At the first-ever World Retail Congress , when Pantaloon Retail was named Emerging Market Retailer of the Year, the belief that Indian retail had arrived on the world stage was further consolidated. Retail in India is currently estimated to be a US$ 200 billion industry, of which organized retail makes up just 3 percent; i.e., $6.4 billion. By 2010, organized retail is projected to reach $23 billion. However, there is a fear that the price wars in the organized retail sector will make a big dent in the brand image of these enterprises. They will need to create a mindshare and rise above price wars and shopping ambiance.
Subhiksha, a South India–based discount retail chain, has structured its brand around the concept of the Indian housewife’s conviction of getting the best value for money for her household and bargaining with the local grocer and vendors has been a cornerstone of her strategy to achieve this. So Subhiksha has designed its promotional campaign with the slogan “Bachat mera adhikaar hai!” meaning “Saving is my right!”
There has been an attempt to reflect the cultural consciousness and economic tendencies behind the shopping orientations of their customers. Big Bazaar has managed to do this quite successfully. For instance, in the Gujarat-based BB outlets, edible oils are sold loose instead of in packets because that is how the region has shopped for oils all along before the advent of modern retail.

Shopping in India had always been a frenzied activity, whether it was the high-street shops in central marketplaces or the small mom-and-pop stores in the busy streets. Added to it was the fact that as the cities got more and more crowded, parking became a nuisance. So when the Raheja Group started Shoppers’ Stop in 1991 as the first operators in modern retail in the country, the brand was promoted with the central idea of private and convenient shopping and the slogan in the ad campaigns was “Shop at your own convenience.” As brand guru, David Ogilvy rightly said, “Any damn fool can put on a deal, but it takes genius, faith, and perseverance to create a brand.” This is precisely what the Indian retailers are doing now!

There has been an attempt to reflect the cultural consciousness and economic tendencies behind the shopping orientations of their customers. Big Bazaar has managed to do this quite successfully. For instance, in the Gujarat-based BB outlets, edible oils are sold loose instead of in packets because that is how the region has shopped for oils all along before the advent of modern retail.
Shopping in India had always been a frenzied activity, whether it was the high-street shops in central marketplaces or the small mom-and-pop stores in the busy streets. Added to it was the fact that as the cities got more and more crowded, parking became a nuisance. So when the Raheja Group started Shoppers’ Stop in 1991 as the first operators in modern retail in the country, the brand was promoted with the central idea of private and convenient shopping and the slogan in the ad campaigns was “Shop at your own convenience.”
As brand guru, David Ogilvy rightly said, “Any damn fool can put on a deal, but it takes genius, faith, and perseverance to create a brand.” This is precisely what the Indian retailers are doing now!

contributed by Preeti Chaturvedi.
http://chaturvedipreeti.wordpress.com/