CORPORATE RETAILING
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CORPORATE RETAILING

there is the impending legislation to allow Foreign Direct Investment in Retailing in India. This move, the commerce Ministry feels will unlock the value of retail business which is mostly unorganised with infra structural bottlenecks such as poor connectivity to markets, lack of storage facilities for perishables etc. Other section feels that this will introduce unfair competition between Multi National Corporations and neighborhood Kirana Stores. I had always felt modernization should have a human face. government should ensure a level playing field, remember the Bombay club of yesteryears with the likes of Rahul Bajaj claiming foul over the entry of MNCs in to Indian Market.? the mostly owner driven retail enterprise has of late adopted better packaging for their produce and better marketing strategies such as free home delivery. Some of the neighborhood stores offer credit facilities as well to their client which probably a MNC will not oblige. 

If footfalls are any indication of patronage  More stores of Aditya Birla group seem to be a sure winner. I have visited their stores quite often where you have the choice of goods from vegetables, grocery ,eatables,drinks, health food and drinks, consumer goods, luxuries etc. The stores are well organised and the visitors are treated nicely by the stores salesmen and girls. The room is air conditioned and you enjoy your time and freedom to pick any thing you like from a variety of goods made available. They also offer mega deals to entice customers. My mother who was a loyal customer of a neighbor hood stores has already fallen for More for they promise loyalty bonuses, free gifts for purchases exceeding a certain value etc. The billing system is efficient as most of the packages have Barcode and the salesmen can readily access the price through a scanner. Somehow my wife and mother in law prefer to buy our groceries from a whole sale dealer in a ramshackle shop in a busy town thoroughfare. They claim it is cheaper which I disagree. 

MORE stores offer employment opportunities to young men and women and also offer part time jobs as well. It is fantastic idea if through Corporate retailing, more jobs are created and the wealth is shared in stead of owner driven shops. Even Owner driven shops could be offered franchise partnership models which will enable the corporate retailer access to markets not known to them but nurtured over a period of time by the small time grocer.  The myth that corporate retailing will drive away such kirana stores in to oblivion should be dispelled. The unorganised retail chains should also form an umbrella chamber to protect their own interest and offer much better services to the customer lest he/she be weaned away by  corporate retailers. There should be a dispute resolution mechanism in place to check unfair trade practices intended to ensure monopoly for in a free market monopoly should be abolished.

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