DISSERTATION REPORT

On

CONSUMER PERCEPTION OF RETAIL OUTLETS IN NCR WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO: SHOPPERS STOP,

LIFESTYLE AND PANTALOONS

By

ANIRUDH SINGHA0101908125

MBA Class of 2010

Under the Supervision of

Mr. JITENDRA KUMARSr. LECTURER

(Department of Decision Science)

In Partial Fulfillment of Award of Master of Business Administration

AMITY BUSINESS SCHOOLAMITY UNIVERSITY UTTAR PRADESH

SECTOR 125, NOIDA - 201303, UTTAR PRADESH, INDIA2010

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DECLARATION

I, Anirudh Singh a student of Masters of Business Administration from Amity Business School, Amity University Uttar Pradesh hereby declare that I have completed my dissertation on “CONSUMER PERCEPTION OF RETAIL OUTLETS IN NCR WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO: SHOPPERS STOP, LIFESTYLE AND PANTALOONS ” as part of the course requirement.

I further declare that the information presented in this project is true and original to the best of my

knowledge.

Date: 17/03/2009 Name: Anirudh Singh

Place: Noida Enroll. No: A0101908125

Program: MBA (General) 2008-

2010

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CERTIFICATE

I, Mr. Jitendra Kumar, hereby certify that Anirudh Singh, student of Masters of Business

Administration at Amity Business School, Amity University Uttar Pradesh has completed

dissertation on “CONSUMER PERCEPTION OF RETAIL OUTLETS IN NCR WITH

SPECIAL REFERENCE TO: SHOPPERS STOP, LIFESTYLE AND PANTALOONS”,

under my guidance.

Mr. JITENDRA KUMAR

Sr.Lecturer

Department of Decision Science

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ACKNOWLEDGMENT

I would like to express my gratitude to our Additional Director General Dr. Sanjay

Srivastava, who is the strength behind every student.

I am greatly indebted to acknowledge the heartiest gratitude to Mr. Jitendra Kumar,

Faculty Guide, for giving me her time and valuable guidance that boosted my project.

My sincere thanks to all those people who gave me their valuable time and input for filling

my questionnaires.

I am thankful to my faculty members and friends for their support.

Last but not the least; report was completed successfully because of the grace of the God.

Name: Anirudh Singh

Enroll. No: A0101908125

Program: MBA (General) 2008-2010

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Indian retail sector is one of the most thriving sectors in India and accounts for 35% of GDP. As per a study conducted by the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER), the retail sector is expected to contribute to 40 per cent of India's GDP by 2010 end.

The retail industry is divided into organized and unorganized sectors. 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 retail businesses. Unorganized retailing, on the other hand, refers to the traditional formats of low-cost retailing, for example, the local kiranashops, owner manned general stores, paan/beedi shops, convenience stores, hand cart and pavement vendors, etc.

Indian consumer has undergone a remarkable alteration. Just a decade or two ago, they saved most of their incomes, purchased the only necessities. But today, equipped with higher income, credit cards, exposure to new shopping culture of west, desire to show status and to improve standard of living, the Indian consumer is spending a lot. His new mentality, in turn is fueling the growth of organized retail in India.

This research paper is a study of changing consumer perception towards this growing sector. For studying this topic three retail stores have been chosen: Shoppers Stop, Lifestyle and Pantaloons.

It studies consumer response of what all factors effect the buying behavior of consumer in choosing a retail outlet. Does advertising plays a key role, if yes then what form of advertising is most effective. It studies consumer spending behavior and there frequency of visit to retail outlets.

This research paper brings about all the major attributes that consumer demand in retail outlets and what all factors adversely effect there buying decision. During the study it was found that people visiting these big retail outlets hardly consider price factor. Consumer visiting these stores is usually brand and quality conscious.

After completion of this report I learnt that retailers need to continually come up with new

ideas to retain there consumers as offerings are almost same at all the stores. Apart from that I

also found out that retailer needs to work hard on customer satisfaction criteria.

The project on the whole helped me understand retail consumer’s behavior, retail industry

and the effect of advertising.

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CONTENTS

Declaration

Certificate from Faculty Guide

Acknowledgement

Abstract

S. No. Chapter Name Page No.

1. Introduction 7

2. Company profile 17

3. Literature Review 24

4. Purpose & Objectives 28

5. Research Methodology 31

6. Analysis & Interpretations 35

7. Findings & Recommendations 53

Bibliography 56

Annexure 57

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CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

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INTRODUCTION

The word retail derived from the French word “retailler”, meaning to cut the bulk. In other word, it implies a first hand transaction with the customer.

Retailing can be defined as the buying and selling of goods and services. It can also be defined as the timely delivery of goods and services demanded by consumers at price that are competitive and affordable.

Retailing is the transaction between the seller and consumer for personal consumption .It does not include transaction between the manufacturer, corporate purchase, government purchase and other wholesale purchase. A retailer stocks the goods from the manufacturer and then sells the same to the end user for a marginal profit. In the supply chain that also consists of manufacturing and distribution, retailing is the last link before the product reaches the consumer.

Different forms of retailing

Hypermarts

Large supermarkets, typically (3,500 - 5,000 sq. ft)

Mini supermarkets, typically (1,000 - 2,000 sq. ft)

Convenience store, typically (7,50 - 1,000 sq. ft)

Discount/shopping list grocer

Traditional retailers trying to reinvent by introducing self-service formats as well as value-added services such as credit, free home delivery etc.

 The Indian retail sector can be broadly classified into –

food retailers

health and beauty products

clothing and footwear

home furnishing and household goods

durable good

leisure and personal goods

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Retailing in India

Retailing is one of the pillars of the economy in India and accounts for 35% of GDP.The Indian retail market, which is the fifth largest retail destination globally, has been ranked as the most attractive emerging market for investment in the retail sector by AT Kearney's eighth annual Global Retail Development Index (GRDI), in 2009. As per a study conducted by the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER), the retail sector is expected to contribute to 40 per cent of India's GDP by 2010 end.

Indian consumer market is likely to grow four times by 2025. Commercial real estate services company, CB Richard Ellis' findings state that India's retail market has moved up to the 39th most preferred retail destination in the world in 2009, up from 44 last year.

Banks, capital goods, engineering, fast moving consumer goods (FMCG), software services, oil, marketing, power, two-wheelers and telecom companies are leading the sales and profit growth of India Inc in the fourth quarter of 2008-09. India continues to be among the most attractive countries for global retailers. Foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows as on September 2009, in single-brand retail trading, stood at approximately US$ 47.43 million, according to the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP).

The retail industry is divided into organised and unorganised sectors. Over 12 million outlets operate in the country and only 4% of them being larger than 500 sq ft (46 m2) in size. Organised 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 retail businesses. Unorganised retailing, on the other hand, refers to the traditional formats of low-cost retailing, for example, the local kiranashops, owner manned general stores, paan/beedi shops, convenience stores, hand cart and pavement vendors, etc.

Most Indian shopping takes place in open markets and millions of independent grocery shops called kirana. Regulations prevent most foreign investment in retailing. Moreover, over thirty regulations such as "signboard licences" and "anti-hoarding measures" may have to be complied before a store can open doors. There are taxes for moving goods to states, from states, and even within states.

As a democratic country with high growth rates, consumer spending has risen sharply as the youth population (more than 33 percent of the country is below the age of 15) has seen a significant increase in its disposable income. Consumer spending rose an impressive 75 per cent in the past four years alone. Also, organised retail, which is pegged at around US$ 8.14 billion, is expected to grow at a CAGR of 40 per cent to touch US$ 107 billion by 2013.

The organised retail sector, which currently accounts for around 8 per cent of the Indian retail market, is all set to witness maximum number of large format malls and branded retail stores in South India, followed by North, West and the East in the next two years. Tier II cities like Noida, Amritsar, Kochi and Gurgaon, are emerging as the favored destinations for the retail sector with their huge growth potential. Further, this sector is expected to invest around US$

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503.2 million in retail technology service solutions in the current financial year. This could go further up to US$ 1.26 billion in the next four to five years.

India has emerged the third most attractive market destination for apparel retailers, according to a study by global management consulting firm AT Kearney. The Northbridge Capital report states that apparel is the "largest organised retail category", accounting for 39 per cent of the organised market. It is growing at the rate of 12 to 15 per cent annually. Organised apparel retail is projected to touch US$ 200 million by 2010 from the current worth of US$ 120 million, the report noted.

Experts agree that apparel, along with food and grocery, is leading the growth of organised retailing in India. The results of the past quarter support these findings.

Luxury Goods Retail, which currently sells its products in India under a franchise agreement, has been allowed to directly retail Gucci products in the country. Gucci Group NV, Netherlands is investing US$ 225,867 to pick up 51 per cent stake in the venture.

Australia's Retail Food Group is planning to enter the Indian market in 2010. It has ambitious investment plans which aim to clock revenue of US$ 87 million from the country within five years from start of operations. In 20 years, they expect the Indian operations to be bigger than their Australian business.

Lifestyle International, part of the Dubai-based US$ 1.5 billion Landmark Group,

plans to have over 50 stores across India by 2012–13. These will include 35 Lifestyle

stores for retailing apparel, cosmetics and footwear, besides 15 Home Centres that sell

home furnishing goods.

Watch maker, Timex India, is looking at increasing its presence in the country by

adding another 52 stores by March 2011 at an investment of US$ 1.3 million taking

its total store count to 120. The company has recorded revenue of US$ 15.9 million

and a net profit of US$ 1.2 million, during the first six months of the current fiscal,

ending September 30, 2009.

Wills Lifestyle plans to expand its operations by opening 100 new stores in the next

three years. It also plans to concentrate on online buyers.

Pantaloon Retail India (PRIL) is planning to invest US$ 77.88 million this fiscal to

add up to 2.4 million sq ft retail space at its existing operations. Pantaloon Retail is

also looking to hive off its value retail chain, Big Bazaar, into a separate subsidiary,

which may eventually go for an initial public offer (IPO). PRIL proposes to open 155

Big Bazaar stores by 2014, increasing its total network to 275 stores.

Aditya Birla Retail which operates the More chain of supermarkets and hypermarkets

is scaling up its private labels business as an independent strategic business unit

(SBU) and profit centre. This may be spun off as a separate entity as private labels

business account for over 19-20 per cent sales of More supermarkets and

hypermarkets.

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Policy Initiatives

100 per cent FDI is allowed in cash-and-carry wholesale formats. Franchisee

arrangements are also permitted in retail trade.

51 per cent FDI is allowed in single-brand retailing.

Road Ahead

Industry experts predict that the next phase of growth in the retail sector will emerge from the rural markets. By 2012 the rural retail market is projected to have a total of more than 50 per cent market share. The total number of shopping malls is expected to expand at a compound annual growth rate of over 18.9 per cent by 2015. According to market research report by RNCOS the Indian organized retail market is estimated to reach US$ 50 billion by 2011.

According to industry experts, the next phase of growth is expected to come from

rural markets.

Number of shopping malls is expected to increase at a CAGR of more than 18.9 per

cent from 2009 to 2017.

Rural market is projected to dominate the retail industry landscape in India by 2012

with total market share of above 50 per cent.

Organised retailing of mobile handset and accessories is expected to reach close to

US$ 990 million by 2010 end.

Driven by the expanding retail market, the third party logistics market is forecasted to

reach US$ 20 billion by 2011.

As the contemporary retail sector in India is reflected in sprawling shopping centers, multiplex- malls and huge complexes offer shopping, entertainment and food all under one roof, the concept of shopping has altered in terms of format and consumer buying behavior, ushering in a revolution in shopping in India. This has also contributed to large scale investments in the real estate sector with major national and global players investing in developing the infrastructure and construction of the retailing business. The trends that are driving the growth of the retail sector in India are

Low share of organized retailing

Falling real estate prices

Increase in disposable income and customer aspiration

Increase in expenditure for luxury items

Another credible factor in the prospects of theretail sector in India is the increase in the young working population. In India, hefty pay-packets, nuclear families in urban areas, along with

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increasing working-women population and emerging opportunities in the services sector. These key factors have been the growth drivers of the organized retail sector in Indiawhich now boast of retailing almost all the preferences of life - Apparel & Accessories, Appliances, Electronics, Cosmetics and Toiletries, Home & Office Products, Travel and Leisure and many more. With this the retail sector in India is witnessing a rejuvenation as traditional markets make way for new formats such as departmental stores, hypermarkets, supermarkets and specialty stores.

India is being seen as a potential goldmine for retail investors from over the world and latest research has rated India as the top destination for retailers for an attractive emerging retail market. India’s vast middle class and its almost untapped retail industry are key attractions for global retail giants wanting to enter newer markets. Even though India has well over 5 million retail outlets, the country sorely lacks anything that can resemble a retailing industry in the modern sense of the term. This presents international retailing specialists with a great opportunity. The organized retail sector is expected to grow stronger than GDP growth in the next five years driven by changing lifestyles, burgeoning income and favorable demographic outline.

Another cap to the retailing industry in India is allowing 51% FDI in single brand outlet. The government is now set to initiate a second wave of reforms in the segment by liberalizing investment norms further. This will not only favor the retail sector develop in terms of design concept, construction quality and providing modern amenities but will also help in creating a consumer-friendly environment. Retail industry in India is at the crossroads but the future of the consumer markets is promising as the market is growing, government policies are becoming more favorable and emerging technologies are facilitating operations in India. And this upsurge in the retail industry has made India a promising destination for retail investors and at the same time has impelled investments in the real estate sector. As foreign investors cautiously test the Indian Markets for investments in the retail sector, local companies and joint ventures are expected to be more advantageously positioned than the purely foreign ones in the evolving India's organized retailing industry.

Key Players in Indian Retail Sector

Indian apparel retailers are increasing their brand presence overseas, particularly in developed markets. While most have identified a gap in countries in West Asia and Africa, some majors are also looking at the US and Europe. Arvind Brands, Madura Garments, Spykar Lifestyle and Royal Classic Polo are busy chalking out foreign expansion plans through the distribution route and standalone stores as well. Another denim wear brand, Spykar, which is now moving towards becoming a casualwear lifestyle brand, has launched its store in Melbourne recently. It plans to open three stores in London by 2008-end.

The low-intensity entry of the diversified Mahindra Group into retail is unique because it plans to focus on lifestyle products. The Mahindra Group is the fourth large Indian business group to enter the business of retail after Reliance Industries Ltd, the Aditya Birla Group,

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and Bharti Enterprises Ltd. The other three groups are focusing either on perishables and groceries, or a range of products, or both.

Vivek Limited Retail Formats: Viveks, Jainsons, Viveks Service Centre, Viveks Safe

Deposit Lockers

PGC Retail -T-Mart India[1], Switcher , Respect India , Grand India Bazaar ,etc.,

REI AGRO LTD Retail-Formats:6TEN Hyper & 6TEN Super

RPG Retail-Formats: Music World, Books & Beyond, Spencer’s Hyper, Spencer’s

Super, Daily & Fresh

Pantaloon Retail-Formats: Big Bazaar, Food Bazaar, Pantaloons, Central, Fashion

Station, Brand Factory, Depot, aLL, E-Zone etc.

The Tata Group-Formats: Westside, Star India Bazaar, Steeljunction, Landmark,

Titan Industries with World of Titans showrooms, Tanishq outlets, Chroma.

K Raheja Corp Group-Formats: Shoppers Stop, Crossword, Hyper City, Inorbit

Lifestyle International-Lifestyle, Home Centre, Max, Fun City and International

Franchise brand stores.

Pyramid Retail-Formats: Pyramid Megastore, TruMart

Nilgiri’s-Formats: Nilgiris’ supermarket chain

Subhiksha-Formats: Subhiksha supermarket pharmacy and telecom discount chain.

Trinethra- Formats: Fabmall supermarket chain and Fabcity hypermarket chain

Vishal Retail Group-Formats: Vishal Mega Mart

Reliance Retail-Formats: Reliance Fresh

Reliance ADAG Retail-Format: Reliance World

German Metro Cash & Carry

Shoprite Holdings-Formats: Shoprite Hyper

Paritala stores bazar: honey shine stores

Aditya Birla Group - more Outlets

Retail and recession

The global economic slump has had its impact on the India retail sector. One of the earliest players in the Indian retail scenario Subhiksha's operations came to a near standstill and required liquidity injection. Vishal Retail secured corporate debt restructuring (CDR) plan from its lenders while other players like the Reliance Retail run by Mukesh Ambani and Pantaloon led Kishore Biyani by went slow on expansion plans and even scaled down operations. However, during the last quarter a bit of confidence was restored as the economy showed signs of growth.

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Rural Retailing

India's huge rural market has also attracted retail investments and is seen as a viable opportunity for growth by corporate India.ITC launched the countries first rural mall "Chaupal Sagar" with diverse products being offered ranging from FMCG to electronics appliance to automobiles, with a view to provide farmers a one stop center for all their consumption requirements. Many more new trends could possibly be tried in rural markets to unearth the huge potential.

Challenges Faced By The Industry

Even though India has well over 5 million retail outlets of different sizes and styles, it still has a long way to go before it can truly have a retail industry at par with International standards. This is where Indian companies and International brands have a huge role to play.

Indian retailing is still dominated by the unorganized sector and there is still a lack of

efficient supply chain management. India must concentrate on improving the supply

chain management, which in turn would bring down inventory cost, which can then

be passed on to the consumer in the form of low pricing.

Most of the retail outlets in India have outlets that are less than 500 square feet in

area. This is very small by International Standards.

India's huge size and socio economic and cultural diversity means there is no

established model or consumption pattern throughout the country. Manufacturers and

retailers will have to devise strategies for different sectors and segments which by

itself would be challenging.

Automatic approval is not allowed for foreign investment in retail.

Regulations restricting real estate purchases, and cumbersome local laws.

Taxation, which favours small retail businesses.

Absence of developed supply chain and integrated IT management.

Lack of trained work force.

Low skill level for retailing management.

Lack of Retailing Courses and study options

Intrinsic complexity of retailing – rapid price changes, constant threat of product

obsolescence and low margins.

The drawbacks provide a huge opportunity for the retail industry. The entry of foreign majors like Benetton, Dairy Farm and Levis underline the opportunity for the industry in India.

To overcome some of the challenges faced by modern retail, the country is developing a support infrastructure in form of specialised retail schools. One such skill development

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initiative has been taken by TKWs Group. Its TKWs Retail School has already training over a thousand students and retail professionals for different retail skills..

Entry of MNCs

The world's largest retailer by sales, Wal-Mart Stores Inc and Sunil Mittal's Bharti Enterprises have entered into a joint venture agreement and they are planning to open 10 to 15 cash-and-carry facilities over seven years. The first of the stores, which will sell groceries, consumer appliances and fruits and vegetables to retailers and small businesses, is slated to open in north India by the end of 2008.

Carrefour, the world’s second largest retailer by sales, is planning to setup two business entities in the country one for its cash-and-carry business and the other a master franchisee which will lend its banner, technical services and know how to an Indian company for direct-to-consumer retail.

The world’s fifth largest retailer by sales, Costco Wholesale Corp (Costco) known for its warehouse club model is also interested in coming to India and waiting for the right opportunity.

Opposition to the retailers' plans have argued that livelihoods of small scale and rural vendors would be threatened. However, studies have found that only a limited number of small vendors will be affected and that the benefits of market expansion far outweigh the impact of the new stores.

Tesco Plc. plans to set up shop in India with a wholesale cash-and-carry business and will help Indian conglomerate Tata group to grow its hypermarket business.

Indian Consumers

Let us have a look on the characteristics of Indian consumers which are favourable for growth of Indian retail market. Indian consumer has undergone a remarkable alteration. Just a decade or two ago, they saved most of their incomes, purchased the only necessities.

But today, equipped with higher income, credit cards, exposure to new shopping culture of west, desire to show status and to improve standard of living, the Indian consumer is spending a lot. His new mentality, in turn is fueling the growth of organized retail in India.

Young shoppers

 Most of the consumers have grown up with television, the internet, and have been exposed to the better standard of living and consumer culture abroad. This generation is also making money at a younger stage in life due to call centre jobs and other avenues of employment

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openings. As a result most of them are considering these shopping malls as the place for their entertainment.

Higher income/MNCs

With the entry of MNCs in India, the people are getting better job opportunities, and the income levels are also becoming better with different allowances. This sets the stage for a very exciting and promising retail market in the future.

Plastic Money

The finance section has already seen a huge expansion. Nowadays credit cards, debit cards, short time loans have become easily accessible and have contributed to the emergence of a consumer culture in India. Credit card reward schemes, flexible financing options, EMI facility, loyalty cards are tempting the Indian consumer to shop.

Urbanization

Growing urbanization and different facilities of cities converted the local population from net saver to net spender.

Awareness level

The urban population is well aware of the different shopping malls and through different media they are well known about the offers and schemes.

Aspiration

Aspirations for better standard of living make the urban consumer spending more.

While consumer demand is driving retail growth, it is in turn being driven by the following factors –

Economic growth

Improved standard of living

More affluence

Mass awareness

Demographics

Credit availability

Promotional offers

Status symbol

These positive macro trends are resulting in changing preferences in demand for lifestyle goods. Mind sets are shifting towards an organized retailing experience.

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CHAPTER 2

COMPANY PROFILE

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COMPANY PROFILE

Shoppers Stop (Raheja group)

Shoppers Stop is an Indian department stores promoted by the K Raheja Corp Group (Chandru L Raheja Group), started in the year 1991 with its first store in Andheri, Mumbai. Shoppers Stop Ltd has been awarded "the Hall of Fame" and won "the Emerging Market Retailer of the Year Award", by World Retail Congress at Barcelona, on April 10, 2008. Shoppers Stop is listed on the BSE. With the launch of the Navi Mumbai departmental store, Shoppers Stop has 27 stores in 12 cities in India.

Shoppers Stop has also begun operating a number of speciality stores, namelyCrossword Bookstores, Mothercare, Brio, Desi Café, Arcelia.

Shoppers Stop retails a range of branded apparel and private label under the following categories of apparel, footwear, fashion jewellery, leather products, accessories and home products. These are complemented by cafe, food, entertainment, personal care and various beauty related services.

Shoppers Stop launched its e-store with delivery across major cities in India in 2008. The website retails all the products available at Shoppers Stop stores, including apparel, cosmetics and accessories.

Marketing

In April 2008, Shoppers Stop changed its logo and adopted the mantra "Start Something New" repositioned to bridge to luxury segment and introduced international brands like CK Jeans, Tommy Hilfiger, FCUK, Mustang, Dior across the stores. The focus of the reposition was on the service, ambience upgradation and customer connect. 

Connect with Youth

Shoppers Stop connects with the youth audience through adopting the communication routes relevant to youth, up the fashion quotient through merchandising, and create ambience that connects with the mindset. The brand campaign addresses environment-related issues in a youthful, tongue-in-cheek manner. Shoppers Stop as a brand active on social media marketing platforms with Facebook and Twitter to connect with this audience.

Merchandising

Merchandising opportunities like the launched Zoozoo merchandise and film merchandise with Om Shanti Om and Love Aaj Kal.

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Sensorial experience

Creating an environment conducive to relax in-between shopping introduced Shoppers Stop Radio that plays youthful music and Cafe Coffee Day was given the management of the Desi Cafe and Brio cafes.

Loyalty program

Shoppers Stop’s has a loyalty program called First Citizen. They also offer a co-branded credit card with Citibank for their members.

Shoppers Stop's sister stores are-

Crossword Bookstores

HomeStop

Brio

Desi Cafe

HyperCity

M.A.C.

Arcelia

MotherCare

Nuance Group

HyperCity-Argos

Timezone

Brands available at Shoppers Stop

Shoppers Stop retails products of domestic and international brands such as Louis Philippe, Pepe, Arrow, BIBA, Gini & Jony, Carbon, Corelle, Magppie, Nike, Reebok, LEGO, and Mattel. Shoppers Stop retails merchandise under its own labels, such as STOP, Kashish, LIFE and Vettorio Fratini, Elliza Donatein, Acropolis etc. The company also licensees for Austin Reed (London), an international brand, who’s men's and women's outerwear are retailed in India exclusively through the chain. In October 2009, Shoppers Stop has bought the license for merchandising Zoozoo the brand mascot for Vodafone India.

Lifestyle (The landmark group)

The Landmark Group, founded in 1973 with a single store in Bahrain, has grown into one of the largest retail conglomerates in the Middle East and is expanding rapidly in India.

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The Group currently operates over 900 stores encompassing a retail presence of over 13.4 million square feet across 15 countries and employs around 31,000 employees world over. In addition to retail sector, the Group has also diversified into leisure, food, hotels and electronics and has created a comprehensive infrastructure including its own logistics and distribution division, to support its retail operations and other businesses.

In 1999, Landmark Group entered India, to revolutionize retailing in the country with the introduction of Lifestyle Stores. Currently in its 10 years of retailing in India, Landmark Group has launched several of its core retail concepts in the country including Lifestyle, Home Centre, Splash, Bossini, Max and hospitality concepts, Spar supermarkets and hypermarkets, Fun City, Citymax and Gloria Jean’s Coffees.

There Brands-

Landmark Retail

Landmark Hospitality

Affiliates

The Landmark Group has affiliate retail entities in India. Stores in India include Lifestyle, Landmark International, Home Centre, Max Retail, Splash, SPAR Hypermarkets, Fun City and Foodmark.

Lifestyle International (P) Ltd is part of the Landmark Group, a Dubai – based retail chain. With over 30 years’ experience in retailing, the Group has become one of the foremost retailers in the Gulf.Positioned as a trendy, youthful and vibrant brand that offers customers a wide variety of merchandise at an exceptional value for money, Lifestyle India began operations in 1999 with its first store in Chennai.

Currently there are 15 Lifestyle stores and 8 Home Centre stores across Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Mumbai, Pune, New Delhi, Noida and Gurgaon.

Today Lifestyle offers a truly international shopping experience, a fact borne by numerous accolades.

Business World – IMRB Most Respected Company Awards survey rated Lifestyle as

the ‘Most Respected Company in the Retail Sector’ in 2003 and 2004

‘ICICI – KSA Technopak Award for Retail Excellence’ in 2005

Reid & Taylor ‘Retailer of the Year’ award in 2006

Lycra Images Fashion Award for the ‘Most Admired Large Format Retailer of the

Year’ in 2006

Images Retail ‘Most Admired Retailer of the Year – Department Store’ in 2008.

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Different Brands available at Lifestyle store-

Tommy Hilfiger, Forca, Nike, Reebok, Adidas, Gypsy, Baggit, French connection, Espirit, Ray Ban, Police, Idee, Red Tape, Polaroid, Bossini, ID, Hidesign, Da Milano, Ck, Puma, Ferrari, Enamor, Pepe Jeans, Levi’s, UCB, Wrangler, Giordiano, Keneth Cole etc.

Pantaloons (Future Group)

Future Group, led by its founder and Group CEO, Mr. Kishore Biyani, is one of India’s leading business houses with multiple businesses spanning across the consumption space. While retail forms the core business activity of Future Group, group subsidiaries are present in consumer finance, capital, insurance, leisure and entertainment, brand development, retail real estate development, retail media and logistics.

Led by its flagship enterprise, Pantaloon Retail, the group operates over 16 million square feet of retail space in 73 cities and towns and 65 rural locations across India. Headquartered in Mumbai (Bombay), Pantaloon Retail employs around 30,000 people and is listed on the Indian stock exchanges. The company follows a multi-format retail strategy that captures almost the entire consumption basket of Indian customers. In the lifestyle segment, the group operates Pantaloons, a fashion retail chain and Central, a chain of seamless malls. In the value segment, its marquee brand, Big Bazaar is a hypermarket format that combines the look, touch and feel of Indian bazaars with the choice and convenience of modern retail.

The group’s speciality retail formats include supermarket chain – Food Bazaar, sportswear retailer - Planet Sports, electronics retailer - eZone, home improvement chain - Home Town and rural retail chain, Aadhaar, among others. It also operates popular shopping portal -www.futurebazaar.com.

Future Capital Holdings, the group’s financial arm provides investment advisory to assets worth over $1 Billion that are being invested in consumer brands and companies, real estate, hotels and logistics. Other group companies include, Future Generali, the group’s insurance venture in partnership with Italy’s Generali Group, Future Brands, a brand development and IPR company, Future Logistics, providing logistics and distribution solutions to group companies and business partners and Future Media, a retail media initiative.

The group’s presence in Leisure & Entertainment segment is led through, Mumbai-based listed company Galaxy Entertainment Limited. Through Blue Foods the group operates around 100 restaurants and food courts through brands like Bombay Blues, Spaghetti Kitchen, Noodle Bar, The Spoon, Copper Chimney and Gelato.Future Group’s joint venture partners include, US-based stationery products retailer, Staples and Middle East-based Axiom Communications.

21

Pantaloon Retail (India) Limited, is a large Indian retailer, which is part of the Future Group, and operates multiple retail formats in both the value and lifestyle segment of the Indian consumer market. Headquartered in Mumbai, the company has over 1,000 stores across 71 cities in India and employs over 30,000 people, and as of 2010, it was the country's largest listed retailer by market capitalization and revenue.

With effect Jan. 1, the company separated its discount store business, which includes the Big Bazaar hypermarket and the Food Bazaar supermarket businesses, into Future Value Retail Ltd., its wholly-owned subsidiary, so that the company may be listed independently.

The company is present across several lines of business which have various formats

(stores) lywood, The Dollar Store (JV)

Fashion - Pantaloons, Central, aLL, Brand Factory, Blue Sky, Top 10, Fashion

Station, Big Bazaar, Lee Cooper (JV)

General Merchandise - Big Bazaar, Shoe Factory, Navras, Electronics Bazaar,

Furniture Bazaar, KB'S FAIR PRICE

Electronics - eZone, Electronic Bazzaar, STAPLES (JV)

Home Improvement - Home Town

Furniture - Collection i, Furniture Bazaar, Home Bazaar

E-tailing (Online Shopping) - www.futurebazaar.com

Books & Music - Depot

Leisure & Entertainment - Bowling Co. F123

Wellness - Star & Sitara, Tulsi

Telecom & IT - Gen M, M Bazaar, M-Port, ConvergeM, Future Axiom

Consumer Durables - Koryo, Sensei, IPAQ

Service - E Care, H Care , Design & Service

Malls - Central (Bangalore, Hyderabad, Pune, Mumbai, Vadodara, Gurgaon, Indore,

Ahmedabad)

Investment & Savings - Insurance: ULIP, Pension, Endowment etc.

Company Timeline

1987 Company incorporated as Manz Wear Private Limited. Launch of Pantaloons

trouser, India’s first formal trouser brand.

1992 Initial public offer (IPO) was made in the month of May.

1997 Pantaloons – India’s family store launched in Kolkata.

2002 Food Bazaar, the supermarket chain is launched.

2007 Future Group crosses $1 billion turnover mark.

22

Brands available at pantaloons store-

Converse, Nike, Reebok, Adidas, Puma, Speedo, Titan, Tommy Hilfiger, Ck, Bevalgiri, Spalding, Biba, Cross, Umbro, Prince, Wilson, Polaroid, Ray Ban, Idee etc.

23

CHAPTER 3

LITERATURE REVIEW

24

LITERATURE REVIEW

Most of the consumers who visit retail outlets regularly are the youth. The rest of the

population who visit the retail outlets under study can be listed in the following descending

order of distribution – the working age group, the older age group, the middle age group, and

senior citizens.

It is not surprising that the youth most frequent malls and retail stores. What is unexpected,

however, is the fact that more people who fall into the older age group visit the retail stores

than those who fall in the middle age group. Then again, this deduction cannot be applied to

the entire population of Bangalore. The disparity can be attributed to the small size of the

sample under study.

More women visit retail outlets than men. Two, more women are willing to fill out

questionnaires and take a survey than men.

A large number of consumers visit retail outlets for clothes/dresses/apparel. Accoutrement is

the hottest selling item that any retail outlet can provide. One-third of the respondents

indicated that the visit retail outlets to purchase groceries. Clothing is the fastest moving

consumer good. Retail outlets that provide apparel can see a higher rate of turnover and sales

volume.Customers give value to a great many number of factors when deciding which store

to shop at. It would be prudent on the part of the company to identify their strong and weak

areas, which attract or drive away customers to/from their stores. When choosing to shop at a

particular store, or when favouring one store over the others, it is seen that most consumers

make this decision based on the quality of the products on offer.

Majority of the respondents feel that television advertising is the most effective means of

advertising. This is indicative in spite of large number of commercials that the public is

bombarded with.

Good number of target consumers is satisfied with the stores at large. However, there are

those who are unsatisfied or who have never visited the store at all. Such consumers form the

potential market that the companies must strive to attract.

- “The Study of consumer perception of three retail chains in Bangalore.”

25

The consumer’s preferences are changing rapidity and becoming highly diversified. It is difficult for the retail stores to satisfy all the needs of the customers. The most of the consumer’s want to get some attractive prices, good schemes and offers on every purchases and a shopping comfort as well. Those who are able to purchase their needs and want for a month in a bulk prefer to go to the retail chains. Because of competitions in the market the branded formals are also became cheaper so the younger generation prefers to purchase from the retail outlets of the brand the city. Only the big retail chains are able to satisfy all these needs of the new age consumers whereas there is still some consumers mostly of the old age are willing to purchase from the local kirana store. Some of them have perception that these big stores are too costly to afford and some of them are not able to make purchases in a bulk so they do not want to waste their time to go especially to the big store for 2-3 items purchase. In the case of other items like wristwatches, branded jewelry, mobiles, gift items and other, they prefer to take it from where they are getting cheap prices, good after sales services and the goodwill of the store.

After studying the customer survey questionnaire statistically and theoretically as well and after observing the consumer’s mood and their preferences I can say that Big Retail is here to stay. Assuming that improvements in infrastructure and lower real estate costs become a reality, Big Retail still has a long way to go before satisfying the highly diverse needs of the Indian population. As a result, there will be a steady state where Big Retail will co-exist with Small Retail.

- “Growth of Retail sector in India”

From this research, there are majority no. of customers who buys more than 3 times in a month as compare to other customers. So these customers are loyal customer. No of other customers who buy more than 2 times, 1 time in a month are also there. There were higher percentage of customers who like to buy from Shoppers stop as compare to other competitors.( pyramid, Pantaloons etc.) means majority of customers are like to shop from Shoppers stop. So by organizing some events or with good product range & discounts, these remaining customers get diverted. As per the data collected through this survey, we can say higher no. of customers are youngsters. Along with professionals, businessmen etc. between the age group 25-35.

Majority of females customers are there, as compare to male customers. As per income range is concern, majority of customers are high class customer’s means income (30000+/month).who loves to shop in Lifestyle. They are really brand conscious.

There is higher no. of customers who spend more than 3000 for their 1 time shopping, more than 3000 also. Some customers are there who even shop more than 10000 also.

- “Retail sector in India”

26

In the past few years the whole concept of shopping has been altered in terms of format and consumer buying behavior. With the increasing urbanization, the Indian consumer is emerging as more trend-conscious. There has also been a shift from price considerations to designs and quality as there is a greater focus on looking and feeling good (apparel as well as fitness). At the same time, the Indian consumer is not beguiled by retail products which are high on price but commensurately low on value or functionality. However, it can be said that the Indian consumer is a paradox, where the discount shopper loyalty takes a backseat over price discounts.

Indians have grown richer and thus spending more on vehicles, phones and eating out in restaurants. The spending is focused more outside the homes, unlike in other Asian countries where consumers have tended to spend more on personal items as they grow richer. Spending on luxury goods have increased twice as fast with 2/3 of India's population is under 35, consumer demand is clearly growing. The mall mania has bought in a whole new breed of modern retail formats across the country catering to every need of the value-seeking Indian consumer. An average Indian would see a mall as a perfect weekend getaway with family offering them entertainment, leisure, food, shopping all under one roof.

- An analysis of Indian Retail sector

27

CHAPTER 4

PURPOSE AND OBJECTIVES

28

SCOPE OF STUDY

Scope and Uses

1. It will extend to the actual field study of 3 outlets in NCR.

2. It will give information to prospective customers.

3. Help us gain independent knowledge about the consumer perception of the outlets

identified.

4. It facilitates evaluation of brand name and customer satisfaction.

OBJECTIVE OF STUDY

1. To study the retail industry in India through sample of three outlets in NCR.

2. To analyze customer satisfaction towards products and services offered.

3. To understand the influence of advertising and promotion in buying behaviour.

4. To ascertain brand awareness of the outlets identified.

PROBLEM DEFINATION

To understand the basis of what services does a consumer makes his choice in

selecting a retail outlet.

Ascertaining consumers present level of satisfaction towards these outlets.

29

RATIONALE OF STUDY

Being a project for my partial fulfillment of my MBA degree I was motivated to finish this

project to the best of my ability.

My interest in the field of retail was a motivation factor towards this research.

Stability in operations of Retail sector irrespective of changing financial conditions was a

factor that brought me interest in knowing more about the internal workings of the industry.

30

CHAPTER 5

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

31

TYPE OF RESEARCH

My research is DESCRIPTIVE RESEARCH as it includes a questionnaire survey and it is a fact

finding enquiry through questionnaire. And I am focusing on consumers viewpoint towards RETAIL

stores and problems associated.

My Project is descriptive research due to the following factor:

It describes the characteristics of consumers towards lifestyle store in NCR.

It is carried out to estimate the approximate percentage of units in a specified population

exhibiting certain behavior.

It helps in determining the perception of outlet characteristics.

It helps in making certain predictions related to consumer behavior towards retail industry.

SAMPLE DESIGN

Regardless of the method or the design of the research that is used to obtain the primary data, the

decision for this very research activity in the field of retail and about surveying the entire population

of consumers or only a representative portion of the population of the market had to be made. For this

research activity the latter was adopted due to the resource constrains which was also the limitation of

this research report. With the limited amount resource in the hand, the only feasible way was to

survey a representative portion of the population than the entire population as such. The difficulty in

forms of time and resources caused the researcher to resort to the sampling approach than census

approach as the size of the entire population was huge which could not be catered because of limited

resource and time.

SAMPLE UNIT

As the project was being done in Noida the sample unit taken was consumers of NCR.

SAMPLE SIZE

The sample size selected was 100 respondents. This was due to the time and resource constraint faced

by the researcher during the project.

32

SAMPLE SELECTION

Respondents were selected on the random bases from Great India Palace Noida and students of Amity

as Great India Palace has got all three stores covered under this report and maximum portion of

population visiting are Amitians.

DATA COLLECTION TOOLS

PRIMARY DATA

Primary data was collected through questionnaire method . The Questionnaire is attached to the

annexure of this report. It contained 12 questions and covered the necessary areas needed to complete

the research.

SECONDARY DATA

Secondary Data was collected from magazines’, newspapers and websites.

33

VARIABLES INVOLVED

Type of consumers.

Services of retailers offered.

Consumer’s perception on retail buying.

Consumers expectations from retailers.

SCALING TECHNIQUES USED IN QUESTIONNAIRE

1. QUESTION 1 – Nominal Scale

2. QUESTION 2 – Nominal Scale

3. QUESTION 3 – Nominal Scale

4. QUESTION 4 – Nominal Scale

5. QUESTION 5 – Nominal Scale(Open Ended)

6. QUESTION 6 – Nominal Scale

7. QUESTION 7 – Nominal Scale

8. QUESTION 8 – Nominal Scale

9. QUESTION 9 – Nominal Scale

10. QUESTION 10 – Nominal Scale

11. QUESTION 11 – Nominal Scale

12. QUESTION 12 – Nominal Scale (Open Ended)

34

CHAPTER 6

ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

35

ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

Age of Respondents

73

15

12

Age

18-28

28-38

38-48

Age 18-28 7328-38 1538-48 12

Most of the respondents are falling in 18-28 years. Maximum number of youth visits malls. Sample was selected in a way that there were no respondents in above 48yrs category.

Gender

36

63

37

Gender

Male

Female

Major portion of respondents are males. There were only 37 female respondents out of 100. So, results will be guided by this factor.

1) What is your monthly shopping budget?

37

Gender Male 63

Female 37

0-2 2-5 5-10 10-20 20-50 Above 50

What is your monthly shopping budget?

0

20

40

60

80

Co

un

t

75

118

41 1

What is your monthly shopping budget?(Thousands)

0-2 75

2-5 115-10 810-20 420-50 1Above 50 1

Case Processing Summary

Cases

Valid Missing Total

N Percent N Percent N PercentAge * What is your monthly shopping budget?

100 100.0% 0 .0% 100 100.0%

Age * What is your monthly shopping budget? Crosstabulation

38

Count

What is your monthly shopping budget?

Total0-2 2-5 5-10 10-20 20-50 Above 50Age 18-28 73 0 0 0 0 0 73

28-38 2 11 2 0 0 0 1538-48 0 0 6 4 1 1 12

Total 75 11 8 4 1 1 100

Before formulating and strategies its important for outlets to know shopping budget of there consumers, that’s why this question is part of questionnaire.

1/3rd of the respondents spend 0-2000 rupees as part of there monthly budget. This is due to the factor that maximum number of respondents were students who

have there defined budgets based on pocket money. There are just 2 respondents who spend more then 20 thousand on shopping in a

month. People falling in 18-28 age category have there shopping budget from 0 to 2000

rupees. In 28-38 category, major number of respondents spent 2000 to 5000 on there

shopping. There is only one respondent falling in age of 38-48 who spend above 50 thousand as

his monthly shopping budget.

2) How often do you shop?

39

Ones a week Fortnightly Ones a month

How often do you shop?

0

10

20

30

40

50

Co

un

t

48

32

20

How often do you shop? Ones a week 48

Fortnightly 32Ones a month 20

This question is being added to know the frequency of consumers going to shop, in a month’s time.

Almost 50% of respondents go out for shopping ones a week atleast. Personnel interaction with respondents stated that it is usually on weekends. 32% go ones in 15 days and 20% ones in a month.

3) Which of the following stores do you shop at?

40

32

24

16

28

Which of the

following stores do

you shop at?

Shoppers Stop

Lifestyle

Pantaloons

Others

Which of the following stores do you shop at?

Shoppers Stop 32

Lifestyle 24Pantaloons 16Others 28

This question is a designed to know that out of the three stores mentioned which stores they shop the most at and if others then who are the major competitors.

Shoppers stop have maximum number of visitors with 32%. Least number of people visits pantaloons out of 10 respondents. In others category lifestyle store, responses were

Westside(TATA TRENT) MAX Globus Even few responded Big bazaar which is more of full functional departmental

store.

4) What do you mostly shop at the mentioned stores?

41

Clothing Footwear Accessories Others

What do you mostly shop for at the mentioned store?

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Co

un

t

52

28

12

8

What do you mostly shop for at the mentioned store?

Clothing 52 Footwear 28 Accessories 12 Others 8

This questions relevance is in a way that it tells about what consumers usually shop for at Lifestyle stores.

More then 50% of consumers go to buy clothing from lifestyle stores across NCR. 28% people go for buying footwear’s 12 out of 100 respondents prefer buying accessories from these stores like shades,

perfumes, belts, caps, Jewellery etc.

5) Why do you shop at the above mentioned stores?

42

This question was part of questionnaire to basically understand what is a generalize view of customers when they go to buy in these stores. There are lot of different responses that came as response to this open ended question. But few major ones are-

All brands available below one roof. Shopping environment is good inside these stores. Lot of combination offers provided by stores. Trust for the brand. Quality of service is high. These stores create customer satisfaction. Various kinds of buying needs are satisfied in Lifestyle store. My family enjoys shopping inside these stores. I find brands which are not available otherwise. I believe in product quality which I can only get inside these stores. I always find stock here. Lot of choice offered. Good facility of changing rooms.

6) What effects your shopping decision in these retail stores?

43

Proximity Quality Brand Price Store Layout One stop shopping

What effects your shopping decision in these retail stores?

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

Co

un

t

12

28

24

4

16 16

What effects your shopping decision in these retail stores?

Proximity 12

Quality 28Brand 24Price 4Store Layout 16One stop shopping

16

This questions talks about different attributes which consumers consider in selection of lifestyle shopping store.

Most of the consumers go to these stores because they believe in quality provided by these stores on from of products and services.

Brand also plays a key role in selection of retail outlet for buying clothes and footwear’s.

Price is not a matter for those who go to these branded stores. One stop shopping and store layout has equal importance for consumers in making a

choice of store.

7) Does advertising and promotion effects your shopping decision?

44

72

28

Does advertising

and promotion

influence your

shopping

decisions?

Yes

No

Does advertising and promotion influence your shopping decisions?

Yes 72

No 28

This question tries to understand the relevance of advertising for attracting consumers. 72 out of 100 respondents believe that advertising effects there shopping decision. There were 28% respondents who believe that advertising does not effect there

shopping decision and they take there decision according to there own needs and wants but not created needs and wants.

8) Which form of promotion do you think is most effective?

45

Print TV Radio

Which form of promotion do you think is most effective?

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Co

un

t

24

68

8

Which form of promotion do you think is most effective?

Print 24

TV 68Radio 8

After knowing that advertising is effective, it’s important to understand what kind of promotion attracts maximum number of people into retail stores.

Consumers believe that visual TV advertisement effect there decision making the most in selection of service or product.

Out of 100, 24 believes that print media attracts them the most out of three. There were only 8 respondents who believed that Radio is a good source of

advertising for companies.

9) Which of these outlets advertisement you have seen or heard?

46

76

16

8

Which of these

outlets

advertisement you

have seen or heard?

Shoppers Stop

Lifestyle

Pantaloons

Which of these outlets advertisement you have seen or heard?

Shoppers Stop 76

Lifestyle 16Pantaloons 8

This question is added to know the reach of advertising of these three outlets. Shoppers stop has been most effective with its advertising with 76% respondents.

This is mainly due to the factor that when Shoppers stop change their logos there were lots of TV advertisement during shows to share this information.

There were 16 respondents who had seen or heard Lifestyle advertisement. Only 8% people have seen Pantaloons advertisement whether in print or audio visual

format.

10) Indicate your satisfaction level based on the following parameters for the following stores?

47

1) Shoppers Stop

Unsatisfied Satisfied Highle Satisfied

Indicate your satisfaction level based on the following parameters for the following stores

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Co

un

t

12

28

60

Indicate your satisfaction level based on the following parameters for the following stores

Unsatisfied 12

Satisfied 28

Highly Satisfied 60

This question is part of questionnaire to understand the overall satisfaction level of consumers towards particular store out of these three.

Shoppers stop customers are highly satisfied with its services and products. There are only 12 respondents who are unsatisfied in this case. All the respondents responded to this question that clarifies that all of them have

visited this store. 88% of respondents fall under category of above satisfaction level.

2) Lifestyle

48

Unsatisfied Satisfied Highle Satisfied Not Visited

Indicate your satisfaction level based on the following parameters for the following stores

0

10

20

30

40

50

Co

un

t

16

44

36

4

Indicate your satisfaction level based on the following parameters for the following stores

Unsatisfied 16

Satisfied 44Highle Satisfied 36Not Visited 4

With lifestyle also satisfaction level is high with 80% people falling in category of above satisfaction level.

Just 16% falls under category of unsatisfied lot. Only 4 out of 100 respondents had not visited Lifestyle store.

3) Pantaloons

49

Unsatisfied Satisfied Highle Satisfied Not Visited

Indicate your satisfaction level based on the following parameters for the following stores

0

10

20

30

40

Co

un

t

36

28

12

24

Indicate your satisfaction level based on the following parameters for the following stores

Unsatisfied 36

Satisfied 28Highle Satisfied 12Not Visited 24

Major numbers of respondents are usually left unsatisfied with services of Pantaloons. There are 24 consumers out of 100 who have never visited the store. Only 12 percent respondent indicated there answer as highly satisfied. The main reason behind such response is that in clothing section they don’t have

many brand to offer and Pantaloons usually promote there own brand in this category.

11) How much time do you spend in the retail chain on every visit?

50

0-30 30-60 1-2 hrs 2-3 hrs

How much time do you spend in the retail chain on every visit?

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Co

un

t

68

16

8 8

How much time do you spend in the retail chain on every visit?

0-30 68

30-60 161-2 hrs 82-3 hrs 8

This is to understand how much time usually a consumer spends in an outlet. Major number of consumers spent less then an hour in a retail shop because of there

presence in malls. Consumers who spent above 2 hours are those who are there for multiple category

shopping and there pockets can take the load.

12) What suggestions you would like to give for improvement of services in these stores?

51

Its an open ended question to know there overall experience after shopping in these outlets. Maximum number of consumers responded in one word like they were satisfied or they are happy with the service.

Only 40% of respondents gave proper response against all three columns.

Shoppers Stop

Sales must be organized on regular bases. Better discount facility should be offered. First citizen card must provide more value to the consumers. Existing discount schemes are usually on very high priced products.

Lifestyle

Benefits offered by loyalty card are absolutely useless as they carry very long period benefits and those benefits are not that value adding.

There is huge old stock pilled inside in case of Sales period, which in turn affects overall quality of store.

There are too many brands, and the customer who has come for a particular brand, has to look deep for his preferred brand.

Sales men are not available on many spots to provide assistance.

Pantaloons

Baggage counter is always crowded, need to give more space. They must provide more choice in form of brand in clothing. They should have shoes section apart from there regular sports section. Quality of there own brand available inside must be improved. On many spots staff is not available for assistance. There own brand should be priced at lower price, right now its competing

with high value brands in price but not in quality. More choice should be offered in watch section. They should work on there accessories category. Regular discount sales should be offered to consumers to attract them.

52

CHAPTER 7

FINDINGS AND RECOMMANDATIONS

FINDINGS

53

These are the findings of dissertation project- Consumer perception of retail industry in

India with special reference to Lifestyle stores-Shoppers Stop, Lifestyle and Pantaloons.

Maximum number of youth visits retail Lifestyle stores.

1/3rd of the consumers spend upto 2000 rupees as part of there monthly budget. This is due to the factor that maximum number of respondents were students who have there defined budgets based on pocket money.

Almost 50% of respondents go out for shopping ones a week at least. Personnel interaction with respondents stated that it is usually on weekends.

Shoppers stop have maximum number of visitors with 32%.Least number of people visits pantaloons out of 10 respondents.

More then 50% of consumers go to buy clothing from lifestyle stores across NCR and around 28% people go for buying footwear’s, 12 out of 100 respondents prefer buying accessories from these stores like shades, perfumes, belts, caps, Jewellery etc.

Convenience is a major factor behind visiting these stores. Most of the consumers go to these stores because they believe in quality provided by

these stores on from of products and services. Brand also plays a key role in selection of retail outlet for buying clothes and

footwear’s. Price is not a matter for those who go to these branded stores. One stop shopping and store layout has equal importance for consumers in making a

choice of store. More then 70% respondents believe that advertising effects there shopping decision. Consumers believe that visual TV advertisement effect there decision making the

most in selection of service or product. Shoppers stop has been most effective with its advertising with. This is mainly due to

the factor that when Shoppers stop change their logos there were lots of TV advertisement during shows to share this information.

Shoppers stop customers are most highly satisfied with its services and products. With lifestyle also satisfaction level is high with 80% people falling in category of

above satisfaction level. Major numbers of respondents are usually left unsatisfied with services of Pantaloons.

The main reason behind such response is that in clothing section they don’t have many brand to offer and Pantaloons usually promote there own brand in this category.

Major number of consumers spent less then an hour in a retail shop because of there presence in malls.

RECOMMANDATIONS

54

Retail consumer’s decision is affected by advertisements and these stores must emphasize on audio visual advertising techniques.

Maximum number of Indian consumers is youth and retailers must focus on attracting youth through promotional means.

Maximum shopping takes place on weekend so its important to have focus strategy for weekends.

Clothing category is most shopped by consumers so all three retailers must have competitive pricing to stop them from going to other stores.

Consumers coming to these outlets are usually brand conscious and there ego must be satisfied by providing them whatever they are looking for in separate sections.

Consumer Specific other recommendations-

Shoppers Stop

Discount Sales must be organized on regular bases. Better discount facility should be offered. First citizen card must provide more value to the consumers.

Lifestyle

Benefits offered by loyalty cards must be revisited by company. There is huge old stock pilled inside in case of Sales period, which in turn

affects overall quality of store, so it must be cleared. There are too many brands, and the customer who has come for a particular

brand, has to look deep for his preferred brand, it should be accessible with ease to him.

Sales men should be available on key spots to provide assistance.

Pantaloons

Baggage counter is always crowded, need to give more space. They must provide more choice in form of brand in clothing. They should have shoes section apart from there regular sports section. Quality of there own brand available inside must be improved. There own brand should be priced at lower price then other existing

players, right now its competing with high value brands in price but not in quality.

More choice should be offered in watch section. They should work on there accessories category. Regular discount sales should be offered to consumers to attract them.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

55

Naresh K. Malhotra , “Marketing Research – An Applied Orientation” 5th edition

published by Prentice-Hall of India

Ian Brace , “Questionnaire Design: How to Plan, Structure, and Write Survey

Material for Effective Market Research” Published by Kogan Page Publishers, 2004

www.ibef.org

www.indianrealtynews.com

www.fibre2fashion.com/industry...retail-industry.

www.indiaretailing.com

www.bcgindia.com

www.wikipedia.org

indiaretailbiz.wordpress.com

www.indianground.com/retail/retail-sector-in-india

www.articlesbase.com

QUESTIONNAIRE

Dear Customer,

56

I, the student of AMITY University, is conducting a study on the consumers perception towards

Lifestyle stores in NCR, viz., Shopper's Stop, Lifestyle and Pantaloons. Please fill in the following

questionnaire to help me in my survey.

NAME:                                                   OCCUPATION: 

AGE:  18-28      28-38       38-48        48-58        58-65

 

GENDER:  Male               Female

 

  1) What is your monthly shopping budget?

0-2K 2-5K 5-10K 10-20K 20-50K above 50K

2) How often do you shop?

Once a week            Fortnightly             Once a month                      

 

3) Which of the following stores do you shop at?

Shoppers Stop     Lifestyle     Pantaloons       Others (specify) ____________________________________

 4) What do you mostly shop for at the mentioned stores?

Clothing                       Footwear                      Accessories

Others (specify) ___________________________________

5) Why do you shop at the above-mentioned store?

6) What effects your shopping decision in these retail stores:

Proximity                              Quality

57

Brand                                    Price                                                       

Store Layout                        One-stop shopping

 7) Does advertising and promotion influence your shopping decisions?

Yes            No

 8) Which form of promotion do you think is most effective?

Print                 TV                 Radio

9) Which of these outlets advertisement you have seen or heard?

Shoppers Stop                 Lifestyle              Pantaloons

10) Indicate your satisfaction level based on the following parameters for the following stores:

Retail Outlet Unsatisfied Satisfied Highly Satisfied Not Visited

Shoppers stop    

Lifestyle      

Pantaloons        

11) How much time do you spend in the retail chain on every visit? 0-30 Minutes 30-60 Minutes 1-2 Hour 2-3 Hours

3-4 Hours 4-5 Hours <5 Hours 

12) What suggestions you would like to give for improvement of services in these stores?

Shoppers Stop

Lifestyle

Pantaloons

Thank you!

58