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Introduction

Considering the value chain for a company to service its final customers, the retailer is at the front end. The customer is not buying the product from the company but from
the retail outlet. In this perspective, the role of the retailer becomes all-important. Hence, it becomes imperative for the company to forge a good relationship with the trade so that the company can service its present customers well and form new set of customers which would ultimately help the company achieve its business objectives.

Retail in India is growing in a big way. The organized retail sector in India is expected to grow stronger than GDP growth in the next five years. All this is changing the contours of the retail scenario in India.

Promotions have been a tool for channel members to increase the demand for their products. Where promotions create opportunities for channel members, at the same time it creates challenges to fore-cast the impact of promotions on demand and to plan for other channel member's action.

Upswing in Modern Trade

The distribution of the retail market in the present Indian scenario comprises chiefly of the food and grocery sector. This sector is primarily covered by the FMCGs.

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* Contributed by: -
Devdatta Jain & Meenakshi Chhajer,
National Institute of Industrial Engineering (NITIE), Mumbai.