From Kirana to QR Code: How BOP Consumers navigate Phygital Retail Journeys

The retail environment in India is experiencing a marketing revolution with the age-old kirana store, which has been the backbone of bloc business in the neighbourhood over decades, facing the digital revolution. It is a qualitative research, which will be based on the analysis of secondary data in the form of industry reports and academic sources, policy papers (2023-2025), to explore how consumers at the Base of the Pyramid (BOP) navigate the emergent phygital retail ecosystem in India. As the number of kirana stores is over 13 million and 88 percent of the Indian retail market is covered by it, and the UPI transactions are bigger than 709 million QR codes, nationally, the intersection point between traditional retail connections and digital payment systems creates a special place of interest to consider the domain of inclusive retail transformation. As a part of thematic examination of published literature, market, and policy reports, this paper will identify four essential patterns of navigation: trust-mediated digital adoption, proxy-facilitated participation, selective phygital engagement, and community-supported technology learning. Results indicate that consumers of the BOP do not merely adopt or rebuff phygittal retail, but they form hybrid tracks in which they utilize the relational capital of kirana stores and are adding digital affordances. The research adds to the knowledge on the topic of phygital inclusion by revealing that the unusual retail environment of India, in addition to the dense kirana centers, the high prevalence of the UPI infrastructure, and the strong ties between communities presents a possible core of fair digital retail transformation. The implications of the policy on financial inclusion, digital literacy, and retail modernization are discussed.