Walmart in India....

i am currently reading the book 'Welcome to the United States of Walmart' by John Dicker where i can find the author describing Walmart with a begrudging respect, awe, contempt,vile to describe the opening.I never pondered to think what impact ,controversies Walmart stood to generate in the US except knowing the fact that it featured at the top in Forbes List of Fortune 500. However when i got hold of the book i really felt like finding out more. To start with:

Walmart's Profile:


Type

Public: (NYSE: WMT)
Founded: Rogers, Arkansas, 1962
Location: Bentonville, Arkansas, USA
Key people: Sam Walton (1918-1992), FounderH. Lee Scott, CEOS. Robson Walton, Chairman
Industry: Retail (Department & Discount)
Products: Wal-Mart Discount Stores ,Wal-Mart Supercenter,Sam's Club,Neighborhood Markets ASDA
Revenue : $316 billion USD ($11B FY 2006)
Employees: 1.7 million
Website: http://www.walmartstores.com/

Currently there are around 5509 Walmart stores around the world out of which 1,980 are supercenters.Walmart has expanded around the world.While in the US the natural policy would be to acquire land and build up new supecenters or neighborhood markets when it comes to spreading across the globe , Walmart believes in buying out stores and branding them with the Walmart tag.In Mexico,it bought up Cifra,brazil it was Lojas Americanas,in Germany Wertkauf,South Korea Makro,Britain's ASDA and Japan's Seiyu. Walmart is so huge that it is like a giant personality on its own and kinda feels inappropiate to call it an "it".

While on this note of expanding businesses of Walmart i was wondering what about our country?

India represents a $250 billion retail market,growing @ 7.2% a year and forecasted that modern retailing is yet to set in.

Talking about Asia and India,we see that there are around 56 Walmart stores in China and it has been a resounding success.This has lead to Walmart setting its sights in the world's largest democracy.However India already outsources apparels to Walmart from a centre in bangalore.

Walmart CEO John Menzer was in India and was in discussion with the prime minister Manmohan Singh regarding opening of Walmart stores in india.They are trying to influence india's FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) policy which currently stands at 24% so that it is increased to around 49%.Manmohan Singh was the pioneer of the globalisation policy which has really influenced and enhanced Indian Markets.

However Walmart Ceo has stated that that Walmart would make a foray into the Indian Market ,FDI or no FDI increase.

The average urban household income in India is about $3,000 a year, roughly in line with China, and the consuming class has grown from 35 million families in 1996 to an expected 80 million this year. That's roughly in line with the U.S. Menzer said: "This is a very big opportunity for us" .

No matter the opposition the Walmarts would face from the likes of shoppers' stop,lifestyle,pantaloons etc , shoppers in india always look out for the shopping experience.Yes,the Walmarts are infamous for wiping out the mom and pop business retailers,yet they continue to grow in full abandon.

~Lara,The Walmart Analyst :-B