Do unorganised retail outlets feel threatened due to entry of organised retail outlets? Empirical evidence from an emerging market

A significant part of the Indian population is working in the unorganised services sectors, both in the rural and the urban areas, in particular in the trade, hotels and transport business services; and the community, social and personal services sectors. The retail sector in India is a sunrise sector of the Indian economy and share of unorganised retail sector is to the tune of similar to 95%. Indian retailing has evolved over the past decade, from largely an informal and unorganised marketplace to an increasingly corporatised industry, at least in the urban India. However, there is no clarity about the impact of entry of corporates into the retail sector upon the small retailers and mom-and-pop stores existing into unorganised retail sector. This study aimed at exploring the perceptions of unorganised retail outlets towards organised retail outlets in a city of India. Respondents consider 'number of products under one roof' and `product variety' as important reasons for shift in customers from unorganised retail outlets to organised retail outlets. Also, this study highlighted 'strong relationship', 'proximity' and 'longer operating hours' as major advantages of unorganised retail outlets over organised retail outlets.