Study on Impact of Visual Merchandising in Retail Marketing

[PROJECT REPORT]Submitted by: SURENDHAR.D, II yr. MBA, Rai Business school Chennai.

 STUDY ON IMPACT OF VISUALMERCHANDISING IN RETAIL

MAKETINGPRACTICED ATBIG BAZAAR (PART OF FUTURE RETAIL GROUP)PONDY BAZAAR,CHENNAI

SUBMITTED BYSURENDHAR DHANDAPANIII yr., MBAOFRAI BUSINESS SCHOOL,TEYNAMPET, CHENNAI.

A

PROJECT REPORT SUBMITTED TO

THEFACULTY OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION In partial fulfillment of the requirements of the programFor the award of the

internal marks.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

An endeavor over a long period can be successful only with theadvice and support of many well - wishers. I take this opportunityto express my gratitude and appreciation to all of them.Firstly I thank the Almighty who has been with me from thebeginning of this project. Secondly, I would like to thank all myfaculties at

RAI business school for their encouragement andarousing the management skill in me to certain level whichopened up an opportunity for internship which of course part of my course.I would also like to thank Prof. Venkatesan, Head, Academics andMr. Ilango Manager Placement division of Rai Business School,Chennai, for providing me full support to complete my internship.I would also like to thank Mrs. Vinita, my project mentor at the Raibusiness school, Chennai who guided me in the successfulcompletion of the project.I am deeply indebted to express my heartfelt thanks to Mr.SHENBAGARAJAN, Senior Executive (HR), Future Value Retail Ltd,Chennai for giving me permission to do the project in theorganization and his support and guidance to complete thisproject.My family and friends also supported me with the study andencouraged me a lot and I am thankful for it.

ABSTRACT

This 5 days of mini project was organized by the college and putthe students directly to the fields of market is mainly aimed forevaluating the knowledge of the student and to give him a chanceto self-evaluate himself and to improve him in the areas needed.Also gives the chance to test practically with concepts learned bythe student from books. Also provides opportunity for the studentto understand the industry in which they are going to work aftertheir graduation. This project report has got two sections. The first section deals with the overall view of Indian retailindustry and the company profile for future group along with theirvision& mission statement The second section has the details about study on the impact of visual merchandising in influencing the consumer’s buyingbehavior.

Section 1

Introduction

I chose BIG BAZAAR at Pondy bazaar in Chennai to do my projectunder the topic

“A STUDY ON IMPACT OF VISUALMERCHANDISING,

a unit of FUTURE GROUP

is one of the mostwell-known Retail firms in India. I found Retail businessappropriate for the topic as this is the only business which givesimportance for visual merchandising and future group is one suchfirm a leading player in the industry and also encourages studentslike me to conduct this this kind of studies in their outlets andproviding proper support and assistance.

Need and importance of visual merchandising

Visual merchandising today forms a critical element of retailing.Besides the facade and windows, which are clearly done up withan objective to attract passer-bys and induce walk-ins, there isalso in-store decor that is designed to enhance the customer’scomfort and convenience while shopping and overall, offer asuperior shopping experience.Consumer behavior studies have confirmed that the lure of abeautifully done up show window and a tastefully decoratedfacade, more often than not, prove irresistible as they walk in tocheck out what is on offer. It also ensures exclusivity since no twostores should look alike. Besides, when the mood and theme of such displays change at regular intervals, it makes certain thatthe store remains top of mind. Loyal customers have often beenknown to anxiously wait for the next display. ‘Stickiness’ in retailformats is also ensured by the imaginative use of colors, lighting,space, furniture and visual elements with regard to in-storedisplays.Once customers walk in, it is but imperative to ensure that theyenjoy their first encounter with the store. After all, repeat visitswill only happen if a customer’s first visit is a memorable one. Thelogical arrangement of counters, with clear passageways allowsfor easy access to merchandise.Rather than getting lost in the big space that most large storesare, the customer feels more in control. Space is allocated tovarious product categories taking into account the number of SKUs stocked and shelves/counter space requirements areworked out accordingly.

Clear passages are provided for products, which require touchand feel. All impulse purchase driven products are also clearlydisplayed so that the customers can reach them without anyhindrance. Also, it has been observed that when a person enters aroom, the human eye moves in a Z pattern, i.e. from rear left of

the room to right rear, followed by front left of the room to frontright. Care should be taken to do up the rear left end of the roomin an appealing manner so as to guide the direction of vision andkeep a shopper visually interested.A great deal of research has been undertaken on the impact of lighting on a customer’s purchase behavior. Results clearlyindicate that in general, stores that are brightly lit, with the lightscleverly blending with the interiors lead to higher customercomfort, and as such, more sales

INDIAN RETAIL INDUSTRY – AN OVERVIEW

India retail industry is the largest industry in India, with anemployment of around 8% and contributing to over 10% of thecountry's GDP. Retail industry in India is expected to rise 25%yearly being driven by strong income growth, changing lifestyles,and favorable demographic patterns. The BMI India Retail Report for the third-quarter of 2010, forecaststhat the total retail sales will grow from US$ 353 billion in 2010 toUS$ 543.2 billion by 2014. With the expanding middle and upperclass consumer base, there will also be opportunities in India's tierII and III cities. The greater availability of personal credit and agrowing vehicle population to improve mobility also contribute toa trend towards annual retail sales growth of 11.4 per cent. Massgrocery retail (MGR) sales in India are forecast to undergoenormous growth over the forecast period. BMI further predictsthat sales through MGR outlets will increase by 154 per cent toreach US$ 15.29 billion by 2014. This is a consequence of India'sdramatic, rapid shift from small independent retailers to large,modernoutlets.BMI forecasts consumer electronic sales at US$ 29.86 billion in2010, with over the counter (OTC) pharmaceutical sales at US$3.28 billion. The latter is predicted to be the fastest growing retailsub-sector and BMI forecasts that sales will reach US$ 6.18 billionby 2014, an increase of 88.5 per cent.Moreover, for the 4th time in five years, India has been ranked asthe most attractive nation for retail investment among 30

emerging markets by the US-based global managementconsulting firm, A T Kearney in its 8th annual Global Retail

STUDY ON IMPACT OF VISUAL MERCHANDISIN

Development Index (GRDI) 2009. India remains among theleaders in the 2010 GRDI and presents major retail opportunities.India's retail market is expected to be worth about US$ 410billion, with 5 per cent of sales through organized retail, meaningthat the opportunity in India remains immense. Retail shouldcontinue to grow rapidly—up to US$ 535 billion in 2013, with 10per cent coming from organized retail, reflecting a fast-growingmiddle class, demanding higher quality shopping environmentsand stronger brands, the report added. Bharti Retail strengthenedits position in northern India by opening 59 stores, Bharti Wal-Mart is expected to open 10 to 15 wholesale locations in the nextthree years, and Marks & Spencer is considering plans to openadditional outlets in the next few years.Established retailers are tapping into the growing retail market byintroducing innovative store formats. Spencer's Retail, More(owned by Aditya Birla Group) and Shoppers Stop (owned by KRaheja Group) already plan to expand.According to a McKinsey & Company report titled 'The GreatIndian Bazaar: Organized Retail Comes of Age in India', organizedretail in India is expected to increase from 5 per cent of the totalmarket in 2008 to 14 - 18 per cent of the total retail market andreach US$ 450 billion by 2015.Furthermore, according to a report titled 'India Organized RetailMarket 2010', published by Knight Frank India in May 2010 during2010-12, around 55 million square feet (sq. ft.) of retail space willbe ready in Mumbai, national capital region (NCR), Bengaluru,Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad and Pune. Besides, between 2010and 2012, the organized retail real estate stock will grow from theexisting 41 million sq. ft. to 95 million sq. ft.India continues to be among the most attractive countries forglobal retailers. Foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows betweenApril 2000 and April 2010, in single-brand retail trading, stood atUS$ 194.69 million, according to the Department of IndustrialPolicy and Promotion (DIPP).

Leading watchmaker Titan Industries Limited plans to investabout US$ 21.83 million for opening 50 premiums watch outletsHelios in next five years to attain a sales target of US$ 87.31million. "We are looking to open Helios outlets in Mumbai, Delhi,Hyderabad, Kolkata, Chennai, Pune, Ahmedabad etc. in next 12months," said AjoyChawla, Vice President (Retail), Titan.British high street retailer, Marks and Spencer (M&S) plans tosignificantly increase its retail presence in India, targeting 50stores in the next three years. M&S currently operates 17 storesin India through a joint venture (JV) with Reliance Retail.Bharti Retail, owner of Easy Day store—supermarkets and hypermarts—plans to invest about US$ 2.5 billion over the next fiveyears to add about 10 million sq. ft. of retail space in the countryby then, according to a company spokesperson.

Source:http://www.ibef.org/industry/retail.aspx

COMPANY PROFILEFUTURE GROUP

The field of study was conducted at Big bazaar a unit of Pantaloons Retail (India) Limited. Pantaloon Retail (India) Limited,is India’s leading retailer that operates multiple retail formats inboth the value and lifestyle segment of the Indian consumermarket. Headquartered in Mumbai (Bombay), the companyoperates over 12 million square feet of retail space, has over1000 stores across 71 cities in India and employs over 30,000people. The company’s leading formats include Pantaloons, a chain of fashion outlets, Big Bazaar, a uniquely Indian hypermarket chain,Food Bazaar, a supermarket chain, blends the look, touch and feelof Indian bazaars with aspects of modern retail like choice,convenience and quality and Central, a chain of seamlessdestination malls. Some of its other formats include BrandFactory, Blue Sky, all, Top 10 and Star and Sitara. The companyalso operates an online portal, futurebazaar.com.A subsidiary company, Home Solutions Retail (India) Limited,operates Home Town, a large-format home solutions store,Collectioni, selling home furniture products and eZonefocusedon catering to the consumer electronics segment. PantaloonRetail was recently awarded the International Retailer of the Year2007 by the US-based National Retail Federation (NRF) and theEmerging Market Retailer of the Year 2007 at the World

RetailCongress held in Barcelona.Pantaloon Retail is the flagship company of Future Group, abusiness group catering to the entire Indian consumption space.

Future Group

Future Group, led by its founder and Group CEO, Mr. KishoreBiyani, is one of India’s leading business houses with multiplebusinesses spanning across the consumption space. While retailforms the core business activity of Future Group, groupsubsidiaries are present in consumer finance, capital, insurance,leisure and entertainment, brand development, retail real estatedevelopment, retail media and logistics led by its flagshipenterprise, Pantaloon Retail, the group operates over 12 millionsquare feet of retail space in 71 cities and towns and 65 rurallocations across India.Headquartered in Mumbai (Bombay), Pantaloon Retail employsaround 30,000 people and is listed on the Indian stock exchanges. The company follows a multi-format retail strategy that capturesalmost the entire consumption basket of Indian customers. In thelifestyle segment, the group operates Pantaloons, a fashion retailchain and Central, a chain of seamless malls. In the valuesegment, its marquee brand, Big Bazaar is a hypermarket formatthat combines the look, touch and feel of Indian bazaars with thechoice and convenience of modern retail.

In 2008, Big Bazaar opened its 100th store, marking the fastestever organic expansion of a hypermarket. The first set of BigBazaar stores opened in 2001 in Kolkata, Hyderabad andBangalore. The group’s specialty retail formats include, books and musicchain, Depot, sportswear retailer, Planet Sports, electronics retailer, Ezone, home improvement chain, Home Town and ruralretail chain, Aadhar, among others. It also operates popularshopping portal, futurebazaar.com. Future Capital Holdings, thegroup’s financial arm provides investment advisory to assetsworth over $1 billion that are being invested in consumer brandsand companies, real estate, hotels and logistics. It also operates aconsumer finance arm with branches in 150 locations. Othergroup companies include, Future General, the group’s insuranceventure in partnership with Italy’s General Group, Future Brands,a brand development and IPR company, Future Logistics,providing logistics and distribution solutions to group

companiesandbusiness partners and Future Media, a retail media initiative. The group’s presence in Leisure & Entertainment segment is ledthrough, Mumbai-based listed company Galaxy EntertainmentLimited. Galaxy leading leisure chains, Sports Bar and Bowling Co.and family entertainment centres, F123. Through its partnercompany, Blue Foods the group operates around 100 restaurantsand food courts through brands like Bombay Blues, SpaghettiKitchen, Noodle Bar, The Spoon, Copper Chimney and Gelato.Future Group’s joint venture partners include, US-basedstationery products retailer, Staples and Middle East-based AxiomCommunications. The group’s flagship company, Pantaloon Retail was awarded theInternational Retailer of the Year 2007, by the US-based National Retail Federation, the largest retail trade association and theEmerging Market Retailer of the Year 2007 at the World RetailCongress in Barcelona.

Future Group believes in developing strong insights on Indianconsumers and building businesses based on Indian ideas, asespoused in the group’s core value of ‘Indianness.’ The group’scorporate credo is, ‘Rewrite rules, Retain values.’

Vision

Future Group shall deliver Everything, Everywhere, Every time forEvery Indian Consumer in the most profitable manner.

Mission

They share the vision and belief that our customers andstakeholders shall be served only by creating and executingfuture scenarios in the consumption space leading to economic

development. They will be the trendsetters in evolving delivery formats,creating retail realty, making consumption affordable for allcustomer segments – for classes and for masses. They shall infuse Indian brands with confidence and renewedambition. They shall be efficient, cost- conscious and committed to qualityin whatever we do. They shall ensure that our positive attitude, sincerity, humilityand united determination shall be the driving force to make ussuccessful.

Core values

Indianness: confidence in ourselves.

Leadership: to be a leader, both in thought and business.Respect& Humility: to respect every individual and be humble inour conduct.Introspection: leading to purposeful thinking.Openness: to be open and receptive to new ideas, knowledge andinformation.Valuing and Nurturing Relationships: to build long termrelationships.Simplicity& Positivity: Simplicity and positivity in our thought,business and action.Adaptability: to be flexible and adaptable, to meet challenges.Flow: to respect and understand the universal laws of nature.

Major Milestones

2001- Three Big Bazaar stores launched within a span of 22 daysin Kolkata, Bangalore and Hyderabad.2002- Food Bazaar, the supermarket chain is launched2004- Central - India’s first seamless mall is launched inBangalore.2005- Group moves beyond retail, acquires stakes in GalaxyEntertainment, Indus League Clothing and Planet Retail. Sets upIndia’s first real estate investment fund Kshitij to build a chain of shopping malls.2006- Future Capital Holdings, the company’s financial is formedto manage over $1.5 billion in real estate, private equity andretail infrastructure funds. Plans forays into retailing of consumerfinanceproducts.Home Town, a home building and improvement products retailchain is launched along with consumer durables format, Ezoneand furniture chain, Furniture Bazaar. Future Group enters into joint venture agreements to launch insurance products withItalian insurance major, General Forms joint ventures with USoffice stationery retailer, Staples.

2007- Future Group crosses $1 billion turnover mark. Specializedcompanies in retail media, logistics, IPR and brand developmentand retail-led technology services become operational.2008- Future Capital Holdings becomes the second groupcompany to make a successful Initial Public Offering in the Indiancapital markets. Big Bazaar crosses the 100-store mark, markingone of the fastest ever expansion of a hypermarket formatanywhere in the world. Total operational retail

space crosses 10million square feet mark. Future Group acquires rural retail chain,Aadhar present in 65 rural locations.

BIG BAZAAR

Big bazaar, Pondy Bazaar was the second store to make animpact in the minds of the customer. It was opened in the monthof June, 2008. Situated in the midst of an IT hub, it welcomescustomers with exciting offers and discounts. Pondy bazaar isamong the few areas in Chennai that is full of activities withshopping malls, eat out joints, restaurants etc. This also brings alot of competition for the store. Measures are taken to retain thecustomers by training the employees to be polite and vigilant. The various departments in the store are as follows:

Food bazaar department Cash department Plastics, Utensils and Crockery Appliances Footwear New Business Developments Depot Home Linen Furniture Apparels Visual merchandise Human Resource Administration Ware house / Logistics Maintenance Customer Service Department

Section 2

STATEMENT OF OBJECTIVESPRIMARY OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

A study on impact of merchandising products on the consumers’buying choice with reference to big bazaar

To identify the impact made by the modern promotionaltechniques (signage’, posters etc.,) along with thetraditional visual merchandising strategies (Lighting , designlayout preference, product display and cleanliness) inconsumers’ buying decision.

SECONDARY OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

Though the primary objective of the study is to study the impactof visual merchandising in relation to consumer buying decisionthe secondary objective of the study is to acquire the knowledgeon over all function of Indian retail industry and its operations byobserving a retail outlet – BIG BAZAAR, Pondy Bazaar Branch,Chennai.

LITERATURE REVIEWVISUAL MERCHANDISING – AN OVER VIEWVisual merchandising

is the

activity of promoting the sale of goods, especially by their presentation in retail outlets

. Thisincludes combining products, environments, and spaces into astimulating and engaging display to encourage the sale of aproduct or service. It has become such an important element inretailing that a team effort involving the senior management,architects, merchandising managers, buyers, the visualmerchandising director, designers, and staff is needed.Many elements can be used by visual merchandisers in creatingdisplays, including color, lighting, space, product information,sensory inputs such as smell, touch, and sound as well astechnologies such as digital displays and interactive installations.

Purpose

Retail professionals display to make the shopping experiencemore comfortable, convenient and customer friendly by:

•Making it easier for the shopper to locate the desiredcategory of products and merchandise.

•Making it easier for the shopper to handpick the products.

•Making it possible for the shopper to co-ordinate &accessorize.

•Informing about the latest fashion trends by highlightingthem at the strategic locations

VM helps in:

•

Educating the customers about the product/service in aneffective and creative manner.

•

Establishing a creative medium to present merchandise in3D environment, thereby enabling long lasting impact andrecall value.

•Setting the company apart in an exclusive position.

•Establishing linkage between fashions, product design andmarketing 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 takepurchase decision within shortest possible time, and thusaugmenting the selling process.

VISUAL MERCHANDISING STRATEGIES FOLLOWED AT BIGBAZAAR

APlanogramallows planning of the arrangement of merchandiseon a given fixture configuration to support sales through properplacement of merchandise by Style, Option, Size, Price points, etc.It also enables a chain of stores to have the same merchandisedisplayed in a coherent and similar manner across the chain.At big

bazaar they used the proper combination of each of theseelements to support ease of applicability to the consumer andalso increasing selection & enhancing the merchandise display ina neat and organized manner.

GIVING MERCHANDISE THE FOCAL POINT

At big bazaar they showcased the major fast moving productswithin the overall display area in a way that no prospectiveconsumer will miss a product that they were looking for. And inthe entry stage itself they displayed a proper map of the shopstating the brief description of products available in each flooralong with information for rest room and customer desk areas. This helps in educating the consumer about the detailed productsand saves their time from unwanted enquiries also helps them toengage more on their shopping activityUSING THE RIGHT CHOICE OF COLORS

Color is one of the most powerful tools in the VisualMerchandising segment. It is a visual perceptual property. Colorscan be associated with emotions, special occasions and gender. Itattracts attention and pulls more customers into the store. At bigbazaar they utilized the major advantage of this factor and used itin the entire store for the arrangement of products. During myproject period I was put up in food bazaar. There I noticed that inall the shelves they arranged the packs based on color of thepacks so that they formed color gradients giving emphasize tostrong color packs and slightly saturating to the lighter shadepacks. This helps in grabbing the attention of the customer andholding it for minimum of 5-10 seconds and also helps them foreffective scanning between the products across the shelveswithout straining the eyes much.

DISPLAYTHEMES TO APPROPRIATELY SUPPORT THEPRODUCT:

I did this project at Big Bazaar during their big day sales orMahabachat which will happen every year during republic day andIndependence Day. The sale lasts for 5 days. For these 5 daysthey decorated the store with themed displays of offers availableduring these Mahabachat sales throughout the store andwindows. It sets the context in an aesthetically pleasing fashion,presenting them in a way that

would convert the windowshoppers into prospects and ultimately buyers of the product.

CLEANLINESS:

Neat and clean arrangement is the foundation of an inviting asuccessful visual display. A beautiful display can be ruined by acracked sign holder or an unclean display environment. In bigbazaar I noticed that they took enormous effort in cleaning thefloor and followed an effective cleaning schedule of showcasesand display fixtures.

CONCEPTUALIZATION

In conceptualizing the study, I have attempted to buildrelationship between key variables i.e., visual merchandising(independent variable) and buying behavior (dependent variable).According to the literature review, I came to know that lighting,design layout, product display and cleanliness are the mainvariables of visual merchandizing. It is also necessary to examinethe relationship between two key variables and other variablesinfluenced on dependent variable. This would enable me tointerpret the findings in a more comprehensive manner.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY DATA COLLECTION

The nature of research design chosen by me is almost adescriptive one. So, as far as possible attempt was made togather primary data. In that context, a detailed observationcriterion was administrated, facilitating the observations process. The primary research was carried out in BIG BAZAAR – T-Nagarbranch, Chennai. And information was collected from customerswho were purchasing products from the supermarket at the timeof the study. Additionally, secondary data for conceptualizationand operationalization of the matters and other purposes werealso utilized through textbooks and web sites etc.Data were collected through observations from 1000 consumersfrom four different age groups i.e. 20-30, 30-40, 40-50, 50-60 whowalked in to the store at the time of study. There were no anyrejected forms due to field investigation and personally filledcriterionforms with observation. Most of the data pertaining tothis study have been collected from customer sample drawn fromrandomly.

DATA ANALYSIS PROCEDURE

Descriptive method was used in presenting and analyzing thedata. Descriptive tools such as frequency counts and percentagescalculated for the statements on the criterion form in order todetermine the impact of in store promotions on buying decisions.

LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY:

Apart from visual merchandising there is the influence of othermediums like television, newspaper and radio used forcommunicating the mahabachat sale at BIG BAZAAR – this hasgot the strong influence in buying decision.Sincei chose the busy retail out let like BIG BAZAAR and that tooduring the period of big day sales its bit tough for me to do theobservations in a detailed manner.

How strong a marketer/ promoter is trying to promote the productif it is not needed for the customer then the customer won’t be aprospective customer for that marketer

METHOD ADOPTED FOR THE EXPERIMENT

At big bazaar during the Mahabachat sale our aim was to sell themaximumcombi packs of provisions. The following were the combi packs bundle they made:

•Rs.444 – 5 kgs of sugar, rice and golden harvest atta

•Rs.555 – 5 kgs of pills burry atta, tilda long grain rice and 5liters Gemini refined sunflower oil

•Rs.575 – 5 kgs of sugar, tilde long grain rice and 5 litersfortune refined sunflower oil

•Rs.589 – 5 kgs of sugar, aashirvadatta and 5 liters goldwinner refined sunflower oil

•Rs.625 – 5 kgs of hello royal basmati rice, pills burry atta and5 liters gold winner refined sunflower oil

•Rs.649 – 5 kgs of aashivadatta, daawatdevya basmati riceand 5 liters gold winner refined sunflower oil.For the first 3 days we didn’t adopt any systems for thepromotion, we sold average of 200 combipacks.For the fourth and fifth day we were given targets for the saleofcombi packs. So my team leader decided to add up extravisual merchandise to make the customer available of thosepacks. So we decided two place one close to the customer bagzone there we displayed all the combi packs in a decorated

table along with the signage displaying the offers in anattractive way and the second place was quite close tocustomer service desk the entry for the customers to the shopwe adopted the same method as earlier.

I’ve enclosed the details for one hour of the study as it wasvery tough to record the actual data for over a period of time.But the end result was we achieved the targets for all thesedays. For the fourth day we were given target of 300 combipacks and we sold around 320 packs and for the closing day wegot the target of 400 and sold close to 447 packs. Over all themethod worked very well and played a vital role in achievingthe targets.

VISUAL MERCHANDIZING AND CONSUMER’S BUYINGBEHAVIOR.

This study focused on the visual merchandizing and consumerbuying decisions. The main objective of this study was to examinethe influence emerged from visual merchandizing and the usageof new medias into the VM such as postages, signage’s themeddisplays for influencing consumer’s buying decisions. The findingshows that influence emerged from visual merchandising onconsumer’s buying decisions is strong. From this it is clearlyshown that highest mean value of visual merchandising is 59.9from the age group of 30 -40 shows that people belonging to thisgroup is highly attracted towards VM. It was represented instrongly influenced score category.However, visual merchandising consists of

four variables such aslighting, design layout, product display and cleanliness, all of those variables, have considerable influence in selecting specificsupermarket outlet. The usage of new mediums in a unique wayhas a strong influence in buying decision. The majority of respondents (31 & 30.5) mentioned that posters and productdisplays majority themed displays in supermarkets outletsstrongly influence on their buying decisions. In the same time30% of respondents have indicated that product display stronglyinfluence on their buying decisions. Moreover, the frequency of product display is 310. It is more close to the higher level of strongly influenced score category. The findings show that 30% of respondents have indicated that posters are strongly influencingtheir store buying behavior. The smallest value equal to 19 thatrepresents the moderately influenced score category. Most of the customers mentioned that in-shop promotions are one of themost important factors of attractive in-store environment of supermarket outlets. According to the findings, 191 respondentshave indicated in-shop promotions will affect in a strong andmoderate way respectively on their buying decisions. Thoughsignage has low impact actually it helps in gaining the passer-byattraction and from results it is also clearly shows that in-shoppromotions and product displays holds the consumers for a longtime results to the buying decision. Therefore, the quantitativefigures show that visual merchandising has significant impact inbuying decisions In addition to the in-store variables, most of consumersconsider price of goods, location, and customer service andparking facilities etc. When customers are ranking the relativeimportance of factors affecting to the buying decisions, most of customers have given first and second priority to visualmerchandising as it conveys them clearly what the product is andwhom it is meant for also at the same time it also informs theconsumers about the offerings and discounts associated with thatproduct. Second and third largest amount of customersmentioned price of goods and location of the outlets.

RECOMMENDATIONS

The research findings of present study have more practicalorientation and which is important for the marketers insupermarkets sector. Hence, the study recommends thefollowing.

1.Visual merchandising is the most important variable in in-store environment among the tested variables. It cansignificantly influence on consumer’s buying choice. Therefore, application of more attractive visualmerchandising materials in their promotions will help toobtain better results. The lighting, Design layout, themeddisplays and cleanliness are the key elements of visualmerchandizing programs.

2.Most of customers are willing to purchase products fromsuper markets from 6.00p.m. To 9.00p.m. In weekdays and10.00a.m. To 8.00p.m. During weekends. Therefore, visualmerchandisers can pay special attention to make attractiveenvironment in the supermarket premises and make actionto control the rush condition.

3.Spaces between shells (Passage), cashier counters layouts,height of shells, no. of Gondola, number of impulse counters,sanitary facilities, height of roof are key variables of designlayout that helps to make customer relaxation, convenienceto selection of products, reduce average waiting time andencourage the impulse purchasing etc.

4.When designing the product display, Supermarket managersshould pay special attention on category layout, canola (Light ceiling), color separation, lighting box, category nameof product shells.

5.When planning for themed displays for special offers or forfestive seasons, the theme of the display and creativityshould match the offer for example when planning forvalentine special it’s very important that pick color should beused for the display

6.Damaged items on the shells and dust will make bad imagetowards the supermarket outlets and design of floor tiles can make significance influence to feeling of pleasure atshopping time.

7.Majority of customers respond to the lighting morepositively. They specially mentioned that lighting helps toselect correct products, reduce the time wasted and feelrelaxation during the shopping tours. Therefore managerscan select

appropriate lighting system that createssatisfaction of psychological needs of customers.

8.The background music will also encourage customers tospend extra time in supermarkets. However, it has lowsignificance relative to the other elements of in-storeenvironment. It will help to encourage customers to makeimpulse purchasing decisions in supermarkets. And alsocustomers will consider the shopping in such a supermarketis one of entertaining exercise. The soft and classic musicare highly recommended than other type of music.

Conclusion

From the study it is clearly understood that the arrangement of the displays in an attractive manner initiates new interest aboutthe products in the minds of the customer. By designing a properthemes and activating changes frequently one can thus be aproactiveretailer.With globalization and the retail boom, visual merchandising isgrowing in leaps and bounds. It is not simply concerned aboutdecorating a store beautifully; but must also symbolize the brandkeeping the target audience in mind.By doing this project am not only learned about the impact of visual merchandising but also it opened the door for me to learnabout many aspects in sales and retail including buying behaviorof consumers, salesmanship etc., I once thank my institute andalso future group for providing training of this kind