EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Retail consists of the sale of goods or merchandise from a fixed location, such as a department store, boutique or kiosk, or by mail, in small or individual lots for direct consumption by the purchaser. The term "retailer" is also applied where a service provider services the needs of a large number of individuals, such as a public utility, like electric power. The ultimately goal of Reliance Super is to provide superior services to the customers and achieve customer delight. The research of a departmental store was conducted to know the segment of the customers at Reliance Super in Jamnagar. In this project sample size of 100 customers has been taken visiting the store regularly.

Surveys conducted by the use of Questionnaires. Moreover, the SWOT analysis model has also been made used. To get better understanding of, a glimpse of retail including stores strategy and local stores strategy is included. The objective of the research was to identify the different segments of the customers visiting the store and to know their taste and preferences towards the merchandise. Another objective behind the research was to identify the demographic and socio-psychographic profile of the customers.

The use of exploratory method was done for the purpose of research. The major findings were all the age-grouped people visited the store but maximum buyers belonged to the age group of 20-30 years. The customers visiting the store were mostly graduates with an average monthly income of 10,000-S20,000, the female gender was more in comparison to male gender visiting the store. The customers preferred to buy products from Reliance Super for the availability of branded products, Quality, Discount schemes and proximity to the store. The maximum purchase of grocery and domestic products were done by the customers

From the research done at the store, it can be concluded that the store has to add its product line and improve upon the freshness of F&V to attract more customers and to make it one stop shop

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INTRODUCTION
WHAT IS RETAILING?
Retailing is defined as a conclusive set of activities or steps used to sell a product or a service to consumer for their personal or family use. The word retail is derived from the French word retailer, meaning to cut a piece off or to break bulk.

A retailer is a person, agent, agency, company, or organization, which is instrumental in reaching the goods, merchandise, or services to the ultimate consumer. Retailers perform specific activities such as anticipating customer wants, developing assortments of products, acquiring market information, and financing. Retailing encompasses selling through the mall, the internet, door to door visit-any channel that could be used to approach the consumer, they also perform the retailing function. Retail is Indias largest industry, accounting for over 10 per cent of the countrys GDP and around eight per cent of the employment. Retail industry in India is at the crossroads. It has emerged as one of the most dynamic and fast paced industries with several players entering the market. But because of the heavy initial investments required, break even is difficult to achieve and many of these players have not tasted success so far. However, the future is promising; the market is growing, government policies are becoming more favorable and emerging technologies are facilitating operations.

Retailing in India is gradually inching its way toward becoming the next boom industry. The whole concept of shopping has altered in terms of format and consumer buying behavior, ushering in a revolution in shopping in India. Modern retail has entered India as seen in sprawling shopping centers, multi-storeyed malls and huge complexes offer shopping, entertainment and food all under one roof. The Indian retailing sector is at an inflexion point where the growth of organized retailing and growth in the consumption by the Indian population is going to take a higher growth trajectory. The Indian population is witnessing a significant change in its demographics. A large young working population with median age of 24 years, nuclear families in urban areas, along with increasing working-women population and emerging opportunities in the services sector are going to be the key growth drivers of the organized retail sector in India. `8

DRIVERS OF CHANGE IN RETAILING

Changing demographics & industry structure. Expanding computer technology. Emphasis on lower cost & prices. Emphasis on convenience & service. Focus on productivity. Added experimentation. Continuing growth of non-store retailing.

FUNCTIONS OF RETAILING
Sorting Breaking bulk Holding stock Additional services Channel of communication Transport & advertising functions

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ELEMENTS OF RETAIL STORE ATMOSPHERICS.

Exterior atmospherics - Storefront - Marquee - Entrances - Display windows - Size of building - Visibility - Adjoining stores - Parking - Accessibility -

Interior atmospherics Flooring Lighting Odour Fixtures Wall Temperature Aisles Trial room Dead area Personnel Cleanliness

Store layout Floor space allocation for selling, E-display & customers Traffic flow Department location Space/merchandise category Signage -

Visual merchandising Assortment Theme Ensemble Racks & shelves Payment counters

Source: Oxford Retail management bajaj, tuli, srivastava.

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INDUSTRY DETAILS
RETAILING entails not just selling, but rather the art of selling with the right ingredients that include merchandise, store design, sales people, product line and display Retail means selling goods and services in small quantities directly to customers. Retailing consists of all activities involved in marketing of goods and services directly to consumer for their personal family and household use.

Retailing in India is gradually inching its way towards becoming the next boom industry. The whole concept of shopping has altered in terms of format and consumer buying behaviour, ushering in a revolution in shopping India. Earlier, it was a big contrast to shop abroad and shop in India, but over the last five years or so the country has seen a remarkable change in retail, not just the sales, but in the entire visual display of stores. One could notice a significant change in the visual display of the stores, be it specialty or department. The first sensory perception the eyes catch and convey the message to the brain that this is the store that needs to be dropped into is the faade. The Indian population is witnessing a significant change in its demographics.

Earlier stores were highly unorganized. The maturity of the retail sector took place with the establishment of retail stores in the locality for convenience. With the government intervention the retail industry in India took a new shape.

Retailing covers diverse products such as foot apparels, consumer goods, financial services and leisure. A retailer is the final stock point who makes products or services available to the consumer whenever require. Hence, the value proposition a retailer offers to a consumer is easy availabilities of the desired product in the desired sizes at the desired times. In the developed countries, the retail industry has developed into a full-fledged industry. Huge retail chains like Wal-Mart, Carr four Group, Sears, K-Mart, McDonalds, etc. have now replaced the individual small stores. The retail industry in India gathered a new dimension with the setting up of the different International Brand Outlets, Hyper or Super markets, shopping malls and departmental

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FACTORS AFFECTING CONSUMER DECISION MAKING

Demographic factors - Gender - Age - Occupation - Education - Family size - Income - Size of the population - Market segmentation - Birth rate, death rate Psychological factors Motives Perception Learning Attitude Personality

Environmental factors - Physical environment - social environment-culture - sub-culture, social class Source: Oxford Retail management bajaj, tuli, srivastava.

Lifestyle Activities & interests Nature of occupation Availability of leisure Taste & preference of the population

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RETAIL INDUSTRY EVOLUTION

TRADITIONAL RETAIL SCENE IN INDIA

India is the country having the most unorganized retail market. Traditionally the retail business is run by Mom & Pop having Shop in the front & house at the back. More than 99% retailers function in less than 500 sq.ft of area. All the merchandise was purchased as per the test & vim and fancies of the proprietor also the pricing was done on ad hock basis or by seeing at the face of customer. Generally the accounts of trading & home are not maintained separately. Profits were accumulated in slow moving & non-moving stocks which were to become redundant or consumed in-house.

The Changing Face Of Retail:

Liberalization of the economy in the nineties and the entry of large players in the retail business have brought the retail industry into spotlight. Big players and national retail chains are changing the rules of the game, in spite of their meager share in the overall retail trade. Organized retailing though still in an embryonic stage has huge growth potential. In organized retailing, the retailer is no longer just a last mile distributor. Experiential marketing is becoming the paradigm of organized retailing and this has further raised the significance of the retailer in the business value chain. Emergence of hyper and super markets trying to provide customer with 3 Vs - Value, Variety and Volume.

Source: www.economywatch.com

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DEMAND DETERMINANTS IN RETAIL INDUSTRY Price

Price is an important element in the marketing, as customers are very price sensitive. Pricing is of different kinds such as maximum retail price, promotional price, odd price etc. If pricing is innovative and exclusive and offering the right value to the buyers, it will bring in more and more customers and help the retailer to retain them as well.

Income
The retailer needs to have a clear idea about the average household income and distribution of this income in the area. This is very essential as level of income largely determines the kind of retail facilities required. For example in a locality, where average income is lower a high fashion retail store is unlikely to succeed. Not only income but the level and type of employment also could indicate the preferences that the population may have for certain products or services.

Availability of Finance Option and High Interest rates

The availability of finance is always the core ingredient for any enterprise and is even more crucial for a new one. Most new businesses need more capital in the initial stage than at a later stage of the project and organized retailing in no exception. As compared to other industry, avenues of finance for retail sector in India are surprisingly very limited. Even many developing countries around the world categories supermarkets as a part of social infrastructure and lay great emphasis on their development but surprisingly in India, most financial institutions are totally ignorant of this.

Apart from lack of avenues for resource mobilization, the retailer also faces hurdles in terms of high interest costs. The most of financial institution in India do not even have the retail business on their charter and while the rest of the world lends funds to retail companies at interest rates ranging between 4 to 7 per cent per annum, in India the rate is ranging 16 to 20 per cent in most of cases. So, it prevents most retailers form holding an adequate inventory.

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 Promotion
Promotional schemes help retailer to get short-term goals. Promotions may be price-led or occasion-led in which case merchandise is offered by store only for occasions. Most retail organizations run promotion during festive time. However it runs very frequently, promotions may prove detrimental to the image of and positioning of the store.

Lower average amount of sales transaction

The average amount of sales transaction at retail point is much less in comparison to the other partners in the value chain. Many consumers buy products in small quantities for house hold consumption. Due to lower disposable incomes, some consumer segments in India even buy grocery items on a daily basis rather a weekly or monthly basis.

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INDIAN RETAIL INDUSTRY: STRATEGIES, TRENDS AND OPPORTUNITIES

Retail is Indias largest industry, accounting for over 10 per cent of the countrys GDP and around eight per cent of the employment. It has emerged as one of the most dynamic and fast paced industries with several players entering the market. The retail market is growing, government policies are becoming more favorable and emerging technologies are facilitating operations. Retailing in India is gradually inching its way toward becoming the next boom industry. The whole concept of shopping has altered in terms of format and consumer buying behavior, ushering in a revolution in shopping in India. Modern retail has entered India as seen in sprawling shopping centers, multi-storeyed malls and huge complexes offer shopping, entertainment and food all under one roof.

The Indian retailing sector is at an inflexion point where the growth of organized retailing and growth in the consumption by the Indian population is going to take a higher growth trajectory. The Indian population is witnessing a significant change in its demographics. A large young working population with median age of 24 years, nuclear families in urban areas, along with increasing working-women population and emerging opportunities in the services sector are going to be the key growth drivers of the organized retail sector in India. Large retail formats, with high quality ambiance and courteous, and well-trained sales staff are regular features of the retailers.

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SIZE OF INDIAN RETAIL INDUSTRY AND PRESENT SCENARIO

The size of retail industry in an economy depends on many factors and the level of consumer spending is the most important among these factors. The retail sector in India has grown by leaps and bounds in the last five years. The reason behind this growth has been the synergy of many propellants. However the growth is not always genuine as there are exaggerations as well. But these exaggerations also have benefits since they given a feel of growing competition all around.

Secondly the present situation is just a depiction of nascent stage. The future of the trajectory may not be as steep as it is now or may be even slope downward. 'What will be the future size of the retail industry' is the mind boggling question. Another moot point that will gain importance in due time concerns the future of the unorganized retail market which constitute a significant proportion of the whole industry. The retail stores have proved to be a vantage point for the customers. This implies that the small farmers who used to sell their product in the sabji-mandis and on roadsides are going to lose a significant market share as they can't employ the two profit maximizers-economies of scale and economies of scope.

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

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RETAIL FORMATS IN INDIA

Some of the prevalent relating formats in India include:

Malls:
Most malls give floor space out to individual shops on lease, and these are enticed by the economies resulting from the sharing of costs. India's largest shopping arcade Spencer Plaza (600,000-sq-ft) in Chennai is an example. In malls like these, the combined brand pull of all outlets is used to create a pull for the mall.

Branded Stores:
Exclusive showrooms run by premium brands have been the catalysts in pushing up the Indian retail scenario. This concept is now being used to introduce organized retailing to the second rung towns. Madura Garments has started setting up exclusive outlets in cities like Trichy and Thanjavur.

Departmental Stores:
Departmental Stores are expected to take over the apparel business from exclusive brand showrooms. Among these, the biggest success is K Raheja's Shoppers Stop, which started in Mumbai and now has more than seven large stores (over 30,000 sq. ft) across India and even has its own in store brand for clothes called Stop!.

Specialist Stores:
Chains such as the Bangalore based Kids Kemp, the Mumbai books retailer Crossword, RPG's Music World and the Times Group's music chain Planet M, are focusing on specific market segments and have established themselves strongly in their sectors. Absence of discounting as a dominant format of retailing in India is a glaring peculiarity. The reasons are two-fold. Unlike most Western countries, Indian retailers have much less bargaining power. They thrive as small store and don't have the clout to negotiate terms with the manufacturers.

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DIFFERENT SEGMENTS IN THE INDIAN RETAIL INDUSTRY

The retailing sector of India can be split into two segments. They are the informal and the formal retailing sector. The informal retailing sector is comprised of small retailers.

For this sector, it is very difficult to implement the tax laws. There is widespread tax evasion. It is also cumbersome to regulate the labour laws in this sector. As far as the formal retailing sector is concerned, it is comprised of large retailers. Stringent tax and labour laws are implemented in this sector.

If the retail industry is divided on the basis of retail formats then it can be split into the modern format retailers and the traditional format retailers. The modern format retailers comprise of the supermarkets, Hypermarkets, Departmental Stores, Specialty Chains and company owned and operated retail stores. The traditional format retailers comprise of Kiranas, Kiosks, Street Markets and the multiple brand outlets.

The retail industry can also be subdivided into the organized and the unorganized sector. The organized retail sector occupies about 3% of the aggregate retail industry in India.

Unorganized Retail Sector

The unorganized retail sector basically includes the local kiranas, hand cart, the vendors on the pavement etc. This sector constitutes about 98% of the total retail trade. But Foreign Direct Investment in the retail sector is expected to shrink the employment in the unorganized sector and expand that in the organized one.

Organised Retail Sector

In the organized sector trading is undertaken by the licensed retailers who have registered themselves to sales as well as income tax. The organized retail sector has in their ambit, corporate backed hypermarkets and retail chains.

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The organised retail sector can be further subdivided into:

1) Instore Retailers This type of retail format is also known as the brick and mortar format. These retail stores are in the form of fixed point sale outlets. They are specially designed to lure the customers. There are different types of stores through which the in store retailers operate.

Branded Stores appear in the form of exquisite showrooms. Here the total range of a particular brand is available and the quality of the product is certified by the government. There are also multi brand specialty stores that sell a series of brands so that the consumer can choose from the wide array of brands.

Department stores have a large number of brands and products catering to all basic needs to luxurious items as well. Supermarkets are basically self service retail stores. Discount Stores offer commodities at reduced prices.

In Supers customers have wide variety of products to choose from and they are also available at discounted rates. Convenient stores are located in prominent places within the reach of majority of the customers and do not operate in stringent work hours.

Shopping Malls are a storehouse of a large variety of retail shops situated close to each other.

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THE INDIAN RETAIL INDUSTRYSKY IS THE LIMIT

In terms of the retail development index India ranks fifth. In Asia it occupies the second position, next to China. Among all the global markets, the Indian retail market is the most expanding. This is owing to absence in restriction at the entry level. So the large foreign companies can reap the benefits of economies scale by entering the green retail fields of India. There are many reasons why the retail industry in India can reach the zenith.

Firstly the organized retail sector in India has a very low contribution to the entire retail sector in the country. Hence there is ample scope for the new players to achieve success in the backdrop of soaring disposable income of the upcoming generation.

Secondly, not only have the incomes increased but there has been a sea change in the preferences of the consumers. These factors have acted as a stimulus for the ushering of foreign players retailing in apparels, accessories, electronic appliances etc. Large shopping malls have already mushroomed in the metropolitan cities. There still lies untapped potential in the IndianRetail Market.

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COMPANY DETAILS
RELIANCE RETAIL LIMITED
Reliance is gearing up to revolutionize the retailing industry in India. Towards this end, Reliance is aggressively working on introducing a pan-India network of retail outlets in multiple formats. A world class shopping environment, state of art technology, a seamless supply chain infrastructure, a host of unique value-added services and above all, unmatched customer experience, is what this initiative is all about. The retail initiative of Reliance will be without a parallel in size and spread and make India proud. Ensuring better returns to Indian farmers and manufacturers and greater value for the Indian consumer, both in quality and quantity, will be an integral feature of this project. By creating value at all levels, we will actively endeavor to contribute to India's growth.

The project will boast of a seamless supply chain infrastructure, unprecedented even by world standards. Through multiple formats and a wide range of categories, Reliance is aiming to touch almost every Indian customer and supplier Reliance Retail Limited (RRL), a subsidiary of RIL, was set up to lead Reliance Groups foray into organized retail.

Reliance Retail Limited, a 100% subsidiary of Reliance Industries Limited started rolling its stores in November last year and today operates over 472 stores in over 19 cities spanning 3 million Sq ft. Reliance Retail launched the eighth Reliance Super mini-mart in Gujarat atJamnagar. Reliance Retail is India largest organized retail company with both Value format &Specialty formats, with a pan India footprint, with over 1000 stores. The company has recently changed management in value format and is on a fast expansion spree. There are tremendous growth opportunities. After the successfullaunch of ten formats Reliance Fresh, Reliance Digital, Reliance Trends, Reliance Wellness, Reliance I store, Reliance Footprint, Reliance Jewels, Reliance Timeout and Reliance Super, this is the second Reliance Mart to be launched in Gujarat. Shoppers will have the option to choose from a wide array of products in every category ranging from Fresh Produce, Food and Grocery, Home Care Products, Apparel and Accessories, Non-food FMCG products, Consumer Durables and IT Accessories, Lifestyle Product, Footwear, wellnessproducts. `22

The revolution in organised retail in India can bring about unprecedented socio-economic transformation in our country. Reliance Super is another step forward by Reliance retail towards providing a superior shopping experience to all our customers. Reliance Mart seeks to exceed its customers expectations by offering them a wide range of products and services of guaranteed quality at unmatched affordability. Reliance Mart marks the achievement of another milestone in our effort to unleash a retail revolution in India The store planning, atmospherics and layout has beendesigned specifically to provide a complete solution to the customer.Reliance Super will remain open from 10 am to 10 pm, seven days a week. The store has over 38 highly skilled and trained customer sales representatives.

Reliance claimed last year to start a retail chain that will be unique in size and spread, will lead to the welfare of one and all ranging from Indian farmers, manufacturers and ultimately consumers. It is known as Reliance Retail Ltd. (RRL) and is a 100 percent subsidiary of Reliance IndustriesLtd.(RIL). Soon after the Bharti-Wal Mart tie up, there was the news that RIL (Reliance Industries Ltd.) Chairman Mukesh Ambani met Commerce Minister Kamal Nath to discuss the apprehension of cheap imports from China. Reliance Retail has plans to open 4,000 outlets across 1,500 towns for an investment of $5.6 billion. Reliance is not away from agro-business. According to BuddhadebBhattacharjee, Chief Minister of West Bengal, Reliance will hold demonstration farming, produce good quality seeds and give inputs to farmers. Its most significant participation has been in the food procurement business in Madhya Pradesh and Punjab. This has in fact compelled the government to import wheat this year. Reliance Retail has also been reported to have entered into an agreement with footwear manufacturer Bata India Ltd. so that they will involve in selling each other's products.

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ORGANIZATIONAL STUDY:

SR NO. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Introduction Vision and mission Tagline SWOT analysis Departmentation Category management Layout Operations management

PARTICULARS

PAGE NO 26 27 28 29 34 35 38 40 43 44 47 49 50 52

Supply chain management Marketing Department H.R. Department Work of Employees Financial management Customer problems & their resolution

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RELIANCE SUPER-JAMNAGAR

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INTRODUCTION

RELIANCE SUPER took an initiation in Jamnagar district of Gujarat on 9th of July-2008.

The premises of the store cover the land of 17,000 square feet. It serves the customers with 20,000 SKUs i.e. products. It has its distant office at Ahmedabad district and main office in Mumbai. There are more than 600 malls of Reliance in India and around 60 in Gujarat.

The first store manager was Mr. Ashish Pandey, but today the responsibility is handled by Mr. Jaydeep Kanakhara and the Assistant Deputy Manager is Mr. Jitendra Goswami

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VISION AND MISSION

The Vision and mission of Reliance Super are:

To lead in competition
Reliance Super faces the competition from local vendors and also in future it has a probable threat of upcoming malls in Jamnagar. The aim of the store is to beat the competition and capture the customers from all over the city. In order to beat the competition it is designing various promotional and discount schemes.

Satisfy , sustain and increase customers

GRAHAK DEVO BHAVAHA is the pledge which is taken by the employees every day. The customer needs are paid utmost attention. The customer complaints and grievances are handled and solved quickly to increase their satisfaction. Example: Products are replaced in case of damaged.

To provide goods at low rates than competitors

Goods at Reliance are provided at RRP i.e. Reliance Retail Price rather than MRP. 85% of goods carry some discount scheme in it. Local stores may not offer such discounts. It has offers like discount of some percentage, buy 1 get 1 free, saving of some amount offers and other hot offers. Example: Smith and Jones Ketchup at 50% discount on MRP at Reliance Super which was sold at MRP at local stores.

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TAGLINE
The tagline of Reliance Super addresses the customers satisfaction. The tagline of Reliance Super firmly believes in AAPKI KHUSHI, HAMARI KHUSHI It interprets as Customers satisfaction is the aim of Reliance super.

The tagline of prices assures-

Reliance prices always low

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SWOT ANALYSIS
STRENGTH
The competitive advantages which Reliance Super possesses are:

VARIETY OF PRODUCTS Easy availability of variety of products to satisfy customers is available at Reliance Super. It has 20,000 SKUs. To serve the varied needs of different types of customers.

GOOD RELATION WITH SUPPLIERS It has good relation with suppliers of local products i.e. for consumables like fruits and vegetables, milk products, bakery items etc. All the transactions are on credit basis with the local vendors. The payment period of which ranges from 7 days to 15 days.

EFFICIENT MANAGEMENT The store manager also takes care of layout of the store, stacking at shelves, plannogram, controls inventory at the warehouse, motivates and directs workforce, keeps a check over prices and promotional schemes, checks cash management and all the other functions related to the store.

GOOD WORKING ATMOSPHERE It has good working atmosphere and peaceful industrial relation between employer and employees, also among its colleagues. The employees in the organization work in harmony and co-operate with each other. They have a sense of belongingness to the organization and are also dedicated towards their work.

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WEAKNESS
Few areas which Reliance Super needs to work upon are as follows:

INADEQUATE STAFF

It possesses inadequate staff due to which delay takes place to satisfy customer queries. Moreover, one employee has to undertake more than one function. Example: An employee supervising the apparels department may also have to undertake the task of billing. The book maintained for customer complaints consisted of maximum complaints of unavailability of employees at CSD counter and CDIT department.

COLD STORAGE:

Due to summer season, the problem of freezing the cold drinks, milk products arises at an adequate temperature. The products like cheese melted and customer complaints like finger prints on it arise.

TECHNICAL DRAWBACKS

Sometimes due to technical drawbacks, the offers at shelves do not comply with the billing system. In case of price change, the prices are changed in the system but the SEL are unchanged or old priced packets are unsold which has less price printed than its current price.

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OPPORTUNITIES
The available Opportunities for Reliance Super are:

LARGE SCALE OF CUSTOMER

Reliance Super can capture large scale of customer due to its location, product line, promotional and discount schemes. It is a ONE STOP SHOP as all the necessary products are available at one location, especially for the people who are migrants to Jamnagar and are unaware about the demographics of the city.

PRODUCT LINE

Reliance Super can extend its product line as per customers requirements due to easy availability of funds and other resources. The product line is decided by the main office at Mumbai but recommendation can be made by the store manager as per customers demands or suggestions/ feedback given by the customers.

INCREASE IN NUMBER OF STORES AND TIE-UPS

Reliance is planning to open up new stores with different formats and specialty stores all over India and also Jamnagar in the near future. This will give rise to its sales and it will have an opportunity to trap more customers. Moreover, it is also planning to build tie ups with the western retailers entering India.

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THREATS
The challenges to be faced by Reliance Super are as follows:

MALL CULTURE Mall culture is rapidly increasing in Jamnagar. People visit malls for branded products and social reasons. Upcoming up of the Crystal mall in Jamnagar district is a threat for Reliance Super. There is also a scope of other big malls to be established at Jamnagar in near future.

LOCAL RETAIL STORES People prefer to buy from the local vendor due to credit facility, proximity, better relation with the supplier etc. Some people have a false notion that prices at mall are high due to which they do not prefer to buy from there.

The store has an availability of branded products only, people who cannot afford to buy them, visit small stores to buy local products. Also, people residing at distant location and have small purchases to make visit the small store than Reliance Super.

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A comparison between Reliance store and local stores:Point of difference Price Product availability Reliance store Expensive Wide range Regularly given by the stores No familiarity with stores Familiarity because employees are Average Limited range due to the space No discount/scheme available Due to the constant shopping from one shop familiarity with the shopkeeper A.C. available in some of the shops Small or medium sized store. Local store

Discount/schemes

changing after some period of time

Atmosphere

A.C. available in the store Huge store and sufficient space Fixed rate of the products

Size

Bargaining

therefore bargaining power of the buyers is nil

Bargaining capacity of the buyers is more

Buyers themselves have to Store keeper provides the Service search for the products they product need It is not provided for any Home delivery product except for few on hand when

demanded by buyer Given for grocery and

electronics

electronics.

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DEPARTMENTATION
Departmentation is done for the ease of customers and management and also for easy allocation of work among employees. The Store is divided into departments mainly on three basis as follows. Under the three main heads, the sub departments are created.

FOOD
Fruits and vegetables Beverages Dairy products Process food Confectionery Staples

NON-FOOD
Personal care Home Care Baby care Health care

LIFESTYLE
Apparels Cosmetics House wear Furnishing and Decora C.D.I.T. Footwear

The goods entering the store are physically checked through micro check. The data of which is entered into the system before they are actually stacked into respective departments.

Each department is headed by two or three employees who do the work of shelf help, stacking, checking SEL & POP etc.

The departments are supervised by the ASM [Assistant Store Manager] or the store manager.

Source: as per guided by the store manager

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CATEGORY MANAGEMENT
I. FOOD DEPARTMENT

1. FRUITS AND VEGETABLES: Minimum 35 SKUs are kept. Some of them are Apples, mangoes , bananas, peach, potatoes, tomatoes, onions, capsicum, carrots, coriander, cabbage, cucumber, lemon, beet root etc.

2. BEVERAGES: Cold drinks, Tea, Coffee, Juices, Sharbat, Mineral water, Health drinks

3. DAIRY PRODUCTS: Milk, Butter milk, Ice cream, Cheese, Butter etc

4. PROCESS FOOD: Noodles, Ketch up, Soup, Biscuits, Papad, Oats, breakfast cereals, Instant food products, vinegar

5. CONFECTIONERY: Toffee, chewing gums, Cadburys, wafers, jams, popcorn biscuits and other bakery items etc

6. STAPLES: Puffed rice, wheat sugar oil spices condiments pulses other cereals etc

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II. NON FOOD

1. PERSONAL CARE: shampoos, bath soap, fairness creams, talc, deodorants, gels, hand wash, bleaching creams, anti ageing creams, hair dye, conditioner, hair oil, Shaving creams, tooth brush, tooth paste, face wash, hair color, rose water, razor & blades, scrubs, hair removing cream etc

2.

HOME CARE: Detergents, toilet cleaners, Soap bar, utensil cleaner, cloth pins, washing brush, brushes, mops, mosquito repellants, disposable vessels etc

3.

BABY CARE: Soaps, shampoo, tooth brush, toys, oil, baby foods dippers, toys apparels bib socks footwear etc

4. HEALTH CARE: Eno, glucose bourn vita energy drinks &Juices etc

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III. LIFESTYLE

1. APPARELS: Mens jeans t-shirt shirt, formal wear, trousers Women dress material sarees jeans t-shirt, Capri Children wear-frocks, skirts t-shirts trousers shorts jeans etc.

2. COSMETICS: Nail-polish, talcum, deodorants, body lotions, anti-marks cream, eye-counter etc.

3. HOUSE WEAR: Jug, plastic bottles, steel utensils, lunch boxes, water bottles, knives, etc.

4. FURNISHING AND DECORS: Hand napkins, dish napkins, bath towels, bed sheets, curtains, mats etc.

5. C.D.I.T. [CONSUMER DURABLES INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY] Mobile phones, pen drive, refrigerator, television, DVD player, electric stove, Vaccum cleaner, Water purifier, washing machine, Mixer grinder, handy mixer, Iron, Camera, Fans tube lights , bulbs.

6. FOOTWEAR: Sandals sports shoes, mens formal shoes, baby foot wear, slippers.

7. STATIONARY: Pens pencil compass box pouches wax & painting colors note books pen stand ruler& sharpener, sketch pens etc.

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LAYOUT

The layout of any store is an important decision to be taken as it the first factor which attracts the attention of the customers.

Reliance Super has an attractive layout. Sufficient parking facilities are provided for the customers. The customers belongings are secured outside the store in the racks under the supervision of the guard.

The store is well lighted and ventilated with sufficient floor space. Huge hoardings are placed outside the store for its promotion and add to the beauty of the store.

For the security inside the store, camera are connected with Ahmedabad distant office and Mumbai head office

Racks, baskets, blogs, trolleys are well maintained in a queue and at their respective place.

As per the rules of the plannogram designed by the main office, there should be only one brand of the product in the row. In a gondola, there is a bay division which determines the rows and columns to be maintained for a product.

A separate rack is maintained for free products at CSD and a mike for making announcements for informing offers and for giving a call to employees.

A frame at CSD counter has to be stuck by use of magnet of A5 size which should include the details of store manager

Floor stacking for cartons is done on a plank of 5 ft and POP is placed exactly in centre

Sufficient space is maintained between the racks for the customers to walk comfortably.

Cleanliness is maintained at every corner of the store. `38

Centralized A.C. is provided for the comfort of the customers.

Hoardings are hung inside the store for highlighting the hot mega offers.

Shelf-help is done continuously throughout the day i.e. maintenance of shelf by cleaning, dusting, Sorting and arranging the products, Placing SEL & POP and complying with the plannogram.

The C.D.I.T. department, footwear, apparels, Stationary & toys, luggage &bags are in the first floor of the store.

The Back of House is maintained by not storing the excessive stock and placing the products in the rack to the fullest capacity within two hours of the arrival of the stock.

A separate Cash office is maintained in the store. A cafeteria, parking and adequate wash rooms are maintained for the employees.

At the exit, the watchmen thoroughly checks the goods as per bill, places thank you seal on the bill and the customer checks out of the store

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OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
1) Operations Strategy: Common scanning method with HHT (Hand Held
Terminal)

2) Location Details: At the back of Trading area. Wide area facilitated for transport
Vehicles.

3) Maintenance Policy: Inventory is segmented according to product category like

Apparels, CDIT, Home ware etc. Special Freezer and chiller available for maintaining fruits, vegetables and beverages.

4) Procurement of materials & SCM:

Through DC (Distribution Center) and DSD (Direct Store Delivery). DC located in NarodaAhemdabad CDIT from Sarkhej, Ahemdabad.

At EOD(End Of Day) stock is verified by use of software.

If products are out of stock, the number of units sold, automatically enters into the system and is refilled/delivered by distribution center.

Purchase order note is written to vendors for purchase order in which following particulars need to be entered: No of articles Description of the article Weight & Rate of the articles Date of goods sent Names of Consignor & Consignee Freight paid Amount paid and outstanding amount Manufacturing No.

`40

When stock enters in the store-invoice is received which isfed into the system with the following details: Serial no. Article no. Description Quantity Rate/unit Tax rate in % Tax amount Other taxes

The data is fed into the computer and the same is stuck on the cartons by the Distribution center. In case of products measured in carat it is first converted into pieces inch wherein 1 c= 24 pieces and 1 inch =1 piece. Later GRN (Goods Received Note) is entered into SAP. In case of goods not received note is written on distribution center. The inventory is stored at Back of House, and later on loaders carry them on the floor as per need.

5) Store Management:
Auto engine system and Manual intendment system followed. Auto engine System: It follows Nanogram technique using standard MBQ (Minimum Batch Quantity).For every SKU (Special Key Unit) MBQ is to be maintained and if it decreases, automatically product order is updated for refilling. Manual Intendment System: Here, Store requirement is analyzed by Department Manager and accordingly order is placed to raise PO (Purchase Order).

6) TQM: Quality for Food products is taken special care by focusing Manufacturing
and Expiry date .For other. If expired food items are sold, then store is penalized. On food products, if any quality issues are raised, Brand is penalized.

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7) Inventory Management:
Segmentation done like Damage & Expiry cage ,Micro check pending cage, High value item cage, marketing cage, Consumer item cage , etc. Bays are maintained Brand wise and product wise as apparels, sports and games, etc. Purchase of branded goods is done from distributor in Ahmedabad routed from Noida-Mumbai Order of milk products is placed twice in week from local Damaged goods are sold for discounts as per customers willingness. Expired goods are dumped at JMC. Use of FEFO method i.e. First Expiry first Out is followed. Near expiry products are placed at top for quick sales Distribution Centre at Ahmedabad receives goods from various companies In case of clash of trucks arriving at same time, first priority is given to frozen products then to chiller then regular products Stacking of inventory is done at every department after they arrive at BOH. If Stock is in excess and the racks are not vacant then cartons can be placed on the floor Posting date i.e. date on which stock arrives is entered into the system Few goods arrive late which are near expiry due to which dumping increases. The cost of which is borne by the store. In case code does not exist in system the product has to be dumped Alien product are products which are chosen by customers , but not purchased have to be appropriated by the employees. If in system fewer prices are shown then actual then call lock is done and POP of not for sale is stuck. A separate department at BOH has to be maintained for dumped products and a POP has to be placed stating not for sale.

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SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT

1) Vehicle 2) Loading 3) Goods Received Notes (GRN) 4) Discrepancy 5) Report 6) Macro checking 7) Micro checking 8) Distribution centre (DC)

Vehicle

Loading

GRN

Discrepancy

Report

Macro checking

Micro checking

Distribution centre (DC)

Stacking

2) USE OF SOFTWARES:

SAP & RETALICS are made use of for maintaining inventory. SAP for stock in and Retalix for issue of stock. The receipt and issue should match each other. Receipt and issue of stock at the end of day can be seen along with time of sale Retalix version 8.8.0.0-033 is made use of.

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MARKETING DEPARTMENT
1) Target Market:
Reliance township, Essar township, GSFC township and nearby towns and villages like Khambhalia, Khavdi, and Jamnagar district.

2) Positioning Strategy:
Our strategy of investing upfront in creating a solid back-end, especially a robust supply chain, was the correct strategy. Wide categorization of products. It makes good positioning into customers mind regarding the easy availability of the product. Reliance Retail has adopted a multi-format strategy. It operates through multiple distinct formats which are broadly classified into Value formats and Specialty formats. During the year, even as they continued to grow at a steady pace, our Value formats Reliance Fresh, Reliance Super and Reliance Mart reoriented themselves around a brand new expression Aapki Khushi, Hamari Khushi. This simple, but powerful phrase embodies its vision to generate inclusive growth and prosperity for all its key stakeholders including employees, farmers, customers, vendors and supply chain partners. With respect to our Specialty formats too, each of them has developed its own winning formula for its market segment, and is currently in the process of scaling up rapidly to become market leaders in their businesses .Seal of thank you is compulsory to be placed on the bill before exit. Talkers i.e. Reliance price always low. Highlight offers, customer announcement, goods movement Seasonal products highlighted. Voucher is issued for membership card if customer wants to for paying for a product.

3) Product Details & Product Portfolio:

Segmentation of product into categories like a) Apparels-Mens ware, Womens ware, Children ware. b) CDIT - Electric Items, Electronic Items like LCDs, Mixer Grinder setc. d) Home ware Furniture, Furnishing & Decor, Gift Items e) Lifestyle deodorants f) Books Books & Stationery.

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g) FMCG Bakery items, Fruits & Vegetables, Beverages, Wholesale Grocery,Dairy products h) NFMCG Washing Powder, Soaps, Shampoos. i) Foot ware Mens ware, Womens ware, Children ware. j) Luggage Trolley, Tracking bags.

4) Channel of distribution:
As it is Retailing sector, it itself acts as a distribution channel.

5) Pricing policy:
a)Loss leader policy- followed basically to sale the stock which is soon going to be expired. b)Bundling policy- Selling products earning higher revenue in Bundles along with lower revenue earning complementary products. Ex: Select Atta 5kg + Tirupati cotton seed oil 3L + 2kg R value sugar @ Rs. 315. c)Discount offers available as % on MRP and sometimes directly available by brands.

6) DISCOUNTS
THERE ARE 3 TYPES OF DISCOUNTS: 1. Monthly on apparels 2. Weekend discounts 3. Star of the week

7) POP[Point Of Purchase]
While designing POP following things should be kept in mind: Actual MRP is striked off 4 type of POP FREE BUY 2 SAVE

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8) HOT OFFER
Yellow coloured POP are used for promotion communication White coloured POP are used for price communication A5 size paper is used It is placed in the centre of the row and no two POP are placed twice for same product They are placed in jackets They cannot be used for F & V

9) SEL(SHELF END LABEL)

It is placed at the corner end of the shelf for each product to communicate price along with name of product and its qty.

10) BIN PROMOTION LOCATION

Bin are placed at the entrance for first attraction of the customers POP is placed on a stand besides the bin Bin should be wrapped on all the four sides with promotional offer All the bins must be placed in order and POP must also be in a queue

11) BLACK SLATE FOR F &V

The slate is hung in the center of the F&V crate It is divided into two parts wherein the upper half consists of description and the latter half of qty and price in legible handwriting by use of chalk

12) FRAMES
For promoting staples A5 size frames are placed besides the bins used for loose staples.

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H.R DEPARTMENT
1) Introduction :
Workforce is the live factor of the organization and is affected by feelings. They have to be guided, motivated, and trained. There are 38 employees employed in the organization and Employees work in 2 shifts from 9 a.m.to 6 a.m. or 1:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. The work of staff maintenance is outsourced to strategic manpower solution. The staff salary, recruitment functions are handled by it. The staff is mainly divided into 5 parts:

House keeping

Security [SLM]

Renters

Electrician repairer

Customer care

Each department has its own sub- departments. Under each sub-department, two or three employees are placed as per need, turnover and area occupied by that department.

Reliance super also has a cleaners staff, repairer, electrician, security staff employed. Timely salary is paid to the employees but no incentives are provided Provident fund is deducted and net salary is deposited in the respective accounts of the employees. Training is given to new employees off the job. During recruitment, applications received are made use of. Telephonic interviews are taken during selection of employees before they are called for a face to face interview.

Groaning standard i.e. compulsory dress on floor area has to be followed by each `47

employee. Besides the, the above departments, Reliance has a B.O.H. team i.e. Back Of House team which handled the issue and receipts of Goods from the Distribution centre to the store. Whenever any promotional offers come to the store, the employees are given priority for the purchase of those goods , later they are placed for the customers. Job rotation is practiced is the store to avoid fatigue among the employees.

2)Personnel Policy:
Grooming, discipline, dressing standards should be maintained.

3)Recruitment:
It is done through references given by employees.

4)Selection:.
Initially screening is done by store manager. Once the candidate is selected, HR manager conducts telephonic interview and final selection is done.

5) Training and development:

Training is given by particular Department Manager to the CSAs and within every 6 months HR person comes from State Office for training the employees.

6) Performance appraisal:
Done by conducting award ceremony in every 6 months, by giving them certificates and promotions.

7)Industrial relations (Dispute Redressal):

Done through personally guiding them and sort out disputes if any arises, through mutual understanding.

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WORK OF EMPLOYEES
Each departmental employees have to undertake the task of Shelf-help, stacking, S.E.L i.e. Shelf Edge Label., and P.O.P. i.e. Point Of Purchase etc. The employees are also engaged with the task of billing . The goods entering the store are physically checked through micro check. The data of which is entered into the system before they are actually stacked into respective departments by the employees. The other works performed are: Demonstration by electronic dept. to the customers at the place of delivery of the product Cleaning by cleaners staff Accounting by cashier

Work of CSD [Customer Service Desk]

It does the handling of customer complaints & queries. It checks everyday prices and promotion offers issued by main office and prints POP thereof. Call lock is done when MRP or RRP does not comply with the system. It is done by informing the IT department. Credit note is written when any customer does an exchange of goods. The work of CSD is handled by Mr. Udit Tankaria.

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FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT
Banking transactions are done with ICICI and HDFC THE CDM outsourced company takes the cash to the bank from the store for security purpose All the transactions are credit transactions. collection period is different for all products If there is shortfall then it is collected from billing boys

MODES OF PAYMENT
Credit & Debit card

Cash

Sodexho &Accor cards

R1 loyalty cards

Gift voucher

Credit and debit cards of every recognized company are accepted. Sodexho & Accor cards are accepted only for food products only. They are submitted to the company which in turn deposits that amount in its bank account. They are made use of employees working at Reliance refinery and Essar refinery R1 royalty cards are membership. On purchase of Rs. 100/- , 70 paisa are accumulated or 1 point is scored. The voucher is issued when certain amount of points are scored and goods can be purchased from that amount. Gift vouchers are given to customers on purchase of goods of certain amount. These Gift vouchers can be used to purchase another product on some discounted rates. `50

Example: On purchase of goods worth Rs. 500/-, gift voucher of Rs 5000/- was given in which if the customer purchased electronic goods worth Rs 5000/- then they were given a discount of Rs 500/- applicable from 10th June to 10th July.

WRITING OF CREDIT NOTE

Credit note is written by the CSD person for the following reason: Exchange of product by the customer Size problem Product defect Wrong barcode entered by the billing person Other product purchase wrongly made by the customer Double scanning is done at billing counter Scheme problem due to IT fault Damaged product received by the customer Wrong price is entered by the billing person Refund of amount

A separate register is maintained for writing of credit note in which following particulars are noted: date of writing of note, Item replaced barcode number, name of customer, Contact no Qty replaced QtyAmt Problem of product Bill no Pose no(counter no) Sign of both parties

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CUSTOMER PROBLEMS
Customer problems have to be resolved to the quickest to keep them satisfied. Few complaints lodged in the complaint book and portal is as follows: Offer at gondola is not applicable at computer system When there is increase in price of product, the new price is installed in computer and old price are applicable on products package. Open packets are sometimes found in gondola. Stocked is messed up, so there is difficulty in finding products Long Queues at cash counters due to which impatient customers leave the store without making the purchases. No refund on Sodexho cards is provided. No salesman is available on 1st floor in CDIT department CSD person are not available at counter Unsatisfied answers for queries are received Rude language by exit man Giving of chocolates in place of change/coins. Few prices are more than MRP No demo for DVD player Purchase is different and barcode is different in vegetables. No priority for billing for senior citizens Milk quality is poor No quick services by staff. It is busy with gossips No bulk stock available in F & V and cold drinks and unavailability of small quantities. When new permanent membership card is made in place of temporary one, the old points are not accumulated due to system error

`52

RESOLVING CUSTOMER COMPLAINTS

Damaged products are replaced for customers Damaged products are sold at discount F&V is dumped and each day fresh F&V is placed. Special seating arrangement is made for senior citizens Milk products of various brands are made available A.C. is provided for ease of customers. Schemes are well explained by employees of the respective department to settle the queries of customers. Stacking is done systematically on daily basis for the consumer ease. Product replacement is done if wrong purchase is made by the customer Products with warranty are replaced immediately if they are damaged The schemes on coupons are well interpreted by customer service desk Suggestions of customers are taken into consideration and interpreted to the main office.

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COMPETITORS DETAILS
The untapped scope of retailing has attracted superstores like Wal-Mart into India, leaving behind the kiranas that served us for years. Such companies are basically IT based. The other important participants in the Indian Retail sector are Bata, Big Bazaar, Pantaloons, Archies, Cafe Coffee Day, landmark, Khadims, Crossword, to name a few.

TOP COMPANIES: AN ANALYSIS

SR NO 1 2. 3 4 PARTICULARS Big Bazaar Bharti Retaila Pantaloons Shopper Stop PAGE NO 53 53 54 54

Big Bazaar:
Big Bazaar is a chain of department stores owned by the Pantaloon Group(Future Group)and headed by Kishore Biyani and headquartered at Mumbai. It offers all types of household items such as home furnishing, utensils, fashion products etc. It has a grocery department and vegetable section known as the Food Bazaar and its online shopping site is known as FutureBazaar.com. The real estate fund management company promoted by the Future Group expects to develop more than 50 projects across India covering a combined area of more than 16 million sq. ft. On April 1 2007, Big Bazaar had to shut its outlets in Mumbai as the 100 retrenched employees called a strike with the support of Bhartiya Kamgar Sena (the trade Union wing of Shiv Sena). Later the management agreed to reinstate the sacked workers.

BhartiRetaila:
Wholly owned subsidiary of Bharti Enterprises has announced two joint ventures (JV)with the international retailing behemoth, Wal-Mart. The first JV ensures cash and carry business, in which 100 percent FDI is permitted and it can sell only to retailers and distributors. The second JV concerns the franchise 35 arrangement. Sunil Mittal, Chairman of the Bharti Group assured that the ventures will use low prices every day and best practices for the `54

satisfaction of the customer. Processed foods and vegetables will be delivered by Bharti Field Fresh, Bharti's JV with Rothschild. Bharti Retail aims to foray every city with a population exceeding 1 million. It has plans to come up with an investment of more than $2 billion in convenience stores, supermarkets and hypermarkets spread over an aggregate 10 million sq. ft. The expansion drive looks ambitious but analysts are worried that Bharti may face stiff competition from Pantaloon and Reliance as they too have sanguine plans to flood the markets with thousands of retail outlets in the coming five years. Bharti Telecom also has plans to offer all its fixed and mobile telecom products and services from a single window to the SMB (Small and Medium Business) enterprises under the Bharti Infotel division.

Pantaloons Retail:
Pantaloon Retail India Ltd, is Indias leading retail company with presence across food, fashion, home solutions and consumer electronics, books and music, health, wellness and beauty, general merchandise, communication products, E-tailing and leisure and entertainment. Headquartered in Mumbai (Bombay), has over 450 stores across 30 cities in India and employs over 18,000 people. Pantaloon founded by Mr. Kishore Biyani. The company owns and manages multiple retail formats catering to a37 wide cross-section of the Indian society and its width and depth of merchandise helps it capture almost the entire consumption basket of the Indian consumer. Founded in 1987, as a garment manufacturing company, Pantaloon Retail forayed into modern retail in 1997 with the opening up of a chain of department stores, Pantaloons. In 2001, it launched Big Bazaar, a hypermarket chain, followed by Food Bazaar, a supermarket chain. It went on to launch Central, first of its kind, seamless mall located in the heart of major Indian cities. Some of its other formats include, Collection I (home improvement products), E-Zone(consumer electronics), Depot (books, music, gifts and stationeries), all (fashion apparel for plus-size individuals), Shoe Factory (footwear) and Blue Sky (fashion accessories). It has recently launched its retailing venture, futurebazaar.com.

In India's chaotic markets, Kishore Biyani is the unchallenged king of retail. He has the knack of catching rivals off-guard and striking where it hurts most. And now that he's set himself the task of retaining control of the largest retail space in the country, he won't let anyone - suppliers or international promoters included - catch him slacking. The latest to face the wrath of the 43-year-old is South African hypermarket Shop rite, which opened `55

shop in Mumbai last month through a franchise agreement with local company Normal Lifestyle.

The hypermarket began retailing products from big boys Nestle, Unilever and Procter & Gamble at consumer discounts of 20-30 per cent, lower than even Biyani's purchase prices in his Big Bazaar and Food Bazaar stores.

Shoppers Stop:
The foundation of Shopper's Stop was laid on October 27, 1991 by the K.Raheja Corp. group of companies Shoppers Stop aims to position itself as a global retailer. The company intends to bring the worlds best retail technology ,retail practices and sales to India. Currently, they are adding 4 to 5 new stores every year with an immense amount of expertise and credibility, Shopper's Stop has become the highest benchmark for the Indian retail industry Shopper's Stop in the only retailer 38 from India to become a member of the prestigious Intercontinental Group of Departmental Stores (IGDS).With its wide range of merchandise, exclusive shop-in-shop counters of international brands and world-class customer service, Shoppers Stop brought international standards of shopping to the Indian consumer providing them with a world class shopping experience. The stores offer a complete range of apparel and lifestyle accessories for the entire family. From apparel brands like Provogue, Color Plus, Arrow, Levis, Scullers, Zodiac to cosmetic brands like Lakme, Chambor, Le Teint Ricci etc., Shoppers Stop caters to every lifestyle need. Shoppers' Stop retails its own line of clothing namely Stop, Life, Kashish, VettorioFratini and DIY. The merchandise at Shoppers Stop is sold at a quality and price assurance backed by its guarantee stamp on every bill.

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UNDERSTANDING THE CONSUMER BEHAVIOR TOWARDS SHOPPING STORES

INTRODUCTION:
Shopping, buying and utilizing are three activities which constitutes the consumer behavior in a holistic manner

Gifts, clothing, groceries, gifts and household items are some of the most common type of shopping which consumers indulge in a highly frequent manner.

Occasion and motives are also some crucial points which influence the consumers shopping behavior. For example, for some consumers, shopping is all about getting the best deal out of bargaining, for some (especially teenagers or the young crowd) shopping is a means of getting acquainted and interact more with others in a social context and for some it is a way of breaking out from the regular monotonous professional and personal routine

It is also possible, that the motives behind two consumers shopping at the same store could be same or different. Same motives may arise as when the customers look for convenience, shopping experience etc, whereas motives mat vary as a result of compulsion or by free choice. Compulsion shopping happens when the customer is forced to indulge in shopping and for him/her it could be a great deal of burden, in this case he/she will try to finish of the work in minimum time that too with minimum effort. While for the other customer who see shopping as a mean of enjoyment, may consider shopping as a form of sport, in this case he/she will not mind sparing extra time and effort while searching and evaluating various alternatives available to him.

Shopping is very distinctive in nature, its more to just purchasing what one wants but it also includes the customers acceptance of the product, brand or stores as well, using multiple senses like- seeing, smelling, tasting, hearing and even tasting (at times).

Solomon (1994), proposed five types of shoppers which he identified from his study on customers of western countries. The following are the five types: `57

The economic shopper:

A balanced and more coherent kind of customer who tries to get the best deal so as to utilize his/her money efficiently and effectively.

The personalized shopper:

Customer who will only shop at a store with which he/ she has formed a strong attachment.

The ethical shopper:

Customer is very conscious and concerned about the local stores and will prefer them over the big retail giants.

The apathetic store:

Customer who doesnt like to do shopping but does it because he/she consider as a necessary evil.

The recreational shopper:

For this customer, shopping is a means of socializing, spending leisure time and for him/her shopping is fun.

Reid and Brown(1996), proposes that the customers orientation towards shopping may
shed light into the way he/she indulge in shopping and it may also tell the reason why he/she chooses a particular retail store. This would be of great help to marketers to design the Store in a way so as to increase the shopping experiences of the customers and coping up with the expectations and needs of the store customers; as Underhill (1999), observed that nowadays, upon entering a store the environment is so vibrant

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

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CUSTOMER BUYING PATTERN

Men Camera Cold drinks Hair care Ready to cook vegetables Cooking oil Milk products Deo Shaving foams Shirts Magi Vegetables and grains Home wear Washing powders Bathing soaps Spices packets Papad Crockery Namkeen Health drinks Clothes Talc Magi Milk products F &v Mats Bags Grains Detergent Mukhvas Crockery Plastic Biscuits F&v Plastic wear Chocolates Biscuits Juices Biscuits Women Cosmetics Grains Vegetables Kids Stationery Chips Biscuits Family Bottles Chocolates Stationery couple Milk products Grains Namkeen old Milk products F&v Grains

Toothpaste Hand wash Milk products Magi Shampoo Kitchen napkins Foot wear

From the observation it can be concluded that Women were more attracted towards discount and price offers. Men emphasized more on brand while purchase of shirts and electronics

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RESEARCH

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INTRODUCTION TO RESEARCH

Research inculcates scientific and inductive thinking and it promotes the development of logical habits of thinking and organization. The research methodology has gone through which path to solve the research problem and which tools have been adopted to achieve the desired objective and more importantly it tells why only that path or tools have been chosen

Marketing research is defined as "the function that brings the consumer, customer and public to the market through information - information used to identify and define marketing objectives and problems; generate, refine and evaluate marketing actions, monitor marketing performance; and improve understanding of the marketing process". This clearly shows that marketing research is wide ranging in its concerns. The term 'market research' according to Adcock et al, is "used to define the specialist activities involved in collecting information directly through the use of questionnaires and other associated techniques".

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RESEARCH OBJECTIVES

In context of this project study

Primary Objective: The main objective of this project is to know the different segments of the customers visiting the store. Secondary Objective: To know the taste and preference of the customers visiting the store Identification of the demographic profile of the customers To find the socio-demographic profile of the customers

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RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
To meet the objectives primary research was undertaken. The research approach adopted was exploratory type.

Exploratory research-the objective of exploratory research is development of hypothesis rather than their testing.

In exploratory research, using Questionnaire as tool, it is explored that how segmentation of customers with different demographic profile is done. Both, Primary and Secondary data is used. Primary data was collected through Questionnaire and secondary through company website, www.ril.com. The instrument used for the data collection was Ratio &Questionnaire. The target respondents were the visitors of Reliance Super, with the sample size of 100 for the study. Mainly, regular customers were targeted. Tables & charts were used to translate responses into meaningful information to get the most out of the collected data.

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LITERATURE REVIEW
There are seven dimensions identified which elucidate the consumers motives for visiting and shopping at malls (Bloch et al., 1994). Following are the seven dimensions: 1. Aesthetics 2. Convenience 3. Escape 4. Exploration 5. Flow 6. Role enactment, and 7. Social

Aesthetics Dimensions
Wakefield and Baker (1998) found out that the architectural design of the mall was the dimension which contributed the most to the mall excitement, while a malls interior design had the strong influence on customers desire to stay longer in the mall. Wakerfield and Baker (1998) also found a positive and strong relationship between the malls layout and desire to stay/mall excitement. This tells us that customers not only evaluate the product assortments inside the mall but they also do look for the intangibles that the mall offers like colors, ambience, fragrance, lighting and music.

According to a study conducted by Loudon and Britta (1993), a better Interior design actually helps to elevate the image of the mall over a period of time. Complementing the discussed findings is the study conducted by Lui (1997) which revealed that todays Malls have seen a paradigm shift in the kind of interior which the designers choose for their malls; from a very relaxed environment to architecturally lavish, affluent and sophisticated design. Prior researches suggest that use of light colors exhibits a sense of spaciousness and calmness whereas bright colors impart a sense of excitement among the minds of the consumers; moreover, even the use of serene music along with warm colors helped the mall by increasing the customers desire to stay (Solomon, 1994; Peter and Olson, 1994). All in all, atmospheric characteristics are basically an extension to the product assortments and could be manipulated positively to enhance buyers mood and comprehension, hence affecting behavior, and to elevate the mall image. `64

Convenience Dimension:
Operating hours and time taken to reach the outlet are one of the main criteria which the consumers look for while selecting a shopping outlet (Kaufman, 1996). As evident from the theory of retail location, Consumers give higher preference to shopping outlet which is nearby their homes. Loudon and Bitta (1993) also discovered that consumers seek high convenience; they despise spending time and effort finding parking space, department or a particular product; they also found that convenience is also an important criterion for customers who are either visiting or making purchase in a mall very infrequently. Also, according to Kaufmann (1996), consumers are getting more and more inclined towards a one stop destination for their complete shopping desire, thereby complementing the theory of emergence of the mall culture.

Escape dimension:
Malls, because of their exciting, lavish and sophisticated environments proffer a sense of relief and break to the customers from the same monotonous and routine rituals of job and personal works. Underhill (1999 and 2005) explained that many modern malls have started to offer a myriad level of sensory stimulus. A trip to shopping malls can provide an individual/family a very economic means of entertainment, leisure and recreation with a great deal of effortless planning. This leads us to our third hypothesis: H3: Shoppers motivation to go to a shopping mall will be higher when there is a higher preference towards escape activity of the customers.

Exploration Dimension:
According to Tauber (1972), Malls attract shoppers by offering an opportunity to learn new trends i.e. Exploration. Infact, customers perceive the process of accumulating information by exploring various products or stores (both new and old) as a sense of benefit (Wakefield and Baker, 1998). Consumers always look for new and upgraded product and their desire for variety can only be met through the process of exploration. So, it is of utmost importance to the mall management to offer a variety of products and alternatives for an improved mall performance (Kaufmann, 1996).

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Flow Dimensions:
Bloch et al (1994) and Lui (1997) have explained the meaning of Flow as a blissful state of absorption which is associated with the forgetting about the sense of time. For example if the mall experience is good the customers will not mind the time which they have spent inside the mall while shopping or enjoying and may even have a high desire to spend more time inside the mall thus resulting in better performance of the mall. Moreover, visiting a mall alone is also not perceived as a sense of negativity which however, is present in case of watching movies alone or dining out alone.

Role enactment Dimension:

People behave in manner which is socially accepted or expected depending on the cohort they belong to. For example, shopping of household items in Raipur is done by housewives and shopping for clothes and other related accessories are done by individuals. Wakefield and Baker (1998) observed that hedonic shoppers (those who seek pleasure in shopping) were noticed to visit malls more than utilitarian shoppers (those fulfill the duty of shopping). Solomon (1994) also elicited that some shoppers enjoy bargaining and that they see shopping as a sport. Thus, in a nutshell we may say that consumers enact their social roles by shopping or visiting a mall.

Social Dimensions:
Shopping offers an individual an opportunity to socialize, it often result in meeting up with old friends or new acquaintances. Researches done by Tauber (1972); Wakefield and Baker (1998) have posit that the opportunity of socialization is an important factor related shopping experience. In addition to this, Loudon and Bitta (1993) have highlighted that most of the people prefer to shop at location where employees behavior towards them are cordial and courteous. Teens (even families) in particular have shown a great tendency of visiting and recreating at shopping malls because of the economic cost of entry.

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PreetaVyas from IIM-Ahmedabad did A RESEARCH PROJECT ON

PROJECT STUDY ON CONSUMER PREFERENCESWITH RESPECT TO SALES PROMOTION IN FMCG CATEGORY

The Project Objectives were: To study consumer preferences with respect to sales promotion at FMCG category. To examine tradeoffs, relative importance of different attributes while responding to a sales promotion offer with conjoint design. To study variations in the preferences across different demographic variables. To understand the media habits of the consumers. The Research Findings is that Age, Family Income, Education, Occupation, Family type, Household No. ,etc are attributes for measuring deal proneness. There are 72% respondents for deal proneness. Price off offers with immediate incentive on a national brand & awareness through point of purchase and awareness was created through word of mouth. Mostly, all respondents prefer to read news papers to know about the promotional offers.

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AJAY KUMAR At Bangalore did A RESEARCH PROJECT ON

OPERATION MANAGEMENT IN RETAIL SECTOR MAJOR FINDINGS
_ The Retail Sector in India can be split up into two, the organized and the unorganized. The organized sector whose size is expected to triple by 2010 can be further split up into departmental stores, supermarkets, shopping malls. _ In terms of value the size of the retail sector in India is $300 billion. The organized sector contributes about 4.6% to the total trade. The retail sector in India contributes 10% to the Gross Domestic Product and 8% to the employment of the country. In terms of growth the FMCG retail sector is the fastest growing unit relating to household care, confectionery etc, have lagged behind the foreign retail giants were initially restricted from making investments in India.

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Manjunath Reddy from AIMS, Hubli did A RESEARCH PROJECT ON

THE EFFECTIVE PROMOTIONAL STRATEGIES WHICH INFLUENCES CUSTOMER TO PURCHASE A PRODUCT OF BIG BAZAAR

The Research Objective is to know the effective promotional strategy which influence customer to purchase a product of Big Bazaar. The Research Methodology used is Based on the topic objectives were set and to arrive at the opinion on objectives a set of 100 questionnaires were designed of 10 questions and response is collected from the customers who are visiting the store. For data collection Random Convenient sampling method was adopted From the sample size of 100 samples it is found that the Brand is well positioned in the minds of customers because 77% of the respondents preference is Big Bazaar for their shopping.23% of people told that 1st they came to know through T V advertisement and 34% of people told that through hoardings 31% of them told that through news paper and finally 12% of them highly agree that through bus painting.87% of them told that they are aware of promotional activities of big bazaar .only 13% of them told that they are not aware of promotional activity of big bazaar .51% of them told that they are attracted towards big bazaar only for the offers 9% of them told that service and 23% of them told that quality and only 17% of them told that due to availability of products

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Shalini Shrivastav of Maharaja Sayajirao University, Vadodara did A RESEARCH PROJECT ON

EFFECTIVENESS OF THE PROMOTIONAL SCHEME AT BIG BAZAAR
The research objective of this project is to know the profile of the customers. . To identify Segment what is most preferred by customers in Reliance Super. To identify the relation between Discounts offered and purchase intension of customers. From the sample of 200 respondents, it is found that 72% of them are aware about the promotional schemes offered by big bazaar and only 28% of them are not aware.From those who are aware about the schemes they are mostly in FMCG and Apparels segment and most of the respondents prefer discounts and price packs.The three most preferable schemes are Cash Refund Offers, Price Packs, and Coupons. So, its founded that 55% consumers prefer Price Packs and 47.5 % of them prefer Cash Refund as major promotional tools.Overall customers prefer to take the advantage of promotional schemes during Weekends and Weekdays, as they can take some time off for shopping during these periods. Big Bazaar have also fixed one day, i.e., Wednesdays Bazaar where people can avail the benefits of the offers.77% of them mostly get informed about these schemes mostly through Mass Media includes Newspapers, Television and Print Media.The Brand, Price and Quality are well positioned in the minds of customers because customer give more preference to these attributes for their shopping.The purchase pattern of almost 70% customers is changed due to the promotional schemes.

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Ms. ANJANI JHA Xavier Institute of Social Service, Ranchi did A RESEARCH PROJECT ON
RELIANCE RETAIL STORE OPERATION OBJECTIVES:
- To identify the reliance marketing strategy in Ranchi - We provide information to reliance fresh to focus on middle class consumers in Ranchi - Implementation of this plan should not affect Other Retail store.

Findings:
Based on my observation I found that reliance fresh is not able to make an advertisement properly as compare to big bazaar or other retail store which is its competitor. so company should make a proper team to let the people aware about their schemes and offers being given by reliance fresh. Company should increase the number of counter so that it may minimize the quiet of the customers. Company should acquire more and more skilled people so that itmay satisfied their customer in all areas. Company should pay kind attention towards the existing customer and try to provide them quick response in the sphere of services so that they become BSNLS loyal customers. Many corporate houses was there who were reluctant to use BSNL lease line provided that someone assure them to have a prompt services from them. Main competitor Airtel Tata and Reliance comes with various schemes and margins on the other hand Bsnl is not giving any sort of scheme and discount that is why many clients were inclined toward using the lease line offered by other players. After all business is all about profit and retailer wants some profit and margins.

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RESEARCH DESIGN
According to Kipling Research design is the plan, structure and strategy of investigation conceived so as to obtain answers to research questions and to control variance. A research design is pattern or an outline of a research projects working. It is a statement of only the essential elements of a study, those that provide the basic guidelines for the details of the project. It comprises a series of prior decisions that taken together provide a master plan for executing a research project.

A research design serves as a bridge between what has been established i.e. the research objective and what is to be done, in conduct of the study to realize those objectives. If there were no research design, the research would have only foggy notion about what is to be done. There are numerous specific designs, which can be classified into three broad categories.

Research design is the conceptual structure within which the research would be conducted.

In fact, it is the general blueprint for the collection, measurement and analysis of data.

In context of this project study

The object of study is to gain familiarity with a phenomenon or to achieve new insights into it. So, the research design is EXPLORATORY type.

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DATA COLLECTION METHODS

SOURCES OF DATA

Collecting the required information from the right source is very important. Sources from which the data are collected differ as per the required of researcher. Basically there are two types of data collection sources:

1) Primary data source

This data is gathering for the first time for the problem solution. Primary data has to be collected through well-equipped instruments, as they are first hand information collected for the research.

2) Secondary data source

It refers to already gathered and collected data. These may be internal sources within the clients firms. Externally, these sources may include books or periodicals, data services, reports and computer data banks.

In context of this project study

Primary data There are basically three widely used methods for collection of primary data: Observation Questionnaire Interviewing

Secondary data
Secondary data was collected by the use of internet, magazine, research papers and books

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Sample Size
Sample size of 100 is taken from the population at random..

Sampling Technique
Convenient sampling technique is used for the purpose of research.

Location
The data is collected from Reliance Super-Jamnagar at random with the help of questionnaire.

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LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

Different person have different mindset so it is difficult to find what they want. In this research some of the limitations are as follows:

1. This exploratory research is done focusing on Jamnagar region only therefore findings and suggestions given on the basis of this research and cannot be considered for the entire retail Industry.

2. Due to limitation of time and cost constraints a sample size of only 100 are chosen.

3. Data Analysis and interpretation done may not be that strong due to small sample and random sampling method.

4. Major source of data collected is primary which might limit the study.

5. Our own inexperience in the research field might have affected the results.

6. At the time of fill up questionnaire may be, they may not give or have accurate answer. 7. The survey is limited to Jamnagar outlet of Reliance Super 8. Biasness may have crept in while doing survey

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DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

Personal Information
Gender: Male female ratio of the respondent of the research Particulars MALE FEMALE No of respondents 27 73

Gender ratio of the buyers visiting the store

80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 male female

Interpretation:-

(CHART-1)

According marketing segmentation, gender category affect to the business. Visit of the store is taken by most of the time with whole family and here respondent is most of the female member. Mostly the grocery, F&V, and domestic products are preferred by her.

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Age of the respondent:

Particulars Below 25 26-35 35-45 45 and above No of respondents 17 45 32 6

Age of the respondent

50 45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 below 25 26-35 35-45 45 and above

Interpretation:-

(CHART-2)

Latest fashion is the mantra of most of the youngsters, they are always demanding latest, innovative and different from others. Stores are providing and fulfill their requirements like according to season winter wear, summer wear these types of seasonal clothes and garment are providing by the stores. Here data shows that more number of young aged people like to visit the stores and maximum people visit the storeson holidays and Sunday

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Educational qualification of the respondent:-

Particulars SSC HSC Graduate Post Graduate others

No of respondents 15 17 44 19 5

Educational qualification of the respondent

50 45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0

Interpretation:-

(CHART-3)

21st century is of youngsters and these youngsters are more educated. Person who visits the store is qualified and educated. Majority of the customers visiting the store are graduates. Very few customers are uneducated. Educated people are more aware about their needs and ways to satisfy them under one roof so they may prefer to buy from these stores.

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Occupation of the respondent:-

Particulars Self employed Businessmen Student House wife Government job Private job

No of respondents 3 27 7 32 12 19

Occupation of the respondent

35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0

Interpretation:-

(CHART-4)

People visiting the store are mostly house wives and businessmen. Out of the 100 respondents number of people engaged in different occupations. Very few are engaged in government and private jobs.

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Income of the respondent (per month):Particulars Below 5000 5001 to 10000 10001 to 20000 20001 to 50000 50001 to 15000 Others No of respondents 3 25 35 25 4 8

Income of the respondent

40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 Belo 5000 5001 10001 20001 50001 Other to to to to 10000 20000 50000 15000

Interpretation:-

(CHART-5)

Purchasing power of the customer is more important part of the market segmentation. According to classifications of the customer class higher class, middle class, upper middle class, lower middle class these type of customers visit the store. Income of the customer is directly affected with the purchasing power of the customer.

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Que. from where do you shop?

Particulars Retail store Reliance store Both No of respondents 22 12 66

70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 retail store reliance store both

Interpretation:-

(CHART-6)

From the above graph it can be observed that people prefer to buy from both the destinations. Earlier people preferred only the grocery shops or small retail shop as they considered marts as expensive destination. But the scenario has changed today, with the increasing income and awareness among the people the preference has changed for shopping destination.

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Que. which things do you keep in mind at the time of shopping?

Particulars Brand name Price Approximate to the mall Product availability Quality No of respondents 12 24 14 24 26

30 25 20 15 10 5 0

Interpretation:-

(CHART-7)

Perception of the customers is different according to their consumption. Customer give priority to brand name, price, wide range of products, availability of the products etc. behavior of the customers are different person gives priority to brand name another gives priority to quality.

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Que. what would you like to purchase from a shopping store?

Particulars Grocery Crokery Domestic purpose items Clothes Electronics Gift arties Others No of respondents 78 12 37 7 15 17 23

Preferred shopping items from Store

90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0

Interpretation:-

(CHART-8)

One of the most important features that attract to the customers towards the store is wide range of products available at the store. Different items purchased by the customers from the store like grocery, crockery etc. among of all the products more preference is given to the grocery. People also prefer to buy domestic items like detergents soaps toilet cleaners hand wash etc to buy from the store. Less preference is given to apparels by the customers.

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Que. What is the reason behind shopping from store?

Particulars No of respondents Wide range of products Discount/schemes Branded items Store location 34 36 20 10

Reason behind shopping from malls

40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0

Interpretation:-

(CHART-9)

Store means wide range of products is available under one roof .different promotion tools are used by the marketing department of the store, they offered discount/schemes on the products like BUY 2 GET 5 FREE, FLAT 70% DISCOUNT on single garments. More number of respondents reason behind shopping from store is wide range of products and promotional offers.

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Que. Do you agree that stores products are available at affordable Prices?
Particulars Cheaper Moderate Expensive No of respondents 10 78 12

Price of the mall products

90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 cheaper moderate expensive

Interpretation:-

(CHART-10)

Different types of factors affecting to the buying decision behavior of the customer. Among of them price is the most important factor and at the time of shopping price is keep in mind. More number of respondents view is that price of the products are moderate. And also say that quality of the products are quite good in the comparison of price.

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Que. .Does the availability of multi brand affect your buying decision?
Particulars Yes No No of respondents 68 32

Change in decision due to Multi Brands

80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Yes No

Interpretation:-

(CHART-11)

Branded products are preferred by most of the customers. Customers who aware about the brand and use the branded products those customers again want to purchase branded products. Branded products are more qualitative, long life, comfortable, latest trend, design, material, attractive these are the major features of the branded products that the reason why branded products are preferred by most of the customers and also at the time of shopping multi brand affect to most of the customers decision.

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Que.In the comparison of store v/s local store which thing that attract you Towards the store/retail store.
Particulars Convenience destination Good offers/schemes Wide range of products Product availability Quality Others No of respondents 5 25 22 17 28 3

35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0

Reason behind shopping from malls

Interpretation: -

(CHART-12)

Different factors are affecting to the Customers to attract to the customers towards the store. Wide range of products and product quality is the most attracting factors for customers. Different parameters are kept in mind at the time of shopping.

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Que. if preference has been asked what are your parameters to prove a shopping store the best one?
Particulars Price Product exposure Behavior of the staff Others No of respondents 25 42 13 20

Reason behind shopping from Reliance Super

45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 Prices Product Behaviour exposure of the staff other

Interpretation: -

(CHART-13)

Most of the customer agree with the product exposure is the main reason behind shopping from the stores. As compare to local stores more choice is available for the customer. Another point of attraction is the price of the product. In other onion people said that quality and discount schemes also are the best parameters of Reliance Super.

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Que. Approximately, how frequently you visit stores?

VISIT TO THE STORES Particulars Once in a week Frequently Daily Rarely Others No. of respondents 40 24 6 25 5

Frequency of visit to stores

45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 Once in a week Frequently Daily Rarely Others

Interpretation:-

(CHART-14)

Most of the customer are like to visit in a store rarely basis or Once in a week in the Jamnagar because of convenience store and other retail shops they are less prefer to buy from the store.

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Que. With whom do you visit stores?

VISIT THE STORE WITH Particulars Friends Colleagues Relatives Spouse Others 14 2 55 27 2 No of respondents

Visit The Store With

60 50 40 30 20 10 0 friends relatives colleagues spouse others

Interpretation:-

(CHART-15)

Most of the youngsters visit with their friends and colleagues because they think that they should purchase good qualities and fashionable products with their friends and colleagues only. Married people prefer to come along with their spouse, whereas females between the age of 26-35 prefer to come along with their relatives.

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Que. You visit stores for.?

Particulars Shopping Hangout Other No of respondents 95 3 2

Visit to store for..

100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 shopping hangout other

Interpretation: -

(CHART-16)

There are different types of customer and they mainly visit the store for shopping, and number of customers who are only visiting for hang-out are very less.

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Que. How many hours you spend shopping/ recreation purpose in stores? TIME SPEND IN THE STORES
Particulars Less than 1 1-2 2-4 More than 4 No of respondents 30 49 12 9

Time Spend In The Stores

60 50 40 30 20 10 0 less than 1 hour 1-2 hours 2-4 hours more than 4 hours

Interpretation: -

(CHART-17)

Time spend by the customer in the store is highest in 1-2 hours, because on routine days women generally come to buy grocery, staples and other domestic products and men prefer to buy very few products of health care so it takes very less time to buy them. People who visit the store once in a month spend more than 2 hours as they find many new offers and products.

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Ques.No of family members in the family.

Particulars Below 4 Above 4 No of respondents 79 21

No of members in the families of the buyers

90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 below 4 above 4

Interpretation:

(CHART 18)

Mostly the nuclear families shop from the Reliance Super. The families where members are more than 4 prefer to buy more from local retail store.

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Ques Type of house owned by the buyers of the store

Particulars Own house Tenement Bungalow Apartment No of respondents 43 12 9 36

Type of house owned by the buyers of the store

50 45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 own house tenament bunglow appartment

Interpretation:

(CHART 19)

Only few class of people are rich who possess a bungalow. Mostly people prefer to reside in apartments. There is a possibility that rich class people are brand oriented and may prefer to buy products like footwear, apparels and electronics from respective company showrooms.

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Ques Type of customers personality visiting the store

Particulars short tempered jolly moody others No of respondents 4 73 14 9

Type of customers personality

80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 short tempered jolly moody others

Interpretation:

(CHART 20)

People visiting the store claim themselves to be jolly natured. The data as provided may be biased. In other types of personality people claimed themselves to be calm, some as impatient, stylish etc.

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Ques when do people make maximum purchase?

Particulars During Festivals During Beginning/End Of The Month Not Fixed No of respondents 52

13

35

Time Of Purchase By Customers

60 50 40 30 20 10 0 DURING FESTIVALS DURING BEGINNING/END OF THE MONTH NOT FIXED

Interpretation:

(CHART 21)

The time of most of the customers is not fixed. This factor may be affected by level of income and inflation. People make the purchases during the festivals but the store does not provide the goods which are mostly purchased during the festival like confectionary items , trendy apparels , limited gift articles etc. People who make purchases during the beginning and the end of the month are products like grocery, soaps, detergents, and other domestic products

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Ques. Vehicle possessed by the buyers of the stores

Particulars Two wheeler Four wheeler both No of respondents 68 20 12

Vehicle possessed by the buyers

80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Two wheeler four wheeler both

Interpretation:

(CHART 22)

The buyers possessing the two wheeler are more in comparison to people owning four wheeler. This show the buyers are mostly of the middle-class rather than rich class.

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FINDINGS
Wide range of products are available under one roof so this is the main benefit for the customers, and they dont need to visit more than one shop for more shopping. Discount is the main attraction for the customers, after declaring the discount on the garments, sales increases.As per the customer convenience, product availability factor is mainly affected in accepting the store culture. It was found that female gender is more in comparison to male gender. Mostly the customers visiting the store are graduates and are engaged in business and females as house wives. The average income of most of the customers is between 10000 to 20000. Customer visit the store because of product availability, discount schemes and some customer who prefer brand name visit the store to avail them. One of the most important features that attract to the customers towards the store is wide range of products available at the store. People who visit the store daily spend less time in comparison to people who rarely visit. People who visit daily or weekly prefer to purchase from the store due to proximity to the store. Multi-brands affects the buying decision of the people to a great extent People make purchases both from reliance stores as well as other retail outlets. They make maximum purchases during festival time. Mostly people prefer to use twowheeler to visit the store as the store is not much far from their residence. According marketing segmentation, gender category affect to the business. Visit of the store is taken by most of the time with whole family and here respondent is most of the female member. Mostly the grocery, F&V, and domestic products are preferred by her. `98

 Maximum people visiting the store are young aged. People visiting the stores on holidays and Sunday are more in comparison to routine work days People who visits the store are mostly qualified and educated. Majority of the customers visiting the store are graduates. Very few customers are uneducated. People visiting the store are mostly house wives and businessmen. Very few people having a private or government job or self employed visit to the store. According to classifications of the customer class higher class, middle class, upper middle class, lower middle class these type of customers visit the store. With the increasing income and awareness among the people the preference has changed for shopping destination. They prefer to buy from shopping malls and from small retail stores also Customer give priority to brand name, price, wide range of products, availability of the products etc. behavior of the customers are different person gives priority to brand name another gives priority to quality. Reason behind shopping from store is wide range of products and also promotional offers. People wish to take the maximum advantage of the discount and promotional offers. Different types of factors affecting to the buying decision behavior of the customer. Among of them price is the most important factor and at the time of shopping price is keep in mind. More number of respondents view is that price of the products are expensive Branded products are preferred by most of the customers and also at the time of shopping multi brand affect to most of the customers decision. Most of the youngsters visit with their friends and colleagues because they think that they should purchase good qualities and fashionable products with their friends and colleagues only. Married people prefer to come along with their spouse, whereas females between the age of 26-35 prefer to come along with their relatives. There are different types of customer and they mainly visit the store for shopping, and number of customers who are only visiting for hang-out are very less. Mostly the nuclear families shop from the Reliance Super. The families where members are more than 7 prefer to buy more from local retail store. Only few class of people are rich who possess a bungalow. Mostly people prefer to reside in apartments. There is a possibility that rich class people are brand oriented

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and may prefer to buy products like footwear, apparels and electronics from respective company showrooms. People visiting the store claim themselves to be jolly natured. The data as provided may be biased. In other types of personality people claimed themselves to be calm, some as impatient, stylish etc. The time of most of the customers is not fixed. This factor may be affected by level of income and inflation. People make the purchases during the festivals but the store does not provide the goods which are mostly purchased during the festival like confectionary items , trendy apparels , limited gift articles etc. People who make purchases during the beginning and the end of the month are products like grocery, soaps, detergents, and other domestic products. The buyers possessing the two wheeler are more in comparison to people owning four wheeler. This show the buyers are mostly of the middle-class rather than rich class.

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SUGGESTIONS

Reliance Super should focus upon the quality of FNV rather than its prices, as most of customers are conscious about the quality of food they intend to purchase products from this category. Entire kids segment should be maintained, like clubbing stationery, sports, games and kids apparels, which can be helpful in increasing sales for kids items. Customers find it difficult to mark out the offerings and discounts available on particular product. So proper display of discounts and free products should be made, that generates clear idea of offerings on purchase of products. These stores are beneficial for the customers who are busy with work, they can shopping under one roof. According to me customers should be visit the stores once in a month because different types of schemes are available for the customers but most of the people think that stores are more expensive, if they are visit the store people can shop at lower price also. Not only corporate are beneficial from this stores but also customers are beneficial by the store.

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CONCLUSION

The stores overall performance is good. But, it should improve the quality of available products. Often customers are not satisfied with the freshness available for edible products. A high level of service is important for customer retention; therefore sales executives must be ready to serve customers quickly, politely and to the customers full satisfaction. Their current compensation is moderate, giving them insufficient incentive to provide high quality service, also hurting customer loyalty.

Indian retail sector is witnessing one of the most hectic Marketing activities of all times. The companies are fighting to win the hearts of customer who is God said by the business tycoons. There is always a first mover advantage in an upcoming sector. In India, that advantage goes to Reliance Super. It has brought about many changes in the buying habits of people in Jamnagar. It has created formats, which provide all items at favourable discounts. The consumers preferences are changing & they are moving from Traditional Kirana stores to Modern Retail outlet. Its the main challenge to the Modern retail outlets to attract the customers towards them from that of competitors. To attract more customers companies have to carry out the promotional activities in unique way.

Reliance Retail has maintained that uniqueness & has succeeded in attracting customers. As the competition is becoming stiff in the market the activities conducted by the company are unique, that have brought fruitful result to the company. Among them Sales Promotions is one of the leading activity or unique among all other activities & has high influence on the customer walk-in.

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ANNEXURE:
GLOSSARY
MBQ: Minimum Batch Quantity HHT: Hand Held Terminals SEL: Self Edge Labels FNV: Fruits and Vegetables SAP:System Application Programme RGM: Rupee Gross Margin BOH: Back of house. SKU: Special Key Unit. CDIT: Consumer Durable Information Technology NIA: Not In Assortment.

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APPENDIX
BIBLIOGRAPHY
BOOKS Bajaj Chetan, Rajnish Tuli, Nidhi V. Srivastava, Retail Management, Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 2nd Edition, 2005. A.J.Lamba, The art of Retailing , Tata Mc-Graw Hill Publishing Company Ltd., New Delhi, 2nd Edition,2003. Pradhan Swapna, Retailing Management, Tata Mc-Graw Hill Publishing Company Ltd., New Delhi, 2nd Edition,2007. Vedamani Gibson G., Retail Management, Jaico Publishing House, Mumbai, 3rd Edition, 2005. Kotler Philip, Marketing Management, Pearson Education (Singapore) Pte. New Delhi, 12th Edition, 2006, Page No. 466-492.

MAGAZINES Gopalan Krishna, Reliance Retail Unlimited, Business Today, 30th July, 2006, Volume-15, No. 16, Page No.-76-80. R. Shridharan, Gopalan Krishna, Retails Coming Face Off, Business Today, 31st Dec., 2006, Volume-15, No. 26, Page No.-82-94.

WEBSITES

http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reportinfo.asp?report_id=236028 http://myiris.com/shares/sectors/sectorReport.php?secode=RETAIL&peercode=&fna me=./data/retail/retail.htm http://www.indiainbusiness.nic.in/india-profile/ser-retail.html

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http://www.domainb.com/marketing/general/2005/20051013_marketing_review.html http://www.planware.org/workingcapital.html http://www.ibef.org/industry/retail.aspx http://indiaonestop.com/retailing.html http://www.euromonitor.com/Retailing_in_India http://www.directories-today.com/i_retailing.htm

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LIST OF CHARTS

Chart No. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22.

Particulars Male Female ratio of the respondents Age of the respondents Qualifications of the respondents Occupation of the respondents Income of the respondents Preferred shopping Destination Things to be consider at the time of shopping Preferred shopping items from stores Reason behind shopping from stores Correlation of brand-multiplicity and buying decision Other reasons behind shopping from stores Preference parameters for Reliance Super Visit to the stores Visit the store with Visit stores for Time spend in the stores No. of members in the family Type of house possessed by the buyers Personality of the buyers Period/time of making purchase Vehicle possessed by the customers

Page No. 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96

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QUESTIONNAIRE
Dear Respondent,

The information provided by you will be kept confidential and will be used for the purpose of study only. Please fill in all the details.

1. Gender :

: :

_____ Male _____ Female

2. Age

_____ Below 25 _____ 26-35 _____35-45 _____45 and above

3. Average income per month _____ Below 5000 _____ 5001-10000 _____ 10001-50000 _____ Above 50000

4. Total number of member in the family_____ Number of member below 15 Number of member above 15 _____ _____

5. Occupation Professional Businessman Self employed _____ _____ _____

Government service _____ Private Job _____

6. Whatis your educational qualification? `107

Below SSC SSC HSC Under graduate Graduate Post graduate

_____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____

7. Where do you hail from? (Hometown) State__________ city __________

8. Whichassets do you possess? Two wheeler ______ Both ______ four wheeler ______ House ______

9. Which brand of two / four do you possess? Bajaj Mahindra Honda Suzuki ______ ______ ______ ______

If any other, please specify ______

10. Where do you dwell? Own house ______

Rented house ______ Apartment Tenement Bungalow Other ______ ______ ______ ______

11. State your personality Short tempered ______ Jolly Moody ______ ______

If any other, please specify ______

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12. When do you purchase maximum? During festivals _______

At the beginning /end of the month _______ Not fixed _______

13. From where do you prefer to buy? Reliance super _______ Both _______ Retail shop _______

14. Which things do you keep in mind at the time of shopping ? Brand name Price of the product Proximity _______ _______

_______ _______ _______

Product availability Quality

15. What would you like to purchase from reliance super ? Grocery items Apparels and footwear Crockery Electonics _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______

Decor and furnishing products Gift articles/stationary If any other please specify

16. What is the reason behind shopping from reliance super ? Wide range of products Branded items Discount schemes Store location _______ _______ _______ _______

17. Which mode of transport do you use for coming to the store ? Two wheeler _______ `109

Four wheeler Auto rickshaw

_______ _______

Public transport _______ If any other please specify _______

18. According to you, the prices of products at reliance super are Cheaper Moderate Expensive _______ _______ _______

Same as MRP _______

19. Does the availability of multi brand affect your buying decision ? Yes _______ No _______

20. Approximately, howfrequently do you visit reliance super ? Daily Once in a week Once in a month Rarely _______ _______ _______ _______

21.With whom do you visit reliance super ? Alone Friends Relatives Colleagues Spouse Others _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______

22. What do you visit reliance super for ? Shopping _______ Hangout Others _______ _______ `110

23.How many hours do you spend shopping/rcreation purpose in Less than one _______ 1-2 2-4 More than 4 _______ _______ _______

reliance super?

24. After exit from the store, where do you prefer to go ? Home Work _______ _______

Freek out _______ Not fixed _______

25. If preference has been asked, what are your parameters to prove reliance super the best one ? Prices Behaviour of the staff Produce exposure If any other please specify _______ _______ _______ _______

26. Give your suggestion on how can reliance super serve you better ? _________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________

NAME ADDRESS

: :

______________________________________ ______________________________________ ______________________________________

CONTACT NO :

______________________________________

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