INTRODUCTION:

Retailing is the final step in the process of distribution of merchandise for the consumption purposes. Retailer is the person who is in direct contact with the consumer to sell the goods. A number of activities are likely to be performed by a retailer like marketing of goods and services, providing after sale services to the consumer etc. A retailer acts as a strong and very important link between the consumer and the producer. The sector is undergoing a phase of transition from the era of dominance position of wholesaler to manufacturer to retailer and finally to era of consumers.

The changing demographics and ever-increasing expectations of consumers are affecting the workings and dealings of the retailers as well as manufacturers. The customer now days are treated as king in the market, with n number of competitors, every retailer is trying to convenience and attract customer to enter into his retail store.

The Government is taking numerous steps to attract foreign players to invest in India. The importance of retail sector for development of Indian economy cannot be ignored. The sector holds second position after agriculture in terms of providing employment opportunities to people of India. The sector possess high growth potential for attracting investors to invest. The retail sector is likely to grow at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 13% to reach US $ 950 in year 2018 as per IBEF report on retail. The sector is further expected to reach the level of US $ 1.3 trillion by year 2020.

LITERATURE REVIEW:

The retail sector in India is capable of lifting up the GDP of the country; it supports the economy by way of providing employment opportunities to around 8% of population. The sector is able to attract foreign players due to the favourable policy adopted by the Government. The free flow of information through internet is a big reason for making people aware of launch of new products in the market. With the advent of increasing salaries the customers love to spend more on their shopping. The attracted and impressive ambience of shopping malls is able to impress them thus love to shop like never before. The desire for branded products is increasing day by day which paved way for foreign players to attract customers by serving internationally branded products.

Goyal B.B., Aggarwal M. (2009) highlighted in the study that retailers need to cater and focus upon the need of the customers more than before as the needs of 21^st century customers are ever increasing and dynamic. In spite of the global meltdown, the retail sector shows inherent properties to attract domestic and foreign players towards itself.

Gupta A. (2010) pointed out in the study that that allowing free flow of FDI in retail will help to boost up the economy. The researcher pointed out the positive impact of FDI in countries like China and Thailand. The study further pointed out that FDI will be allowed by the Government taking care about the productivity and infrastructure contribution made by the foreign investors. Jadhav A. (2012) discussed in the study various view points of farmers associations in regard of FDI in retail sector. The study concluded that organized retail will help the farmers to increase their income by 10-30% by way of improved infrastructure and negligible interference of middle men. The FDI in retail will help to boost up the earning capacity of farmers but the Government must intervene by providing a legal framework to safeguard the interest of farmers.

Jhamb D. and Kiran R. (2011) pointed out in the study that organized retail sector in India possess a number of opportunities which are attracting foreign investors to invest in this sector. The retailers need to work upon opportunities and take necessary steps to cope up with weaknesses for growth of retail in India.

Abrar K. (2012) discussed the detailed impact of FDI in retail trade with reference to other countries. The study concluded that FDI in Indian retail will definitely help to increase GDP of the country’s economy and will lead to economic development. It is expected to provide better employment opportunities along with a good consumer experience. Gupta S. and Singal R. (2012) attempted to found out the reason for shift of consumers towards organized retail outlets in Hisar city. The study find out that in order to attract customers towards organized retail outlets the retailers have to take a number of steps like better display, updated merchandize, marketing and promotional strategies etc.

Moghe D. (2012) highlighted in the study that FDI in retail will have positive impact in terms of revival of real estate sector due to increased demand, farmers will be benefitted due to removal of intermediaries and customers are also expected to have wide range of products at decreased prices. Sikri S. and Wadhwa D. (2012) discussed in the study various challenges faced by retail sector in India. The study pointed out that retailers have to adopt innovative strategies to attain an important place in the market. Pavithra J. (2012) focused upon the Swot analysis of opening FDI in retail in India. The study highlighted that one side FDI will be beneficial to the farmers as direct procurement of farm produce will be done by foreign players but on the other side it will have a negative impact on small retailers due to fear of their closure. The study suggested that FDI should be opened in a phased manner.

Singh S. and Sharma M. (2013) tried to evaluate the effect of FDI on Indian retail after liberalization. The study pointed out various opportunities of FDI in retail. The study further concluded that it is difficult to predict future of retail sector in India. The Government must take care of the interests of small retailers by providing proper safeguards so that they must be able to standby and co-exist with big players in the market. Kanetkar M. (2013) in the study pointed out that retail sector is facing big changes in its composition. Availability of all the things under one roof, entertainment and convenience are the major reasons for consumers to shift from unorganized to organized retail. The study also revealed that organized retailers will not be able to replace traditional retailers, who are still popular among price conscious customers.

Tripathi V. et at (2013) investigated the individual’s perception towards FDI in MBRT. The study concluded that consumers are having high expectations from opening up of FDI in retail in terms of improved and innovative products availability at reasonable prices in combination with increased convenience to access the products. The foreign investors are suggested to work well in order to meet the rising expectations of Indian consumers.

Priyadarshani ED, Santhosh S.S. (2014) examined in the level of awareness about FDI in retail sector in Tirunveli district, Tamil Nadu. The study concluded that majority of common people are against opening of FDI in retail sector due to reasons like difficult survival for local manufactures and it will have negative effect on our culture, swadeshi policy, and encouragement to domestic product. The study suggested that Government must take care of the feelings and opinions of common people and small retailers while framing policy about FDI in retail. Vadde Vishnu (2014) highlighted in the study that FDI will prove out to be beneficial to farmers by way of improved infrastructure facilities and will help consumers by checking inflation. The study suggested that Government must take care of societal benefits while allowing FDI.

Anu Radha (2014) revealed that retailers have to put concentrated efforts to attract customers towards their retail store. They have to adopt dynamic and proactive strategies to maintain a strong customer base. Retailers need to work on providing value for the prices paid by the customers to buy the product or services.

Brindha T.C. (2014) tried to analyze the perception of customers of Coimbatore city towards FDI in retail. The study pointed out that majority of respondents believed that FDI in retail will help in controlling inflation, increase in competitive strength of the market, benefit to the farmers and will lead to growth of the economy. The study further suggested imposing some restrictions on FDI.

Ghoshal M. (2014) in the study interpreted that both organized and unorganized have different set of customers to whom they offer their products and services. The study carried out in West Bengal on the basis of responses of 150 retailers revealed that FDI in retail will have less impact on small retailers in India. Koppad C.V. (2014) concluded that FDI in Indian retail sector proves out to be beneficial to its stakeholders like customers, farmers etc. The retail sector is growing tremendously with leaps and bounds. The government should adopt careful and liberal policies to attract FDI in India.

Sumitha R. (2014) pointed out the arguments against and in favour of FDI in Indian retail sector. The study highlighted that FDI will have a numbers of positive impacts on the economy like employment generation, improvement in foreign exchange services, increase in tax revenues for the Government and increased healthy competition among retailers.

Grover G. and Gupta N.K. (2014) tried to explore the variables which explain the effect of FDI inflows in the country. Two models were developed to study the impact of FDI on economic growth of the country. The study concludes that FDI is an important factor which positively affects the economic growth in India.

Saha A. (2015) concluded in the study that the organized retail has number of opportunities for growth in India. Organized retail is facing a number of opportunities and challenges due to dynamic environment of retail sector in India. The sector must concentrate on avoidance of non- marketing factors and should concentrate on continuous introduction of innovative schemes to attract customers. Kumar K.S. (2015) pointed out that modern retail has numerous opportunities for growth in India. The challenges faced by retail sector can be minimized through formulation of national commission and maintenance of uniform quality standards etc.

Sharma S.K., Chandak R.S. (2015) carried out the study in Pune city with a sample of 30 unorganized retailers. The study highlighted that there is a huge opportunity for growth of retail sector in India with some etc. The majority of respondents believed that organized possesses the capacity to go hand in hand with organized retailers. Kulshreshtha M.K., Dhingra P., Chitkara N. (2015) analyzed the response of 100 customers with the help of convenience sampling. The study concluded that proper policies must be framed to convert unorganized retail into organized retail for development of Indian retail sector as a whole.

Chellasamy P., Ponsabariraj N. (2016) investigated the impact of FDI on selected micro economic variables of India and China. The study concluded that the performance of micro economic indicators of India in comparison of China is low and more focused is required for improvement in performance which can be done through substantial investment in Indian retail sector.

Gandhi B. M., Chinnadorai K.M. (2017) concluded that unorganized retail in India has a mix blend of opportunities and challenges. In order to stay in the market the retailers have to avail the opportunities available to capture the market and to grow with the uplifting retail sector.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY:

For the purpose of better understanding of a practical problem and to provide solutions to it, a study of existing literature is to be done, backed up by the data collected in order to find solutions, a series of activities are to be conducted. These set of interrelated and interconnected activities, arranged in a sequential manner to get better results is called research.

The research methodology gives clear vision for the research problem and expresses the way to be adopted to get better solution to the problem. It includes procedures, techniques, models developed to find solution of the research problem. The present study is an attempt of descriptive research which is based on secondary data sources like reference books, internet, journals, news papers, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) reports etc. For the purpose of analyzing the impact of FDI in retail, a number of research papers have been studied to get a clear view on existing literature. Time to time various reports published by DIPP, IBEF and Ernst and Young etc. were considered to come to the conclusion.

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY:

1. To study the different phases of allowing FDI in Indian retail sector.

2. To highlight the impact of opening up FDI in retail.

3. To suggest ways to open up FDI policy taking care of interest of retailers.

Retail Sector at a Glance:

The retail sector in India is witnessing tremendous growth like never before. It is emerging as one of the largest sector of the economy. The sector has evolved in different phases from the stage of initiation where manufacturers opened up their retail outlets to the phase of conceptualization where retailers started understanding the potential of the market, further to the phase of expansion where they started expanding their wings by opening more branches, finally reached the phase of consolidation when due to entry of foreign brands and liberal FDI policies the private brands , e-commerce emerged in the market like never before. Retailers started moving towards smaller cities and rural areas for expansion.

The sector is broadly classified as organized retail sector and unorganized retail sector. The organized retail covers the retailers which have registered themselves for sales tax etc. and the unorganized retail refers to the retailers who are not registered for taxation purposes.

The organized sector possess a huge potential for growth and expansion as its share is only 8% as compared to other countries like US with 85% of organized retail penetration. By the year 2019 it is expected to reach 13% whereas the unorganized sector will co-exist with a share of 87%. The organized sector is expected to grow to 24% level by year 2020 as per IBEF report.

India’s retail sales volume growth is expected to be 6.6% in year 2018 as compare to 5.7 in 2011, which is showing an increasing trend as compare to China where the retail sales volume growth in 2011 was 9.1% and in year 2018 it is expected to be 7.9% as per Pricewaterhouse-Coopers (PWC) report.

Phases of Opening FDI in Indian Retail Sector:

With the advent of opportunities present in Indian retail sector, the sector is capable of attracting foreign investors to make investment in India. The opportunities present like changing demographics, proportion of young population, increased number of working women, easy to adopt new technology attitude, increased use of plastic money and electronic media etc. are the main reasons for expansion of retail sector in India. In India, under the policy of liberalization slowly the entry of foreign players was allowed with an expectation to support the developing economy by helping in development of infrastructure. The FDI in retail sector is allowed in multiple phases. FDI is allowed in Single Brand Retail Trading (SBRT) at first and then in Multi Brand Retail Trading (MBRT) later on.

In 1991 under the policy of liberalization FDI upto 51% was allowed under automatic route in selected priority sectors. In 1997 FDI upto 100% was allowed in cash and carry wholesale trading. FDI upto 51% was allowed in SBRT with prior approval of the Government was allowed in year 2006. In year 2008 Government proposed to open up FDI in MBRT, followed by in year 2012. In 2012 Government allowed 51% in MBRT and 100% FDI was allowed in SBRT (automatic upto 49% and Government approval beyond 49%) with certain restrictions. In year 2015, for e commerce activities FDI is allowed upto 100% through automatic route (only B 2 B trading was allowed). To improve ease of doing business the FDI policy is to be aligned with NIC (National Industrial Classification) code.

FDI Policy for Indian Retail Sector: Present Position

In India the FDI policy is governed by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India. Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), SIA announces the FDI policy by releasing press notes from time to time. In some case for some specific sectors, prior approval of RBI or Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) is required. The main points of present FDI policy are:

· Upto 51% FDI is allowed in MBRT (multi-brand retail). (through Government route)

· 100% FDI is allowed in SBRT (Single Brand Retail). (through automatic route upto 49% is allowed and through Government route beyond 49%)

· 100% FDI is allowed for cash and carry wholesale trading and expert trading (through automatic route). The wholesale traders are not allowed to open up a retail store to deal with customers directly.

· The Foreign investors will have to buy manufactured/ processed products of at least 30% of their goods from small and medium sized enterprises.

· Minimum investment of US$ 100 million must be brought by multi-brand retailers. 50% of it is required to be invested in backend infrastructure facilities such as cold storage chains, transportation etc. within 3 years

· Retail trading by way of e-commerce activities will not be allowed for companies with FDI engaged through MBRT.

· The retail competition policy will be regulated and drafted under state laws and regulations.

· FDI is 100% allowed for e-commerce activities under automatic route. (only B 2 B transactions are allowed)

The present FDI policy for Indian Retail sector is becoming more liberal as compare to the earlier years when policy was highly stringent. The retail sector in India is becoming an attractive market for investments as it has tremendous opportunities like changing demographics, techno savvy youngsters, changing expectations of consumers, high disposable income, increased number of women employment etc., retail sector is expected to become an attractive destination for investment in India.

Impact of FDI in Retail:

Retail sector is a sector which offers numerous opportunities to the people of India in terms of employment opportunities and for making them self sufficient by way of setting up of their own retail stores. The person whether educated or uneducated can enter in retail business by way of very small investments as in case of a hawker selling vegetables or a pan or beedi shop owner. Those who were not having enough qualification to apply for jobs found it as an easy way to earn their livelihood. The sector attained a big position in terms of providing employment to the people of India by accounting around 8% employment and provides a big share of contribution around 10% towards nation’s GDP as per IBEF report. Through the entry of foreign players in the market by way of allowing FDI in the retail sector, a number of projections are being done related to the effects of allowing foreign retailers to compete with Indian retailers.

Source: Compiled and framed by researchers

Figure 2: FDI in retail Sector and its impact on stakeholders

FDI in retail sector will have an impact on a number of stakeholders such as:

1. Customers:

Customers who are now a day’s being treated as king in the market, would be able the beneficiary as they can get variety of products at competitive prices with eye catching ambience and quality services. The access of foreign brands would be easier like never before. Those who are capable of buying luxurious foreign branded goods will be able to do it within their reach with lesser efforts.

2. Retailers:

The foreign players will bring new updated technology for operations which in turn will help in the improvement of operations of Indian retailers by way of learned experience. These big foreign players will boost up healthy competition in the market. The infrastructure developed by these big foreign players will indirectly provide benefit to small retailers as they will also be able to take benefit out of the developed infrastructure. The entry of FDI in retail seems to beneficial on one side for retailers and on the other side they have compete with these big players with insufficient and underdeveloped supply chain, warehouses, outdated technologies, untrained man force which makes it difficult for them to achieve a competitive edge over its competitors. They will a continuous fear of losing their customers for these big foreign retailers.

3. Government:

The Government will get benefits of the increased taxation revenues as organized retailers are the one who will get themselves registered for taxation purposes. Earlier these unorganized retailers who were not registered and thus not liable to pay taxes. As an estimate of IBEF, the current size of modern retail is around US$ 46.5 billion, which is expected to reach US$ 150 billion by 2020. With transformation of unorganized to organized retail the Government will be benefitted by way of increased taxes generation. These foreign retailers belongs to the category of organized retailers thus are likely to contribute towards tax generation for the Government.

The opening up of retail sector for foreign retailers embarked a big responsibility on the shoulders of the government as the Government in any case cannot avoid its responsibility towards drafting schemes for the benefits of small vulnerable artisans and retailers. This will make the role of the Government cumbersome and challenging.

4. Farmers:

The farmers will be benefitted by entry of big players in the market as they will directly purchase from them thereby eliminating the role of middlemen who were earlier eating up a big share of their profits. Huge investments are expected from organized retail that would develop the infrastructure, thus improving the supply chain facilities. The storage facilities up gradation will lead to reduction of wastage which arises due to non availability of sufficient warehouses.

The fact can’t be ignored that these big foreign retailers have entered into the market for the sake of earning profits for themselves. The world is a market for them so they are likely to buy raw material from the place where it is available at lowest prices, to increase their profit margin. There will always be a doubt that the Indian farmers will be benefitted or someone else will take away the benefits.

5. Unemployed human resource:

The opening of retail stores in India will give enormous employment opportunities to the unemployed youth as human resources would be required at front end and back end to successfully operate the retail store. A number of management B-schools are now offering courses in retail management, the pass outs of which can be channelized to get employment in the emerging retail stores.

The untalented youth will have no opportunities as foreign retailers will like to hire only knowledgeable and talented people for their operations. The middlemen will be out of jobs due to direct dealings between the farmers and the big foreign retailers. A no. of them is expected to be jobless.

6. Economy:

Setting up new enterprises will lead to development of infrastructure in the nearby areas. By new avenues being set up by way of new retail stores, employment opportunities will be generated for qualified and capable people. As a result the number of people moving out of India would be reduced as they will get employment opportunities in India and as a result our country will be able to hold the talented workforce for efficient utilization.

With upgraded technology, expertise and capability to provide a wide range of products to consumers at lowest prices the foreign retailers are capable to bring a positive change in the Indian economy. We must concentrate on the fact that profits will be moving out of our economy by way of profits earned and remitted outside by foreign players.

CONCLUSION:

By keeping in view the mixed impact of FDI in retail on stakeholders, the Government is required to play a major role in taking decisions regarding liberalizing FDI policy. With the increased and easy access to information technology, increasing number of educated personnel and changing workforce demographics, the customers in India are having expectations from these foreign players by way of improved product quality, increased variety of products with competitive pricing options. It is not an easy task for foreign players to tackle the expectations of Indians; they have to equip themselves well with innovative products to be in the market. On the other side, the Indian retailers are also required to come up up with strong innovative strategies to cope up with these foreign players. The Indian retailers know well the roots of the market and are well aware of culture of different regions so, they are more likely to stay in the market in the long run, but they must not overlook the fact that foreign players will come with new updated technologies and attractive strategies so, they have to tighten their belts to effectively deal with them to stay in the market. The Government is also required to take steps for framing FDI related policies by keeping in mind the benefits of Indian retailers.

Suggested ways to open up FDI in Retail sector:

Retail is the second largest sector after agriculture which is preferred by people when they are looking for employment. The sector possess countless opportunities for growth with the initialization of the concept of make in India, the sector is expected to be supported by manufacturing sector. The open up behaviour of the Government towards FDI in retail will definitely be embarked by Indian retailers as now they are likely to compete with foreigners in their own markets to earn profits for themselves. The Government is required to play a significant role by taking care of the interest of Indian retailers.

1) Educational Schools must be opened:

In order for making Indian retailers to reach a stronger position in the market, it is suggested that Government must open some educational schools for them to inculcate the knowledge about new innovative technologies which can help them to bring improvements in their workings.

2) Special courses must be run in the field of marketing:

The Government is taking initiatives to uplift the economy by way of make in India concept but it is will not be fruitful unless proper marketing strategies are adopted to sell the product in the market so, new improved marketing tactics must be told to retailers by way of running specialized marketing courses for existing retailers. Usage of Omni channel strategy to tackle the ever-increasing needs of customers can also prove out to be useful for retailers.

3) Opening up of co-operative stores:

The small retailers must be encouraged to open up co-operative stores to deal with big retailers in the market. The retailers must unite themselves to open up co-operative store, to enhance their bargaining power to get raw material at low prices. The synergy concept can prove out to be helpful for these retailers to have a strong position in the market.

4) A special commission to be set up at National Level:

The Government is required to continuously keep a watch over foreign players to provide protection to Indian retailers. The Government is suggested to bring some more clarity in terms of policies related to opening up of FDI. The policies must be framed by keeping in mind the interest of Indian retailers.

5) Atleast 50% of manufactured/processed products must be brought by small and medium enterprises:

As per the current FDI policy the foreign investors will have to buy 30% of their goods from small and medium sized enterprises, but the Government is suggested to further increase the limit by considering the interest of Indian retailers.

6) A continuous check on monopoly situation:

The Competition Commission of India must strengthened more to strictly check the monopoly situation, likely to be created by these foreign retailers in the market.

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Received on 16.08.2017 Modified on 11.09.2017

Asian Journal of Management. 2018; 9(1):531-538.

DOI: 10.5958/2321-5763.2018.00083.5