( CNN ) -- This week India staged another phony protest . Political parties forced shops to shutter nationwide to object to a government policy allowing international retail giants greater participation in the world 's second most populous country . They were outraged on behalf of small shopkeepers . Indian shopkeepers protest government plan for retail . However , for many mom-and-pop shops run in pokey back alleys and on street corners it was a case of `` more business than usual . '' India 's small neighbourhood stores beavered away as always -- delivering much needed groceries home for free - even as the rest of the nation put up a brave fight anticipating the demise of these shops . India 's army of small-retailers , it seems , sensed no such threat . The shopping culture they share with millions of Indian shoppers is a hard one for big retailers to replicate . Most of the country 's small shops start life as rough makeshift spaces that grow into permanent outposts keeping pace with the demands of the community . They mushroom everywhere - in pockets rich and poor , urban and rural , uptown and downtown - stocking goods entirely to reflect the needs of the community they serve . The locals , who shop in equal measure for gossip and goods , often drop by for small purchases that can be as obscure as a bar of soap or a box of matchsticks . The friendly neighbourhood storekeeper , for those unwilling to bear the trip or the gossip , will also readily deliver such small purchases home , at no extra fee , as many times a day as he is called upon to -- perhaps the biggest reason why Indian households remember their grocery needs only from one day to another . For a majority of small shopkeepers , no order is too small and no house too far . In India , consumers who shop at these stores are n't looking for the usual supermarket experience . Customers flocking to corner-shops typically buy goods they need for a limited period and for a limited value . Groceries are felt , smelt and recommended before any actual purchase is made . It 's among few markets in the world where most groceries are still available unlabeled and un-packaged and can be bought in any quantity , however small or large . Oftentimes , goods are bought on credit with the only one collateral -- trust . And many a time , goods are returned -- without any proof of a bill . Try that at Walmart or Tesco . The biggest challenge for big retail , hoping to dent the business of small shopkeepers though , is familiarity . Not only do most small shopkeepers know their customers by name , they can also be relied upon for remembering individual grocery-buying patterns ; brand by brand , category by category . It 's a given that , even during the busiest periods , the local shopkeeper will remind the customer of things they have n't bought in a while . In short , the one-man retailer uses grocery records stored in his memory , far more interactively that a smart phone or the supermarket till ever will . To the neighborhood shopper then , the small shopkeeper is an extension of their household . To be fair , the entry of organized retail in the last few years has led to a different shopping experience for India 's middle class . It 's opened up an aspirational type of shopping , in sanitized environments with well-stocked shelves and everything from clothes to candy under one roof . Still , according to various industry estimates , such retail accounts for only some 7 percent of India 's $ 450 billion retail market . So far , no large Indian supermarket chain has managed to replicate the convenience-store format successfully , because it 's tough to offer goods on credit , personalize the service and stay profitable . Small retailers , who employ workers from the unorganized labour force , are estimated to extract three times the productivity of a uniformed employee at a supermarket . It 's even tougher for big-ticket retailers to squeeze margins on small quantities of goods to serve the whimsical needs of each neighborhood . It 's then hard to imagine how the world 's biggest retailers will wipe out the small mom-and-pop stores , which work to an organized chaos that few inventory-keeping systems can mimic . India 's small-retailers , unlike its deluded political class , realize that there is room for everyone . The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Anjana Menon .
It was `` more business than usual '' for India 's shopkeepers this week , says Anjana Menon . This was despite political parties forcing some shops to close in protest at retail reforms . The government plans to allow international supermarkets greater access to India . But Menon says it is hard to imagine big retailers wiping out `` mom-and-pop '' stores .