Indian Rural Marketing has always been complex to forecast and consist of special uniqueness. However many companies were successful in entering the rural markets. They proved with proper understanding of the market an innovative marketing idea, it is possible to bag the rural markets. It is very difficult for the companies to overlook the opportunities they could from rural markets. As Two – Thirds of Indian population lives in rural areas, the market is much unexpected for the companies to be successful in rural markets. They have to overcome certain challenges such as Pricing and Distribution.
The present paper has been covered to know the rural market challenges in India. The study on different Rural Marketing Strategies, to analyze Rural Marketing Strategies Adopted by stated business houses, to highlight the significance and challenges of rural marketing in India, to evaluate SWOT analysis of rural marketing.
Marketing may aptly be described as the process of defining, anticipating and knowing customer needs and the organizing all the resources of the company to satisfy them. Rural marketing involves delivering, manufactured or processed inputs or services to rural producers or consumers so as to soak up the huge size of the untapped rural market. In today’s congested and difficult markets, both local and global, all FMCG as well as other companies search for new opportunities, consumers and markets. In rural market of India started showing its potential in the 1960s. The 70s &80s witnessed its steady development. And there are clear indications that the 21st century is going to see its full blossoming. In rural India there are 800 million potential customers presented both an opportunity and a problem, as this market has been characterized by unbalanced growth and infrastructural problems. Thus looking at the opportunities which rural markets offer to the marketers it seems that the future is very promising for those who can understand the dynamics of rural markets and exploit them to their best advantage.
The term “rural marketing’ used to be an umbrella term for the people who deal with rural people in one way or the other. This term got a separate meaning and importance after economic revaluation in India after 1990.
Rural markets were seen an adjunct to urban market and conveniently ignored. However since 1990s India’s industrial sector has gained in strength and maturity. Its contribution to GNP increased substantially. A new service sector had emerged signifying the metamorphosis of agricultural society into industrial society. The economic reforms further accelerated the process by introducing competition in the markets, steadily. The rural market has grown for house hold consumables and durables. “Rural marketing can be seen as a function which manages all those activities involved in assessing, stimulating & converting the purchasing power into an effective demand for specific products & service & moving them to the people in rural areas to create satisfaction & a standard of living for them & there by achieves the goals of the organization.
Marketing today has changed the dynamics of the business. As the consumers are getting informative, the business is becoming competitive day-by-day. Marketers are seeking fresher challenges everyday and are looking to increase their realm. The urban consumer has been coddled till now but this market is shrinking, prompting the marketer to now explore the rural consumers, which promises a huge potential. The marketers have enough scale to offer and enough desire to consume.
The census of India defines rural as any habitation where the population density is less than 400 per sq. km, and where at least 75 per cent of the male working population is engaged in agriculture, and where there isn’t any municipality or board. Having said that, there are about 600,000-odd villages in India.
The rural market has been growing steadily over the past few years and is now even bigger than the urban market. At present 53 per cent of all FMCGs and 59 per cent of all consumer durables are being sold in rural India. The biggest FMCG Company in India HLL derives more than half of its Revenues from the rural markets.
About 62% of villages have a population below 1000 and only 3% of the villages above 5000, most villages with less than 500 people do not have any shops. These characteristics point toward the complexities of distribution & logistics management.
There is no doubt that the rural India offers tremendous opportunity for any company to tap. However, companies face many challenges in tackling the rural markets. Some of the important factors being an understanding of the rural customers’ needs, a reliable distribution channel, and an effective marketing communication strategy to put their message across to the rural consumer. This calls for a paradigm shift in the thinking of the top management of the companies, which have been reluctant to realize the potential of rural markets. The mantra for success can be further augmented by the Four A Framework (Affordability, Acceptability, Accessibility & Awareness). These factors will go a long way in providing the company with market value coverage along with a steady source of revenues.
AUTHOR : RITEN SHAH
PUBLISHED BY: SHWETA AGARWAL
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