Methodology and data collection:-

Our main objective of data research was to identify and understand the buying behaviour and needs
of the customers in Dubai. We used online survey as well as in person survey filling methods for
collecting primary data from customers residing in Dubai. The in person survey method was carried
because it was not possible to conduct the required number of personal interviews. It approximately
took 6 minutes for the customer to fill our survey during this time our research executive got the
opportunity to question the customers on their responses which helped in understanding their
individual reason for responses. This data was combined with our secondary to identify the voids
existing in the market and leading us to the consumer needs that has not been addressed my current
supermarkets. The sequence of data collection was very simple first we searched for articles and
business materials on internet as well as journals and created our secondary data base on the basis
of this information we started designing our questioner for primary research , this questioner was
completely based on the information that we wanted to acquire form the customers. After this we
carried out data cleaning and removed unwanted information that we had gathered during our
secondary and primary data collection. For our qualitative data we use transcribing to refine the
data gathered. (Saunders, 2009) Most of the qualitative data was collected by secondary research
and quantative data was collected by primary research as explained below:

Secondary Research: Secondary research helped us to clarify and redefine the research
objective and helped us in coming one step close to our innovative product solution
furthermore it helped us in acquiring the background information of customer behaviour
and buying patterns. This secondary research helped us in designing our primary data
questionnaire through which we could understand the customer needs in greater detail.
 Carrefour has a huge upper hand on other supermarkets because :
 It sells products under its own brand which are very cheap and the quality is
good.
 Excellent tie-ups and loyalty programs.
 Strong brand image
 Stores are statically positioned in local neighbourhoods, easily accessible to
their respective communities and in highly populated areas such as transport
terminals and shopping centres. (| Kippreport.com, 2015)
 There is a trend of customers shopping less but at a higher frequency which suggest
that the supermarket location is the key in acquiring more customers. (|
Kippreport.com, 2015)
 The interesting part is [that] we see local governments working towards elevating
the traditional grocery formats, in line with the modernisation [that is] sweeping the
region and to reflect better city image and service levels which impact the quality of
life. (| Kippreport.com, 2015)
 17% of UAE respondents out of 30,000 surveyed by Nielsen Global e commerce say
they order grocery online and out of these about 63% are willing to use it in future.
(Dubaichronicle.com, 2016)
  Most stores are bridging the in store experience with digital business because
about 69% of the survey takers said going to a supermarket is an enjoyable
experience for the family. (Dubaichronicle.com, 2016)
 UAE Grocery Spending data / Month:
 7% below AED 500
 21% between AED 1,501-2000
 23% between AED 1000-1501

Most spend between AED 1000-1501 per month. (Foodubai.com, 2016)

 Synovate survey suggests (6,700 people across 10 markets)
 ‘’Grocery retailers need to take into account myriad attitudes and
approaches, and make the experience satisfying for customers and
profitable for the company. Like all marketers, to get that balance right,
they need to know how people feel, their habits and what they like."
 Six in ten grocery shoppers across 10 markets would go out of their
way to shop 'green', 36% of shoppers want nothing more than to 'get in
and get out' and three quarters of grocery shoppers think items are
over-priced.
 Overall, most respondents chose the supermarket as the place they
buy their groceries (64%), followed by big hypermarkets including large
grocery chains (37%) and local (non-chain) grocery stores (29%).
 And 54% tell us loyalty programmes are an important incentive when
deciding where to shop... perhaps unsurprisingly also led by 80% of
respondents in the UAE and 77% in Malaysia.
 People in the UAE are actively hunting for bargains. The global
downturn is absolutely the reason for this new-found belt-tightening."
 UAE and Malaysia are the places least likely to agree with the
statement 'I think grocery items in my country are over-priced and
should be cheaper'.
 Considering the huge American population ‘’ 62% say they will switch
food brands if they find a cheaper alternative, topped by the French at
81% and Americans at 78%’’
 Seventy-nine percent of UAE respondents and 78% of Malaysians
thought a place for men to relax and wait for shoppers was worth
considering – the Dutch (86% disagree) and Canadians (70%)
dismissed it.
 The results showed that shopping can be a leisure and family activity in
places like Malaysia and the UAE. (Hill, 2016)

Primary research (Need analysis): - The primary research was conducted online through
survey gizmo.com. A total of 270 people filled in our survey out of which 40 of them filled our survey
on paper while our surveyor asked them short questions about their general buying behaviour. Out
of the 270 people who filled our survey 42% were male and 58% were females, most of them were
in the age group of 25-35 years. Although the ethnicity of the individuals were not recorded but the
survey was targeted on Europeans and Asians who have a working family, 42% of the people who
took our survey were married .

 Key findings :-
 While choosing a supermarket
I. 21% of people thought that it is very important for the supermarkets to be
open 24 hours.
II. 30.27% of the people feel it is very important for the supermarket to have a
fast billing counter.
III. 31.80% people think it is extremely important for the supermarket to have
fruits and vegetables of high quality.
IV. 30.40% of people would choose a supermarket if there is easy parking
facility.
V. 34% of the people consider product variety very important while shopping.
VI. 25.9% feel it is fairly important and 19 % of them feel it is extremely
important to have personalised services.
VII. 24% of the people fell it is fairly important and 23.12% of them feel it is
extremely important for a store to have home delivery service.

The above mentioned data clearly suggest that there is an urgent need for a
supermarket which is open 24 hours providing extensive range of high quality
grocery products home delivered with extended personalised services.

 24.70% agree and 19.40% strongly agree that they would prefer buying from a small
super market rather than a big hypermarket.
 32.90% agreed that they like to try out new products when they are launched.
 30.03% agreed and 22.72% strongly agreed that they are willing to pay extra for better
quality of products.
 21.10% agree and approximately the same strongly agree that they are willing to pay
extra for personalized services. These findings clearly suggest that people are willing
to buy from smaller supermarkets who launched new products of high quality and are
willing to pay more for personalized services and quality products. if we combine this
information with our previous conclusion we come up with the outline of our product
, a supermarket that provides them with personalized services 24 hours with range of
high quality products . It is also clear that they would mind spending a little more on
their grocery bill if the get personalised services. There is a clear indication that there
is need of better service in the market where people are not looking for an instore
shopping experience rather they want to save time on their monthly shopping at an
affordable rate.
 Issues faced while collecting data : The most important issue that we faced while
collecting our secondary data was the availability of industry data in published
journals ,most of the data gathered through internet and lot of data cleaning was
required in order to acquire relevant information .on the other hand while doing our
primary research we face difficulties in motivating our customers to fill our in person
 survey , most of them asked for an online submission and only a sample of 40 in
person surveys could be taken . We also faced some challenges in analysing survey
data as some respondents left many questions unanswered , this generated
inconsistency which had to be later corrected by contacting the person via email or
phone .