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Retailers go to school to take on giants
To face the onslaught of retail giants, kirana shop owners are getting their battle gear ready. Their training ground is a first-of-its-kind school where they will learn modern business skills to take on the bigwigs.
To face the onslaught of retail giants, kirana shop owners are getting their battle gear ready. Their training ground is a first-of-its-kind school where they will learn modern business skills to take on the bigwigs.
The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT), an umbrella body representing retailers and small traders, wants traditional shop owners to learn modern business techniques so that they can take on competition from big corporate retailers and even foreign brands keeping in mind proposed foreign direct investment (FDI) in retail.
The school will open on Tuesday at Chawri Bazar in the walled city. There will be an eight-hour one-day training session in eight different subjects for retailers and traders, Khandelwal said. Retailers will be trained in batches of 35 each day.
“We have to change our business format into modern retailing,” said Praveen Khandelwal, secretary general, CAIT. “Our people already have the expertise and just need to change their outlook and thinking. If they change their business module, they will earn more business and profit,” he said.
Apart from the threat from FDI in retail, the trading community in the unorganised sector should be adequately trained keeping in mind the changes being made in various laws and acts governing trade, he said. “A survey revealed only 15-20% people in the trading community are computer literate. “Since everything is being computerised and laws are being brought keeping western countries in mind, retailers should be well prepared,” he said.
The eight subjects include visual merchandising, marketing, product window planning, law and taxes, security, customer behaviour, retailing operations, etc. CAIT has tied up with a business school in Delhi for the crash courses.
The course fee is around Rs 2,000.
After Delhi, CAIT plans to open similar schools across the country.
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