Indian retailing set to double in the next three years, with the emergence of more national retail chains.

Retailing is manpower intensive. Developed economies like the U.S., which has a high penetration of modern retailing formats, employ between 10 and 11 percent of their workforce in retailing (against 7 percent employed in India today).

It is estimated that in India up to 70 million square feet of retail space will be created by 2007. The plans of many retailers forecast strong growth (almost doubling of store space and number of outlets) in the next three years.

Assuming one front – end customer associate for every 300 square feet of retail space created, India would need approximately an additional 2,10,000 customer associates in the next three years. While the actual figure may be different, this gives a clear indication of the magnitude of resources required to support the growth of retailing in India.