Retail is the sale of goods to end users, not for resale, but for use and consumption by the purchaser. This excludes direct interface between the manufacturers and institutional buyers such as the government and other bulk customers. Retailing is the last link that connects the individual consumers with the manufacturing and distribution chain. Retail is the fastest growing sector in the Indian economy. Traditional markets are making way for new formats, such as departmental stores, hypermarkets, supermarkets and specialty stores. Western style malls have begun appearing in metros and second-rung cities alike, introducing the Indian consumer to an unparalleled shopping experience. This comparative study focuses on the costumers of Reliance Mart and Big Bazaar with regard to their buying tactics, shopping behavior, expectations, perceptions, satisfaction and brand loyalty.

This Survey-Based Study Analyses The Current Retail Scenario In India, Investigates The Growth Across Different Segments Of Retailing And Evaluates The Likely Impact Of Allowing Fdi (Foreign Direct Investment) On Various State Holders In Different Retail Segments.

With crisp and insightful contributions from 47 of the world’s leading experts in various facets of retailing, Retailing in the 21st Century offers in one book a compendium of state-of-the-art, cutting-edge knowledge to guide successful retailing in the new millennium. In our competitive world, retailing is an exciting, complex and critical sector of business in most developed as well as emerging economies. Today, the retailing industry is being buffeted by a number of forces simultaneously, for example the growth of online retailing and the advent of ‘radio frequency identification’ (RFID) technology. Making sense of it all is not easy but of vital importance to retailing practitioners, analysts and policymakers.

The origins of retail are old as trade itself. Barter was the oldest form of trade. For centuries, most merchandise was sold in market place or by peddlers. Medieval markets were dependent on local sources for supplies of perishable food because Journey was far too slow to allow for long distance transportation. However, customer did travel considerable distance for specialty items. The peddler, who provided people with the basic goods and necessities that they could not be self sufficient in, followed one of the earliest forms of retail trade. Even in prehistoric time, the peddler traveled long distances to bring products to locations which were in short supply. “They could be termed as early entrepreneurs who saw the opportunity in serving the needs of the consumers at a profit” Later retailers opened small shops, stocking them with such produce. As towns and cities grew, these retail stores began stocking a mix of convenience merchandise, enabling the formation of high-street bazaars that become the hub retail activity in every city. In the great sweep of social and retail history, the ‘modern’ shopping experience can be said to have commenced with the appearance of the department store in the middle of the 19th century.