Indian retail Industry The Indian retail sector is presently valued at $300 billion with organized retail contributing

to 6% of the value. Overall retail in India is e pected to grow by !0% to !"% by #0$0%#0$$ but it is the organized retail that is e pected to grow incredibly at #00%. The high and &iddle inco&e population has grown at the rate of $0% in the last decade in India. The rapid urbanization of the Indian consu&er' easier consu&er credit and greater variety and (uality at all price points are so&e of the factors that should facilitate the growth of organized retail in India. Top retailers of the country have been found to go for an aggressive e pansion strategy. )s per the latest reports of research consultancy Technopa* the retail industry is esti&ated to pu&p in $36 billion dollar into various retail for&ats by #0$3. )fter establishing "+# reliance fresh stores' reliance retail is set to establish hyper &ar*ets over $&illions s(uare feet. )nother retail group that has invested in its retail endeavors is the )ditya ,irla group. It has invested around $0'000crores in its retail business. )fter opening retail for&ats li*e hyper &ar*et' super &ar*et' concept stores. The group has launched fa&ily store for&at. )part fro& reliance and aditya birla' tata-s have a strong presence in the retail industry. The tata-s are e pected to have around +00 outlets across various for&ats and categories. ,y now' e clusive stores owned by the tata-s li*e Tanish( and the world of titan should nu&ber $30 and 333 respectively. One retailer that is fast e panding following the repositioning route is ,ata. The retailer has presently $#00 e clusive outlets in India and is adding +0 each in a year. .hile spea*ing about the for&at of the new outlets /arcello villagran' /0' ,ata india observed 1these stores will be in a four%tiered for&at will the ob2ective of focusing on the pre&iu& seg&ent' villagran has spun of ,ata-s hush 3uppies brand into individual brand stores. .hile &a2or retailers are e panding their nu&ber of stores' future group is reported to have diversified into various other businesses apart fro& e panding the nu&ber of various retail for&at. The group has presently "&a2or retail for&ats 4)5. 6entral' pantaloons' ,ig bazaar-s ' brand factory and food bazaars. 7 pressing his satisfaction over the nu&ber of various retail for&ats 8ishore biyani of the future group observed' 1.e

have built the good &o&entu& over the past two 9 three year. )s a result we are the largest in every category we operate in' in ter&s of size and scale. Organized retail: The Challenges One of the for&idable challenges facing the organized retail sector in India today is the &eteoric rise in real estate prices. :etailers have been found to spend #"%%30% of their revenues in rental for operating in &etropolitan areas. The rising real estate prices have been found to either halt the e pansion plans of retailers or have co&pelled the& to change their strategies. /alls are co&ing out in large nu&bers across the country but the rentals are prohibitive for &any retailers. The &alls undoubtedly attract footfalls but then a &a2ority of shoppers do window shopping over there and do not actually purchase ite&s. ;ootfalls do not always translate into revenues for retailers which put a (uestion &ar* on their sustainability in &alls. )nother &a2or challenge facing the organized retail sector is the supply chain inefficiencies. There are so&e of the &a2or reasons behind supply chain inefficiencies. To start with' the Indian far&ers have low risk taking ability, low investment capabilities and weak market orientation that disallows hi& to get a better bargain for his produce. There are a nu&ber of inter&ediaries that lead to cost addition and little a&ount of value addition. )part fro& the &entioned challenges' various regulatory issues have been found to pose serious hurdles for the retailers. <ee*ing (uality &anpower for various store functions is another challenge for the retailers.