Traditional trade in India: the resilient retailer and implications for POS (point of sale) strategies

This paper aims to provide marketers with a blueprint for designing winning point of sale (POS) strategies at the final moment of truth. It focuses on traditional trade (kirana stores), the most critical distribution channel in emerging markets such as India, and outlines a four-pillar strategy of shopper marketing for traditional trade.

The paper is based on and draws from experience and expertise built in the course of many years of specialized, on-field research in the area of shopper insights in India. It is supplemented with secondary research on retail and shopper trends in India and other developing markets.

The paper examines how traditional trade in India has evolved to meet the challenges of changing shopper preferences amidst the advent of modern trade. Keeping the common goal of serving customer and shopper needs effectively and efficiently, the paper details a four-pillar strategy of shopper marketing for traditional trade centered around segmenting store clusters; mining shopper insights at the store; leveraging the shopkeeper; and adopting a scientific, organized process of testing and redeploying POS initiatives.

This paper provides marketers and sales professionals with a structured and cohesive approach to designing POS strategies for traditional trade. While the paper is developed for the Indian market, the principles can also be easily adopted across other emerging markets where traditional trade is a dominant channel.