Retail Marketing in Rural India – Factors in Favour and Strategies

Retail industry now accounting for 10% of the country's GDP undergoes dynamic changes boosting its growth still further. The sector grows impressively leading to production of wide range of products and services. Rural markets provide great scope for marketers due to increased revenue and purchase power of the rural population in India. The rural income is expected to increase faster due to government policies supporting agriculture and the earning population that has temporarily moved out of rural villages to cities for employment in non-agricultural sectors. Technology in agriculture has helped to produce quality crops and the market is ready to give high prices for such products. Around 60% of the students in the colleges are first generation graduates who have moved out of their villages for tertiary education. Thus the life style, likes and preferences of the rural population keeps changing. However the huge rural segment is much different from that of the urban segment and the marketers need to approach with sustained efforts and special models. The highly fragmented rural segment's needs are majorly filled by unorganized family run Kirana stores and Maligai shops. The share of organised retail in the country has risen by 60% and the same is expected to have impact on the rural market as well. The paper focuses on the growth of retail market in India, the emerging factors in favour of rural retail and suggests strategies for rural retailing