Splint International Journal Of Professionals
Year : 2014, Volume : 1, Issue : 1
First page : ( 28) Last page : ( 39)
Print ISSN : 2349-6045.

An innovations framework for rural distribution of MCG products in India: Based on a quantitative study of seventeen innovations

Sarkar Dev Narayan¹

¹Ph.D. Scholar, Calcutta University, Kolkata, India

Online published on 20 March, 2021.

Abstract

This paper reviews the challenges faced by organizations in India in rural distribution and provides a concrete conceptual framework for rural distribution innovation in India. Literature available on innovative rural distribution models is sparse and no quantitative study of rural innovations is available. Rural markets are very important for FMCG companies today owing to the increasing development of consumerism at the bottom of the pyramid. Rural markets are characterized by the four challenges (4A’s) of rural marketing which correspond to the 4P’s of marketing. This research paper starts with conceptualizing the standard hub and spoke rural distribution mechanism being followed by most companies. But, many challenges face the organization which attempts to make its products available in rural markets through the standard hub and spoke model. A few organizations have successfully innovated to reach rural markets through other means of distribution. Seventeen successful rural distribution innovations were identified from among the 42 innovations found in literature. This research is an ex post facto quantitative study of what sales managers believe are the factors which led to the success of these seventeen rural innovations. Three hundred sales managers and sales officers from across India, employed in leading FMCG organizations, were surveyed through a structured questionnaire. The factorial analysis of this jury of executive opinion has led to the discovery of four common elements which influenced these successes. Any planned rural distribution innovation will have to include these four basic requirements as identified in this research.

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Keywords

Distribution, Place, Rural Marketing, FMCG.

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