impact of visual merchandizing on sales - final

IMPACT OF VISUAL MERCHANDIZING ON SALES

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UNIVERSITY OF MUMBAI

PROJECT REPORT

ON

“IMPACT OF VISUAL MERCHANDIZING ON SALE”

SUBMITTED BYGAYATRI.M.MUDALIAR

(MARKETING)

ROLL NO-130BATCH 2012-2014

UNDER THE GUIDANCE OFPROF.NAMEETA SONASKAR.

KOHINOOR BUSINESS SCHOOL,KURLA,MUMBAI.

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UNIVERSITY OF MUMBAIPROJECT REPORT

ON

“IMPACT OF VISUAL MERCHANDIZING ON SALE”

SUBMITTED BYGAYATRI.M.MUDALIAR

(MARKETING)

ROLL NO-130BATCH 2012-2014

UNDER THE GUIDANCE OFPROF.NAMEETA SONASKAR.

KOHINOOR BUSINESS SCHOOL,KURLA,MUMBAI.

3


A

Project Report

ON

“ Impact of visual merchandizing on sale”In partial fulfillment of requirement

For the Award of Degree

MASTER OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES

( Marketing )

For

IMRB International

Mumbai

Submitted to

Kohinoor Business School, Kurla

University of Mumbai

Submitted By

Ms.Gayatri.M.Mudaliar

( Batch 2012-2014 )

Under the guidance of

Nameeta Sonaskar

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DECLARATION

I hereby declare that the project report entitled “Impact of visual merchandizing

on sale .Carried out at “IMRB International” is my work submitted in partial fulfillment of the

requirement for Degree of MASTER OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES (MMS),

UNIVERSITY OF MUMBAI from KOHINOOR BUSINESS SCHOOL, KURLA,

MUMBAI and not submitted for the award of any degree, diploma, fellowship or any similar

titles or prizes.

Date: Signature: _______________

Place: Mumbai Student Name: ___________

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CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that the project entitled “Impact of visual merchandizing on

sale” is successfully completed by “Gayatri.M.Mudaliar” during the second year of her course,

in partial fulfillment of the Masters Degree in Management Studies, under the University of

Mumbai, through KOHINOOR BUSINESS SCHOOL, Kurla, Mumbai-400070.

Date:

Place: Mumbai “Nameeta Sonaskar”

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AKNOWLEDGEMENT

This is the pleasure movement for me to exploit my energized intelligence. It is my

privilege to express my gratitude and respect to those who guided and inspired me in the

completion of this project.

I am deeply indebted to my project guide of the Kohinoor Business School.

“Miss Nameeta Sonaskar“for giving me this opportunity to undergo my project in his esteemed

organization and for his timely suggestions and valuable guidance. He constantly encouraged me

and showed me the right path from day one till the complete of my project.

I am also thankful to Mr. Dhananjay for helping me to proceed in conducting the survey

and complete it on time. I am grateful to the Director, Faculties, administrative staff and the

librarian of Kohinoor Business School for providing me all the support required for successful

completion of my project.

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ADMISSION NO - ____________

MASTER OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES

KOHINOOR INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES

YEAR OF SUBMISSION: AUGUST, 2013

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COMPANY CERTIFICATE

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapte

r

Sub chapter Content Page No

1.1 Executive Summary 10

2.1 Introduction to topic 12

2.1.1 Introduction to company 12

2.1.2 Organization structure 13

3.1 Literature review 14

3.1.1 Brief 14

3.1.2 Origin & progression 15

3.1.3 Five steps of sale 15

3.1.4 Importance of VM in today’s era 16

3.1.5 Role of VM in promoting of sales 16

3.1.6 Strategic approach to Visual Merchandising 17

3.2 Project overview 19

3.2.1 Need of the study 19

3.2.2 Objective 19

3.2.3 Scope 19

3.2.4 Research Module 19

3.2.5 Limitation of the study 19

3.3 Pepsi – Atom – A view 20

3.3.1 SWOT analysis 21

4.1 Research Study 22

4.1.1 Study background 22

4.2 Data Analysis & interpretation 25

4.3 Findings & observation 44

4.4 Recommendation 46

5.1 Conclusion & Appendices 47

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5.1.1 Conclusion 47

5.1.2 References 48

5.1.3 Annexure 49

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LIST OF CHART

Chart 1 Age profile

Chart 2 Gender profile

Chart 3 Profession profile

Chart 4 Customer walk-in to retail store

Chart 5 Purpose of store visit

Chart 6 Notice - display

Chart 7 Reading of communication

Chart 8 Easy access to store

Chart 9 Attractive arrangement

Chart 10 Provocation

Chart 11 Reason for Purchase

Chart 12 Seen Pepsi Atom

Chart 13 Trials of Pepsi Atom

Chart 14 Repeat purchase of Pepsi Atom

Chart 15 Mode of Pepsi Atom communication

Chart 16 Mode in the store

Chart 17 Display provocation

Chart 18 Provocation parameters

Chart 19 Attractive display & sales boost

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PART 1

1.1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY With the growing mall culture on tremendous growth, unleashed potential of visual

merchandizing has been released and retailers/shopkeepers are no turning this heat on by getting

major impact on sales volume. This is my strategic study to understand 5 W’s of Visual

merchandizing. 5W’s are where (where does it impact), what (what does it impact), when (when

does it impact), why (why does it impact) and who (who does it impact). Through this project I

have tried to address these very much questions.

My study has been surrounded around Visual Merchandizing and its impact on sales. Thus Study

is spread across three different parts which involves understanding of IMRB as an organization

which has given me this opportunity and support to undertake this study, further I have tried to

indulge into concept of visual merchandizing and at last I have undertaken research to

understand impact of Visual merchandizing on sales through studying walking-in customers at

retail stores.

Study reveals that display is of prime importance that would help in easy and convenient

purchase as well as the reason for boost in the same. People are provoked to purchase even

impulse products if display is attractive and easy to find. Thus company can really do some

attractive visual merchandising and can boost up the sales.

Finally I found that Visual Merchandizing is really one parameter to boost volumes; particularly

for FMCG companies where sale is of prime importance.

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2 INTRODUCTION TO TOPIC

In this competitive scenario sales has been a very crucial and linked to marketing objectives. All

marketing related activities are now-a-days linked with sales and ROMI (return on marketing

investment). During early day company would do some sales promotions of provide some

display material to shops/outlets; however, today scenario has been changed and visual

merchandizing as a concept has emerged which not only guide company to identify appropriate

display location and material but also helps company to realize ROMI. So if a company provides

dangler to retail store or make some attractive display in a mall it makes sure that there is

positive impact on sale.

Visual merchandizing as a method to gain impact on sales has been recently into highly demand.

But how does it work? What are the objectives it needs to achieve? Does it really impact on sale?

These are some questions we will be evaluating through this project as we go in-dept

understanding of the case study.

Visual merchandizing strategically means arranging attractive display that would capture

customer walk-in eye balls and would make an attempt to either provide brand re-call or

motivate impulse sale at a time. Many a times it acts as a sales person wherein it communicates

brand or product message. Earlier concept of visual merchandizing was limited to luxurious

products; however, now-a-days it has been extended to retail merchandizing too wherein

companies like HUL, P & G, Pepsico & Coca-Cola are now using this to a greater extend.

Coming to Visual merchandizing; it is very critical for us to understand impact of visual

merchandizing on sales. Companies spend huge amount to get correct display at right place at

right time but does benefits really passes to sale or volumes. This will be the upcoming agenda

for the project wherein we will be trying to understand concept of visual merchandizing and how

does it impact on sales. We will be taking case study of recently launched Pepsi Atom wherein

company has done lot of retail front visual merchandizing. Research being part of the project we

will connect to various customers across retail stores in Mumbai to understand their brand re-call

as well as the extent to which retail merchandizing has impacted Pepsi Atom volumes.

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Visual merchandizing has become very popular as well as important amongst industry however

it is very sad that many companies are not able to realize full potential of this concept. Visual

merchandizing ensures that money is spent in smart way as well as there in ROMI on money

spent. Sale is ultimate target of any company and any activity being indulge is targeted towards

volume growth. Effective Visual merchandizing not only provides solution to marketing

objective but to sales objective as well. Thus it is a one solution to both.

I hope this in-depth study on evaluating impact of visual merchandizing on sale will be useful in

future for academic purpose.

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PART 2

2.1 COMPANY PROFILE

2.1.1 INTRODUCTION OF THE COMPANY

Established in 1971 and with over three decades of market research experience, IMRB

International is a pioneer in India in various research areas. Associated with a group of

international market companies such as the British Market Research Bureau (BMRB) and

Millward Brown International, IMRB International operates out of thirteen cities in India and has

associate offices in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal. The 500 member strong IMRB

International promises high quality conceptualization, strategic thinking, execution and

interpretation skills on all its clients' research needs. In 1996, IMRB International managed 2,500

projects and 4,000,000 interviews. IMRB International is the only research company in India

today that offers the entire range of research based services to its clients. IMRB International's

specialised areas are consumer markets, industrial marketing, business to business marketing,

social marketing and rural marketing. IMRB International is the market research wing of J

Walter Thompson (JWT) - the leading advertising agency in India. JWT in turn belongs to the

Kantar Group, which in turn is a part of the WPP Group - the largest advertising group in the

world

The Kantar group was established in 1993, a London based holding company responsible for

WPP's worldwide information and consultancy interests. Kantar, is the world's largest survey

organization and is ranked 3rd overall. It comprises three global research businesses - Research

International, Millward Brown and Kantar Media Research and four regional ones - BMRB

International, IMRB International, Goldfarb and Winona. Each is a leader in its own area of

expertise or specialization. The research studies in over 130 countries. The Kantar group

specialized in:

• Qualitative and quantitative research

• Tracking studies

• International research

• Predictive modelling

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• Media measurement

• Data capture and handling

• Strategic research

• Customer handling

MRB International has acted as a catalyst in the development of market research infrastructure in

neighbouring countries. We work with associate companies in Sri Lanka (Lanka Market

Research Bureau) and in the Middle East (Arab Market Research Bureau), and through affiliates

in Australia , Singapore , Malaysia , Thailand , Indonesia , Philippines , Egypt , Tunisia , Nepal ,

Pakistan , Bangladesh and Myanmar .

IMRB International has been offering over 30 years of specialist research services to clients in

India and overseas on products and services covering the entire gamut of business and industry.

IMRB International today, operates out of its five full service offices in Mumbai, Delhi, Calcutta,

Chennai and Bangalore and is supported by 15 other regional centers for collection of survey

information that literally span the entire country. IMRB is able to provide the highest quality of

professional services to the utmost satisfaction of clients which include the small medium and

large scale industries, the government and public sector units, multinational corporations and

international companies that are eyeing the highly promising Indian market.

2.1.2 ORGANIZATION STRUCUTRE

PART 3

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3.1 LITERATURE REVIEW

3.1.1 BRIEF

Today's successful retailers make the most profitable use of every square foot of space in the

store and in the warehouse. Since this space is so costly, you must take a strategic approach to its

use. Floor patterns, location of merchandise, levels of inventory and appropriate displays are all

key factors in the proper use of space. Misuse of space can be as detrimental to our success as

poor buying or careless hiring. It is very important for every store to create a suitable atmosphere

and appealing presentations in order to trigger the consumer's buying decision. In a world where

you can find identical merchandise in more than one store, layout and presentation become key

differentiating factors.

Retail location has long been considered as important strategic business decision for a number of

reasons. First, consumer store choice decisions are influenced greatly by merchandizing

(Arrangement of merchandise) which denotes the relationship between consumer perception of

availability and characteristics of decision. Second, retailers may be able to develop a sustainable

competitive advantage through merchandizing. Merchandising plays an important role in

maintaining a balance between rack stock and the buffer stock. A proper visual merchandising

helps the retailer to increase the customer walk-ins and inturn increase the sales of the product.

Visual Merchandising (VM) is the art of presentation, which puts the merchandise in focus and

in perspective too. It educates the customers, creates desire and finally augments the selling

process. This is a nascent area of the Indian retail industry, therefore a professional program on

Visual Merchandising will go a long way in addressing this gap. The success of the program will

be reflected in the better presentations, displays, indoor and outdoor communication about the

stores

Oxford dictionary states Visual merchandizing as, ‘Activity of promoting the sale of goods,

especially by their presentation in retail outlets’

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By above definition, Visual Merchandizing is just not presenting of goods but an activity or

mode of promoting goods through good presentation, this showcases Visual Merchandizing as

very important task in sale of goods.

Barbara Farfan defines Visual Merchandizing as, ‘display of products which makes them

appealing, attractive, accessible & engaging thereby promoting sales’

However, the above definition describes this whole trade in very simplistic manner and covers

various attributes. It too describes that by managing all these activity, Visual Merchandizing is to

promote sales which by itself declares a sales promotion version

3.1.2 ORIGIN & PROGRESSION

Visual Merchandising has been around since the dawn of civilization, since humans started

selling merchandise to a customer. When a vendor arranged his goods to be more attractive for a

customer, or when a farmer put the biggest and ripest apples on top of the basket for consumers

to see and touch, that is visual merchandising. As the 20th century ended, and the new

millennium was entered, retailers are concerned with competition more than ever before. One of

the ways in which merchants of every product classification, both large and small, helped to

distinguish themselves from the others in the field, was through creative visual presentations.

The challenges that confront these specialists run the gamut from the display installations in their

stores to the development of designs for the environments. Today, Visual Merchandising has

become more sophisticated and more encompassing than arranging merchandise for easy access

to customers. Visual Merchandising elements are put into practice from designing the floor plan

of the store to the beautiful mannequins that grace the store floor. With the specialty marketing

of the 1990s, visual merchandising is a necessity to the industry.

3.1.3 FIVE STEPS OF SALE

The basic rule for any store is that it must sell its merchandise to the consumers; and this can be

done most effectively when all the principles of design and display are employed intelligently in

the form of Visual Merchandising. The study of visual merchandising educates people about how

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to fully understand the principles of design & display, and then apply them effectively to

generate sales through just five steps:

1. Attract and hold the attention of the passerby.

2. Arouse his or her interest in buying the merchandise displayed.

3. Create desire to want the product being featured in the store.

4. Win confidence to give the customer faith in the store and product.

5. Cause the decision to buy

3.1.4 IMPORTANCE OF VISUAL MERCHANDISING IN TODAY’S ERA

The importance of visual merchandising in present scenario can be understood in:

Educating the customers about the product/service in an effective and creative way.

Establishing a creative medium to present merchandise in 3D environment, thereby enabling

long lasting impact and recall value.

Setting the company apart in an exclusive position.

Establishing linkage between products and marketing by keeping the product in prime focus.

Combining the creative, technical and operational aspects of a product and the business.

Drawing the attention of the customer to enable him to take purchase decision within shortest

possible time, and thus augmenting the selling process.

3.1.5 ROLE OF VISUAL MERCHANDISING IN PROMOTION OF SALES

Throughout the planning of the entire process, it is important to keep in mind that a continuing

promotional program should be established and executed. The best stores, with the best policies

and goods, can succeed only if the public knows the store is there and has a good current idea of

what merchandise is available. Following are some of the specific objectives of merchandisers

and sales personnel:

1. To communicate the store image to its target customers

2. To establish the store as a distinct authority

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3. To build long-term customer loyalty

4. To generate interest that will bring a steady flow of regular and new customers to the store.

5. To disseminate timely information and become a source of news of innovations.

6. To remind customers of their desire for new things

7. To encourage customers of their desire for new things.

8. To persuade customers to make purchase decisions.

9. To sell the merchandise to customers

10. To achieve reasonable profit.

3.1.6 STRATEGIC APPROACH TO VISUAL MERCHANDISING

Unfortunately, the days of running a traditional "Ma and Pa" operation, lacking any real business

sophistication, are long gone. A haphazard approach to store layout generates less than desired

results. You must squeeze every ounce of potential out of our store to make it a winner. How

you present store is a very strategic part of business. In order to position every item in its proper

location, you must have a far more detailed plan than the usual "It was the only place left

available, so that's where it ended up!"

Give best-selling merchandise the most favourable display areas in our store. There's no point in

making the job of selling products any more difficult than it needs to be. Consider these

suggestions for positioning our departments:

1) High margin/High Sales: If you have a winner, it can afford the "high rent" district in

store. Put it in best selling spaces. These are “hot zones”.

2) Demand Merchandise: Customers make a point of coming to store to get this

merchandise, and they will hunt for it. Put it in less valuable spaces and make them walk

by more impulse-related items.

3) Impulse Items: These are the unplanned purchases customers make on a shopping trip.

Items with high impulse success get great locations in the store. The cash desk area is a

prime location for these products.

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4) Related Merchandise: Even though it may be in separate departments, place products

near each other if they are coordinating or complementary items. This will make them

more visible to the customer and make shopping easier. Cross merchandising works.

5) Seasonal Stock: Some stores designate an area of the floor for merchandise that is on

hand for only a short time. This creates an efficient changeover of that area when a new

season arrives. In most stores, seasonal stock requires high visibility.

6) Department size: In order to help customers find them, smaller departments typically get

better positions in the store than larger departments. Placing a small department in a poor

visibility area is like putting the "kiss of death" on that department.

7) New Departments: If you’re testing a new department or line of merchandise, give it the

best chance possible to succeed by placing it in a prime selling area. Keep in mind,

though, that within a short period of time it will need to earn the right to maintain a

position in “hot zones”.

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3.2 PROJECT OVERVIEW

3.2.1 NEED OF THE STUDY:

Visual Merchandizing is very uptrend now-a-days and companies now involve specialist Visual

Merchandiser’s to look upon the volumes; however this activity is manually managed by home

grown retail business. Thus I feel that there is a need to study this uptrend by taking up a case

study, evaluating it and make relative comments

3.2.2 OBJECTIVE:

Understand concept of Visual Merchandizing

Gauge impact of Visual Merchandizing on sales with the help of in-depth research module

3.2.3 SCOPE:

This study being for academic purpose, it involves understanding of concept of Visual

merchandizing, how it is important as well as gauging its impact on sales with the help of in-

depth research

3.2.4 RESEARCH MODULE:

An in-depth research has been conducted to understand that does really Visual Merchandizing at

retail stores provoke consumers to purchase products

3.2.5 LIMITATION OF THE STUDY:

Study ascertains various limits as below:

Evaluates concept of Visual Merchandizing from impact on sales POV (point of View)

Ascertains literature review from academic purpose

Limits to pages due to academic restriction

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3.3 PEPSI ATOM – A VIEW

PepsiCo India expanded its cola portfolio with the launch of 'Pepsi Atom' and has roped

in Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput as its brand ambassador. Pepsi Atom is the second

mainstream cola from PepsiCo India portfolio, after the company's flagship brand, Pepsi.

"Created for the Indian market, in collaboration with PepsiCo's global innovation team, it is a

result of extensive flavour development and consumer testing in the country.

Pepsi Atom is available across the country in various packaging including a 250 ml can at an

introductory price of Rs 15 and a 500 ml PET bottle at Rs 25. This will be followed by a massive

sampling and engagement exercise with over 1 million consumers across key centres.

The launch campaign of Pepsi Atom has brought spoof advertising back to the cola war turf after

years as PepsiCo seeks to take on the country's top cola brand Thums Up with its new cola brand

that is stronger and fizzier than Pepsi.

Thums Up has remained at the top with or without marketing support. Biryani with Thums Up is

almost a staple diet in Andhra Pradesh, one of the three largest cola markets in the country. This

is the second time PepsiCo is trying to destabilise Thums Up, which has the strongest

carbonation among all beverages. It had spiked its flagship cola Pepsi with extra fizz in Andhra

Pradesh four years ago. The move didn't work.

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Atom looks like a more serious attack. PepsiCo says it's its biggest launch in recent years. And it

has debuted by directly taking pot shots at Thums Up. The on-air ad campaign projects the more

relevant and relatable definition of masculinity, as opposed to mindless action.

For at least 10 years, Thums Up has been showing extreme daredevilry in its advertising, through

actors such as Akshay Kumar and now Salman Khan. The Atom ad shows a macho man getting

slapped by a woman after he mistook her husband for a thief and then the smart guy comes and

offers him Atom.

3.3.1 SWOT analysis:

Strength Weakness

A brand from Pepsi, can leverage against

Pepsi market loyalty

Stronger distribution network that would

help deeper penetration

Offering masculine proposition which is

next to Thumps – up

Pepsi has a perception of female drink and

the same attachment with Pepsi Atom

could lead to similar brand image

Opportunity

Stands a chance to beat Coca-cola and

retain second position after Thumps-up

Can stand a chance for improvement of

brand perception

Threat

Thumps-up has survived coca-cola strategy

to defeat, it can very well defeat Pepsi-

Atom

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PART 4

4.1 RESEARCH STUDY4.1.1 STUDY BACKGROUND

Research methodology:

Research in common parlance refers to a search for knowledge .Also can be defined as a

scientific and systematic search for pertinent information on a specific topic. Research is a

careful investigation or inquiry especially through search for new facts in any branch of

knowledge.

Type of research:

The research design comprise of the plan and structure of investigation conceived so as to arrive

at the responses to the research queries. It there by addresses the aims and objectives of the

study, both descriptively and analytically.

Research objective:

Does Visual Merchandizing at retail stores really provoke customer to purchase products?

Sampling technique:

The sampling technique adopted for the study is non-probability Random sampling technique

according to the convenience of the researcher. A questionnaire was administered to different

customer walking into retail stores to purchase their day-to-day requirement

Sample Design

Marketing research can classify in one of three categories:

Exploratory research

Descriptive research

Causal research

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Exploratory research has the goal of formulating problems more precisely, clarifying concepts,

gathering explanations, gaining insight, eliminating impractical ideas, and forming hypotheses.

Exploratory research can be performed using a literature search, surveying certain people about

their experiences, focus groups, and case studies. When surveying people, exploratory research

studies would not try to acquire a representative sample, but rather, seek to interview those who

are knowledgeable and who might be able to provide insight concerning the relationship among

variables. Case studies can include contrasting situations or benchmarking against an

organization known for its excellence. Exploratory research may develop hypotheses, but it does

not seek to test them. Exploratory research is characterized by its flexibility.

Descriptive research is more rigid than exploratory research and seeks to describe users of a

product, determine the proportion of the population that uses a product, or predict future demand

for a product. As opposed to exploratory research, descriptive research should define questions,

people surveyed, and the method of analysis prior to beginning data collection. In other words,

who, what, where, when, why, and how aspects of the research should be defined. Such

preparation allows one the opportunity to make any required changes before the costly process of

data collection has begun. There are two basic types of descriptive research: longitudinal studies

and cross-sectional studies. Longitudinal studies are time series analyses that make repeated

measurements of the same individuals, thus allowing one to monitor behavior such as brand-

switching. However, longitudinal studies are not necessarily representative since many people

may refuse to participate because of the commitment required. Cross-sectional studies sample

the population to make measurements at a specific point in time. A special type of cross-

sectional analysis is a cohort analysis, which tracks an aggregate of individuals who experience

the same event within the same time interval over time. Cohort analyses are useful for long-term

forecasting of product demand.

Causal research seeks to find cause and affect relationships between variables. It accomplishes

this goal through laboratory and field experiments.

The research associated to my project is EXPLORATORY RESEARCH.

Sample size

Data is collected using a sample of 100 Respondents.

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Sample description:

Sample mainly consists of data from the primary sources that are utilized for the purpose of this

study. This is done by means of administrating questioners to different customer walking into

retail stores. Secondary data like company journals, newsletters, records etc. were also relied on

for retrieving further information.

Geographic segmentation:

Geographic segmentation calls for dividing the market into different geographical units such as

Hyper markets located at Lower parel, Kurla, Thane, Borivali, Andheri (20 respondents at each

location)

Analysis methodology:

Due to data collected was very minimal, statistical tabulation method has been administered

Limitation of the study:

Geography has been limited to 5 hypermarkets across Mumbai City

Being academic study, sample size has been limited to 100

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4.2 DATA ANALYSIS & INTERPRETATION:

Age profile:

Chart 1

20-30 31-40 41-50 51-600

5

10

15

20

25

30

3531

26

10

33

No. of respondents

No. of respondents

Inference:

Below is the age profile I observed during my customer feedback study:

31 customers are in the age group of 20-30




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Gender profile:

Chart 2

Male Female0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

67

33

%

%

Inference

Below is the gender profiling being observed during primary study:

67 customers were Male

33 customers were female

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Profession profile:

Chart 3

Salaried Professional Business Studying0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

23

12

45

20

No. of respondents

No. of respondents

Inference:

23 respondents are salaried

12 respondents are professional

45 respondents are from business background

20 respondents are students

How many times in a week do you walk-in to this retail store?

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Chart 4

Everyday Once a Week Twice a Week More than twice0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

32

41

20

7

No. of respondents

No. of respondents

Inference:

32 respondents visit store ever day

41 respondents visit store once a week

20 respondents visit store twice a week

7 respondents visit store more than twice a week

For what purchase do you come to this store?

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Chart 5

Daily need Check out new launched0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

10089

11

%

%

Inference:

89% respondents comes to purchase their daily need

11% respondents comes to check out new items

When you are at this store do you notice display/presentation of products?

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Chart 6

Yes No0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

68

32

No. of respondents

No. of respondents

Inference:

68 respondents said that they do notice display/presentation of the products when they visit

store

32 respondents said that they do not notice the same

Do you read communications/signage’s etc?

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Chart 7

Yes No0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

41

59

No. of respondents

No. of respondents

Inference: 41 respondents said that they make it a point to read communication & signage’s when they

visit store

59 respondents said that they refrain it from reading

Do you find it easy to get product you wanted?

Chart 8

35


Yes No0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

9081

19

No. of respondents

No. of respondents

Inference:

81 respondents said that they find it easy to get product they are searching for

19 respondents said that they find it difficult to get product during their visit to a store

Does any attractive arrangement or presentation made provoke you to buy that product?

Chart 9

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Yes No0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80 74

26

No. of respondents

No. of respondents

Inference:

74 respondents said that any attractive arrangement or presentation provoke the to buy

product

26 respondents said that it does not provoke them

Have you purchase products displayed in front of your eye or have provoked you?

Chart 10

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Purchase in front of eye Impulse purchase0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

11

89

No. of respondents

No. of respondents

Inference:

11 respondents said that they purchase products displayed in front of their eye

89 respondents said that it is majorly impulse purchase

Why did you purchase the same?

Chart 11

38


it was properly arranged

It was easy to find Just an impulse Easy to reach, convinient

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

10

56

11

33

%

%

Inference

19% respondents said that it was properly arranged

56% respondents said that it was easy to find

11% respondents said that it was just an impulse

33% respondents said that it is easy to reach & convenient

Have you seen new Pepsi Atom?

Chart 12

39


Yes No0

20

40

60

80

100

120

100

0

No. of respondents

No. of respondents

The study reveals that all 100% respondents have seen Pepsi Atom

Have you tried the same?

Chart 13

40


Yes No0

10

20

30

40

50

60

43

57

No. of respondents

No. of respondents

Inference:

43% respondents have made it a point to purchase and taste Pepsi Atom

57% respondents have not tried the same

Did you purchase it for second time or more?

Chart 14

41


Second time More than second time0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

29

71

%

%

Inference:

29% respondents said that they have purchased for second time

71% respondents said that they have purchase more than second time

From where did you come to know about Pepsi Atom?

Chart 15

42


From this store From TV commercial

From friends Paper AD0

10

20

30

40

50

60 56

14

20

10

No. of respondents

No. of respondents

Inference:

56 respondents said that they came to know from this particular store

14 respondents said that they have came to know from TV commercial

20 respondents said that they came to know from friends

10 respondents said that they came to know from Paper AD

How did you come to know from this store?

Chart 16

43


Was displayed Helper told0

20

40

60

80

100

120

100

0

No. of respondents

No. of respondents

Inference:

100 % respondents said that they came to know through product display done at this store

Did display provoke you to purchase and did you purchased?

Chart 17

44


Yes No0

10

20

30

40

50

60

7063

37

No. of respondents

No. of respondents

Inference:

63 respondents said that it provoked to purchase

37 respondents said that it does not provoked them for purchase

What parameter provokes you to purchase a product?

Chart 18

45


attrac

tive disp

lay

Need of p

roduct

Easy t

o find, sign

age gu

idance

properl

y arra

nged05

1015202530354045

34

13

41

12

No. of respondents

No. of respondents

Inference:

34 respondents said that attractive display provokes them to purchase the product

13 respondents said that need of the product provokes them to purchase the product

41 respondents said that easy to find and signage guidance provoked them to purchase the

product

12 respondents said that properly arranged product provoked them to purchase product

Do you feel that attractive display of product as well as proper arrangement will help to

boost sales?

Char 19

46


Yes No0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

8072

28

No. of respondents

No. of respondents

Inference:

72 respondents feel that attractive display would help to boost sales

28 respondents said that attractive display will not help to boost sales

4.3 FINDINGS & OBSERVATIONS

Majority of the respondent were from the age group of 20-30 years and 51-60 years. Thus

survey has covered majority of the customers from both the end of age pyramid

47


Survey results found that 67% of the respondents were male who travelled to the shop

whereas 33% respondents were female who travelled to the shop

From professional perspective, 45 respondents were from business background & 23

respondents were from the salary background

Majority of the customers walk once a week into the retail outlet where as 32% respondents

walk everyday to retail outlet

89% respondents comes to the store for purchase of their daily need item and balance 11%

respondents come to store to check out new items

Study reveals that majority of the respondent who travelled to the store noticed the product

display and presentation at the store. They try to find out the same regarding during store

visit

Many of them who travel to store also tries to read signage’s or communication being

mentioned at the store while majority of them refrain from doing the same

We were quiet sure that question to this answer would be much positive which too reveals

from the survey that majority of the respondent said that when they visit store, they find it

easy to locate things/products they wanted to purchase. This makes their purchase easy &

convenience

Visual merchandising do really works wherein majority of respondent said that any kind of

attractive presentation or arrangement made inside store provokes them to buy product

Impulse purchase was really making noise as many customers did feel that when they went to

purchase they have majorly done impulse purchase. This is where visual merchandising

would make really sense as store would sell majority of non-core items through use of visual

merchandising

Reason for purchase of goods was more concern with easy to find as well as easy to reach.

This is due to properly arrangement of goods at the store

Pepsi Atom has been noticed by all respondents; however, there are less trials as well as

lesser repeat purchase

Visual merchandising has been of too much effective because people have come to know

about visual merchandising from the stores they have visited and display was the major

responsible area from where people came to know about the product

Display is the major reason for provoking purchase as cited by majority of the respondents

48


However, Majority of the respondent cited that easy to find product makes them to purchase

that product

4.4 RECOMMENDATION

Arrangement of product display needs to be made appropriately in order to make visual

merchandising effective

49


As we can see from survey that Pepsi Atom was observed by all respondents however the

purchase ratio is to up to the mark. Thus visual merchandising was not that effective in Pepsi

Atom case as there were neither high purchase rate nor trials rate

As majority of customers walk in either everyday or once in a week, stores are very

important form visual merchandising point of view and thus there is a need that Pepsi Atom

should take this scenario very seriously

During our visit to the store we did not identified any attractive presentation of Pepsi Atom

and it was primarily product display, thus we feel that an attractive POP or message at the

entrance would make a difference

We find that result of low trials were due to low visual merchandising, thus product was not

being focused

The reason for low repeats is due to continuous shifting of position, during 1st week of the

visit it was displayed in front of entrance however, for next week position of the same has

been changed. These shifts focus of the customer during their next visit. This should be

avoided

There should be much focus on display and product presentation because what we observed

that customer’s who walk in does make a point to read around the spaces

Companies should really look into attractive presentations of the product that makes sell of

non- core products easily

PART 5

5.1 CONCLUSION & APPENDICES5.1.1 CONCLUSION

50


As we have seen throughout the study that visual merchandising has taken quiet a niche place

into the industry so be it a fashion industry or FMCG company or Accessories industry, visual

merchandising is of very important.

What we have observed from the survey is that visual merchandising is of significance

importance from sales point of view. A good visual merchandising can be very effective and

helps to boost sales whereas a bad visual merchandising as in the case of Pepsi Atom we

observed can be either moderate effective or non-effective.

Based on the facts we studied during our primary research, we cannot deny that visual

merchandising does not have any role on impacting sales, yet there is a need to understand that

impact can be either ways. Many a times we see during our visit to hyper market that some of the

products are very well displayed in front of our eyes and easy to find where as many of the

products require effort to locate, these are non core products and less beneficial to company;

however, what we locate easily are the products most beneficial to the company and that is the

one which company wants you to purchase. This is all play of visual merchandising that decides

right product placement at right place at right time.

There is still need to understand customer evolution which is still evolving from places to places

but visual merchandising will be a parallel to customer psychology that goes hand in hand.

Whenever there is an evolution of customer buying/thinking process, there will be an up

gradation of visual merchandising.

5.1.2 REFERENCES

Visual Merchandising, Swati Bhalla & Anuraag S, Tata Mc Graw Hill, 2010

Visual Merchandising, Tony Morgan, Business economics, 2008

Visual Merchandising & Display, Martin M. Pegler, Fairchild Publications, 2006

51


Visual Merchandising – the business of merchandise presentation, Cengage Learning, 1996

Marketing Research, Rajendra Nargundkar, Tata Mc Graw Hill, 2012

retailbiz.com

retailyatra.com

imagesretail.com

5.1.3 ANNEXURE

QUESTIONNAIRE

Dear Sir,

52


I am Gayatri Mudliar from Kohinoor Institute of Management Studies and as a part of my

academic study I am understand impact of display, presentation done at store on sales. I would

request you to spare some time with me and help me fill in below questionnaire, your feedback

will b very valuable to me.

Name:

Please give me Age profile:

20-30

31-40

41-50

51-60

Please tick gender from below:

Male

Female

Kindly tick appropriate professional profile from below:

Salaried

Professional

Business

Studying

How many times in a week do you travel in this retail store?

Everyday

Once a week

Twice a week

More than twice

53


For what purpose do you come to this store?

Daily need

Check out newly launched

When are you at this store do you notice display/presentation of products?

Yes

No

Do you read communication/Signage’s etc?

Yes

No

Do you find it easy to get product you wanted?

Yes

No

Does any attractive arrangement or presentation made would provoke you to buy that product?

Yes

No

Have you purchased products displayed in front of your eye or have provoked you?

Purchase in front of eye

Impulse purchase

Why did you purchase the same?

54


It was properly arranged

It was easy to find

Just an impulse

Easy to reach, convenient

Have you seen new Pepsi Atom?

Yes

No

Have you tried the same?

Yes

No

Did you purchase it for second time or more?

Second time

More than second time

From where did you come to know about Pepsi Atom?

From this store

From TV commercial

From friends

Paper AD

How did you came to know from this store?

Was displayed

Helper told

55


Did display provoke you to purchase & did you purchase?

Yes

No

What parameter generally provokes you to purchase a product?

Attractive display

Need of product

Easy to find

Properly arranged

Do you feel that attractive display of product as well as proper arrangement will help to boost sales?

Yes

No

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impact of visual merchandizing on sales - final

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