Revolution of Retail

Definition of ‘Retailing and Retailer'

• Retailing refers to all the activities involved in

the selling of goods to consumers of any
product or service for consumption.
• Retailing usually takes place at a point of sale
where the seller exchanges the product
against the payment of the price paid by the
consumer.
• Retailing also involves selling of the products
in small units.
 Retailer
• A retailer is a business or person engaged in the
retailing activity.
• Retailers are the last link between the producer
and consumer.
• They make it easy for the consumers to buy what
they want.
• They assess what their customers are likely to buy
and at what price points and arrange for the
availability of such goods at convenient locations.
• They also carry out advertisement and promotion
campaigns for attracting more customers
Special Features of Apparel/Fashion
Retailing
• Product variety and diversity
– High level of personal involvement with the
product
– Desire for touch and feel
– Trying out and fitment
– Short product life cycle
Organized vs unorganized retail
 Characteristics of Unorganized Retailing

) These are owned by individuals or households and are run as proprietary firms, which
do not require any legal formalities for setting up.
) The primary focus of unorganized retail business is to keep their costs low so that they
can make adequate profit even on a small sales turnover.
) These are very small having less than 500 Square Foot of space. They also do not use
modern product display systems.
) These employ fewer people, usually less than 10 persons and generally they also do not
employ skilled/professionally trained human resources
) Customers normally stand outside the store and in front of sales counter and the
ordered items are brought to the counter by store assistants for billing and delivery.
Apparel boutiques/shops, however, provide better access to the clothes and even
include sitting space along with body measurement areas and trial rooms.
) Unorganized retailers do not make use of the best practices recommended by
management experts but rely mainly the conventional family wisdom gained through
practical experience.
) They are also slow in adopting new technologies.
) They make use of manual accounting and book keeping. Computerisation accounts is,
however, steadily increasing in the unorganized sector
 Characteristics of organised retailing
• 1) These are owned and managed by
companies established under relevant Govt.
laws 2) The stores are relatively larger and the
bigger organised retailers may occupy as large
a space as a shopping mall
oganised retail stores are generally located in more than one location and operate
across the country
4) Organised retailers might also make use of franchise store operators besides having
own
stores
5) These stores usually develop and promote their own store brands besides selling
products of brands belonging to the manufacturers
6) They make use of well-trained human resources and corporate management
structures
7) They also make use of computerised accounting and management information
systems
8) Their corporate structure gives them access to larger financial resources in the form
of
bank loans and investments including foreign direct investment (FDI)
 INDIAN APPAREL/ FASHION RETAILING SECTOR

• Rapid rise in the share of organized sector

• Rapid growth of malls
• Emergence of mega store brands
• Rise of Indian fashion designers
• Foreign direct investment (FDI) in multi brand
retail
• Increased spending on clothing
• Greater integration of export and domestic
markets for apparel
• Rise in consumer expectations
• New value propositions for consumers
• Spread of franchise stores
• New formats of retail
• Increased brand consciousness
• Increased role of e-tailing
Wheel of Retailing