The concept of bull whip effect remains a critical issue in the supply chain of products in global market. A small variance in the demands of the downstream end-customers may cause dramatic variance in the procurement volumes of upstream suppliers via the bull whip effect under the condition that the distortions of demand-related information exist among the members of a supply chain (Lee et al., 1997; and Metters, 1997). There are various causes for the bull whip effect. The prominent ones include lack of forecast updating, poor level of order batching, frequent price fluctuations and shortage gaming. As a result, there is a chance of excess inventory, poor level of customer service and improper sales management, imprudent capacity panning, high cost of transportation and longer production lead times (Lee et al., 1997; Metters, 1997; Fransoo and Wouters, 2000; and Towill, 2005). There are a large number of retailers in India, as Indian retailing is mainly unorganized and small shops are around every corner of the country. This research is the end result of a survey conducted among Indian retailers on their SCM practices in counter-handling the bull whip effect. Application of SCM practices in these small, unorganized retail stores will increase profitability by lowering inventory carrying cost and increase their efficiency. The researchers compare the differences in perception of Small Retail Outlets (SRO) and Medium Retail Outlets (MRO). It is observed that motivation to participate in a supply chain network is comparatively lower among small retailers. As the size of their business grows over a period of time and they attain the status of an MRO, their trust and commitment to share information increases. The findings of this research will help the companies to effectively counteract the negative perceptions among retailers about SCM practices by identifying the underlying causes.

Efficient Supply Chain Management (SCM) practices are keys to the success of modern retailing. However, in a market like India where 92% of retailers are in unorganized sector, there are no attempts made either by large manufacturers or marketing organizations to streamline SCM of grocery products. Serving the customer at a profit is the buzz word of today. An efficient customer response system is the key to improving organizational profitability, and it has come to stay as a new definition for business success in Indian retailing industry. SCM has come as the harbinger of efficient flow of products and services across the value chain. It was observed in the past that as the length of a supply chain increases, there is a likelihood of excessive inventory across the pipeline leading to bottlenecks and reduction in profitability of firms. It was found by many researchers that total supply chain, from the point of manufacturing to the point of sales at retailer’s end, has an inventory load of almost 100 days. The major factor misguiding the entire supply chain and every member has been the free flow of distorted information across the supply chain starting from plant warehouse to shuttle warehouse, market warehouse to distributors’ central warehouse, and finally, to a retailer’s storage space. The stock gets piled up at every level because of high degree of demand uncertainties and variability inherent in business practice at different levels of supply chain. This gives birth to the most popular menace in SCM called ‘bull whip effect’. Different research reports on efficient customer response in the US have estimated a potential US$30 bn opportunity from streamlining the inefficiencies of the fast-moving grocery supply chains.

Supply Chain Management Journal, Adoption, Supply Chain Management (SCM), Strategies, Response, Bull Whip Effect, Perspective of Indian Retailers, Small Retail Outlets (SRO).