Modern Retailing in India

1. Organized and modern retailing form around 9% of the total retail in the country.
2. Modern retail refers to stores operating in experiential formats and providing customers with a pleasurable shopping environment.
3. Some steps that given new turn to modern retailing in India are
a) Launch of retail venture by Reliance Industries- ‘Reliance Fresh’ and ‘Reliance Digital’.
b) Other significant development is the announcement of the global retail giant –‘Wall Mart’, entry into India for setting up stores through franchise agreement with the Sunil Mittal’s Bharti Group.
4. The size of modern retailing put together is around $ 29 million in India.
5. India’s retail progress is so rapid that it has been ranked for the second year in 2006 in the Global Retail Development Index (GDRI) as the most attractive market for the global retailers to enter.
6. Organized retail in India is expected to grow at the rate of 35%.
7. It is estimated that organized retailing will be 20% of the total retailing by the end of year 2008.
8. According to reports, India retail industry is the largest industry in India with an employment of around eight percent. This industry contributes to over 10 percent of the country's GDP. It is expected that by 2016 modern retail industry in India will be worth $175- 200 billion.
9. India is one of the largest producers of fruits and vegetables in the world. Moreover, India's food market is valued at $70 billion, which is doubling every three years.
10. The Retail Sector is the largest sector in India after agriculture, accounting for over 10 per cent of the country’s GDP and around 8 per cent of the employment.