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In a recent issue, The Economist details India's growing retail economy. In India there exists approximately 15 million retail outlets and only 4% percent of those shops are larger than 500 sq ft. Additionally, organized retail in India is expected to grow by 18% -20% a year. Below is a choice quote from the article about India's economic growth overall:
The economy is one of the world's fastest growing, with GDP expanding at an average annual rate of about 7.5% for the past three years. A young population, declining dependency ratio and higher savings rate lead even the most sober economic forecasters to expect the growth rate to average 6% or so for the next few decades. The more sanguine think 8% can be sustained and even bettered.Moreover, from the point of view of the retail trade, India's growth has an especially attractive feature: much of it comes from a surge in private spending. As Stephen Roach, an economist at Morgan Stanley, has pointed out, private consumption accounts for a big chunk of the Indian economy: 64%. That is more than in Europe (58%), Japan (55%) and, especially, China (42%). India's transition to a high-growth path, argues Mr Roach, "is very much an outgrowth of the emerging consumerism of one of the world's youngest populations."
Of course not everything is roses for India's retail industry. For larger, more structured retail stores, there are several logistic issues:electricity supply, reliable transportation paths and finding enough retail staff. Specific to staffing issue, there is a reluctance from Indians to accept jobs in retail and thus support non-local merchants.