After information technology & outsourcing, retail is going to be the next big thing in
India. Experts are predicting a gigantic shift from unorganized to organized retail.
So, Indian retail is sitting at the threshold of a complete metamorphosis. At this
critical juncture – this article gives a brief overview about past and present of Indian
retail and then tries to find out what the future has in store.
The Past:-
The history of Indian retail dates back to ancient days
when small scale retailers used to carry their offerings to
the village fairs and weekly markets. These fairs used
to be more of a community gathering for enjoyment than
for buying and selling. Still, fair amount of sales used to
generate good revenue for those small scale retailers
who used to sell their products in those early-day
markets.
With changing times, society became more organized
and sophisticated. Business and trade started growing.
As an integrated part of this, retailing also came into
picture in the form of small neighborhood stores. They
sell all daily necessary commodities from grocery to all
other house-hold needs. With time, they have grown not
only in numbers but also in product portfolios. They are
still the heart and soul of Indian retail business.
Only in recent years Indian consumers got the taste of
shopping malls and super markets. The basic
differences of these shopping malls & super markets
from traditional mom & pop stores are that –
They are much bigger in terms of size & product
assortment and
They are far more organized in terms of both
infrastructure as well as operations.
Supermarkets, hyper markets, departmental stores, specialty stores, discount stores