Challenges in Retailing

Challenges in Retailing
    The industry is facing a severe shortage of talented professionals, especially at the
middle-management level.
    Most Indian retail players are under serious pressure to make their supply chains more efficient in order to deliver the levels of quality and service that consumers are demanding. Long intermediation chains would increase the costs by 15 per cent. Lack of adequate infrastructure with respect to roads, electricity, cold chains and ports has further led to the impediment of a pan-India network of suppliers. Due to these constraints, retail chains have to resort to multiple vendors for their requirements, thereby, raising costs and prices.
     The available talent pool does not back retail sector as the sector has only recently emerged from its nascent phase. Further, retailing is yet to become a preferred career option for most of India’s educated class that has chosen sectors like IT, BPO and financial services. Even though the Government is attempting to implement a uniform value-added tax across states, the system is currently plagued with differential tax rates for various states leading to increased costs and complexities in establishing an effective distribution
network.
     Stringent labor laws govern the number of hours worked and minimum wages to be paid leading to limited flexibility of operations and employment of part-time employees. Further, multiple clearances are required by the same company for opening new outlets adding to the costs incurred and time taken to expand presence in the country.
     The retail sector does not have ‘industry’ status yet making it difficult for retailers to raise finance from banks to fund their expansion plans. Government restrictions on the FDI are leading to an absence of foreign players resulting into limited exposure to best practices.

      Non-availability of Government land and zonal restrictions has made it difficult to find a good real estate in terms of location and size. Also lack of clear ownership titles and high stamp duty has resulted in disorganized nature of transactions.

Retailing Formats

     Retailing Formats

      Modern retailing has entered India in form of sprawling malls and huge complexes offering shopping, entertainment, leisure to the consumer as the retailers experiment with a variety of formats, from discount stores to supermarkets to hypermarkets to specialty chains.

Source: IT Retailing: Are You In The Loop?, July 16, 2006

   

       However, kiranas still continue to score over modern formats primarily due to the convenience factor. The organized segment typically comprises of a large number of retailers, greater  enforcement of taxation mechanisms and better labour law monitoring system. It's no longer about just stocking and selling but about efficient supply chain management, developing vendor relationship quality customer service, efficient merchandising and timely promotional campaigns.

     The modern retail formats are encouraging development of well-established and efficient supply chains in each segment ensuring efficient movement of goods from farms to kitchens, which will result in huge savings for the farmers as well as for the nation. The Government also stands to gain through more efficient collection of tax revenues. Along with the modern retail formats, the non-store retailing channels are also witnessing action with HLL initiating Sangam Direct, a direct to home service. Network marketing has been growing quite fast and has a few large players today. Gas stations are seeing action in the form of convenience stores, ATMs, food courts and pharmacies appearing in many outlets.

     In the coming years it can be said that the hypermarket route will emerge as the most preferred format for international retailers stepping into the country. At present, there are 50 hypermarkets operated by four to five large retailers spread across 67 cities catering to a population of half-a-million or more. Estimates indicate that this sector will have the potential to absorb many more hypermarkets in the next four to five years.

      Traditionally, the small store (kirana) retailing has been one of the easiest ways to generate self-employment, as it requires minimum investments in terms of land, labour and capital. These stores are not affected by the modern retailing as it is still considered very convenient to shop. In order to keep pace with the modern formats, kiranas have now started providing more value-added services like stocking ready to cook vegetables and other fresh produce. They also provide services like credit, phone service, home delivery etc.

    The organized retailing has helped in promoting several niche categories such as packaged fruit juices, hair creams, fabric bleaches, shower gels, depilatory products and convenience and health foods, which are generally not found in the local kirana stores.

     Looking at the vast opportunity in this sector, big players like Reliance and K Rahejas has announced its plans to become the country's largest modern retainers by establishing a chain of stores across all major cities.
     Apart from metro cities, several small towns like Nagpur, Nasik, Ahmedabad, Aurangabad, Sholapur, Kolhapur and Amravati as witnessing the expansion of modern retails. Small towns in Maharashtra are emerging as retail hubs for large chain stores like Pantaloon Retail because many small cities like Nagpur have a student population, lower real estate costs, fewer power cuts and lower levels of attrition. However, retailers need to adjust their product mix for smaller cities, as they tend to be more conservative than the metros.
   In order for the market to grow in modern retail, it is necessary that steps are taken for rewriting laws, restructuring the tax regime, accessing and developing new skills and investing significantly in India.