Abstract:
The nature of retailing has continuously experienced an intense change that may put a lot
of pressures on Kirana stores (local corner shops) to survive. Some of these challenges
comprise namely inventory management, low utilization of technology, low scale
economies, strained supplier relations, weak customer outreach, and threat from large
competing retail firms. These are critical issues that this report aims at highlighting along
with relevant solutions for addressing each successfully.
Most of the Kirana stores are petty retail stores whereby they always struggle to manage
their stock information and hence experience stock problems such as overstocking,
understocking and many more: they also incur many costs due to excess hiring of workers
to assist in counting the stock information. They have less market coverage due to the low
use of digital platforms and cannot change the price because of their low supplier
bargaining power. In addition, weak customer retention and no issue of economy of scale
renders the operations of the outlets unable to challenge most modern efficient, established
centralized retail chains.
Others are implementing cheap solutions such as mobile-based POS terminals for real-time
inventory and using social media for marketing and developing local partnerships that
allow favorable supplier deals. Some of the things that show how customer experience and
retention can be improved include; Laying down of more attractive and effective store
formats and Consideration of introducing several loop of customer rewards to be given to
customers. In these ways, the various strategic areas mentioned will empower small Kirana
stores to upgrade their operational models, cut expenses, and optimize their profitability. It
helps maintain them beneficial in the highly competitive retail market while closing the
gap between standard retail pattern and contemporary client demand.
