Retail schools for small-time traders

Faced with increasing competition from retail giants, a traders body has decided to set up 'retail schools' in the country to educate small time traders about ways to boost their business.     

The schools will be established by the umbrella body of small time traders, Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT).     

"The schools will seek to change the traditional outlook of the traders and educate them to adopt a contemporary approach in business to retain customers and increase profitability," CAIT secretary general Praveen Khandelwal told reporters here today.     

As many as 500 such schools will be opened across the country in the next one year. The first school is expected to come up in Delhi by the end of this month and the second one in Nagpur later.     

"Our fight is not against the big names in the retail industry but to help the kirana stores to transform their business from traditional retail to modern format of retailing," he clarified.     

Estimate suggest there are about five crore small time retail traders in the country, he said.     

The traders body has joined hands with Indian Retail School as knowledge partners. Retail experts from different parts of the country will take classes in the schools.     

Indian Retail School Chief executive N K Pandey said, the programme scheduled to be imparted in the schools "has been well-structured and customised."     

The traders will be introduced to subjects like visual merchandise, servicing customer, marketing and monitoring retail operations.