STUDENT DECLARATION

I, Mohit Yadav student of MBA IV from DIMS , Meerut Here by declares that the project

report titled “ A STUDY EFFECT OF LOCATION OF RETAIL OUTLET ON SALES

AND PROMOTION OF PRODUCT” is completed and submitted under the valuable

guidance of “Mr. Sudheer Kumar Faculty of Management , Meerut .

The imperial finding in this report is based on the data collected by me. This project

has been submitted to G.B.T.U., Lucknow, .or not Submitted any other university for the

purpose of compliance of any requirement of any examination or degree.

Date………………. MOHIT YADAV

M.B.A. IV Sem)

Roll No. - 0907470047

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The descriptive study intends to explore the Factors considered by consumers for

patronizing a retail outlet with the emergence of new formats of retail chains it becomes

essential to examine the behaviour pattern of the consumer. In this regards, store Location

becomes the key driving factor in Retail Industry. The information assimilated in this

research project guide Mr. Sudheer Kumar Faculty of Management , Meerut was

categorized primarily on the nature of the sources i.e. primary sources (interviewing

customers with a designed questionnaire) and secondary sources (published articles, text

books, reference books, available journals, and web pages).

2
 LIST OF CONTENT

Introduction 05

Rationale of the study 07

Research objectives 08

Research Methodology 09

Industry Overview 11

Organized retail 15

Indian Retail industry 23

Organized retail sector 36

Major industry players 38

Growing economy 63

Store location 68

Consumer decision process 84

Data analysis 94

Conclusion 97

Appendix 99

Bibliography 101

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 INTRODUCTRION

The customers process the information around them and approach the retail spaces to

consume according to their expectancy level. Consumers approach different store types to

explore product reviews and to shop products according to their needs and their desired

estimates. Some customers frequently visit the brand stores to update themselves with the

brand portfolio and some visit to other forms of retail shops with competing brands to enjoy

high price saving offers.

But consumers buying or selecting a particular retail outlet is the behavioral issue influenced

by their reference groups (friends, relatives and so on) culture, their upbringing, family

lifecycle etc. The store image is a major determinant which helps customer to patronize a

retail outlet. The shopping environment factors bridge a relationship with the prospects for

regular shopping experience.

At present scenario, time is constraint and money has become luxury. So customers have

focused on selecting an appropriate retail outlet which gives a value added services, focuses

on customer’s needs, attentiveness for queries and customers’ Location those retail space if

they find greater return over their total shopping cost.

As Indian Economy is growing at a higher pace, more and more sophisticated retail formats

are giving a competitive edge their unorganized counterparts in attracting footfalls. Retail

sector in past one decade in India has shown enormous growth. The impact can be seen all

over. The kind of growth seen and felt is never before. In India itself in the year 1998 the total

organized was 1.8% and by the year 2005 it reached 3%. Today the organized retail is

growing @ 30% – 35% per annum. The total retail size is Rs.930 million and the organized

retail is just 3 % of it by Dec. 2005. The expected growth by AC Neilson is by 2009 - 2010

the organized retail would be 8 – 10%. India is looked upon as most haunted destination by

different global companies and is on radar of global retailers. Young India factor and the PPP

4
are there to add on to this. Ultimately it is the customer who is changing and the businesses

are to take the advantage. As Indian economy is growing at a higher pace, more and more

sophisticated retail formats are giving a competitive edge to their unorganized retailers in

increasing footfalls.

There is just not a change but a phenomenal change in customers & their demands. The

psychological framework has changed as well as lifestyle of individual are getting affected

due to environmental influences like that of : liberalization , information flow, technological

changes, literacy rate, high & better income due to opening of BPO’s, etc..

This all combined together has an impact on individuals purchasing & consumption behavior.

As a result of the change in the customers there is a dramatic change that retail industry in

India has gone through. With change the explosion that Indian Retail Industry has shown is

also exceptional. Looking to the opportunity into this area, big Industry giant

have entered into the retail business. Competition is pruning at a tremendously fast pace. Any

retailer cannot ignore the customer and cannot make the mistake of not keeping his customer

for lifetime. Thus the industry has to focus on the Patronizing. Committing this act of

ignoring the customer loyalty the retailers how so ever big will be loosing in long term. Thus

to sustain and grow in future patronizing is what should be looked into by the retail giants.

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 RATIONALE OF THE STUDY

Every retail marketer focuses on niche marketing to develop a long term relationship with

their customers and develop a customer centric environment for generating positive word of

mouth communication for the potential buyers in the retail setting.

The consumers process the information around them and approach different retail spaces to

consume according to their expectancy level. Consumer approaches different store types to

explore product review and purchase to satisfying their needs.

Few customers visit the brand outlets for upgrading with latest in fashion and trend and few

visit other retail forms with competing brands to access higher prize saving. But consumers

buying or selecting a particular retail outlet is largely influenced by their influence groups

(family, friends, brand endorsers, etc.) as well as their culture.

Consumers process the over communicated information by the marketers and select a retail

outlet which meets their expectancy level (satisfaction of right shopping, appreciated on

product purchased and feeling a sense of not being over charged on prices etc.) as well as

develops a trust. And their patronizing ability leads to highly competitive marketing exercises

for the same product by different competing brands and stores Store Location is been

classified into store factors consists of ambience, layout (physical evidences), product display

and availability, trained personnel and consumer behaviour aspects along with shopping

orientations. In this study, the store factors are primarily aimed to act as a catalyst by different

individuals or group of individuals for patronizing a retail outlet. The durable product is

available at manufacturer’s retail outlet across the region as well as at another store types

packed with same brand and other brands too. Customer analysis the product category and

rest factors like technical support, price offerings at various locations, store image, value

added services before making a decision.

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Research Objectives

This project aims at understanding the factors that affect of location on retail outlet sales and

services on product and identifying the store attributes for developing store Location.

I would like to develop a model which must focus the store factors considering by consumers

for store Location. Because of varied lines of retail formats in existence in India, as well as

changing customer; marketers have identified Location a strategic tool for developing a long

term relationship with customers.

Consumer’s first store selection plays a decisive role in designing a retail mix of a brand. For

any product category, the retail counters are channelized according to the customers’

preferences leads to an interactive sales bridge. And continuous up gradation with knowledge

and adapting innovative means to generate interest of visiting the store regularly which could

probably transform him into a long term customer. Customers’ Location any retail outlet

where they feel they are valued as well as find a sense of satisfaction of their personal needs.

This cycle keep moves on and enhance brand equity for that particular store. Sometimes it is

difficult to design a common brand theme and buying environment because of large

involvement of infinite individuals as prospects with different information processing level.

Each brand preciously defines its positioning strategies then starts formulating a set of actions

for achieving those objectives. A customer is being focused and over communicated by

competing brands through innovative communication tools. And sometimes this stimulus

affects his/her buying decision even selection a retail outlet with competing brands.

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 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This study is primarily based on secondary data available from various reference books,

working papers, text books, journals, research material and web pages.

Although, a set of qualitative data collected through a designed questionnaire at different

shopping scenarios.

Questionnaire design:

The questionnaire is a suitable tool to collect relevant data from the target group and

evaluation becomes easier. The questions are derived from the objective of the study and

formulated in order to get error free responses from the respondents and close ended

questions would not be complex for characteristics evaluation.

This questionnaire contains all measures regarding store factors like convenience, store

layout, personnel attentions and knowledge, store image, product availability, display

management at the store, customers’ attitudes towards a single or multi brand outlets, pre and

post sales services and the store environment.

The data collected from primary and secondary researches is analyzed on the following

variables:

i. Environmental factors like, convenience of location,

ii. Store Factors: Store type (brand outlet/ multi brand outlet), ambience, product display

mechanism, demonstrations and store environment.

iii. Customers Attitude and shopping motives.

iv. Unique assortment: unique product availability with value added services.

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 Assumptions

A. Respondents included in the sample could accurately answer questions related to their

durables

B. Store Location experiences.

C. Environmental dimensions included in this study exist in both the types of retail stores

(i.e. brand        outlet and a multi brand outlet).

D. Respondents’   behavior   reflected   one   of   the   three   types   of   shopping   orientations  

included in this study.

E. Respondents could read and understand the questionnaire.

LIMITATIONS

A. This study focused on the subjects’ responses based on scenarios and not their actual 

behavior while shopping for durables in the retail stores.

B. This study involves only one product category (i.e. durables) and results may not  

apply to shopping for other products. 

9
10
 INDUSTRY OVERVIEW

Industry analysis of the Indian retail sector:

Modern retailing has entered India in form of malls and huge complexes offering shopping,

entertainment, leisure to the consumer as the retailers experiment with a variety of formats,

from discount stores to supermarkets to hypermarkets to specialty chains. However, kiranas

still continue to score over modern formats mostly due to the convenience factor i.e. near to

their house.

This organized segment typically comprises of a large number of retailers, greater

enforcement of taxation mechanisms and better labour law monitoring system. It's no longer

about just stocking and selling but about efficient supply chain management, developing

vendor relationship quality customer service, efficient merchandising and even the labour

class is also in the working process timely promotional campaigns. The modern retail formats

are encouraging development of well-established and efficient supply chains in each segment

ensuring efficient movement of goods from farms to kitchens, which will result in huge

savings for the farmers as well as for the nation. The government also stands to gain through

more efficient collection of tax revenues. Network marketing has been growing quite fast and

has a few large players today. Gas stations are seeing action in the form of convenience

stores, ATMs, food courts and pharmacies appearing in many outlets.

In the coming years it can be said that the hypermarket route will emerge as the most

preferred format for international retailers stepping into the country. Estimates indicate that

this sector will have the potential to absorb many more hypermarkets in the next four to five

years

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List of retailers that have come with new formats:

Retailer Current Format New Formats

Shoppers’ Stop Department Store Quasi-mall

Crossword Large Bookstore Corner shop

Piramyd Departmental Store Quasi-mall, Food retail

Pantaloon Own brand store Hypermarket

Subhiksha Supermarket considering moving to self service

Globus Department Store Small fashion stores

Traditionally, the kirana retailing has been one of the easiest ways to generate self-

employment, as it required minimum investment in terms of land, labour and capital. These

store are not affected by the modern format of retailing. In order to keep pace with the

modern formats, kiranas have now started providing more value-added services like stocking

ready to cook vegetables and other fresh produce. They also provide services like credit,

phone service, home delivery etc.

The organized retailing has helped in promoting several niche categories such as packaged

fruit juices, hair creams, fabric bleaches, shower gels, depilatory products and convenience

and health foods, which are generally not found in the local kirana stores. Looking at the vast

opportunity in this sector, big players like Reliance has announced its plans to become the

country's largest modern retainers by establishing a chain of stores across all major cities.

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Apart from metro cities, several small towns like Nagpur, Nasik, Ahmedabad, Aurangabad,

Sholapur, Kolhapur and Amravati has seen the expansion of modern retails. Small towns in

Maharashtra are emerging as retail hubs for large chain stores like Pantaloon Retail because

many small cities like Nagpur have a student population, lower real estate costs, fewer power

cuts and lower levels of attrition.

However, retailers need to adjust their product mix for smaller cities, as they tend to be more

conservative than the metros. In order for the market to grow in modern retail, it is necessary

that steps are taken for rewriting laws, restructuring the tax regime, accessing and developing

new skills and investing significantly in India.

India is rated as the most attractive retail markets

Country Market Market Time

Risk Attractiveness Saturation Pressure Rank

Country 25% 25% 30% 20%

India 62 34 91 80 1st
Russia 52 58 71 92 2nd

China 68 40 53 90 4th

Turkey 51 56 66 65 9

Thailand 64 41 59 71 12

Malaysia 70 49 58 40 18

Egypt 51 35 85 30 25

Brazil 52 56 57 20 29
India’s
Rank 24th 14th 1st 7th 1st

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Socio demographic factors will lead to faster growth of Organized retail in India:

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 ORGANIZED RETAIL:

Emerging Retail Markets:

India, Russia, China and Vietnam top the list of the most attractive emerging markets for

retailers' investment in 2007, While India and Russia have held the top two spots since 2004,

China's booming consumer spending, together with retailers moving into second-tier cities,

helped it rise to No. 3 from its No. 5 spot last year, according to the 2007 Global Retail

Development Index from management consultant firm A.T. Kearney.

The study based its results on four variables: 'country risk', measuring political risk, debt and

credit ratings; 'market attractiveness', encompassing retail sales per capita, population,

infrastructure and regulations; 'market saturation'; and 'time pressure'.

The higher the ranking, the more urgency for retailers to enter the market, according to the

study, which ranks the top 30 emerging countries for retail development and focuses on mass-

merchant and food retailers.

"If you want to be an international player in retail, these are the markets that demonstrate the

characteristics (where) you can be successful," said Laura Gurski, a co-author of the study

and partner in A.T. Kearney's consumer and retail practice.

India has already attracted the attention of global retailers like Wal-Mart Stores Inc., which is

working with India's Bharti Enterprises to set up a joint venture for a cash-and-carry business.

In India, foreign multiple-brand retailers, which sell diverse brands under one roof, are

limited to cash-and-carry and franchise or license operations.

"India's window of opportunity continues to be wide for retail investment and development,"

the report said. "Once India's window closes for grocery retailers, there will be little

opportunity for market domination in the main cities."

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The country's growing population of young urban professionals with disposable incomes and

the nouveau riche has also made India attractive for luxury retailers. India has attracted "the

low end and the high end because of the breadth of the consumer segments that are

available," said Gurski.

When variables stay constant, Gurski said, do-it-yourself, apparel and electronics retailers

usually enter emerging markets some two years after international grocers establish

themselves. Middle Eastern countries are also represented on the list, with Saudi Arabia

ranking No. 10 India has emerged as the world's most attractive destination for mass

merchant and food retailing, maintaining its 2005 position in an annual study of retail

investment attractiveness among 30 emerging markets. India was given the top ranking in

management consulting company AT Kearney's 2006 Global Retail Development Index

(GRDI). "The Indian retail market is gradually but surely opening up, while China's market

becomes increasingly saturated," said Fadi Farra, a principal in AT Kearney's Consumer

Industries and Retail Practice and leader of the GRDI study. Much to the surprise of market

observers, China was ranked fifth in this year's tally, declining one more place since 2005.

While China remains very attractive, the market is becoming increasingly saturate as and

United Arab Emirates No. 18. Gap Inc announced last week it had struck a deal with two

franchisees to open Gap stores in Saudi Arabia starting at the end of this year. Dubai has

capitalized on consumer desire for a more Western lifestyle and has established itself as a

retail mecca, Gurski said. Despite its focus on luxury, Dubai is "just beginning to be

populated by the bread-and-butter retailers of the United States and the Western world," she

said. Retailers that have already established a presence in major Chinese cities like Shanghai

and Beijing, or those that have been slow to gain a foothold there, are now looking at less

developed markets in second-tier cities, the study found. "If the markets are saturated, they're

looking to make profits in the second-tier cities," Gurski said.

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But she cautioned that a separate strategy is needed for the smaller markets since consumer

tastes, ability to spend and willingness to embrace new formats may be different than in

larger urban areas. International retailers rush to establish a presence and build market share,

the study reveals. According to the study, Asia with a large 40 per cent of the top 20 markets

has surpassed Eastern Europe as the 'dominant region for global retail expansion.'

"The learning is that timing is the most important source of competitive advantage for global

and regional retailers in the globalization race. Knowing when to enter emerging retail

markets is the key to success," said Farra. Powering Asia's charge are Vietnam, which has

risen five places to third place, and countries like Thailand, South Korea and Malaysia, all of

which are in the top 15, After topping the ranking for two consecutive years in 2003 and

2004, Russia slipped to second place behind India last year and remained there in 2006 too.

Origin of Retail Sector:

Early Trade:

When man started to cultivate and harvest the land, he would occasionally find himself with a

surplus of goods. Once the needs of his family and local community were met, he would

attempt to trade his goods for different goods produced elsewhere. Thus markets were

formed. These early efforts to swap goods developed into more formal gatherings. When a

producer who had a surplus could not find another producer with suitable products to swap,

he may have allowed others to owe him goods. Thus early credit terms would have been

developed. This would have led to symbolic representations of such debts in the form of

valuable items (such as gemstones or beads), and eventually money.

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HOW RETAIL DEVELOPED:

Peddlers and Producers:

The Retail Trade is rooted in two groups, the peddlers and producers. Peddlers tended to be

opportunistic in their choice of stock and customer. They would purchase any goods that they

thought they could sell for a profit. Producers were interested in selling goods that they had

produced.

General Store:

This division continues to this day with some shops specializing in specific areas, reflecting

their origins as outlets for producers (such as Pacific Concord of Hong Kong), and others

providing a broad mix, known as General Store (such as Casey's in the Midwest of the

U.S.A.).

Although specialist shops are still with us, over time, the general store has increasingly taken

on specialist products. Customers have found this to be more convenient than having to visit

many shops - thus the term "Convenience Store" has also been applied to these shops. As the

popularity of general stores has grown, so has their size. This combined with the advent of

Self-Service has lead to the Supermarket, or Superstore.

Early Markets:

Over time, producers would have seen value in deliberately over-producing in order to profit

from selling these goods. Merchants would also have begun to appear. They would travel

from village to village, purchasing these goods and selling them for a profit. Over time, both

18
producers and merchants, would regularly take their goods to one selling place in the centre

of the community. Thus, regular markets appeared.The First Shop : Eventually, markets

would become permanent fixtures i.e. shops. These shops along with the logistics required to

get the goods to them were, the start of the Retail Trade.

The Birth of Distance Retailing:

Defined as sales of goods between two distant parties where the deliverer has no direct

interest in the transaction, the earliest instances of distance retailing probably coincided with

the first regular delivery or postal services. Such services would have started in earnest once

man had learned how to ride a camel, horse etc.

When individuals or groups left their community and settled elsewhere, some missed

foodstuffs and other goods that were only available in their birthplace. They arranged for

some of these goods to be sent to them. Others in their newly adopted community enjoyed

these goods and demand grew. Similarly, new settlers discovered goods in their new

surroundings that they dispatched back to their birthplace, and once again, demand grew. This

soon turned into a regular trade. Although such trading routes expanded mainly through the

growth of traveling salesmen and then wholesalers, there were still instances where

individuals purchased goods at long distance for their own use. A second reason that distance

selling increased was through war. As armies marched through territories, they laid down

communication lines stretching from their home base to the front. As well as garnering goods

from whichever locality they found themselves in, they would have also taken advantage of

the lines of communication to order goods from home.

Origins of Retail

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It is likely that, as markets became more permanent fixtures they evolved into shops.

Although advantageous in many respects, this removed the mobility that a peddler or

traveling merchant may still have enjoyed. For some shopkeepers, it made sense to obtain

extra stock and open up another shop, most probably operated by another family member.

This would recover business from peddlers and create new business and the greater volume

would allow the shopkeeper to strike a better deal with suppliers. Thus the retail chain would

have started. Its thought that this process would have started in china over 2200 years ago

with a chain of shops owned by a trader called Lo Kass.

The First Self-Service Store:

This all changed in 1915 when Albert Gerrard opened the Groceteria in Los Angeles, the first

documented self-service store. This was soon followed a year later by the Piggly Wiggly®

self-service store, founded by Clarence Saunders in Tennessee in the U.S.

Growth:

This new type of shopping was more efficient and many customers preferred it. Although

personal service stores remain to this day, this new concept started a rapid growth of self-

service stores in the United States. Other countries were slow to take up the idea, but there

has been a steady rise in the global amount of self-service stores ever since.

Efficiency

These entrepreneurs noticed that their staff had to spend a great deal of time taking grocery

orders from customers. The groceries were stacked on shelves allowing customers to walk

around and browse, collecting their shopping in a basket that was supplied. The shopkeeper

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would only need to tot up the final bill at the end of the process and transfer the goods from

the basket to the customer and receive payment.

From Family Business to Formal Structure:

Although retail chains would have been mostly run by families, as some chains grew, they

would have needed to employ people from outside of their family. This was a limiting factor

as there would have been a limit to the amount of trusted non family members available to

help run the chain. Another, even more definite limiting factor was the distance the furthest

shop would have been from the original shop. The greater the distance, the more time and

effort would have been needed to effectively manage outpost shops and to service them with

goods. There was, therefore, a natural barrier to expansion. That was the case until transport

and communications became faster and more reliable. When this happened towards the end

of the 19th century, chains became much bigger and more widespread. Many of these

businesses became more structured and formalized, leading to the retail chain that we see

today.

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22
INDIAN RETAIL INDUSTRY:

UNORGANISED RETAIL SECTOR:

Today, retailing doesn’t involve just dealing or marketing from shops, it includes analyzing

the market in an effort to provide reasonable prices together with an array of options and

experience to customers. The sole purpose of all this is retaining the brand loyalty of

customers. Indian retail is currently a US$ 245 billion market and is anticipated to extend to

almost US$ 385 billion mark by the next five years. The Indian retail sector is currently

sporting a brand new look and together with a 46.64 per cent three-year Compounded Annual

Growth Rate (CAGR), Conventional marketplaces are paving way for new shopping malls,

the likes of superstores, shopping plazas, supermarkets and brand label stores. International

style shopping centers have started dotting the skyline of cities and smaller towns,

acquainting the Indian customer to a unique shopping experience. The retail industry in India

is split up into the unorganized and organized retail segments.

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The unorganized retail sector includes the big, average and modest grocery stores and the

chemist shops. A changeover is taking place from the conventional retail sector to organized

retailing. But the unorganized segment still dominates and leads the industry. By 2010, the

Indian retailing sector is anticipated to become an Rs12.5 trillion market. The share of

organized retailing is supposed to jump to about 10 per cent from the existing three per cent.

The anticipated staggering growth in organized retailing provides an opportunity to expand

the market for both established and new players. According to the latest report India Retail

Sector Analysis (2006ñ07)I by RNCOS, the total retail market is primarily focused in rural

regions, which makes up 55 per cent or US$ 165 billion of the overall retail market as

opposed to urban segment, which represents 45 per cent or US$ 135 billion of the gross retail

market. The rural market is spread over 627,000 villages, even though its centre of attention

is focused around a core group of 100,000 villages that makes up 50 per cent of the rural

population.

India represents the most compelling international investment opportunity for mass merchant

and food retailers looking to expand overseas, according to management consulting firm AT

Kearney's 2005 Global Retail Development Index (GRDI), an annual study of retail

investment attractiveness among 30 emerging markets. India is rated as the fifth largest

emerging retail market and is seen as a potential goldmine. Driving global brands into India is

the greatly improved investment climate due to the recent relaxation of direct ownership

restrictions on foreign retailers. The country's retail market totals $330 billion, is vastly

underserved and has grown by 10 per cent on an average over the past five years. The

message for retailers on India is clear – move now or forego prime locations and market

positions that will soon become saturated. Global retailers that missed opportunities to

capture first-mover advantage in China will make up for it in India.

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Though India has more than five million retail outlets, they are greatly unorganized. There is

no supply chain management perspective. In fact, out of the entire retail sector in India, the

organized sector is only 25 per cent and the rest is unorganized. 96 per cent of the retail

outlets are smaller in area than the standard norms. The retail industry is divided into

organized and unorganized sectors. Organized retailing refers to trading activities undertaken

by licensed retailers who are registered for sales tax and income tax. These include corporate

backed hypermarket and retail chains and so on. Unorganized retailing is the traditional low-

cost shops, handcarts and pavements and is by far the prevalent form of trade in India. The

efficiency of organized sector in retailing is manifested in some of the newer supermarkets in

urban/metropolitan India – the produce is cleaner, fresher, well packed and often cheaper than

the local shopkeeper. This is possible because of the far more efficient distribution system,

which organized retail chains are employing, by cutting the layers of middlemen involved.

There are other benefits too, of transforming the unorganized retail sector into an organized

sector. Firstly, a number of new jobs will be created, far better paid than the underage labor

working in the local shops. Secondly, the benefits to the producer and consumer through

better prices and lesser wastage; throwing up exportable surpluses, which will also benefit the

economy as a whole. Thus one can see that allowing FDI in retailing is beneficial to all the

stakeholders involved

The Big Bazaars and Spencer’s, the huge unorganized retail sector is finally beginning to see

the merit of logging on, even if at a model scale.

Taxation policies also push you to automate and the push is even harder for those looking to

expand beyond their single store existence.

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Though it’s early days yet to measure it penetration in the unorganized retail industry, interest

levels are surely raising fast. “It’s good to at least answer their questions. Though the interest

is more with retailers who register good sales and volumes.

Software available to the retailers is ShawMan’s RetailMagiK, which takes care of the front-

end store needs, as well as the back-end warehouse requirements. “It would surely help the

unorganized sector to get into technologies like bar-coding, which will make their operations

more efficient. Some other features are a user-defined billing screen and discount with

control mechanism from the head-office, delivery order management, batch control and quick

information search, among others. The product is a simple to use. The screen design and the

functionality are designed in such a way that the user need not press too many keys to get

things done,” says Khushroo Bagwadia, business development manager, Shawman Software.

To begin with, most retailers look at decent entry-level solutions starting at Rs 25,000.

However, there are cheaper quick-fix solutions available too. One can even deploy a

computer and start with financial accounting programmers like Microsoft Excel, FoxPro and

Tally.

Small retailers seem next in line and vendors are also warming up to the opportunity. At the

low-end however, smart inexpensive solutions are the need of the hour. And solutions

providers like Microsoft, Polaris and Shawman are now working on developing smart tools

for the retail enthusiasts. For small players with just one store, the investment on retail

solutions go really low, anywhere between Rs 10,000 to Rs 25,000. Most of the time these

solutions are developed by local firms, who at times compete with the big names in the

industry.

26
According to Oberoi of Polaris, generally the mom-and-pop stores like to go for technology,

which will get their work done at a reasonable cost. They avoid the high-end technology, and

consider these as frills. “They are not even bothered about upgrading, so the cheap systems

are more than welcome. These solutions might not work for the mid-sized retailers with five

stores, as then one need to scale it up and take care of inventory and supply chain

management,” he says.

Comparing the case with China, Vedamani suggests India is on the right track. “In China, we

find the organized sector to be 20-23% of the total industry. Here, the technology has

advanced in phases, and so is the case in India.

Format Description The Value Proposition

Complete range available for

Exclusive showrooms either owned or
Branded Stores a given brand, certified
franchised out by a manufacturer.
product quality
Greater choice to the
Specialty Focus on a specific consumer need, carry
consumer, comparison
Stores most of the brands available
between brands is possible
Large stores having a wide variety of

Department products, organized into different One stop shop catering to

Stores departments such as clothing, house wares, varied/ consumer needs.

furniture, appliances, toys, etc.

One stop shop catering to
Supermarkets Extremely large self-service retail outlets
varied consumer needs

27
 Stores offering discounts on the retail price
Discount
through selling high volumes and reaping Low Prices
Stores
economies of scale
Larger than a supermarket, sometimes with Low prices, vast choice

Hyper- mart a warehouse appearance, generally located available including services

in quieter parts of the city such as cafeterias.

Convenience Small self-service formats located in Convenient location and

stores crowded urban areas. extended operating hours.

Shopping Enclosure having different formats of in- Variety of shops available to

Malls store retailers, all under one roof. each other.

Formats adopted by the Retail Players in INDIA.

Retailer Original formats Later Formats

Supermarket Hypermarket (Spencer's)Specialty Store (Health and
RPG Retail
(Foodworld) Glow)
Department Store
Piramal's Discount Store (TruMart)
(Piramyd Megastore)
Small format outlets

(Shoppe) Supermarket(FoodBAZAR)
Pantaloon Retail
Department Store Hypermarket (Big Bazaar) Mall (Central)

(Pantaloon)
Department Store

(shopper's stop) Supermarket

K Raheja Group
Specialty Store Hypermarket (TBA)

(Crossword)
Tata/ Trent Department Store Hypermarket (Star India Bazaar)

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 (Westside)
Department Store
Landmark Group Hypermarket (TBA)
(Lifestyle)
Discount Store (Subhiksha, Margin Free, Apna Bazaar), Supermarket (Nilgiri's),
Others
Specialty Electronics

SPECIALITY STORES:

Food retail :

Food dominates the shopping basket in India. The US$ 6.1 billion Indian foods industry,

which forms 44 per cent of the entire FMCG sales, is growing at 9 per cent and has set the

growth agenda for modern trade formats. Since nearly 60 per cent of the average Indian

grocery basket comprises non-branded items, the branded food industry is homing in on

converting Indian consumers to branded food.

The mobile revolution:

The retail market for mobile phones -- handset, airtime and accessories -- is already a US$

16.7 billion business, growing at over 20 per cent per year. In comparison, the consumer

electronics and appliance market is worth US$ 5.6 billion, with a growth rate that is half of

the mobile market.

Kids retail:

When it comes to Indian children, retailers are busy bonding--and branding:

 Monalisa, the Versace of kids is coming to India.

 Global lifestyle brand Nautica is bringing Nautica Kids.

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 International brand Zapp tied up with Raymond to foray into kids' apparel.

 Disney launched exclusive chains which stock character-based stationery.

 Pantaloon's joint venture with Gini & Jony will set up a retail chain to market kids'

apparel.

 Swiss kidswear brand Milou is collaborating with Tirupur-based Sreeja Hosieries.

 Turner International India Pvt Ltd. will launch Cartoon Network Townsville and

Planet POGO--two theme parks designed around its channels--in the National Capital

Region.

 Sahara One Television has also signed a Memorandum of Understanding to source

content from Spacetoon Media Group, Middle East's largest kids' entertainment brand for

animation and live action content.

Leading the kids' retail revolution is the apparel business, which accounts for almost 80 per

cent of the revenue, with kids' clothing in India following international fashion trends.

According to research firm KSA Technopak, the branded segment comprises US$ 701.7

million of the total kids' apparel market-size of over US$ 3 billion.

Industry experts say kids' retailing will touch annual growth of 30-35 per cent. Toys,

stationary, sportswear, outerwear, tailored clothing, eyewear, watches, fragrance, footwear,

theme parks, TV channels… the segment is growing rapidly at 10 per cent per annum.

Margins are in the range of 20-25 per cent (for dealers and distributors), while companies

enjoy an average gross margin of about 10 per cent.

Agricultural retail:

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Agriculture across India is heralding the country's second Green Revolution. 14 states,

including Maharashtra, Punjab, Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan amended the Agricultural

Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) act this year, along the lines of the Model APMC

Act, '02, which allows farmers to sell their produce directly to buyers offering them the best

price.

Agricultural sectors such as horticulture, floriculture, development of seeds, animal

husbandry, pisciculture, aqua culture, cultivation of vegetables, mushroom under cultivated

conditions and services related to agro and allied sectors are open to 100 per cent FDI

through the automatic route.

For its e-Choupal scheme, ITC built internet kiosks in rural villages so farmers can access

latest information on weather, current market prices, foods-in-demand, etc.

With a US$ 5.6 billion, multi-year investment in agriculture and retail, Reliance Retail will

establish links with farms on several thousand acres in Punjab, West Bengal and Maharashtra.

FieldFresh, planning to become India's first large-scale exporter of produce, will annually pay

farmers over US$ 30,000 to lease land for vegetables, to hire tractors and to pay their

workers.

Besides a five-year program with the Punjab government to provide several hundred farmers

with four million sweet-orange trees for its Tropicana juices by 2008, PepsiCo--with

agriculture exports worth US$ 40 million--also introduced farmers to high-yielding basmati

rice, mangoes, potatoes, chilies, peanuts, and barley for its Frito-Lay snacks.

Export potential and a rapidly growing domestic demand for reliable produce from new

supermarket chains is driving change. With 77 per cent of India's population relying on

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agriculture for a living, improved efficiency and new markets can benefit a large number of

people.

International retailers :

The Australian government's National Food Industry Strategy and Austrade initiated a test

marketing food retail in India wherein 12 major Australian food producers have tied up with

India-based distributor AB Mauri to sell their products directly at retail outlets.

The largest-ever 150-member British business delegation in India committed investments in

the areas of food processing, agri retail and manufacturing. It is also likely to press for the

liberalisation of sectors like financial & legal services and retail.

US-based home delivery and logistics company, Specialised Transportation Inc, will enter the

Indian market through a strategic alliance with Patel Retail, a subsidiary of Patel Integrated

Logistics.

Among other big international players, Wal-Mart has announced its plans for India in

partnership with Bharti, Tesco is sure to try again, and Carrefour too might finally find the

right partner.

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Supermarkets:

Large self service outlets, catering to varied shopper needs are termed as Supermarkets.

These are located in or near residential high streets. These stores today contribute to 30% of

all food & grocery organized retail sales. Super Markets can further be classified in to mini

supermarkets typically 1,000 sq ft to 2,000 sq ft and large supermarkets ranging from of

3,500 sq ft to 5,000 sq ft. having a strong focus on food & grocery and personal sales.

Supermarkets are relatively new entrants in the market. They are so called pioneers in

organized food retailing and go by the western model in look and feel and format. This is

what everybody means when they say organized food retailing.

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Franchise outlets:

Like Tommy Hilfiger and Wal Mart, other US retailers are firming up their India entry

strategies and if they are already in, they are undergoing rapid expansion. Fashion brands

DKNY is also al set to foray into the Indian fashion Industry through a franchisee agreement

with Indian company, S. Kumar Starbucks recently expressed their interest in entering Indian

company

Like Tommy Hilfiger and Wal-Mart, other US retailers are firming up their India entry

strategies and if they are already in, they are undergoing rapid expansion. Fashion brand

DKNY is also all set to foray into the Indian fashion Industry through a franchisee agreement

with Indian company, S Kumar’s.Starbucks recently expressed their interest in entering India

through the franchise route, like their AmericanF&B counterparts Pizza Hut, Subway, and the

very successful McDonald’s. McDonald’s has major expansion plans lined up; in the next 3

years, it plans to open another 100 outlets

in cities across India.

Hypermarket:

A very large commercial establishment that is a combination of departmental store and a

supermarket.

The specific features of a hypermarket are the wide range of goods offered, quality service,

quality display of goods on the shelves and complex systems providing for customers loyalty.

Hypermarket is known for a wide range of goods offered. It consist of dozens of thousands of

items, while similar goods can be offered in several forms. In order to work with such an

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assortment it is necessary to group it into categories and sub categories that would unite

goods according to this or that criteria.

Shopping Malls:

The new shopping malls that have been expanding their footprint across Indian cities are well

designed, built on international formats of retailing and integrated with entertainment

and restaurants to provide a complete family experience. Over 300 malls are expected

to be built over the next two years and most Indian cities with over a million

populations will be exposed to this modern method of retailing.

Shopping malls have existed in India since several decades but were designed and built to

house several shops in a single facility. These malls also known as Shopping Arcades offered

only rows of shops, most of which were small stores that promised bargains for their various

wares. These Shopping Arcades tried to maximize on their store space and did not offer any

areas for recreation and entertainment.

The present day malls are a creation of the past few years post 2000. They are designed

professionally using a lot of international experience and combine shopping with a lot of

brand building, recreation, food and entertainment. Malls also have a large format store that

serves as their anchor for shopping and a prominent restaurant that anchors the food needs of

visitors. Most malls also feature a multiplex cinema that offers entertainment to the visitors of

the mall. Finally the mall has large atria and open spaces to allow visitors and families to

hang-out.

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Organized Retail Sector –

Product Segments:

The organized retail business in India is very small. This is despite the fact that India is one of

the biggest markets. Retail business contributes around 10-11 per cent of GDP. India also has

the largest number of retailers, about 12 million, though they are mostly small. Most of the

organized retailing in the country has just started recently, and has been concentrated mainly

in the metro cities. Organized retailing in India has a huge scope because of the vast market

and the growing consciousness of the consumer about product quality and services.

Organized retail only accounts for 3% of the total retail industry as yet and is estimated to

grow to $64 billion by the year 2015. As a result, the retailing space in the country will also

rise by 15-20% by 2010. 50 million sq ft of quality space under development 7 major cities to

account for 41 million sq ft development 300 malls, shopping centre and multiplexes under

construction To open 35 hypermarkets, 325 large department stores, 1500 supermarkets and

over 10,000 new outlets To add US $ 10 billion of business to organized retail. ASSOCHAM

president, Anil K Agarwal says:” The organized sector retailing is all set to grow at much

faster speed than unorganized sector and the higher growth speed will alone be responsible

for its higher market share which has been projected for $17 billion by 2010-11. Cities and

metropolis in which retailing will show booming prospects include Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai,

Kolkata, Bangalore and Kanpur, said Agarwal adding that the popular mode adopted for

building shopping malls in these cities will be based on build, operate, lease and sell basis".

The 4 major organized retail sectors are Food & Grocery, Clothing, Consumer Durables and

Books & Music. In 2003-04, private consumption expenditure in India amounted to Rs

1,690,000 crores (USD 375 billion) of which, retail sales constitute about 61% (USD 230

billion).In terms of penetration by the organized retail sector, footwear is the highest category,

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followed by clothing. Footwear is driven by the dominance of home –grown players like

Liberty as well as the 15% market share that MNC retailer Bata Commands. Foreign

Presence, especially through the franchisee route, e.g. Adidas, Reebok, Nike etc. adds to this

slice of the pie. Franchisee activity in this category, especially in Tier II Cities, is pegged to

rise.

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 MAJOR INDUSTRY PLAYERS:

Nanz in North India, Nilgiris in the South, Pantaloon in the East and Crossroad in the West

were the pioneers of the retail revolution in India. Nanz faced several obstacles (See Case

Study) in their business and had to finally down their shutters. Nilgiris, due to some strange

reason, did not see any logic to expand beyond the southern frontiers. Pantaloon went to scale

up and become bigger and bigger to form the Future Group, that is now omnipresent in

almost all formats right from small groceries to e-tailing. Crossroads in Mumbai imparted

some valuable lessons to their parent, the Piramyd Group, who has since then gone on an

expansion drive with other formats of retailing in different cities.

The big players in Indian retail landscape now are the Future Group, Shoppers Stop,

Westside, Subiksha and RPG Spencer. The newcomers who are knocking at the gates are

Reliance Retail, Bharti Walmart and Aditya Birla Trinethra. Here, we intend to do a brief

profiling of the major players in order to understand the retail business in a better manner.

1 The Future Group

The Future Group, which was earlier known as PRIL (Pantaloon Retail India Limited) began

as a trouser manufacturer in the mid 1980s. The Future Group is divided into six verticals –

Future Retail, Future Capital, Future Brands, Future Space, Future Media and Future

Logistics. The Future Group started operations in the mid 1987s by incorporating the

company as Manz Wear Private Limited. The company went on to manufacture ready made

trousers under the “Pantaloons” brand name. It came out with a public issue in 1991 and later

changed their name to Pantaloon Fashions (India) Limited (PFIL).

The first exclusive men’s store called Pantaloon Shoppe was inaugurated in 1992. Pantaloons

went for a franchisee route to expand the number of retail outlets and by 1995, it had reached

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 to a crucial number of 70. The first departmental store called Pantaloons was opened in

Kolkata in 1997 with an investment of Rs 0.7 million. The store was a success and recorded

revenues of Rs 100 million within the first year of operations. In 1999, the company’s name

was changed to Pantaloon Retail (India) Limited (PRIL).

The success of Pantaloons departmental stores encouraged PRIL to come up with other

retailing formats such as “Big Bazaar” to retail low cost general merchandising, and “Food

Bazaar” to retail food products. As of 2005, the Future Group has 3.5 million sq ft of retail

space and over 100 stores across 25 cities in India. It employs more than 12,000 people and

has a customer base of more than 120 million.

Kishore Biyani, the promoter of the group who likes to address himself as “Chief Knowledge

Officer” has plans to launch 18 formats and over 3,340 stores, thereby turning the Future

Group into a US$7 billion company with over US$1 billion in profits by the year 2010.

2 Shoppers Stop

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Shoppers’ Stop, promoted by the real estate group K Raheja, was one of the first movers to

have set up a large retail outlet in New Delhi with international ambience. Shopper’s Stop

Ltd now has a considerable presence all over the country with overr 7 lakh square feet of

retail space and stocks over 200 brands of garments and accessories. The stores are spread all

over India with presence in Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Pune , Kolkata,

Gurgaon, Chennai & Ghaziabad.

Shoppers’ Stop is also very well known for having pioneered several quality retailing

concepts in India like CROSSWORD, HyperCITY and Mothercare. They are the only

retailer from India to become a member of the prestigious Intercontinental Group of

Departmental Stores (IGDS).

Shoppers’ Stop is positioned as a family store delivering a complete shopping experience.

With its wide range of merchandise, exclusive shop-in-shop counters of international brands

and world-class customer service, Shoppers’ Stop brought international standards of shopping

to the Indian consumer providing them with a world class shopping experience. Shoppers’

Stop’s core customers represent a strong SEC A skew. They fall between the age group of 16

years to 35 years, the majority of them being families and young couples with a monthly

household income above Rs. 20,000/- and an annual spend of Rs.1,50,000/-. A large number

of Non - Resident Indians visit the shop for ethnic clothes in the international environment

they are accustomed to.

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The stores offer a complete range of apparel and lifestyle accessories for the entire family.

From apparel brands like Provogue, Color Plus, Arrow, Levi’s, Scullers, Zodiac to cosmetic

brands like Lakme, Chambor, Le Teint Ricci etc., Shoppers’ Stop caters to almost every

lifestyle need.

Shoppers' Stop also retails its own line of clothing namely Stop, Life , Kashish, Vettorio

Fratini and DIY. The merchandise at Shoppers’ Stop is sold at a quality and price assurance

backed by its guarantee stamp on every bill.

Shoppers’ Stop’s customer loyalty program is called “The First Citizen”. The program offers

its members an opportunity to collect points and avail of innumerable special benefits.

Currently, Shoppers’ Stop has a database of over 2.5 lakh members who contribute to nearly

50% of the total sales of Shoppers’ Stop.

The Organisation, in 2000, along with ICICI ventures also acquired the reputed bookstore,

“Crossword”, which offers the widest range of books along with CD-ROM, music, stationery

and toys. Services like Dial-a-book, Fax-a-book and Email-a-book enable customers to shop

from their homes. Crossword currently has 18 Stores.

Realising the role of IT way back in 1991, Shoppers’ Stop was among the first few retailers to

use scanners and barcodes and completely computerise its operations. Today it is one of the

few stores in India to have retail ERP in place, which is now being integrated with Oracle

Financials and the Arthur Planning System, the best retail planning system in the world. With

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 the help of the ERP, they are able to replicate stores, open new stores faster and get

information about merchandise and customers online, which reduces the turnaround time in

taking quick decision.

Shoppers Stop has been very keen to understand the importance of distribution and logistics

in ensuring that merchandise is available on the shop floors. This has led the retail chain o

streamline its supply chain. The company has developed process manuals for each part of the

logistics chain. These modules include vendor management, purchase order management,

stock receiving systems, purchase verification and inventory build up, generation and fixing

of price and store tags, dispatch of stocks to the retail floor and forwarding of bills for

payment.

Shoppers’ Stop has a grand ambition to position itself as a global retailer. The company

intends to bring the world’s best retail technology, retail practices and sales to India.

Currently, they are adding 4 to 5 new stores every year.

2 Trent – Westside

Established in 1998, Trent operates some of the nation's largest and fastest growing retail

store chains. A beginning was made in 1998 with Westside, a lifestyle retail chain, which was

followed up in 2004 with Star India Bazaar, a hypermarket with a large assortment of

products at the lowest prices. In 2005, it acquired Landmark, India's largest book and music

retailer.

In a recently signed deal, Trent has agreed to anchor 12 malls set up by DLF Universal Ltd

across the country, at its Westside, Landmark and Star India Bazaar outlets. This amounts to

about 27 locations, totaling to about a million square feet of space.

Trent retails garments and household accessories for men, women and children, cosmetics

and perfumes at Westside, food, beverages, health and beauty products, vegetables, fruits,

42
dairy products, consumer electronics and household items at Star India Bazaar and books,

music and stationery at Landmark.

Westside has 25 outlets across 17 cities in India offering a variety of designs and styles in

garments, footwear and accessories, as table linens, artifacts, home accessories and

furnishings. Well-designed interiors, sprawling space, prime locations and coffee shops

enhance the customers' shopping experience.

Trent also runs another chain of retail stores called Star India Bazaar. Launched in 2004, Star

India Bazaar provides a large assortment of high quality products made available at the

lowest prices coupled with a unique shopping experience. Star India Bazaar is located in

Ahmedabad and offers a wide choice of staple food, beverages, health and beauty products,

vegetables, fruits, dairy products, consumer electronics and household items at the most

affordable prices.

Trent has also recently acquired a 76 per cent stake in Landmark, one of the largest books and

music retail chains in India. Landmark commenced its operations in 1987 with its first store

in Chennai, and now has nine stores in the major metros of the country. Earlier Landmark

was focused on books, stationery and greeting cards. In 1996 it added music to its product

portfolio and also started the trend of stocking curios, toys, music, CDs and other gift items.

43
4.Piramyd

Piramyd Retail is part of the Piramal Group, which has presence in diverse sectors spanning

Pharmaceuticals, Textiles, Real Estate, Engineering, Family Entertainment and Retail with

manufacturing operations in 19 locations across five states and employing over 18,000

people.

The promoters launched the apparel business in 1999 under Piramyd Retail and

Merchandising Pvt. Ltd. (PRMPL) while its food; home & personal care businesses (FHPC)

were housed under Crossroads Shoppertainment Pvt. Ltd. (CSPL). As the apparel and food

businesses individually reached a critical mass the management merged the two companies

into Piramyd Retail Ltd. due to distant synergies in two businesses in March 2005. Pyramid

also has a smaller format of stores called TruMart that caters to Food and Personal Care

products.

Piramyd Retail currently has 5 Mega stores and 8 TruMart stores mainly in Maharashtra . The

company plans to increase these numbers to 17 Mega stores and 69 TruMarts by 2008. The

floor space is expected to be 5 times on successful expansion.

The FHPC (Food & Personal Care) business is volume driven while the Lifestyle store is a

margin driven business. Piramyd Retail plans to increase the contribution of private labels

from existing 7% to 18-20% of the revenues by 2010. Gross margins from private labels are

over 40% and hence the company is planning to increase this business. Most of the stores

are on the lease format and the company is prone to higher lease rentals due to the overall

increase in real estate prices. This may bring the profit levels down substantially.

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 Piramyd Retail did have a first mover advantage in many locations but it has actually failed to

capitalise over this advantage. Its competitors like Pantaloon, Shoppers Stop and Trent gained

larger benefits of their far more aggressive business & marketing strategy in the retail space.

2 Subiksha

The Chennai based Subiksha grocery chain runs around 200 outlets all over the country and

it’s current turnover stands at Rs 224 crores. Their target customer is the middle income value

conscious buyers. The main aim of Subiksha is to offer a functional and transactional

shopping experience. This retail chain has no qualms and spends almost no money on

creating a pleasant shopping experience, and all stores are non-air conditioned. There is no

false roofing or sparkling vitrified tiles on the floor.

A few years ago, Subiksha did not even offer shoppers self service. The customer had to

place an order at a computerized teller and the goods were billed and delivered after cash is

45
 collected. Customers had to bring their own carrybags or pay to buy them from the store.

Subiksha even attempted to charge the customers for home delivery.

However, now Subiksha has slightly tweaked their business model in order to create a better

appeal to customers who were defecting to the competitors. The store formats are still small

and non-airconditioned. But customers have the option to pick from shelf spaces. They also

get shopping bags and free home delivery. But the selling USP(unique selling proposition)

remains the same --- Subiksha tries to be as close to the customer as possible and offers the

lowest price and huge savings in comparison to competitors. It’s slogan happens to be ---

bachat mera adhikar hain (saving is my fundamental right).

2 RPG Spencer

RPG’s Spencer presently has 125 stores across 25 cities covering a retail trading area of half a

million square feet and with a clientele of 3 million customers a month. Spencer's has a

national footprint with seven hypermarkets, three supermarkets and 70 daily use outlets,

called Dailies.

All the newly opened Spencer's stores stock every conceivable product that is required by a

household on a daily basis. At Spencer's Daily shoppers can get fresh fruits, vegetables, fast-

moving consumer goods, household items, groceries, with regular offers and discounts.

Spencer's outlets are divided in to three retail formats. These are, Spencer's Hyper, the over

25,000-sq ft hypermarkets stocking over 25,000 items. The 8,000sq ft to 15,000-sq ft mini

hyper stores, branded as Spencer's Super and the daily purchase 4,000-sq ft to 7,000-sq ft

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 Spencer's Daily for groceries, fresh food, chilled and frozen products, bakery and weekly top

up shopping.

2 Reliance Retail

On June 26, 2006, Mukesh Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director, Reliance Industries

Limited, announced a Rs 25,000-crore investment in the retail sector.

Reliance Retail started it’s retail operation with “Reliance Fresh”, a grocery store that sells

vegetables, fruits, personal care items and other food products. Soon, these retail outlets will

also be selling apparel and footwear, lifestyle and home improvement products, electronic

goods and farm implements and inputs. They will also offer products and services in energy,

travel, health and entertainment. In addition to this, partnerships would be developed to bring

the best of global luxury brands to India as well.

Reliance Retail plans to extend it’s footprint to cover 1,500 Indian cities and towns with

outlets of a varied format, a mix of neighborhood convenience stores, supermarkets, specialty

stores and hypermarkets. Reliance also plans to open restaurant outlets, financial services

marts and tourism counters within it’s stores.

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 Mukesh Ambani’s ultimate ambition seems to be to create the Indian equivalent of Wal-Mart

by scaling up the business to unprecedented heights to reach every nook and corner of the

country. With it’s retailing venture, Reliance expected a revenue target of US $20 billion

through it’s retail operations by 2010. Over a span of five years, RRL expects a 20% return-

on-investment.

The first store christened “Reliance Fresh” opened in November 2006 at Hyderabad. Within a

few months they have now opened stores in Mumbai, Pune and Ahmedabad and plans foray

into other cities on a rapid scale.

2 Bharti Wal-Mart

Bharti Retail (Pvt.) Ltd. unveiled the roadmap for its retail venture on 19 th February, 2007

envisaging an investment of $2.5 billion with expectation of revenue of $4.5 billion (about

Rs. 20,000 crore) from this business by 2015. The first retail outlet is expected to open

somewhere in the month of August .

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Bharti’s plan is to invest $2.5 billion by 2015 and open stores across all major cities. This

investment would be only for setting up front-end stores. The modalities for its back-end

linkage, including its joint venture with the world's largest retailer Wal-Mart, are in the

process of being worked out.

A high-level team from Wal-Mart was visited India in the later part of February to work out

the details of the back-end chain. While Bharti would manage front-end of the retail venture,

Wal-Mart would be involved in the back-end, including logistics, supply chain and cash-and-

carry, he added.

The JV was presently scouting for 10 million sq. ft. of retail space, which would include

hypermarkets, supermarkets and convenience stores and would provide employment to about

60,000 people. The company would open multi-format retail outlets in all cities with a

population of about one million. Bharti is now conducting a massive consumer survey to take

a final decision on branding and promotional campaign.

However, Bharti and Wal-Mart have been facing stiff opposition from the left parties and

other political outfits who fear that the entry of the Bentonville giant will make life difficult

for the small grocers and create massive unemployment. They also expect Wal-Mart to take a

tough stance on lowering prices and force farmers to sell their produce at lower rates. A

lurking fear of monopolistic regime in the retail sector is also enhancing their fears. Both

Bharti and Walmart are presently having a tough time in convincing the ministers, politicians,

agriculturists, the NGOs and other pressure groups that their business model would serve to

work in the best interests of all the stakeholders.

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2 Aditya Birla – MORE

The Aditya Birla Group is India's first truly multinational corporation. Global in vision,

rooted in values, the Group is driven by a performance ethic pegged on value creation for its

multiple stakeholders. A US$ 24 billion conglomerate, with a market capitalization of US$ 23

billion and in the League of Fortune 500, it is anchored by an extraordinary force of 100,000

employees belonging to over 25 different nationalities. Over 50 per cent of its revenues flow

from its operations across the world.” Our mission is to change the way people shop. We will

give them more.” says Mr. Kumar Mangalam Birla, Chairman, Aditya Birla Group. The

more. for you advantage: more. promises a world-class pleasurable shopping experience to

Indian consumers in their very own neighborhood. more. Quality, more. variety, more.

convenience and more. value are the four delivery cornerstones of the more. chain of

supermarket stores. more.

MORE. Value MORE. promises best in market pricing. Linking up directly with farmers to

source fresh fruits, vegetables and staples ensure great quality as well as great price. Add to

this, the membership program Club more. which provides convenience, customized shopping

solutions and savings, and the more. value promise becomes all the more evident.

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 More. Is an inspirational brand for an inspirational country. We have a bright and committed,

enthusiastic team that represents the best experience from India and globally. MORE. also

has a range of products from its own stable available across value, premium and select

ranges. The products have been quality-checked and are available in attractive packaging at

competitive prices. To avail additional benefits, at no extra charge, customers can also enroll

for the membership program Club more.

2 VISHAL RETAIL :

Vishal is one of fastest growing retailing groups in India. Its outlets cater to almost all price

ranges. The showrooms have over 70,00 products range which fulfills all your household

needs, and can be catered to under one roof. It is covering about 1282000 sq. ft. in 18 state

across India. Each store gives you international quality goods and prices hard to match. The

cost benefits that is derived from the large central purchase of goods and services is passed on

to the consumer. What started as a humble one store enterprise in 1986 in Kolkata(erstwhile,

Calcutta) is today a conglomerate encompassing 51 showrooms in 39 cities. India’s first

hyper-market has also been opened for the Indian consumer by Vishal. Situated in the

national capital Delhi this store boasts of the singe largest collection of goods and

commodities sold under one roof in India. The group’s prime focus is on retailing.

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 The Vishal stores offer affordable family fashion at prices to suit every pocket. The group’s

philosophy is integration and towards this end has initiated backward integration in the field

of high fashion by setting up a state of the art manufacturing facility to support its retail

endeavors. Company has already tied up for 5-lakh sq ft space and is looking for more.

Company will come up with 32 new stores this year. Company is doing research on more

formats. Company is looking for opportunities of expansion in the South. Contribution of

apparels business at 53% may slightly come down to 50%. India is a big country and there is

huge space for four-five big retail players. Vishal can always sustain growth in this big

market. Company can sustain margins as it is going for backward integration. Currently

manufacturing contributes 10% of the business, which in the next two to three years, will go

up to 25%. Company is increasing its focus on the non-apparel and FMCG segment. The

current share of FMCG at 15% could go up to 20-25%. Apparel sales currently at 63% in the

next 2-3 years should come down to 50% as the company is now also focusing on different

segments. With growth in volumes, the cost of sourcing will come down in the near future.

Company will venture wherever it gets real estate space. Currently, it has very little space in

the south India. Eventually, it will have a pan-India set up.

2 METRO – CASH & CARRY INDIA

METRO Group today, is the third largest trading and retailing group in the world. The

company employs over 2,50,000 staff in 30 countries. In the year 2005 METRO Group had

generated sales of over €55.7 billion; 53% of total sales came from outside Germany.

METRO Cash & Carry started operations in India in 2003 with two Distribution Centres in

52
 Bangalore. With this METRO introduced the concept of Cash & Carry to India. These

Centres offer the benefit of quality products at the best wholesale price to over 150,000

businesses in Bangalore. METRO offers assortment of over 18000 articles across food and

non food at the best wholesale prices to business customers such as Hotels, Restaurants,

Caterers, Food and Non-food Traders, Institutional buyers and professionals. METRO's Cash

& Carry business model is based on a Business to Business (B2B) concept and focuses on

meeting all the needs and requirements of business customers. It is a modern format of

wholesale trading, catering only to business customers.

2 Viveks- The Unlimited Shop

Vivek Limited is a professionally managed public limited company carrying three retail

brands - Viveks, Jainsons, Premier and continuously adding to the formidable strength of

1000 employees. Vivek Ltd is the largest consumer electronics & home appliances retail

chain in India. Viveks popularized several brands by creating visibility and have the

53
distinction of being market leaders and trendsetters with continuous support from the

principal companies. Viveks evolved its strategies to suit the larger scene where there was a

stigma attached to borrowing. Very few hire purchase options were available and hence

Viveks started Vivek Hire Purchase and Leasing Ltd to finance consumer durables, which

enhanced the core retailing business also.Viveks grew from 3 stores to more than 52 stores

and turnover increased to over Rs. 350 crores (USD 80 million) and also become a public

limited company from a family run enterprise. In this process, 14 store Jainsons was bought

over in 1999, 2 store Premier in 2001 and Spencers in 2002 and have recently absorbed

Spencers into the Premier brand. With the liberalization of economy and other changes in the

global scene, Viveks streamlined the marketing and advertising activities and shopping

ambience was improved.

54
 THE GROWTH DRIVERS:

Drivers of Retail Industry

 The Demography Dynamics: Approximately 60 per cent of Indian population below

30 years of age.

 Double Incomes: Increasing instances of Double Incomes in most families coupled

with the rise in spending power.

 Plastic Revolution: Increasing use of credit cards for categories relating to Apparel,

Consumer Durable Goods, Food and Grocery etc.

 Urbanization: increased urbanization has led to higher customer density areas thus

enabling retailers to use lesser number of stores to target the same number of

customers. Aggregation of demand that occurs due to urbanization helps a retailer in

reaping the economies of scale.

 Covering distances has become easier: with increased automobile penetration and an

overall improvement in the transportation infrastructure, covering distances has

become easier than before. Now a customer can travel miles to reach a particular

shop, if he or she sees value in shopping from a particular location.

55
DRIVERS FOR GROWTH:

Indian consumers are rapidly evolving and accepting modern formats overwhelmingly. Retail

Space is no more a constraint for growth. India is on the radar of Global Retailers and

suppliers / brands world-wide are willing to partner with retailers here. Further, large Indian

corporate groups like Tata, Reliance, Raheja, ITC, Bombay Dyeing, Murugappa & Piramal

Groups etc and also foreign investors and private equity players are firming up plans to

identify investment opportunities in the Indian retail sector. The quantum of investments is

likely to sky-rocket as the inherent attractiveness of the segment lures more and more

investors to earn large profits. Investments into the sector are estimated at INR 20 – 25 billion

in the next 2-3 years, and over INR 200 billion by end of 2010.

Stocks in the retail sector are also becoming increasingly attractive from an investor's point of

view. Successful development of value based concepts as well as development of retail space

in smaller cities and towns shall drive the organized retail into the next levels of cities.

Retailers have responded to this phenomenon by introducing contemporary retail formats

such as hypermarkets and supermarkets in the new pockets of growth. Prominent ‘tier-II'

cities and towns which are witnessing a pick-up in activity include Surat, Lucknow, Dehra

Dun, Vijaywada, Bhopal, Indore, Vadodara, Coimbatore, Nasik, Bhubaneswar, Varanasi and

Ludhiana among others.

With consumption in metros already being exploited, manufacturers and retailers of products

such as personal computers, mobile phones, automobiles, consumer durables, financial

services etc are increasingly targeting consumers in tier II cities and towns. In addition, petro-

retailing efforts of petroleum giants scattered through out the country's landscape have also

ensured that smaller towns are also exposed to modern retailing formats.

56
On the supply side, mall development activity in the small towns is also picking up at a rapid

pace, thereby, creating quality space for retailers to fulfill their aggressive expansion plans.

Thus, the ‘retail boom', 85% of which has so far been concentrated in the metros is beginning

to percolate down to smaller cities and towns. The contribution of these tier-II cities to total

organized retailing sales is expected to grow to 20-25%.

GROWING CONSUMER CLASS:

Favorable demographic and psychographic changes relating to India's consumer class,

international exposure, availability of increasing quality retail space, wider availability of

products and brand communication are some of the factors that are driving the retail in India.

Over the last few years, many international retailers have entered the Indian market on the

strength of rising affluence levels of the young Indian population along with the heightened

awareness of global brands and international shopping experiences and the increased

availability of retail real estate pace.

Development of India as a sourcing hub shall further make India as an attractive retail

opportunity for the global retailers. Retailers like Wal-Mart, GAP, Tesco, JC Penney, H&M,

Karstadt-Quelle etc stepping up their sourcing requirements from India and moving from

third-party buying offices to establishing their own wholly owned / wholly managed sourcing

& buying offices shall further make India as an attractive retail opportunity for the global

players.

Manufacturers in industries such as FMCG, consumer durables, paints etc are waking up to

the growing clout of the retailers as a shift in bargaining power from the former to the latter

57
becomes more discernible. Already, a number of manufacturers in India, in line with trends in

developed markets, have set up dedicated units to service the retail channel. Also, instead of

viewing retailers with suspicion, or as a ‘necessary evil' as was the case earlier, manufacturers

are beginning to acknowledge them as channel members to be partnered with for providing

solutions to the end-consumer more effectively.

The next level of opportunities in terms product retail expansion lies in categories such as

apparel, jewellery and accessories, consumer durables, catering services and home

improvement. These sectors have already witnessed the emergence of organized formats

though more players are expected to join the bandwagon. Some of the niche categories like

Books, Music and Gifts offer interesting opportunities for the retail players.

Indian consumer goods market is expected to reach $400 billion by 2010. India has the

youngest population amongst the major countries. There are a lot of young people in India in

different income categories.

In India they do not have to face this dilemma largely because rapid urbanization, increase in

demand, presence of large number of young population, any number of opportunities are

available . The bottom line is that Indian market is changing rapidly and is showing

unprecedented consumer business opportunity.

Indian consumer class can be classified according to the following criteria:

58
1. Income

2. Socio-Economic status

3. Age demographics

4. Geographical dispersion

1. Income Classification

Consumer Classes Annual Income in Rs. 1996 2001 2007 Change

The Rich Rs. 215,000 and more 1.2 2.0 6.2 416%
The Consuming
Rs 45- 215,000 32.5 54.6 90.9 179%
Class
The Climbers Rs. 22-45,000 54.1 71.6 74.1 37%
The Aspirants Rs. 16-22,000 44 28.1 15.3 -65%
The Destitute Below Rs. 16,000 33 23.4 12.8 -61%
Total 164.8 180.7 199.2 21%
Source:NCAER

59
2. Socio-Economic Classification:

In addition to income classification and consumer classification, Indian households can also

be segmented according to the occupation and education levels of the chief earner of the

household (the person who contributes most to the household expenses). This is called as

Socio-Economic Classification (SEC), which is mainly used by market planners to target

market before launching their new products. SEC is made to understand the purchase

behavior and the consumption pattern of the households

3. Age Demographics:

India is a very young nation, if compared with some advanced and developed countries.

Nearly two- thirds of its population is below the age of 35, and nearly 50 % is below 25.

Age distribution if Indian population (In Millions)

Year/
2006 2001 1996
Age
Below 4 yrs 113.5 108.5 119.5
5-14 yrs 221.2 239.1 233.2
15-19 yrs 122.4 109.0 90.7
20-34 yrs 279.1 246.8 224
35-54 yrs 239.2 207.3 178.1
55 & above 118.7 101.7 88.7
Total 1094.1 1012.4 934.2

Marketers explain that the boom in the consumption level and leisure related expenditure is

because of this young population. It will have a significant impact over the consumer goods

60
market. In addition to that, it is expected that this will generate trade opportunities and

continuous investment in the economy.

There is huge potential for further consumption of goods and services due to the increased

level of disposable income. The expenditure on essential goods and services has a higher

share in developing countries as compared with that of developed countries.

Consumption Trends

Food Essentials 45.68%

Essential Services (water, power, rent,
10.1%
and fuels)
Clothing 4.9%
Footwear 0.63%
Medicare 4.25%
Transport & Communication 14.51%
Recreation, Education, and Culture Less than 4%
Home Goods 3.25%

4. Geographical Dispersion of market potential

There is large difference in economic prosperity levels among several states in India, linked

to the wealth creation from trade, industrial, and agricultural development. There are poor

districts in many states, classified according to their market potential. India has 500 districts,

out of which 150 districts (category A) and next 150 districts (category B) account for 78%

and 15% of the national market potential respectively. Remaining 200 districts (category C)

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are backward and account for only 7% of national market potential. Category C districts have

40% of the geographical share.

62
GROWING ECONOMY

Potential for all Formats to Thrive :

Most of the global powerhouses in the retailing sector such as Wal-Mart, Carrefour, Tesco etc

have adopted multi-format and multi-product strategies in order to customize their product

offering for distinct target segments. Similar trends

Identifying the future

The important thing is to identify the 'future that has already happened' - Peter Drucker

The important and distinctive are always the result of changes in values, perceptions and

goals of people. Identify the changes that have already happened, exploit the changes that

have already occurred and use them as opportunities. Dr William T Wilson, Chief Economist

for Keystone India ñ a Chicago-based firm providing cross-border trade facilitation and asset

management services in US are likely to be exhibited in India as all formats present prospects

for growth, the Report says.

Further, with the emergence of larger store formats like superstores and hypermarkets in

countries like UK, France, Germany, Spain since the 1980s and Eastern Europe more

recently, traditional food retailers have been able to stock more extensive non-food ranges. In

fact, Tesco, UK's leading grocer, has become the number one apparel retailer in the Czech

Republic and also a major player in Hungary apart from being one of the fastest growing

clothing retailers in the UK. Together with its rival, Wal-Mart-owned ASDA, Tesco is one of

the food sector's most successful exponents of clothing in Europe

63
DISPOSABLE INCOME

There is no point complaining, accusing or justifying that retailing business is only for larger

players and multinational retailing companies. That's total rubbish and rather an assumed

limitation. Recent research finding is that by the year 2010, India will have at least three

million people with an annual income of over Rs 4,000,000. Mind you, this is the official,

declared and straight income meaning there will be a considerable number of consumers with

other sources of income! (I suppose). One could comfortably presume that one fourth of the

three millions would reside in Bangalore. Considering the third successive year with great

economic growth in India, it is obvious that we shall have more people with higher

disposable income. With higher disposable income, the discerning Indian consumers are not

going to be conscious about price alone. This emerging consumers would want something

special, unique, different, better, customized and more. Find the synonyms and transliterate

these into value offerings in your field of business and you have a gold mine, especially when

you manage to connect with the customers' value and perception and India, said that after

significant accelerations in economic growth recently, India's economy is expected to equal

or surpass Japan as the world's third largest sometime in the year 2006. Dr Wilson also added

that India's economy measured in PPP (purchasing power parity) terms will eclipse the US$

four trillion mark in 2006, making it equal to or greater than Japan's. Indian consumers are

getting richer noticeably leading to higher disposable money.

64
RISING INCOMES

Over the past deacde , India’s middle and High Income group has grown at a rapid pace of

over 10% per annum . Though this growth is most evident in urban areas, it has also taken

place in rural markets. Further, the number of house holds earning above Rs.150,000 per

annum is about 30 million today and is expected to grow to 80 million by 2007. This growing

high-income population is triggering the demand for consumer goods, leading to the

proliferation of Higher quality/higher priced products.

EXPLOSION OF MEDIA

There has been an explosion in media as well during the past decade . Kick-started by the

cable-explosion during the gulf war, television has accelerated to a pint where there are more

cable connections than telephones in Indian homes and more than 100 channels are being

aired at all times .This media bombardment has exposed the Indian consumer to the lifestyles

of more affluent countries and raised their aspirations from the shopping experience – they

want more choice , value , experience and convenience.

65
Private Labels

Brands, store labels, private label brands, store brands. These terms may seem to be

synonyms of each other. However, when it comes to retailing, each of these terms has a

different meaning. While we all know what a brand is, a private label and a store label are

different from any other brand because they are product lines that are owned, controlled,

merchandised and sold by a specific retailer in its own stores. Among Indian retailers, Stop,

Life and Kashish by Shoppers' Stop, and ETC by Ebony are private label brands. According

to Synovate, is the market research arm of global communications specialist Aegis Group, the

growth of private labels is about 2-3 times more than that of advertised brands .Among the

product lines launched by retailers, the ones whose nomenclature is the name of the store

itself are called store labels. Foodworld and Nilgiris have launched their own brand of

supermarket products under the "Foodworld" and "Nilgiris" brand names. There is a distinct

advantage in naming the brand launched by the retailer after the same name as that of the

store. But at the same time, the store label also carries the burden of not only the success of

the brand, but also the failure, which may have a negative rub-off effect on the retailer's

image. A store brand on the other hand is a brand name the retailer carries. Each retailer,

because of its unique offering, is a brand in itself, which is what the store brand signifies.

Nallis, Modern Bazaar and The Home Store are store brands since each of them stands for a

certain retail offering.

Retailers are now aggressively moving into developing their own private labels as it not only

makes economic sense in the form of retailers achieving higher margins, it also helps them to

plug gaps in their product portfolio. For instance, in menswear, retailers say that gross

margins on branded products vary from 25-38 per cent. Compared to that, the retailers can

earn whopping margins of around 55-60 per cent on private labels. Private label products

66
contribute to a retail brands differentiation. A retailer can achieve differentiation through a

large (but not necessarily exclusive) portfolio of private label products. Service adds to the

differentiation, and together with a unique product range, results in a strong retail brand. They

are not perceived as being interchangeable with similar private label products launched by

other retailers (unlike manufacturers of branded products, which are the same regardless of

the retailer). Introduction of an in house brand of products helps the retailer to have means

with which they can compete head on with the other branded products. An established private

label brand provides the retailers a platform to negotiate with suppliers, and the retailers are

thus self-sufficient in a certain category. They have more control over the merchandise and

are able to make the required changes and modifications to suit the changing customer profile

much quicker. This brings about a more consistent and acceptable product portfolio, which

also helps reduce mark-downs. A retailer can create a stronger emotional connect with the

consumer as the experience is not just the store experience but also the product experience.

An outside brand could be purchased from any outlet. This is not so in the case of private

labels, so the product experience keeps bringing the consumer back

The question is: why would retailers want to get into the trouble of launching an own brand

when there are "n" number of local, regional and national brands for practically all kinds of

products? The reasons are multifold.

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STORE LOCATION

Store Location involves the consumer’s choice for a particular retail store. Past retail and

marketing   studies   have   identified   several   consumer­oriented   store   attributes   (e.g.,   price,

quality, variety, discounts, and store reputation) and their relationship to store Location, but

these studies overlooked how the physical environment affects  retail store Location. This

examined   differences   in   (a)   importance   ratings   of   environmental   dimensions   for   three

shopping scenarios, (b) importance ratings of environmental dimensions for each shopping

orientation, (c) perceptions of the store environment for each shopping orientation, and (d)

attitude   toward   the   store   environment   and   first   store   choice.   The   statement   of   problem,

research objectives, conceptual framework, hypotheses, conceptual definitions, assumptions,

and limitations are presented in this chapter.

Store choice is dependent on the timings of shopping trips (as consumers may go to a small

or local store in short fill – in trip) and go to a larger store for regular shopping trips.

Consumer’s personal differences interact with situational factors and together they determine

the store choice and shopping trip behaviour.

A consumer’s selection of a store is not completely random. The more recent he purchases

experience and the more frequent visits the store, the more he is likely to repurchase that

product in the store. This shows that the past experience influence on store choice and

patronizing ability to either change, alter or reinforce the new shopping experience.

Thus, we can say that consumer’s characteristics interact with situational variables to impact

how information about the retail mix is processed, resulting in store choice and affecting store

patronizing decisions.

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The store Location is result of both the relative importance of various motives and shopping

assessment of alternative stores with respect to various factors (locations, store image,

product availability, past shopping experience etc.) used in making the decisions

Loyal shoppers, as per the first definition, are so rare as to be practically negligible. One of

the earliest studies in this area was by.This has been found to be true in subsequent studies.

Most consumers are multiple-store shoppers though differences exist across store types. As

quoted in a study “Grocery Stores have fairly low loyalty in the sense of generally not

satisfying…customer’s total needs.” Extending this, one can intuitively say that consumers

would display greater Location behaviour for furniture as compared to garments, more for

garments as compared to grocery etc. In any case, exclusive shopping at a single store is rare.

In the second definition, Location is usually measured by comparing consumer’s total

weekly/monthly purchase (in money terms) from the store, with the normal family

consumption in a month.

The third definition recognizes the multiple-store shopping behaviour and measures Location

as the proportion of trips made to a particular store given the average number of trips made in

a given time period.

The fourth definition, more applicable in studies related to frequently purchased, low-value

items like groceries, looks at number of items purchased and not its value as an indication of

Location behaviour.

The last definition presupposes that loyalty erodes fast. It has found application in situations

where competitiveness is high, promotions and deals are constantly offered to lure shoppers,

and retaining a customer is difficult given the numerous alternatives. Consequently this

definition is more applicable in a more competitive scenario than afforded in India at present.

69
RETAIL STORE LOCATION

This can be broadly classified into two categories:

I. Trade-Area Related: These studies focus on the Product/Market Characteristics.

Convenience is the primary reason that consumers show Location. These studies assume that

convenience is the primary reason for loyalty. Most work in this area stems from a model

proposed1.

The Huff Model states that customer Location is directly proportional to utility factors given

by square feet and inversely proportional to disutility factors given by physical distance. The

limits to enhancing loyalty is essentially seen as the limited centripetal pull of a

store/shopping centre.

Location-related variables are given importance in analyzing both trade areas and retail

Location behaviour. These studies most often count the benefits of locating a store in a

shopping centre/mall to increase the store ‘destination’ traffic rather than just stay with the

convenience pull. In fact, these studies determine shopping centre traffic more accurately

than single store traffic. The Huff model has subsequently been studied by introducing trade

overlap areas for effects on store Location. Generically speaking, these studies have resulted

in the formation of the Theory of Gravitational Pull in the field of retailing Location studies.

Apart from distance, several other factors such as Income and social class perceptions have

also been studied from the perspective of retail centre Location decisions.

70
II. Product-related: Within a given trade area, these studies emphasize the ‘uniqueness of

assortment as a way of influencing store loyalty and Location. In consumer priorities,

assortment and variety comes after convenience and price. Given that consumers are

favourably inclined to revisit a store where they have had positive shopping experiences

(found something they could not find anywhere else), these studies suggest that competing

stores need to differentiate themselves based on type and quality of assortment. The emphasis

here is on tailoring the environmental cues using retail mix elements to foster patronizing.

One oft used strategy is to develop own store Private Labels.

Consumers have distinct perceptions of national and local brands vis-à-vis the retail private

store brands. It is observed that there are certain product categories where ‘quality

believability’ of national brands is far too strong for store brands to make any impact on

consumer loyalty. In India, grocery retailer brands in product categories like honey, jam etc.

are showing a much more favorable sales impact as compared to ketchup. Internationally,

coffee has greater store-brand loyalty as compared to loyalty to national brands. It is too

premature for an Indian retailer to explore into the territory of brand building given the

limited promotional budgets at present (In grocery retailing, store brands account for less than

2% of sales value in Food World and regional/local chains like Subhiksha (Chennai),

Homeland (Pune) are yet to invest in private labels). But one expects that in a few years, push

for greater margins and the need to retain the loyal consumer will mean more investment in

this area. Internationally, private store brands account for 20-30% of total store sales in

groceries.

Additionally, to fully understand the implication of removing (or in fact adding) items to

assortment depth on customer purchase patterns, there needs to be an understanding of these

71
implications coupled with issues of product substitution, price, store environment effects, and

the presence of competing offers, as well as customer’s purchase goal 2 in their study of fresh

flower category, found that the store environment (either that of selected store for purchase or

indeed that of competitors) made no significant impact on purchase decisions. However, if

the store has a poor environment and a competitor is located close by, then, unsurprisingly,

they found that it was likely that the customer would go to the competitor. Perhaps more

interestingly, they reported that assortment size had a strong effect on the purchase.

The actions required to keep loyal customers have two aims: the first is defensive, to give the

customer no reason to leave a brand or company; the other is offensive, to create a

personalized relationship with the clients, the basis of a more intimate and therefore involving

bond, what Americans call’ Customer bonding’.

The attention of retail managers is increasingly focusing on how customers find their way

around product ranges and brand knowledge within stores, as well as how they navigate store

aisles. New consumers are looking for ‘edited choices’; that is visible guidelines to help them

save time and efforts. Smart retailers who understand this particular consumer want are

targeting specific grouping of products to appeal to specific segments of new consumers. For

example, a supermarket, rather than following the traditional practices of locating additive-

free products with other products

72
Store Presentation and Store Setting

  Internal layout and presentation are most important for the retailer. As they make a clear
statement about the standard and quality of the merchandise and service (total product)

offerings. At first glance, customers utilize the physical (and social) surroundings to gather

the vital clues that inform their expectations prior to service delivery. Throughout these

assessments, the effect of physical evidence – such as design features and images presented-

are highly important and unquestionably guide customers’ decision making and evaluate

process.

The overall appearance of a retail setting will therefore tend to pre-determine a customer’s

attitude towards the organization. Newcomers will certainly base their expectations on the

first visual encounter, which then becomes a reference for future visits.

A physical environment that provides appropriate cues that might result in approach

behaviour may then, after consideration of social environment, be avoided. A customer may

be attracted to a restaurant on the strength of its exterior and a glimpse of its interior from

across a busy street. But, if on closer inspection the establishment is bereft of customers, that

fact alone may produce enough of a negative impression to ensure that the potential customer

does not enter the restaurant.

suggests that positive moods (outcomes) can result from this constant interaction with the

physical setting. People continually scan their inanimate (built) environment for evidence, in

an attempt to establish an overall impression.

It is the visual arrangements that direct people’s evaluative processes

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This communication can be seen in the context of the promotion mix that in turn completes

the marketing mix model with its 4 Ps including product, price, place, and promotion.

Besides the attraction of existing customers to continue patronizing the retail outlet, the

acquisition of prospective new customers based on interactive communication gains a

3
decisive role in the present retail environment implies that this visual merchandising, this

“promotion of individual lines, is the ‘silent salesman’ of the retail context”.

However, visual merchandising, particularly in relation to window displays, is a somewhat

neglected area within the traditional retail literature

The overall purpose of in-store merchandising is obviously to make products more attractive

and more visible, thereby leading, hopefully, to their purchase

STORE LOYALTY AND STORE IMAGE

Several studies report direct linkages between Store Image and intensity of Store Loyalty.

Thus, we can conclude that more positive the Store Image the greater is the degree of loyalty.

An important aspect if retail strategy involves attracting consumers by communicating a store

image to relevant target market. A successful retail image depends upon the firm’s ability to

appropriately match store attributes and benefits with target market characteristics. Thus the

characteristics of consumers are an important consideration in developing retail image and

retail strategies. Because the characteristics are important in retailing, considerable attention

has been given to developing classification of consumers which may be useful for retail

managers

74
ANTECEDENTS TO STORE IMAGE

I. Retail Mix Elements:

based on his references to several other studies, proposes a model that Location is the result

of past purchasing experience and the customers’ (favourable) image of the store. He stresses

that Location behaviour is the culmination of

1. Past purchase experience and

2. The congruity of the Store Image between the retailer and the consumer.

Several studies have established the linkage between various elements of the retail mix and

impact on store image and hence loyalty. varied assortment, one of the retail mix elements,

may be the key driving force to store choice. If retail mix elements are in congruence with the

desired benefits, it results in customer loyalty. These studies indicate that Retailers adapt their

retail mix according to what they perceive as important attributes to their target market and

how they perceive their consumers as processing the information conveyed by the retail

elements. The aspect of congruity between the retail mix elements as designed by the retailer

and the self-image/self-concept of the consumer has received much attention. Research has

shown that greater the congruence between Self Image and Store Image, greater is the

probability that the customer is loyal

II Consumer Personal Characteristics impact how information about retail mix

elements is processed:

75
Based on the above interactional relationship, we can identify Consumer Characteristics as

another antecedent. identified three influencers of consumer Location: Consumer

Characteristics (which impacts the store choice and the shopping patterns), Competitive

Environment (as determined by the competing outlets in the trade area) and Store

Characteristics (as defined by the specific retail mix elements). Studies that have incorporated

individual differences have studied its impact on store image through a variety of

intervening/influencing/moderating variables.

“The Store patronized is a result of both the relative importance of various motives and the

shopper’s assessment of alternative stores with respect to the various factors used in making

the selection.” This leads us to examine two aspects related to individual dispositions: one

related to customer motives in shopping and the other related to information processing about

the store related aspects.

Recreational shoppers have greater tendencies than economic shoppers to go to prestige

stores as well as being a store loyal for any brand. They are also much more trend oriented

and information-seeking as shown by their tendencies to dress in the latest styles.

The recreational shopper is not a discount shopper and wants the atmosphere and services

associated with loyal stores. This concept supports a retail image associated with full service,

well known brands, exciting atmosphere, meaningful communication methods and a self

expressive product display techniques along with personal attention

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Behaviour and the effect of Environment: A psychological perspective

Store Location is defined and measured in behavioral terms. There are five ways of looking at

Location and these are not mutually exclusive:

1. Does the consumer shop exclusively at Store X?

2. Does the customer spend ‘larger’ % of total expenditure at Store X?

3. Does a ‘larger’ % of total shopping trips to similar stores happen at Store X?

4. Does the customer buy a ‘larger’ % of quantity/items at Store X.?

5. Is the consecutive trips made to Store X ‘significantly’ more than consecutive runs made to

other similar competing stores?

Earlier   environmental   studies  conducted  by  and  identified  the   emotional   responses  (i.e.,

pleasure,   arousal,   dominance)   that   individuals   exhibit   while   in   a   particular   environment.

Furthermore,   proposed   that   an   individual   would   engage   in   either   approach   or   avoidance

behaviors to show preference or lack of preference for several types of retail stores. Of the

four   approach­avoidance   dimensions   (i.e.,   physical,   exploratory,   communication,

performance/satisfaction) discussed by these researchers, physical approach­avoidance was

expressed   as   store   Location;   however,   these   researchers   did   not   explore   the   relationship

between   specific   environmental   dimensions   (e.g.,   layout,   style   of   décor,   temperature,

lighting) and physical approach­avoidance (i.e. store Location).

While randomly assigned subjects  to different stores and investigated responses to stores

under different situations (i.e., different day, time of day), this study examined the influence

of   environmental   dimensions   on   store   Location   for   subjects   across   different   shopping

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scenarios. Subjects were asked to complete a survey questionnaire to address this gap in the

retail store Location literature. 

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The impact of the interplay between physical environment and behaviour is also of interest of

outside the sphere of retailing. The most general consideration of these types of impact- the

relationship between physical setting and behaviour- is to be found in environment

psychology. Within this field, developed a theoretical model that they argued is applicable to

built any environment. It rests on a stimulus- organism- response (S – O – R) approach.

suggested that the outcome of the impact of various stimuli (present in the environment) was

represented by approach or by avoidance behaviour. Intervening between the environment

and the behavioral outcomes of approach or avoidance are three emotional states: pleasure,

arousal, and dominance (PAD). The combination of these three emotional states is seen to

determine whether or not a person wishes to remain in a particular environment – i.e. engage

in either approach or avoidance behaviour.

Retailers have to establish mechanism by which they are able to ensure, or at least increase,

the likelihood of approach behaviour being stimulated. This means that retailers must make a

careful and conscious use of stimuli that make a physical environment. Such management

therefore needs to consider both its upper and lower layers. However, the greatest degree of

control can be associated with the specifics of the retail unit itself. It is here that retailers can

attempt to create approach behaviour that will result in customers being attracted to the

particular retail environment. Once in the environment – and in the store- the retailer’s next

task is to continue to provide and environment (giving particular stimuli) that ensures

customers approach behaviour continues.

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Environment Responses

Social Approach

Stimuli Customer

Physical Avoidance

Fig: consumer responses to the retail environment

At first level, the retailer’s task is to select locations that are congenial to the intended

customers. These locations are determined bye core elements of brand proposition, nature of

the neighborhood.

At the second level, the task is to design an internal store environment which elicits the

appropriate behaviour response. Within the general model – using the notion of approach and

avoidance- in terms of individual are categorized into three.

The first category relates to a person’s physical movement to the environment.

Second category implies the extent of exploration of the environment that may lead to a

favorable attitude, preference and liking.

The third degree concerns the degree to which a customer feels comfortable with

approaching, or being in proximity to, others within the environment.

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Environmental Responses and Approach­Avoidance Behavior

Developed a framework for environment­user relationships in service organizations. 

The overall objective of this model is to explore the role of the physical environment in

service   organizations.   His   framework   proposes   that   consumers   and   employees   in   service

settings perceive a variety of environmental factors. These factors are ambient conditions;

space/function; and signs, symbols and artifacts. Ambient conditions consist of temperature,

air   quality,   noise,   music,   and   odor.   The   space/function   dimension   includes   the   layout,

equipment and furnishings. Signage, styles of décor and personal artifacts are among the sign,

symbols and artifacts dimension. Both consumers and employees respond to the environment

cognitively,  emotionally,  and physiologically.  These internal  responses then influence  the

behavior of consumers and employees, as well as affect their social interactions. Furthermore,

Bitner states that the perceived servicescape (i.e., physical setting, environment in service

organizations) and environmental factors does not directly cause people to behave in certain

ways. Instead, consumer perceptions of the servicescape lead to certain beliefs, emotions and

physiological actions that influence behaviors.

To discuss individual behavior, states that individuals react to environments in two ways to

show   preference   (i.e.,   approach)   or   lack   of   preference   (i.e.,   avoidance)   for   a   particular

environment.   Designing   environments,   which   enhance   approach   behaviors   (i.e.   store

Location)   and   encourage   social   interactions,   present   many   challenges   for   service

organizations  because optimal  design for one person or group of people  may not be the

optimal design for others. For example, a setting that is conducive to an employee’s work

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needs   may   not   enhance   the   social   interaction   between   employees   and   consumers  40.

Furthermore, an environment that promotes approach or Location behavior for one consumer

may not elicit the same response in another consumer or group of consumers.

Consumer Behaviour and Retailing Decisions

Decision making with regard to retail outlet selection is very similar to consumer decision-

making on brands where the consumer goes through a process starting from identifying needs

to post-purchase issues. There are a few interesting and important dimensions associated with

consumer behaviour and retail outlet selection.

Does the retail outlet have psychological implications on the target segment? When Titan and

Timex watches were retailed through exclusive shops, consumers wanting lower-end watches

probably felt that a typical Titan showroom was too elitist, which could have had a negative

impact.

Does selection of outlets varies in accordance with types of product categories? While buying

a TV or a washing machine, would consumers visit an exclusive showroom of BPL, Onida or

Sony, or would they visit a multi-brand outlet?

Would there be differences in the psychographic (and demographic) profiles of consumers

choosing outlets? What is the sequence in which consumers are likely to go about their

decisions? Will they select the brand or the category first before choosing the outlet?

What is the impact of the image developed by a retail outlet? Is FoodWorld different from a

neighborhood grocery shop in the minds of consumers? What kind of perception are

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consumers likely to have with regard to shopping from an online outlet such as Fabmart vis-

à-vis a brick-and-mortar outlet like Fountainhead or Landmark?

Would consumers be interested in store or retail brands? Traditionally, retailers have been

carrying manufacturers' brands. But in recent times (at least to a significant extent in the

foods category), supermarkets such as Food World have started carrying retail or store

brands. Nilgiri's is another example in the South which carries its own brands of chocolates,

biscuits and other commodities.

Marketers need in-depth knowledge about the various dimensions which link retailing and

consumer behaviour. There is research required to handle retail decisions in a competitive

context. McDonald's found that a major chunk of its consumers decide to eat a few minutes

before they make the purchase decisions and hence it is building small outlets in large

supermarkets such as Wal-Mart and Home Depot. It is providing play areas to ensure a

number of families visit its outlets with children. A few companies also operate through

kiosks in airports, malls and high-traffic areas. Sunglass Hut is a brand which operates kiosks

at various places which displays about 1,000 different models along with their prices.

Consumers could place an order through these kiosks and the product is home-delivered.

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There are three fundamental patterns which a consumer can follow and they could be:

(I) Brand first, retail outlet second

(ii) Retail outlet first, brand second

(iii) Brand and retail outlet simultaneously.

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The Consumer Decision Process

Developed the consumer decision process and the store choice decision model. The decision

process   model   can   be   applied   to   all   decisions   that   consumers   make   in   the   marketplace;

however, the store decision model applies only to decisions made about specific retail stores.

Seven   stages   are   included   in   the   consumer   decision   process   model.   They   are   need

recognition,   search   for   information,   pre­purchase   alternative   evaluation,   purchase,

consumption,   post­purchase   alternative   evaluation,   and   divestment.   A   need   is   recognized

when a perceived difference between the desired and the actual state of affairs occur. 

For   instance,   a   consumer   may   recognize   the   need   for   a   new   dress.   Next,   the   consumer

engages in an information search to facilitate decision making and to reduce the perceived

risk  often  associated  with  purchasing  a  dress. Pre­purchase  evaluation  involves  assessing

several criteria,  such as fabric type, construction detail,  and brand name to decide on an

appropriate dress. 

At the purchase stage, the consumer makes decisions related to whether to buy, when, what,

and where to buy, as well as how to pay for the dress. After purchase and use of the dress, the

consumer makes a post­evaluation. This evaluation involves determining whether the dress

meets the expected level of performance. The consumer often expresses their satisfaction or

dissatisfaction   with   the   dress.   Finally,   after   using   the   product   over   time   the   consumer

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disposes of the dress because it no longer meets functional or psychological needs or because

the item is obsolete.

At the purchase stage in the consumer decision process, the consumer decides where or what

stores to purchase a product (e.g., a dress) once the need is recognized. With respect to the

store decision model, examined store choice as a function of consumer characteristics and

store characteristics. The store decision process involves four variables: evaluative criteria or

attributes,   perceived   characteristics   of   stores,   comparison   process,   and   acceptable   and

unacceptable stores.

The model proposes that consumers form images (i.e., overall perception) of stores based on

the combination of perceived criteria or attributes. Often these attributes  are combined to

form   categories.   Some   attributes   include   location,   assortment   breadth   and   depth,   price,

advertising and sales promotion, store personnel, services, and other store characteristics. 

In retail studies, consumers list attributes that come to mind when thinking about a particular

store  or store type or they  are often  given  a list.  Consumers  rate  stores  relative  to each

attribute or category on Likert­type scales of importance (e.g., 1­to­7). At the comparison

process (i.e., in the mind of the consumer), the consumer compares the importance of store

attributes   with   the   store’s   image   (i.e.,   overall   perception)   to   determine   which   stores   are

acceptable   and   those   that   are   unacceptable.   For   example,   if   quality   is   important   to   the

86
consumer, and if store A is perceived as having lower quality, while Store B is perceived as

having higher quality, the consumer will choose Store B rather than Store A.

Factors influencing the consumer decision making process

After understanding the factors that affect the customer’s buying process, it is necessary for

the retailer to understand the manner in which a customer makes a decision. This requires an

understanding of consumer behaviour.

The   decision   process   model   can   be   applied   to   all   decisions   that   consumers   make   in  the

marketplace; however, the store decision model applies only to decisions made about specific

retail stores. Seven stages are included in the consumer decision process model. They are

need   recognition,   search   for   information,   pre­purchase   alternative   evaluation,   purchase,

consumption,   post­purchase   alternative   evaluation,   and   divestment.   A   need   is   recognized

when a perceived difference between the desired and the actual state of affairs occur. 

For   instance,   a   consumer   may   recognize   the   need   for   a   new   dress.   Next,   the   consumer

engages in an information search to facilitate decision making and to reduce the perceived

risk  often  associated  with  purchasing  a  dress. Pre­purchase  evaluation  involves  assessing

several criteria,  such as fabric type, construction detail,  and brand name to decide on an

appropriate dress. At the purchase stage, the consumer makes decisions related to whether to

buy, when, what, and where to buy, as well as how to pay for the dress. After purchase and

87
 use of the dress, the consumer makes a post­evaluation. This evaluation involves determining

whether the dress meets the expected level of performance. The consumer often expresses

their satisfaction or dissatisfaction with the dress. Finally, after using the product over time

the consumer disposes of the dress because it no longer meets functional or psychological

needs or because the item is obsolete.

There are few factors which influence mentioned below:

o Socio cultural background of shopper

o Travel time and distance

o Location convenience

o Range of merchandise

o Stage of family life cycle of consumer

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Typically, the need for a product or a service starts at the time when the need for the

particular or service is recognized. A need may be psychological or functional. Psychological

needs are associated with personal gratification that the customer may get from purchasing or

owning the product.

The next stage is where the consumer seeks information about the product and the place

where he can make the purchase. The source of this information may be a magazine, family,

newspaper, friends and the Internet. Any earlier experience of buying the product or the

service may also affect the decision to purchase.

89
 Media
Internet & Ad

Store Evaluation of
Visits options……..
purchase
Need Search for
recognize informatio
d n Store

Customer

Fig: the Customer Decision-making Process

Stage 1: Identification of a need of the product or service

This arises when the customer becomes aware of his need for a particular product or service.

Typically, a consumer may realize that he needs a product when the current that he is using

does not his expectations.

Stage 2: Search for information

The second step involves the gathering of information on how to solve the problem. This

search may be internal (from memory), or external (friends, family. Published resources,

salesperson, the internet, etc). Based on the information gathered, the consumer arrives at an

evoked set or a consideration set of products and services that he may choose from

Stage 3: Evaluating Alternatives

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These evaluative criteria are used by consumers use to consider different options. These

would vary from person to person and may be influenced by the situation. For durable

products, after sales service would be a key differentiator after the brand purchased.

Stage 4: The Purchase Decision

At this stage, the decision is made about first, whether to buy or not. It is possible to get close

to a purchase, but abort the decision to buy a number of reasons, such as declined for

financing, getting “cold fleet”, a stock out or such other reasons.

The experience during and after the purchase leads to satisfaction or dissatisfaction with that

particular store. The customer assimilates the experience that he has had while shopping and

his, post purchase satisfaction or dissatisfaction. He is also influenced by opinions and the

experiences that friends and family have had with the store. Over a period of time, all these

factors lead to a customer patronizing a particular store.

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 Past
Beliefs &
shopping
attitudes
experience

Store
Recognise Evaluate options & Decisi Outcome
visit
desire to select store on
Info (s)
shop
rma
tion
sear
ch

Fig: How Customers’ Develop Loyalty Towards a store

Retailers need to understand this process and tap into the buying process, so that they can

develop loyalty over a period of time.

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RETAIL LOCATION BEHAVIOR 

Store   Location   is   identified   in   model   as   approach­avoidance   behavior.   proposes   that

perceptions   of   the   environment   or   environmental   dimensions   lead   to   certain   beliefs   or

emotions about the environment, which then determine whether a consumer will approach

(i.e. patronize) or avoid a particular setting.

used Location model of consumer behavior as the theoretical framework in the first of a two­

part   study.   Darden’s   model   proposed   shopping   orientations   as   the   key   construct,   and

information sources and personal characteristics as antecedents to shopping orientations. 

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He also hypothesized that shopping orientations determine the importance of store attributes,

which   in   turn   impact   Location   behavior.   In   1992,   proposed   relationships   among   the

following:   (a)   personal   characteristics   and   importance   of   store   attributes,   (b)   personal

characteristics   and   Location   behavior,   (c)   information   sources   and   importance   of   store

attributes, (d) information sources and Location behavior, and (e) shopping orientations and

Location behavior.

Fig: Factors influencing Patronizing a retail outlet

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Statistical Analysis

This research is a qualitative study used to test for statistical differences in

(a) Importance ratings of selected environmental dimensions for each shopping scenario, (b)

importance   ratings   of   selected   store   environmental   dimensions   (ambience,   display

mechanism) for each shopping orientation, (c) perceptions first store choice, and (d) attitude

toward first store choice and store Location (repeat brand purchase from the same outlet). 

95
A set of qualitative data is collected from different response groups at a Samsung brand outlet

and a multi brand outlet present in the same retail premise through a questionnaire which

were focused on their their past shopping experiences and store selection techniques.

96
Summary of Data Analysis 

Response (Yes) Response (No)

Does the above mentioned stores give you 85% 15%

value added services?

Does store ambience affect your decision? 95 5%

Do product demos and displays influence 100 -

your shopping?
How often do you shop from the same store? 80% freq 20% depends

Do you purchase from brand outlet or other 75% 25%

retail shop with competing offers?

Does the location influence buyer’s decision? 75% 25%

Does location really bother you for repeat - 100%

purchase?
Do you differentiate two forms of outlet on 90% 10%

their after sales service of durables?

Does the knowledge of store staff help you to 100% -

regular purchase from the same outlet?

Is value added services an important factor 75% 25%

for selecting a durable outlet for quality

assurance?

97
 f requent depends
Does store ambience affect your decision?

Bars show Sums

12

0
1.00 1.25 1.50 1.75 2.00 1.00 1.25 1.50 1.75 2.00

Do you purchase from brand outlet or retail shop

Do you purchase from brand outlet or retail shop

f requent depends
100%
Bars show percents

75%
Percent

50%

25%

0%
1.00 1.25 1.50 1.75 2.00 1.00 1.25 1.50 1.75 2.00

Do you purch ase from brand outlet or retail shop

Do you purch ase from brand outlet or retail shop

98
 Does the product display and demos affect purchase?

f requent depends
1.0
Bars show Means

0.8

0.6

0.4

0.2

1.00 1.25 1.50 1.75 2.00 1.00 1.25 1.50 1.75 2.00

Does store ambience affect your decision? Does store ambience affect your decision?

Does store ambience affect your decision?

yes no

Do you purchase from brand outlet or retail shop

12.5

sometimes
10.0

7.5

5.0

2.5
Count

0.0

12.5

10.0
always

7.5

5.0

2.5

0.0
frequent depends frequent depends

How often do you buy from same store?

99
 CONCLUSION

The store Location is a result of both the relative importance of various motives and shopping

assessments of alternative stores with respect to the various factors used in making the

selection.

Store choice is dependent on the timings of shopping trips as consumers may go to a small

local store in short fill-in trips and go to a larger store for regular shopping trips. Consumers’

personal differences interact with situational factors and together they determine the store

choice and shopping trip behaviour.

For every merchandise category the factors would be different for patronizing a retail outlet.

Durable products certain factors that extremely affect the customer is the store image and for

that the location comes secondary. The store image is developed due to store ambiance,

knowledge of the sales personnel, and the assortments available.

If the manufacturers brand is preferred then an individual would like to go to specific branded

outlet, where as if the brand has to b e finalized then he / she prefers going to the MBO, yet

the ultimate factor that comes in is the trust factor. For patronizing for durable products the

store image plays the major role along with the after sales service.

A consumer’s selection of a store is not completely random. The more recent he purchases

experience and the more frequent visits to the store, the more he is likely to purchase that

100
product in the store. This shows that the past experience influences store choice and

patronizing ability to either change, alter or reinforce the new shopping experiences.

Thus, we can say that consumers’ characteristics interact with situational variables to impact

how information about the retail mix is processed, resulting in store choice and impacting the

store Location nature.

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 APPENDIX

Questionnaire

Name ………….

Age …….

Gender ………

Does the location of the store influence your choice?

O Yes O No

Do you purchase product from brand outlet or retail shop with competing brands?

O Always O Sometimes O Depends

Does the above store give you value added services?

O Yes O No

Do you seek the product information available at the outlet?

O Yes O No

Does the store ambience influence your selection of a store?

O Yes O No

Does the product display and demos affect your purchase?

O Every time O Sometimes O Never

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How often do you shop from the same store?

O Frequently O Depends

Does location really bother you for repeat purchase?

O Yes O No

Do you differentiate two forms of outlets on their after sales services of durables?

O Yes O No

Does the knowledge of store staff help you to repeat purchase from the same store?

O Yes O No

Is value added services an important factor for selecting a durable outlet for quality

assurance?

O Yes O No

103
 BIBLIOGRAPHY
 Marketing Research (Author- G C Beri)

(Publish by Tata McGraw Hill Publishing Co. LTD., New Delhi)

Third Edition(2002)

 Marketing Management (Author- Rajan Sexana)

(Publish by Tata McGraw Hill Publishing Co. LTD, New Delhi)

Second Edition(2001)

 Marketing Management (Author- R S Sexana)

(Publish by Himalya Publication, New Delhi)

Ninth Edition (2000)

 Marketing Management (Author- Philip Kotler)

(Publish by Pren Tice-hall of India PVT. LTD., New Delhi)

Ninth Edition(2002)

 Research Methodology (Author- Bhandrai)

Print 2004, second edition

WEB SITES:

www. Google.com

www.htmedia ventures Ltd

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