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Abstract
The Indian rural market has a huge demand base and offers great opportunities to marketers. Two-thirds of Indian consumers live in rural areas and almost half of the national income is generated from there. Rural Marketing in India has always been complex to forecast and consist of special uniqueness. In the recent years, rural market has acquired significance and attracted the attention of marketers as 68.84% population of India reside in 6,38,000 villages and overall growth of economy has resulted into substantial increase in the purchasing power of the rural communities. Rural markets are becoming attractive for a number of reasons. Rural incomes are growing due to green revolution, rise in agricultural produce prices, Skilled India programmes, financial inclusion, etc. and consumers are buying discretionary goods and lifestyle products, including mobile phones, television sets and two-wheelers. The rush to rural markets is not a recent phenomenon and companies have been testing these markets. The article focuses on understanding the present scenario of rural market, opportunities and challenges in the rural market.
Keywords : rural incomes, financial inclusion, lifestyle products
Introduction
The general impression among marketers is that the rural markets have potential only for agricultural inputs like seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, and cattle feed and agriculture machinery. But this is partly correct. Over 50% of national income is generated in rural India' and there are opportunities to market modern goods and services in rural areas and market agricultural goods in urban areas. It has been estimated that the rural markets are growing at a faster rate. Generally rural marketing means different types of things to different types of the people. Rural marketing plays a significant role within the development of economic standards, especially in India. Rural marketing is a process which includes development, market expanded at a CAGR of 13.2 per cent to US$ 100 billion during 2009-15. The Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) sector in rural and semi-urban India is estimated to cross US$ 20 billion by 2018 and US$ 100 billion by 2025. In rural markets, durables like refrigerators as well as consumer electronic goods are likely to witness growing demand in the coming years as the government plans to invest significantly in rural electrification. Credit Suisse estimates that nearly 75% of...