1.

RETAIL CONCEPT

The distribution of consumer products begins with the producer and ends at the ultimate consumer. Between the producer and the consumer there is a middleman---the retailer, who links the producers and the ultimate consumers. Retailing is defined as a conclusive set of activities or steps used to sell a product or a service to consumers for their personal or family use. It is responsible for matching individual demands of the consumer with supplies of all the manufacturers. The word retail is derived from the French work retailer, meaning to cut a piece off or to break bulk. A retailer is a person, agent, agency, company, or organization which is instrumental in reaching the goods, merchandise, or services to the ultimate consumer. Retailers perform specific activities such as anticipating customers wants, developing assortments of products, acquiring market information, and financing. A common assumption is that retailing involves only the sale of products in stores. However, it also includes the sale of services like those offered at a restaurant, parlour, or by car rental agencies. The selling need not necessarily take place through a store. Retailing encompasses selling through the mail, the Internet, door-to-door visits---any channel that could be used to approach the consumer. When manufacturers like Dell computers sell directly to the consumer, they also perform the retailing function. Retailing has become such an intrinsic part of our everyday lives that it is often taken for granted. The nations that have enjoyed the greatest economic and social progress have been those with a strong retail sector. Why has retailing become such a popular method of conducting business? The answer lies in the

benefits a vibrant retailing sector has to offeran easier access to a variety of products, freedom of choice and higher levels of customer service. As we all know, the ease of entry into retail business results in fierce competition and better value for customer. To enter retailing is easy and to fail is even easier. Therefore, in order to survive in retailing, a firm must do a satisfactory job in its primary role i.e., catering to customers. Retailers cost and profit vary depending on their type of operation and major product line. Their profit is usually a small fraction of sales and is generally about 9-10%. Retail stores of different sizes face distinct challenges and their sales volume influences business opportunities, merchandise purchase policies, nature or promotion and expense control measures. Over the last decade there have been sweeping changes in the general retailing business. For instance, what was once a strictly made-to-order market for clothing has now changed into a ready-to-wear market. Flipping through a catalogue, picking the right colour, size, and type of clothing a person wanted to purchase and then waiting to have it sewn and shipped was the standard practice in the earlier days. By the turn of the century some retailers set up a storefront where people could browse, while new pieces were being sewn or customized in the back rooms. Almost all retail businesses have undergone a similar transition over the years.

CHARACTERISTICS OF RETAILING

Retailing can be distinguished in various ways from other businesses such as manufacturing. Retailing differs from manufacturing in the following ways: There is direct end-user interaction in retailing. In is the only point in the value chain to provide a platform for promotions. Sales at the retail level are generally in smaller unit sizes. Location is a critical factor in retail business. In most retail businesses services are as important as core products. There are a larger number of retail units compared to other members of the value chain. This occurs primarily to meet the requirements of geographical coverage and population density.

Direct Interaction with Customers

Retail businesses have a direct interaction with end-users of goods or services in the value chain. They act as intermediaries between end-users and suppliers such as wholesalers or manufacturers. Therefore, they are in a position to effectively communicate the response and changing preferences of the consumers to the suppliers or sales persons of the company. This helps the manufacturers and markets to redefine their product and change the components of its marketing strategy accordingly. Manufacturers require a strong retail network both for reach of the product and to obtain a powerful platform for promotions and point-ofpurchase advertising. Realizing the importance of retailing in the entire value
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chain, many manufacturers have entered into retail business by setting up exclusive stores for their brands. This has not only provided direct contact with customers, but has also acted as advertisement for the companies and has provided the manufacturers with bargaining power with respect to other retailers who stocked their product. Retailing provides extensive sales people support for products which are information intensive, such as in the case or consumer durables.

Lower Average Amount of Sales Transaction

The average amount of sales transaction at retail point is much less in comparison to the other partners in the value chain. Many consumers buy products in small quantities for household consumption. Due to lower disposable incomes, some consumer segments in India even buy grocery items on a daily basis rather than a weekly or a monthly basis. Inventory management becomes a challenge for retailers as a result of the many minor transactions with a large number of customers. Hence, retailers must take care of determining average levels of stock, order levels and the retailer has to keep a tight control on costs associated with each transaction in the selling process. Credit verification, employment of personnel, value-added activities like bagging, gift-wrapping and promotional incentives all add up to the costs. One way to resolve this is for the retail outlets to be able to attract the maximum possible number of shoppers.

Point-of-purchase Display and Promotions

A significant relevant chunk of retail sales comes from unplanned or impulse purchases. Studies have shown that shoppers often do not carry a fixed shopping list and pick up merchandise based on impulsive or situational appeal. Many do not look at ads before shopping. Since a lot of retail products are low involvement in nature, impulse purchases of the shopper is a vital area that every retailer must tap into. Therefore, display, point-of-purchase merchandise, store layou8t and catalogues become important. Impulse goods like chocolates, snack foods and magazines can sell much more quickly if they are placed in a high visibility and high traffic location.

Larger Number of Retail Business Units

Location of retail store plays an important role compared to other business units. Manufacturers decide the location on the basis of availability of factors of productions and market. Similarly, retailers consider factors like potential demand, supply of merchandise and store image-related factors in locating the retail outlet. The number of operation units in retail is the highest compared to other constituents of the value chain, primarily to meet the needs for geographic reach and customer accessibility.

FUNCTIONS OF RETAILING
Retailers play a significant role as a conduit between manufacturers, wholesalers, suppliers and consumers. In this context, they perform various functions like sorting, breaking bulk, holding stock, as a channel of communication, storage, advertising and certain additional services.

SORTING
Manufacturers usually make one or a variety of products and would like to sell their entire inventory to a few buyers to reduce costs. Final consumers, in contrast, prefer a large variety of goods and services to choose from and usually buy them in small quantities. Retailers are able to balance the demands of both sides, by collection an assortment of goods from different sources, buying them in sufficiently large quantities and selling them to consumers in small units. The above process is referred to as the sorting process. Through this process, retailers undertake activities and perform functions that add to the value of the products and services sold to the consumer. Supermarkets in the US offer, on and average, 15,000 different items from 500 companies. Customers are able to choose from a wide range of designs, sizes and brands from just one location. If each manufacturer had a separate store for its own products, customers would have to visit several stores to complete their shopping. While all retailers offer an assortment, they specialize in types of assortment offered and the market to which the offering is made. Westside provides clothing and accessories, while a chain like Nilgiris specializes in food and bakery items. Shoppers Stop targets the elite urban class, while Pantaloons is targeted at the middle class.

BREAKING BULK
Breaking bulk is another function performed by retailing. The word retailing is derived from the French word retailer, meaning to cut a piece off. To reduce transportation costs, manufacturers and wholesalers typically ship large cartons of the product, which are then tailored by the retailers into smaller quantities to meet individual consumption needs.

HOLDING STOCK
Retailers also offer the service of holding stock for the manufacturers. Retailers maintain an inventory that allows for instant availability of the product to the consumers. It helps to keep prices stable and enables the manufacturer to regulate production. Consumers can keep a small stock of products at home as they know that this can be replenished by the retailer and can save on inventory carrying costs.

ADDITIONAL SERVICES
Retailers ease the change in ownership of merchandise by providing services that make it convenient to buy and use products. Providing product guarantees, after-sales service and dealing with consumer complaints are some of the services that add value to the actual product at the retailers end. Retailers also offer credit and hire-purchase facilities to the customers to enable them to buy a product now and pay for it later. Retailers fill orders, promptly process, deliver and install products. Salespeople are also employed by retailers to answer queries and provide
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additional information about the displayed products. The display itself allows the consumer to see and test products before actual purchase. Retail essentially completes transactions with customers.

CHANNEL OF COMMUNICATION
Retailers also act as the channel of communication and information between the wholesalers or suppliers and the consumers. From advertisements, salespeople and display, shoppers learn about the characteristics and features of a product or services offered. Manufacturers, in their turn, learn of sales forecasts, delivery delays, and customer complaints. The manufacturer can then modify defective or unsatisfactory merchandise and services.

TRANSPORT AND ADVERTISING FUNCTIONS

Small manufacturers can use retailers to provide assistance with transport, storage, advertising and pre-payment of merchandise. This also works the other way round in case the number of retailers is small. The number of functions performed by a particular retailer has a direct relation to the percentage and volume of sales needed to cover both their costs and profits. As a result of these functions, retailers are required to perform the following activities:

ACTIVITIES PERFORMED BY RETAILERS

Retailers undertake various business activities and perform functions that add value to the offerings they make to their target segments. Retailers provide convenient location, stock and appropriate mix of merchandise in suitable packages in accordance with the needs of customers. The four major activities carried out by retailers are:

1) Arrange for assortment of offerings 2) Breaking quantity 3) Holding stock 4) Extending services ARRANGING ASSORTMENT
An assortment is a retailers selection of merchandise. It includes both the depth and breadth of products carried. Retailers have to select the combination of assortments from various categories. The assortments must include substitutable items of multiple brands and price points. They should be distinguished on account of physical dimensions and attributes e.g., colour or flavour. The small retailer takes assortment decision on the basis of his experience; on the other hand retailers from organized retailing depend on a detailed study of past trends and future projections. Retailers need to consider certain factors while devising assortment plans for their stores: profitability associated with particular merchandise mix, store image, layout and the level of compatibility between the existing merchandise. For example,
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FoodWorld, a leading food supermarket positioned as a one-stop shopping centre, deals in multiple product categories along with all possible variants of brands, stock keeping units, and physical attributes in order to meet the expectations of their consumers and survive in the business. Whereas, Subhiksha, a grocery chain in south India has impressive assortments of only the fast moving brands rather than all available variants in the market. Their assortment plan is governed by location, size and store image of their stores.

BREAKING BULK
Breaking bulk means physical repackaging of the products by retailers in small unit sizes according to customers convenience and stocking requirements. Normally, retailers receive large quantities of sacks and cases of merchandise from suppliers to reduce their transportation costs. In order to meet their customers requirements retailers have to break or arrange the bulk into convenient units. This entire function of the retailers adds value to the offerings not only for the end customers but also for the suppliers in the value chain. Even in the earlier days of generic and commodity-based trading most of the retailers used to perform this important function in the value chain. This function receives negligible attention from the retailers now due the introduction of new product categories, such as FMCG and ready-to-wear apparel.

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HOLDING STOCK
To ensure the regular availability of the offerings retailers maintain appropriate levels of inventory. Consumers normally depend on the retailers directly to replenish their stocks at home. Therefore, retailers, on periodic basis, maintain the required levels of stock to meet the regular or seasonal fluctuations in the demand. Retailers need to maintain equilibrium between the range or variety carried and the sales which it gives rise to. Retailers have to face the negative consequences of holding unwanted levels of stockfor instance, too little stock will hamper the sales volum e, whereas, too much stock will increase the retailers cost of operation. Generally, in small towns of India most retailers have arrangements with the nearby warehouses to stock the goods. Some are so small that they have to stock only on the shop floor. Retailers in the organized sector, to a certain extent, are using effective software packages for maintaining adequate levels of inventory. At the same time, retailers avail of ju st-in-time deliveries with the help of efficient consumer response systems, which reduces the burden of maintaining high levels of stocks.

EXTENDING SERVICES
Retailing provides multiple services to immediate customers and other members of the value chain. The set of services extended by particular retailers may be part of their core product offerings or it may be add on to their product or service. Retailers offer credit, home delivery, after-sales services and information regarding new products to their customers, thereby making the shopping
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experience convenient and enjoyable. At the same time, they provide stocking place, reach to the ultimate customers, and information about the concerned target segment to the suppliers. For example, Time Zone, the first organized retail chain of wristwatches in India, started by leading watch manufacturers Titan, set up in all its stores, service centres with proper equipment and trained manpower. This has not only diluted the relevance of service providers in the unorganized sector but has also enhanced the confidence of the customers in the retai9l services provided by the particular retail chain, as after-sales service is considered to be an integral ingredient of the watch purchase.

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CATEGORIZING RETAILERS
Categorizing retailers helps in understanding the competition and the frequent changes that occur in retailing. There is no universally accepted method of classifying a retail outlet, although many categorization schemes have been proposed. Some of these include classifying on the basis of Number of outlets Margin Vs Turnover Location Size. The number of outlets operated by a retailer can have a significant impact on the competitiveness of a retail firm. Generally, a greater number of outlets add strength to the firm because it is able to spread fixed costs, such as advertising and managers salaries, over a greater number of stores in addition to acquiring economies of purchase. While any retailer operating more than one store can be technically classified as a chain owner, for practical purposes a chain store refers to a retail firm which has more than 11 units. In the United States, for example, chain stores account for nearly 95% of general merchandise stores. Small chains can use economies of scale while tailoring merchandise to local needs. Big chains operating on a national scale can save costs by a centralized system of buying and accounting. A chain store could have either a standard stock list ensuring that the same merchandise is stocked in every retail outlet or an optional stock list giving the outlets the advantage of changing the merchandise according to customer needs in the area. Because of their size, chain stores are
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often channel captains of the marketing channelcaptains can influence other channel partners, such as wholesalers, to carry out activities they might not otherwise engage in, such as extended payment terms and special package sizes. Big stores focus on large markets where their customers live and work. They use technology to learn more about their customers and target them with point-ofsale machines interactive kiosks, and sophisticated forecasting and inventory systems. They tend to stock a narrow range of inventory that sells well and maintain an extensive inventory of the fast selling products. Branding is important to them. Pricing is often a key area of focus for these retailers. Big stores have many strengths, including regional or national reputation, huge buying power, vast inventory and hassle-free return and exchange policies. Their prime locations, the consistency in their products and services, the fact that they are open when people can and want to shop and the clear consistent image and identity they develop and maintain challenge the abilities and resources of many small retailers. Perhaps their biggest advantage is their knowledge in every aspect of their business, from inventory selection to store layout. However, large retailers are not perfect. They have competitive weaknesses that small retailers can exploit. Most offer the same standardized assortments of products nationally. Local managers have little say in inventory selection. Often, sales staff has minimal product knowledge. Staff turnover is extremely high. Most large retailers have little connection with the community they serve. They usually do not offer special services. Larger companies are often slow to recognize and react to changes in their local markets.

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Independent retailers can co-exist and flourish in the shadow of the big chains by developing a niche within the diverse market. The niche should be developed on the basis of new or unusual product offerings, superior service and overall quality. While value is important, price may be less important. Efficient operations, including precise buying practices, are a must. Customer contact within the niche market must be characterized by high-touch service. The key factor is innovation: stores that do not change will perish. The road to success for the independent retailer lies in doing all the things those big chain stores cannot or will not do. The successful independent retailers embrace the following principles: Be prepared for change. Move to a narrower niche market and stop competing directly with the big retailers. Learn more about customers and include best customers in a database. Invest appropriately in advertising and promotion. Charge regular prices and avoid discounting (ensure requisite mark-up). Buy with precision and search out specialty suppliers. Maintain essential inventory. Focus on profit instead of volume (be ready to lose an occasional sale). Provide extraordinary service. Employ the best possible staff. Understand the significance of the Internet. Gross margin and inventory turnover is another means of classifying retailers. Gross margin is net sales minus the cost of goods sold and gross margin percentage is the return on sales. A 30% margin implies that a retailer generates Rs 30 for
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every Rs 100 sales that can be used to pay operating expenses. Inventory turnover refers to the number of times per year, on average, a retailer sells his inventory. On the basis of this, retailers are classified as low margin low turnoverthose that cannot survive the competitionand low margin high turnover, exemplified by Amazon.com. Jewellery stores and appliance stores are examples of high margin low turnover stores and only a few retailers achieve high margin high turnover. These retailers are in the best position to combat competition because their high turnover allows them to withstand price wars. The drawback of the classification by this method is that service retailers who have no inventory turnover cannot be encompassed. One of the old means of classification of retailers is by location, generally within a metropolitan area. Retailers are no longer satisfied with traditional locations within a citys business district but are on the constant lookout for alternate locations to reach customers. Besides renovating old stores, retailers are testing unorthodox locations to expand their clientele. With the advent of the Internet, this area of retailing is likely to undergo tremendous changes in the coming years. Size is often used as a yardstick to classify retailers because costs often differ on the basis of size, with big retailers having lower operational costs per dollar than smaller players. However, in this sphere too, the Internet may make size an obsolete method of comparison.

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2. RETAIL ORGANIZATION
The term retail organization refers to the basic format or structure of a retail business designed to cater to the needs of the end customer. Recently, some scholars have started referring to India as a nation of shopkeepers. This epithet has its roots in the huge number of retail enterprises in India, which were over 12 million in 2003. About 78% of these are small family businesses utilizing only household labour. Retail firms may ;be independently owned, parts of a retail chain, operated as a franchisee, leased departments, owned by manufacturers or wholesalers, consumers owned or co-operative society.

A retail unit could be owned by:

Manufacturer (e.g., company owned retail outlets) Wholesaler (e.g., Vastra outlet in Rajouri in New Delhi) Independent retailer (Chanakya Sweet Shop near Hazratganj in Lucknow) Consumer (consumer owned grocery stores in man y residential societies) Co-operative society (e.g., Mother Dairy milk booths in Delhi) Government (e.g., Cottage Emporia) Ownership shared among franchiser and franchisee (e.g., Archies Gallery) Although most Indian retailers fall in the category of small-scale units, there are also some very big retailers. Organized retail stores are generally characterized by large, professionally managed store formats providing goods and services that appeal to customers, in an ambience that is conducive for shopping and provides a memorable experience to customers. From positioning and operating perspectives, each ownership format serves a marketplace niche and presents certain advantages and disadvantages. Retail
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executives must not lose sight of this in playing up their strengths and working around their weaknesses.

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CLASSIFICATION OF RETAIL UNITS

Conceptual classification of a business unit provides the marketers with strategic guidelines, useful in the design of retailing strategy. Besides, retail businesses are extremely diverse and there are quite a few types of retail units. Therefore, retail units are classified on multiple of ownership, geographical locations, kind of customer interaction level of services provided etc.

Retailers Classified on the Basis of Ownership

One of the first decisions that the retailer has to make as a business owner is how the company should be structured. This decision is likely to have long-term implications, so it is important to consult with an accountant and attorney to help one select preferred ownership structure.

There are four basic legal forms of ownership for retailers: 1) Sole proprietorship: - The vast majority of small businesses start out as
sole proprietorships. These firms are owned by one person, usually the individual who has the day-to-day responsibility for running the business.

2) Partnership: - A partnership is a common format in India for carrying out

business activities (particularly trading) on a small or medium scale. In a partnership, two or more people share ownership of a single business.

3) Joint venture: - A joint venture is not well defined in the law. Unless
incorporated or established as a firm as evidenced by a deed, joint ventures may be taxed like association of persons, sometimes at maximum marginal
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rates. It acts like a general partnership, but is clearly for a limited period of time or a single project.

4) Limited liability Company (public and private):- The Limited Liability

Company (LLC) is a relatively new type of hybrid business structure that is now permissible in most states. The owners are members, and the duration of the LLC is usually determined when the organization papers are filed.

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Classification of Retailers on the basis of Operational Structure

Retail businesses are classified on the basis of their operational and organizational structure. Operational structure defines the key strategic decision of retail entity, whether to hire employees and manage the distributed sales function internally or to reach customers though franchised outlets owned and operated by local entrepreneurs. Retail firms can be classified into five heads on the basis of their respective operational structures:

1) Independent retail unit: - The total number of retailers in India is estimated

to be over 5 million in 2003. About 78% of these are small family businesses utilizing only household labour. An independent retailer owns one retail unit.

2) Retail Chain: - A chain retailer operates multiple outlets (store units) under
common ownership; it usually engages in some level of centralized (or coordinated) purchasing and decision making.

3) Franchising: - Franchising involves a contractual arrangement between a

franchiser (which may be a manufacturer, a wholesaler, or a service sponsor) and a retail franchisee, which allows the franchisee to conduct a given form of business under and establishments name and according to a given pattern of business.

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4) Leased Department or Shop-in-shop:- It refers to department in a retail

store that are rented to an outside party. Usually this is done in case of department and specialty stores and also at times, in discount stores.

5) Co-operative Outlets: - Co-operative outlets are generally owned and

managed by co-operative societies. In this context the detailed example of Kendriya Bhandar in India.

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Classification of Retailers on the basis or Retail Location

Retailers have also been also been classified according to their store location. Retailers can locate their stores in an isolated place and attract the customers to the store on their own strengthsuch as a small grocery store or paan shop in a colony, which attracts the customers staying close by. Classification of retailers on the basis of location is discussed below: Retailers in a free-standing location: - Retailers located at a site which is not connected to other retailers depend entirely on their sores drawing power and on the various promotional tools to attract customers. This type of location has several advantages including no competition, low rent, better visibility from the road, easy parking and lower property costs. For example the Haldirams outlet on the Delhi-Jaipur highway and the McDonalds outlet on Delhi-Ludhiana highway. Retailers in a Business-associated Location:- In this case, a retailer locates his store in a place where a group o retail outlets, offering a variety of merchandise, work together to attract customers to their retail area, and also compete against each other for the same customers. Retailers in Specialized Markets: - Besides the above location-based classification, we also have in India-retailers who prefer specialized markets, particularly traditional independent retailers or chain stores. In India, most of the cities have specialized markets famous for a particular product category. For example, in Chennai, Godown Street is famous for clothes, Bunder treet
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1)

2)

3)

for stationery products, Usman street for jewellery, T Nagar for ready-made garments, Govindappan naicleen street for grocery, Poo Kadia for food and vegetables. Airport Retailing: - For quite some time, duty-free shops and newsstands dominated the small amount of commercial space provided at airports. Lately, serious efforts are being made to design new airport facilities in order to incorporate substantial amounts of retail space. The key features of airport retailing are: Large groups of prospective shoppers Captive audience Strong sales per square foot of retail space Strong sales of gift and travel items Difficulty in replenishment Longer operating hours Duty-free shopping possible.

4)

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TRENDS IN RETAIL FORMATS

Retail industry is continuously going through changes on account of liberalization, globalization and consumer preferences. While multinational retail chains are looking for new markets, manufacturers are identifying, redefining, or evolving new retail formats. The existing retail houses are also gearing up to face the emerging competition from the organized sector and the changing outlook of the consumers. For example, consumer spending is shifting from goods to services. Accordingly the retailers too are fast adjusting to the changing consumer preferences. Consumers are not only looking for the core products or functional benefits from the retailers but also the non-functional benefits, which need to be compatible with their lifestyles. For example, most of the traditional eating joints in India such as Haldiram, Bikaner and Sagar Ratna have revised their product offerings and atmospherics on the lines of the multinational chains to compete with them and to serve changed expectations of the consumers.

Mom-and-pop Stores and Traditional Kirana Stores

The retail sector is changing as new store categories have started dominating the marketplace. Mass merchandisers (Wal-Mart, Big Bazaar), discount clubs (Subhiksha), so-called category killers (Home Depot, Vishal chain), and speciality retailers (Time Zone, Tanishq) have all developed a successful retail models. At the same time, the small mom-and-pop stores and the traditional department stores, are finding the competition intense. In 2002, while Wal-Mart and Target saw
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revenues grow (by 12% and 10%, respectively), department stores such as Saks and Federated experienced declining revenues (down 3% and 1% respectively). But even in the mass-merchandising segment, the competition is fierce, as is evidenced by Kmarts bankruptcy announcement in 2002. Small independent stores, across product categories, is a very common retail formats they are also undertaking large scale renovations to appeal and attract their target consumer segments.

E-commerce
The amount of retail business being conducted on the Internet is growing every year. Indeed, Forrester Research Agency projects e-commerce revenue to rise to $123 billion in 2004, an increase of some 28% over the previous year and for e-tailing to comprise a bigger slice of the overall retail pie (5.6%, up from 4.5% in 2003). Many major retail organizations and manufacturers have online retail stores. Companies like Amazon.com and First and second.com, which helped pioneer the retail e-commerce concept, are now being followed by bricks-andmortar and catalogue retailers like J. Crew, which are expanding retail e-commerce into new markets.

Department Stores
A few years ago, names like Sears, J.C. Penney, Macys, and Montgomery Ward dominated malls and downtowns all over America. Over the last decade or so, however, these department stores have suffered badly. In part, this is a result of changing shopping patterns and increased competition from discount stores. It has also come from financial burdens incurred by companies that acquired competing
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companies and grew too fast. It is unlikely that these players will disappear from the market. However, they should be ready to expect more bumps as the strong get stronger and the weak get absorbed.

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Discount Stores
These are giants such as Wal-Mart (the largest retailer in the world, with more than a million; employees), Target and Kmart, as well as membership warehouses, such as Costco. These, along with the category killers, have changed the landscape of both the retail industry and America. Where once mom-and-pop and department stores dominated retail, now the discount retailers and category killers are at the top of the heap. And where once shopping malls, anchored by at least one major department store; used to be the dominant retail presence lining the nations roads, now it is the behemoth Wal-Marts and Home Depots.

Category Killers
These are the giant retailers that dominate one area of merchandise (e.g., Office Depot, Tower Records and The Sports Authority). They are able to buy bathroom tiles, file cabinets, electronic goods or pet food in such huge volumes that they can then sell them at prices even fairly large competitors cannot match. The future of this category is better than that of many of the more general discounters, but the same employment caveats apply. For most job seekers, these companies offer earn-and-learn experiences with vendors and distributors before they move onward and upward.

Specialty Stores
These include Crate & Barrel, the Body Shop, and Victorias Secret. These stores concentrate on one type of merchandise and offer it in a manner that makes it special. Some are very high-end (Louis Vuitton) while others cater to the priceconscious masses (Old Navy). Many are so successful that department stores have
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started to emulate their buying, marketing, and merchandise display strategies. Industry experts predict growth in this segment, particularly in home furnishings and home improvement, and it seems to attract many of the best and brightest in retail. Promotion and responsibility come quickly to those willing to work hard, and in many of these stores the hand of bureaucracy is not heavy.

E-tailers
While most retailers have online storefronts, strictly online purveyors with no bricksand- mortar counterparts are hoping to snare a percentage of the retail profit. Major players, such as Amazon.com, have generated enough business to cause top brick-and mortar competitors to come up with their own Internet sites. Traditional retailers like Wal-Mart and Starbucks, hugely successful in their own right, have also set up online stores so as not to miss out on the revenue opportunities that the Interned offers.

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VARIETY OF MERCHANDISE MIX

The retail merchandising has come a long way in India since the days when general stores (kirana) that stocked everything from groceries to stationery and small shops that sold limited varieties of products (such as clothes, furniture, medicines) reigned supreme. There are many different retail stores in Indiaconvenience stores, supermarkets, hypermarkets, department stores, brand stores and discount stores characterized by the variety of merchandise mix offered by a respective retail format. The consumer can choose between different stores for different needs. Retail units, on account of variety of merchandise mix, can be classified as follows: Department Stores: - It is a large retail store organized into a number of departments, offering a broad variety and depth of merchandise, commonly part of a retail chain. Usually, department stores are located within the planned shopping centres or traditional up market downtown centres. The leading fashion department stores in India are Ebony, Globus, LifeStyle, Pantaloon, Shoppers Stop and Westside. All of them are multiproduct stores, Ebony has 7 stores, Globus has 4 stores, LifeStyle has 3 stores and there are 12 Pantaloon Family Stores. Discount Stores: - Retailers offering a broad variety of merchandise mix, limited or no service and low prices are characterized by low margins, heavy advertising, low investments on fixtures, limited support from sales people etc. Discount stores prefer shopping centres that provide space at lower rents as they attract customers from other adjoining stores in the shopping centre.

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Specialty Stores: - Specialty stores stress on one or a limited number of complementary product categories and extend a high level of service to their customers. In India, the traditionally independent retailers in the specialized market centres operate in a particular product category, at these centres attract large crowds. Such specialized retail operations provide expertise economies of scale, bargain and image to the particular stores. Supermarkets and Hypermarkets: - A hypermarket is a very large retail unit offering merchandise at low prices. Superstores have a sales area of over 50,000sq.ft. Hypermarkets are characterized by large store size, low operating costs and margins, low prices and comprehensive range of merchandise.

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3. RETAIL LOCATION STRATEGY

Location is the most important ingredient for any business that relies on customers. It is also one of the most difficult to plan for completely. Location decisions can be complex, costs can be quite high, there is often little flexibility once a location has been chosen and the attributes of location have a strong impact on a retailers overall strategy. In India, most retailers prefer to own the property rather than avail of the desired property through lease or rental. This makes the location decision even more critical. Choosing the wrong site can lead to poor results and in some cases insolvency and closure.

IMPORTANCE OF LOCATION DECISION

The importance of the location decision is due to the following factors. Location is a major cost factor because it Involves large capital investment Affects transportation costs Affects human resources cost, e.g., salaries Location is a major revenue factor because it Affects the amount of customer traffic Affects the volume of business

The traditional inclination of Indian retailers to own property further increases capital investment and this along with the penchant of Indian retailers to continue

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their business at the same location makes the location decision even more important. The terms location and site are often used interchangeably but there is a distinct difference between the two. Location is a broader concept, which denotes the store and its trading area from where a majority of its customers originate, while a site refers to the specific building or part of the building where a store is located. Location and site characteristics should interact in a positive and synergistic way with a stores merchandising, operations and customer service characteristics. For example, a designer mens store located in an up market shopping centre or a mall near posh residential colonies, housed in an attractive building with adequate parking facilities.

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LEVELS OF LOCATION DECISION AND ITS DETERMINING FACTORS

A retailer has to take the location decision, basing on three aspects: 1) Selection of a city 2) Selection of an area or type of location within a city 3) Identification of a specific site The factors which influence these decisions are discussed below: Selection of a City The following factors play a significant role in the selection of a particular city for starting or relocating an existing retail business: Size of the citys trading area: A citys trading area is the geographic region from which customers come to the city for shopping. A citys trading area would comprise its suburbs as well as neighboring cities and towns. Cities like Mumbai and Delhi have a large trading area as they draw customers from far off cities and towns. Population of population growth in the trading area: The larger the population of the trading area, the greater the potential of the city as a shopping location. A high growth n population in the trading area can also increase the retail potential. Total purchasing power and its distribution: The retail potential of a city also depends on the purchasing power of the customers and its distribution networks in its trading area. Cities with a large population of affluent and upper middle-class customers can be an attractive location for stores selling
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high-priced products such as designer mens wear. The fast growth in purchasing power and its distribution among a large base of middle class is contribution to a retailing boom around major cities in India. Total retail trade potential for different lines of trade: A city may b become specialized in certain lines of trade and attract customers from other cities. Moradabad has become an important retail location for brassware products while Mysore is famous for silk saris. Number, size and quality of competition: The retailer also considers the number, size and quality of competition before selecting a city. Development cost: The cost of land, rental value and other related cost.

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Selection of an Area or Type of Location within a City

In the selection of a particular area or type of location within a city, evaluation of the following factors is required. Customer attraction power of a shopping district or a particular store: Major shopping centres like Chandni Chowk in Delhi, Colaba in Mumbai and Commercial Street in Bangalore attract customers from far off, while small shopping centres located in colonies attract customers from immediate neighborhood. Quantitative and qualitative nature of competitive stores: Retailers would like to evaluate the product lines carried by other sores, number of stores in the area, etc. before selecting the area. Availability of access routes: The area or shopping centre should provide easy access routes. There should not be traffic jams and congestion MG Road in Bangalore provides easy access from different t parts of the city and hence has become popular. Nature of zoning regulations: The retailer should also consider the zoning regulations in the city. Direction of spread of the city: The retailer should consider the direction in which the city is developing while selection the location.

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Selection of a Specific Site

The choice of a specific site is particularly important. In central and secondary shopping centre, non-anchor sores depend on customers coming to the market and the traffic generated by anchor stores. The large stores in turn depend on attracting customers from the existing flow of traffic. Where sales depend on nearby settlements, selecting the trading area is even more important than picking the specific site.

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TYPES OF RETAIL LOCATION

A retailer has to choose among alternate types of retail locations available. It may locate in an isolated place and pull the customer to the store on its own strength, such as a small grocery store or paan shop in a colony which attracts the customers staying close by. Or, it may locate in a business district where ther3 are a large number of retail establishments. If it decides to locate its store in a business district, it may have a choice ranging for, the large shopping centres in the heart of the city or smaller shopping complexes in a suburb. The various options available to a retailer in India are shown below:

Free-standing Location
Where there are no other retail outlets in the vicinity of the store and therefore, the store depends on its own pulling power and promotion to attract customers. This type of location has several advantages including no competition, low rent, and often better visibility from the road, easy parking and lower property costs.

Neighborhood Stores
Neighborhood stores are located in residential neighborhoods and serve a small locality. They sell convenience products like groceries. Now, even the large organized sector stores, which pull customers from across the city, are also coming up in suburbs or away from major markets as free-standing locations. For example, Kemp Fort and LifeStyle stores are free-standing stores in Bangalore away from major market of the city.
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Highway Stores Highway stores are located along highways or at the intersections of two highways and attract customers passing through these highways.

Business-associated Location
These are locations where a group of retail outlets offering a variety of merchandise work together to attract customers to their retail area, but also compete against each other for the same customers. This type of location can be further classified as: Unplanned Business Districts/Centres: An unplanned business district is a type of retail location where two or more retail stores locate together on individual considerations rather than on the basis of any long-range collective planning. Thus, we may find four to five shoe stores, three to four medical stores in a cluster but no grocery store. An unplanned district generally provides certain advantages like availability of a variety of goods, services and prices; access to public transport; nearness to commercial and social facilities; and pedestrian traffic. Planned Shopping Centres: A planned shopping centre consists of a group of architecturally owned or managed stores, designed and operated as a unit, based on balanced tenancy and surrounded by parking facilities.

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 Regional Shopping Centres or Malls: Regional shopping centres or malls are the largest planned shopping centres; often they are anchored by two or more major department store, have enclosed malls, serve a large trading area, and have high rents. They attract customers from across the city and suburbs. Major regional shopping centres or malls in India include Crossroads in Mumbai, Ansal Plaza in Delhi, Spencers Plaza n Chennai and Meropolitan Mall in Gurgaon.

SITE SELECTION ANALYSIS

With the advent of new retail formats in India such as planned shopping centes and malls, emergence of free-standing department stores, hypermarkets, etc., and further development of traditional business districts and other unplanned shopping locations, a retailer is presented with a wider choice of locations. Consideration of all the options keeping in view the product mix, customer profile and overall business model presents an enormous challenge. A retailer has to consider the following factors while selecting a site: Kind of products sold Cost factor Competitors location Ease of traffic flow and accessibility Parking and major thoroughfares Market trends Visibility

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Kind of Products Sold

For stores dealing in convenience goods, the quantity of traffic is most important. The corner of an intersection, which offers two distinct traffic streams and a large window display area, is usually a better site than the middle of a block. Convenience goods are often purchased on impulse from easily accessible stores. For stores dealing in shopping goods, the quality of the traffic is more important. The emergence of several apparel factory outlets within a short stretch on the Delhi-Jaipur highway, at Mahipalpur market in Delhi, is driven by this factor.

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Cost Factor in Location Decision

Location decision on cost considerations alone is risky. Space cost is a combination of rent or mortgage payment, utilities, leasehold improvements, general decoration, security, insurance and all related costs having a place to conduct business operations. Traditionally, the retail community placed great importance on owning the place since this was considered prestigious in the business community. However, there are many periodic retail markets in Indian which operate on particular days of the week. The retailers operating in these periodic markets keep shifting from place to place and do not own any property; instead they pay a small rental for their set-up in each market. This supports their model of selling goods at very low margins.

Competitors Location
The type and number of competitors is another important factor. The presence of major retail centres, industrial parks, franchisee chains and department stores should be noted. Intense competition in the area shows that new businesses will have to divide the market with existing businesses. If one is not able to offer better quality and competitively priced products, one might reconsider that particular location. An excellent location may be next or close to parallel or complementary businesses that will help to attract customers.

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Ease of Traffic Flow and Accessibility

These two factors are more important to some businesses than others. Consider the nature of the business you are planning to open and your potential customers. Retailers selling convenience goods must attract business from the existing flow of traffic. Studying the flow of traffic, noting one-way streets, street widths and parking lots, is hence important. The following factors have to be considered: parking availability, distance from residential areas or other business areas, traffic congestion, side of street, width of street, part of the block and neighbors. Evaluate how accessible the site is for walk-in or drive-by traffic as well as the amount of pedestrian traffic and automobile traffic that goes by the proposed location.

Market Trends
Evaluate the community from a broad, futuristic perspective. Local newspapers are a good source of information. Discussions with business owners and officials in the area can also help. Make use of information available through the Chamber of commerce.

Visibility
Visibility has a varied impact on a stores sales potential. It is important when a shopper is trying to find the sore for the first or second time. Once the shopper has become a regular customer, visibility no longer matters. But consider

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this fact: one in five families moves every year, which means that some part of a communitys population may be shopping in a new store.

ORIGIN IN INDIA
Although retailing does not enjoy the status of an Industry, the sheer size this behemoth will develop into, is grabbing attention. The origin of retail in India dates back to ancient times when the melas and mandis made their presence felt. The changing socio economic patterns coupled with the consumption increase led to the emergence of the convenience stores, which became a part of the civic planning. The next step was the commercial plazas, which comprised merely shops offering a variety of goods and services clubbed together. The inconveniences caused by lack of parking place, toilets and maintenance, ushered in the entry big international brands opening their exclusive showrooms. The opening up of the economy only fueled this globalization. There are, however, certain bottlenecks as well; the scarcity of space, coupled with the stringent provisions of the Rent Control Act, act as a dissuasive factor for many players to initiate operations in the main markets. This also explains why the Rahejas forayed into their retail ventureShoppers Stop.

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RETAIL IN INDIA
The retail industry in India is largely unorganized and predominantly consists of small, independent, owner-managed shops. Retailing is Indias largest industry in terms of contribution to GDP and constitutes 13% of the GDP (Gross Domestic Product). There are around 5 million retail outlets in India. There are also an unaccounted number of low cost Kiosks (tea stalls, snack centres, barber shops) and pushcarts mobile vendors. Total retail sales area in India was estimated at 328 million sq. mt. in 2001, with an average selling space of 29.4 sq. mt. per outlet. In India, the per capita retailing space is about 2 sq. ft., which is quite low in comparison to the developed economies. In 2000, the global management consultancy AT Kearney put retail trade at Rs 400,000 crore, which is expected to increase to Rs 800,000 crore by the year 2005an annual increase of 20%. According to a survey by AT Kearney, an overwhelming proportion of the Rs 400,000 crore retail markets are unorganized. In fact, only a Rs 20,000 crore segment of the market is organized. There is no integrated supply chain management outlook in the Indian traditional retail industry. Food sales constitute a high proportion of the total retail sales. The share was 62.7% in 2001, worth approximately Rs 7,039.2 billion, while non-food sales were worth Rs4189.5billion. However, the non-food retailing sector registered faster year-on-year growth than the food sales sector. The trend to market private labels by a specific retail store is catching on in India as it helps to improve

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margins. The turnover from private labels by major retail chains was estimated at around Rs 1200 million in 2000.

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CURRENT SCENARIO The Indian population is whooping 1 billion with 75% of the people living in villages and small towns. It is only natural that the agricultural sector is the biggest employer with its contribution to GDP pegged at 26.7%. Retail is Indias largest industry after Agriculture with around 20% of the economically active population engaged in it and generation 10% of our countrys GDP. The growth of the efficient small store culture can be attributed to the 6 million villages distributed across the length and breadth of the country. The 12 million retail outlets in India are the highest in the world, and cater to the purchase need of its pole. It is interesting to note, that the Urban Population although just 25% of the total, is an astounding 250 million in size and is growing at a healthy rate of 7% per annum. The chief driver of growth in the retail sector has been the consumer, with the spending increasing at an average of 11% per annum. The Core and the Lower middle have increased their share in the Growth. The Indian consumers shopping needs are and traditionally have been fulfilled by Kirana sores (corner stores), Kiosks, street vendors, weekly bazaars and high-street shops for consumer durables and luxury goods. To cater to this, each city developed its own identity and shopping cluster, for instance in Pune there is MG Road, Bangalore has Brigade Road and Commercial Street, Delhi has Connaught Place, Karol Bagh and South Extension. India will have 358 shopping malls by 2007. Droves of middle-class Indians have broken off their love of traditional stand-alone shops that have no ACs, organized parking lots and other public amenities, according to a study by fashion magazine Image. At present (September 23, 2005), In India we have 96 malls, covering an area of 21.6 million sq ft. And by year end the count will shoot up to 158 malls. It will cover 34 million sq ft area.
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49

Currently estimated at $205 billion to grow to $400-500 million, over the next 2-3 years. Smaller cities will have about 12.8 million sq ft of mall space by 2007. Ludhiana to account for 2.5 million sq ft. Ahmedabad about 3.4 million sq ft. Delhi and Mumbai now have maximum number of shopping centres. Gurgoan saw the largest development in terms of retail outlet. North region has 39% of Indias retail share. East region has 10% of Indias retail share. West region has 33% of Indias retail share. South region has 18% of Indias retail share. Government and co-operative sector is also making their steps in retailing. For example, Kendriya Bhandar, Apna Bazar, Mother Dairy, Super Bazar etc.

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DRIVERS OF CHANGE IN RETAILING

Changing demographics and industry structure Expanding computer technology Emphasis on lower costs and prices Emphasis on convenience and service Focus on productivity Added experimentation Continuing growth of non-store retailing. In todays competitive environment retailers have redefined their role in general, and in the value chain in particular. Retailers act as gatekeepers who decide on which new products should find their way to the shelves of their stores. As a result, they have a strong say in the success of the product or service launched by a business firm. A product manager of household appliances claimed, Marketers have to sell a new product several times, first within the company, then to the retailer and finally to the user of the product. It is a well-established fact that manufacturers need to sell their products through retail formats that are compatible with their business strategy, brand image, and market profile in order to ensure a competitive edge. The role of retailers in the present competitive environment has gained attention from manufacturers because external parties such as market intermediaries and supplying partners are becoming increasingly powerful. It is necessary for marketers of consumer products to identify the need and motivations of their
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partners in the marketing channel. This is especially true in the case or new products. The increasing numbers of product categories followed by multiple brands in each category complicate decision-making for both manufacturers and market intermediaries. Retailers want of optimize sales within the limited shelf space, governed by their individual sales philosophy. Retailers undertake risk in selecting a portfolio of products or brands to offer to their customers. Retailers have to make optimum selection of goods to be sold given the following major concerns: Selling space available is relatively fixed and must return maximum profits. If such space is occupied by merchandise that is not moving, it will not result in profit. The retailer may have to resort to substantial price reductions in order to get rid of the unsold stock. Selling space available is relatively fixed and must return maximum profits. If such space is occupied by merchandise that is not moving, it will not result in profit. The retailer may have to resort to substantial price reductions in order to get rid of the unsold stock. Retailing is a dynamic industry---constantly changing due to shifts in the needs of the consumers and the growth of technology. Retail formats and companies that were unknown three decades ago are now major forces in the economy. Therefore, the challenges for retail managers the world over are increasing---they must take decisions ranging from setting the price of a bag of rice to setting up multimillion dollar stores in malls. Selecting target markets, determining what merchandise and services to offer, negotiating with suppliers, training salespeople---these are just a few of the many functions that a retail manager has to perform on a perpetual basis.
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The world over retail business is dominated by smaller family run chain stores and regionally targeted stores but gradually more and more markets in the western world are being taken over by billion dollar multinational conglomerates, such as Wal-Mart, Sears, McDonalds, Marks and Spencer. The larger retailers have managed to set up huge supply/distribution chains, inventory management systems, financing pacts and wide-scale marketing plans. In the backdrop of globalization, liberalization and highly aware customers, a retailer is required to make a conscious effort to position himself distinctively to face the competition. This is determined to a great extent by the retail mix strategy followed by acompany to sell its products.

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MAJOR RETAILER SPACE HOLDERS IN INDIA

Bata India Ltd, Big Bazaar, Crossword, Ebony Retail Holdings Ltd., Food Bazaar, Globus Stores Pvt. Ltd., Liberty shoes Ltd., Music World Entertainment Ltd., Pantaloon Retail India Ltd., Shoppers Stop, Subhiksha, Titan Industries, Trent and the new entrants penetrating the market soon will include Reliance Retail Ltd, Wal-Mart Stores, Carrefour, Tesco, Boots Group, etc.

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RETAIL VIABILITY
As per the CII McKinsey report, based on a GDP growth rate of 6-7% per annum, by 2010 the retail sector is expected to be US $ 300 Billion industry. Some of the major factors hindering the growth of this sector are as follows:

The non-industry structure and status The lack of adequate infrastructure FDI restrictions in this sector The huge investments required in expanding their markets, Problems associated with working Capital funding from lending Institutions.

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5. SWOT OF THE MARKET

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STRENGTH
1) Organized retailing at US$ 3.31 billion, growing at 8%. 2) 2nd largest contributor to GDP after agriculture at 20%. 3) Pattern of consumption changing along with shopping trends. 4) A Growing population will translate to move consumers. 5) Consumer spending increasing at 11% annually. 6) Almost 25 million sq. ft. retail space available. 7) Paradigm shift in shopping experience for consumers pulling in more people. 8) Most of the entrants to organized retail come from 3 main categories, and have ventured into retail as their business extension.

Real Estate Developers Corporate Houses Manufacturers/Exporters

WEAKNESSES
1) Shortage of quality retail spaces at affordable rates. 2) Government regulations on development of real estate(Urban Land Ceiling Act)
3)

Need to provide Value for Money-squeezing margins

4) Lack of industry status.

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5) Retail revolution restricted to 250 million people due to monolithic urban-rural divide. 6) Footfalls not a clear indicator of sales as actual consumers lower in number. 7) Lack of huge investments for expansion

OPPORTUNITIES
1) Increasing urban population-more participants in retail revolution. 2) Increase in consuming middle class population. 3) Social factors like dual household income has enhanced spending power. 4) Spends moving towards lifestyle products and esteem enhancing products. 5) Availability of old industrial lands-prime real estate locked in sick industrial units. 6) Average grocery spends at 42% of monthly spends-presents a huge opportunity. 7) Increase in use of credit cards.

THREATS
1) Rising lease/rental costs affecting project viability 2) FDI restrictions in the retail sector 3) Poor monsoons and low GDP Growth could affect consumer spending drastically.
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4) Archaic labour laws are a hindrance to providing 24/7 shopping experience 5) Personalized service offered by Mom-&-Pop stores. 6) Unavailability of qualified personnel to support exponential growth in retail. 7) Differentiate taxation laws hindering expansion.

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6. INDIAN CONSUMERISM
The lifestyle and profile of the Indian consumer is going through a rapid transformation. The population of India is young, energetic and full of enthusiasm. 50% of the Indian population is under the age of 25. There has been a transition from price consideration to quality and design, as the focus of the customer has changed. The upper and middle- class population of today needs a feel good experience even if they have to spend a little more for that. People are moving towards luxury and want to experiment with fashion and technology. There is an increasing need of better apparels, cars, mobile phones and consumer durables.

The food & grocery, clothing, consumer durables and books & music sectors are the major retail sectors. However, unorganized small outlets largely control the sector. Hence there is tremendous potential for the organized sector in various

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formats, such as hypermarkets, supermarkets, specialty stores, category killers and discount chains.

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FACTORS AFFECTING CONSUMER DECISION-MAKING

A consumers purchase decision tends to be affected by the following four factors: 1) Demographic 2) Psychological 3) Environmental 4) Lifestyle

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DEMOGRAPHIC FACTORS
Demographic factors are unique to a particular person. They are objective, quantifiable and easily identifiable population data such as sex, income, age, marital status etc. It also involves identification of who is responsible for the decision-making or buying and who is the ultimate consumer.

PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS
Psychological factors refer to the intrinsic or inner aspects of the individual. An understanding of consumers psychology guides the marketers segmentation strategy.

ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS
Environmental factors cover all the physical and social characteristics of a consumers external world, including physical objects, spatial relationships, the social factors , co customers, reference groups, social class . The environmental factors influence consumers wants, learning, motives, which in turn influence effective and cognitive responses and among other things the shopping behavior of the individual.

LIFESTYLE
Lifestyle refers to an individuals mode of living as identified by his or her activities, interests and opinions. Lifestyle variables have been measured by identifying a consumers day-to-day activities and interests. Lifestyle is considered to be highly correlated with consumers values and personality. An individuals lifestyle is influenced by, among other things, the social group he belongs to and his occupation. For example, double-income-no-kids
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(DINKS) families in metros shop very regularly at the super malls because of the limited time at their disposal and they also look for entertainment while shopping on weekends. At the same time, they are higher spenders than, for e.g., singleincome families.

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7. DIVISION OF RETAILERS IN INDIA

The retail sector in India can be divided into two major categories: 1) Organized 2) Unorganized

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UNORGANIZED RETAIL IN INDIA

Retailing in India is predominantly unorganized. According to a survey by AT Kearney, an overwhelming proportion of the Rs. 400,000 crore retail market is UNORGANISED. In fact, only a Rs. 20,000 crore segment of the market is organized. We are known as a nation of shopkeepers with over 12 million, the highest outlet density in the world in the world with an estimated turnover of $ 200 billion. However a disturbing point here is that as much as 96 per cent of them are smaller than 500 square feet in area. This means that India per capita retailing space is about 2 square feet (compared to 16 square feet in the United States). India's per capita retailing space is thus the lowest in the world. Another point to note is that only 8 % of our population is engaged in Retail whereas the global average is around 10-12%. Traditional retailing has established in India for some centuries. It is a low cost structure, mostly owner-operated, has negligible real estate and labour costs and little or no taxes to pay. Consumer familiarity that runs from generation to generation is one big advantage for the traditional retailing sector. However this is set to change with the entry of the corporate sector into the retail domain. The question that is being discussed, given the corporate onslaught with big bucks and deep pockets, what will be the impact on the traditional mom and pop store? Will they survive this or will they fold up and leave the field only to the major organized retail players? The answer could be a co-existence. The major advantage for the smaller players is the size, complexity and diversity of our Indian Markets. If we look at the
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organized retail players, most of them have opened shop in the Metros, Tier 1 and Tier 2 towns. Very rarely do we find organized players in the rural areas and we have more than 70% of the population living in the rural areas. So what could be the scenario? One of the fallouts of the organized retail onslaught would be that the smaller stores in the areas where the majors operate could get squeezed out. The superior purchasing power of the majors and the volume of business generated can result in lower prices thus moving the custom away from the traditional store to the organized retail. The customer loyalty today is towards the price. This fear has manifested itself in Metros, Tier 1 and Tier 2 towns by the unorganized retail staging strikes against the majors and trying to influence Government policy toward the retail majors and making it difficult for them to operate. In UP, the Government has banned organized retail major based on the demands of the unorganized sector. While this may happen in the short run, in the long run the majors will come back and cannot be dislodged. The rising disposable income of the techies today, who having been exposed to top of line retail outlets in the foreign countries, will sooner or later generate a demand for the same facility. At this juncture, the majors will step and service this need. Another factor that is to be considered is that data on income distribution of households is insufficient in determining market size for different consumer products in India. This is because of the lack of homogeneity of the consuming class and the varying prices of a single product in different parts of India. For example, vegetables generally cost more in Mumbai than in Chennai, hence vegetable-purchasing power for identical income groups would be different in the two places even though they are the two biggest cities in India with comparable populations. In other words, purchasing power is location-specific, not income
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specific. Consumption habits of households are therefore better determinants of consumer market size than income distribution. Another factor in the favor of the unorganized retail in rural areas is our mindset. Organized retailing also has to cope with the middle class/rural psychology that the bigger and brighter a Sales outlet is, the more expensive it will be. Given the above, it is too early to predict the erosion of the mom and pop stores in India. This is also proved by countries where Wal-Mart the worlds biggest retailer operates. The smaller stores have a peaceful coexistence in these countries with the number one company in the fortune 500 list.

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TRADITIONAL v/s MODERN FORMAT RETAILERS

The retail boom will face a strong competition from the 12 million mom-and-pop stores. These are easily accessible and provide services like free home delivery and goods at credit, which is not possible with hypermarkets and supermarkets. Buying from Malls, Supermarkets and Department stores like Subhiksha, Marks & Spencers, etc. provide a different environment where one can pick and choose from a variety of products. Owing to the entry of such big players, the small shopkeepers fear losing their business. Reliance Retail Ltd. has been inviting such people to join in its Dairy business as franchisees. Traditional family run convenience stores are too well established in India than to be wiped out and besides there is uniqueness in the traditional items that represent the sub-continent. The retail stores in India are essentially dominated by the unorganized sector or traditional stores. In fact the traditional stores have taken up 98 percent of the Indian retail market. Now stores run by families are primarily food based and the set up is as Kirana or the 'corner grocer' stores. Basically they provide high service with low prices. If the stores are not food based then the type of retail items available are local in nature. The traditional family run convenience stores can take pride in the fact that the Kirana is the most common outlet forms for the consumers. The tough competition for convenience stores are coming from organized retail stores dealing in food items, like: Apna Bazaar Canteen stores Food World
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 Subhiksha Food Bazaar Convenience Stores are open for long hours and are one of the formats of the Indian retail stores that cater to basic needs of the consumer. A good example of such would be Convenio. These stores are found in both residential as well as commercial markets. The food products of traditional family run convenience stores are comprised of branded as well as non-branded items. The benefits of family run convenience stores is that they give importance to: Personal touch Facilities of credit Quick home delivery Non-food based stock comprises of multiple and varieties of local brands. The future of such stores as they face competition from organized sector would depend on the following particulars:

Place and capacity Diligent area coverage Disciplined work schedule Managing turnover Revenue from assets Customer service and satisfaction

The traditional family run convenience stores serves the purpose of the housewives who definitely wants to avoid traveling long distances to purchase

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daily needs. The convenience factor in terms of items, among people in general can be highlighted as below:

Groceries Fruits Drug Store Necessary stationery

As such traditional family run convenience stores are here to stay and cannot be oversized by the organized retail sector besides, it represents the variety of India.

8. CASE STUDY

I.

BIG BAZAAR: RETAILER)

THE

INDIAN

WAL-MART

(ORGANIZED

Pantaloon Retail (India) Limited is today recognized as one of the pioneers in the business of organized retailing in the country with a turnover of over RS 400 crores in the financial year ending June 2003. The company is headquartered in Mumbai with zonal offices at Kolkata, Bangalore and Gurgaon (Delhi). It has 4 kinds of stores; 14 Pantaloon Family Stores, 7 Big Bazaar discount hypermarkets, 6 Food Bazaar Stores with over 6.5 lakh sq ft retail space across Kolkata, Mumbai, Thane Pune, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Bagpur, Ahmedabad, Kanpur, Chennai and Gugaon (Delhi). Pantaloon Retail India Limited is the flagship company of the Pantaloon group promoted by Mr. Kishore Biyani. It has been one of the pioneers in organized retailing in India. It began its retailing operations in India way back in 1987.
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Currently, it manufactures and sells ready-made garments through its own retail outlets and two discounting stores. The company plans to diversify into the business of discounting in a big way, which is targeted at the growing middle class segment. It has Indias second largest retail chain with 17 retail outlets and two discounting stores branded as Big Bazaars across the country at an estimated retail space of 4,01,300 sq. ft. The company plans to double its retail space in the next couple of years. Pantaloon has come up with an excellent revenue model, focusing on value for money segment. Pantaloon plans to target the upper middle and the middle class segment, which forms the large chunk of Indian population. This segment is very price conscious and always looks out for value for money. Pantaloon successfully launched its discount store chain, which targets the large and growing upper-middle and middle class of Indian society. This is totally in contrast to the other organized retail players, which focus on high net-worth of individuals. Big Bazaar has strong own brand names in its portfolio across product categories. The brands include Pantaloon, John Miller and Bare. Higher percentage of own brand sales improves margins, thus reducing the breakeven level of sales. Big Bazaar has diversified from apparels to household items in its discount stores. This has enabled them to enlarge their basket of offerings.

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II.

BIG RETAIL WONT HURT KIRANA SHOPS: Study

Smita Aggarwal Indian Express Posted: Sep 14, 2007 at 0038 hrs IST NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 13: Organised retail does not pose a threat to a large number of neighbourhood mom n pop stores, reveals the preliminary findings of a study by the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (Icrier) to be submitted to the Union Government by September-October 2007. The study also found out that despite the presence of large corporate retailers in southern India for much longer periods, the small convenience stores in the region have not witnessed a decline in their revenues, said Icrier director and chief executive Rajiv Kumar. Leading south Indian retail chain RPG groups Spencers Retail limited has been operating in southern India for over a decade, with 40 stores in Chennai alone. Our stores have existed alongside neighbourhood shops and kirana stores; and we have never faced problems with any traders group or association, said Spencers Retail Ltd vice-president Satyaki Ghosh. On the contrary, Kumar added, wherever large malls or supermarkets have opened, traditional format retailers are not only trying to hold their fort but also expand and upgrade. In such a scenario, credit from commercial banks is a constraint for unorganised retailers who want to expand. The issue is how credit can be made available at reasonable rates to these retailers so that they can compete more efficiently, said Kumar.

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He pointed out that there is an adjustment process leading to net gain in employment the traditional workforce is being absorbed in layers of organised retailing and skilled workforce is being integrated at the front end. Modernisation of retail will not be at the expense of labour. The preliminary findings point out that there is no employment loss in unorganised sector, said Kumar. Icrier was given the task of studying the impact of the entry of organised retail on small neighbourhood and kirana stores by the Government in the wake of continued traders and farmers protests. The committee constituted to frame a comprehensive retail policy by the Government will consider the findings of the Icrier study. Categorically denying the levying of additional cess or any tax on modern retailers, Kumar said that the study does not recommend any such initiative.

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9. CONCLUSION The convenience and personalized service offered by the unorganized sector holds its future in good stead for the future. Organized retail of late has seen a tremendous boom and is attracting more people to the malls. What is to be seen is how organized retail can duplicate the same level of personalized customer service levels offered by the unorganized sector to have a higher conversion ratio. The target audience for both the organized and unorganized retail formats remains relatively the same. When shopping in malls, people value the experience related to the trip the most and return most frequently for the same. Besides, while enjoying the experience they seem to buy high ticket and items of conspicuous consumption most frequently.

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