SWOC Analysis of Kirana Shops

Abstract

The private village shops are the backbone of rural retail marketing. Private retail shops are ideal agencies for village distribution. There are around 2 million sales outlets at the retail level in rural India. One retail shop is serving around 600 families in the rural retail marketing. The retailer to consumer ratio has been very low with many such shops often located close to people residence, near to home and at the corner of the street, thus making location and convenience a major factor for their popularity. Kirana shop is one of the easiest ways to generate self- employment as it requires limited investment in land, capital and human resource. Kirana shops are unique business models in India especially in rural areas which are offering personal services and quality products as per demand of customers. A Kirana shop normally a range from 25 to 400 square feet with a various range of products which are daily requirement of customers. The total area of Sangli district is 8,572 sq. Mt. and there are 10 talukas and 734 towns in Sangli district and registered kirana shops are 5,741. The researcher has collected required information and data from Kirana shopkeepers in Sangli district. The primary data is collected through questionnaire. Discussion, interviews, observation and necessary field work. The sample selection of kirana shops have been selected on the basis of ‘Stratified Sampling Method’. While selecting villages, factors considered are the geographical location of taluka, such as East, West, North, South and Middle, and one village from each direction has selected Therefore, researcher has used ‘ Proportionate Sampling Method’ for selecting taluka- wise kirana shops. Researcher has found that the kirana shops are competing with local bazaars which are to be started by big traders and wholesalers in the sample study area. Competition is the major factor for existence of Kirana shops. Recovery of dues from customers is another challenging problem of the existence of Kirana shops, The consumer behavior is changing because of new technology. Fashions, life styles etc. However, changing consumer behavior is affecting rural based kirana shops. So, now a day, they are suffering for their existence.