D&B launches inaugural edition of 'Indian Retail Industry - Challenges, Opportunities and Outlook'

Dun & Bradstreet, the world’s leading provider of global business information, knowledge and insight, today, released the inaugural edition of Indian Retail Industry - Challenges, Opportunities and Outlook. The study highlights the opportunities available and the challenges faced by the organised retail sector in India.

Speaking at the launch, Dr. Manoj Vaish, President & CEO – India, Dun & Bradstreet, said, “Organised retail in India has enormous potential to grow and to expand its share of the overall retail sector. Despite the economic slowdown, a majority of the retailers are optimistic about their future growth. According to our study, 49% of the surveyed companies anticipate that organised retail will grow in the range of 15-25%, over the next two years.”

“India’s demographics also augur well for organised retail. India’s population is a young one – the median age of India’s population is 25 years. Clearly, India is one of the most promising markets for retail,” he added.

D&B’s “Indian Retail Industry - Challenges, Opportunities and Outlook” was released by Guest of Honour, Mr Kumar Rajagopalan, Chief Executive Officer, Retail Associations of India Limited. Dr Ajit Ranade, Group Economist, Aditya Birla Management Corporation Limited, Mr Kishor Asrani, VP, Business Head - M&D, Enterprise Services, Bharti Airtel Limited and Mr Alok Bharadwaj, Senior Vice President, Canon India delivered the Key Note address. Leading names from the Retail sector participated in a panel discussion on “Manufacturing and Retail Distribution Role of Technology: Challenges and Strategies” that followed thereafter.

About D&B’s Indian Retail Industry - Challenges, Opportunities and Outlook

D&B’s Indian Retail Industry - Challenges, Opportunities and Outlook provides a brief overview on the trends and progress in the retail sector and also profiles 123 leading players who operate in various segments and formats and each having a combined floor space of 1,000 sq ft or more.

Key highlights

• According to the study, over 25% of the companies surveyed operate in the apparel and textile segment, followed by the food, grocery and beverages segment at 16%. The study also reveals that segments like home décor and furnishing, footwear, jewellery, consumer durables and electronics and health, beauty and pharmaceuticals are growing steadily.
• The top 10 players in terms of floor space accounted for over 77% of the total floor space of the surveyed companies and operated in multiple segments or different formats that are spread across major cities.
• According to the study, companies from the western region accounted for over 67% of the total floor space in India, followed by companies from the north, which accounted for over 19%.
• In terms of average floor space per store, retailers from the western region accounted for the highest space with over 5,000 sq ft as compared with the national average of 3,491 sq ft, while players from the southern region had over 2,500 sq ft.
• The study revealed that among 24 popular locations for organised retail in India, Mumbai was found to be the most preferred location, while Bengaluru was a close second.
• Majority of the retailers feel the flourishing Indian economy is one of the key growth drivers of the retail industry followed by the growing disposable incomes and rising youth population, in that order.
• 88% of the respondent companies felt that the global economic slowdown has affected the growth of the Indian organised retail sector. The companies that indicated otherwise, operate in the food, grocery and restaurant segment that has been spared from the effects of the slowdown.
• Among the measures taken to combat the economic slowdown, retailers identified measures targeted at more efficient inventory management as the topmost priority. Besides, some companies also cited collaboration with suppliers and revenue sharing with real estate developers as an important tool to counter the slowdown.
• 49.1% of the respondent companies, felt that the retail sector will grow by 15- 25% per annum over the next two years.
• In spite of the economic slowdown, a majority of the retailers are optimistic about their future growth. According to the study, 49% of the companies anticipate that in the next two years the organised retail will grow in the range of 15-25%, while 36% of the companies opined that the growth will range in between 5-15%.

About Dun & Bradstreet (D&B):

Dun & Bradstreet (NYSE:DNB), the world’s leading source of global business information, knowledge and insight, has been enabling companies to Decide with Confidence® for 167 years. D&B’s global commercial database contains more than 145 million business records. The database is enhanced by D&B’s proprietary DUNSRight® Quality Process, which transforms the enormous amount of data collected daily into decision-ready insight. Through the D&B Worldwide Network – an unrivaled alliance of D&B and leading business information providers around the world – customers gain access to the world’s largest and highest quality global commercial business information database.

Customers use D&B Risk Management Solutions to mitigate risk, increase cash flow and drive increased profitability, D&B Sales & Marketing Solutions to analyse markets, locate prospects and increase revenue from new and existing customers; D&B Export Marketing Solutions to gain significant insight into overseas markets and increase sales; D&B Financial Education Solutions to facilitate professional growth and excellence among their executives and D&B Economic Analysis Group to derive pragmatic and solution-oriented analyses of strategic economic and business developments, thereby aiding informed decision making.

D&B features on FORTUNE Magazine's Most Admired Companies Industry List, ranking first in the Financial Data Services category. D&B ranked first in the areas of employee talent, financial soundness, long-term investment, quality of management and use of corporate assets. D&B has achieved this distinction for the fourth consecutive year.