With organized retail in India pegged at Rs 25,000 crore (Rs 250 billion) -- out of a total of Rs 800,000 crore (Rs 8,000 billion -- and a double digit growth rate, marketing companies are setting up shops to provide differentiated services to clients. Till now sales people were the link between the retailer and the producer. But sales personnel are busy selling a product and do not have a fair idea of what retailing is about. The focus is to prioritise retail. That is, not only to sell a product to a consumer but to get the consumer to interact with the product. Gone are the days when retailing meant mere availability of a product. With competition becoming stiffer companies are looking at 'experiential' marketing. Also the lack of proper metrics to measure marketing spends is a serious issue.
In today's swiftly changing business environment, there is no option but to be in the know - to be constantly on the move, keeping tabs on the shifting trends in the market place and maneuvering your strategy to stay on top. The retail arena today is very different - the opportunities are incredible but exploiting them is extremely tough.
Super smart shoppers know all the rules of the game. They can instantly sense a good buy and lap it up or sniff out a bad product and dismiss it. Their expectations are tough to meet but for retailers aiming to make a big sale, there is not much of a choice but to find ways to win customers over and keep them permanently happy.
In an environment, which is still restrictive in many ways and lacks adequate infrastructure, this becomes a formidable task. So how are Indian retailers coping up and how long will it be before organized retail becomes the primary way of selling.
. This report also surveys the property market and reiterates the significance of IT in organized retail before presenting a payback analysis to reveal the financial aspects involved.
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