Wal-Mart may open India stores

sambarvada wrote:===> This is really bad news for India especially for the poor who make a meagre living by selling fruits and vegetables.

It is going to put a lot of small shopkeepers out of business and they will be on the streets.

Marathadi-Saamiyaar wrote:You are right....but only about 10% of them who can read/write, decent looking and good manners.

The rest will be begging from the Wal-Mart customers.

Priya wrote:Walmart products are manufactured in China by cheap child labor, sweat shops. I do not buy Walmart goods.

sambarvada wrote:===> This is really bad news for India especially for the poor who make a meagre living by selling fruits and vegetables.

It is going to put a lot of small shopkeepers out of business and they will be on the streets.

charvaka wrote:Foreign players have been lobbying the government intensely for years, and they finally seem to be giving in:

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-07-24/wal-mart-may-open-india-retail-stores-as-panel-said-to-advise-easing-laws.html

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) and Carrefour SA (CA) may gain access to the retail market of the world’s second most-populous country after an Indian government panel was said to have recommended easing restrictions on the industry.

Overseas companies could be allowed to own as much as 51 percent of stores that sell more than one brand if they invest a minimum of $100 million, a panel of bureaucrats in New Delhi recommended on July 22, according to a finance ministry official. The cabinet will make a decision after consultations are held, said the person, who had direct knowledge of the matter and declined to be identified before an announcement.

artood2 wrote:
Vegatables in Walmart do not work that well. Also there are the likes of foodworld which already have presence there. People get really fresh vegiies in the roadside stalls near them. However a lot has changed in India and this may change as well.

charvaka wrote:I am ambivalent about this one. I can see both positives and negatives related to this. I think at least in the initial years foreign retailers will focus on tier A cities where they will be fighting more organized retailers like Biyani's Future Group. And I hope the Indian consumer will continue to value the personal interaction and full service model of the neighborhood fruit vendor over the self-service convenience at a Walmart store.

Merlot Daruwala wrote:


The rise of organized retail, in addition to giving consumers better prices, will also improve the farm-to-store supply chain in India (which currently is highly inefficient) and more importantly, give farmers a better deal and eliminate middlement.



I don't see a Walmart superstore threatening the neighborhood kirana stores or the local vegetable vendors. After all, these guys deliver to the doorstep which Walmart can never do.

artood2 wrote:Walmart does not really sell all the kirana stuff. So (unless there is a change in strategy) farmers are unlikely to benefit much. They will squeeze margins from manufacturers and the wholesalers or small retailers are likely to bear the brunt of competition. On the other hand Walmart may not enjoy the price differential between foreign made goods and market price (as they do in usa) and hence it may not be all that threatening.

charvaka wrote:

artood2 wrote:Walmart does not really sell all the kirana stuff. So (unless there is a change in strategy) farmers are unlikely to benefit much. They will squeeze margins from manufacturers and the wholesalers or small retailers are likely to bear the brunt of competition. On the other hand Walmart may not enjoy the price differential between foreign made goods and market price (as they do in usa) and hence it may not be all that threatening.

It depends on whether they can import all the Made-in-China crap they sell to Americans. I know many low-end Chinese imports are already available in India, but Wal-Mart takes that to a whole higher level. That will certainly give consumers better prices, but it has the potential to wipe out small manufacturing in India.

I don't think Wal-Mart will start with the cold supply chain (farm-to-store) in India, because that's a lot more challenging: it requires a lot of capital, while returns are not assured (for the reasons some posters mentioned above, like consumer preferences.) My suspicion is that they will try to focus on items with more shelf-life than vegetables.

artood2 wrote:Walmart does not really sell all the kirana stuff.

charvaka wrote:I know many low-end Chinese imports are already available in India, but Wal-Mart takes that to a whole higher level. That will certainly give consumers better prices, but it has the potential to wipe out small manufacturing in India.

charvaka wrote:I don't think Wal-Mart will start with the cold supply chain (farm-to-store) in India, because that's a lot more challenging: it requires a lot of capital, while returns are not assured (for the reasons some posters mentioned above, like consumer preferences.) My suspicion is that they will try to focus on items with more shelf-life than vegetables.