BUSINESS STRATEGIES AND PROFITABILITY OF PUSH CART FRUIT VENDORS: A COST–RETURN AND OPERATIONAL CHALLENGE PERSPECTIVE

Abstract

In order to identify the strategic and economic determinants of vendor profitability in an understudied area of the informal retail economy, this study examines the business strategies, cost–return structure and operational challenges of push cart fruit vendors in Salem city, a Tier-2 city in Tamil Nadu, India. The study adopted a descriptive and analytical research design. Primary data were collected through purposive sampling using a structured questionnaire from 57 push cart fruit vendors, including both single-commodity and multi-commodity vendors. Cost structures, success factors, vendor segments and factors influencing daily profit were analysed using cost–return analysis, percentage analysis, mean score analysis, weighted average ranking, independent samples t-test and multiple linear regression. The findings revealed that product diversification reduced the risk of unsold perishable stock, with multi-commodity vendors earning almost twice the daily profit of single-commodity vendors. Customer relationship management (β = 0.53) and dynamic pricing (β = 0.51) were the strongest drivers of daily profit, followed by multi-commodity selling and value addition. The regression model explained 74.2% of the variation in daily profit (R² = 0.742, p < 0.001). Financial difficulties, particularly restricted access to institutional credit and irregular income, were identified as the most critical challenges, followed by marketing and personal health issues. Although the findings are limited to push cart fruit vendors in a single Tier-2 city and a purposive cross-sectional sample, the study demonstrates that vendor income can be enhanced through low-cost interventions such as product diversification, value addition, flexible pricing and stronger customer relationships rather than relying solely on large capital investments. The study also highlights the need for policy support through microcredit access and authorised vending zones to strengthen livelihood security. It contributes new micro-level, commodity disaggregated evidence on the cost–return structure and strategy–profit relationship of push cart fruit vendors, extending the literature on informal retail enterprises in underexplored Tier-2 Indian cities.