Retail industry can be classified into two broad categories – organized retail and unorganized retail. Organized retail - Those traders/retailers who are licensed for trading activities and registered to pay taxes to the government Unorganized retail – It consists of unauthorized small shops - conventional Kirana shops, general stores, corner shops among various other small retail outlets - but remain to be the radiating force of Indian retail industry. Overview Retail industry, being the fifth largest in the world, is one of the sunrise sectors with huge growth potential and accounts for 14-15% of the country’s GDP. Comprising of organized and unorganized sectors, Indian retail industry is one of the fastest growing industries in India, especially over the last few years. According to the Global Retail Development Index 2012, India ranks fifth among the top 30 emerging markets for retail. The recent announcement by the Indian government with Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in retail, especially allowing 100% FDI in single brands and multi-brand FDI has created positive sentiments in the retail sector. Emerging Areas Some sectors that occupy a prominent position with the retail industry are: Apparel and fashion – Everybody understands the impact of fashion and textiles on the environment. Almost $19.5 billion were spent on online apparel shopping in the year 2009 and increasing since then. Fashion & Lifestyle - In India the vast middle class and its almost untapped retail industry are the key attractive forces for global retail giants wanting to enter into newer markets, which in turn will help the retail to grow faster. Food & Beverage retail - Backed by huge potential and changing lifestyles, the food and beverage retail market is growing at a robust 30-35 per cent per year. Pharmaceutical Retail – Driven by therapies like anti-diabetic, vitamin, anti-infectives and dermatology, it accounted for a robust 15% growth in 2011. E-commerce or E-tailing – the next big revolution - With the advent of e-commerce in the retail industry, retail stores are facing stiff competition from e-stores. The rising demand for eshopping has lead to a new debate cropping up in the world. Factors driving growth are: Emergence of nuclear families Falling real estate prices Growing trend of double-income households Increase in disposable income and customer aspiration Increase in expenditure for luxury items Large working population Low share of organized retailing Growing liberalization of the FDI policy in the past decade Skill sets required are: The industry employs a staggering number of people, and given its rapid proliferation, this number is always on the rise. The backbone of the sector are the operations and supply chain management jobs but there are various other options as well, from sales executives and store managers to merchandise planners and buyers. Conceptual understanding Analytical skills Detail-orientation Fair understanding of customer’s psychology Observations skills Project Management Operational Skills In-depth product knowledge Bottlenecks A long way to meet international standards Lack of efficient supply-chain management Lack of required retail space No fixed consumption pattern Shortage of trained manpower Lack of proper infrastructure and distribution channels Ratings agency Fitch has assigned a stable outlook to the retail sector for 2012 as factors like expected sales, growth-driven expansion and efficient working capital management are likely to benefit retail companies. http://info.shine.com/article/retail-industry-overview/1476.html Indian Retail Industry: An Overview Retailing is one of the pillars of economy. It consists of all activities that result in the offering for sale of merchandise to consumers for their own use and is the final step in bringing goods to the end-users [2]. According to US consulting group AT Kearney’s report published in June, 2010, India is the third most attractive retail market for global retailers among the thirty largest emerging markets. The Indian retail industry has expended by 10.6 percent between 2010 and 1012 and is expected to increase to US$ 750-850 billion by 2015. The greater availability of personal credit and a growing vehicle population providing improved mobility contributed towards annual retail sales growth of 12.2 percent [3]. Though the Indian retail sector is dominated by unorganized sector with 90 percent share, it is providing immense opportunities for large scale retailers to set up their operations. The organized retailing sector is steadily increasing with the entry and operations of departmental stores, hypermarkets, supermarkets and specialty stores which are replacing traditional formats dramatically altering the retailing landscape in India [4]. 2.1 Organized and Unorganized Retailing The Indian retail industry is generally divided into organized and unorganized retailing. The Fig. 1 shows that India constitutes only 8 percent of organized retail and Human Resource Management in Organized Retail Industry in India 493 remaining 92 percent is left unorganized and within the organized sector, apparel is the largest segment while food and grocery and mobile and telecom are the other major contributors to this segment. Fig. 1 2.2 Organized Retailing in India Retailing in India has been achieving a noticeable growth in the organized sector since the liberalization of our country’s economy that began in the early nineties. The retail market in India is said to be fragmented with only around 8% of the sector organized, which means that only 8% of the retailers are registered under the regulations and licenses. The remaining part of the sector is unorganized. It is hence viewed as a big opportunity for the future for the organized retail firms to evolve and grow in India [5].
