There is a huge amount of protests being staged in India to protest against the latest agreement between Bharti and Wal-mart to set up a cash and carry operations in India eyeing the huge growth prospects.
This has raised concern and fears in the small shops that they will lose business to big stores like Tesco, Wal mart, Metro, Reliance Fresh etc etc...all eying for a share in the pie.
I am sure this is a typical response heard across the country.
"My business is going down. I can't offer discounts the big shops offer. Why is the government not protecting us? We are not fit for other jobs if we lose our businesses,'' said Alok Prakash, who owns a small general store in Mumbai's busy Dadar market."
Is this outcry right? Is there a serious concern from the foreign brands setting up shops in India? Will the customers stand to gain or lose out in this situation? Can the small traders survive this onslaught?
What do you guys think?
3 comments:
There is absolutely no question that Walmart put lots of small merchants out of business in the USA. On the other hand, when you shop there, you don't get your questions answered, the stores are too big and you get tired,and you need a car to get there. All those cheap goods really crowd the house, and eventually you decide to go back to the small merchants. Unfortunately, by this time they are all out of business.
@publia >> That is an interesting point..But do you think we should protect our small merchants by stopping the retailers from coming to India..Why don't the small shops think of giving better value proposition to its customers.
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