Retailing in Kerala: Factors Affecting Growing Retail Market in the State

Emergence of organized retailing is a hotly debated issue in the state for last few years. Unfortunately, there is dearth of detailed investigations regarding the scope and implications of organized retailing in the context of Kerala. Retailing industry is one of the most promising segments in the state. However, very large retail formats are at infancy stage. This paper attempts to identify major factors that determine growth of retail industry in the state. The study identifies economic growth, favorable demography, consumption pattern, urbanization and employment pattern as the key drivers of retail growth in the state. Based on a household survey conducted at Cochin, five factors attracting customers were extracted - Product Attributes, Reliability, Added Services, Value for Money and Customer Facilities, using factor analysis. Retails stores usually attracts consumers mainly due to three reasons - price, service and quality. This study observes that people are more concerned on quality and service factors than price while comparing organized retail shops with unorganized one.