Overview of Bangladesh Retailing Industry

Retail trade is one of the traditional businesses of Bangladesh. Its expansion is keeping pace with population growth and changes in consumption patterns, which are consistent with the growth of the economy. This expansion has not been structurally organized, because, until recently, retailing had never been perceived as an industry, but rather as an individual or family business entity with a very limited scope of organized expansion. Little to no market information is available on the retail sector, but secondary sources indicate that the size of the food retail sector in Bangladesh could be US$12-14 billion, and the number of retail grocery shops could be around 1 million. Retail is one of the biggest sources of employment (12 percent), and it contributed 13 percent (wholesale and retail trading) to Bangladesh’s GDP.

Organized retail is booming and creating huge opportunity for enterprises. Retailers though sell other companies products work out their own marketing strategies fixing their own target market towards providing customer satisfaction separately. Retail stores irrespective of product line and relative prices emerge in all shape and sizes, such as Specialty stores, Department stores, Supermarkets, Superstore, Convenience stores, Discount stores and off- price stores.

Types of retail shop in Bangladesh:

There is a wide variety of retail shops in Bangladesh, ranging from open-air temporary shops to well-equipped modern supermarkets. The following classifications may be applied:

1. Roadside shops: These small grocery shops are visible throughout the country and constitute around 75 percent of the retail sector. The floor space ranges between 30 and 100 sq. feet. Most village markets are in this category. No imported food items are available in these shops except some low-quality products from India, especially in border-adjacent areas.

2. Municipal Corporation Markets: Shops in the municipal corporation markets are

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