[CNA] Mom-and-pop shops in India struggle amid competition from online platforms, retail chains
One store owner is fighting to survive, offering a wide variety of items and embracing technology to retain his customers.
MUMBAI: Mom-and-pop shops, known locally as kirana stores, can be found all over India – on busy city streets, the tiniest of lanes in slums, and even hard-to-reach rural areas.
Industry estimates peg the number of kirana stores nationwide at more than 12 million. These stores account for 90 per cent of grocery sales in the country, worth US$600 billion a year, according to venture capital firm Flourish Ventures.
Yet, some kirana store owners are struggling to compete with online stores and expanding supermarket chains.