Indian Retail Industry: Challenges, Opportunities and Outlook

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Preface \| Foreword \| Executive Summary \| Methodology \| Indian Retail Industry \| Insights \| Interview Section \| Company Listing \| Sponsors \| Launch Event \| D&B Editorial Team

Over the last few years, the retail sector in India has grown remarkably and has played a crucial role in the nation’s growth story. The sector’s importance and impact can be seen in the fact that in FY07, retail sales in India totalled Rs 13,300 billion - which was equivalent to approximately 33% of the country’s GDP at current market prices.

Dun & Bradstreet’s publication, ‘Indian Retail Industry: Challenges, Opportunities and Outlook’, studies the growth and performance of the organised retail segment in India. The publication also provides an overview of trends in the retail sector and profiles 123 leading players who operate in various segments and formats.

Some key insights from the study have been mentioned below -

Understanding consumer behaviour and customer retention are the topmost issues and challenges that Indian retailers are grappling with, apart from the economic slowdown
Eighty-eight per cent of the companies in the survey felt that the global economic slowdown has affected the organised retail sector’s growth in India. However, companies in the food and restaurant segment believe that they have not been impacted by the global economic slowdown
Mumbai emerged as the most preferred location for retailers that participated in the study. Bengaluru, Kolkata, Delhi and Hyderabad are the other cities that complete the list of the top five preferred locations in the country
The top centres with regard to terminals are in the following order: Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Jaipur, which together account for 46% of the total terminals in the country
A majority of the companies in the survey cited effective inventory management as an important area of focus to combat the current slowdown. In addition, some companies also cited collaboration with suppliers and revenue sharing with real estate developers as an important tool to counter the slowdown
From the cost and efficiency perspective, outsourcing continues to play an important role for retail companies. 48% of the surveyed companies were found to use third party logistic management companies to meet their transportation needs. Warehousing / storage activity and inventory management were the other activities that are most outsourced
Despite the slowdown, the medium term outlook of the surveyed companies remained positive. 49% of the surveyed companies felt that the retail sector will grow by 15-25% per annum in the next two years
In line with the positive outlook, a majority of the surveyed companies are keen on investing in the future. 66.7% of the surveyed companies plan to utilise their funds for business expansion in the near future

The retail sector has immense potential and prospects for growth and profitability. D&B will endeavour to keep track of the various developments in this sector to make this publication an important and reliable source of reference.

Kaushal Sampat
Chief Operating Officer
Dun & Bradstreet India