The Emerging Retail Landscape.

(From Business Today (India))

Byline: A BT-ACNielsen report

India is not one country, but a hundred different markets. You'll often hear marketers say that. And for good reason. With 28 states and seven union territories, 14 different official languages and hundreds of dialects, multiple ethnicities, cultures and habits, not to mention trade rules and regulations, India is a difficult market to get your arms around. Adding to that, from the marketer's point of view, is the fragmented nature of the retail industry. Organised retail in 2003-04 is estimated to have been worth Rs 22,500 crore, or less than 2 per cent of the total retail market (according to ksa Technopak). That means the nine million or so neighbourhood stores, or traditional trade, dominate the industry. The average Indian store sells just Rs 300 worth of branded consumer goods a day, making a bare Rs 30 in profit margins. No wonder, then, while India accounts …