Retail at Crossroads

In India, retail sector has emerged as one of the most dynamic and fast paced sectors. This book covers all the strategic and contemporary issues of retailing. It includes short essays on retailing in the form of 12 different chapters. This book could be a good source of reference for various research scholars in the field of retail as well as for retailers who want to design their strategies for success in the field. The book starts with giving the basic idea of retailing, organized retailing vs. unorganized retailing, and challenges and opportunities in retail sector. The Second Chapter discusses the recent trends of mall retailing and various strategic issues related to it. One of the basic classifications of organized retailing - Multi-brand vs. Exclusive Retailing - is covered in Chapter Three. The next three chapters focus on understanding consumer behavior as well as factors to be considered in building a positive retail store image. These chapters are exclusively devoted to study the diversity and change in customers' expectation in recent times with the help of empirical and secondary data. The way in which mobile phones have penetrated the Indian market has surprised all; same is the case of consumer durables and IT retail in India. The Seventh Chapter covers some case examples of successful retailers in this segment. Celebrities are everywhere and they have become an essential element of any marketing plan and retailers are also recognizing this fact. Chapter Eight covers the trends related to the use of celebrities in the retail sector. The Ninth Chapter talks about the rural scenario. All companies - be it consumer durables, FMCG or service-oriented - move to tap the huge unexplored rural market in India. The Tenth Chapter emphasizes on online retailing trends. With increasing penetration of computers and easy availability of broadband, there is an increasing trend of more and more people going for online shopping rather than physical shopping. Chapter Eleven highlights some innovative technologies and solutions that can be used by the retailers worldwide. The last chapter of the book marks a new beginning as it covers various career options available to the students in retail.