Evolution of Organized Retail

Evolution of Organized Retail

Evolution of Organized Retail in India and its Impact on Consumer

Institute

Indian Institute of Management, Indore

Authors

Kumar Gaurav (p08gauravg@iimidr.ac.in, +9907664688)

Vinit Vakil (p08vinitv@iimidr.ac.in, +9907664698)

Originality Statement

We hereby declare that this submission is our own work, except where otherwise stated. However, where empirical studies are presented and the origin of the work is either wholly or in part from other sources, then full reference is given to the original author. The work has not been presented previously in any competition.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The India growth story has fostered the evolution of several nascent industries, one of which is the organized retail sector in the Indian market. In this paper, we have explored the growth of the retail sector from isolated units (Kirana stores) to mom-and-pop stores and departmental stores to organized malls and further to the latest trend of convenience stores, hyper markets and specialty retailers. This evolution of the organized retail in India has forced retailers to make changes in their offering causing a paradigm shift in the attitudes and buying patterns of consumers. The increase in spending by customers can be attributed to a host of factors ranging from more purchasing capacity to social and psychological paradigm shifts to a plethora of available options wherein the consumers are essentially spoilt for choice.

The organized retail model provides retailers with several benefits such as better logistics and inventory management, more sophisticated supply chain systems and economies of scale among other things. However, the focus of this paper is to highlight the impact of the modern retail not on the retailers but on the consumers. There is a visible shift in attitudes of the consumers from perceiving stores as buying exercises to now malls becoming a preferred destination for social interaction and recreation. Assured product quality and...

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