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A major area of concern in India regarding growth of organized retail and entry of foreign players is that traditional retail channels such as 'kirana' stores will be wiped out. With Indian retail market growing from US $ 336 billion in 2006 to US $ 590 billion
in 2011, even if share of modern retail grows from current around US $ 324 billion in 2006 to US $ 493 billion in 2011.

Large investments are anticipated in wholesale cash & carry format in coming year, which would help provide small retailers a level playing field from sourcing efficiency perspective. The current consumption pattern in India is dominated by basic categories such as Food & Grocery (F&G), which occupies as high a share as 63% of the retail consumption basket of India. However, this is projected to fall to 50% by 2016 as people shift their spending to lifestyle categories. Over time, as income levels in India increases, the propensity to spend would also increase as consumption and debt become more acceptable. Easy availability of low-cost credit has given an unprecedented boom to purchase of high ticket items, e.g., housing and automobiles.

More usage of plastic money is leading to a rise in average billing value on lifestyle categories like personal care, fashion accessories, CDIT, recreation, etc., and subsequently increasing demand of categories and brands that are predominantly impulse purchases. Consumers are evaluating EMI rather than MRP, and there is a dramatic shift in definition of capital and revenue expenditure.

Almost every now and then, we see big corporations who had previously shied away from the retail industry, announcing huge investments into the sector. Companies already in the market are coming up with new formats almost every quarter. Coupled with the economy growing in leaps and bounds and the government at the center obliging with favorable policies, the retail sector is a bus no one wants to miss in India.

However, to succeed in India requires knowing what's on the mind of the Indian consumer, what works for him and what does not, and understanding that global products and pricing need to be customized to fit with the local scheme of things. Without having a strategy in place for the Indian consumer market in place, foreign retails would find it tough to compete with the local organized retailers and the mom-and-pop shops; local retailers with their recent entry into the market should try to leverage their knowledge of the consumers and experiment with formats to see how they can capture the maximum market share. In the few years to come, it would be interesting to see who comes out on top, and what the winning strategy is, and also why the strategy succeeded and others failed.

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Anuraag Mittal is B.Com. (Hons) & M.Com. (Specialization in Marketing) from Delhi University, PGDBM (Marketing & HRM) & M.Phil. (Management) from Bharati Vidyapeeth. Also done Ph.D. from CCS University, Meerut. He is currently working as Reader in Department of Management, Delhi Institute of Advanced Studies (DIAS). He is the co-author of the book titled, "Case Studies in Management".
Suchi Priya Mittal is B.Com. (Hons) & M.Com. from University of Delhi, and is currently persuing Ph.D. from Faculty of Management Studies (FMS), University of Delhi in the area of "Emotional Intelligence". She is also working as faculty in University of Delhi and is teaching Marketing, Advertising, Management & Economics.