Warehouse management is a big requirement for a developed retail system

The retail market across India is booming, in terms of position in global ranking aiming all the retail markets of the globe. It is ranked the fifth largest global destination in the retail segment and is expected to grow by US$ 1 trillion by 2020 which is almost double the market share which was estimated at US$ 600 billion on 2015. It is also being estimated that the current retail market is growing at a rate of 10% per annum with a 20% expansion in modern trade.

The retail industry is a holistic entity that has undergone the growth because every segment of it has worked together to ensure the steady upscale movement. In this sense, logistics management is that segment which is usually not considered about, yet it forms an intrinsic and important aspect of the industry. Logistics include planning, implementation and controlling of the efficient and effective flow of goods and transport, storage of goods, services and information from manufacturers to consumers, retailers and distributors. In this context warehouses become an essential requirement to facilitate smooth functioning of the entire procedure. Warehouses, in the present market trend are much more than mere storehouses, they are currently being viewed as transaction facilities or switching facilities. Warehouses are owned by manufacturers, retailers and wholesalers to store their goods. But warehouses today serve a much broader purpose consisting of several aspects such as receiving and updating records, identifying place, label and colour codes for goods, separating goods for different storage areas on the basis of categories like special customer goods, revised price goods promotional goods etc. several other uses such as dispatching of goods to appropriate storage places to ensure easy accessibility, securing goods against deterioration and proliferation, dispatching them to correct locations and maintaining records are also carried out through the system of warehouse management.

Warehousing demand experienced a sudden boom, especially in eastern India, with Kolkata serving as the main gateway while other cities like Guwahati, Ranchi, Patna and Bhubaneswar slowly taking up the leads. Kolkata has remained the most active market in 2016 with demands ranging between 50,000 to 1,00,000 square feet. Yet there have been limitations in terms of demand and supply of quality warehousing space and the general idea was that this crunch would smoothen with the implementation of GST.

Expert’s views
Amit Ray, regional head of East and North east division of Om Logistics told Franchise India that possibilities of growth in demands for warehouses has increased all over India mainly because of the collapsing of the inter-state trade barriers. “A company in Bangalore is taking up warehouses in Kolkata easily because of the waiver of sales taxes, registration tax, VAT etc” he said. Beneficial tax regime, waiver of barriers and booming e-commerce has ensured the growth in SCM system in eastern India as well as the country. In terms of development, certain warehouses are coming up in West Bengal in Uluberia, Dhulagarh etc which have the infrastructural facility of international level, one of which being the new Racking system. The system which means to cut down on wastage of storage space available, has been used in Europe and US and is a relatively maiden approach in India being used in automobile industry and FMCG sectors like pharmaceuticals, telecom etc.

Conclusion
In a growing and competitive market, it is important for retailers to ensure a smooth transition of products from manufacturing to the point-of-sale. Supply chain management system helps to ensure this smooth functioning of the retail industry in a step by step process.