India's Store Wars: Retail Revolution and the Battle for the Next 500 Million Shoppers - Softcover

Hiscock, Geoff

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0470823518 ISBN 13: 9780470823514

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons Inc, 2008

Synopsis

As India's middle class grows and disposable incomes rise, "modern" retail is becoming the next hot sector of the Indian economy. Hundreds of millions of new consumers will join this retail revolution, venturing into supermarkets, department stores and air-conditioned shopping malls for the first time. But instead of just window shopping, many of them will be serious buyers with money to spend. To cater for their needs, established players in the modern retail sector such as Biyani, Raheja and Goenka are being joined by the big names of Indian business - Reliance, Birla, Bharti, Tata etc - who plan to spend billions over the next few years rolling out supermarkets, big-box outlets and specialty stores. At the same time, property developers are getting on with the "malling" of India, and looking for high profile anchor tenants to lure customers.

On the sidelines of this Indian retail revolution are big overseas players such as Wal-Mart, which already has a tie-up with Bharti to provide much-needed “back office” support. But what Wal-Mart really wants is the right to set up its own stores in India. The same goes for Tesco, Carrefour, Metro and other international players.

While the macro outlook appears bright, the problems are astronomical for India retail industry. There is no reliable cold chain, transport logistics are appalling, there is a huge lack of managerial talent, there is no consistency for quality and quantity of supply, there is political opposition from groups such as market middlemen, the mom and pop "kirana" corner stores have to be catered for, as do the farmers who grow the produce that is integral to a successful retail revolution. How well will these disparate players cope with the various pressures of a dynamic and fast-moving industry?

About this title

From the Inside Flap

With a population fast approaching 1.2. billion and an economy that will like4ly double in size by 2015, India is destined to become one of the largest consumer markets in the world. In the coming decade, as many as 500 million people, newly released from living on or just above the poverty line, will start to buy goods and services in significant quantities for the first time in their lives.

How and where those people spend their money will determine the fortunes of countless retail businesses - from corporate giants such as reliance, Bharti, Birla, Tata, Future and RPG to the ubiquitous kirana or mom-and-pop corner stores that, along with bazaars, fresh food markets, weekly rural fairs and a smattering of department stores, have so far provided for the shopping needs of much of the Indian population.

But tastes and spending habits are changing as India's demographic profile becomes ever younger. By 2015, more than half of India's population will have only ever experienced an economically liberalized country. Their idea of shopping will include hanging out at the mall, browsing for designer brands in air-conditioned boutiques, or picking up the latest CD or DVD in the shiny mini-mart that adjoins a petrol kiosk. Brand advertising is becoming a factor in consumer choice, spurred along by a proliferation of mass media and pervasive technology in the form of mobile phones, the internet and electronic billboards. That is why modern retail is well on its way to being a key driver of the Indian economy and why it is shaping up as the biggest battleground yet seen by Indian business. India's Store wars explores the tensions at play as the next 500 million consumers gradually work their way up from the bottom of the pyramid.

From the Back Cover

Geoff's book is a cogent, clear and comprehensive survey of this rapidly emerging new sector of the Indian economy. Based on the large amount of research now available on the sector, supported by interviews with the leading practitioners, this book is a welcome handbook on the retailing revolution in India. - Alan Rosling, Executive Director, Tata Sons Limited

Geoff Hiscock's book is a comprehensive and detailed analysis of he retail industry in India. The challenges he identifies are well-researched and include diverse topics such as infrastructure, supply chain, human resources, land, product supply base as well as the vast diversity of Indian consumers. It also highlights the huge potential for the industry (provided strong economic growth is sustained) for both the nascent organized retail and the existing unorganized sectors. It is imperative that both grow side by side and remain complementary. - Colette Mathur, Co-President, EuroIndia Centre President, India invest S.A.

Geoffrey Hiscock's book should be mandatory reading for anyone trying to understand one of the next big frontiers in India's business landscape - Professor Sree Sreenivasan, Co-founder SAJA, South Asian Journalist Association and Dean of Student Affairs, Columbia Journalism School

India's Store Wars is a fascinating and upbeat story of the emerging Retail Revolution in India. Geoff Hiscock is a master story teller about India's transitions from unorganized to organized retailing. - Jagdish N. Sheth, Ph.D., Charles H. Kellstadt Professor of Marketing, Goizueta Business School, Emory University, Author, Chindia Rising: How China and India Can benefit our Business

Edition details

• Publisher: John Wiley & Sons Inc
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 0470823518
• ISBN 13: 9780470823514
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 208