Efficiency Benefits Pass on to Consumers: New Development in Retail Market Environment in India

Liberalization has brought radical changes in the Indian market scenario - entry of Multi-National Corporations, professionalisation of marketing strategies of Indian companies, Product proliferation and diversity of consumer choice, the concept of value, value for money is picking up. The challenge of the changed market environment forces the marketers to reassess their strategies in delivering value for time and value for journey and delighted shopping experience. As the competition intensifies, marketers are falling back on price cuts to retain the consumers. Marketers prefer to offer maximum discounts and price advantages on Maximum Retail Price (MRP) to over come the competitors. In India, marketers competing for the market share try to retain the consumer, by adopting innovative strategies at the retail level. Loyalty has been one of the important strategies to retain the consumers and make them return after establishing retail equity. With fragmented patterns of retail locations and a high degree of area-wise concentration in urban cities, sustaining loyal consumers is a major challenge for retailers. Ramesh Kumar1observed that research both in the Indian and western context across categories has shown that loyal consumers enhance the profitability to a significant extent.