RETAILING AND ITS CHALLENGES –THE PRESENT OUTLOOK

India is the nation having the most unorganized retail market. Conventionally it is a family's livelihood, with their shop in the front and house at the back, while they run the retail business. More than 99% retailers function in less than 500 square feet of shopping space. Global retail consultants KSA Techno Pak have estimated that organized retailing in India is expected to touch Rs 35,000 crore in the year 2005-06. The Indian retail sector is estimated at around Rs 900,000 crore, of which the organized sector accounts for a mere 2 per cent indicating a huge potential market opportunity that is lying in the waiting for the consumer- savvy organized retailer. The average consumer today is richer, younger and more aspirational in his/her needs than ever before. Consumers now value convenience and choice at par with getting value for their hard-earned money. A range of modern retailers is attempting to serve the needs of the new Indian consumer. The last insufficient years have witnessed an explosion of organized retail formats like supermarkets and hypermarkets in an otherwise fragmented Indian retail market.