Convenience Stores in India

PROSPECTS

Convenience-orientated lifestyles will drive growth in the coming years

Located near neighbourhoods, office buildings and in central business districts (CBDs), convenience stores meet the need for fast consumption, and offer frequently-purchased products. Convenience stores is a niche channel in India, limited to metropolitan cities in 2019.

Convenience stores benefit from retailer shift away from prime locations and more frequent shopping trips among consumers

Convenience stores is creating strong competition for hypermarkets, with many busy consumers shifting from large weekly shops to top-up shops on a more frequent basis. Busier lifestyles mean some consumers resent spending their precious weekend leisure time at supermarkets or hypermarkets, with this trend set to continue into the forecast period.

Convenience stores adopt a variety of strategies to remain competitive including an omnichannel approach and loyalty schemes

In order to compete convenience stores are adopting a number of strategies. Many players in this channel are endeavouring to erode the share of traditional grocery retailers through the offer of loyalty schemes, while others have focused on omnichannel retailing, offering the convenience of purchasing both online and in-store.

COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

Future Retail leads convenience stores by all measures

Future Retail led convenience stores with its Easy Day brand in terms of value sales, sales area and outlets in 2019. The company is working to expand its footprint across the country, aiming to compete directly with kirana stores, which are the lifeline for grocery shopping for most consumers in India.

Convenience stores characterised by domestic players

Convenience stores is amongst the few retail channels in India purely run by Indian players, with all the leading brands being operated by domestic companies. International players primarily focus on big store formats, whereas Indian retailers prefer to compete with traditional grocery retailers.

Move into neighbourhoods enables convenience stores to pose stronger competition to traditional grocery retailers

Convenience stores is the only channel that competes head-to-head with kirana stores/traditional grocery retailers in India. Both offer similar product portfolios.

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