India's retail sector is growing quickly. There are a number of key statistics that point to this and show the direction of the sector in the future, NDTV Profit reports.

1. The retail sector of India is expected to hit $450 billion this year, with a significant 90 percent of the market run by tiny, independent merchants.

2. However, as the retail sector pulls in more sales, larger merchants are growing interested in the region. For example, larger chains account for only 10 percent of the market now, but are growing at a rate of 20 percent per year.

3. The government recently passed a law to allow for 100 percent foreign direct investment in businesses, which makes the market even more attractive to larger global retailers. "So far U.S.-based coffee giant Starbucks has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Tata Coffee," the source adds.

As such, membership to trade groups like The Retailers Association of India (RAI) has surged as local merchants look to share best practices for tasks such as store operations and marketing.

This entry was posted by Retail Pro on Thursday, June 21st, 2012 at 11:10 am .