Retail

Retail consists of the sale of physical goods or merchandise from a fixed location, such as a department store, boutique or kiosk, or by mail, in small or individual lots for direct consumption by the purchaser.[1] Retailing may include subordinated services, such as delivery. Purchasers may be individuals or businesses. In commerce, a "retailer" buys goods or products in large quantities from manufacturers or importers, either directly or through a wholesaler, and then sells smaller quantities to the end-user. Retail establishments are often called shops or stores. Retailers are at the end of the supply chain. Manufacturing marketers see the process of retailing as a necessary part of their overall distribution strategy. The term "retailer" is also applied where a service provider services the needs of a large number of individuals, such as a public utility, like electric power. Shops may be on residential streets, shopping streets with few or no houses or in a shopping mall. Shopping streets may be for pedestrians only. Sometimes a shopping street has a partial or full roof to protect customers from precipitation. Online retailing, a type of electronic commerce used forbusiness-to-consumer (B2C) transactions and mail order, are forms of non-shop retailing. Shopping generally refers to the act of buying products. Sometimes this is done to obtain necessities such as food and clothing; sometimes it is done as a recreational activity. Recreational shopping often involves window shopping (just looking, not buying) and browsing and does not always result in a purchase.

Retail Industry, Retail Sector, Retail Trade

The retail industry is responsible for the distribution of finished products to the public. The retail sector comprises of general retailers (managed by individuals/families), departmental stores, specialty stores and discount stores. Retail Industry: History
The retail industry emerged in the US in the eighteenth century, restricted to general stores. Specialty stores were developed only in those areas that had a population of above 5,000. Supermarkets flourished in the US and Canada with the growth of suburbs after World War II. The modern retail industry is booming across the world. Revenues from retail sales in the US alone stood at $4.48 trillion in 2007, according to a report by the US Census Bureau.

Retail Industry: Demand and Supply Drivers

The major demand drivers of the retail industry are: Interest rates Population Employment Personal disposable income Individual debt

The supply drivers include: Competitors in the industry Size of the market Cost of the factors of production

Retail Industry: Major Players

Of the worlds top ten retail companies in terms of total sales, six are American. Combined sales of the top ten companies, computed by Delloite, were $978.5 billion in 2007. Major retail giants include Wal-Mart, Target, Home Depot and Tesco.

Retail Industry: Statistics

The total sales from store retailers stood at 108,449.8 million in 2007 and the sales value of non-store retailers was 469.9 million. The percent composition of store and non-store retailers in 2007 was: Store Retailers Non-Store Retailers Supermarkets 32.83 Vending 26.60 Small grocery retailers 24.46 Internet retailing 25.93 Hypermarkets 19.09 Home shopping 24.04 Food/beverage/tobacco specialists 15.68 Direct selling 23.43 Discounters 7.57 0.36 Total 100 Total 100 Others

Indian Retail Industry

Evolution of Indian retail Industry:

Indian Retail Industry is standing at its point of inflexion, waiting for the boom to take place. The inception of the retail industry dates back to times where retail stores were found in the village fairs , Melas or in the weekly markets. These stores were highly unorganized. The maturity of the retail sector took place with the establishment of retail stores in the locality for convenience. With the government intervention the retail industry in India took a new shape. Outlets for Public Distribution System, Cooperative stores and Khadi stores were set up. These retail Stores demanded low investments for its establishment. The retail industry in India gathered a new dimension with the setting up of the different International Brand Outlets, Hyper or Super markets, shopping malls and departmental stores. Key Players in the Indian Retail Sector: The untapped scope of retailing has attracted superstores like Wal-Mart into India, leaving behind the kiranas that served us for years. Such companies are basically IT based. The other important participants in the Indian Retail sector are Bata, Big Bazaar, Pantaloons, Archies, Cafe Coffee Day, landmark, Khadims, Crossword, to name a few. Retailing in India: a forecast: Future of organized retail in India looks bright. According to recent researches it is projected to grow at a rate of about 37% in 2007 and at a rate of 42% in 2008. It will capture a share of 10% of the total retailing by the end of 2010. According to the Union Minister of Commerce & Industry, Shri Kamal Nath, the organized retail sector is expected to grow to a value of Rs. 2,00,000 crore (US$45 billion) and may generate 10 to15 million jobs in next 5 years. This can happen in two forms- 2.5 million of these people may be associated directly with retailing and the rest 10 million people may be gainfully employed in related sectors that will be pulled up through the strong forward and backward linkage effects. However to compete in this sector one needs to have up-to-date market information for planing and decision making. The second most important requirement is to manage costs widely in order to earn at least normal profits in face of stiff competition.

The Industry Handbook: The Retailing Industry

All businesses that sell goods and services to consumers fall under the umbrella of retailing, but there are several directions we can take from here. For starters, there are department stores, discount stores, specialty stores and even seasonal retailers. Each of these might have their own little quirks; however, for the most part the analysis overlaps to all areas of retailing. This section of the industry handbook will try to focus more on general retailers and department stores

Over the past couple decades, there have been sweeping changes in the general retailing business. What was once strictly a made-to-order market for clothing has changed to a ready-to-wear market. Flipping through a catalog, picking the color, size and type of clothing a person wanted to purchase and then waiting to have it sewn and shipped was standard practice. At the turn of the century some retailers would have a storefront where people could browse. Meanwhile, new pieces were being sewn or customized in the back rooms. In some parts of the world, the retail business is dominated by smaller family-run or regionally-targeted stores, but this market is increasingly being taken over by billiondollar multinational conglomerates like Wal-Mart and Sears. The larger retailers have managed to set up huge supply/distribution chains, inventory management systems, financing pacts and wide scale marketing plans. Without getting into specific product categories within the retailing industry, the overall segments can be divided into two categories:

Hard - These types of goods include appliances, electronics, furniture, sporting goods, etc. Sometimes referred to as "hardline retailers." Soft - This category includes clothing, apparel, and other fabrics.

relevance of retailing in india

INTRODUCTION

The India Retail Industry is the largest among all the industries, accounting for over 10 per cent of the countrys GDP and around 8 per cent of the employment. The Retail Industry in India has come forth as one of the most dynamic and fast paced industries with several players entering the market. But all of them have not yet tasted success because of the heavy initial investments that are required to break even with other companies and compete with them. The India Retail Industry is gradually inching its way towards becoming the next boom industry.

The total concept and idea of shopping has undergone an attention drawing change in terms of format and consumer buying behavior, ushering in a revolution in shopping in India. Modern retailing has entered into the Retail market in India as is observed in the form of bustling shopping centers, multi-storied malls and the huge complexes that offer shopping, entertainment and food all under one roof.

A large young working population with median age of 24 years, nuclear families in urban areas, along with increasing workingwomen population and emerging opportunities in the services sector are going to be the key factors in the growth of the organized Retail sector in India. The growth pattern in organized retailing and in the consumption made by the Indian population will follow a rising graph helping the newer businessmen to enter the India Retail Industry.

In India the vast middle class and its almost untapped retail industry are the key attractive forces for global retail giants wanting to enter into newer markets, which in turn will help the India Retail Industry to grow faster. Indian retail is expected to grow 25 per cent annually. Modern retail in India could be worth US$ 175-200 billion by 2016. The Food Retail Industry in India dominates the shopping basket. The Mobile phone Retail Industry in India is already a US$ 16.7 billion business, growing at over 20 per cent per year. The future of the India Retail Industry looks promising with the growing of the market, with the government policies becoming more favorable and the emerging technologies facilitating operations.

india Retail Industry

The Indian retail industry is the fifth largest in the world. Comprising of organized and unorganized sectors, India retail industry is one of the fastest growing industries in India, especially over the last few years. Though initially, the retail industry in India was mostly unorganized, however with the change of tastes and preferences of the consumers, the industry is getting more popular these days and getting organized as well. With growing market demand, the industry is expected to grow at a

pace of 25-30% annually. The India retail industry is expected to grow from ` 35,000 crore in 2004-05 to ` 109,000 crore by the year 2010.

Growth

of

Indian

Retail

According to the 8th Annual Global Retail Development Index (GRDI) of AT Kearney, India retail industry is the most promising emerging market for investment. In 2007, the retail trade in India had a share of 8-10% in the GDP (Gross Domestic Product) of the country. In 2009, it rose to 12%. It is also expected to reach 22% by 2010. According to a report by Northbride Capita, the India retail industry is expected to grow to US$ 700 billion by 2010. By the same time, the organized sector will be 20% of the total market share. It can be mentioned here that, the share of organized sector in 2007 was 7.5% of the total retail market.

Relevance In kerala
introduction

Retailing is considered the world's largest industry with US $ 6.6 trillion sales annually. In India, retailing is considered the largest employer after agriculture employing over 8% of the population. India has the highest outlet population in the world with over 12 million outlets. The Indian Retail Industry is still evolving as an 'Industry', and it has a long way to go. The evolution of the Indian Retail market is quite interesting to be studied. It has its origins in the village weekly markets and melas, the convenience stores, the Khadi stores and the Co-operative stores before graduating to the present day forms of retailing. The retail sector in India can be broadly classified into the formal and the informal retail sectors. The informal retail sector typically consists of small-time retailers with tax evasions and non-conformance to labour laws. The formal retail sector, which typically consists of large retailers, ensures greater measures of tax enforcements and also a high level of labour usage monitoring. The retail market size in India is estimated to be around $180 billion. Retailing provides jobs to almost 15 percent of employable Indian adults and it is perhaps the largest contributor to India's GDP. But the flip side is that the average size of each of the retail outlets in India is only 50 square feet and though a large employer, the industry is very unorganized, fragmented and with a rural bias. India's status as a good IT hub for outsourcing by U.S. companies has led to young Indians between 20 to 24 years old taking up call center jobs straight out of college. This is a consumer base that typically lives at home, with the family. They have disposable income that is totally discretionary and about 20 to 30 percent higher than prevailing wages. "We have tripled our sales in Bangalore city in the last three years," says Shumone Chatterjee, marketing director, Levi Strauss India. And he believes this is largely due to the effect of disposable income coming into the hands of the 18-22 age group employed in BPO jobs. The important thing is that most of the income earned is basically 'pocket money'. Many of the people in this segment live at home, so rent and food is taken care of. BPO is just one example. From retail to insurance entry level jobs are aplenty. IT firms added 55,000 mostly engineering graduates. Infosys alone recruited 10,000. This segment is very brand-conscious. Retailing in Kerala

Retailing in Kerala is a subject too subtle and relevant; as Kerala is know of more as a consumer state rather than a producer state. The introduction of Margin Free Markets have turned out to be grand success resulting in it becoming one of the largest retail chains in the country.