Book description
As India's middle class grows and disposable incomes rise,
"modern" retail is becoming the next hot sector of the Indian
economy. Hundreds of millions of new consumers will join this retail
revolution, venturing into supermarkets, department stores and
air-conditioned shopping malls for the first time. But instead of just
window shopping, many of them will be serious buyers with money to
spend. To cater for their needs, established players in the modern
retail sector such as Biyani, Raheja and Goenka are being joined by the
big names of Indian business - Reliance, Birla, Bharti, Tata etc - who
plan to spend billions over the next few years rolling out supermarkets,
big-box outlets and specialty stores. At the same time, property
developers are getting on with the "malling" of India, and
looking for high profile anchor tenants to lure customers.
On the sidelines of this Indian retail revolution are big overseas
players such as Wal-Mart, which already has a tie-up with Bharti to
provide much-needed “back office” support. But what Wal-Mart really
wants is the right to set up its own stores in India. The same goes
for Tesco, Carrefour, Metro and other international players.
While the macro outlook appears bright, the problems are astronomical
for India retail industry. There is no reliable cold chain, transport
logistics are appalling, there is a huge lack of managerial talent,
there is no consistency for quality and quantity of supply, there is
political opposition from groups such as market middlemen, the mom and
pop "kirana" corner stores have to be catered for, as do the
farmers who grow the produce that is integral to a successful retail
revolution. How well will these disparate players cope with the
various pressures of a dynamic and fast-moving industry?
Geoff Hiscock has been writing about Asian
business for more than 30 years from bases in Hong Kong, Tokyo,
Bangkok and Sydney. He is the author of India's Global Wealth Club
(2007), which documents India's 21st century resurgence and profiles
the richest Indian tycoons around the world. He also wrote the hugely
successful Asia's Wealth club (1997) and its follow-up, Asia's New
Wealth Club (2000), the key books which first brought many of the
region's billionaires to the attention of an international audience.
he served as Sydney bureau chief and Asia Business Editor for CNN. com
Asia Pacific from 2001-2006, and as International Business Editor of
The Australian daily newspaper from 1995-2000.
