Read the ICICI case given below and answer the questions given at the end of the case.

$$ Only $40$ per cent of shops in small towns have electricity, while in feeder villages this figure was $11$ per cent.

$$ Shops in towns were located on rented premises. while in interior villages in $88$ per cent of the cases the shops were located on owned premises and lacked electricity

$$ In feeder villages, four fifths of the shops have one person working full time, while in interior villages $70$ per cent have two or three persons working on a part$$time basis.

$$ Over two$-$fifths of the retail outlets stocked eight to nine standard product categories.

$$ It was found that three $$fourths of the outlets that stocked eight to nine product categories kept four items or less in each category, while one$$fourth had five to six items in each category.

$$ The total number of items stocked in retail outlets was about $50$ in interior villages and $115$ in feeder villages.

$$ The stock turnover ratio in the study is the number of times the stock is sold in a month. This is obtained by dividing the stock level by monthly off$-$take. The ratio for toiletries in interior villages was close to unity, while in the feeder villages two thirds had a ratio in the range of two to three. The ratio of one indicates that on average interior village shops had stocks for one month, while shops in feeder villages maintained stocks for two or three months. The value of the stock turnover ratio in towns had a wider spread and higher values in the range of three or even five because of the wide variety of products stocked.

Questions:

$($a$)$ Critically evaluate the above rural retail scenario for the marketer of consumer products.

$($b$)$ What implications does the above scenario have for the long $$ term distribution system design of a multi$$product necessity Goods Company wanting to make a foray into the rural markets?