Rural marketing -a study of its swot analysis

Rural marketing is as old as the civilization. Rural marketing as an emerging trend is about to explore possibilities in the rural India. Around 700 million people, or 70% of India’s population, live in 6,27,000 villages in rural areas. Rural markets are an important and growing market for most products and services. The characteristics of the market in terms of low and spread out population and limited purchasing power make it a difficult market to capture. The introduction of currency, transport, and communication has increased the scope of rural market. This paper discusses the present scenario of rural marketing its importance, current trends, and highlights certain problems related to rural marketing. Further it highlights the improvements that make the rural marketing system most effective. The 800 million potential consumers in rural India presented both an opportunity and a problem, as this market has been characterized by unbalanced growth and infrastructural problems. Thus looking at the opportunities which rural markets offer to the marketers it seems that the future is very promising for those who can understand the dynamics of rural markets and exploit them to their best advantage.