CHAPTER 3

The Bharti WalMart Joint Venture

WalMart announced a 50:50 joint venture with Bharti Enterprises in November 2006 to open
retail stores in India. As foreign corporations are not allowed to directly enter the retail sector in
India, Wal-Mart decided to operate through franchises and handle the wholesale end. Bharti
handles the front end involving opening of retail outlets, while Wal-Mart takes care of factors as,
such as cold chains and logistics. The joint venture planned to source 90 per cent of the goods
from India, while the rest was to be imported.
Bharti Walmart EASYDAY

Each store is about 2,500 to 4,500 sft in size and is projected as one stop shop for day-to-day
family requirements such as groceries, personal care and household products. The company is
planning to setup these stores on PAN India basis.
Product Range in Easy Day stores:
• Bakery products
• Food and Beverages
• Home & Personal Care
• Dairy Products
• Frozen - Vegetarian, Non-Vegetarian and Chilled Non-Vegetarian
• Grains & Pulses
• Meat and Poultry Items
All the three stores are single floor stores with cash counter and bakery section at the entrance.
Each category of the product was marked separately. Products were effectively displayed with
price tags. In Easy Day stores we found that Home & Personal Care [Toothpaste, Soap, etc] and
Food & Beverages [Pepsi, Fruit Juice, Cereals] are sold at a discount between 1% to 5% only.

Problem Statement: Walmart’s positioning strategy for ever changing Indian

consumer where perception of big and small is so different.
Rationale to Study: As said by Mr. Raj Jain, Wal-Mart India's president, “Wal-
Mart's mission, worldwide, which is extremely relevant to all emerging markets,
let alone the United States -- is saving people money so that they can live better.
As a result, the whole Wal-Mart business revolves around running a very efficient
supply chain, along with the ever changing Indian consumer.
That is exactly what we will do and are doing in India. All those savings which
come out of the effective supply chain practices that walmart follows would inturn
be passed on to the target customers in the form of low priced products as
compared to competitors like Reliance Fresh, Big Apple, Big Bazaar etc.”

The research tool

Research tool consisted of a formulated questionnaire with developed hypothesis
to get a general viewpoint of the ever changing Indian consumer towards the retail
giant Walmart and also to study how its stores are faring with the competitors like
Big Bazaar, Big Apple and Reliance Fresh.
The questionnaire comprised of 15 questions based on the walmart as a format as
well as its acceptance in the FMCG segment which is predominantly occupied by
mom ‘n’ pop stores which are well known with the name of kirana stores.
For the collection of primary data, research methods such as conducting surveys as
well as informal interviews and telephone surveys were adopted. All these methods
gave a cumulative data which covered different aspects of the study like customer
demographics, change in buying behavior, acceptance to the new formats of retail
as well as an in depth review of the brand understanding..

Hypothesis: To understand the psyche of the Indian customers by conducting a

market survey to judge their perception toward Walmart Easyday.
Objectives:
 To access the acceptability of Walmart as a format among Indian consumer.
 To study the Indian Consumer’s perception towards Walmart and it’s
competitors like Big Bazaar, Big Apple and Reliance fresh.
 To analyze the future growth prospects of Easy Day.
 To study the pros and cons of Easy Day on FMCG stores.
The developed questionnaire was formulated on the following variables:
 Changing Indian consumer
 Acceptance of Walmart as a format
 Walmart in lieu of Indian competition

Questionnaire Design
Preliminary Concerns
1. Considering the data collection method.
2. Considering the measurement scale and statistical analysis to be used.

Wording
1. Use of correct grammar and sentence structure.
2. Wording should be as simple as possible without being condescending to
respondent.
3. Use a conversational tone. Wording should be as closely as possible to the
manner in which people would talk to each other.
4. Wording should be neutral and clearly communicate the intent of question.

Instructions
1. Instructions on how to answer should be communicated to the respondent as
part of the question.
2. Special instructions to the interviewer should be clear and located on the
questionnaire.
3. Clearly distinguish the instructions to the interviewer questions and responses by
always putting the instructions to the interviewer CAPS, Italics, etc.

Content
1. Write brief questions.
2. Have a specific goal for each question.
3. Make efforts to write questions that are valid measures of the study’s variables.
4. Be careful not to assume behavior or knowledge on the part of any respondent.
5. If a question contains facts, make sure they are accurate.
6. Carefully choose wording so that accurate information is collected.
• Be precise and specific in the use of concepts (for example, government--is it
city, county, or federal?).
• Be precise and specific regarding time, either as a period of recall or as a time
limit to a certain behavior.
• Avoid "loaded" questions that suggest to respondents that one answer is
preferable to another.
• Avoid double questions where two or more issues are mentioned.
• Avoid all-inclusive terms such as "never" or "always."
• Avoid the use of technical terms and abbreviations that can be misconstrued.
• Avoid the use of inflammatory words such as "racist" or "exploitation."
1. Be sure all questions are relevant to the research goal.
2. Be certain all important questions are asked.

Response Categories
1. Response categories must match the attributes mentioned in question.
2. Response categories to closed-ended items must be:
• sufficiently exhaustive.
• mutually exclusive.
 • The categories respondents would naturally use to classify the item or
themselves.
1. Questions may contain a response category of "don't know" or "no
answer/refusal."

A classification of Marketing research data

Conducting Market Research Using Primary Data

Overview

Market research is often conducted to address one or more of the “4 Ps” of

marketing (product, price, place, and promotion). The purpose of market research
should be clearly defined prior to conducting the research. This means the problem
that needs to be solved and the information necessary to find the solution should be
outlined before undertaking any research (according to Salant & Dillman, 1994). In
the case of food and apparel retailers seeking to identify customers for their
products, this often translates to the following questions:
➢ Who are the potential customers?
➢ What are their demographic characteristics (income, education level, family
size, etc.), attitudes, or concerns?
➢ What products appeal to customers?
➢ If hoping to meet a niche’s needs, what product characteristics appeal to that
niche? Can the characteristics of an existing product be altered to meet those
needs?
➢ When are customers purchasing products?
➢ Is the product’s appeal seasonal in nature? Is there a day of the week or time
of day the product will be most appealing?
➢ Where do potential customers purchase similar products? How should
products be distributed to reach these customers?
➢ Which promotional outlets should be used to reach these customers?
➢ Should radio advertising be used, newspaper ads, bulk mail, or other?
➢ Are customer satisfied with the offered merchandise?

Primary and Secondary Data

Secondary data is information that has already been collected and is usually
available in published or electronic form. Secondary data has often been collected,
analyzed, and organized with a specific purpose in mind, so it may have limited
applications to specific market research. However, some of the advantages of using
secondary data for market research include both cost and time savings. Data that
has been published by government agencies is readily available and free of charge,
while data collected and analyzed by private companies may require permission for
use. Secondary data can be found through company reports, government agencies
such as USDA’s Economic Research Service (USDA-ERS) and Agricultural
Marketing Service (USDA-AMS), newspaper articles, Extension publications, etc.

Primary data is collected specifically to address the problem in question and is

conducted by the decision maker, a marketing firm, a university or Extension
researcher, etc. Unlike secondary data, primary data can not be found elsewhere.
Primary data may be collected through surveys, focus groups or in-depth
interviews, or through experiments such as taste tests.
Modes of collecting primary data:
Surveys
Surveys are perhaps the most common method of primary data collection... The
choice of which survey method to use depends on many factors, including the
number of respondents the surveyor desires, the time frame in which the data
must be collected, the characteristics of the population to be surveyed, and, of
course, the budget. It is important to note that with all of these data collection
methods, the collected data is hypothetical in nature, meaning that an individual
may say that he or she is willing to pay a certain price for something in the
market, or that they value certain product characteristics, but that does not mean
the person will actually pay that price or purchase a product with those
characteristics in the real world.
➢ Mail Survey
Mail surveys can be an effective way to reach a large population in a
relatively inexpensive fashion. A mail survey is a written survey that the
surveyor mails out to a sampling of households. When conducted by
marketing firms and universities, the goal is to have the surveys reach a
random sampling of households in the area of interest (i.e. county, state,
region), or to reach a targeted population of individuals (for example,
persons who held a state fishing license in a given year, or people who
belong to an environmental organization).
➢ Telephone Surveys
Telephone surveys are conducted by calling individuals and having them
answer questions over the phone. While an advantage of the telephone
 survey over the mail survey is the fact that the interviewer can encourage the
person to complete the survey and the responses can be analyzed
immediately.
➢ In-Person Interviews
In-person interviews have some of the same advantages and disadvantages
of telephone surveys. On the plus side, an in-person interview can be an
effective way to get completed surveys, and the responses can be analyzed
immediately. On the negative side, in-person interviews are costly to
conduct, and some individuals may be put off by being approached for a
survey or may not be willing to reveal some information about themselves to
a stranger. However, another potential benefit is that a very specific
population can be targeted using in-person interviews
➢ Internet Surveys
The advantages and disadvantages of Internet surveys are a sort of hybrid of
those of telephone, mail, and in-person surveys, although they have their
own unique characteristics as well. To begin, an Internet survey will only be
useful if the population of interest has Internet access. Of course, the person
conducting the survey must have a modicum of Internet savvy as well. Once
this is assured, there is the issue of determining how to contact the
population of interest.

➢ Dot Surveys
Dot surveys or posters are used to focus on only a few important questions.
The dot survey technique consists of a limited number of questions (usually
no more than four) that are displayed on easels in a public location, such as a
farmers’ market. Participants indicate their responses by using colorful
round stickers (i.e. dots) in the columns which represent their response.

➢ Informal Interviews and Observation

Informal interviews and observation may be slightly less scientific in
composition than the other survey methods, but may be the right tool for
some agribusinesses. An informal interview consists of asking the same
simple but specific questions of many individuals to get an idea of what
people are thinking. Observation consists of observing consumers and taking
 note of their behavior. Both of these methods may be especially useful to
businesses that direct market to their customers, who can be used for both
interview and observation.
Interviews can be used to determine what products current customers would
like to have access to, while observation can be used to determine which
products are popular through other vendors.

Secondary data is data collected by someone other than the user. Common
sources of secondary data for social science include censuses, surveys,
organizational records and data collected through qualitative methodologies or
qualitative research. Primary data, by contrast, are collected by the investigator
conducting the research.
Secondary data analysis saves time that would otherwise be spent collecting data
and, particularly in the case of quantitative data, provides larger and higher-quality
databases than would be unfeasible for any individual researcher to collect on their
own. In addition to that, analysts of social and economic change consider
secondary data essential, since it is impossible to conduct a new survey that can
adequately capture past change and/or developments.
As is the case in primary research, secondary data can be obtained from two
different research strands:
Quantitative: Census, housing, social security as well as electoral statistics and
other related databases.
Qualitative: Semi-structured and structured interviews, focus groups transcripts,
field notes, observation records and other personal, research-related documents.
A clear benefit of using secondary data is that much of the background work
needed has been already been carried out, for example: literature reviews, case
studies might have been carried out, published texts and statistic could have been
already used elsewhere, media promotion and personal contacts have also been
utilized.
This wealth of background work means that secondary data generally have a pre-
established degree of validity and reliability which need not be re-examined by the
researcher who is re-using such data.
Furthermore, secondary data can also be helpful in the research design of
subsequent primary research and can provide a baseline with which the collected
primary data results can be compared to. Therefore, it is always wise to begin any
research activity with a review of the secondary data.
Qualitative data re-use provides a unique opportunity to study the raw materials of
the recent or more distant past to gain insights for both methodological and
theoretical purposes.
In the secondary analysis of qualitative data, good documentation can not be
underestimated as it provides necessary background and much needed context both
of which make re-use a more worthwhile and systematic endeavour . Actually one
could go as far as claim that qualitative secondary data analysis “can be
understood, not so much as the analysis of pre-existing data; rather as involving a
process of re-contextualising, and re-constructing, data”.

The main advantages of primary research and data are that it is:
➢ Up to date.
➢ Specific to the purpose – asks the questions the business wants answers to.
➢ Collects data which no other business will have access to (the results are
confidential).
➢ In the case of online surveys and telephone interviews, the data can be
obtained quite quickly (think about how quickly political opinion polls come
out).
Primary Research – Disadvantages
➢ Cost - Compared to secondary research, primary data may be very expensive
since there is a great deal of marketer involvement and the expense in
preparing and carrying out research can be high.

➢ Time Consuming – To be done correctly primary data collection requires the

development and execution of a research plan. Going from the start-point of
deciding to undertake a research project to the end-point to having results is
often much longer than the time it takes to acquire secondary data.

➢ Not Always Feasible – Some research projects, while potentially offering

information that could prove quite valuable, are not within the reach of a
marketer. Many are just too large to be carried out by all but the largest
companies and some are not feasible at all. For instance, it would not be
practical for McDonalds to attempt to interview every customer who visits
their stores on a certain day since doing so would require hiring a huge
number of researchers, an unrealistic expense. Fortunately, as we will see in
a later tutorial there are ways for McDonalds to use other methods (e.g.,
sampling) to meet their needs without the need to talk with all customers.

Question Formats
1) OPEN-ENDED QUESTIONS:
Respondents are given complete freedom to answer in their own words. An open-
ended question poses a question to the respondent and asks him/her to write out
his/her response. While open-ended questions can provide a lot of information,
they are problematic enough that many researchers try to avoid them. To begin
with, they require more effort on the part of the respondent, and so may lead the
respondent to skip the question or quit the survey entirely. The open-ended nature
also leaves the interpretation of the question up to the respondent, so the
responses may not be entirely what the surveyor was looking for.
Advantage a) eliminates "forced choice" bias
b) unlimited response varieties

Disadvantage a) promotes investigator bias

b) responses difficult to code and analyze
Best Use a) small scale exploration
b) establishing rapport
c) as final question
d) to collect facts: e.g., age

2) CLOSED-ENDED QUESTIONS:

A) Yes – No Questions: Respondents are limited to a positive or negative

position.

Advantage a) minimizes investigator bias

b) responses obtained quickly
c) coding is simple and inexpensive
Disadvantage a) simplistic / limits range of commitment
b) wording can cause biases

Best Use a) telephone interview

b) self-administered questionnaire when topic permits

B) Multiple Choice Questions: Respondents are limited to choice of more

than two positions.

Advantage a) minimizes investigator bias

b) responses obtained quickly
c) coding is simple and inexpensive
d) permits greater range of commitment than yes-no
questions

Disadvantage a) good questions are difficult to write

b) wording can cause biases

Best Use a) personal interview

b) self-administered questionnaire
c) telephone interview if item is not too complicated

C) Rating Scales: Respondent rates an attribute using the provided scale.

Rating scales allow survey respondents to indicate their level of agreement with a
statement, or to rate the level of importance of a specific feature of a product or
service. Benefits of rating scales are that they are relatively straightforward for
respondents to understand and are less difficult to analyze than some of the other
question formats. A drawback to rating scales is that they can only be used for
certain types of questions.

Characteristics of a questionnaire
➢ Plan a user-friendly format
➢ Gather demographic data – age, gender, etc., when necessary.
➢ Guarantee anonymity
➢ Ensure ease of tabulation – Scantron forms
➢ Ask well-phrased and unambiguous questions that can be answered
➢ Develop for completeness – get all the data
➢ Pilot test the instrument
 Sample Questionnaire
The following survey is being conducted for the completion of my dissertation
project and the data would be kept confidential.

Q1.) Where do you generally shop for your FMCG products?

a) Kirana stores b) Convenience Stores
c) Shopping Malls d) FMCG Stores

Q2.) What is your occupation background?

a) Student b) Working Professional
c) Businessman d) Self Employed

Q3.) What is your monthly income?

 a) Below 10,000 b) 10,000-25,000
c) 25,000-50,000 d) Above 50,000

Q4.) How often do you visit an FMCG store for your shopping?
a) Once a week b) Twice a week
c) Once in two weeks d) Once a month

Q5.) What comes to your mind when you think of Walmart as a format?
a) Brands b) Price
c) Quality d) Product variety
Q6.) Can you rate the following stores according to their presence in your area?
a) Big Bazaar b) Big Apple
c) Walmart d) Reliance Fresh

Rate from 1-4 (1= Highest 4= Lowest )

Q7.) Do you think that Walmart offers a better shopping experience with it’s product
assortment?
a) Yes b) No

Q8.) Do you think that the Walmart poses a greater challenge to it’s competitors?
a) Yes b) No

Q9.) Can you rate the following stores based on the merchandise offered?
 a) Big Bazaar b) Big Apple
c) Walmart d) Reliance Fresh
Rate from 1-4 (1= Highest 4= Lowest )

Q10.) How much distance are you willing to travel for your home shopping?
a) Less than 1 Km b) 1Km-5Km
c) 5 Km-10 Km d) More than 10 Kms

Q11.) Can you rate the following facilities provided by Walmart Stores?
a) Parking b) Shopping Experience
b) Store accessibility
Any other, please specify_____________

Q12.) Are you aware of the promotional strategies followed by Walmart?

a) Yes b) No

Q13.) Do you find Walmart a convenient shopping option?

a) Yes b) No

Q14.) How will you rate Walmart in lieu of Indian Comptetion?

____
a) Exccellent b) Good
 c) Average d) Bad

Q15.) Do you think that the presence of mom ‘n’ pop stores as well as the kirana stores
would give a tough competition to walmart?
a) Yes b) No

CHAPTER 4
 Research Summary

The research instrument used was developed to measure both the expectations and
perceptions of the Indian customers towards Walmart. The questionnaire was
developed hypothesis which was formulated to reflect the associations between the
ever changing consumer perceptions and their attitude toward the retail giant,
Walmart. Also to evaluate the offering made by it’s wholesale cash and carry
stores with the name of Easyday. The main body of the questionnaire included 15
questions reflecting changing customer , Walmart as a format, and analysis with
the competition comprising stores like big Bazaar, Big Apple and Reliance Fresh .

Structured questionnaires, to measure the respondents’ perceptions and

expectations, were distributed to the people in West Delhi’s area of Jankpuri,
Vikaspuri and Punjabi Bagh.. A total of 35 questionnaires were distributed to the
people.

An interview was also conducted with the store manager of Walmart Easyday
with an open discussion about its operations, target class, promotional strategies,
and future growth prospects. A casual questionnaire was formulated for the
purpose and the conversation was recorded in a video format.
The results depicted may vary due to the different perceptions of the asked
respondents along with the cultural as well as demographic differences. The
respondents mainly comprised of college going students, working professionals,
businessmen as well as self employed.

GRAPHS
 VARIABLE 1

Q.) Where do you generally shop for your FMCG products?

Results:
➢ Majority of respondents i.e. 45% prefer shopping from FMCG stores like
Big Bazaar, Big Apple etc.
➢ 28% of the asked respondents prefer shopping from nearby malls.
➢ Convenience stores occupy 3rd slot in our study with Kirana stores gradually
losing their shine.

Q.) What is your occupation background?

Results:
➢ Majority of the asked respondents i.e. 48% were college students.
➢ 40% of the respondents were working professionals.
➢ 12% of the asked respondents were from business background.

Q.) What is your monthly income?

Results:

➢ Since majority of the asked respondents were students (see fig 4.2) therefore
their salary was below 10,000 i.e. 48%.
➢ Of the asked respondents,35% were earning between 10,000-25,000.
➢ 15% of the respondents were earning between 25,000-50,000.
Q.) How often do you visit an FMCG store for your shopping?

Results:

➢ Majority of the respondents i.e. 32% said that they visited an FMCG
store at least once a week.
➢ 20% of the respondents said that they visited an FMCG store twice a
week with the same number of respondents saying that they visited
once in two weeks.
➢ 28% of respondents preferred to go shopping once a month.

Q.) How much distance are you willing to travel for your home shopping?

Results:

➢ 31% of the asked respondents said that they are not willing to travel more
than 1 Km for their household shopping.
➢ Majority of the respondents i.e. 40% said that they are willing to travel up to
5 Kms for their shopping.
➢ 20% of the respondents were willing to travel up to 10 Kms for their shopping
given some considerations.
 Variable 2

Q.) Do you think that Walmart offers a better shopping experience with it’s product
assortment?

Results:
➢ It is interesting to note that a whooping majority of respondents i.e. 75%
were satisfied with the shopping experience which the Walmart stores
provide.
➢ The rest 25% were not satisfied with their experiences.

Q.) Can you rate the following facilities provided by Walmart Stores?
Results:

➢ 88% of the respondents said that they were extremely pleased with their
shopping experience at Walmart.
➢ Parking is being overlooked with 62% of the respondents giving it a thumbs
down.
➢ Stores are easily accessible.

Q.) Are you aware of the promotional strategies followed by Walmart?

Results:

➢ Major chunk of the asked respondents i.e. 71% said that they were not aware
of the promotional strategies followed by Walmart.
➢ The rest 29% said they got awareness from friends and internet.
Q13.) Do you find Walmart a convenient shopping option?

Results:

➢ Being a new format, 66% of respondents found Walmart a convenient

shopping option.
➢ The rest 34% said that they would rather stick to other stores like Big Bazaar
or Big Apple.

Q.) What comes to your mind when you think of Walmart as a format?

Results:
 ➢ 34% of the respondents said they the look forward to walmart for their
product quality.
➢ 25% of the asked respondents seek for the brands available as compared to
23% who look for product variety.
➢ Pricing is given less priority with 18% of the respondents opting to go with
the price.

VARIABLE 3

Q.) Can you rate the following stores according to their presence in your area?

Results:
➢ Big Bazaar had the highest presence felt among the FMCG stores with 51%
of respondents.
➢ Walmart and Reliance Fresh had the lowest presence felt among the asked
respondents.
➢ Big Apple fared averagely with 42% giving it a rating of 3.
Q.) Do you think that the Walmart poses a greater challenge to it’s competitors?

Results:

➢ Majority of the respondents i.e. 71% see Walmart as a challenge for it’s
competitors.
➢ 29% of the asked respondents think that the Walmart’s operations would not
affect it’s Indian counterparts.

Q.) Can you rate the following stores based on the merchandise offered?

Results:
 ➢ Big Bazaar topples the competition with 63% of respondents saying that it
offers good amount of merchandise.
➢ Walmart outscores Big Apple and Reliance Fresh with 25% of the respondents
thinking that it has got better merchandise to offer.

Q.) How will you rate Walmart in lieu of Indian Comptetion?

Results:
➢ Majority of the respondents i.e. 40% think that the Walmart fares quite
average in lieu to the Indian Competition.
➢ 34% of the asked respondent think that it is doing good among the
competition..
➢ 20% of the respondents give Walmart a thumbs up in lieu to the
competition and rate it excellent.
Q.) Do you think that the presence of mom ‘n’ pop stores as well as the kirana stores
would give a tough competition to walmart?

Results:

➢ 60% of the respondents think that the presence of mom ‘n’ pop stores along
with the Kirana Stores would definitely affect the Walmart.
➢ 40% of the asked respondents think it the other way saying that the Walmart
is too big an organization to be affected by small stores.

CHAPTER 5
INTERPRETATIONS