EXPLORING NICHE CONCEPTS IN RETAIL

Posted by Dr. Vishesh Rawat

The retail sector was poised to be a sunrise industry with a large number of corporate groups and multinationals entering the country. B-schools had launched several courses in retail management, including in subjects like supply chain management (SCM), anticipating a boom in the sector. That's when the slowdown brought the sector down along with some dreams.
The SCM industry goes hand-in-hand with the retail and manufacturing sectors. The benefits of SCM were recognised by the global corporate groups much earlier, though the concept is still nascent in India. However, the challenges unleashed by globalisation and the competitiveness of the Indian industry has brought about the need to recognise the importance of the industry.
According to Ansuhman Singh, CEO, Future Logistics, the industry is picking up pace in India. "The importance of this industry is evident in every sphere of manufacturing -- right from storage of raw materials, work-in-process inventory and transporting finished goods from point of origin to the point of consumption."
SCM courses are offered at a number of colleges as a postgraduate diploma. Most institutes offer SCM as a paper within the curriculum of retail management or operational management and there are institutes offering full-fledged courses on the subject (see box).