminar held at Allahabad on INDIAN RETAILING