Institute of Productivity & Management, Meerut: Report On Marketing of Services of Big Bazar
Institute of Productivity & Management, Meerut: Report On Marketing of Services of Big Bazar
Institute of Productivity & Management, Meerut: Report On Marketing of Services of Big Bazar
MEERUT
SUBMITTED BY
SUBMITTED TO
DEEPIKA KUMARI.
RESP. PROF. SHAM SHARMA SIR
MD. EKRAMUL HAQUE.
M.A. (LUCKNOW) D.M.M. (LOMDON)
MANOGYA BHASKAR.
FACULTY, IPM MEERUT.
SUNITA KUMARI.
VIJETA BHARTI.
VIVEK RANJAN.
We would like to show our gratitude to Resp. Prof. Mr. Sham Sharma, for
providing us with the golden opportunity to prepare an intellectual report, on
Marketing of services of “BIG BAZAR”.
We thank him whole heartily for his consent encouragement, warm response
and for filling every gap in our personal development and knowledge
enlightens and valuable idea that made this assignment successful.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT.........................................................................2
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY........................................................................3
INTRODUCTION.................................................................................3
HISTORY............................................................................................3
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY................................................................3
SWOT ANALYSIS................................................................................3
4Ps OF MARKETING...........................................................................3
LIFE CYCLE OF BIG BAZAAR...............................................................3
THE RATER MODEL OF BIG BAZAR.....................................................3
MERCHANDISE...................................................................................3
HUMAN RESOURCE DEPARTMENT......................................................3
FINANCE DEPARTMENT......................................................................3
MARKETING DEPARTMENT.................................................................3
LOGISTICS.........................................................................................3
ADMINISTRATION.............................................................................3
CUSTOMER SERVICE DESK (CSD).......................................................3
SERVICE QUALITY GAP MODEL..........................................................3
INTERACTION WITH FRONT LINE EMPLOYEE....................................3
BIBLIOGRAPHY..................................................................................3
This exclusive report is based on Big Bazaar, PVS Mall, Shastri Nagar. It is
one of the best opportunities we have ever got as an assignment. This is the
first time we have done the physical survey of Big Bazaar. It was a beautiful
experience to talk with the employee of the Big Bazaar, who are very helpful
and co-operative.
In this exclusive report we have included the introduction of Big Bazaar and
history. Then we have mentioned the research methodology which is used
by us to prepare this report. Then we have done the swat analysis of Big
Bazaar. We have mentioned the 4ps of marketing, which is very important in
terms of marketing. We have mentioned the diagram of life cycle of Big
Bazaar.
Then we have mentioned the Merchandise, and then we have divided the Big
Bazaar according to their different segments. We have prepared a report of
different functional section of Big Bazaar, which is according to the survey
done by us. We have mentioned the kind of information we have got from
various executives and managers. Then we have mentioned the service
quality gap model and “RATER”, as it was asked in the assignment.
We have prepared a one page report exclusive on the interaction with front
line employees; in this section we have mentioned their experience and their
views about the services and work culture of Big Bazaar. It was very
interesting to know about different views from the different employee.
In this report we have included the promotional handouts and the customer
feedback forms, which were provided by the Big Bazaar. We were not
INTRODUCTION
Big Bazaar is a chain of hypermarkets in India, with more than 100 stores in
operation. It is a subsidiary of Future Group Venture Ltd's, and follows the
business model of United States-based Wal-Mart.
Big Bazaar caters to every family’s needs and requirements. This retail store
is a subsidiary of Future group, Pantaloons Retail India Ltd. and is an answer
to the United States’ Wal-Mart. Big Bazaar scores over other stores is its
value for money proposition for the Indian customers. At Big Bazaar, you will
definitely get the best products at the best prices - that’s what they
guarantee. With the ever increasing array of private labels, it has opened the
doors into the world of fashion and general merchandise including home
furnishings, utensils, crockery, cutlery, sports goods and much more at
prices that will surprise you. And this is just the beginning. Big Bazaar plans
to add much more to complete their customers shopping experience.
Big Bazaar group offers more than 400 stores all over the country with an
amalgamation of Indian bazaars’ feel and touch with a convenience and
choice of the modern retail facilities. The retail format of the Big Bazaar
group includes Aadhar, Rural & Home-Town retail chain, Ezone home-
improvement chain, sportswear retailer, depot and music chain is few among
others.
They provide an inclusive environment where men and women from all
castes, creeds and classes can come and shop at the same place. The
founders of Big Bazaar were from the beginning very clear that they had to
HISTORY
Big Bazaar’s journey began in October 2001, when the young, first
generation entrepreneur Kishore Biyani opened the country’s first
hypermarket retail outlet in Kolkatta (then Calcutta). In the same month,
two more stores were added – one each in Hyderabad and Mumbai, thus
starting on a successful sojourn which began the chapter of organized
retailing in India.
On an occasion Mr. Kishore Biyani said, “We initially decided to name the
format as “Bazaar” because we had designed the store keeping the Indian
mandi style in mind. Since the size of the hypermarket was big than an
average mandis, the thought came to name it as “Big Bazaar”.
Though, Big Bazaar was started purely as a fashion format including apparel,
cosmetics, accessory and general merchandise, the first Food Bazaar format
was added as Shop-In-Shop within Big Bazaar in the year 2002. Today, Big
Bazaar, with its wide range of products and service offering, reflects the
aspirations of millions of Indians.
The journey of Big Bazaar can be divided into two phases – one pre and the
other post January 26th, 2005, when the company rewrote the retail chapter
in India, with the introduction of a never-before sales campaign “Sasbe
Sasta Din”. In just one day, almost the whole of India descended at various
Big Bazaar stores in the country to shop at their favorite shopping
destination.
DESCRIPTIVE RESEARCH
In this project we have classified the data into two specific types
1. PRIMARY DATA.
2. SECONDARY DATA.
a) OBSERVATION.
b) QUESTIONNAIRE.
c) INTERVIEW.
a) LIBRARY BOOKS.
b) NEWSPAPERS.
C) INTERNET.
STRENGTHS
Big Bazaar understands the customers and their needs and set the
price accordingly. They serve the customer according to their
expectation which delight the customer.
As Big Bazaar entertain the benefit of early entry into the retail
industry.
WEAKNESSES
OPPORTUNITIES
THREATS
Product
Price
Promotion
Place
The survey which was conducted gives the effect of each and every component
of the 4Ps on the consumer’s mind.
PRODUCT
Big Bazaar offers the maximum variety for each category of product and this is
cited by the customers as one of the main reasons why they like shopping at
the hypermarket. The product is the same in every store in the city but the
brand options are more in Big Bazaar. Also, the quantity for each product is
not limited to large packs only. Observations also revealed that local brands of
popular commodities, like diapers, sugar, wheat flour garments etc, are very
popular in Big Bazaar stores. These products are never advertised but offer
huge margin on sales. In this way lower middle class customers are targeted
well. The commodities sold by the retail chain also includes its “own products”
which get a ready distribution network. The own products of Big Bazaar include
My World fashion magazine which is not available anywhere else. So costs are
low for such products.
PROMOTION
Big Bazaar has huge promotion budgets. The biggest idea behind all
advertisements is to make people do bulk shopping. There are 2 types of
promotional strategies. One is the holistic advertisement which promotes the
brand and creates awareness among people. It is not targeted at promoting
each store but only creates an image of Big Bazaar as low-cost shopping
option. The store has advertised through TV, road shows and also started
reality show-typed promotional campaign “The Big Bazaar Challenge.”
Promotions like “Sabse Sasta Din” are a very successful strategy to get footfall.
a) Discounts on all school requirements like school bags, water bottles &
lunchboxes.
b) Win a pencil case with every purchase worth Rs. 500 & above.
c) Send us your experience of the “Best day that you had in school” – the
most humorous one will get a free shopping trip worth Rs 1,000/-.
d) Lucky draw – shop for Rs 1,000 & above, drop in your kids name into
our drop box – 10 lucky kids will get 30% off on an NIIT course.
e) Shop for Rs 500 & above, drop in your kids painting the best painting
will get sponsored for an art course.
KHUSHI KI BARSAAT
Each object will have their individual price-tags. The consumer bargains on
the MRP with the counter sales girl. The counter sales girl will be given a
“lowest bargain” slip for each piece of merchandise. The consumer who is
able to match the best “low bargain” walks away with her goodies.
a) Get caught shopping with your Dad on Father’s Day (20 th June) & get a
20% discount on your total bill.
b) Shop for Rs 500 & above - submit a picture if your Dad & you – the best
pair – wins a complimentary dinner at Copper Chimney.
c) Make purchases worth Rs 300 & above & fill in a line on what your Dad
means to you & win tickets to the latest blockbuster movie.
ADVERTISING
T.V: T.V is also used as one of its media vehicle when they come up with
huge offers on the “Big DAYs” like the 26th Jan and 15th August.
PLACE
Place means the location of the business. Big Bazaar has always worked on
low-cost locations. It targets semi-urban population with its placement. Its
strategy is to find a cheap location and it never goes for hot spots in the city.
The Teghoria store was opened when it was scarcely populated. Even in
Gurgaon, Big Bazaar chose Sahara Mall instead of Metropolitan or City Centre,
which are more popular than Sahara Mall. It relied on promotional activities to
make up for unattractive locations. The channel of place is company owned
stores to have complete control. Another strategy used by Big Bazaar to
overcome location disadvantage is use of internet. It has launched a
merchandise retailing website www.futurebazaar.com which targets high-end
customers ready to use credit cards. Therefore Big Bazaar has made headway
into a potentially high-yielding sector of online trade. Internet as place has put
them in a profitable position because there is minimal expense of maintaining a
website. The promotion of this website is done through advertisement on
Google. The website is put as sponsored link.
Big Bazaar implements the RATER model in their all stores by keeping a
better understanding of their customers’ needs and expectations. They keep
their customers in regular contact and make a database of their valued
opinion. But in addition to all of these, firstly they put some work into
obtaining a view of their services from their customers’ perspective. The
RATER Model can be used to do this.
These five proportions are always relevant for a wide range of organizations
and sectors, although the importance of each dimension will vary from
industry to industry. The model is used by organizations to identify and
assess customer expectations, to plan and improve services, and to measure
customer satisfaction.
Big Bazaar implements all these five dimensions while making his service
strategy. They are always eager to know about their ability to deliver to their
customer’s expectations. They do it by various means such as customer
interaction programs or by filling the feedback forms.
RELIABILITY: Big Bazaar deliver their promised services timely and in all
conditions and also try to be stand on their customer’s expectation also.
Their service is always timely, consistent, accurate, and dependable.
ASSURANCE: Big Bazaar recruits and trains their personals with the right
knowledge and skills to deliver the promised service. They are behaved in
such a manner in store that it enhances the customer’s level of trust and
confidence towards the firm.
Big Bazaar has a wide range of merchandise they have both branded and
unbranded products like :
HOME LIEN ITEMS: Like bed sheets, pillow covers, carpets to kitchen
utility items like steel utensils and crockery and other minor utility
items required in a house.
STAR SITARA: In this section all kinds of cosmetic items are made
available.
OPTICIANS: In this section all brands and types fashion glasses are
available.
MEN LADIES AND KIDS WEAR : This section includes fashion and
casual wear for men ladies and kids both branded and unbranded.
SOURCES OF RECRUITMENT
The following are the main sources through which Big Bazaar recruits its
employees.
b) WALK-INS: This is the main source through which Big Bazaar recruits
its employees. People seeking job usually themselves approach the HR
department for job vacancy. Employees usually selected from this
source are appointed at the entry level as team members.
SELECTION PROCEDURE
The employees are rewarded suitably with attractive pay packages. The
salary of an employee includes basic pay. HRA, special allowance, PF, ESI,
Medical etc. Annual bonus will be given at the time of Diwali. The employees
and their dependents are also entitled for medical treatment in recognized
hospitals with cashless hospitalization with whom the company has tie-ups.
If a hospital is not recognized, the amount spent by the employee will be
reimbursed. Along with these all the employees are given a card known as
‘Employee Discount card’ (EDC) through which they can buy any product at
Big Bazaar at a special discount of 20-30 %.Leaves and other rules: An
employee during his probationary period is entitled for 7 days of leave. A
confirmed employee is entitled for 30 days of leave in a year. There is only
one type of leave the employees can take which is known as All Purpose
Leave (APL).All the employees will be given identity cards which they have
to wear and also swipe while at the time of entering and leaving the Store.
Future group has its own training division for all its employees, known as
‘Future Learning & Development Limited’ (FLDL).All the employees are given
training for 20 days in a year spread over different periods. ‘Gurukul’ which
is a part of FLDL gives training to all the employees on various skills like
team work, dedication discipline improving customer service etc to make
them more knowledgeable and productive.
SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
Like every organization big bazaar has also some responsibility towards the
society. When we asked about their social responsibility, and if they have
done anything for the society, they replied pleasantly and told that, they had
done an awareness program in Meerut City, in which the employee of the Big
bazaar visited a Blind School, did and awareness program on health and
hygiene and distributed gifts and sweets among the children.
Maintenance Marketing
Team Leader
Asst DM
CSD Security
According to Mr. Tyagi monthly turnover of Big Bazaar, PVS Mall, is 2.5
Crore and the monthly ground expenses is Rs. 20,00,000.00 which includes
electricity bill, daily wages and housekeeping. They have 174 employees; in
which 125 are Big Bazaar’s employee and rest 50 are on daily wages. They
use third party security for security purpose.
Within the organization too, teams were divided according to the categories
that they managed, rather than the brands. Big Bazaar wanted to have a
complete bouquet of products in each category at different price-points,
design, fabric, size and colour. The objective was to create ‘traffic drivers’
within the Store rather than make brands compete with each other. Focusing
on categories also helped to achieve a level of perfection within the specific
segments. This department is responsible for the attractive product
arrangement in the Store with respect to their nature. The basic function of
this department is it divides the Store into some departments based on the
nature of the product and also within the department it decides how the
products should be arranged keeping in mind the customers taste. It also
arranges the products to attract the customers and also ensure easy
availability of products.
There is a Head Cashier to whom all the cahiers report and submit the total
sales amount collected throughout the day by the cashiers. In addition to
cash all leading credit and debit cards are accepted at no extra charge. Also
Big Bazaar vouchers and Sodexho coupons are also accepted. A cashier at
the time of opening his billing counter will be given an opening balance of
Rs.1000. The cashier has to ensure that all the offers applicable on
respective products are given to the customer in his/ her bill. Also if any free
items are given on some purchases, it should be informed to the customer
clearly. After the billing is done, the cashier has to pack the products neatly
in a plastic cover according to the customer’s needs. At the time of closing
INSTITUTE OF PRODUCTIVITY & MANAGEMENT, 35
MEERUT
the billing counter, the cashier has to give a statement of cash, with all
particulars of different denominations of cash, amount collected through
credit cards, amount collected in debit cards, amount collected in Sodexho
coupons & Big Bazaar vouchers and also amount collected through Credit
Notes. Wednesday Bazaar is a very important and popular event in Big
Bazaar.
He said that every Wednesday fabulous offers and great discounts are given
on most of the products. Customers arrive in large numbers as they realise
that it is on Wednesday that products are offered at the lowest prices.
Recently Big Bazaar PVS Mall, Meerut celebrated its 3rd anniversary. Big
Bazaar celebrated this occasion by having the 3 rd anniversary sale from 12-
16th July. Good discounts and offers were provided on products to celebrate
this occasion along with the customers who were the prime reason for its
success. On Saturday and Sunday also the customer turnout is high, as it is
on the weekends that most of the customers find time for shopping. They
arrive along with their family to enjoy the shopping experience. Good
discounts and offers are also provided to attract more number of customers.
Retailing is not just about selling products —it is about selling an idea. Why
do people in shop when they are bored or depressed? It is not just because
they have the money to buy, but because they want to go through an
experience. It is very crucial in retailing to make customers relate to every
product that is being sold, as well as the Store’s environment.
Mr. Sandeep Kumar is the head of administration at Big bazaar, PVS Meerut.
Unfortunately we didn’t get chance to talk to him as he was not present
there. We asked few questions to HR-Executive Mr. Lokesh Kumar, according
to him, The Store administration comes under the Store Manager. Its
functions are store maintenance, housekeeping, security etc. The store
maintenance is concerned with the proper running of the store in co-
ordination with all the departments. It also has to ensure proper back –up
power supply in times of power cuts.
This department is also responsible for announcing all the offers running in
the store on different products throughout the day. This dept also does gift
wrapping for any product if the customer wants it at free of cost. The dept
also collects customers’ opinion / feedback for continuous improvement in
their service. The ultimate aim of this department is to help and satisfy the
customer in every possible manner and makes the customers’ experience
memorable.
When we asked about one or two customer service examples she cited an
incident, in which customer purchased a product, while billing system
showed a different price. Price was more than displayed price at the product,
so she told that these kind of mistakes hardly happen but at that point in
time it is very hard to convince the customer. For another example she told
that one customer found a bee in the jam, so when he came to return the
product we apologized and gave him the new bottle of different brand and
suddenly stopped the selling of the brand in which bee was found.
The Service Quality Gap Model helps to recognize the different types of gaps
between the service qualities that a consumer expects to receive from
service provider and the perception of consumer about service that actually
he received. The Service Quality Gap Model identify the five different types
of gaps such as knowledge gap, standard gap, delivery gap, communication
gap and service gap. The first four gaps are considered as company gap and
last gap is
SERVICE MARKETING
The second gap is referred as Standard Gap. It occurs when there is vary
between managements perception toward consumers expectation and the
actual service specification design by the management. This variation took
place because of complexity faced by the management to integrate
customer’s expectation into authentic service delivery process. Management
of a service providing organization often faces the difficulty to match with
customer’s expectation. If a company set the benchmark for service quality
then it would be easy to measure the result in quantities method such as
Pizza Hut has done to set the benchmark of their service in quantities
method to deliver the pizza in 30 minutes. If the gap is more, then it would
result as poor quality standard and delivery, customer dissatisfaction, less
control on quality and standardization in delivery process. The length or
extant of this gap is depend on management’s belief. If they are considered
more on other goals rather than service quality then there would be more
gaps. There are many factors which can increase or decrease the quality or
standard gap:
DELIVERY GAP
There are many factors which can be reason between differences in service
standard specification and actual service delivered:
2.) EMPLOYEE JOB FIT AND ROLE CONFLICT: To reduce the role conflict
among employees management should clear the role of every employees
and they should be given only that job where they feel most suitable.
COMMUNICATION GAP
HORIZONTAL COMMUNICATION
In this survey we talked to various front line employees who were taking
care of different segments in Big Bazaar, PVS Mall, Meerut. 1 st we talked to
Ms. Komal Thapa, the customer service representative, at customer service
department. Her experience with Big bazaar is very good, she likes working
her and she told that the behavior of the supervisor is very good with their
subordinates, they co-operated with then always. She likes her job as it is
related to solving customer’s problem.
Then we moved to Tara Sitara counter, there we talked to Mr. Navin Singh,
Tara Sitara counter is the private counter and he would have to report to the
owner of the private counter. We moved to stationery department, there we
met with the front line executive, Ms. Neha Shakya, she told that this
stationery department is called Depot section, and it includes all the
stationery item such as notebooks, pen, pencil, eraser, diary etc. When we
asked her about the behavior of their seniors she replied positively and told
that they always get positive motivation from their seniors, according to her
seniors are very co-operative and always helpful.
Then we talked to one lady who works there on part time basis, she has to
work only four hour in a day, Ms. Deepa Sharma, she told us that she is
married and it is very difficult for her to work full time. She is happy with Big
Bazaar as it takes care of her. She was employed in the sarees segment.
We moved to Kids Wear and Talked to Mr. Abhishek Chaudhary, he told that
in kids there are three segment one in Infant, in which they have cloths of
age group 0-2 years, and in next segment they have cloths of boys and girls
of age group 2 to 16 years.
In toys section we talked to Mr. Sonu Yadav, and we asked about the kind
of consumer profile who come there to purchase the toy, he told that every
kind of customers come there to purchase the toy as Big Bazaar has verity
of toys with different prices and it includes the discount also. When we asked
what attracts the customer more in this segment, he replied the teddy bear,
which attracts the customer more as in local market generally the price of
teddy bear is high in comparison to Big Bazaar.
BOOK
INTERNET
http://www.sharetermpapers.com/retail/retail-marketing-strategy-of-
bigbazaar/
http://www.scribd.com/doc/904659/Big-Bazaar
http://www.future-group.com/main.php
http://www.bigbazaronline.com/
http://ekikrat.in/Big-Bazaar
http://www.authorstream.com/Presentation/sikanderkush-170707-big-
bazaar-marketing-strategy
http://www.managementparadise.com/forums/marketing-
management/98109-marketing-strategy-big-bazaar.html
http://www.scribd.com/doc/29172327/Inventory-problem-of-big-bazaar
www.livemint.com/2010/08/.
http://www.fileguru.com/apps/big_bazaar_inventory