Indian retail to touch $450 bln, be 8th largest globally by 2015

New Delhi, Sep 26 (UNI) As organised retail grows in the country, mom and pop stores will continue to remain relevant across both large and small towns in India, said a McKinsey&Company report today.

A study by the management consulting firm projected India to be a 450-billion-dollar retail market by 2015.

It adds that organised retail was expected to grow from the current five per cent of the total market to 14-18 per cent of the total retail pie in 2015.

The report said retail in India could be profitable but not with ''cut and paste'' global formats.

''Profitable retailers would require to keep four mantras in mind as they explored this high-potential market,'' it said.

The report called for developing innovative formats for material differentiation for which three decisions will be critical: where to participate in the retail value chain, which geographies to play in and what price-points to offer.

It also asked the retailers to form a customer-insight driven merchandise strategy to stimulate consumption and lock in core customers.

The report talks of creating an efficient retail operating platform consisting of a self-sufficient system of suppliers, logistics providers and even loyal shoppers.

It adds that building an evolving organisation with an empowered front-end selling team that ''owns'' local catchments was also essential.

It says the greatest challenge would be to maintain the organisation's focus on profitability while cultivating flexibility.

''Not all Indian households will shop in these new stores.

Of the current 204 million households in India, we estimate that only about 13 million are comfortable and have the income to patronise organised retail. The great news is that this relevant consumer segment will grow five-fold from 13 million to 65 million households in the next 8 years,'' said McKinsey and Company Partner and co-leader of the retail practice Ireena Vittal.

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