A Study of Cost Leadership Strategy of Retail Firms in A Shopping Mall with Special Reference to The Great India Place(TGIP) Shopping Mall, Noida (UP), India

Abstract

Retailing is one of the largest industries in India and one of the biggest sources of employment in the country. The retail sector is controlled by traditional and modern retail formats. These formats have emerged and developed with the growth of population in the country. Various retail models exist in the world of retail. Modern retail formats such as superstores, hypermarkets, specialty stores, supermarkets, convenience and discount stores are widely present in the developed world, where as such forms of retail outlets have begun to spread to developing countries in recent years. The Indian modern retail sector, which witnessed a phase of consolidation from the second half of 2008 till well into 2012, has gone through a learning phase. In the last one and a half years retailers consolidated their operations by shutting down unviable strives reassessing catchments and renegotiating rentals. The rampant constructing of shopping malls at an available space in a metro has stopped. The modern retail formats (including shopping malls) in India have started penetrating down to small cities and towns. The shopping malls getting constructed are comparatively small and more customized according to the environmental factors in towns/ cities. The present study has considered an analysis of one of the largest shopping mall of India and has given an insight on the strategic placement of various retail formats. The study was conducted on a leading shopping mall of India, The Great India Place (TGIP) Shopping Mall, located at NOIDA (UP). The research investigates the relevance of a shopping mall as a business entity. The cost leadership strategy of the retail firms and their attractiveness compared to other retail firms within mall was analysed. The growing intensity of retail competition in a shopping mall due to emergence of new formats and technology plus shifts in consumer needs is forcing retailers to devote more attention to long-term strategic thinking. The study reveals the competitive advantages with respect to cost leadership strategy of big and small retail firms