RETAIL INDUSTRY IN INDIA

RETAIL DEFINATION & MEANING RETAIL FORMATS EVOLUTION OF INDIAN RETAIL RETAIL TRENDS IN INDIA AN OVERVIEW OF INDIAN RETAIL STRUCTURE OF INDIAN RETAIL SIZE OF RETAIL SECTOR. FDI IN RETAIL MAJOR COMPONENTS IN RETAIL FUNCTIONS IN RETAIL OPERATION

RETAIL DEFINITION
The word retail is derived from the French word retailer, meaning to cut a piece off or to break bulk. It includes all the activities directly related to the sale of goods and services to the ultimate consumer for personal or nonbusiness use. In simple terms, it implies a first-hand transaction with the customer

MEANING OF RETAIL
A retailer buys goods or products in large quantities from manufacturers or importers, either directly or through a wholesaler, and then sells smaller quantities to the end-user. Retailing involves a direct interface with the customer & the coordination of business activities from end to end- right from the concept or design stage of a product or offerings, to its delivery & postdelivery service to the customer. The world over the retail sector has grown rapidly with increasing sophistication and modernization of the life-style of households and individuals and with increasing globalisation of trade; India has begun to cater up rather astonishingly rapidly. The industry has contributed to the economic growth of many countries & is undoubtedly one of the fastest changing & dynamic industries in the India and world today.

THE EVOLUTION OF INDIAN RETAIL INDUSTRY

For Indian retailing, things started to change slowly in the 1980s, when India first began opening its economy. Textiles sector (which companies like Bombay Dyeing, Raymond's, S Kumar's and Grasim) was the first to see the emergence of retail chains. Later on, Titan, maker of premium watches, successfully created an organized retailing concept in India by establishing a series of elegant showrooms. For long, these remained the only organized retailers, but the latter half of the 1990s saw a fresh wave of entrants in the retailing business. These were pure retailers with no serious plans of getting into manufacturing. These entrants were in various fields, like - Food World, Subhiksha and Nilgiris in food and FMCG; Planet M and Music World in music; Crossword and Fountainhead in books. As of the year ending 2000 the size of the Indian organized retail industry was estimated at around Rs. 2

13,000 crore. Retail growth is already gathering momentum and the organized retail industry is expected to grow by 30 per cent in the next five years and is expected to touch Rs. 45,000 crore in 2005. Thus, the growth potential for the organized retailer is enormous

FIGURE 1.2

RETAIL
Introduction
India has often been called a nation of shopkeepers. Presumably the reason forThis is; that, a large number of retail enterprises exist in India. In 2004, there were 12 million such units of which 98% are small family businesses, utilizing only Household labor. Even among retail enterprises, which employ hired workers. Majority of them use less than three workers. Retailing is the combination of activities involved in selling or renting consumer goods and services directly to ultimate consumers for their personal or household use. In addition to selling, retailing includes such diverse activities as, buying, advertising, data processing and maintaining inventory. While sales people regularly call on institutional customers, to initiate and conclude transactions, most end users or final customers, patronize stores. This makes store location, product assortment, timings, store fixtures, sales personnel, delivery and other factors, very critical in drawing customers to the store. Final customers make many unplanned. In contrast those who buy for resale or use in manufacturing are more systematic in their purchasing. Therefore, retailers need to place impulse items in high traffic locations, organize, store layout , trains sales people in suggestion , and place related items next to each other, to stimulate purchase.

WHAT DOES THE RETAILING INDUSTRY INCLUDE?

Department Stores Discount Stores Clothing Stores Specialty retailers Convenience Stores Grocery Stores Drug Stores Home furnishing retailers Auto Retailers

 Direct Sales Catalog and mail order companies Retailing consists of the sale of goods or merchandise from a fixed location, such as a department store; shopping mall etc .The retailer buys goods or products in large quantities from manufacturers either directly or through a wholesaler, and then sells smaller quantities to the end-user. Retail establishments are often called shops or stores. Retailers are at the end of the supply chain. Manufacturing marketers see the process of retailing as a necessary part of their overall distribution strategy. In the retail outlet various type of good and service are provide to the customer but all the goods and services are generally homogenous in nature through all the other retail outlets. Product and services of every company are available in every retail outlet. It is also find that many customer only used to shopping in own decided outlet rather from every outlets even there is homogenous among the product and service offer by the Every retail outlet .So This put the question in the mind of the every retailer that is there is any gap between what customer expected from retailers and what retailer provides to customer during shopping. No two customers have the identical likes and preferences. Delivery value and narrowing down the zone of tolerance is a tightrope walk for marketer in organized retail sector. Especially in market like India the challenges is formidable because organizations need to cater to a wide and diverse group of customers .Thus building equity and generating volumes in such complex market tapers down to the function of managing customer expectation. Customers take their time to first sketch their needs and then arrive at a specific decision. At the end of the day the question is what does the customer expect? How to fulfill the glaring gap between need and expectations? The answers to this question are by delivering the value But in many case retailers are not aware of what their customer expect. Hence they are unable to deliver the right value to the right customer and satisfy them .Especially in this competitive scenario where the customer are well informed, commanding and demanding at the same time it has become imperative for the organization to be updated on the WHAT,WHYand HOW of each and every customer. This calls for empathizing with the

customer by indulging into their priorities and decision making. Even in the case of a product as simple as beauty soap, customer have versatile expectations like, good packaging fragrance, herbal or medical benefit, glowing skin etc. and all this at an affordable price. A daunting task but companies have no option but to offer the expected value, that too by keeping the operating costs low. Following general expectations of a typical customer Value of Money Availability and location Service expectations Quality in Product Need based solution So in other to deliver the value, Retail outlets in addition to providing products and services, need to cater for a wide range of motives. The various determinants of retail outlet preference include cleanliness, well-stocked shelves, and range of products, helpful staff, disabled access, wide aisles, car parking, multiple billing points and environmentally friendly goods. These differing motives arise as retailers cater to different types of shoppers who include economic consumers (concern with value), personalized consumers (concern with relationships), recreational shoppers (shopping as a leisure activity) and apathetic consumers (who dislike shopping). Retailers have to satisfy budding customers, older consumers as well as time crunched individuals whose motives all tend to be conflicting as well as different. Retailers need to establish a good image to prevent customers from shopping around. They must cater to shoppers need for pleasure and practicality. If expressed as a calculation, customer satisfaction might look something like this:

Customer expectations Companies Performance/ Companies Satisfaction

Satisfaction is a consumers post-purchase evaluation of the overall service experience. It is an affective reaction (Menon and Dub, 2000) in which the consumers needs, desires and expectations during the course of 8

the service experience have been met or exceeded (Lovelock, 2001). Satisfaction in this sense could mean that a supermarket has just barely met the customers expectations, not exceeded nor disappointed those expectations. The benefits of taking the customers response beyond satisfaction at this level by exceeding expectations, is a competitive strategy many retailers aspire to achieve. There is a recurrent struggle for existence and survival in the wake of deep competition, drastically changing customer attitudes and expectation levels. The study would enable us to understand the impact of various factors that influence a consumers shopping behavior in a departmental store. It would also help in knowing the magnitude and direction of movement of these factors amongst each other. These factors have been divided into three heads- Store, Situation and Shopper factors.

THE IMPORTANCE OF RETAILING

Organized retailing in India was estimated at Rs.18,000 crores in 20022003 and has grown at about 40% over the last 3 years (Source KSA Retail Outlook). Retailing has a tremendous impact on the economy. It involves high annual sales And employment. As a major source of employment retailing offers a wide range of career opportunities including; store management, merchandising and owning A retail business. Consumers benefit from retailing in that, retailers perform marketing functions that makes it possible for customers to have access to a broad variety of products and services. Retailing also helps to create place, time and possession utilities. A retailer's service also helps to enhance a product's image. In general, retailers perform four distinct function as, shown in Figure 1.1 below: Retailers participate in the sorting process by collecting an assortment of goods and services from a wide variety of suppliers and offering them for sale. The width and depth of assortment depend upon the individual retailer's strategy. They provide information to consumers through advertising, displays and signs and sales personnel. Marketing research support is given to other channels, members. They store merchandise, mark prices on it, place items on the selling floor and otherwise handle products; usually they pay suppliers for items before selling, them to final customers. They complete transactions by using appropriate locations, and timings, credit policies, and other services e.g. delivery. Retailing in a way, is the final stage in marketing channels for consumer products. Retailers provide the vital link between producers and ultimate consumers.

RETAIL STRATEGY AND STRUCTURE

Successful retail operations depend largely on two main dimensions: margin and turnover. How far a retail enterprise can reach in margin and turnover depends essentially on the type of business (product lines) and the style and scale of the operations. In addition the turnover ,also depends upon the professional competence of the enterprise.In a given business two retail

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companies may choose two different margin levels,and yet both may be successful, provided the strategy and style of management are appropriate.

Margin Turnover Model

Ronald R. Gist "Suggested a conceptual frame work, using margin and turnover, for understanding the retail structure and evolving a retail strategy." Margin is defined as the percentage mark tip at which the inventory in the store is sold and turnover is the number of times the average inventory is sold in a year. is a diagrammatic representation of the frame work and can be applied to almost any type of retail business. Depending upon the, combination of the two parameters, a retail business will fall into one of the four quadrants. For instance L-L signifies a position, which is low on both margin and turnover; whereas, H-L indicates high margin and low turnover.

Low Margin High Turnover Stores

Such an operation assumes that low price is the most significant determinant of customer patronage. The stores in this category price their products below the market level. Marketing communication focuses mainly on price. They provide Very few services; if any, and they normally entail an extra charge whenever they do. The merchandise in these stores is generally presold or self sold. This means that the customers buy the product, rather than the store selling them. These stores are typically located in isolated locations and usually stock a wide range of fast moving goods in several merchandise lines. The inventory consists of well-known brands for which the manufacturer through national advertising creates a consumer pull. Local promotion focuses on low price. Wal-mart in the United States is an example and Pantaloon Chain or Subhiksha are Indian examples of such stores.

High Margin Low Turnover

This operation is based on the premise that distinctive merchandise, service and sales approach are the most important factors for attracting customers. Stores in this category price their products higher than those in the market, but not necessarily higher than those in similar outlets. The focus in marketing communication is on product quality and uniqueness. Merchandise

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is primarily sold in store and not pre-sold. These stores provide a large number of services

High Margin High Turnover Stores

These stores generally stock a narrow line of products with turnover of Reasonably high frequency. They could be situated in a non-commercial area but not too far from a major thoroughfare. Their location advantage allows them to charge a higher price. High overhead costs and, low volumes also necessitate a higher price.

Low Margin-Low Turnover Stores

Retail enterprises in this category are pushed to maintain low margins because of price wars. Compounding this problem is the low volume of sales, which is probably a result of poor management, unsuitable location etc. such businesses, normally get wiped out over a period of time. RETAILING FORMATS (CLASSIFYING RETAIL FIRMS) Regardless of the particular type of retailer (such as a supermarket or a department store), retailers can be categorized by (a) Ownership, (b) Store strategy mix, and (c) Non store operations. Figure 1.3 illustrates this concept.

1. Form of Ownership
A sole proprietor, partners or a corporation can own a retail business like any other type of business. A majority of retail business in India are sole proprietorships and partnerships.

2. Independent Retailer
Generally operates one outlet and offers personalized service, a convenient location and close customer contact. Roughly 98% of all the retail businesses in India, are managed and run by independents, including barber shops, drycleaners, furniture stores, bookshops, LPG Gas Agencies and neighbourhood stores. This is due to the fact that into retailing is easy and it

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requires low investment and little technical knowledge. This obviously results in a high degree of competition. Most independent retailers fail because of the ease of entry, poor management skills and inadequate resources.

3. Retail Chain
It involves common ownership of multiple units. In such units, the purchasing and decision making are centralized. Chains often rely on, specialization, standardization and elaborate control- systems. Consequently chains are able to serve a large dispersed target market and maintain a well known company name. Chain stores have been successful, mainly because they have the opportunity to take advantage of "economies of scale" in buying and selling goods. They can maintain their prices, thus increasing their margins, or they can cut prices and attract greater sales volume. Unlike smaller, independent retailers with lesser financial means, they can also take advantage of such tools as computers and information technology. Examples of retail chains in India are Shoppers stop; West side and IOC, convenience stores at select petrol filling stations.

4. Retail Franchising
Is a contractual arrangement between a "franchiser" (which may be a manufacturer, wholesaler, or a service sponsor) and a "franchisee" or franchisees, which allows the latter to conduct a certain form of business under an established name and according to a specific set of rules. The franchise agreement gives the franchiser much discretion in controlling the operations of small retailers. In exchange for fees, royalties and a share of the profits, the franchiser offers assistance and very often supplies as well. Classic examples of franchising are; McDonalds, Pizza Hut and Nirulas.

5. Cooperatives
A retail cooperative is a group of independent retailers,that have combined their financial resources and their expertise in order to effectively control their wholesaling needs. They share purchases, storage, shopping facilities, advertising planning and other functions. The individual retailers retain their

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independence, but agree on broad common policies. Amul is a typical example of a cooperative in India.

Store Strategy Mix

Retailers can be classified by retail store strategy mix, which is an integrated combination of hours, location, assortment, service, advertising, and prices etc. The various categories are:

(A)

Convenience Store:
Is generally a well situated, food oriented store with long operating

house and a limited number of items. Consumers use a convenience store; for fill in items such as bread, milk, eggs, chocolates and candy etc.

(B)

Super markets:
Is a diversified store which sells a broad range of food and non food

items. A supermarket typically carries small house hold appliances, some apparel items, bakery, film developing, jams, pickles, books, audio/video CD's etc. The Govt. run Super bazaar, and Kendriya Bhandar in Delhi are good examples of a super market. Similarly in Mumbai, we have Apna Bazar and Sahakari Bhandar.

(C)

Department Stores:
A department store usually sells a general line of apparel for the family,

household linens, home furnishings and appliances. Large format apparel department stores include Pantaloon, Ebony and Pyramid. Others in this category are: Shoppers Stop and Westside.

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(D)

Speciality Store:
Concentrates on the sale of a single line of products or services, such

as Audio equipment, Jewellery, Beauty and Health Care, etc. Consumers are not confronted with racks of unrelated merchandise. Successful speciality stores in India include, Music World for audio needs, Tanishq for jewellery and McDonalds, Pizza Hut and Nirula's for food services.

(E)

Hyper Markets:
Is a special kind of combination store which integrates an economy

super market with a discount department store. A hyper market generally has an ambience which attracts the family as whole. Pantaloon Retail India Ltd. (PRIL) through its hypermarket "Big Bazar", offers products at prices which are 25% - 30% lower than the market price.

Non Store Retailing

In non store retailing, customers do not go to a store to buy. This type of retailing is growing very fast. Among the reasons are; the ability to buy merchandise not available in local stores, the increasing number of women workers, and the presence of unskilled retail sales persons who can not provide information to help shoppers make buying decisions The major types of non store retailing are:

(A)

In Home Retailing:
Where, a sales transaction takes place in a home setting - including

door-door selling. It gives the sales person an opportunity to demonstrate products in a very personal manner. He/She has the prospect's attention and there are fewer distractions as compared to a store setting. Examples of in home retailing include, Eureka Forbes vaccum cleaners and water filters.

(B)

Telesales/Telephone Retailing:
This involves contact between the prospectand the retailer over the

phone, for the purpose of making a sale or purchase. Alarge number of

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mobile phone service providers use this method. Other examples are private insurance companies, and credit companies etc.

(C)

Catalog Retailing:
This is a type of non store retailing in which the retailers offers the

merchandise in a catalogue, which includes ordering instructions and customer orders by mail. The basic attraction for shoppers is convenience. The advantages to the retailers include lover operating costs, lower rents, smaller sales staff and absence of shop lifting. This trend is catching up fast in India. Burlington's catalogue shopping was quite popular in recent times. Some multi level marketing companies like Oriflame also resort to catalogue retailing.

(D)

Direct Response Retailing:

Here the marketers advertise these products/ services in magazines,

newspapers, radio and/or television offering an address or telephone number so that consumers can write or call to place an order. It is also sometimes referred to as "Direct response advertising." The availability of credit cards and toll free numbers stimulate direct response by telephone. The goal is to induce the customer to make an immediate and direct response to the advertisement to "order now." Telebrands is a classic example of direct response retailing. Times shopping India is another example.

(E)

Automatic Vending:
Although in a very nascent stage in India, is the ultimate in non

personal, non store retailing. Products are sold directly to customers/buyers from machines. These machines dispense products which enable customers to buy after closing hours. ATM's dispensing cash at odd hours

(F)

Electronic Retailing/E-Tailing:
Is a retail format in which retailers communicate with customers and

offer products and services for sale, over the internet. The rapid diffusion of

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internet access and usage, and the perceived low cost of entry has stimulated the creation of thousands of entrepreneurial electronic retailing ventures during the last 10 years or so. Amazon.com, E-bay and Bazee.com HDFCSec.com are some of the many e-tailers operating today. THE WHEEL OF RETAILING Is a hypothesis that attempts to explain the emergence of new retailing institutions and their eventual decline and replacement by newer retailing institutions. Like products retailing institutions also have a life cycle. According to this theory new retailers enter the market as, low margin, low price,low status institutions. The cycle begins with retailers attracting customers by offering low price and low service. Over a period of time these retailers want to expand their markets and begin to stock more merchandise, provide more services, and open more convenient locations. This trading up process. Increases the retailers costs and prices, creating opportunities for new low price retailers to enter the market. The evolution of the department store illustrates the "wheel of retailing" theory. In its entry phase, the department store was a low cost-low service venture. With time it moved up into the trading-up phase. It upgraded its facilities, stock selection, advertising and service. The same department store then moves into the vulnerability phase, because it becomes vulnerable to low cost/low service formats, such as full line discount stores and category specialists. Figure 1.5 illustrates this theory. While the wheel hypothesis has a great deal of intuitive appeal and has been borne out in general by many studies of retail development, it only reflects a pattern. It is not a sure indicator of every change, nor was it ever intended to describe the development of every individual retailer.

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RETAILING DECISIONS
There are many factors for retailers to consider while developing and implementing their marketing plans. Among the major retailing decisions are these related to (a) Target markets (b) Merchandise management (c) Store location (d) Store image (e) Store personnel (f) Store design (g) Promotion, and (h) Credit and collections. This is shown diagrammatically in Figure 1.6.

Target Markets:
Although retailers normally aim at the mass market, a growing number are engaging in marketing research and market segmentation, because they are finding it increasingly difficult to satisfy everyone. Through a careful definition of target markets, retailers can use their resources and capabilities to position themselves more effectively and achieve differential advantage. The tremendous growth in number of speciality stores in recent years is largely due to their ability to define precisely the type of customers, they want to serve.

Merchandise Management:
The objective here is to identify the merchandise that customers want, and make it available at the right price, in the right place at the right time. Merchandise Management includes (i) merchandise planning (ii) merchandise purchase, and (iii) merchandise control. Merchandise planning deals with decisions relating to the breadth and depth of the mix, needed to satisfy target customers to achieve the retailers return on investment. This involves sales forecasting, inventory requirements, decisions regarding gross margins and mark ups etc. Merchandise buying involves decisions relating to centralized or decentralized buying, merchandise resources and negotiation with suppliers. Merchandise Control: deals with maintaining the proper level of inventory and protecting it against shrinkage (theft, pilferage etc.)

Store Location:
Location is critical to the success of a retail store. A store's trading-area is the area surrounding the store from which the outlet draws a majority of its 18

customers. The extent of this area depends upon the merchandise sold. For example some people might be willing to travel a longer distance to shop at a speciality store because of the unique and prestigious merchandise offered. Having decided on the trading area a specific site must then be selected. Factors affecting the site include, traffic patterns, accessability, competitors' location, availability and cost and population shifts within the area.

Store Image:
A store image is the mental picture, or personality of the store, a retailer likes to project to customers. Image is affected by advertising, services; store layout, personnel, as well as the quality, depth and breadth of merchandise. Customers tend to shop in stores that fit their images of themselves.

Store Personnel:
Sales personnel at a retail store can help build customer loyalty and store image. A major complaint in many lanes of retailing, is the poor attitude of a salesperson. There is a growing trend now, to provide training to, these sales clerks to convert them from order takers to effective sales associates.

Store Design:
A store's exterior and interior design affect its image and profit potential. The exterior should be attractive and inviting and should blend with the store's general surroundings. The term "Atmospherics" is used to refer to the retailer's effort at creating the right ambience. Merchandise display is equally important. An effective layout guides the customer though the various sections in the store and facilitates purchase.

Promotion:
Retail promotion includes all communication from retailers to consumers and between sales people and customers. The objective is to build the stores image, promote customer traffic, and sell specific products. It includes, both, personal and non 19 personal promotion. Personal

communication is personal selling - the face to face interaction between the buyer and the seller. Department stores and speciality stores, emphasize this form of promotion. Non personal promotion is advertising. The media used are TV, Radio, Newspapers, Outdoor displays and direct mail, other forms of promotion include, displays, special sales, give always and contests etc.

Credits & Collections:

Retailers are generally wary of providing credit, because of additional costs-financing accounts receivables, processing forms and bad debts etc. But many customers prefer some form of credit while purchasing. This explains the popularity of different types of credit cards and debit cards.

EMERGING TRENDS IN RETAILING

In recent years the nature of retailing has changed dramatically, as firms try to protect their positions in the market place. Many customers are no longer willing to spend as much time on shopping as they once did. Some sectors of retailing have become saturated, several retailers are operating under high levels of debt and number of retailers after running frequent "sales", have found it difficult to maintain regular prices. Retailers are adapting to*the shopping needs and time constraints of working women, dual earner households and the increased customer interest in quality and customer service:

Shopping Malls:
A growing number of shopping malls are coming up all over the country. In north India; there seems to be a proliferation of such malls surrounding Delhi, in places like Gurgaon and Noida. In general they target higher income customers, with their prestigious speciality shops, restaurants and department stores.

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Factory Outlets:
Manufacturers are opening factory outlets to sell off surplus inventories and outdated merchandise. This forward vertical integration gives manufacturers greater control' over distribution, than selling the merchandise to off price retailers. Mohini knitwear of Ludhiana (Punjab) and number of woolen and hosiery manufacturers set up their outlets in Delhi during winters.

Non Store Retailing:

Non store retailing is accelerating at a faster rate than in store retailing. This includes direct marketing. In Home shopping TV shopping and e-tailing etc.

Diversification of Offerings:
Scrambled (unrelated products or services) merchandising is taking on a broader meaning and inter type competition among retailers is growing. For instance Citibank is organizing tourist trips and sending mail order catalogues to its credit card customers.

Impact of Technology on Shopping Behavior:

The way retailers present their merchandise and conduct their transactions are changing. Cable TV Channels are used to present merchandise, Videos have replaced catalogues and computer linkages to acquire information and make purchases are on the increase. Virtual shopping through PDA's is another possibility.

Multi Channel Retailing:

Traditional store based and catalogue retailers are placing more emphasis on their electronic channels and evolving into multi channel retailers, because they can reach new markets and overcome limitations posed by traditional formats,

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FIGURE 1.3

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FIGURE 1.4

RETAIL TREND IN INDIA

Globally, retail is the largest private industry. However, in India, it is in its nascent stages. The total retail market is estimated at Rs 900,000 Crores. Organized retail at around 5% is estimated at Rs 28,000 Crores. The organized retail share as per the estimates made by most consultants is estimated to reach a level of 10% by 2010. In absolute terms this would amount to Rs 110,000 Crores. Retail is Indias largest industry, accounting for over 10 percent of the countrys GDP and around eight percent of employment. Retailing in India is gradually inching its way to becoming the next boom industry. The whole concept of shopping has altered in terms of format and consumer buying behavior, ushering in a revolution in shopping. Modern retail has entered India as seen in sprawling shopping centers, multi-storied malls and huge complexes offer shopping, entertainment and food all under one roof. India represents an economic opportunity on a massive scale, both as a global base and as a domestic market. Indian Retail sector consists of small family-owned stores, located in residential areas, with a shop floor of less than 500 square feet. Retailing in India is at a nascent stage of is evolution, but within a small period of time certain trends are clearly emerging which are in line with the global

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experiences. Organized retailing is witnessing a wave of players entering the industry. These players are experimenting with various retail formats. Yet, Indian retailing has still not been able to come up with many successful formats that can be scaled up and applied across India. Some of the notable exceptions have been garment retailers like Madura Garments & Raymonds who was scaled their exclusive showroom format across the country.

OVERVIEW OF INDIAN RETAIL SECTOR.

The India Retail Industry is the largest among all the industries, the retail sector has helped in giving strong impetus to overall economic growth as a significant driver of the growth of services sector, which contributes as mush as 54 per cent of GDP. It has strong backward and forward linkages with other sectors like agriculture and industry through stimulating demand for goods and through mass marketing, packaging, storage and transport. Moreover, it creates considerable direct and indirect employment in the economy. Also, the consumers have benefited in terms of wide range of products available in a market. The Retail Industry in India has come forth as one of the most dynamic and fast paced industries with several players entering the market. But all of them have not yet tasted success because of the heavy initial investments that are required to break even with other companies and compete with them The total concept and idea of shopping has undergone an attention drawing change in terms of format and consumer buying behavior, ushering in a revolution in shopping in India. Modern retailing has entered into the Retail market in India as is observed in the form of bustling shopping centers, multistoried malls and the huge complexes that offer shopping, entertainment and food all under one roof. With growing time constraints and choices, the consumer is getting used to having options readily at hand when one steps out to make the final purchase decision without much dissonance Need for an enhanced look and feel of the shopping environment. With retail ambiences getting upgraded, clearly the poky neighborhood kirana stores are becoming part of the past for the hypermarket consumer, and one will soon find it difficult to shop "regularly" at the dusty grocery shop.

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Today with the growth of malls and hypermarkets, consumers no longer think "expensive looking" means "expensive". To actually establish premium imagery through shopping environment is going to be that much more difficult! Need for customer service to encourage consumers to come back again and again and buy more. Quite contrary to the thought that technology will dehumanize transactions, the truth is humans will make all the difference. It may seem that in a vast country like India, this is restricted to a few urban towns. This could be myopic thinking. The revolution was brewing in South India in the 90s but seems to have taken speed in the 21st century. As "retail" brands see the value of volumes and with the ready availability of both technologies for back-end management and real estate for front-end face, business compulsions and opportunities will make them expand faster than one can imagine. Consumers moving up the "diminishing return" curve. After getting a certain level of quality in many categories, consumers are unwilling to pay more for incremental quality and so are ready to make do with "acceptable quality", which store brands offer very easily. Media fragmentation makes its more and more difficult for mass marketed brands to actually connect with consumers. So the battle moves to the market place where by sheer ownership, store brands hold an edge. They are cost advantage, because store brands operate on much less overheads because their target markets are limited to the catchments area in and around the store and so depend much less on "expensive" mass media brand-building advertising. And above all there are fewer partners to share the "margin goodies" with. A large young working population with median age of 24 years, nuclear families in urban areas, along with increasing workingwomen population and emerging opportunities in the services sector are going to be the key factors in the growth of the organized Retail sector in India. The growth pattern in organized retailing and in the consumption made

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by the Indian population will follow a rising graph helping the newer businessmen to enter the India Retail Industry. In India the vast middle class and its almost untapped retail industry are the key attractive forces for global retail giants wanting to enter into newer markets, Clearly, the impact of this retail revolution could be bigger than just the changing faade of the market place and enhancing consumer buying experience. It is a looming threat to "mass brand marketers" and the sooner they take cognizance of that, the better. Mass retailers may not only redefine shopping experiences, but also redefine market spaces. The future of the India Retail Industry looks promising with the growing of the market, with the government policies becoming more favorable and the emerging technologies facilitating operations.

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STRUCTURE OF INDIAN RETAIL SECTOR

The retail sector is classified broadly into two: 1. Organised Retail Sector and, 2. Unorganised Retail Sector

ORGANISED RETAIL
Organized retailing refers to trading activities undertaken by licensed retailers, that is, those who are registered for sales tax, income tax, etc. These include the corporate-backed hypermarkets and retail chains, and also the privately owned large number of retailers, greater enforcement of taxation mechanisms and better labour law monitoring systems. It is not just a stocking and selling, but is more about efficient supply chain management, developing vender relationships, quality customer service, efficient merchandising and timely promotional campaigns. It, however, constitutes a very little share of at around 5 per cent (Rs 500 billion) of the total retail market. According to the Retailers Association of India, the share of organised sector to the overall retailing market in India is expected to grow from 3 per cent to 20 per cent in the next 10 years. The KSA Technopaks estimate is that by 2005, the organised retail sector would be employing in excess of 2, 50, 000 individuals directly and perhaps 8-10 times as many indirectly in the supply chain. The organised retailing has been successful in metropolitan cities so far, more so in the south and west India. It is expected that the tier II cities would take another 5 years to absorb modern retailing opportunities. Moreover, the case for Indian retailers to explore rural markets is also strong due to the size of rural population and agricultural income growth in last couple of years. A clear indicator of this potential is the share of rural market across most categories of consumption.

UNORGANISED RETAIL
Unorganized retailing, on the other hand, represents 97 per cent of the total retail market is mainly characterised by typically small retailers,

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traditional formats of low-cost retailing, more prone to tax evasion and lack of labour law supervision. The local kirana shops, owner manned general stores, paan/beedi shops, convenience stores, hand cart and pavement vendors, etc. Food retail trade is a very large segment of the total economic activity of our country and due to its vast employment potential; it deserves very special focused attention. Efficiency enhancements and increase in the food retail sales activity would have a cascading effect on employment and economic activity in the rural areas for the marginalized workers. India is one of the largest unorganised retail markets in the world and more than 96 per cent of the retailers work in less than 500 sq ft of area.

FIGURE-1.5

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SIZE OF THE MODERN RETAIL SECTOR

A retail revolution is sweeping through India. Organized retail, which is 5% of the whole currently, is in turn pegged to grow to Rs. 100,000 Crores by 2015. And one consequence of all those investments will be the fact that India's present two square-feet per capita retailing space will rise 15-20% by 2010. The emergence of new formats and the evolution of modern retail in India has attracted attention in recent years. The retail sector, currently, is said to contribute 12 per cent of Indias GDP and is expected to grow at a robust rate of 45 per cent per annum by the end of 2008 (Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India, ASSOCHAM). This growth would expand the size of the market to over Rs 14, 79,000 crore from its current level of Rs 5, 88,000 crore. The Indian retail market is estimated at Rs 9,300 billion and is expected to grow at a compounded rate of 30 per cent over the next five years (Retailers Association of India). Moreover, the retail sector employs over 7 per cent (21 million) of the national workforce, the second only to agriculture. The retail density more than doubled between 1978 and 1996 and the number of outlets per 1000 people at an all India level, increased from 6.5 in 2000 to 20.5 in 2005. For the urban sector alone, the shop density increased from 12.6 per 1000 people in 1999 to 20.3 per 1000 people in 2005. Until now, Indian retailers have very little bargaining power with manufacturers, unlike in the case of retailers in developed countries. With the growth of malls, multiplexes, and hypermarkets, the consumer is being exposed to a new kind of shopping experience and services which is quietly and surely redefining her expectations from shopping.

FIGURE- 1.6 29

A look at the statistics shows that the retail sector in India is worth USD 394 billion and is growing at the rate of 30% annually. Study has found that retailing ($180 billion) contributes to 10 per cent of GDP and employs 7 per cent (21 million) of the workforce. According to AT Kearney, India is given the top ranking as the next foreign investment destination, as markets like China become increasingly saturated. India is the 4th largest economy as regards GDP (in PPP terms) and is expected to rank 3rd by 2010 just behind US and China1. Over the past few years, the retail sales in India are hovering around 33-35% of GDP as compared to around 20% in the US. The table gives the picture of India's retail trade as compared to the US and China. The last few years witnessed immense growth by this sector, the key drivers being changing consumer profile and demographics, increase in the number of international brands available in the Indian market, economic implications of the government increasing urbanization, credit availability, and improvement in the infrastructure, increasing investments in technology and real estate building a world class shopping environment for the consumers. In order to keep pace with the increasing demand, there has been a hectic activity in terms of entry of international labels, expansion plans, and focus on technology, operations and processes. This has lead to more complex relationships involving suppliers, third party distributors and retailers, which can be dealt with the help of an efficient supply chain. A proper supply chain will help meet the competition head-on, manage stock availability; supplier relations, new value-added services, cost cutting and most importantly reduce the wastage levels in fresh produce.

FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT (FDI) IN RETAIL

The recent clamor about opening up the retail sector to Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) becomes a very sensitive issue, the most important factor against FDI driven modern retailing is that it is labour displacing to the extent that it can only expand by destroying the traditional retail sector. This is because the primary task of government in India is still to provide livelihoods and not create so called efficiencies of scale by creating redundancies. As per present regulations, no FDI is permitted in retail trade in India. Allowing 49%

30

or 26% FDI (which have been the proposed figures till date) will have immediate and direct consequences. Entry of foreign players now will most definitely disrupt the current balance of the economy; will render millions of small retailers jobless by closing the small slit of opportunity available to them. Retailing is not an activity that can boost GDP by itself. It is only an intermediate value-adding process. If there arent any goods being manufactured, then there will not be many goods to be retailed! This underlines the importance of manufacturing in a developing economy. Global retailers have already been sourcing from India; the opening up of the retail sector to the FDI has been fraught with political challenges. With politicians arguing that the global retailers will put thousands of small local players and fledging domestic chains out of business. The only opening in the retail sector so far has been to allow 51% foreign stakes in single brand consumer stores, private labels, high tech items/ items requiring specialized after sales service, medical and diagnostic items and items sourced from Indian small sector (manufactured with technology provided by the foreign collaborations). Parties supporting the FDI suggest that the FDI in retail should be opened in a gradual/ phased manner, such that it can promote competition and contribute to the growth of the Indian economy. The impact of the FDI would benefit the end user of the consumer to a great extent and will help to generate a decent amount of employment as more and more entrepreneurs would be coming forward to invest and taste the new generation in retail marketing. The opening of FDI should be designed in such a way that many sectors - including agriculture, food processing, manufacturing, packaging and logistics would reap benefits. The table below lists the pros and cons of allowing FDI into retail.

BENIFITS OF FDI IN RETAIL

Inflow of investment and funds. Improvement in the quality of employment. Generating more employment.
31

 Increased local sourcing. Provide better value to end consumers. Investments and improvement in the supply chains and warehousing. Franchising opportunities for local entrepreneurs. Growth of infrastructure. Increased efficiency. Cost reduction. Implementation of IT in retail. Stimulate infant industries and other supporting industries.
DRAWBACKS OF FDI IN RETAIL

Would

give rise to cut-throat competition rather than promoting

incremental business.

Promoting cartels and creating monopoly. Increase in the real estate prices. Marginalize domestic entrepreneurs. The
financial strength of foreign players would displace the

unorganized players.

Absence of proper regulatory guidelines would induce unfair trade

practices like Predatory pricing. Thus it can be said that this investment boom could change the face of Indian retail by offering quality goods at lower prices to the consumers. In addition to 32

this, the presence of global retailers will further enhance exports from India as they would also source Indi goods for their international outlets in a big way leading to a remarkable increase in Indian exports.

30 0 22 5 15 0 7 5
7 8 8 0

FDI in retail allowed

8 5

9 0

9 1

9 2

9 3

9 4

9 5

9 6

9 7

9 8

9 9

0 0 0 1

0 2

Years
FIGURE-1.7

SWOT ANALYSISFOR RETAIL SECTOR

Retail sales grew @ 19.6% CAGR for the next 4 years

after the introduction of FDI in 2002

KEY SUCCESS FACTORS:

Price Schemes Customer Delight Availability of all types/brands

33

Quality of products

34

STRENGTHS:
1. Price Lowest, full value 2. Schemes innovative, targeting new and potential customers 3. Availability availability of all items and maximum brands. This is because of the different tastes and preferences of customers 4. Good Customer base and spreading word of mouth Brand of the future.

WEAKNESS:
1. Non enthusiastic staff at stores. 2. Initial Bad image due to hiccups at launch or long speculation. 3. Quality problems. 4. Communication problems within the organization

OPPORTUNITIES:
1. The other retailers like Vishal Mega mart have set up the trend for these types of retail outlets in a place where just around 9% of population goes to supermarkets 2. The market itself which is growing at very fast rate. 3. The expansion of the city at a fast pace and new centers like City Centre, Ansal Plaza, Omaxe and numerous other malls coming up in the city.

THREATS:
1. The competitors are placed very well in the market and their association with the customers.

2.

The credit system provided by the Kirana and Departmental stores.

Therefore it becomes difficult for the customer to switch.

35

STRENGTHS
Price Lowest, full value Schemes customers Availability availability of all items and maximum brands. This is because tastes base of the and and different Good innovative, targeting new and potential

WEAKNESS
Non enthusiastic staff at stores. Initial Bad image due to hiccups at launch or long speculation. Quality problems. Communication the organization problems within

preferences of customers Customer spreading word of mouth Brand of the future.

THREATS
The competitors are placed very well in the market and their association with the customers. The credit system provided by the Kirana and Departmental stores. Therefore it becomes difficult for the customer to switch.

OPPORTUNITIES
The other retailers like Vishal Mega mart have set up the trend for these types of retail outlets in a place where just around 9% of population goes to supermarkets The market itself which is growing at very fast rate. The expansion of the city at fast pace and new centers like magnum mall, Ishaniya mall and numerous other malls coming up in the city.

36

Although the weakness quoted above can develop when the operations start, but these have been stated above so that a proactive approach can be adopted rather than a reactive approach. This will definitely help Reliance to be excellent, both functionally as well as strategically.

MAJOR COMPONENTS OF RETAIL SECTOR

The major components of the retail sector are: Food and Grocery, Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG), Consumer Durables, Apparel, Footwear and leather, Watches, Jewellery, and Health and Beauty The anatomy of the retail market has shown that the clothing and textiles constitutes 39 per cent of the organised retail pie, followed by food and grocery, which accounts for 11 Percent share of organised retail market. Percentage Share O Retail f Segm ents in Total Retail Sector
3 3 7 7 8 9 5 11 39 8
C lothing and T extiles Food and G rocery C onsumer D urable Footw ear Furniture and Furnishing C atering Serv ices Jew ellery and Watches Books, Music and G ifts Mobile H andsets O thers

FIGURE-1.8 However, according to the survey conducted by KPMG for Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), among these, the food and grocery is expected to witness the fastest growth followed by clothing as the second-fastest growing segment.

37

CHANGING RETAIL FOOD SECTOR

1. Introduction
One of the major facets of globalization that is changing the food marketing system, both domestically in India and internationally in other countries, is the emergence of supermarkets and hypermarkets4 into the retailing sector. In other words, the retail sector has become more globalize. In India, the development of these modern retail outlets has seen tremendous growth since the 1990s. The pull factors driving the rise of hypermarkets coupled with the multi-nationalization of supermarket chains include, among others, the relaxation of investment and trade restriction and hence the influx of Fids to the country, and increase in urbanization and increase of population and thus market density. At the global front, the saturation of and increased competition and profit squeeze in food markets in Europe and North America have forced the hypermarkets companies to expand their territories to the Asia-Pacific Region which are enjoying buoyant economic growth. The presence of these supermarkets and hypermarkets brought direct impact onto the local scene affecting traditional market outlets, consumers, suppliers, trade and employment. Traditional markets are losing ground, but are still important outlets for fresh fruits and vegetables. This paper attempts to elucidate the Indias changing food retail sector. The first part reviews the development of the food retail sector with emphasis on the emergence of supermarkets and hypermarkets. This is followed by the identification of the driving forces that drive the development of these modern retails outlets. This is then followed by the discussion on the impacts of the modern retail sector on traditional retail outlets, agricultural production and food quality. The final part summarizes the implications of these changes on the policy.

2. Development of the Food Retail Sector

The food retail sector is made up of wet markets, dry markets, night markets, sundry/provision shops, convenience stores, discount stores, specialty stores, supermarkets, department stores, and hypermarkets. These different channels cater to different segments of the Indian population. 38

Traditionally the provision shops made up the large segment of the food retail sector. As time progress and due to various factors such as consumer lifestyle, price disadvantage and limited working capital, the number of these provision shops has been on the decline. Nevertheless, these segments still contribute around 25% of all retail sales in India. The total numbers of retail outlet (food/non-food) establishments in India increased from 126,385 establishments in 1999 to 139,960 in 2003 department stores, supermarkets, The retail outlets comprise convenience stores, hypermarkets,

traditional stores such as independent grocers, etc. Food retail outlets made up 75% of the total number of retail outlets in the country, the majority of which were independent grocers. The structure of the retail sector has changed with the increasing presence of hypermarket, supermarket and direct selling. A survey on shopping habits in 1997 indicated that shoppers at .2.1 Modern Retail Store Modern retail stores such as supermarkets and hypermarkets are mainly located in the majorurban centers and are continuing to grow in numbers. The foreign-owned supermarkets isdominated by Giant, Tesco, Makro, and Carrefour, while the local-owned is The Store, X-Tra, and Mydin. Tables 3 and 4 show the profile of the supermarkets and their sales share, respectively. The Government has recently introduced new guidelines on the opening of new hypermarkets in an attempt to slow down their rapid growth and to provide some level of protection for small retailers. More Indians are shopping at these stores, particularly the affluent middle to upper income consumers, because these large retail stores offer a wide range of sophisticated food and beverage products. Their products are mainly made up of high quality, branded goods sourced from both local and overseas suppliers. These retailers are increasingly sourcing from local sources to remain price competitive. For example, Tesco sources 95% of the products from local suppliers.

39

2.2 Convenience Store

Convenience stores are still a fairly new retail store concept in India. They have around 11% of the total retail sales. These stores are mainly located in major urban centers and along the North-South Highway to capture busy customers who seek convenience. They concentrate on selling a small range of convenience foods in medium to small sized packaging, usually single serve sizes. Imported products form a small proportion of their product lines. More convenience stores such as petrol station stores have been opening, particularly in major urban center and along the North-South Highway. These store concepts are still at the early stage of introduction and most shoppers do not automatically turn to these stores for their shopping needs. The limited ranges of products offered by these stores also act as a barrier to attracting more customers to these stores. The main convenience store is 7-Eleven although other smaller local convenience stores exist.

2.3 Traditional Store

The traditional stores sub-sector is large but highly fragmented. It includes provision shops, grocery shops, wet markets, mini markets and other similar retail outlets, which sell a limited range of food and beverage products on a small scale. They generally sell local products and brands with low to no presence for imported products, depending on the target customers and the location of the store. The majority of Indians continues to shop from traditional stores and still continue to command a significant share of the retail market, as these types of outlets are conveniently located near to their homes or places of work. Most of these retailers continue to source their products from local suppliers to remain price competitive.

2.4 Future Scenario

Supermarkets and hypermarkets will continue to perform strongly over in the future. It is very unlikely that independent grocery stores will be able to bridge the pricing advantage and convenient and comfortable shopping environment that these two types of outlets offer. Strong economic conditions will ensure that there is a continued increase in demand for niche and value-

40

added products. Sales by food retailers on the whole are expected to achieve a cumulative growth of about 28% over the 2003-2008 periods Sales through hypermarkets are expected to reach a very similar level to that of supermarkets.

3. Driving Forces for the Changing Retail Food Sector a. Income growth
Supermarket chains are rapidly growing to meet the needs of more affluent consumers. With rising affluence and education levels, consumers shopping and eating lifestyles have changed drastically over the years. Indian, especially in urban areas, prefer to shop in modern retail outlets, which offer them one-stop shopping options. However, traditional stores such as provision and grocery shops, which are conveniently located in residential and workplaces are still popular.

b. Consumer tastes and changing behaviour

Indias consumer lifestyle has been evolving and changing due to in part of rising income and education level. High profile international retailers and the global mass media have also played a hand in shaping consumerbuying behavior. Foreign owned hypermarkets are fast gaining popularity in India, attracting customers with their one stop and all under one roof concepts. Since then, foreign retailers have been expanding rapidly in India. Indian consumers, particularly those in the 20-40 age group, who can afford and are willing to pay for the price of convenience, have a preference for semi-prepared foods and/or takeaway meal. India is becoming urbanized. This has contributed to the development of a country's modern retail sector.

c. Urbanization
Increase in urbanization and population has increased the market density (thus increase ineconomies of scale of processing and retail units and decrease in transaction costs). There was an increase of 3.13 million people in the urban areas in 1991-2000.

41

d. Food Safety Concern

Together with improvement in education level and increase in income, Indian is more aware of nutritional issues, and shifts in shopping habits towards healthy eating.

e. Infrastructure and Advances in Technology

The good infrastructure together with advances in technology in India has made the rapid rise of supermarkets in India possible. Besides, nearly 90% of the household in India have refrigerators, and the number of homes with microwaves ovens around 15-20% and growing.

4. Impacts on Traditional Outlets

Independent grocers such as provision shops and mini-markets gradually closed. Many would attribute this to the emergence of modern retailing with supermarkets and hypermarkets. In 2003, retailers with an annual turnover of at least RM1.25 million accounted for the largest share of total retail sales in India. This was not the case before 2000, when retailers with less than RM1.25 million in retail turnover, collectively, accounted for slightly more than 50% of total retail sales.

5. Impact on Agricultural Producers

The differences between the hypermarkets marketing channel compares to the traditional one are as follows: (i) under the traditional system, the farmers produce has to go through a number of intermediaries before it reaches the consumers. Whereas in the case of marketing through the hypermarket, the farmers could either sell their produce direct to or through the processors who then sell it to the hypermarkets, hence shortening the distribution channel; (ii) under the traditional channel, the price is generally discovered through personal negotiation while the sale to the hypermarkets are normally formalized in the form of contract; hence price is determined by the hyperretailer who then passes it down to the producer; 42

(iii) the transactions between the supplier and the hypermarkets are normally done under contractual terms (iv) producers or suppliers are subjected to rigorous quality standards as specified in the contracts. There is no empirical study that has been carried to evaluate the economic impacts of such arrangement on the producer as well as on the marketing system in India. The preliminary observation on this development suggests that invasion of MNCs into the food retailing sector has redefined the supply chain management. It provides a new market outlet for the producers

6. Consumers Preferences, Perception and Opinion of Modern Retail Food Outlets

A total of 120 respondents were interviewed to obtain consumers preferences, perception and opinion of modern food retail outlets such as supermarkets and hypermarkets. Although the number of respondents is small, nevertheless, it provides some insight on the consumers

43

CHAPTER 2 COMPANY PROFILE

INTRODUCTION PRODUCT RANGE STORE BRAND COMPETATIOR PROFILE OF SPENCER

44

45

CHAPTER -2 COMPANY PROFILE

THE MOBILE STORE

INTRODUCTION
The MobileStore Limited, India's first countrywide chain of telecom retail outlets and largest mobile retailer.[3] The MobileStore is an Essar Group venture,[4] set to introduce a pan-Indian network of retail telecom outlets. The MobileStore provides multi brand handsets, accessories, connections, repairs, VAS etc. The MobileStore currently has more than 1372 outlets and the vision is to have a network of 2500 stores by 2010 across 650 cities, thus covering virtually every major town in every state across India.[5] The MobileStore outlets are in three formats: Large - 1000-1500 square feet, Medium- 800-1000 square feet and Corner-150-200 square feet, with smaller formats located primarily in large malls. The MobileStore offers handset purchase to the choice of service operator and miscellaneous services like monthly bill collections etc., the stores also offer connections (pre paid and post paid), accessories and VAS including ring tones, wallpapers and gaming and after sales service. The MobileStore has categorized its mobile device offerings into consumer segments keeping in mind the profiles and needs of different consumers. The segments available in The MobileStore are: Business PDA & Smartphones, Emails, data transfer etc., Lifestyle - Fashion phones, Look and elegance, Fun - Multimedia & music, camera, games, wacky ring tones and wallpapers, Value for Money - Special offers, discounts and budget phones. The MobileStore has also tied up with operators including Airtel, Vodafone, BPL, Idea, MTNL/BSNL and Reliance, Tata Indicom.

46

FIGURE-2.1

RPG enterprises
40,000 + Employees 4, 00,000 + Shareholders R- RESPOND P- PERFORMG- GROW

OPERATIONS
The company operates through the following formats:-Spencers Hypermarkets:A fast growing retail, network of hypermarkets with large format stores in Mumbai, Gurgaon,Ghaziabad, Luck now, Calicut, Hyderabad, Vizag, Vijayawada, Aurangabad, Durgapur and Kolkata. Spencers Super :One of the largest supermarkets Chain in the food and grocery segment in India. Spencers Daily :-

47

Small format store conveniently located with a range of products to meet your daily household needs. Spencers Express :Your food and grocery store to next door.

MILESTONES
2003 RPG crosses the 7000 Cr turnover mark reaching 7472 Cr in sales. 2001 'Giant' hypermarkets are established. 2000 International Computers India Ltd (ICIL) becomes Zensar Technologies Ltd. Food world is established 1997 Music World and Health & Glow are formed 1996 RPG Netcom is established 1995 RPG Cellular commences its operations. 1988 HMV (His Masters Voice) is acquired 1985 Saregama India (formerly the Gramophone of India Ltd) is acquired 1983 RPG Life Sciences (formerly Searle India) is acquired 1979 Inception of RPG Enterprises by Mr. RP Goenka, a Rs. 700 million group, which comprises Phillips Carbon Black, Asian Cables, Agarpara Jute and Murphy (India). What is it that defines RPG Enterprises success and carries it on through generations? The set of values and the visionary focus of its leaders, which forms the distinct identity of RPG Enterprises, is what constitute its business

48

drivers.

49

ITS VISION AND CORE VALUES ARE:

We shall be a leading Indian Group with a focus on market capitalization through: Leadership in profitability and revenue growth in our chosen businesses Being a customer-centric organization and Being the most exciting workplace.

People Orientation Innovation & Entrepreneurship Transparency & Integrity Passion for Superior Performance

ITS QUALITY POLICY

Group is to achieve customer satisfaction, through building trust and confidence in our customers by anticipating, understanding and meeting in full, customers' needs with a helpful attitude and supportive behaviour and providing them with consistent quality products and services. We will attain this as a team with the full involvement of our suppliers, employees and partners."

50

MIAN MOTOS OF THE COMPANY

S.T.U.C= Show that you care

SPENCER'S OPENS FIRST OUTLET IN MUMBAI
Spencers Retail today is the largest supermarket chain in India. At Spencers there are extensive range of products and durables, designed to satisfy all shopping needs. Today SPENCERS has 350 stores across 50 cities covering a retail trading area of half a million square feet and an astonishing 3 million customers a month. No wonder, after more than 100 years, people continue to trust the name Spencers. And this trust has been the outcome of a consistent highquality service. In 1863, since we first opened our gates to the Indian consumer, But our Endeavour, by which we still stand firm, has always been to provide a pleasant and delightful shopping experience for you, our valued customer. As RPG, when we took over Spencers, we pioneered the retail revolution in India, by introducing the concept of specialty stores like Food World, Health and Glow and Music World. In 2000, SPENCERS introduced the Indian consumer to the first ever Hypermarket. SPENCERS is having five type of Outlet for different need of different type of customers. SPENCERS FRESH SPENCERS EXPRESS SPENCRES DAILY SPENCERS SUPER SPENCERS HYPER

51

SPENCERS WAY
Organized modern retailing which encompasses the four key ingredients Price Product Service Ambience

WHAT WE SELL
We believe in presenting you with a unique experience that compliments your shopping. An experience that can only be delivered through valuing your time and making you feel special. These are the values that we have internalized over the last 100 years to deliver what we call,' Shopping, the Spencer's Way.' Our endless choice of foods is what makes shopping at Spencer's so special. Exotic fruits & vegetables, sauces & supplies for your favourite international cuisines, and imported foods. Added to these are a wide range of diet food, organic food and specialty cuisines, giving you the perfect reason to indulge your taste buds at Spencer's.

52

OUR PRODUCT PROFILE INCLUDES THE FOLLOWING:

Fresh Fruits & Vegetable Groceries, Grains and Cereals Baked Chilled and Frozen Foods Personal Care and Baby Care Products Home Care Products Office and Home Stationery Apparel and Fashion Accessories Electrical and Electronics

SPENCERS RETAIL VERTICAL

SPENCERS FRESH SPENCERS DAILY BEYOND SPENCERS X-PRESS WORLD SPENCERS SUPER SPENCERS HYPER

SPENCERS

BOOK &

MUSIC

CELLUCON

53

PG RETAIL VISION
To be a customer focused differentiated, foods intensive retail company with clusters of destination and convenience stores. (Hyper, Super, Dailies) To establish Spencers express & mass proliferate. To set up Retail chains in focused verticals like music, books, mobility solutions, apparel, footwear, luxury brands and life style brands where domain knowledge exists or is acquired through partnerships. To achieve pan India presence with 2000 store through current verticals by 2009 & 5000 stores by 2011.

SPENCERS RETAIL GROWTH

Indias largest Super market chain 350 Stores today and a new store every 2 days. Hyper and super alone will be 150+ by 2011

54

SPENCERS RETAIL- FOOD VERTICAL FORMATS

Area in Sq.ft Spencer s Daily 3000-5000 Fruits & vegetables, Beverages, staples, ready to eat, processed foods, takeaways, bakery, home & personal care, fish, meat, Assortment Mix

Spencer s XPress Spencer s Super

1400-1800

Store next door with essential SKUS form above

1000018000

Full offering of dailys + home, brown goods, select apparels

Spencer s Hyper

3000075000

Full offering of supers + full range HWP & Apparels, white goods, electronics & electrical

55

BRAND STRATEGY FOR SPENCERS RETAIL

Customers focused, differentiated, foods intensive retail

company with cluster of destination and convenience store

Brand strategy for Spencers retail has been mapped with strong focus on unique brand differentiators

56

57

FIGURE-2.2

58

Favourable demographics

Retail growth

Malls boom Rising consumers

FIGURE-2.3

59

DIFFERENTIATION IS THE MANTRA

PRODUCT RANGE SPENCERS HYPER (JAIPUR)
The company launched its first hyper store in Jaipur and plans to expand in the city with six more stores - a super format in Vaishali Nagar, a daily format in Bapu Nagar and four express formats in Bani Park, Jhotwara Road, Adarsh Nagar, and Mansarovar each. 'There are 15 Spencer's stores due to be launched in Jaipur by the end of 2007', said J H Mehta, president & CEO of Spencer's Retail. Mehta said that Spencer's hyper store in the city is spread across an area of 20,000 sq.ft 'this will be the first organized retail format in Jaipur', he claimed Spencer's hyper store offers almost 25,000 products under one roof. From groceries, fruits and vegetables to personal care products, toys and appliances, shoppers can choose from a plethora of merchandise. The store also has a bakery, and food court. Sumantra Banerjee, president & CEO of RPG Retail said, 'We are delighted to bring an international shopping experience to the discerning customers of Jaipur. Spencer's addresses the contemporary retail aspirations of Jaipur, a city preserving its old-world charm. RPG Retail has so far opened over 150 Spencer's outlets with 9 hypermarkets, 5 supermarkets, 3 fresh, 17 express and 116 dailies across 30 cities in the country. Spencer's currently has a national consumer base of over 35million people.

60

FIGURE-2.4

61

IN SPENCERS HYPER MAIN SECTION ARE

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. FMCG F&V STAPLES HWP Garments Electronics & Electrical

FMCG
THERE ARE NINE MAJOR CATEGORIES IN FMCG-:
Ready food Instant food Chilli & frozen Household needs Beauty care Toiletries Beverages & severages Fish & meat Bakery & food serving

THERE ARE TWO TYPES OF SUBCATEGORIES-:

Food Nonfood

62

HWP
THERE ARE THREE MAJOR CATEGORIES IN HWP-:
1. Home 2. Work 3. Play

IN HOME SECTION WE HAVE NINE SUBCATEGORIES-:

Kitchen ware Pooja implements Gift & novality Home linen Cleaning aids Bath accessories Dinner ware Home ware Disposables items

IN WORK SECTION WE HAVE THREE SUB CATEGORIES-:

Stationery Tools kit Luggage

IN PLAY SECTION WE HAVE TWO SUB CATEGORIES-:

Games Soft toys

63

64

F&V
F&V STAND FOR FRUIT AND VEGETABLES THERE IS 2 MAJOR CATEGORY
1.Fruits 2.Vagetables

STAPLES
THERE ARE SEVEN MAJOR CATEGORIES IN STAPLES-:
Pulses Cereals Spices Non-Spices Flour Oil Sugar & Salt

GARMENTS
IN GARMENTS WE HAVE THREE MAJOR CATEGORIES-:
1. Kids wear 2. Mans wear 3. Womens wear

65

ELECTRONICS & ELECTRICAL

All electronics and electrical items like Iron, Owen, T.V., Freeze, Washing Machine, Mixer Grinder, Tube, Bulb etc.

STORE BRAND
Spencers to further its leading market position has developed its own brand called Spencers Value which covers most product categories from FMCG, HWP, Electronics, Staples and several other product categories.

FIGURE-2.5

In FMCG category they have Spencers value jam, Spencers Dipper, and Spencers phenyl. IN HWP they have Spencers value double bed sheet, Spencers value kadai, Spencers value Tawa, Spencers value wet Tissues. In HWP Section if we talk about Dinner set category they have their home brand called RAK dinner set which come under top ten brand of Spencers Hyper.With all the above, and an unparallel customer service focus, Spencers home products have good image in consumers mind.

66

HOW THE FOUR PS SHOULD BE THERE FOR SPENCER TO OPERATE BETTER IN THE MARKET:

PRICE PROMOTION

EQUIVALENT TO THE

MARKET

STRONG AND AGGRESSIVE

PLACE

EASILY ACCESSIBLE AND NEAR TO RESIDENTIAL AREAS

PRODUCTS

ALL VARIETIES AND GOOD QUALITY

These are the 4 Ps which should be as explained above when it launches itself into the market and for the better and fast growth prospects of SPENCER HYPER (JAIPUR).

67

COMPETATIOR PROFILE OF SPENCER

RELIANCE
RELIANCE GROUP The Reliance Group, founded by Dhirubhai H. Ambani (1932-2002), is India's largest private sector enterprise, with businesses in the energy and materials value chain. Group's annual revenues are in excess of USD 27 billion. The flagship company, Reliance Industries Limited, is a Fortune Global 500 company and is the largest private sector company in India. Backward vertical integration has been the cornerstone of the evolution and growth of Reliance. Starting with textiles in the late seventies, Reliance pursued a strategy of backward vertical integration - in polyester, fibre intermediates, plastics, petrochemicals, petroleum refining and oil and gas exploration and production to be fully integrated along the materials and energy value chain. The Group's activities span exploration and production of oil and gas, petroleum refining and marketing, petrochemicals (polyester, fibre intermediates, plastics and chemicals), textiles and retail. Reliance enjoys global leadership in its businesses, The Group exports products in excess of USD 15 billion to more than 100 countries in the world. There are more than 25,000 employees on the rolls of Group Companies. Major Group Companies are Reliance Industries Limited (including main subsidiaries Reliance Petroleum Limited and Reliance Retail Limited) and Reliance Industrial Infrastructure Limited.

RELIANCE FRESH APKA FRESH APKA PADAOS ME

Indias Fortune 500 private sector giant, Reliance Industries Ltd, has, in fact, been first off the blocks by launching its first Reliance Fresh outlets in Hyderabad,

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Reliance fresh is the retail chain division of reliance industries of India which is headed by mukesh ambani. Reliance has entered into this segment by opening new retail stores into almost every metropolitan and regional area of India. Reliance plans to invest rs 25000 crores in the next 4 years in their retail division and plans to begin retail stores in 784 cities across the country. The reliance fresh supermarket chain is rils rs25,000 crore venture and it plans to add more stores across different g, and eventually have a pan-India footprint by year 2011. The super marts will sell fresh fruits and vegetables, staples, groceries, fresh juice bars and dairy products and also will sport a separate enclosure and supply-chain for non-vegetarian products. Besides, the stores would provide direct employment to 5lakh young Indians and indirect job opportunities to a million people, according to the company. The company also has plans to train students and housewives in customer care and quality services for part-time jobs.

RELIANCE FRESH IN MYSORE

In Mysore their are 4 outlets of reliance fresh: 1. NAZARBAD 2. N.R. MOHALLA 3. K.D.Road 4. CHAMARAJA DOUBLE ROAD On an average turn over is 50,000rs in Mysore, where as compare to other cities it is too low. Their main aim is to provide good quality products in lower price & customer service & customer satisfaction. According to reliance fresh store manager they were satisfying 75% of customer expectations. Reliance Retail Ltd. Launched its much awaited format and India's largest hypermarket under the brand name 'Reliance Mart' at Iskon Mall, SG Highway, Ahemdabad on August 15. After the successful launch of the Supermarket format 'Reliance Fresh' and the consumer electronics concept mega store 'Reliance Digital', the hypermarket is the third retail format launched by Reliance Retail. Spread across 165,000 square feet of shopping area, RelianceMart will provide the shoppers a never before experienced shopping delight. The

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hypermarket will carry a range of over 95,000 products catering to the entire family. Shoppers will have the option to choose from the wide array of products in every category ranging from fresh produce, Food & grocery, home care products, apparel and accessories, non - food FMCH products, consumer durables and IT, Automotive Accessories, lifestyle Product, Footwear and much more. Commenting on the launch of this new product, Shri. Mukesh Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director, Reliance Industries Ltd. said, 'Organised Retail has potential to trigger socio-economic transformation on an unprecedented scale in our country and will bring about enormous spin-off benefits to the Indian economy and its various constituents'. The launch of Reliance Mart is yet another step by Reliance Retail towards providing an nternational shopping experience to all our customers at unmatched affordability, guaranteed quality and choice of products and services. RelianceMart marks the achievement of another milestone in our effort to unleash a retail revolution in India.' Shri Ambani added. RelianceMart offers some unique services to the shoppers like tailoring, shoe repair, watch repair, a photo shop, gift services and laundry services all within the store. The store also houses its own Fresh bakery serving 'hot off the oven' bread and bread products through out the day and local savories, an ice-cream train for the kids, a chakki, ready-made batter and loose tea and pickle for housewives RelianceMart will also sell fine jewelry and fashion jewelry as a part of its Lifestyle section. RelianceMart will also house a health and wellness store providing pharmaceutical drugs and other wellness products. For the shopper's convenience, the store providing pharmaceutical drugs and other wellness products. For the shopper's convenience, the store has a cafeteria providing quality food and beverages for ready consumption, an ATM machine and a consumer service / membership desk to provide the customer a truly international shopping experience. The hypermarket also launched a host of Reliance's own brands in select categories with superior quality and affordable prices like 'First Class', 'Network, Netplay, Team Spirit' and Sparsh in Men's and Women's Formal / Casual and Ethnic wear, 'DNM- X' in the jeans category for men and women, 'Panda' for kids clothing and ' Grip' in the

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luggage section. The footwear category will carry 'Zig' in formal wear. 'Hi Attitude' for semi -formal, 'Tosco' as party wear and 'Monza' for the sports

V MART
Each single step is a new step, towards life, towards future. A story that started with a small confident step is today exploring and Running the retail revolution in India. Way back in 2003, V Mart opened its first store at Law Garden, Ahmedabad and today boast of its presence in almost all the major cities across India. With chain of 26 outlets in 22 cities V Mart is having pan India presence, V Mart covers over 3,50,000 sq.ft. of area and delights 60,000 satisfied shoppers each day.V Mart is a multi-branded family store that works on the Value for money retail concept thus providing the masses with the best quality at cheaper price. The vast product range caters to every age and all the family needs with Apparels for men, women & kids, Food & Home products, Health & Wellness, Lifestyle Products, Footwear and Travel Accessories for men, women and kids. The Sabse Sasta, Sabse Achcha Story. V Mart has positioned itself in the Value for Money category thus providing customers with the most economic and best of quality products. The Sabse Sasta, Sabse Achcha theme says every thing about V Mart, the philosophy and the values. One can find the best of products, quality, latest fashion and every thing that keeps customers healthy and happy and of course the vast range to choose from. company hopes to expand rapidly with similar format stores that offer a fine balance between style and price retailing. V Mart targets to expand into a 100 outlets by March 2010.

Wal-Mart World's largest discount retailer.

Headquarters: Bentonville, AR 72716 Employees: 2,200,000+ CEO: Lee Scott

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When you think of Wal-Mart, think big! It's the world's biggest retailer and also the biggest employer with over 2 million full- and part-time workers worldwide -- 1.4 million in the U.S. It operates Wal-Mart stores along with Sam's Club membership warehouses in the U.S. and 12 foreign countries. Known for its low pricing and wide selection of goods, Wal-Mart has become the undisputed king of retailing. It is also a feared giant for its sheer size and pricing power.

As of May 2008, Wal-Mart had the following store count: Retail Units Worldwide 7,343 US Retail Units 4,195 Wal-Mart Stores 937 Super centers 2,527 Sam's Clubs 593 Neighborhood Market 138 International Retail Units 3,148 Wal-Mart Discount Stores average 107,000 square feet, employ an average of 225 associates and offer 120,000 items.Wal-Mart Super centers average 185,000 square feet, employ 350 or more associates on average and offer 142,000different items.Each Sam's Club employs an average of 160 to 175 associates and offers approximately 5,500 different products. A membership fee ($35 annually for businesses/$40 annually for individuals) is required to shop at Sam's Club. There are 584 Sam's Club locations. The company also operates Neighborhood Markets. Generally, they are located in markets with Wal-Mart Super centers, supplementing a strong food distribution network and providing added convenience while maintaining Wal-Mart's Every Day Low Prices. First opened in 1998, the now more than 120 Neighborhood Markets, averaging 42,000 square feet, feature a wide variety of products, including fresh produce, deli foods, fresh meat and dairy items, health and beauty aids, one-hour photo and traditional photo developing services, drive-through pharmacies, stationery and paper goods,

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pet supplies, and household chemicals. Neighborhood Markets employ 95 associates on average and offer about 29,000 items. Wal-Mart reported record revenues for 2007 of $378.7 billion. Wal-Mart stores in the U.S. generated $239.5 billion in sales while Sam's Club reported $44.3 billion in revenues. International stores brought in $90.6 billion. Membership fees and other income added $4.27 billion. Net income for the entire company was $12.7 billion in 2007. The company has recently begun to offer new health plans for employees with lower fees and higher deductibles. Wal-Mart says 92.7% of all employees now have health coverage with the company or through their spouse. The company said the average hourly wage for a regular full-time hourly associate in the U.S. is $10.86 an hour al-Mart reportedly will cut 700800 jobs at its corporate headquarters this year in merchandising, real estate, marketing and support divisions in its U.S. division and in the Sam's Club unit.

History
The first Wal-Mart store opened in tiny Rogers, AR in 1962 by brothers Sam and Bud Walton. By 1964, Wal-Mart had 24 stores with $12 million in sales and in 1969 Wal-Mart moved outside the state of Arkansas with stores in Sikeston, MO, and Claremore, OK. The company was guided by founder Sam Walton's passion for customer satisfaction and "Every Day Low Prices." In 1970, the company opened its first distribution center and corporate headquarters in Bentonville, AR, where it is located today. Wal-Mart also went public the same year. In 1983, the first Sam's Club warehouse store opened. In 1988, the first Wal-Mart Supercenter opened which featured a Wal-Mart store with a full-scale supermarket inside.

Medical Coverage
Every associate who works in the United States can become eligible for individual health coverage costing as little as $5 per month in some areas

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and as little as $8 per month nationwide. As soon as an associate becomes eligible for benefits, their children become eligible too. Today, more than 92 percent of associates have health insurance-either through Wal-Mart or through other coverage. For our associates who choose coverage with WalMart, we also offer more than 2,400 generic prescription drugs for $4. This includes prescription drugs to treat everything from diabetes to heart disease. Wal-Mart associates will find more than 50 ways to customize their health coverage. They can select from a menu of deductibles, health care coverage options, and health credits and premiums. We want associates and their families to have the peace of mind that their healthcare needs will be met, especially when they need it most. To ensure that peace of mind, Wal-Mart's health coverage includes no lifetime maximums on most health care expenses.

Exclusive, Everyday Savings

We save Americans thousands of dollars a year. And our associates get even more. Every Wal-Mart associate receives: - 10 percent off regularly priced general merchandise in Wal-Mart stores or on www.walmart.com with the associate discount card - 10 percent off of fresh fruits and vegetables - An additional 10 percent off eyewear at Wal-Mart Vision Centers - Over 100 discounts on walmartbenefits.com - our associate-only website-for everything from new cars to movie tickets. We believe in our associates' futures. Last year, we put $870 million into associates' Profit Sharing and 401(k) Plan accounts. We do this whether or not an associate looses to contribute. We also make it easy for associates to have an ownership in the company. The Associate Stock Purchase Program allows associates to purchase stock without most brokerage fees. Plus, we match a portion of their purchases. Wal-Mart Success = Your Success Every associate is eligible to receive performance bonuses based on the performance of their store. We also offer a long-term service award, which

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rewards hourly associates and assistant managers who have been with the company for 20 years or more with an extra week of pay. During the fiscal year ending January 31, 2008, Wal-Mart said it contributed: - $724.4 million to 838,955 hourly associates in profit-sharing and 401(k) contributions. - $50.1 million to 764,098 hourly associates toward the company's associate stock purchase plan. - $420.2 million in discounted merchandise to hourly associates and their family members through the merchandise discount program.

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Subhiksha
When R Subramanian became an entrepreneur and started a retail chain called Subhiksha, there were not many entrepreneurs in India. In his family too, there were no entrepreneurs. After obtaining an engineering degree from the Indian Institute of Technology-Madras, he decided to join Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad as he was sure about one thing -that he would not leave India to go abroad. Ten years after Subhiksha was set up, the retail chain has around 500 outlets all over India which Subramanian wants to double by 2007-end. In an exclusive interview with Contributing Editor Shobha Warrier, Subhiksha managing director R Subramnian talks about his adventures, the success of his retail chain and also his future plans.

Starts his first company called Viswapriya

I wanted to start a company of my own and told Mr Viswanathan about it. He asked me from where was I going to get the money? I had no idea. I told him I would figure out. He then told me that he would give me money to set up the company and I run it for him. As long as I could run the company, it was fine with me. He provided me with the money, and in 1991, I set up my first company called Viswapriya. We got a galaxy of very good people on board. We basically did three things. We bought debentures from thousands of people who had them in very small numbers and consolidated as 1 lakh (100,000) or 2 lakh (200,000) debentures and invested in mutual funds. And the investors got a monthly income. Every time the money went to lakhs of investors, it went from Viswapriya and that way our company's name became popular. It was a good business to start and we were the pioneers in it. After we started, all the big guys got into the business. So it was good fun.

Entering the retail market ten years ago

There was no great logic behind entering the retail market in 1997. We made a study of two areas: software and retail. Between software and retail, we thought we were a bit late for software as Satyam, Infosys, Wipro, TCS, etc had already established by then. We didn't want to be a small and late entrant. In retail, we would be one of the early entrants, so we would have the 76

learning curve much to our advantage. We allocated a Rs 5 crore (Rs 50 million) corpus to it and entered the retail business. There was a lot of thought process behind it. We wanted to attract not the top end customer but the aam aadmi. From our research of three months, we found that consumers prefer buying groceries from closer home. So, we decided to set up 1,000 sq ft shops all across the city and not a 10,000 sq ft big store at one location in Chennai. The next question was why would he come to our store abandoning the existing store? It had to be the price, because ultimately there is no difference between the branded products like say Boost or Surf or such things. So, we decided to sell branded products at a lower price.

On starting Subhiksha
We looked at all sorts of names; and finally we chose the Sanskrit word Subhiksha (prosperity) because it reflects the Indian ethos and it is a word that can be understood all over India. What we were trying to do was different from the western model; our model is truly Indian. Our theme was, why pay more when you can get it for less at Subhiksha? In March, 1997, we opened our first store in Thiruvanmiyoor in Chennai with an investment of around Rs 4-5 lakh (Rs 400,000-500,000). We opened it with the clear idea that it is part of a larger system. We thought the day we opened, there would be a stampede because the prices were low and we would sell goods of Rs 30-40 lakh (Rs 3-4 million) by the month end. But there was nothing of that sort! We sold goods of only Rs 5-6 lakh (Rs 500,000-600,000) in the first month. Yes, consumers were very surprised, and they gingerly looked at the products and asked, are they seconds or old stock or defective products? In the first year, we opened ten stores in Chennai. We also started selling medicines at a discount. On the third day of our opening the pharmacy, there were about 100 people outside our store in the morning. We thought all of them were waiting to buy from our store. What we were expecting on day one happened on day three, we thought happily. But we soon found that they were not there to buy anything; they were chemists from the neighbourhood who had come to do a dharna (protest) saying we could not sell medicines at a discount.Finally we had to go to court, and it was only in 1999 that the Supreme Court gave a

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ruling that we could sell medicines at a discount. We were doing quite well on the pharma front and we enjoyed all the attention we got. Another thing is the medicines that we were selling at a discount were bought mainly by the elderly who have no fixed income and they welcomed any discount. We were quite happy to be able to help them in some way. Medicine retailing is more of a service than business for us. Of course, it is good business for us too. But our main motto is service. On his expansion plans By March 1999, we started expanding rapidly. From 14 stores, we expanded to 50 stores by June 2000. In the next two years, we had 120-130 stores across Tamil Nadu. Another big thing was, in 2000, ICICI Venture invested in our company. Today, we have 145 stores all over Tamil Nadu. We saw to it that the moment we got into a city, we started as many stores as possible there. Only that made business sense. Then, till 2004, we made sure that we consolidated before we expanded, though there was a lot of pressure on us to expand nationally. We decided to look at every part of India which is significantly literate and is a significant consumption market. We wanted to be everywhere. We looked at the telecom companies as our role model. They employed capable regional managers and expanded. Our business is also extremely local. We can't sit in Chennai and run a store in Chandigarh. We decided to have very good quality people to run the region, area, town and the store. In 2004-05, we decided to have 420 stores in places like Gujarat, Delhi, Mumbai, Andhra and Karnataka by 2006. In 2005, we started recruiting people in various regions. Today, we have 500 plus stores in all the places that we had planned. It will go up to 600-plus by the month end. We are already India's largest retail chain store with 500-plus stores. We plan to have 1,000-plus stores by the end of this year. India is a large country and there are still opportunities to avail of. Though now, the thought of opening stores outside India Risk in retailing and expansion? We are not mad risk takers. We are not producing movies. We do a lot of research before starting business in an area, and we have back-up plans in 78

place. We work with very good people, and if something goes wrong, we try to take corrective steps. The big advantage we have is, we are not creating products. So there are no worries about whether it would succeed or not. Consumers are smart and they are all price-conscious and they want to finish the work as fast as they can. They don't go to a provision store for fun. On the entry of MNCs and Reliance in the retail market Everybody has been asking me, are you worried about Wal-Mart coming to India? Ultimately Wal-Mart is also going to be run by people like us. The point is you need not worry about anybody's entry. There is a huge potential for growth in India. There is potential for another ten people to come in. Ultimately the share of the unorganised kiranas will come down and the share of organised sector will go up because of the efficacy in buying and distributing. Also, this is an extremely low margin business. Ultimately, everybody has to sell within the cost. It is not that we are geniuses; we have been in the business for ten years, and we have made enough mistakes and learnt from them. I don't think any child will learn to walk without falling down first, however good the parent is. We made our mistakes when we were small. The bigger you are, the mistakes will cost you more. Satisfaction There are two kinds (of satisfaction). We genuinely believe that through efficiency, we are helping the consumers save more. We are also happy that we are bringing in a model that is Indian, capable of supporting the middle class of India.

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On what he does other than thinking about Subhiksha

I would like to say I think of Subhiksha all the time, but I do not. I read a lot, mainly online. I lead a reasonably balanced life. Working 12-13 hours a day six days a week, is my working pattern. I keep Sunday evenings and afternoons only for family. But I travel 12-15 days a month visiting all the Subhiksha regions. I am a pretty cool person, relaxed all the time. I am not hassled about anything.Personally I am not a very ambitious person; I am happy with my curd-rice! What gives me a kick is to show that a business model from India is superior to a business model imported from the West. We are living in an age where we do not have to be taught by the West what we should do in our country.

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Vishal Retail Ltd

What started as a humble one store enterprise in 1986 in Kolkata (erstwhile, Calcutta) is today a conglomerate encompassing 183 showrooms in 110 cities / 24 states. Indias 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 had a turnover of Rs. 1463.12 million for fiscal 2005, under the dynamic leadership of Mr.Ram Chandra Agarwal . The group had a turnover of Rs 2884.43 million for fiscal 2006 and Rs. 6026.53 million for fiscal 2007. The groups prime focus is on retailing. The Vishal stores offer affordable family fashion at prices to suit every pocket. The groups 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. Vishal is one of fastest growing retailing groups in India. Its outlets cater to almost all price ranges. The showrooms have over 70,000 products range which fulfills all your household needs, and can be catered to under one roof. It is covering about 29, 90, 146 sq. ft. in 24 states 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 consumerVishal Retail Ltd. has a factory in Gurgaon, Haryana. This factory has morethan 700 imported machines that have a capacity to manufacturer 150000 pieces a month. The factory occupies 80000 sq ft of covered space.The Vishal group indirectly gives employment to more than a 1000 people. These people work in ancillaries that supply finished goods to the company Our 10 warehouses cater to 183 showrooms in 24 states/110 cities across India. It is covering about 29, 90, 146 sq. ft. Vishal Mega Mart is one of Indias fastest growing retail chains.. The chain currently has 183 company stores in 24 states / 110 cities in India. The Vishal brand is known for great modern style for men, women and children. Vishal offers high level fashion styling. Since 1986, our name has been synonymous with quality, value and 81

fashion integrity. We offer an unparalleled collection of clothes for the entire family. Each garment is hand selected for quality and contemporary styling. Vishal manufactures majority of its own garments and out sources some under its direct quality supervision. This enables us to offer the lowest possible and most reasonable prices. Our goal is to provide a range of fashion wear to suit every pocket. Our product mix represents the most current fashion trends in tops, bottoms, formals and accessories for men, women and kids. Our courteous staff will ensure that consumers get a perfect fit.

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CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

PROJECT TITLE & INTRODUCATION RESEARCH PROCESS SAMPLING METHOD SAMPLE SIZE SOURCES OF INFORMATION DATA ANLYSIS

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CHAPTER-3 Research Methodology PROJECT TITLE & INTRODUCATION

FIGURE-3.1

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Customer Satisfaction
INTRODUCTION
From the beginning of the customer service revolution almost 20 years ago, a body of business research has focused on customer satisfaction and customer-focused organizations.1 Business consultants, corporations and others have worked to identify the characteristics of organizations that consistently please their customers, to develop tools for monitoring customer satisfaction, and to build continuous, quality improvement systems that respond to consumer feedback. Although much of the research has been conducted by and for the corporate world, customer service and satisfaction is not limited to the private sector. Publicly funded organizations that are incorporating practices developed in the business world provide a growing body of experience and study. Increasingly, federal, state and local government agencies are attempting to gauge their performance and the effect on those they directly serve. Throughout the public sector, initiatives to reinvent governmentincluding education reform, privatization, and managed carehave elevated customer service and satisfaction to new priorities. Within the European Union, a shift is underway to re-think and reform social services with social inclusion and user involvement as driving forces in quality improvement.

Customer Satisfaction:
Improving Quality and Access to Services and Supports in Vulnerable Neighborhoods helped the Center identify effective approaches used by market-driven organizations to monitor and improve customer satisfaction. Further study examined strategies for applying customer-driven quality improvement strategies to public services, including European approaches and experiences with user involvement and customer satisfaction in social services. This paper provides a brief synthesis of this formative research. Although it draws primarily from the business worlds prolific study of market-driven organizations, it also provides public sector examples and experiences. explores key components of customer-focused organizations, including: Customer-oriented vision that is clearly defi ned and communicated; Customer-oriented culture that embeds customer satisfaction

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throughout organizational practices; Focus on the total customer experience; and Customer service standards and accountability. examines the critical role of frontline staff and strategies for ensuring that employees have the capacity to put customer service first, including training, employee empowerment, and recognition and rewards for performance. describes tools and strategies used to research and improve customer satisfaction,including surveys, customer behavior research, complaint resolution approaches, testersand secret shoppers, and continuous feedback loops. The conclusion briefly describes the potential for applying customer satisfaction research and customer service strategies in the public sector and among vulnerable populations.

Why Organizations Focus on Customer Satisfaction

Businesses monitor customer satisfaction in order to determine how to increase their customer base, customer loyalty, revenue, profits, market share and survival. Although greater profit is the primary driver, exemplary businesses focus on the customer and his/her experience with the organization. They work to make their customers happy and see customer satisfaction as the key to survival and profit. Customer satisfaction in turn hinges on the quality and effects of their experiences and the goods or services they receive.

What is Customer Satisfaction?

The definition of customer satisfaction has been widely debated as organizations increasingly attempt to measure it. Customer satisfaction can be experienced in a variety of situations and connected to both goods and services. It is a highly personal assessment that is greatly affected by customer expectations. Satisfaction also is based on the customers experience of both contact with the organization (the moment of truth as it is called in business literature) and personal outcomes.

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Customer Satisfaction:
Improving Quality and Access to Services and Supports in Vulnerable Neighborhoods It was the consensus of the groups that lack of information often leads to low expectations. They further agreed that the process of obtaining a service and the way it is delivered can have a major impact on the users experience. The qualities of relationships and staff were central to positive outcomes.8 Because customer satisfaction is a highly variable assessment that every individual makes based on his/her own information, expectations, direct contact and interaction, and impact, it makes sense to involve and consult consumers when designing customer satisfaction approaches.

Service Quality
Research identifies many characteristics that are associated with service quality. Business researchers Benjamin Schneider and David Bowen assert that service organizations must meet three key customer needs to deliver service excellence: security, esteem, and justice.9 Research identifies an array of service quality factors that are important for customers, including: Timeliness and convenience, Personal attention, Reliability and dependability, Employee competence and professionalism, Empathy, Responsiveness, Assurance, Availability, andTangibles such as physical facilities and equipmentand the appearance of the personnel. Research shows that these characteristics also apply to citizen satisfaction with public service quality. Timely service is an especially strong determinant of quality across different types of public services. Fairness and outcomes are additional factors important to public service customers.10 Public sector quality improvement initiatives are on the rise worldwide as contracting and private service provision has become more common. At the same time, European and consumer-oriented services has produced a quality gap: a gulf in perceptions of quality and the impact of services on the end user. She calls for rethinking quality initiatives to interlink quality improvement with user involvement and participation and with

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Customer Satisfaction:
Improving Quality and Access to Services and Supports in Vulnerable Neighborhoods customer service. According to marketing expert Barry Feig, a strong mission statement both inspires and challenges employees.13 It can also help employees feel that they are part of something important, another operating principle of high-performing companies.14

A.

It helps set and manage customer expectations.

Airlines Customer Service Plan states: We are in business to provide

The American safe, dependable, and friendly air transportation to our customers, in the hopesthat you will fly with us again and again. The Customer Service Plan then goes on to provide service goals, guarantees, and promises for customers and employees. It is continually updated based on information from customer research, including focus groups, discussions and surveys.

B.

Total Customer Experience

Business experts recommend focusing on the entire customer

experience with each service contact. It is the totality of the buying experience that will keep your customers coming back for more.25 More than just the basics of customer service create a favorable experience for the customer; everything, conscious and unconscious, can affect it. Successful service companies attend to every detail to ensure that the customers physical, social, and psychological experience is pleasant.

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Personal Contact and Relationships

Research shows that, in an increasingly impersonal world, customers want personalized service. It is essential to customer satisfaction. Customers experience service one-onone, subjectively, impressionistically. An organization looks like the people who greet them, write up their order, deliver something to them it sounds like the last person the customer talked to on the phone.26 Honeywell and Contracting Business Magazine conducted consumer focus groups to determine customer expectations and perceptions of heating and air conditioning contractors. They learned that reliance on answering machines and interactive telephone-computer communications were viewed as definite negatives. Customers wanted not only a skilled technician, but also someone who was easy to talk to, looked professional, enjoyed talking to the customer, and respected the customer.27 Proven techniques for putting customers at ease include simple courtesy, using each customers name, answering customers questions, and remembering their names, preferences, and personal things about them. One way staff members at an exemplary Marriott Hotel in California put customers at ease is by using the customers name several times at every interaction.28 At the Crown Paradise Resort in Cancun, Mexico,and other hotels, the concierge frequently calls guest rooms to see if customers needfresh towels, new drinks in the refrigerator, or other services. Walmart places a greeter

CUSTOMER-ORIENTED ORGANIZATIONS
In many areas, customer satisfaction ultimately boils down to the customers contact with frontline staff. Capable, empowered frontline staff put customer-focused mission statements, standards and culture into practice. Thunderbird Samaritan Medical Center in the Phoenix suburb of Glendale improved the satisfaction of hospital patients from the 10th percentile nationally to the 90th percentile in two years. Hospital leaders created the Service Excellence Initiative and shifted from counting beans to caring for the fieldworkers. Here is how they summed it up: Of the lessons learned in this

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initiative, the most salient may be the importance of staying focused on the most important asset: our people.40

The Golden Rule: Treat Employees Well

Research consistently shows that the way employees are treated by their management has a direct impact on the way those employees treat the businesses customers.41 This translates in to a single principle that high performing customer service organizations share: Treat your employees as you want them to treat your customers. As Bill Marriott, Jr., chairman of Marriott Hotels, says: Motivate employees, train them, care about them, and make winners of them. At Marriott we know that if we treat our employees correctly, theyll treat the customers right. And if the customers are treated right, theyll come back.42 To satisfy customers, staff need tools, including thorough training, flexibility and empowerment to solve problems and satisfy customers. To know that the organization values them, frontline staff also need recognition and rewards for strong performance.

A. Selecting and Preparing Customer Service Staff Hiring

The first step for focusing staff on customer service is hiring the right people. For a growing number of companies and government agencies, a preemployment video narrows the applicant pool to those who will help the organization accomplish its mission of customer satisfaction. For example, the Emanuel Medical Center video makes the organizations mission and expectations clear by stressing the hospitals non-negotiable standards of patient care. It encourages individuals to proceed with the application process only if they share Emanuels philosophy and standards.43 In the U.K., recent social policies require that local government and public agencies consult with those they serve when making decisions that affect them. Increasingly, this consultation includes hiring decisions. The Hertfordshire, England county council,

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Customer Satisfaction:
Improving Quality and Access to Services and Supports in Vulnerable Neighborhoodsin a collaborative effort with the adult care service agency and the national health service, involves service users with learning disabilities and their family caregivers in the recruitment and selection of new staff. They have developed a manual to guide managers onpreparing, training and providing support needed to involve users in an effective way. 44

Orientation and Training

Customer service leaders place heavy emphasis on instilling a customer-first culture throughout their organizations by training new employees and reinforcing a customer focus with current employees. Disneylands Disney University provides one of the premier examples of employee orientation. It is provided after a candidate is offered a job and includes discussions of company history and philosophy, where Disneyland fits within the Disney Corporation, the standards expected of employees (called cast members at Disneyland), and a tour of Disneyland. After this initial phase, new employees go through division training, which introduces the employees to their particular jobs. Then, actual job training begins. Successful service organizations such as American Express, L.L. Bean, Disney, Marriott, Nordstrom, and J.C. Penney all make a clear commitment to training the employees who interact with the public, whether they provide service by telephone or in-person. Their training programs include formal classroom instruction that focuses on job skills and attitudes and the expectations of management, as well as on-the-job training that allows staff to learn about the organization and the work from interaction between coworkers.45 The Ritz-Carlton, two-time winner of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, provides 250 hours of training to first-year, frontline employees, known as the The Ladies and Gentlemen of the Ritz-Carlton.46 American Express telephone service representatives spend five weeks in a classroom, two weeks in on-the-job training, and three weeks in a training unit before they are on their own.

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In lectures, listening, and role-playing, they learn basic operating policies, how to calm angry customers, and how to help customers who need immediate assistance.47 When MidState Medical Center shifted its entire organization to a customer satisfaction focus, it made hiring and training top priorities. Not only were new employees indoctrinated in customer service expectations, values and behaviors; a reorientation program immersed current employees in the new customer focus.48

B.

Empowering Employees to Satisfy Customers

Hiring, orientation and training of staff are common ways of focusing

employees on customer service. Employee empowermentgiving employees the flexibility and leeway to satisfy customersis less widely practiced. However, studies show that it can lead to improved customer service and increased customer satisfaction and that it is energizing and highly motivating for employees.

Removing Barriers to Customer Satisfaction

To empower employees, they must have the means to satisfy customers, as well as the blessings of management. Any Ritz-Carlton employee can spend up to $2,000 to resolve a problem or handle a complaint.50 Similarly, employees of the San Antonio River Center Marriott have flexibility and authority to enact the hotel creed, Every guest leaves satisfied. Associates who encounter unhappy guests solve the problem on the spot without going up the chain of command. They have an arsenal of products and services at their disposal (including a free nights stay, a free dinner, or a gift certificate for a future weekend stay) to smooth over difficult situations.51 Emanuel Hospital is also breaking down the institutional barriers that sometimes prevent employees from doing what they believe is the right thing.

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One step was the development of caring baskets. Each hospital department has caring baskets full of movie passes, car wash certificates, and restaurant vouchers. Any employee can use one of these gifts to make up for customer service mistakes immediately.52 Nordstrom is another company that allows employees to go to great lengths to satisfy customers. According to Bruce Nordstrom, what distinguishes the company in customer service is its army of highly motivated, self-empowered people who have an entrepreneurial spirit, who feel theyre in this to better themselves and to feel good about themselves, to make more money and to be successful.53 Nordstrom trains its employees and gives them the freedom to make decisions. One of the most famous Nordstrom examples is the salesperson who gladly accepted a returned set of automobile tires and gave the customer a refund even though Nordstrom has never sold tires. The customer purchased the tires from one of three stores in Alaska that Nordstrom acquired in 1975. Instead of being reprimanded by management, the employee became a company hero, and the story reinforces the Nordstrom mystique of customer service and drives other employees to exemplary performance.54 As this example illustrates, Nordstrom, employees are instructed to always make a decision that favors the customer before the company. They are never criticized for doing too much for a customer; they are criticized for doing too little.55

Involving

Employees

in

Organizational
also

Planning
and

and

Improvement
Customer-oriented organizations empower motivate employees by involving them in essential organizational processes. When everyone participates in developing.

Customer Satisfaction:
Improving Quality and Access to Services and Supports in Vulnerable Neighborhoods organizational plans and strategies for improvement, it adds more ideas, increases employee buy-in, and contributes to a culture of employee empowerment. The Ritz-Carlton involves all levels of employees in

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the companys strategic planning process. After senior leaders identify specific company objectives, they communicate those objectives to staff at lower levels of the organization. The employees on those levels identify the actions and deeds that if done will collectively meet the objectives.56 MidState Medical Centers steps for engaging frontline staff in setting customer service standards are another example of employee empowerment.

C. Recognizing and Rewarding Employee Performance

A common practice among successful service organizations is constant recognition, reward and praise for employees who provide outstanding customer service. This can take many forms; it does not always need to be expensive to be effective. A Press Ganey survey asked hospital employees how morale could be improved. More than half the responses were: smile, thank them, recognize and appreciate them.57 Emanuel Hospitalscaring baskets (described as a tool for resolving customer problems) can also be used to motivate employees to provide exemplary service and allow employees to encourage each other. Regardless of rank, any employee can reward another employee with a movie pass, car wash certificate, or restaurant voucher from the caring basket. Moreover, each month employees who went above and beyond are praised in front of coworkers and managers and given certificates and gifts from the caring baskets. Nordstrom is among the many businesses that use inter-company and inter-store sales competitions to motivate employees. Rewards include flowers, cash, dinners, or trips. In addition, the company constantly recognizes and praises its top performers.58 MidState Medical Center established two highly visible employee and team awards for quality and customer service. Informally, hospital executives attend staff meetings to honor employees in front of their co-workers. In addition, the hospital sometimes takes out newspaper ads and billboards to congratulate staff on awards and outstanding customer survey results.59

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CUSTOMER SATISFACTION
A. Introduction
Although companies conduct customer satisfaction research for various reasons, the overall goal is to help them stay as close to their customers as humanly possible.60 Many leading edge companies and research firms focus on obtaining useful feedback from customers and clients and converting it into actionable steps to improve their performance. Some want feedback from customers about existing or new products and services. Others want to know how to target their resources on issues of concern to customers. Still others want to demonstrate a commitment to listening to their customers. As a by-product, customer feedback can provide actual examples of good and bad practices for employee training and continuous improvement efforts.61 The organizations objectives define what it wants to learn from customers and guides how the information is collected. Experts advise that first defining measurable objectives will allow organizations to learn the effectiveness of your survey, and it will help you in reinvesting the information you learned.62 In general, the research focus is how reliably the organization fulfills customer satisfaction and what can be done to improve. The most active verb when you speak in the vocabulary of customer satisfaction is to improve.63 How frequently an organization measures customer satisfaction depends on the nature of its service and what it wants to gain. For instance, if customers make daily decisions about the services offered, frequent measurement is appropriate. Many consumer product and service companies need this type of dayto-day or weekly information. The National Performance Review (NPR) found that best-in-business organizations solicit feedback from customers before, during, and after service.64 The methods chosen for measuring customer satisfaction depend on customer characteristics, time availability, costs, and the information an organization hopes togather. Many of the top performing companies identified by the NPR used sophisticated market research techniques: Feedback was obtained through customer focus groups,

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Customer Satisfaction:
Improving Quality and Access to Services and Supports in Vulnerable Neighborhoods

B.

Customer Satisfaction Surveys

Surveys and questionnaires are the most common marketing research

methods. Typically, they are used to: assess the level of customer satisfaction with a particular product, service or experience; identify factors that contribute to customer satisfaction and dissatisfaction; determine the current status or situation of a product or service; compare and rank providers; estimate the distribution of characteristics in a potential customer population; or help establish customer service standards.

Benefits and Challenges

Surveys allow an organization to quickly capture vital information with relatively little expense and effort. A primary advantage of this method is its directness: the purpose is clear, and the responses straightforward.66 Additionally, the information gathered by surveys can easily be analyzed and used to identify trends over time. The public views consumer product polls and pollsters in a generally positive manner compared to political and other polls. One study found that at least sixty percent of the public feels that market research about products and services has a positive impact on society. Seventy percent consider the people who conduct such surveys to have positive impacts on society.67 A major disadvantage of customer surveys is that the responses may be influenced by the measurement itself through various forms of bias. For example, most surveys are voluntary, and some researchers have found differences between survey respondents and non-respondents. People who respond to surveys answer questions differently than those who do not respond, and late responders answer differently than early responders. Most demographic studies report that non-response is associated with low education. One study found that non-respondents were more often single males.68

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Methods and Examples

Two types of surveys are widely used by companies and research firms: transactional and image-based. These can be combined or used separately. Each time a customer interacts with an organization is a transactiona call, a message, using the product or service. Many companies use ongoing transactional satisfaction measurements to monitor customer service, support or sales groups over time. In addition, each customer has an overall impression of the company or organization. These images are based on

Customer Satisfaction:
Improving Quality and Access to Services and Supports in Vulnerable Neighborhoods Surveys can be used in combination with other research strategies to obtain fuller understanding of customer satisfaction. The federal Veterans Health Administration (formerly Department of Veterans Affairs) sends annual surveys to outpatients, recently discharged inpatients, and extended care patients. Along with customer complaints, survey data are tracked in a National Patient Feedback program and correlated with National Customer Service Standards. The Administration uses focus groups to identify major issues and to flesh out initial responses to the customer satisfaction surveys. Additional surveys further determine areas of improvement. The satisfaction questions deal directly with issues the focus groups identified as important and ask for patient feedback about what happened (the patient serving as a reporter). There are a few global questions about how the patient views the care (the patient as a rater). Focus groups identified specific areas of concern such as relief of pain, emotional support, adhering to patient preferences, communication with members of the treating team, etc. The scores in these areas, rather than specific questions, will be used to determine whether a concern about patient satisfaction should be

included on a performance contract. 72 In Norway, customer satisfaction surveys are widely used to measure the perceived quality of public services. In 1996, half the county governors and agencies
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already used customer satisfaction surveys. A 2004 survey in the Oslo community expanded on earlier studies in 1998 and 2001. It included questions regarding: whether residents felt they were being treated respectfully, whether staff was able and willing to provide information and services to them, and the availability of and access to services. The Dutch research institute Verweij-Jonker developed a computerised system called SATER for measuring clients views on the effect of and the satisfaction with individual social interventions. Social work agencies have implemented pilots in a variety of settings including cities and rural areas. All clients whose cases are closed are asked to participate, including those who drop out before the end of treatment. (People who are negative about the services can provide especially relevant information for improving the treatment.) Participants complete anonymous, computerized questionnaires, even if they have no previous experience with computers. The software routes participants to specific questions based on their individual characteristics and circumstances. The computer procedure avoids the problem of socially correct responses and allows clients to take all the time they need to read the questions and fill in the answers. Most clients in pilot sites appreciated the opportunity to complete the survey and found it easier to handle than paper questionnaires. In some cases where it is not possible to provide space for clients to use a computer or to arrange access to an office, the interviews were administered by telephone. The questionnaire takes into account the following issues: the clients personal defy nation of the situation, through an inventory of the problems that they experienced at the start of the intervention; selection of the four most important problems; assessment of the various stages of the intervention process with opportunity to specify and elaborate on negative experiences; satisfaction with the social worker and with the
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way they were treated by the social worker; and satisfaction with a number of more general and physical aspects of the agency and the treatment process.75

C. Complaint Monitoring and Resolution

While employee empowerment provides capacity for responding to individual complaints, systems for monitoring and examining complaints reveal patterns of organizational practices that need to be addressed. Oops momentsthose instances in which things do not go as smoothly as they should for service organizationsoffer opportunities for both ongoing learning and immediate improvement.76 because problems can always arise, service recovery (remedying customer dissatisfaction) is vital for service excellence. The federal National Performance Review found that best-in-business organizations actively encourage customer complaints. 77 Research further supports the importance of actively seeking customer input and involvement rather than waiting for them to complain. Making it easy for customers to complain and to resolve problems on the first contact is the ideal.

Benefits and Challenges

Systems for monitoring and responding to customer complaints can capture a range of useful information. Substantial evidence suggests that complaint behavior is not just a function of the intensity of dissatisfaction but of several other factors as well, such as consumer characteristics, consumers perceptions of the attributes of dissatisfaction, expectancy of outcomes, economic costs involved, product type, etc.78 Complaint response systems can yield further benefits in positive customer and public perceptions. Generally, only four percent of dissatisfied customers formally complain to a company about an unsatisfactory product, service or experience. Instead, the average dissatisfied customer voices displeasure to eight to ten other people, each of whom will tell at least five others. Thus, at least 50 people can eventually learn of one customers dissatisfaction without the company finding out.79 In contrast, satisfied customers tell only five other people about their

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pleasant experience with an organizationhalf thenumber who will hear about a negative experience.80

Customer Satisfaction:
Improving Quality and Access to Services and Supports in Vulnerable Neighborhoods Some research has shown that customers who had complaints that were resolved were more satisfied than customers who did not have problems in the first place. Customers who get their problems satisfactorily and quickly solved tell their friends and neighbors.81 At the same time, complaint systems have inherent limitations. They are selfselecting; only the most dissatisfied customers tend to complain, skewing the accuracy of the data for judging overall customer satisfaction. Many dissatisfied customers cease using a product or service without notifying the company. While complaint systems are useful, they must not be the sole feedback mechanism an organization employs. Instead they provide a valuable supplement to more standard and reliable research methods.

Methods and Examples

Retail stores use mystery shoppers to covertly test their services and products. Some companies use video cameras to record consumer behavior, and some customers even allow video observation in their homes. Television research groups enlist viewers to keep track of what shows they watch for a week or two. Viewers record when they watched television, what show they watched, how long, etc. Customer ratings play a strong role in determining which shows remain on the air and in developing ideas for future programming. The Montgomery County Department of Health and Humans Services (DHHS) Office of Planning, Accountability and Customer Service worked with a number of Department divisions to develop a Customer Service plan. DHHS used secret shoppers to assess the behavior of employees responding to phone calls from residents, to visit service centerwaiting rooms, and to observe interactions between workers and customers.

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Panels of customers and other testers.

One research firm uses consumers todevelop new products for companies. It tests consumers for creativity and selectsa certain number for Super Group panels comprised of idea-centric creatives.90 Food service contract managers in hospitals have used taste testers to improve patient satisfaction. Riverside Methodist Hospital in Columbus, OH, serviced by ARAMARK, uses an internal Nutritional Services Quality Resource Management team composed of managers, dieticians, supervisors, cooks, and tray line personnel to sample food before sending it to patients. Food quality scores by patients have increased as a result. An employee also visits all new patients to describe the diet their physician ordered and provide information about additional services.91

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Sophisticated product testing strategies.

Consumer Reports operates the National Testing and Research Center in Yonkers, New York, the largest nonprofit educational and consumer product-testing center in the world. The Center gathers data about products and services, consumer demand, and what its subscribers plan to purchase. The company purchases the products it will test and conducts laboratory testing. For example, it has an auto-test track for car and truck testing. The company has over 100 testing experts in seven technical departments: appliances, autos, baby & child, electronics, food, health & family, and recreation & home improvement. Additionally, it utilizes 150 anonymous shoppers throughout the country. The laboratory tests use

E. Customer Behavior Research

Although all the strategies described above provide information about customer perceptions, customer behavior research provided in-depth information about how and why consumers make choices. Observing, probing and analyzing consumer behavior can help organizations develop products and services that fit the use patterns and preferences of their target customers. Likewise, organizations can use their findings to develop customer service standards and performance measures. McDonalds provides a good example of how customer knowledge can be used to improve services and profits. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, McDonalds customer satisfaction ratings declined. Surveys showed that 60 percent of customers left the restaurants dissatisfied. Consumer research revealed that the companys heavy users, who made up its largest customer segment visited their favorite fast food restaurant six times a week, but McDonalds was losing their business. Because one more visit a week by these customers meant millions of dollars in revenues, the company decided to focus on these customers. In response to research that focused on heavy users, McDonalds introduced its Value Menu packages, improved its drive-through service, and cut minutes off in-restaurant service time. The result was dominance over the competition.93 Usually; customer behavior research is an in-depth approach

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that is intended to obtain detailed information. Although skilled researchers are often required and those can be costly, relatively small numbers of consumers are needed. Consequently, compared to the large scale surveys, targeted customer behavior research can yield valuable data with limited expense. A general lesson from customer behavior research is the importance for companies and organizations to observe, listen and analyze free of biases.

Methods and Examples

Observation. A maker of frozen baby food wanted to research the behavior of consumers when buying frozen foods. She dressed in jeans and went shopping with friends who were parents. Using consumers as informants, she learned valuable information about consumer tendencies in the frozen foods aisle.94

In-depth interviews.
A common method for talking to customers is the in-depth interview, a private 45 to 90 minute conversational interview designed to uncover both broad contextual information about participants and detailed information about specifictopics.95 An individual interview may be the best method for probing personal opinions,

Customer Satisfaction:
Improving Quality and Access to Services and Supports in Vulnerable Neighborhoods beliefs, and values. Some large companies use group interviews to brainstorm about product modifications and new products.

Focus groups.
Although focus groups are falling out of favor, they have been a very popular method for obtaining in-depth information from customers and consumersregarding the motivations and explanations behind their behavior.

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Focus groups typically involve 8 to 12 people identified as highly involved with purchase, usage, or brand decisions. In a session lasting about two hours, researchers probe the participants attitudes toward brands, services, new products and ideas, advertising, political issues and candidates, and a host of other issues. Research firms suggest that focus groups be used when companies want to know how consumers perceive a product or service, why they behave in certain ways, what issues are important to their customers, and what issues should be the focus of further research. Like all methods, focus groups have some disadvantages. Perhaps the primary drawback is that focus group research cannot be generalized to an entire population. The information gathered in a focus group lacks statistical precision and can lead only to hypotheses that must be tested further.

F. Continuous Feedback Loops

For information about customer behavior, satisfaction and preferences to be useful, it must be connected to organizational planning, day-to-day practices, employee training and assessment, and performance monitoring. The goal is a continuous improvement system that uses customer input to plan, design, measure, assess and improve a product or service. Customer satisfaction information is continuously gathered, analyzed and fed back into quality improvement efforts. Customer satisfaction research strategies serve as assessment tools, They provide a direct line connecting the organizations objectives, quality dimensions, measurement mechanism, and analysis together, these comprise the feedback loop. Thus, continuous feedback loops are less a strategy than a performance-based approach to operating a customer service organization.

Connecting with strategic planning.

High performing organizations closely tie customer satisfaction information to the strategic planning process at all levels of the organization. To make this connection, many private-sector organizations conduct internal environmental scans, which survey all aspects of a company to determine

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how well it is fulfilling objectives such as customer needs. The Federal Benchmarking Consortium cited one governmental organization that uses its customers (citizens of that community) to perform the environmental scans. Customers were involved in determining the how as well as the what of the organization and participated in discussions of the organizations processes and services. The result was customerdriven process improvement.96

Connecting with performance measurement.

As part of the constant process of improvement, senior leaders at the Ritz-Carlton benchmark other recipients of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award to identify possible innovations.97 After the company won its first Baldrige award, it committed itself to a target of defect-free experiences for guests, implementing a measurement system to chart progress toward elimination of all customer problems, no matter how minor.98

Connecting with ongoing performance improvement efforts.

Susquehanna Health System (SHS) began its customer-centered program by researching patient expectations. The organization found that the top fifteen expectations all had to do with customer intimacy and personal service. SHS has implemented a number of programs aimed at improving personal service performance, including: constantly monitoring customer feedback regarding patient expectations and how they view their service experiences; utilizing various training programs for its employees, and ongoing programs of recognition and reward for employees who exceed expectations.99 Saint Lukes Hospital (SLH) in Kansas City won a 2003 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award for its continuous-loop model, known as the Performance Improvement Model, which is used to plan, design, measure, assess, and improve the way it delivershealth care service. Employees in all departments learn the model during orientation and receive training on its use. Known as the Listening and Learning process, it includes surveys, focus groups, follow-up calls, daily conversations with patients, families, and othersall to determine patient requirements. Simultaneously,

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A customer satisfaction research program continuously gathers customer and market requirements and helps measure customer satisfaction.100 To fully understand customers expectations, experiences and perceptions requires an ongoing system of research. Single strategy or inconsistent monitoring is not adequate. Ideally, customer-derived information is consciously used to inform staff and improve services.

RESEARCH PROCESS-:

Setting of Objective

Setting the area under the study

Design the method of data

Defining the sample size

Collection of data

Interpretation and analysis of collection data

Deduction and conclusion

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The present study can be accomplished by conducting a market research. Market research is the systematic design, collection, analysis and reporting of data and findings that are relevant to different marketing situations facing the company. The marketing research process that was adopted in the present study consists of the following stages: -

A) Defining the research objective:

The objective of the research is to know about the customer satisfaction at Spencer (Jaipur) 1. To study the view of consumer. 2. To assess the effectiveness of selling programmers. 3. Are they satisfied with the price and quality of the product. 4. Increase in the sales. 5. To check the loyalty of consumers towards the brand.

Scope of the study:

The scope of the study is related to the spanscer jaipur. Respondents are consumer of spanscer hyper only for the purpose of study.

B) Developing the research plan:

The next step is to prepare a plan for getting the information needed for the research.

C) Collection and sources of data:

A survey of Customers located in Jaipur area was done. We asked them to questions related to our project.

D) Analyze the collected information

This involves converting raw data into useful information. It involves tabulation of data and using Microsoft Excel software for developing graphs and charts to retrieve useful information from the data collected.

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E) Report research findings:

This phase marked the culmination of the marketing research effort. The report with the research finding is a formal written document. The research findings and personal experience will be used to propose by conveying the view of the Customers. The methodology used for the study was very rigorous. Interviews with customers were held and various books and websites were checked for any type of information related to the study.

SAMPLING METHOD:
Random Sampling method is used for the collection of data. The sample size of the study is of 120

SOURCES OF INFORMATION:
PRIMARY DATA The primary data are those, which are collected for the first time hence they are fresh and thus happens to be original in character. Primary data pertain to demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of the consumer, attitudes and opinion of the respondent, their awareness and knowledge and other similar aspects.

SOURCES OF PRIMARY DATA COLLECTION

Observation Interviews Opinions

The primary data for the present research work was obtained through the observation

SECONDARY DATA - It includes those data, which were collected for

some earlier research work and are applicable in the study the researcher has presently undertaken. The data collected from the websites and books was good enough to be included in the study analyzed and concluded.

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SOURCES OF SECONDARY DATA COLLECTION

Internet. Company Website. Other Websites Books Journals Newspaper

DATA ANALYSIS:
Tables and Pie Diagrams are used for representing the data.

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RESEARCH METHODOLOY
Marketing research is the systematic objective and exhaustive search for and study of the forth relevant to any problem in the field of marketing a systematic approach is needed to solve the marketing problem. The approach is needed to solve the marketing problem. The approach is planed and should be analytical and objective which include the following steps.

Topic of Study: Customer satisfaction at Spencers product:

The Study is a sample survey. It consists of small size to facilitate the study as also it is a pilot survey. It consists of small size of facilitate the study as also it is a pilot research here the main emphasis is on view towards Spanscr product. Customer satisfaction is the one most important things in marketing.

DATA ANALYSIS & INTERPRETATION:

All the collected data was analyzed and interpreted to get the conclusion. The objective of analysis is to an organized integrated and meaning feel whole.

Report formation :
It was the final stage of project formation. The collected data, which was analyzed, and interpretation was systematically arranged and henceforth printed in the form of a report is clear and understandable format.

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1.

Occupation of the consumer.

No. of Consumer 60 30 20 10 Business Service Housewife Others

Occupation of the consumer

Chart 1 60 60 No. Of Customer 50 40 30 20 10 0 Buss. Serv. Housewife Others 30 20 10

Occupation

CHART-3.1

Interpretation:- The above graph shows that most consumers are belong to
Business group, and 30 consumers are servicemen rests of consumers are housewife and others

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2.

Income group of consumer.

Income Group No. Of Consumer 5 25 60 30

Less then Rs.5000 p.m. More than Rs. 5000 & less than Rs. 10,000 P.M. More than Rs. 10,000 & less than Rs. 15,000 P.M. More than Rs. 15,000 P.M.

Chart 2
60 60 50 No. of consumer 40 30 20 10 0 5 Below 5000 500010,000 10,00015,000 Above 15,000 25 30

Income group

CHART-3.2

Interpretation:From the above histogram it is the clear that the sample size made from 4.16% are from whose monthly income is less than 5000 Rs PM. 20.83% from more than 5000 but less than 10000 Rs. 50% customer from more than 10000 but less than 15000 Rs. 25% customer from whose monthly income is more then 15000

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3.

Information source of Spencer

Source of Information Print Media Exibation & fair Neighbor & Relative Local Cable network No. Of Customer 70 5 30 15

Chart 3

Local Cable network 13% Neighbor & Relative 25% Exibation & fair 4%

Print Media 58%

CHART-3.3

Interpretation:According to above histogram 58.33% customer knew about the spencer from print media, 4.16% from fair, 25% from neighbor & relative & remaining 12.5% knew from local cable network.

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4.

Frequency to visit to Spencer

Frequency to Visit No. Of Customer 5 30 60 25

2 to 3 time in a week Weekly Monthly After 2 to 3 Month

Chart 4
60 50 40 30 20 10 0 60 30 5 2 to 3 Weekly Monthly After 2 to time in a 3 Month week Frequency to Visit

No. of customers

25

CHART-3.4

Interpretation:- from the survey of 120 customers, major 50% consumer are
visit to spencer mall monthly. 25% weekly 20.83% after 2-3month & remaining 4.16% customers are visit to spencer mall 2-3 time in a week.

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5.

Purchasing product Every Visit From Spencer

Response Yes No No of Customers 115 5

chart 5
115 120 100 80 No. of 60 Customers 40 20 0 Yes Responce No

CHART-3.5

Interpretation:-most of the customer i.e. 95.83% customers are purchase

something every time when they visit to spencer.

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6.Knoledge of Various Product of Spencer

Response Yes No Only few

No. of Customers 90 5 25

Chart 6
Only few 21%

No 4%

Yes 75%

CHART-3.6

Interpretation:-from the survey of 120 customers, major chunk that is 75%

consumer knew, 21% consumer knew about only few, & 4% consumer are not know about various product of spencer.

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7. Product you most like to purchase from Spencer

roduct clothes Grossly product Electronic product Sports & toys Footwear Others No of customer 55 20 15 15 10 5

chart 7
60 No. Of Customer 50 40 30 20 10 0 clothes Electronic Footwear 20 15 15 10 5 55

Purchasing Preferance

CHART-3.7

Interpretation:-from the above histogram 45.83% customers are most likely

purchase cloths, 16.66% customer are most likely to purchase to grossly product, & electronic as well as sports and toy are purchase by 12.5% customer.

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8 why you give preference to spencer

Reason Good services Cost efficient Availability of product Easily available

No of customer 50 40 20 10

Chart 8
50 50 40 No. Of 30 Customer 20 10 0 Good services Cost efficient Availability of product Easily available 20 10 40

Responce

CHART-3.8

Interpretation:-above chat 41.86% customer prefer spencer due to its good

services, 33.37% due to cost efficient, 16.67% due to availability of every product under a roof & remaining, 8.83% are prefer spencer due to easily available of required product

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9 From which spencer mall you prefer to purchase mostly ?

Location Vaishali Nagar Gaurav Tower Adarsh Nagar Mansarovar No of customer 20 60 10 30

Chart 9
Vaishali Nagar 17%

Mansarovar 25%

Adarsh Nagar 8%

Gaurav Tower 50%

CHART-3.9

Interpretation:- there are 4 spencer mall situated in different area of Jaipur

most of the consumer i.e. 50% of the customer are purchase from gaurav tower branch,25% from mansurover branch,17% from vaishali nagar branch remaining 8% are purchasing from adarsh nagar branch of sprncer.

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10 Your thinking about the services providing by employees

Response Better Good Average Not satisfactory No of customer 70 30 15 5

Chart 10
70 70 60 No. Of Customer 50 40 30 20 10 0 Better Good Average 15 5 30

Not satisfactory

Responce

CHART-3.10 Interpretation:-from the survey most of the consumer i.e 58.33% think that employee provide better services, 25% think employee provide good services,12.5% think that employee provide avg. service,& 4.16% think that need to improvement in services.

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11. Spencer give offer time-to-time YES/NOT (if YES than) in which offer you prefer to purchase?
Offer Off on print price Buy one get one Lottery coupon offer Others No of customer 60 40 10 10

Chart 11
60 60 50 40 No. Of Customer 30 20 10 0 Off on print price Buy one get one Lottery coupon Others 10 10 40

Offers

CHART-3.11

Interpretation:-From the survey,50% consumer prefer to purchase from

spencer due to off on print price, 33.33% due to buy one get one free & 8.33% due to lottery coupon offer.

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12. At time of purchase product is not available you would

Response Wait for it Go to another branch of Spencer Purchase from other Retail mall Purchase from local Market 10 No of customer 40 60 10

Chart 12
60 No. Of Customer 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 40

10

10

Wait for it

Another Other retail Local branch of mall market spencer

Responce

Interpretation:- from the survey, 50% customer are go for another branch of
spencer when any product is not available at the time of purchase, 33.33 are wait for it, 8.33% purchase from another retail mart,& 8.33% purchase from local market.

CHART-3.12

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13. Price of product in Spencer are appropriate as compare to other retail mart
Response Yes No No of customer 118 2

Chart 13 No 2%

Yes 98%

CHART-3.13

Interpretation:-

From

the

survey,

Most

of

the

customers

i.e.

98.33%customers are think that price of product in spencer are appropriate as compare to other retail mart.

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14. Say about the billing process of Spencer

Response Attractive Good Average Need to improvement No of customer 80 20 15 5

Chart 14
80 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 No. Of Customer

20

15

5 Need improvement

Attractive

Good

Average

Billing Policy

CHART-3.14

Interpretation:-Above chart show that 66.67% customers are say that billing
process of spencer is attractive, 16.67% say that good, 12.5% say that average and 4.16% say that need of improvement.

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CHAPTER 4 FINDINGS CONCLUSION SUGGESTION

FINDINGS CONCLUSION SUGGESTION LIMITATIONS SWOT ANALYSIS

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FINDING:
It is the findings of survey that was done for the project that brings the whole crux of the project. Average no of People are using the organize retail from months and they are willing to come down. Most of people are aware of the Spencers. When it comes to the CSA (customer sale associate) service most of customer of Spencers are not so much happy with their service quality. Most of people like the private label product of Spencers that are due to quality and price of product in compare to market. According to customer perception the price of fruit and vegetable and some FMCG the price is higher then local retailer and some competitors. It is found in the survey that most of customers are suspect able to change their service provider given better deal in terms of Price and Value added service.

FIGURE 4.1

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CONCLUSION
The research has done on the study of view of consumers about Spencer's product from the study. Some customer is not satisfied with the price of. Benefits. Thus this study provides the overall view of consumer about SPENCER product. In the Retail market Spencers has better image in consumers mind. Everyone likes to shop here. Spencers providing fresh and good range of Fruits, vegetables, Staples, Dairy, FMCG, Garments, and general product. In the Indian retail market many players like More, India Bulls, Subhiksha, are here. Spencers make good brand name among this market. After having tough competition in retail market Spencers product range and display of the products is much better as compare to other retail store and if they want to catch more customers then they have to work on promotion activities and they have to provide more attractive offers to their loyalty card customers. Employees are very friendly to customers. Spencers has very good appearing shop. Customers are very interested to come in Spencers due to its good service.

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SUGGESTION
1. Packaging should be eco-friendly. 2. Delivery of Spencer products should be on time. 3. Servicing should be improved. 4. Proper inspection of all branches should be there. 5. Company should start free schemes and discount to customer. 6. Company should have to reduce price of some product etc. 7. There should be proper and continuous benchmarking, so the chances of price & quality higher then others will be reduce. 8. CSA should be more attentive so then solve more query of customer and tell then about the offers and scheme of different products. 9. PCM (price change master) should be update properly and system should show the different promo. 10. Offer simple choice by memorandum weekly and informed by e and mobile [what in store and what is new]. 11. Call back to customer and tell them what we have done for their suggestion and compliant, those have written their views/ compliant about the service. 12. Your view matter book should be properly filled by customers. 13. Their should proper coordination between marketing and operation person the promos what they are giving, so their should be no confusion between customer and operation person. 14. Offering more attractive Promotional schemes.

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LIMITATIONS OF THE RESEARCH:

A though the research was conducted in a way to ensure accurate results but certain errors might have occurred due to some unavoidable reasons.

DATA COLLECTION
-Non-response by some of the respondents. -Since the population is not homogenous, some biasness might have creped up. -Many persons were reluctant in responding.

FOR EMPLOYEES
A thought of Risk of loosing their jobs, if gave any company information Busy in Store operations Or with Customers

FOR CUSTOMERS
Insufficient time Prejudice of taking the enumerators as some companys employee. Occupancy with Carry Bags or kids Sharing their Addresses and Contact Numbers was a cumbersome issue for people.

FINANCE SYSTEM

WAREHOUSE MANAGEM ENT

STORE OPERA TION

PURCHASE ORDER MANAGEMENT TRANSFER MANAGEMENT

ANALYSIS AND PLANNING

MERCHANDISE RECEIPTS

PRICE AND COST MANAGEMENT

FIGURE-4.2

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ANALYSIS:After see this bench marking we can say that More and India Bulls Price Policy is high and Spencers and Reliance fresh pricing policy is low. When I asked to the customer about Spencers quality and rate they said to me Spencers provide us good quality on good rate Spencers quality is good in comparison of other stores we are satisfy for Spencers. When I asked to customers about Reliance Fresh they said to me it provide merchandise on cheep rate but it dont have the quality and about India Bulls and More customer perception is that they said they provide merchandise on high rate. When we get good quality at cheaper rate in Spencers why we should go in other stores. So we can say that Spencers have good Image in customer mind in comparison of other stores.

ALLOCATION OF BAY
Bay is combination of 5-6 rakes. There is mainly two types of bays is used

1.

A SHAPE: In this kind of bay we can put / display the

SKU on both side of bay. This type of bay is used in middle side of floor and not to close the wall.

2.

L SHAPE: In this kind of bay we can put / display the

SKU on one side of bay. This type of bay is used beside the wall; it is because they have only one side display and other side faces to wall. Allocation of bay is decided by the layout and type of which kind of store. No. of bay is decided by mainly by layout and then by merchandiser, it is because sometimes merchandisers need more bays due to quantity of SKU.

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DISPLAY OF GOODS
Display of goods is followed by some rules and standards, they are; 1. There is increase in weight of SKU from Left to Right. This is mainly followed by Staples & FMCG. Exp. 250 gm Channa Dal then 500 gm- 1kg- 2kg 2. There is increase in weight of SKU from Small to Big that means small quantity at bottom and at top large quantity.

Exp. Biscuit 100 gm at bottom then 250 gm and 500 gm.

3. 4. In HWP glass items are placed according to company In F&V display of fresh fruits & vegetables, this is done name means same company glasses are placed in one bay. after shorting.

SWOT ANALYSIS STRENGTH

First Hyper retail outlet in Malviya Nagar. People are will to come. Specialty food and exotic vegetables are available. Value added service like Home delivery, delivery on Phone. Quality of product. Convenient to customer. Hygiene standard. High standard of display and shelf discipline. Customer is informed through leaflet, by daily or weekly offers.

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WEAKNESS
Cash team is not quick in billing. Promo is not well communicated by marketing. Proper benchmarking is not done. On weekend and on evening, CSA can not attend properly to customers. Complaint of customer should be fulfilling not on regular basis.

OPPORTUNITY
Loyalty card customer will increase through proper communication. Value added service like replacement guarantee, money refund, and price guarantee. Exclusive offers for loyalty card customer. More combo offers in all categories to increase ABV. Weekly & fortnightly offers for customers exp. Kids carnival, school contact programme, etc.

THREAT
More and more convenient store is coming. More price war from unorganized retail

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APPENDIX Questionnaire Customer Satisfaction at Spencer in Jaipur

Name: Age: Occupation. . A) Service Address: .. Tel. No.: Sex..

b) Business c) Housewife

Q. 1 income group a) b) c) d) Less than Rs. 5000 P.m. More than Rs. 5000 & less than Rs. 10,000 P.M. More than Rs. 10,000 & less than Rs. 15,000 P.M. More than Rs. 15,000 P.M.

Q.2 How did you know about the product? a) Print Media c) Dealers & Suppliers b) Exhibition of Fair d) Local cable Network

Q. 3 what is Your Frequency it visit to Spencer mall? a) 2-3 time in a week c) Monthly b) Weekly d) After 2-3 Month

Q. 4 Do you Purchase something every time? a) Yes b) No

Q. 5 Do you know about various product of Spencer? a) Yes b) No

Q. 6 which product you like most of Spencer? a) C) Electronic Product e) Footwear and Othe 133 Cloths D) Sports & Toys B) Grossly product

Q. 7 why do you prefer Spencer? a)ood Services b) Cost efficient c) Availability of every product under a roof d) Easily available Q. 8 from which Spencer you prefer to Purchase mostly? a) Vaishali Nagar c) Adarsh Nagar b) Gaurav Tower d) Mansarovar

Q. 9 what do you think about the services given by the employee? a) Better c) Average b) Good d) Not Satisfactory

Q. 10 Do the Spencer give various offer time to time? If yes/ then Which type offer you prefer to purchase from Spencer? (Yes/No) a) Off on Print Price b) Buy one get one free c) Lottery Coupon offers d) Others Q.11 At the time of purchase if any product is not available you woulda) Wait for it b) Go for another branch of Spencer c) Purchase from other retail mall d) Go at local Market Q.12 Are price of product in Spencer are appropriate as compare to other Retail Mart? a) Yes b) No

Q. 13 what do want to say about the Billing Process of Spencer? a) Attractive c) Average Q. 14 your suggestion 134 b) Good d) Needs Improvement

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Kotler Philip, Marketing Management, Prentice hall of India Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi. Kothari C.R. Research methodology, published by, Wishwa prakashan, New Delhi. Shrivastava P.K. Marketing Management for a developing economy, sterling,publishing, New Delhi.

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