Do Retail Evolution Theories Explain Wholesalers’ Responses in Emerging Economies? Evidence from a Wholesale Market in Northern India

Traditional retail markets, such as wholesale markets, continue to be a significant distribution channel across emerging economies. These channel intermediaries are facing unprecedented changes in their retail environments and responding to them to endure. However, these responses are not adequately captured in the extant literature. This study attempts to fill this gap by documenting the responses of wholesalers in one of the oldest markets in northern India and mapping their responses to theories of retail change. The study uses a qualitative approach consisting of in-depth, semi-structured interviews and direct observations. Five themes, that is, the business-mix shift, business expansion and diversification, additional services, improved infrastructure and use of technology, emerged from the wholesalers’ responses to the changes in the retail environment. These responses can be mapped back to four popular retail change theories. Cumulatively, these theories can explain all the responses by wholesalers; however, none of the retail change theories in isolation is sufficient to explain all responses. This study contributes to understanding the evolution and change of a traditional retail marketing system. It also presents a few interesting questions for future research.