I am presently reading Kishore Biyani’s “It happened in India”. Much has been said about India’s nascent retail industry in the book and elsewhere. Sometime back, the monthly Business & Economy ran a story on “How Walmart will Not succeed in India”. The same can now be applied to our desi retail chains especially Reliance.
Obviously, Reliance’s time tested strategies of “managing the environment” hasn’t worked here – simply because they managed the wrong environment!! The trader lobby in this country is much powerful than the farmers’ associations or consumer groups – just ask the hapless housewife who is now buying veggies at a premium of 50-80% or the farmer who is at the mercy of these traders. And so we have the ugly scenes in U.P. (where Reliance has now exited) and West Bengal or Orissa.
A much pragmatic approach will involve all the stakeholders in this business which will result in better operating conditions. Farm to fork is alright; get those middlemen in the business – after all they have more field knowledge about the market than do the MBAs, and rally the consumers to back the company. The politicians will follow 🙂 And not the other way round.
Here’s to the success of Indian Retail industry and better buying experience for my wife! (saves me lot of hassles!!)