What is it about?
The two senior authors have long experience of examining marketing systems worldwide, including India; and the third author is currently probably the India-based academic who is best-connected to the burgeoning retail sector in India. Putting these experiences and skills together has resulted in this paper. It shows that... yes... retail modernization is rapid in India but the traditional sector is resilient, innovative, and competitive in many situations.
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Why is it important?
This paper owes a lot to Alladi Venkatesh and Terrence Witkowski. These editors were persistent in getting us (the authors) to put our years of experience with India's retailing into a paper that looked impossible to do at first (because of the challenging scope of bringing India's retail complexity into one paper) but eventually turned out to be a great intellectual exercise and resulted in a good product.
Perspectives
The conceptually central intellectual force behind this paper is Ruby Roy Dholakia, whose range of retail-focused research efforts and writings span the whole spectrum of retailing, from the tiny 'kirana' stores of developing nations to the most cybernetically advanced online shopping contexts. The 'Resources' section provides key links to some of her work.
Dr Nikhilesh Dholakia
University of Rhode Island
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: India’s Emerging Retail Systems, Journal of Macromarketing, March 2012, SAGE Publications,
DOI: 10.1177/0276146712438900.
You can read the full text:
Resources
Early stages of modern retailing in India...
This article, also by Nikhilesh Dholakia (coauthor of the J. Macromarkeing paper), was done in collaboration with Piyush Sinha of Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIMA). Professor Piyush Sinha studies retail settings in India regularly and, in this piece, we extracted some very interesting behavioral observation-based themes about Indian shoppers trying modern retailing in early stages. This is an Open Access journal - full PDF is available.
Centre for Retailing at IIMA
Under the direction of Professor Piyush Kumar Sinha at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIMA), important and insightful work on the India's retail sector is continuing.
Dual Insights into Retailing: Dr. Ruby Roy Dholakia
While the literature on retailing is vast, there are very few places where one can find insights into retailing phenomena from both consumer behavior and retail/brand strategy angles. Research by Ruby Roy Dholakia in retailing and e-commerce does achieve insightful integration of both these perspectives.
India Retail Forum... industry group
Knowledge and networking resource on India's retail sector.
Current news on India's retail sector
Newsletter, web resources, books and more...
Apple iStore format - 500 stores for India?
Smartphone demand is booming in India, and Apple is planning a smaller format chain of stores...
Kirana for the Last Kilometer
Giant e-commerce retailer Amazon links up with traditional kirana store in India...
Mera Kirana [My Kirana] Program from Walmart
While Walmart remains focused on major direct entry into India's retail sector, it is also sponsoring a program to support the traditional kirana stores, via its wholesale club stores in India.
Online Shopping: Chiang and Dholakia
A key early and pioneering paper from Dr. Kuan-Pin Chiang, based on his doctoral work at the University of Rhode Island (URI) under the supervision of Professor Ruby Roy Dholakia.
More on e-Shopping... by Professor Ruby Roy Dholakia and Dr. Outi Uusitalo
Part of the well-established stream of research on e-commerce by Prof Ruby Roy Dholakia and her global associates.
Gender differences in e-shopping... from Dr Ruby Roy Dholakia and D Kuan-Pin Chiang
Another resource from the work at the University of Rhode Island (URI), part of the tech-markets-consumers program of Ruby Roy Dholakia.
India retail sector: Key data for 2013 from IBEF
Statistics at this site track the past several years of retail growth in India.
Shopper Behavior and Shopper Marketing: Views and Insights from TNS Global
As retailing develops in emerging economies, shopper marketing is become a critical strategy for reaching the consumer.
ATKearney: Global Retail Development Index
ATKearney data was of great value in the development of this paper.
Google Scholar Page: Nikhilesh Dholakia
Nikhilesh Dholakia has worked closely with Ruby Roy Dholakia on some of her projects on retailing. There are more retail links on her Google Scholar page.
Google Scholar Page: Ruby Roy Dholakia
Many links to this author's work on retailing available here.
India Retail News
Chock full of trade news on India's retail sector.
Bharathiyar University scholars on India retail
Multiple web pages, developed by two scholars at this university, on retail sector in India.
Politics, Policy and Retailing in India: Carrefour pulls out
Mid-2014 article on the French retail giant's retreat from India.
India's local retail lobby: Praveen Khandelwal
A blog that expresses local views from India, counter-posed against global MNC backdrop.
India Retail: Economic Times (ET) site
ET, India's leading economic-finance-biz daily, has created this special site to track India-focused retail news.
Resilient Kirana (India's small retailer): Blog post
"Never underestimate the resilience of the kirana shop owner. Rest assured, competition won't kill him."
Resilient Kirana (India's small retailer): View from Hindu BusinessLine
Author writes: "As far I can see the kiranas [faced with big. modern retail competition] have got smarter, brighter, and more service-oriented."
Resilient Kirana (India's small retailer): A consulting report
Pretty good data and opinion-based report "Death of Kirana", via this site.
Online Shopping Global Leader: Ruby Roy Dholakia
The series of research studies by this author puts her at the top of the global list of those studying online shopping patterns, strategies, and behaviors.
Online Shopping Global Leader: Ruby Roy Dholakia
Pioneering and widely influential paper, by this retail studies scholar, on the range of factors which drive online shopping behaviors.
Online Shopping Global Leader: Ruby Roy Dholakia
An influential pioneering study, under the leadership of this author, of consumer intentions in online shopping situations.
Online Shopping Global Leader: Ruby Roy Dholakia
Another early and influential study on the factors and forces that impel consumers toward online shopping.
Online Shopping Global Leader: Ruby Roy Dholakia
A pioneering early case study that places online shopping in the larger context of multichannel retailing, including catalog and in-store retailing and shopping.
Make-Do Package Delivery Logistics
Mobile net access has opened up e-retail opportunities in India, Asia, Africa. But e-retail delivery methods pose a challenge. Here is a Nigerian startup providing package deliveries in complex, haphazard conditions.
Contributors
The following have contributed to this page
