Best practises in food and grocery retail : What should be the best practices for Indian F&G retail sector

Abstract

Food & Grocery (F&G) constitutes a major segment in the Indian retail sector and is attracting several modern retailers to enter this segment. However, most of the modern retailers are still struggling to make profits in this segment which is currently dominated by the traditional Mom-N-Pop stores (Kirana stores). Modern retailers in India are still experimenting with several practices to make profits. On the other hand, many foreign retailers have been successful by following several best practices. Our work is hence aimed at understanding the practices of some of the best retailers in the world and see how they can be leveraged by the Indian retailers. The study also involved meeting store managers (only few managers agreed for interview) as well as store visits to several retail stores in Bangalore. Based on the information collected we gave our recommendation of the best practices for each of the F&G retail formats in India. Given the buzz about direct farm sourcing, we did a comparative study of F&V prices across several formats in Bangalore and found how the sourcing methods have a direct impact on the prices.