Consolidation, the way forward for India’s retail

The big merger of Future Group and Bharti Retail has happened at a time when physical retailers are suffering because of growing competition from ecommerce leaders like Flipkart, Snapdeal and Amazon. Also rising number of consumers is now turning to online shopping because of the variety, convenience and discounts offered by these platforms. However, this recent mega-merger is now seen as an answer to the way forward for organized physical retailers in India.

The Future-Bharti merger, once completed, will create a Rs15,000 crores retail business with 570 stores. Earlier, Bharti Retail was sharing partnership with American retail major Walmart and even Future Group was eyeing to crack a deal with French retailer Carrefour. But with multi-brand retail FDI rules still in limbo, foreign retailers have either exited or are focusing on wholesale business. Meanwhile, Bharti parted ways with Walmart last year and has now joined hands with Future Group leading to the birth of giant retail conglomerate.