1.

Introduction

Background of Footwear Industry in India :The Footwear Industry is a significant segment of the Leather Industry in India. India ranks second among the footwear producing countries next to China. The industry is labour intensive and is concentrated in the small and cottage industry sectors. While leather shoes and uppers are concentrated in large scale units, the sandals and Chappals are produced in the household and cottage sector. India produces more of gents footwear while the worlds major production is in ladies footwear. In the case of Chappals and sandals, use of non-leather material is prevalent in the domestic market. The major production centers in India are Chennai, Ranipet, Ambur in Tamil Nadu, Mumbai in Maharashtra, Kanpur in U.P., Jalandhar in Punjab, Agra and Delhi. The following table includes concentration of industry units in different regions of India.
Region Tamil Nadu Delhi & up North Agra, Kanpur Calcutta Bangalore Mumbai Others Large & Medium Scale 64 4 9 1 6 3 13 SSI 31 8 34 3 3 11 10 3 Household 7 2 14 19 4

Bata India Ltd., Liberty Shoe Ltd., Khadim India Ltd., Adidas AG, NIKE Inc., Puma AG. Shoes manufactured in India wear brand names like Florsheim, Gabor, Clarks, Salamander and St. Micheals. As part of its effort to play a lead role in the global trade, the Indian leather industry is focusing on key deliverables of innovative design, consistently superior quality and unfailing delivery schedules.1

Scope for Footwear Industry in India : The Indian footwear industry is provided with institutional infrastructure support through premier institutions like Central Leather Research Institute, Chennai, Footwear Design & Development Institute, Noida, National Institute of Fashion Technology, New Delhi, etc in the areas of technological development, design and product development and human resource development.

The availability of abundant raw material base, large domestic market and the opportunity to cater to world markets makes India an attractive destination for technology and investment.

1.Source- www.wrightreports.com

1[Type text]

Page 1

Standing on the threshold of a retail revolution and witnessing a fast changing retail landscape, the Indian footwear market is set to experience the phenomenal growth in coming years.

By products, the Indian footwear market is dominated by casual footwear market that makes up for nearly two-third of the total footwear retail market.

Footwear is expected to comprise about 60% of the total leather exports by 2011 from over 38% in 2006-07. Presently, the Indian footwear market is dominated by Mens footwear market that for nearly 58% of the total Indian footwear retail market. accounts

In India as focus remained on mens shoes, there exists a plethora of opportunities in the exclusive ladies and kids footwear segment with no organized retailing chain having a national presence in Either of these categories.

The Indian footwear market scores over other footwear markets as it gives benefits like low cost of production, abundant raw material, and has huge consumption market.

The footwear component industry also has enormous opportunity for growth to cater to increasing production of footwear of various types, both for export and domestic market.

Introduction of Bata :Brief History of Bata :The Company was originally incorporated as Bata Shoe Company Limited on December 23, 1931under Indian Companies Act, 1913 for the purpose of manufacturing and marketing of all types of footwear, footwear components, leather and products allied to the footwear trade. Subsequently, the Company changed its name to Bata Shoe Company Private Limited on April 6, 1956 upon conversion into private company. The Company changed its name from Bata Shoe Company Private Limited toBata Shoe Company Limited, upon conversion to a public company on April 18, 1973. The name was once again changed to the current name, i.e. Bata India Limited, on April 23, 1973. The Company was promoted by Leader A.G., St. Moritz, Switzerland, a member of the multinational Bata Shoe Organization (BSO) with a 100% Equity Shareholding, and consequently, the Company too is a member of the BSO. The BSO consists of independently run companies operating in severalCountries across the world. Bata Limited, Toronto, Canada acts as the headquarters of BSO. Bata Shoe Organization provides an important interchange of new manufacturing technologies, machine design, factory lay-out plans advertising market forecasts,
1[Type text] Page 2

fashion trends, modern marketing techniques, new material testing and also information on the most advanced machinery and technology for production of shoes are made available to the Bata group of companies, including Bata India, Limited. On April 23, 1973, the name was changed to Bata India Limited. On June 25, 1973, the Company madeits first public issue of shares.2

Marketing Setup of Company :It is divided into two main segments as follows.

Retail:This segment primarily looks after the marketing efforts of the Company operated outlets. For greater efficiency and coordinated marketing efforts, this segment is further sub-divided into two groups; Flagship City:This group caters to the higher end products and to premier dealer outlets. Family & Bazaar:This group caters to the economy products and are more dependent on sales volumes. This group accounts for over 80% of the Companys sales in volume terms.

Non-Retail:This segment caters primarily to the non-exclusive dealer outlets which market the Bata range of products. This segment is sub-divided into two groups: Exports:This group looks after export efforts of the Company. Wholesale:This group looks after sales carried out through non-exclusive dealers across the country. The marketing department is divided into four zones with a Senior General Manager responsible for each zone. Each Senior Zonal Manager has Business Development Manager and several District Managers under him to help market the Company products.

Source-www.bata.in

1[Type text]

Page 3

Target Customers:Men, Ladies, Children, School, Canvas, Sports, Sandak, Evalite, Sunshine. Brands & Outlets:Hush, Puppies, Scholl, North Star, Power, Marie Claire, Bubblegummers.There are three types of outlets of Bata i.e. Family, Bazar and Flagship all over the world. Bazar and Family outlets comprised of variety of products while Family outlet comprised of limited products.3

Bata Gandhinagar :There is a Family outlet of Bata in Gandhinagar. It is situated in sector- 30 near SBI ,ATM. There is a another Branded outlet of Woodland in 21 market. There are other 9 general shoe stores in the city. As the showroom of Bata is situated far away from sector-21 market of Gandhinagar, the sales of it is less as compared to other cities.

2.

Research Methodology

Background of Study :This research is carried out to test the customers preferences and satisfaction level regarding Bata products. Bata is having three types of shops out of which Batas Gandhinagar showroom is of Family- Bazar type. And also it is situated half kilometer away from the market. So from this study company will know the exact factors which are affecting the sales. .

Objective of Study :To know the preferences of consumers while buying Bata products. To know the satisfaction level of consumers regarding Bata products. To know the factors influencing consumers while buying Bata products.

Hypothesis :The Bata products are popular in Gandhinagar. The consumers are satisfied with the performance of Bata products. The Bata products are influenced by quality, price, trend, range and durability.
3

Source-Shoe Bazar held at New Delhi in the month of October 2009.

1[Type text]

Page 4

Research Methodology :Research Design Data Collection Method Population Sampling Method Sample Size Data Collection Instrument - Descriptive - Personal Survey Method - Gandhinagar - Convenience Sampling Method - 50 - Structured Questionnaire

1[Type text]

Page 5

3.

Data Analysis and Interpretation

From table no. 3.1 we can say that 96% of total respondents buy branded footwear.

Table No.3.1
Do you Buy Branded Footwear? Particulars Yes No Total Frequency 48 2 50 Percent 96 4 100

Graph 3.1

1[Type text]

Page 6

From table no. 3.2, we can predict that each 38% of the total respondents buy footwear once in a year and twice in a year while only 16% buy thrice in a year and 8% buy more than three times.

Table No. 3.2

Frequency of Buying Footwear Particulars Frequency Percent Once a year 19 38 Twice a year 19 38 Thrice a year 8 16 More than three times 4 8 Total 50 100

Graph 3.2

1[Type text]

Page 7

Table no. 3.3 shows that Quality is the first preference for 54% of respondents while 48% respondents has given second preference to price and 52% has given as preference three to trend. So quality of footwear is most important for customers, then price and then trend.

Table No.3.3
Prefered Factors for Buying Footwear (Data in Percentage) Particula Preference Preference Preference rs No.1 No.2 No.3 Quality 54 32 14 Price 18 48 34 Trend 28 20 52 Total 100 100 100

Graph 3.3

1[Type text]

Page 8

As per table no.3.4 quality of Bata products is good according to 54% respondents and 42% said that it is moderate while remaining only 45% said that it is bad.

Table No.3.4
Quality of Bata Products Particulars Good Moderate Bad Total Frequency 27 21 2 50 Percent 54 42 4 100

Graph 3.4

1[Type text]

Page 9

In table no. 3.5, we can see that 46% respondents have given fourth preference to sports type products while 32% have given first preference to formal type of products, 32% respondents have given third preference to chappals and 34% have given second preference to sandals.

Table No.3.5
Particul ars Sports Formals Chappal s Sandals Total Preference for Type of Bata Products (Data in %) Preference Preference Preference Preference No.1 No.2 No.3 No.4 30 10 12 46 32 26 28 14 20 18 100 30 34 100 32 28 100 18 22 100

Graph 3.5

1[Type text]

Page 10

Table no.3.6 shows that 46% respondents prefer Bata brand, 28% prefer Action, 16% prefer Liberty and only 10% prefer Lakhani.

Table No.3.6
The Most Prefered Brand Particulars Bata Lakhani Liberty Action Total Frequency 23 5 8 14 50 Percent 46.0 10.0 16.0 28.0 100.0

Graph 3.6

1[Type text]

Page 11

From table no. 3.7 we can see that 56% respondents donot find variety of products in Bata showroom while 44% find the variety of products.

Table No.3.7
Get Variety of Bata Products Particulars Yes No. Total Frequency 22 28 50 Percent 44 56 100

Table 3.7

1[Type text]

Page 12

From table no. 3.8 it can be predicted that customers are satisfied regarding quality, price and durability as mean for them is 2.02, 2.64 and 2.14 respectively. Customers response is neutral regarding trend while consumers are dissatisfied with range of Bata products as mean for it is 3.82 which is nearest to 4.

Table No. 3.8- Cross Tabulation- Mean of satisfaction level4 of consumers regarding different Attributes
Particulars Quality Price Trend Range Durability
Mean 2.02 2.64 3.38 3.82 2.14 Std. Deviation 1.286 1.083 1.292 1.328 1.178

H0- There is no association between buying of branded footwear and gender. H1- There is association between buying of branded footwear and gender. As in table no. 3.9.2, significance value is 0.015 which is less than 0.05. So, the null hypothesis is rejected and alternate hypothesis is accepted.

Table No. 3.9.1- Cross Tabulation Buying Branded Footwear and Gender
Do You Buy Branded Footwear? Particulars Gender Male Female Total Yes 37 11 48 No 0 2 2 Total 37 13 50

Table No. 3.9.2

Chi-Square Tests Particulars Pearson ChiSquare Value 5.929a df 1 Asymp. Sig. (2sided) .015

- Scale used for above table is- 1 is for highly satisfied and 5 is for least satisfied.

1[Type text]

Page 13

4. Findings and Recommendations

4.1

Findings :-

It is seen that 96% people buy branded footwear.

54% customers first prefer quality and 52% donot bother about trend while buying footwear.

54% of respondents has given quality of Bata products as good while only 4% considered it as bad. preferred sports type of products of Bata.

32% respondents prefer to buy formals and the chappals and sandals and 46% of customers least

46% respondents prefer Bata products while only 10% prefer Lakhani.
According to 56% persons, there is no availability of variety in Bata showrooms. Customers are satisfied regarding quality , durability and price in the descending order while

very much dissatisfied with range available in Bata showrooms.

4.2

Recommendations : Bata should provide more variety of products in the showrooms. Bata should bring different styles and some new products in sports type. It should come up with new trends.

4.3

Other Recommendations : Some customers complain about bad odour from shoes and breaking of shoes from centre

part. So, Bata should improve quality to overcome this problem.

1[Type text]

Page 14