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Industry Overview

Retail includes the retail sale of goods such as food and grocery, apparel, consumer durables, fuel, and automotive products by retailers, brands, and distributors. As of 2025, the organised retail industry employs approximately 4.1 million workers in non-auto segments.^[1] Headcount in organised retail in non-auto segments is expected to grow at ~8% CAGR to approximately 5.2 million by 2028.^[2] This growth is driven by rising consumption and discretionary spending, increasing digital adoption, and a growing shift towards organised retail, particularly in tier-2 and tier-3 cities.

Why should retail companies aim to improve gender equity in entry-level roles?^[3]

Hiring more women in entry-level roles can:

• Improve customer experience (e.g., customers valuing a woman’s perspective) and sales conversion
• Increase productivity (e.g., fewer errors in tasks handled by women)
• Boost brand value

Why do retail companies have low gender equity in entry-level roles today?^[4]

Company-level challenges

• Managers are reluctant to hire women in shifts ending late evening (post 7/8 pm) due to safety concerns
• Companies do not clearly communicate role expectations (e.g., workdays, timings) during hiring, resulting in early exits
• Leadership and managers place limited priority on gender diversity in field roles and certain product segments (e.g., household articles)
• Small, standalone outlets sometimes lack adequate washroom access for women

Ecosystem-level challenges

• Some women are unwilling to work in field roles and in physically demanding roles which require long standing hours
• Some laws make women uncompetitive in labour market (e.g., mandatory pick-up/drop in evening shifts)
• Cities/ towns, especially suburbs or during late hours, lack affordable and safe transport facilities
• Families do not permit women to continue working post marriage due to household work/ childcare expectations

Where is the opportunity to add more women in retail industry?^[4]

Key entry-level roles in retail include outlet-based roles such as retail store associate, promoter, cashier, and housekeeping staff, and field roles such as salesperson and roaming merchandiser. Most of these roles require only a 10^th or 12^th grade qualification, making them accessible to non-graduate women. The organised retail industry has a gender diversity of ~28%,^[5] and has high potential for employing more women in entry-level roles in three areas:

• Shifts ending late evening (i.e., post 7/8 pm) account for ~55% of the outlet-based workforce but have significantly lower gender diversity at ~10%, compared with ~50% in shifts ending before 7/8 pm
• Specific product segments such as fuel, household articles (e.g., appliances, furniture), and information and communication technology (e.g., laptops), have lower gender diversity at ~8-13%, compared with ~31% in segments such as departmental stores
• Field roles hired by brands and distributors (e.g., salespersons, roaming merchandisers) have significantly lower gender diversity, at under 5%, compared with over 25% in outlet-based roles

How can retail companies make entry-level roles more gender-equitable?^[4]

• Prioritise and implement (1–6 months): Initiate change by hiring more women in easy-to-hire roles and outlets, establishing foundational infrastructure (e.g., break and rest areas), and sensitising managers to unconscious gender biases
• Invest and scale (6–12 months): Improve talent pipeline through incentives for staffing companies and paid women referral programs, and invest in infrastructure (e.g., safety provisions, washroom access) to enhance women’s safety and support
• Innovate and lead (12–24 months): Scale women-friendly practices through flexible work options and safer zones for field roles, and embed accountability via diversity KPIs and business benefits dissemination

How can retail companies track their progress on gender equity?

The Gender Equity Readiness Scorecard (GERS) is an open-source tool which offers a quick, objective assessment of gender equity within a company. The retail GERS tool evaluates progress in outlet-based roles across four dimensions – outcomes, infrastructure and support, policies and practices, and accountability. Retail companies can use the GERS tool to get a clear, objective baseline of their performance on gender equity in entry-level outlet-based roles, identify the next set of practices to implement, and track progress over time. Ecosystem players (e.g., governments, funders) can leverage the GERS to nudge companies to prioritise gender equity, benchmark companies on their performance, identify emerging trends and challenges, and prioritise specific incentives or programs for improving gender equity in the industry.