New Delhi: World’s biggest retail giant Walmart has probably sensed the insecurity of the small-time Indian retailers who are threatened by the entry of international brands in the market.
Reacting to the protest against global retailers eating into the market share of small grocery shops in India, an official from Walmart advised these shop owners to "learn to change" in order to survive.
Speaking to a TV channel in Arkansas, the Walmart official said that these mom-n-pop stores choose to compete with big players like Walmart instead of carving out a niche for themselves, hence making their own survival difficult.
"What we have found is that these mom-n-pop stores choose to compete with large companies head-to-head instead of finding a niche or specialisation.
"They will struggle, they might succeed, but it's likely they'll struggle. So they have to learn to change in order to survive," the official was quoted by PTI.
Indian government's decision to partially open retail sector to foreign players has been criticised by small traders. Walmart has tied up with India's Bharti Enterprises to set up a retail base in the country. As part of the agreement, the US-based retailer would handle back-end operations of the joint venture company.
Other global players including Carrefour and Tesco are also planning to enter India. Indian conglomerates including Reliance and Aditya Birla group have also embarked upon major expansion plans of their retail operations.
With inputs from PTI
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