At Rubi Hospital crossing, a big billboard proudly announces the coming of Metro in all its resplendence. Not far from where Metro is coming up is another large retail joint, Big Bazaar of the Pantaloons group, which has been operating since last couple of years.
If you take a peek inside Big Bazaar, you’re likely to be greeted with moderate to heavy crowd of buyers, busy selecting their choice from among thousands of items on display. During weekends, Big Bazaar resembles a chock-a-block fish market, with hardly a decent place to survey your buy.
Pictures at other retail hangouts are nearly similar, if not that crowded. This conveys that organized retails are the new flavors of the day, and will gain more strength as India’s economy takes off. Reason enough for the biggest of the biggies, Wal-Mart to set foot in the country. Wal-Mart, by virtue of its sheer scale of operation in as many as 13 countries (perhaps more), and its value-for-money approach to the last cent (or, is it paisa now), is both admired (by consumers) and feared (by competitors).
Wal-Mart’s coming to India is a signal not to be missed by India’s still-fledgling retail giants. Whatever the latter might say in public, it will no longer be the same ballgame.
Considering that organized retailing was nowhere in sight (except in big metros) even 3 years back, it really wonders as to how things have changed so rapidly. Do I hear the pounding at Metro’s site gathering pace? Must be, for time is just not there to loose. And timing? The earlier, the better. Any doubt?
A Metro Cash & Carry store [Picture courtesy],
and below, a Wal Mart store in Shenzen, China [Picture courtesy]
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