Walmart in India

Walmart is entering India in partnership with Bharti group. Can Walmart thrive in Indian market conditions and add an entry to it's roster of countries of Walmart presence?. Can Walmart bring in retail revolution in India as everyone is anticipating with its giant stores concept? Some predict Walmart will not see success in India and some predict Walmart will survive in India. One challenge besides many others that is obvious to everyone is stiff competition from local players. What are the other real challenges that Walmart has to work through for Walmart to become a household name in India. Wharton business school did a study on Walmart's success in India and here is a summary of some of the challenges from the study.

• In the U.S., when you think of big warehouse store, you think of lower prices, and small, boutique stores have higher prices. In India, the perception is exactly the opposite-the bigger store has higher prices; smaller shops can offer lower prices because their overheads are lower.
  
• Walmart model is very real estate hungry. They need a lot of real estate, close to where people live, and have easy access to them. The Walmart model also relies on the fact that everything is on display, which requires a lot of space.
• If Walmart sets up its stores on the outskirt s of urban centers, customers traveling by bus or train will have to carry their purchases in a bag and would buy less. Industry experts have argued that the typical Indian consumer does not travel more than 6 km(3.75 miles) or 7 km to shop, and that few suburbanites own cars.

The above challenges are foreign to Walmart but I am sure with Bharti's Indian business acumen, Walmart will come up with innovative ways to cope with these challenges. Nevertheless, some of Walmart's business practices have launched them in controversies in U.S., so I think Walmart will have a hard time finding ways to solve these problems. For example, Walmart is known for taking advantage of U.S eminent domain law, the inherent power of government to seize a citizen's private property, to acquire private lands. These issues stem from consumer behaviour and I think these will play a bigger role in Walmart's success in India.