Page 12 - DMGT552_VISUAL_MERCHANDISING

Unit 1: Introduction to Retail

3. Rural bias: Nearly two thirds of the stores are located in rural areas. Rural retail industry Notes
has typically two forms: “Haats” and “Melas”. Haats are the weekly markets: serve groups
of 10-50 villages and sell day-to-day necessities. Melas are larger in size and more
sophisticated in terms of the goods sold (like TVs).

1.3.2 Recent Changes

Experimentation with formats: Retailing in India is still evolving and the sector is witnessing a
series of experiments across the country with new formats being tested out.

Example: Quasi-mall, suburban discount stores, Cash and carry, etc.
Store design: Biggest challenge for organised retailing to create a “customer-pull” environment
that increases the amount of impulse shopping. Research shows that the chances of senses
dictating sales are up to 10-15%. Retail chains like Music World, Baristas, Piramyd and Globus
are laying major emphasis & investing heavily in store design.

Below mentioned are the different types of Retail Stores that are prevalent in India:
 Mom-and-pop stores: They are family owned business catering to small sections; they are
individually handled retail outlets and have a personal touch.

 Convenience stores: They are located in residential areas with slightly higher prices goods
due to the convenience offered.
 Shopping malls: The biggest form of retail in India, malls offers customers a mix of all
types of products and services including entertainment and food under a single roof.
 E-trailers: They are retailers providing online buying and selling of products and services.
 Discount stores: These are factory outlets that give discount on the MRP.

 Vending Machine: It is a relatively new entry, in the retail sector. Here beverages, snacks
and other small items can be bought via vending machine.
 Category killers: These are small specialty stores that offer a variety of categories. They
are known as category killers as they focus on specific categories, such as electronics and
sporting goods. This is also known as Multi Brand Outlets or MBO’s.

 Specialty stores: They are retail chains dealing in specific categories and provide deep
variety. Mumbai’s Crossword Book Store and RPG’s Music World is a couple of examples.

 Departmental stores: They are general retail merchandisers offering quality products and
services.
In addition to above we also comes through following:
Hypermarket: Typically varying between 50,000 sq. ft. and 1,00,000 sq. ft., hypermarkets offer a
large basket of products, ranging from grocery, fresh and processed food, beauty and household
products, clothing and appliances, etc.

Example: The key players in the segment are: the RPG Group’s Giant (Spencer’s)
hypermarkets, and Pantaloon Retail’s Big Bazaars.
Cash-and-Carry: These are large B2B focused retail formats, buying and selling in bulk for
various commodities. At present, due to legal constraints, in most states they are not able to sell
fresh produce or liquor. Cash-and-carry (C&C) stores are large (more than 75,000 sq. ft.), carry
several thousand stock-keeping units (SKUs) and generally have bulk buying requirements.

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