SUMMER INTERNSHIP PROGRAMME, 2007

FINAL REPORT ON

“Buying Behavior of Rural

Consumers in Retail Sector and
Factors Influencing the Buying
Process”

BY:
KUNAL VARDHAN SRIVASTAVA
ENROLLMENT NO: 06BS1449
CHOUPAL SAAGAR, ITC – IBD Ltd
CHANDAULI
 2

SUMMER INTERNSHIP PROGRAMME, 2007

FINAL REPORT ON
 3

“Buying Behavior of Rural

Consumers in Retail Sector and
 4

Factors Influencing the Buying

Process”
 5

BY:
KUNAL VARDHAN SRIVASTAVA
ENROLLMENT NO: 06BS1449
CHOUPAL SAAGAR, ITC – IBD Ltd
 6

CHANDAULI

A Report submitted in partial fulfillment of

the requirements of
MBA Program of
ICFAI Business School, Hyderabad
 7

Distribution List:
Project Guide Faculty Guide
Mr.Anurag Saxena Mr.Murali Krishna
State Manager (Retail) ICFAI Business School
ITC-IBD Ltd Hyderabad.
Lucknow
 8

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I would like to thank Mr. Anurag Saxena, State manager, Retail ITC-IBD
Ltd, for giving me the opportunity to do my project at ITC-IBD Ltd. I would
 9

also like to thank him for providing his support and able guidance during the
course of our project.

A special note of thanks to Mr. Milan Anandan, Branch Manager ITC-IBD

Ltd., who, despite of his busy schedule always took keen interest in the
 10

progress of the project and provided me his invaluable suggestions and

complete support during the course of the project.

I would also like to thank Mr. Murali Krishna, who as my Faculty Guide has
always motivated me to put my best foot forward by setting high standards
for us.
 11

To conclude, I would like to express my sincere thanks to all the

executives and staff members at ITC-IBD Ltd. This
acknowledgement note will be incomplete without the mention of
the extremely competent and helpful team of Choupal saagar at
Chandauli which extended its consistent support to me in fulfilling
my objectives. Last, but definitely not the least I would like to
 12

thank all the people who actively participated in the surveys and
made this project work possible. I sincerely thank them all from
the bottom of my heart.

Kunal Vardhan Srivastava

ICFAI Business School
 13

Hyderabad

TABLE OF CONTENT
SERI A L CON TEN T

N UM BER
1 AB ST R ACT
2 IN TR O DUC T ION
 14

3 O VER VIEW S:R ET AIL SEC T OR IN IN DIA,IT C - L td. IT C -L td. IN

R ET AIL
4 CO N SUMER B EHAVIO UR AN D IT S IMPO RT AN C E
5 SC O PE,L IMIT AT IO N S AN D MET HO DOL O GY USED IN ST UDY
6 C O N SUMER B EHAVIO UR AN O VER VIEW
7 PRO JEC T WO R K AN D KEY ISSUES
8 G R APHIC AL R EPR ESEN T AT IO N AN D DAT A AN ALY SIS
9 IN DUSTR IAL AN ALY SIS
10 SUGG EST IO N S AN D R ECO MMEN DAT IO N S
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11 C O N CL USIO N S
12 R EFER EN C ES
16
 17

ABSTRACT
The very essence of marketing has always been exploring new opportunities
and avenues for the organizations dealing with different types of consumers.
The offerings made by the organizations may be in terms of goods or in
 18

terms of services. But, what to offer, when to offer, whom to offer and how
to offer? This is the most daunting question ahead of every organization in
today’s competitive business environment.

To answer such kind of questions the organizations go in depth to do one of

the most complex researches that is the analysis of consumer behaviour. The
 19

behaviour of consumers can not be understood fully but with the help of a
carefully designed plan we can have a fair amount of understanding
regarding the consumer behaviour. The objective of the project in concern is
to try and analyze as much as possible the behaviour of rural consumers in
the retail sector. The project work is designed as to know more about the
consumer as well as what opportunities lie in front of the concerned
 20

organization. The strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats that lie

ahead should also be analyzed with the help of the project study.

This project work is focused not only on the buying behaviour of the
consumer but it also discusses the various factors that directly or indirectly
influence a consumer’s buying behaviour. The project work is intended in
 21

such a manner that it should take care of various such factors as well as the
post purchase behaviour of the consumer that decides his satisfaction or
dissatisfaction with a purchase made. Thus the ultimate endeavour of this
project is to know our consumers and serve them in a better manner that
can give the organization an edge over their competitors.
 22

INTRODUCTION
Retail sector in India an overview:
Retail is India’s largest industry, accounting for over 10 per cent of the country’s 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
 23

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,
 24

ushering in a revolution in shopping in India. Modern retail has entered India as seen in
sprawling shopping centers, multi-storied 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
 25

and emerging opportunities in the services sector are going to be the key growth drivers of
the organized retail sector in India.

THE Indian consumer could well be crowned King with all economic indicators in the right
place. Queuing up for the coronation ceremony is a multitude of global companies that are
looking at India as the next consumer market powerhouse. And it seems to be the retail
sector that will give the desi consumer royal status.
 26

A study by McKinsey points out that India's market for consumer goods could reach a
whopping $400 billion by 2010 - making it one of the five largest in the world. Further,
KPMG in a recent report titled `Consumer Markets in India - the next big thing?' has said:
"India represents an economic opportunity on a massive scale, both as a global base and a
domestic market." The report, however, finds that the next leap in the growth of the
consumer market will be spearheaded by the changing dynamics of the retail sector.
"Companies expect that the next cycle of change in Indian consumer markets will be the
 27

arrival of foreign players in consumer retailing. Although FDI remains highly restricted in
retailing, most companies believe that will not be for long," says Deepankar Sanwalka,
Executive Director and Head - Consumer Markets, KPMG India.

FDI in retail has once again begun to appear imminent following Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh's recent interview to McKinsey, in which he expressed confidence that he would be
able to get the Left parties on board on the matter. KPMG is in fact going ahead with its
plans to conduct a series of five road shows in the US and a few countries in Europe to hold
 28

discussions about the opportunities in India's consumer markets, especially in retail. And the
numbers do lend credence to the enthusiasm.

The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) country briefing on India, 2005, estimates the retail
market in India will grow from $394 billion in 2005 to $608.9 billion in 2009. In fact, KPMG
finds that the organized retail sector in India is expected to grow at a higher rate than GDP
growth in the next five years, driven by changing lifestyles, strong income growth and
favourable demographic patterns. According to EIU, India currently has more than five
 29

million retails outlets, out of which 96 per cent are smaller than 500 sq. ft. But this scenario
is changing fast. The structure of retailing is developing rapidly with malls becoming
increasingly common in large cities, and development plans being projected at 150 new
shopping malls by 2008.

According to the KPMG report, the annual growth of department stores has been estimated
at 24 per cent, which is faster than overall retail; and supermarkets have taken an increased
share of the general food and grocery trade over the last two decades. Specialized retailers
 30

are developing rapidly in segments such as consumer durables and white goods, books,
music, lifestyle goods, household furnishings, healthcare and beauty.

Further, despite the view that disposable incomes remain concentrated in urban areas, given
the growing number of double-income households, the report reveals that the sheer size and
potential of the rural segment has been underestimated. The Indian market is evolving
dynamically and there is hidden consumption power in the low-income rural areas that offers
considerable opportunities for organized retailers in the kind of rural territories that many
 31

companies have failed to address. The retail growth therein is expected to be double-digit if
infrastructure allows the consumer companies

Organized retail in India:

According to this year’s Global Retail Development Index India is positioned as the leading
destination for retail investment. This followed from the saturation in western retail markets
and we find big western retailers like Wal-mart and Tesco entering into Indian market.
 32

India’s retail industry accounts for 10 percent of its GDP and 8 percent of the employment to
reach $17 billion by 2010. There are about 300 new malls, 1,500 supermarkets and 325
departmental stores being built in the cities very soon.

A shopping revolution is ushering in India where, a large population between 20-34 age
groups in the urban regions is boosting demand by 11.1 percent in 2004-05 to an Rs 23,308
purchasing power. This has resulted in huge international retail investment and a more
 33

liberal FDI.

However this huge retail market is very fragmented in India .The total share of the
organized retail is only 4% as the remaining is still dominated by the “mom and pop” type of
stores.
34
 35

The above is a pictorial representation of the current scenario in the organized retail sector.
So we can easily understand what is making all big organizations come into this sector and
make hay while the sun shines.

ITC-Ltd an over view:

 36

ITC is one of India's foremost private sector companies with a market capitalization of nearly
US $ 9 billion and a turnover of US $ 3 billion. Rated among the World's Leading Companies
by Forbes magazine, ITC ranks third in pre-tax profit among India's private sector
corporations. ITC has a diversified presence in Cigarettes, Hotels, Paperboards & Specialty
Papers, Packaging, Agri-Business, Branded Apparel, Packaged Foods & Confectionery,
Greeting Cards and other FMCG products. ITC's Agri-Business is one of India's largest
 37

exporters of agricultural products. ITC is one of the country's biggest foreign exchange
earners (US $ 2 billion in the last decade).
 38

ITC-Ltd

FMCG
Cigarettes,
lifestyle
retailing,
matches, gifts
and s Agri-
Paper board
business, Leaf
paper and
Hotels tobacco, Agri-
packaging
commodities

Sticks, gifting
stationery

39

ITC-Ltd special achievements:

One of India’s most valuable corporations
 40

 One of the 8 Indian Companies to feature in ‘Forbes A-

list’ for 2004
 Fe atur ing 4 00 o f the W o r ld’ s ‘ be st big co mpanie s’ w ith M- cap. >
USD 5 bln. & ar e r ate d as the ‘ mo st attr active co mpanie s fo r
inve sto r s’

 Only Indian FMCG Company to feature in Forbes 2000

List
 41

 A co mpr e he nsive r anking o f w or ld’ s bigge st co mpanie s me asur e d

by a co mpo site o f sale s, pro fits, asse ts & mar ke t value

 Among top in :
 Sustained value creation (BT-Stern Stewart survey)
 Operating profits
 Cash Profits
 42

 Ranks No. 10 among Indian listed Companies by market

cap.(@29/12/06)
 No. 1 in FMCG Sector; 8th amongst Private Sector
 Rated as one of India’s Most Respected Companies
(IMRB-Business World Survey 2006)
 43

 Golden Peacock Global Award for Corporate Social

Responsibility in Emerging economies for 2005 by World
Council for Corporate Governance for the e-choupal and
social & farm forestry initiatives
 2005 Golden Peacock Award for Excellence in Corporate
Governance
 44

 ITC Centre,Gurgaon awarded Platinum Green building

rating by US Green Building Council -Leadership in Energy
and Environmental Design
 largest Platinum rated building in the world; 7th such
building in the world
 Bhadrachalam paperboard unit :
 45

 adjudged ‘Greenest paper mill in India’ by The Centre for

Science & Environment; won the Greentech Environment
Excellence Gold Award
 ‘John Players’ adjudged the ‘Most Admired Shirt Brand of
the Year’ at the Lycra® Images Fashion Awards (LIFA)
awards in Jan’06
 46

 e-Choupal initiative continues to win global

recognition:
 Sto ckho lm C halle nge Aw ar d 20 06 in the Eco no mic De ve lo pme nt
cate go r y w hich r e co gniz e s initia tive s that le ver age Infor matio n
T e chno lo gy to impr o ve living co nditio ns and fo ster e co no mic
gr o w th in all par ts o f the wo r ld.
 47

 Fir st Indian C o mpany to w in the De ve lo pme nt G ate w ay Aw ar d

2 00 5 fo r the mo st e xe mplar y co ntr ibut io n in the fie ld of
Info r matio n & C o mmunicat io n Te chno lo gie s (IC T ) fo r de ve lo pme nt
dur ing the last 1 0 ye ar s
 W o r ld B usine ss Aw ar d 20 04 : Inte r natio nal C hambe r o f Co mme r ce
& the HR H Pr ince o f W ale s & Inte r natio na l B usine ss for um
 Har var d Unive r sity case study
 48

ITC’s initiative in retail:

After its ambitious e-Choupal project ITC started its retail business in rural market with a
chain of the stores named Choupal-sagars. The ITC wants to use these malls for
products like bikes, tractors, clothing, cement, steel, diesel and financial products. To
keep its own investment to the minimum, ITC is encouraging the samyojak– a local
 49

broker or middleman co-opted by ITC – to pick up equity and manage these shops as
part-owners. All this does not come cheap and so is the challenge in front of ITC.
This project of Choupal sagar has come with a lot of investment, it has taken ITC three
years and Rs 80 crore to journey this far down the dusty roads of rural marketing
combining information technology and focused interaction.

Choupal sagar an introduction:

 50

It's a mall unlike any in the big cities. Alongside the dazzling array of clothes and consumer
goods, the place is stocked with fertilizers, pesticides and even automobiles. ITC's Choupal
Sagar is a shoppers' stop for farmers.
Seven thousand square feet stacked with brand names... a place where Nokia and Motorola
cell phones and Usha, Prestige and Hawkins home appliances jostle for space with WE, Mark
Taylor, Springwood and John Players shirts, jeans, and Philips and LG products. Right in the
 51

centre of the mall is displayed a TVS Victor motorcycle and, a few rows down the hall, you
can buy fertilizers and pesticides.

Any one might think this is a strange blend of products but then this is not the dime-a-dozen
mall you would find in any big city.

This is ITC's Choupal Sagar at Chandauli about 33 km from the holy city of Varanasi put up
primarily for the shopping convenience of farmers. It is part of a huge complex; spread over
 52

eight acres that includes the ITC's procurement centre for soyabean, wheat and other
grains. It is here that farmers in the Chandauli belt and surrounding areas bring their
produce packed in huge trucks/trolleys for sale — sometimes pooling their produce in one
vehicle — receive the payment in cash, pick up their requirement of fertilizer, seeds and
pesticide.

As the place where they wait for their money is located tantalizingly in the middle of the
mall, a lot of impulsive shopping can take place; that is, if the farmer has any disposable
 53

income in hand after he pays off his loans. Of course, in the last two years, the rain Gods
have been kind and so the soft launch of the Choupal Sagar was well timed. Every day it has
about 1,100 to 1,200 footfalls, and in the week before Diwali, this number went up to 1,600
to 1,800, with daily sales exceeding Rs 2 lakh.

As you watch people browsing in the mall, it became apparent that the farmers and their
families are yet to get used to the razzle-dazzle of the mall. The farmers walked around
gingerly and the women appeared wary of picking up a pressure cooker or a blender to
 54

check it out. But the children, suffering from no such compunctions, were all over the place
and had no hesitation in pulling clothes off the rack to feel the fabric or mull over the colour.

By now 12 such malls are operating in U.P., M.P. and Maharashtra with few others about to
be operative in coming months of June and July. It will be unfair to say that ITC came in
retail sector with the launch of Choupal sagar only. ITC has 30 odd outlets for the lifestyle
retailing i.e. WILLS and JOHN PLAYERS catering to the higher end of the society. But just
 55

like its ambitious e-Choupal project ITC has came up with this unique concept of taking
malls to the rural India.

Why rural markets are targeted?

On one side are the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) and the consumer durables
companies. On the other are consumers in rural India, potentially the largest segment of the
market. Finally, the two are coming together.
 56

The fact that this has not happened in the past is not for want of trying. In Mumbai and New
Delhi corner offices, executives have long recognized that to build real sales volumes they
will have to reach outside the big cities. In several categories, rural India already accounts
for the lion's share. According to MART, a New Delhi-based research organization that offers
rural solutions to the corporate world, rural India buys 46% of all soft drinks sold, 49% of
motorcycles and 59% of cigarettes. This trend is not limited just to utilitarian products: 11%
of rural women use lipstick.
 57

Other numbers are equally revealing. According to the National Council of Applied Economic
Research (NCAER), an independent, non-profit research institution, rural households form
71.7% of the total households in the country. Spending in this segment is growing rapidly
and consumption patterns are closing in on those of urban India. Jag Mohan Singh Raju, a
professor of marketing at Wharton, says: "No consumer goods company today can afford to
forget that the rural market is a very big part of the Indian consumer market. You can't
build a presence for a brand in India unless you have a strategy for reaching the villages."
 58

Several European multinational firms -- and a few U.S. firms -- have been making inroads
into rural India for years. Companies such as Unilever, Phillips and Nestle have long been
known to India's rustic dukaandaars, or merchants. Among U.S. firms, companies such as
Colgate and Gillette have made considerable headway. According to Raju, marketing to rural
customers often involves building categories by persuading them to try and adopt products
they may not have used before. "A company like Colgate has to build toothpaste as a
category, which means convincing people to change to toothpaste instead of using neem
 59

twigs to clean their teeth, which was the traditional practice," he says. "This is difficult to do
and requires patience and investment by companies. It's not like getting someone to switch
brands."

Companies that have figured this out are doing better in the villages than in the cities. Soft
drinks giant Coca-Cola is growing at 37% in rural markets, compared with 24% in urban
areas. According to Hansa Research, a market research firm that has published a Guide to
Indian Markets 2006, the penetration of consumer durables has risen sharply in India's
 60

villages between 2000 and 2005. In color TVs, sales are up 200%; in motorcycles, 77%. In
absolute numbers, however, the penetration is still low. Coke, for instance, reaches barely
25% of the rural market. This means the upside potential is huge for companies that
develop effective rural marketing strategies.

According to NCAER, the low penetration rates can be attributed to three major factors: low
income levels, inadequate infrastructure facilities and different lifestyles. But income levels
are going up, infrastructure is improving and lifestyles are changing. Almost a third of the
 61

rural population now uses shampoo compared with 13% in 2000, according to Hansa
Research.

FMCG and consumer durables companies have in the past tried tinkering with all the four 'P's
-- product, pricing, promotion and place-- of the marketing mix. Hindustan Lever -- which is
in the process of changing its name to Hindustan Unilever to reflect the fact that it is the
Indian subsidiary of the Dutch conglomerate -- is among India's largest FMCG companies. It
has been highly successful in marketing in rural India and has been a pioneer in reaching
 62

out to the smallest of villages with innovative products such as single-use packets of
shampoo that sell for a penny. (The rural consumer uses shampoo on rare occasions; she
does not want to invest in a bottle.) Independent agencies run media vans that show movies
in distant villages. They have live promotions and demonstrations during breaks.

The area where innovation has moved to center stage is in the fourth P -- place (or
distribution). Infrastructure has always been the bugbear of the Indian marketer.
Distribution channels can make or break a company's rural marketing efforts. To sell in
 63

villages, products must be priced low, profit margins must be kept to the minimum and the
marketing message must be kept simple.

About 70 percent of the more than 1.1 billion people in India live in rural areas. The
government is spending more to build roads to connect villages, expand irrigation networks
and supply electricity to improve productivity and raise incomes.
 64

The consumer and household products market in India should expand to 1.23 trillion rupees,
or $27.6 billion, by 2012 from about 700 billion rupees now, the association said. About 60
percent of all household products will be consumed in villages and small towns, it said.

The Indian economy has grown at an average of more than 8 percent in the past three
years. The Indian finance minister, Mr. Palaniappan Chidambaram, said Thursday that the
country's gross domestic product may grow at about 9 percent in the year ending March 31.
 65

Last year, Prime Minister Man Mohan Singh of India started the Bharat Nirman, or Building
India, project with a plan to spend 1.76 trillion rupees by 2009 to build roads, provide
electricity to 100,000 villages, extend irrigation to a 10 million hectares, or 24.7 million
acres, and build 6 million houses.

The country has 235 million farmers and agriculture accounts for about a fifth of the $775
billion economy.
 66

ITC, ltd. has diversified in the past six years into retail store networks to sell items like
cookies, garments, incense sticks and matches. Its plans to set up 54 retail stores called
Choupal Fresh in the next three years to sell fresh fruits and vegetables. It also plans to
expand the number of its rural supermarkets called Choupal Sagars to 700 by 2013 from 11
currently.

Hindustan Lever, the Mumbai-based local unit of Unilever, sells its products through 6.3
million shops, reaching eight out of 10 households in India.
 67

Rural spending a brief idea:

68
 69

A rural consumer is fundamentally very different from an urban consumer. About 70%-80%
of the rural consumers are farmers as a result of which rural spending basket differs from
urban spending basket. It not only consists of household items and other consumer goods
but also occupational expenditures like seeds, fertilizers, pesticides and so on.

Consumer behaviour and its importance:

 70

Consumer Buying Behavior refers to the buying behavior of the ultimate consumer. The
study of consumers helps firms and organizations improve their marketing strategies by
understanding issues such as:

• The psychology of how consumers think, feel, reason, and select between different
alternatives (e.g., brands, products);
• The psychology of how the consumer is influenced by his or her environment (e.g.,
culture, family, signs, media);
 71

• The behavior of consumers while shopping or making other marketing decisions;

• Limitations in consumer knowledge or information processing abilities influence
decisions and marketing outcome;
• How consumer motivation and decision strategies differ between products that differ
in their level of importance or interest that they entail for the consumer; and
• How marketers can adapt and improve their marketing campaigns and marketing
strategies to more effectively reach the consumer.
 72

Understanding these issues helps us adapt our strategies by taking the consumer into
consideration. For example, by understanding that a number of different messages compete
for our potential customers’ attention, we learn that to be effective, advertisements must
usually be repeated extensively. We also learn that consumers will sometimes be persuaded
more by logical arguments, but at other times will be persuaded more by emotional or
symbolic appeals. By understanding the consumer, we will be able to make a more informed
decision as to which strategy to employ.
 73

Scope of the study:

As we have described earlier that why knowing or at least having a fair idea about consumer
behaviour is so important. All the Choupal sagars have some basic characteristics common
in them. Few of them are as below:

1) All the Choupal sagars are built near the rural belt.
 74

2) Most of the consumers belong to the lower income group.

3) All the places are dominated by the local markets.
4) Lack of organized retail in these places.

The main purpose of this study is extrapolation. This project work aims at the nuances of
the behaviour of a typical rural consumer. Let us see what we have at hands. Typical rural
consumers that might have a trend or pattern in their buying behaviour and on the other
 75

hand we have Choupal sagars with similar characteristics amongst them. Now can
something be done regarding that way? A marriage between the needs of the consumers
and a tailor made Choupal sagar for catering them. It might sound very outlandish and of
course this level of perfection can never be obtained. I have tried my level best to look into
the behaviour of the rural consumer and factors influencing his buying behaviour. I hope
that this project work helps the organization make Choupal sagars a bigger and better place
to shop at.
 76

Limitations of the study:

The major limitation of this study is the same that goes with all the studies of such kind. The
study is somewhat more inclined towards the abstract nature of the marketing hence a time
period of 14 weeks is very less to quantify the results of such study. The results obtained
will be heavily based on the primary data collected on the basis of the questionnaire design
so the varsity of the answers hence obtained can not be verified. The fallacy of the
 77

responses given by the subjects, for any of the deliberate and non-deliberate reasons,
account for some errors in the findings. I have tried to keep a large sample size so that such
errors are minimized.

Sources and methodology adopted:

Sources and methodology involved:

 78

As discussed earlier and also described in the project proposal this kind of project work
requires field work. The basic ground work involved before the start of the project was
observing the working of the store i.e. Choupal saagar for sometime, observe the customers
and have an informal chat with as many of them as possible. With the help of such ground
work a detailed and comprehensive questionnaire design is made that will help us know and
serve the consumers in a better manner. The various phases that are included are described
as below.
 79

Phase 1: The questionnaire so designed was used to gain knowledge about the buying
behaviour of consumers. In phase one the consumers subjected to survey was only the
persons who came to Choupal saagar for making any kind of purchase. A total of 250
persons surveyed at the store comprises of the sample size from store survey. This
completes the phase 1 of the project i.e. collection of primary data on the very store in
concern.
 80

Phase 2: After the survey of sufficient number of consumers at the store the process of
primary data collection is to be done on a large scale from the people who are in the
town areas of Chandauli Janpad. For this a sample size of around 500 households is
chosen out of the total of 24,699 urban households in Chandauli Janpad.
 81

For such survey we need to do use some kind of sampling technique as it is not possible
to cover every individual household in our survey. However the sample so taken must be
a very close representative of the population under concern.
The sampling technique to be implemented will be stratified sampling technique. The
data here used is provided to me by the Eco and Statistics officer Block office Chandauli.
Total number of urban households: 24,699 (Target population)
Sample size : 200
Sampling technique : Stratified
 82

Modus operandi:
Weights are assigned to the areas as per the number of households in them. Based on that
we can calculate what portion or percentage of the target population is covered under that
particular area. This constitutes a defined stratum. This stratum will be further divided into
 83

sub strata on the basis of number of wards and number of households in them. Below is an
example illustrating the aforesaid methodology.

Example:
Total number of households (Target population): 24,699.
Total number of households in Mughalsarai Railway Settlement (one of the
defined stratum): 5062.
Total number of households in Mughalsarai Railway Settlement Ward no.1
 84

(one of the defined sub stratum): 440.

Hence total number of samples to be collected from Mughalsarai Railway Settlement:

(5062/24699)*200=41 (nearest greatest integer).
So total number of samples to be collected from Mughalsarai Railway Settlement Ward
no.1= (440/5062)*41= 4 (nearest greatest integer).
 85

Phase 3: This phase involves the analysis of the data collected. On the basis of the data
collected consumers are segregated and disparity in their buying behaviour, on account of
the difference in their income groups in analyzed.

Data sources:
For secondary data collection.
 Government offices
 86

• Treasury office Chandauli

• Eco & Statistical Department of India Chandauli.

• Nagarpalika Chandauli.

• Land & Stamp Office Chandauli.

 Internet and relevant reference material (a detailed bibliography is listed in the end
of the report)
For primary data collection
 87

 People surveyed both at the store and in the field.

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Consumer behaviour ins and outs:

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What is consumer behaviour and what are its applications:

One "official" definition of consumer behavior is "The study of individuals, groups, or
organizations and the processes they use to select, secure, use, and dispose of products,
services, experiences, or ideas to satisfy needs and the impacts that these processes have
on the consumer and society." Although it is not necessary to memorize this definition, it
brings up some useful points:
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• Behavior occurs either for the individual, or in the context of a group (e.g., friend’s
influence what kinds of clothes a person wears) or an organization (people on the job
make decisions as to which products the firm should use).
• Consumer behavior involves the use and disposal of products as well as the study of
how they are purchased. Product use is often of great interest to the marketer,
because this may influence how a product is best positioned or how we can
encourage increased consumption. Since many environmental problems result from
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product disposal (e.g., motor oil being sent into sewage systems to save the
recycling fee, or garbage piling up at landfills) this is also an area of interest.
• Consumer behavior involves services and ideas as well as tangible products.

• The impact of consumer behavior on society is also of relevance. For example,

aggressive marketing of high fat foods, or aggressive marketing of easy credit, may
have serious repercussions for the national health and economy.
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There are four main applications of consumer behavior:

• The most obvious is for marketing strategy—i.e., for making better marketing
campaigns. For example, by understanding that consumers are more receptive to
food advertising when they are hungry, we learn to schedule snack advertisements
late in the afternoon. By understanding that new products are usually initially
adopted by a few consumers and only spread later, and then only gradually, to the
rest of the population, we learn that (1) companies that introduce new products must
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be well financed so that they can stay afloat until their products become a
commercial success and (2) it is important to please initial customers, since they will
in turn influence many subsequent customers’ brand choices.
• A second application is public policy. In the 1980s, Accutane, a near miracle cure for
acne, was introduced. Unfortunately, Accutane resulted in severe birth defects if
taken by pregnant women. Although physicians were instructed to warn their female
patients of this, a number still became pregnant while taking the drug. To get
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consumers’ attention, the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) took the step of
requiring that very graphic pictures of deformed babies be shown on the medicine
containers.
• Social marketing involves getting ideas across to consumers rather than selling
something. Marty Fishbein, a marketing professor, went on sabbatical to work for the
Centers for Disease Control trying to reduce the incidence of transmission of diseases
through illegal drug use. The best solution, obviously, would be if we could get illegal
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drug users to stop. This, however, was deemed to be infeasible. It was also
determined that the practice of sharing needles was too ingrained in the drug culture
to be stopped. As a result, using knowledge of consumer attitudes, Dr. Fishbein
created a campaign that encouraged the cleaning of needles in bleach before sharing
them, a goal that was believed to be more realistic.
• As a final benefit, studying consumer behavior should make us better consumers.
Common sense suggests, for example, that if you buy a 64 liquid ounce bottle of
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laundry detergent, you should pay less per ounce than if you bought two 32 ounce
bottles. In practice, however, you often pay a size premium by buying the larger
quantity. In other words, in this case, knowing this fact will sensitize you to the need
to check the unit cost labels to determine if you are really getting a bargain.

There are several units in the market that can be analyzed. Our main thrust in this course is
the consumer. However, we will also need to analyze our own firm’s strengths and
weaknesses and those of competing firms. Suppose, for example, that we make a product
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aimed at older consumers, a growing segment. A competing firm that targets babies, a
shrinking market, is likely to consider repositioning toward our market. To assess a
competing firm’s potential threat, we need to examine its assets (e.g., technology, patents,
market knowledge, and awareness of its brands) against pressures it faces from the market.
Finally, we need to assess conditions (the marketing environment). For example, although
we may have developed a product that offers great appeal for consumers, a recession may
cut down demand drastically.
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Types of purchase decisions:

Possibly the most challenging concept in marketing deals with understanding why buyers do
what they do (or do not do). But such knowledge is critical for marketers since having a
strong understanding of buyer behavior will help shed light on what is important to the
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customer and also suggest the important influences on customer decision-making. Using
this information, marketers can create marketing programs that they believe will be of
interest to customers.

As we might guess, factors affecting how customers make decisions are extremely complex.
Buyer behavior is deeply rooted in psychology with dashes of sociology thrown in just to
make things more interesting. Since every person in the world is different, it is impossible
to have simple rules that explain how buying decisions are made. But those who have spent
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many years analyzing customer activity have presented us with useful “guidelines” in how
someone decides whether or not to make a purchase.

Types of Consumer Purchase Decisions

Consumers are faced with purchase decisions nearly every day. But not all decisions are
treated the same. Some decisions are more complex than others and thus require more
effort by the consumer. Other decisions are fairly routine and require little effort. In
general, consumers face four types of purchase decisions:
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• Minor New Purchases – these purchases represent something new to a consumer but
in the customer’s mind is not a very important purchase in terms of need, money or
other reason (e.g., status within a group).

• Minor Re-Purchases – these are the most routine of all purchases and often the
consumer returns to purchase the same product without giving much thought to other
product options (i.e., consumer’s brand loyalty).
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• Major New Purchases – these purchases are the most difficult of all purchases
because these are important to the consumer but the consumer has little or no previous
experience making the purchase AND is important. This type of decision often (but not
always) requires the consumer to engage in an extensive decision-making process.

• Major Re-Purchase - these purchase decisions are also important to the customer but
the customer feels more confident in making the decision since they have experienced
purchasing the product in the past.
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For marketers it is important to understand how consumers treat the purchase decisions
they face. If a company is targeting customers who feel a purchase decision is difficult (i.e.,
Major New Purchase), their marketing strategy may vary greatly from a company targeting
customers who view the purchase decision as routine. In fact, the same company may face
both situations at the same time; for some the product is new, while other customers see
the purchase as routine. The implication of buying behavior for marketers is that different
buying situations require different marketing efforts.
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Why consumers buy?

Customers make purchases in order to satisfy needs. Some of these needs are basic and
must be filled by everyone on the planet (e.g., food, shelter) while others are not required
for basic survival and vary depending on the person. It probably makes more sense to
classify needs that are not a necessity as wants or desires. In fact, in many countries where
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the standard of living is very high, a large portion of the population’s income is spent on
wants and desires rather than on basic needs.

In this project when we mention the consumer we are referring to the actual buyer, the
person spending the money. But is should also be pointed out that the one who does the
buying is not necessarily the user of what is bought and that others may be involved in the
buying decision in addition to the actual buyer. While the purchasing process in the
consumer market is not as complex as the business market, having multiple people involved
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in a purchase decision is not unusual. For example, in planning for a family vacation the
mother may make the hotel reservations but others in the family may have input on the
hotel choice. Similarly, a father may purchase snacks at the grocery store but his young
child may be the one who selected it from the store shelf.

So understanding consumer purchase behavior involves not only understanding how

decisions are made but also understanding the dynamics that influence purchases.
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What influences purchase:

What Influences Purchasing

As we discussed the decision-making process for consumers is anything but straight

forward. There are many factors that can affect this process as a person works through the
purchase decision. The number of potential influences on consumer behavior is limitless.
However, marketers are well served to understand the KEY influences. By doing so they
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may be in a position to tailor their marketing efforts to take advantages of these influences
in a way that will satisfy the consumer and the marketer.
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For the purposes of this study these influences are broken into three main categories:
Internal, External and Marketing. For the most part the influences are not mutually
exclusive. Instead, they are all interconnected and, as we will see, work together to form
who we are and how we behave.
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For each of the influences that are discussed, a basic description is provided. Few
implications are also mentioned, however there can be many more.
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INTERNAL INFLUENCES

We start our examination of the influences on consumer purchase decisions by first looking
inside ourselves to see which are the most important internal factors that affect how we
make choices.

Perceptual Filter
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Perception is how we see ourselves and the world we live in. However, what ends up being
stored inside us doesn’t always get there in a direct manner. Often our mental makeup
results from information that has been consciously or unconsciously filtered as we
experience it, a process we refer to as a perceptual filter. To us this is our reality, though it
does not mean it is an accurate reflection on what is real. Thus, perception is the way we
filter stimuli (e.g., someone talking to us, reading a newspaper story) and then make sense
out of it.

Perception has several steps.

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• Exposure – sensing a stimuli (e.g. seeing an ad)

• Attention – an effort to recognize the nature of a stimuli (e.g. recognizing it is an ad)

• Awareness – assigning meaning to a stimuli (e.g., humorous ad for particular

product)

• Retention – adding the meaning to one’s internal makeup (i.e., product has fun ads)
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How these steps are eventually carried out depends on a person’s approach to learning. By
learning we mean how someone changes what they know, which in turn may affect how
they act. There are many theories of learning, a discussion of which is beyond the scope of
this tutorial, however, suffice to say that people are likely to learn in different ways. For
instance, one person may be able to focus very strongly on a certain advertisement and be
able to retain the information after being exposed only one time while another person may
need to be exposed to the same advertisement many times before he/she even recognizes
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what it is. Consumers are also more likely to retain information if a person has a strong
interest in the stimuli. If a person is in need of new car they are more likely to pay attention
to a new advertisement for a car while someone who does not need a car may need to see
the advertisement many times before they recognize the brand of automobile.
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Marketing Implication:

Marketers spend large sums of money in an attempt to get customers to have a positive
impression of their products. But clearly the existence of a perceptual filter suggests that
getting to this stage is not easy. Exposing consumers to a product can be very challenging
considering the amount of competing product messages (ads) that are also trying to
accomplish the same objective (i.e., advertising clutter). So marketers must be creative
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and use various means to deliver their message. Once the message reaches consumer it
must be interesting enough to capture their attention (e.g., talk about the product’s
benefits). But attending to the message is not enough. For marketers the most critical step
is the one that occurs with awareness. Here marketers must continually monitor and
respond if their message becomes distorted in ways that will negatively shape its meaning.
This can often happen due in part to competitive activity (e.g., comparison
advertisements). Finally, getting the consumer to give positive meaning to the message
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they have retained requires the marketer make sure that consumers accurately interpret the
facts about the product.

Knowledge
Knowledge is the sum of all information known by a person. It is the facts of the world as
he/she knows it and the depth of knowledge is a function of the breadth of worldly
experiences and the strength of an individual’s long-term memory. Obviously what exists as
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knowledge to an individual depends on how an individual’s perceptual filter makes sense of

the information it is exposed to.

Marketing Implications:

Marketers may conduct research that will gauge consumers’ level of knowledge regarding
their product. As we will see below, it is likely that other factors influencing consumer
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behavior are in large part shaped by what is known about a product. Thus, developing
methods (e.g., incentives) to encourage consumers to accept more information (or correct
information) may affect other influencing factors.

Attitude
In simple terms attitude refers to what a person feels or believes about something.
Additionally, attitude may be reflected in how an individual acts based on his or her beliefs.
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Once formed, attitudes can be very difficult to change. Thus, if a consumer has a negative
attitude toward a particular issue it will take considerable effort to change what they believe
to be true.

Marketing Implication:
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Marketers facing consumers who have a negative attitude toward their product must work to
identify the key issues shaping a consumer’s attitude then adjust marketing decisions (e.g.,
advertising) in an effort to change the attitude. For companies competing against strong
rivals to whom loyal consumers exhibit a positive attitude, an important strategy is to work
to see why consumers feel positive toward the competitor and then try to meet or beat the
competitor on these issues. Alternatively, a company can try to locate customers who feel
negatively toward the competitor and then increase awareness among this group.
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Personality
An individual’s personality relates to perceived personal characteristics that are consistently
exhibited, especially when one acts in the presence of others. In most, but not all, cases the
behaviors one project in a situation is similar to the behaviors a person exhibits in another
situation. In this way personality is the sum of sensory experiences others get from
experiencing a person (i.e., how one talks, reacts). While one’s personality is often
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interpreted by those we interact with, the person has their own vision of their personality,
called self concept, which may or may not be the same has how others view us.

Marketing Implication:

For marketers it is important to know that consumers make purchase decisions to support
their self concept. Using research techniques to identify how customers view themselves
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may give marketers insight into products and promotion options that are not readily
apparent. For example, when examining consumers a marketer may initially build
marketing strategy around more obvious clues to consumption behavior, such as consumer’s
demographic indicators (e.g., age, occupation, income). However, in-depth research may
yield information that shows consumers are purchasing products to fulfill self-concept
objectives that have little to do with the demographic category they fall into (e.g., senior
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citizen may be making purchases that make them feel younger). Appealing to the
consumer’s self concept needs could expand the market to which the product is targeted.

Lifestyle
this influencing factor relates to the way we live through the activities we engage in and
interests we express. In simple terms it is what we value out of life. Lifestyle is often
determined by how we spend our time and money.
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Marketing Implication:

Products and services are purchased to support consumers’ lifestyles. Marketers have
worked hard researching how consumers in their target markets live their lives since this
information is key to developing products, suggesting promotional strategies and even
determining how best to distribute products. The fact that lifestyle is so directly tied to
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marketing activity will be further examined as we discuss developing target market

strategies (See Part 5 – Targeting Markets).

Roles
Roles represent the position we feel we hold or others feel we should hold when dealing in a
group environment. These positions carry certain responsibilities yet it is important to
understand that some of these responsibilities may, in fact, be perceived and not spelled out
or even accepted by others. In support of their roles, consumers will make product choices
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that may vary depending on which role they are assuming. As illustration, a person who is
responsible for selecting snack food for an office party his boss will attend may choose
higher quality products than he would choose when selecting snacks for his family.

Marketing Implication:
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Advertisers often show how the benefits of their products aid consumers as they perform
certain roles. Typically the underlying message of this promotional approach is to suggest
that using the advertiser’s product will help raise one’s status in the eyes of others while
using a competitor’s product may have a negative effect on status.

Motivation
Motivation relates to our desire to achieve a certain outcome. Many internal factors we have
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already discussed can affect a customer’s desire to achieve a certain outcome but there are
others. For instance, when it comes to making purchase decisions customers’ motivation
could be affected by such issues as financial position (e.g., can I afford the purchase?), time
constraints (e.g., do I need to make the purchase quickly?), overall value (e.g., am I getting
my money’s worth?), and perceived risk (e.g., what happens if I make a bad decision).

Marketing Implication:
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Motivation is also closely tied to the concept of involvement, which relates to how much
effort the consumer will exert in making a decision. Highly motivated consumers will want
to get mentally and physically involved in the purchase process. Not all products have a
high percentage of highly involved customers (e.g., milk) but marketers who market
products and services that may lead to high level of consumer involvement should prepare
options that will be attractive to this group. For instance, marketers should make it easy for
consumers to learn about their product (e.g., information on website, free video preview)
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and, for some products, allow customers to experience the product (e.g., free trial) before
committing to the purchase.

EXTERNAL INFLUENCES

Consumer purchasing decisions are often affected by factors that are outside of their control
but have direct or indirect impact on how we live and what we consume.
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Culture
Culture represents the behavior, beliefs and, in many cases, the way we act learned by
interacting or observing other members of society. In this way much of what we do is
shared behavior, passed along from one member of society to another. Yet culture is a
broad concept that, while of interest to marketers, is not nearly as important as
understanding what occurs within smaller groups or sub-cultures to which we may also
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belong. Sub-cultures also have shared values but this occurs within a smaller groups. For
instance, sub-cultures exist where groups share similar values in terms of ethnicity, religious
beliefs, geographic location, special interests and many others.

Marketing Implication:
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As part of their efforts to convince customers to purchase their products, marketers often
use cultural representations, especially in promotional appeals. The objective is to connect
to consumers using cultural references that are easily understood and often embraced by
the consumer. By doing so the marketer hopes the consumer feels more comfortable with
or can relate better to the product since it corresponds with their cultural values.
Additionally, smart marketers use strong research efforts in an attempt to identify
differences in how sub-culture behaves. These efforts help pave the way for spotting trends
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within a sub-culture, which the marketer can capitalize on through new marketing tactics
(e.g., new products, new sales channels, added value, etc.).

Other Group Membership

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In addition to cultural influences, consumers belong to many other groups with which they
share certain characteristics and which may influence purchase decisions. Often these
groups contain opinion leaders or others who have major influence on what the customer
purchases. Some of the basic groups we may belong to include:

• Social Class – represents the social standing one has within a society based on such
factors as income level, education, occupation
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• Family – one’s family situation can have a strong effect on how purchase decisions
are made

• Reference groups – most consumers simultaneously belong to many other groups

with which they associate or, in some cases, feel the need to disassociate

Marketing Implication:
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Identifying and understanding the groups consumers belong to is a key strategy for
marketers. Doing so helps identify target markets, develop new products, and create
appealing marketing promotions to which consumers can relate. In particular, marketers
seek to locate group leaders and others to whom members of the group look for advice or
direction. These opinion leaders, if well respected by the group, can be used to gain insight
into group behavior and if these opinion leaders accept promotional opportunities could act
as effective spokespeople for the marketer’s products.
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Situation
A purchase decision can be strongly affected by the situation in which people find
themselves. Not all situations are controllable, in which case a consumer may not follow
their normal process for making a purchase decision. For instance, if a person needs a
product quickly and a store does not carry the brand they normally purchase, the customer
may choose a competitor’s product.
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Marketing Implications:

Marketers can take advantage of decisions made in uncontrollable situations in at least two
ways. First, the marketers can use promotional methods to reinforce a specific selection of
products when the consumer is confronted with a particular situation. For example,
automotive services can be purchased that promise to service vehicles if the user runs into
problems anywhere and at anytime. Second, marketers can use marketing methods that
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attempt to convince consumers that a situation is less likely to occur if the marketer’s
product is used. This can also be seen with auto products, where marketers explain that
using their product will prevent unexpected damage to their vehicles.

How Consumers Buy

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So now that we have discussed the factors influencing a consumer’s decision to purchase,
let’s examine the process itself. This process is presented in a sequence of 5 steps as shown
below.
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However, whether a consumer will actually carryout each step depends on the type of
purchase decision that is faced. For instance, for minor re-purchases the consumer may be
quite loyal to the same brand, thus the decision is a routine one (i.e., buy the same product)
and little effort is involved in making a purchase decision. In cases of routine, brand loyal
purchases consumers may skip several steps in the purchasing process since they know
exactly what they want allowing the consumer to move quickly through the steps. But for
more complex decisions, such as Major New Purchases, the purchasing process can extend
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for days, weeks, months or longer. So in presenting these steps marketers should realize
that, depending on the circumstances surrounding the purchase, the importance of each
step may vary.

1. Need/Want/Desire is Recognized

In the first step the consumer has determined that for some reason he/she is not satisfied
(i.e., consumer’s perceived actual condition) and wants to improve his/her situation (i.e.,
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consumer’s perceived desired condition). For instance, internal triggers, such as hunger or
thirst, may tell the consumer that food or drink is needed. External factors can also trigger
consumer’s needs. Marketers are particularly good at this through advertising; in-store
displays and even the intentional use of scent (e.g., perfume counters). At this stage the
decision-making process may stall if the consumer is not motivated to continue (see
Motivation above). However, if the consumer does have the internal drive to satisfy the
need they will continue to the next step.
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2. Search for Information

Assuming consumers are motivated to satisfy his or her need, they will next undertake a
search for information on possible solutions. The sources used to acquire this information
may be as simple as remembering information from past experience (i.e., memory) or the
consumer may expend considerable effort to locate information from outside sources (e.g.,
Internet search, talk with others, etc.). How much effort the consumer directs toward
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searching depends on such factors as: the importance of satisfying the need, familiarity with
available solutions, and the amount of time available to search. To appeal to consumers
who are at the search stage, marketers should make efforts to ensure consumers can locate
information related to their product. For example, for marketers whose customers rely on
the Internet for information gathering, attaining high rankings in search engines has become
a critical marketing objective.

3. Evaluate Options
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Consumers’ search efforts may result in a set of options from which a choice can be made.
It should be noted that there may be two levels to this stage. At level one the consumer
may create a set of possible solutions to their needs (i.e., product types) while at level two
the consumer may be evaluating particular products (i.e., brands) within each solution. For
example, a consumer who needs to replace a television has multiple solutions to choose
from such as plasma, LCD and CRT televisions. Within each solution type will be multiple
brands from which to choose. Marketers need to understand how consumers evaluate
product options and why some products are included while others are not. Most
importantly, marketers must determine which criteria consumers are using in their selection
of possible options and how each criterion is evaluated. Returning to the television example,
marketing tactics will be most effective when the marketer can tailor their efforts by
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knowing what benefits are most important to consumers when selecting options (e.g.,
picture quality, brand name, screen size, etc.) and then determine the order of importance
of each benefit.

4. Purchase
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In many cases the solution chosen by the consumer is the same as the product whose
evaluation is the highest. However, this may change when it is actually time to make the
purchase. The “intended” purchase may be altered at the time of purchase for many
reasons such as: the product is out-of-stock, a competitor offers an incentive at the point-
of-purchase (e.g., store salesperson mentions a competitor’s offer), the customer lacks the
necessary funds (e.g., credit card not working), or members of the consumer’s reference
group take a negative view of the purchase (e.g., friend is critical of purchase). Marketers
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whose product is most desirable to the consumer must make sure that the transaction goes
smoothly. For example, Internet retailers have worked hard to prevent consumers from
abandoning online purchase (i.e., online shopping carts) by streamlining the checkout
process. For marketers whose product is not the consumer’s selected product, last chance
marketing efforts may be worth exploring, such as offering incentives to store personnel to
“talk up” their product at the checkout line.
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5. After-Purchase Evaluation

Once the consumer has made the purchase they are faced with an evaluation of the
decision. If the product performs below the consumer’s expectation then he/she will re-
evaluate satisfaction with the decision, which at its extreme may result in the consumer
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returning the product while in less extreme situations the consumer will retain the purchased
item but may take a negative view of the product. Such evaluations are more likely to occur
in cases of expensive or highly important purchases. To help ease the concerns consumers
have with their purchase evaluation, marketers need to be receptive and even encourage
consumer contact. Customer service centers and follow-up market research are useful tools
in helping to address purchasers’ concerns.
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The project work and key issues:

The project work was divided into 3 phases as described above. A total of 470 consumers
were surveyed to look into the buying behaviour and analyze it so that a pattern may
emerge. The basic idea of segregating the consumer was the income group he falls within.
We can not turn our backs to this fact that a consumer’s buying behaviour is by and large
influenced by his disposable income. Taking this fact into consideration the subjects were
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divided into 4 income groups at store and into 3 income groups in field. The income group
break up was as below:

Income groups for consumers at store

1) Below Rs. 5,000 /month.

2) Rs. 5,000-10,000/month.
3) Rs. 10,000-20,000/month.
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4) Above Rs. 20,000/month.

Income groups for consumers in field

1) Rs. 5,000-10,000/month.
2) Rs. 10,000-20,000/month.
3) Above Rs. 20,000/month.
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The underlying thought behind it all was to analyze these classes. As this is a well
established fact that within a class people behave alike. So based on that following key
issues will be addressed:

1) Frequency of shopping for different types of purchases that are made by a

considered income class in order to satisfy his needs.
2) The ideal distance for a place of shopping for different items.
3) Preferred location of shopping for various consumer goods.
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4) Different factors that define quality to a particular income class for different
products.
5) Favourite promotional offers for different products.
6) Perception of value of price paid.
7) The effects of price disparity on different income classes with respect to the
shopping place.
8) The evaluation of post purchase satisfaction.
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The above issues are specific in nature and they can be linked to a large extent to the
income class a consumer belongs to. However, some parameters can be termed as
psychological and are independent of the income class of a consumer. Care has been taken
to look into some issues like them also. Such issues are listed below:

1) Positive effect on a consumer’s psyche because of the helpfulness and courtesy of the
sales staff.
2) Repeat visits made to a particular shopping store because of the above factor.
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3) Additional features that make a shopping place more attractive to any consumer.

The last part of the findings deal with some specific findings with respect to store and field.
There are few findings that are only relevant at store and vice-versa. Many of these
questions are directly related to Choupal saagar too. These issues are as listed below:

Specific findings at Choupal saagar:

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1) Whether a person came for the first time to Choupal saagar or was it a subsequent
visit.
2) Awareness level regarding the fact that Choupal saagar honours credit card.
3) Usage level of credit cards at Choupal saagar.
4) Satisfaction/dissatisfaction expressed with respect to the store layout.

Specific findings in field:

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1) Awareness level regarding Choupal saagar.

2) Information source regarding Choupal saagar.
3) Awareness level regarding various promotional events that took place at Choupal
saagar.
4) Information source regarding the promotional schemes.

Specific finding from both store and field surveys with respect to Choupal saagar:
 170

1) If shopping was a/an pleasant/unpleasant experience at Choupal saagar.

2) Reasons for shopping being a pleasant/unpleasant experience at Choupal saagar.

Keeping the above issues in mind a comprehensive summary of all income groups is made
supported by the data obtained by the responses of the various subjects who participated in
survey.
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173
174
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Graphical representation of the data collected for various income

classes

Income group

Rs. 5,000-10,000/month

Frequency of shopping
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From store
1
00%

90
%

80
%
m
onthly
70
%
fortnightly
60
%
weekly
50
%
P
urchasem
adeonly……
40
%
annually
30
%
H
alf yearly
20
%
quarterly
1
0%

0%
Ap
pare
l Footw
ear Groce
ry Forth e Forthe Con
su m er
hom e hom e(non durables
(p
lastic p
lasticware)
w are)
 177

1
00%

90
%

80
%
m
onthly
70
%
fortnightly
60
%
weekly
50
%
P
urchasem
adeonly……
40
%
annually
30
%
H
alf yearly
20
%
quarterly
1
0%

0
%
Ap
pare
l Footw
ear Groce
ry Forth e Forthe Consumer
hom e hom e(non dura
ble
s
(p
lastic p
lasticware)
w are)
 178

From field
 179

1
00%

90% Purchase made

80% only……
seasonally
70%
monthly
60%
fortnightly
50%

40%
weekly

30% annually
20% Half yearly
1
0%
quarterly
0%
Apparel Footwear Grocery Forthe Forthehom e Consum er Agri-inputs
home(plastic (nonplastic durables
ware) ware)
 180

Key findings:

 Frequency of shopping for different items is like:

• Grocery- monthly.
• Apparel- half yearly.
• Footwear- annually.
• For the home (plastic ware) - annually.
 181

• For the home (non plastic ware) - annually.

• Consumer durables- purchase made only when the product in use gets faulty.
• Agri-inputs- quarterly.

Ideal distance of a place for shopping:

From store
 182

1
00%

90%

80% Distancedoesn’t
m atter if the
70%
connectivityisgood
60% 5-10km

50%

40%
2-5km

30%
1-2km
20%

1
0%
<1km
0%
Grocery Apparel Footwear Consum er Forthe Agri-inputs
durables hom e
 183

From field
 184

1
00%

90% Distancedoesn’t m atter if the

80% connectivity is good
70% 5-10km
60%
2-5km
50%

40%
1-2km
30%

20% <1km
1
0%

0%
Grocery Apparel Footwear Consum er Forthe Agri-inputs
durables hom e
 185

Key findings:

 Ideal distance for shopping for different consumer goods is like

• Grocery- less than 1 km.

• For the home- 1-2 km.

• Apparel- 5-10 km.

 186

• Footwear- 5-10 km.

• Agri-inputs- 5-10 km.
• Consumer durables- distance doesn’t matter in case of good connectivity.
 187

Preferred location of shopping:

From store
 188

1
00%

90%

80%

70% Super market

60% Exclusive showrooms

50%
Shopping malls
40%
Retail outlets
30%

20% Local market

1
0%

0%
Apparel(dayto Apparel(special Footwear(day Footwear(for Grocery(for Grocery(forbulk
daywear) occasions) todaywear) special regularuse) purchase)
occasions)
 189

From field
 190

1
00%
90%
80%
70%
Super market
60%
50% Exclusive
40% showrooms
30% Shopping
malls
20%
Retail outlets
1
0%
0% Local market
Apparel(dayto Apparel(special Footwear(day Footwear(for Grocery(for Grocery(for
dayw ear) occasions) todayw ear) special regularuse) bulkpurchase)
occasions)
 191

Key findings

 The favourite location of purchase for this income class for different goods is as
following:

• Grocery-local market.

• Apparel (day to day wear) - local market.

 192

• Apparel (special occasions) - local market.

• Footwear (day to day wear) - local market.

• Footwear (special occasions) - local market.

Factors defining quality:

 193

From store:
 194

1
00%

90% Brandimage

80% Attractivepackaging

70% Multiplefeatures

60% Brandeditems

50% Catchyadvertisements

40% Celebrityendorsement

30% Attractive/fancylook
Higher price
20%

1
0%

0%
Apparel Footwear Grocery
(food) Grocery(non Consum er
food) durables
 195

From field:
 196

1
00%

90%

80% Brand loyalty

70%
Multiple features
Attractive packaging
60%
Branded items
50%
Catchy advertisements
40%
Celebrity endorsement
30%
Attractive/fancy look
20% Higher price
1
0%

0%
Apparel Footwear Grocery(food) Grocery(nonfood) Consumer
durables
 197

Key findings:

 The factors that define quality for various commodities differed largely. What defined
quality for grocery did not work for apparel or footwear. Quality parameters as
described by people of this income class are as following:

• Apparel- attractive/fancy look.

• Footwear- attractive/fancy look.
 198

• Grocery (food) - attractive packaging.

• Grocery (non-food) - advertisements.

• Consumer durables- brand loyalty.

 199

Favourite promotional offers:

From store
 200

100%

90%
Installment purchase
80%

70% Any freeitem

accom panyingthe
60% original purchase
Discount onfurther
purchases
50%
Lucky draw
40%

30% Buyoneget onefree

20%
Cash
discount(exclusively)
10%

0%
Apparel Footw
ear Grocery(food) Grocery(non- Consum er Forthehome IT/Telecomm
food ) durables
 201

From field
 202

100% Installment purchase

90%

80% Any free item

70% accompanying the
original purchase
60% Discount on further
50% purchases

40% Lucky draw

30%

20% Buy one get one free

10%

0% Cash
Apparel Footwear Grocery(food) Grocery(non- Consum er For thehome IT/Telecomm discount(exclusively)
food) durables
 203

Key findings

 Interesting and very important. Almost every person who took part in the survey
agreed to the following:

1) Sales and promotional offers strongly influence his buying decision.

2) All have purchased many items under a promotional scheme that they never
thought of buying in the very first place.
 204

3) Majority of the respondents agreed that they tend to shop more than they had
planned because of attractive promotional offers.

In the light of such responses these findings have too much importance. The main thing
here is that the affectivity of a promotional offer is in its relevance. So to attract the
consumers by sales/promotional offers we need to customize our efforts in this direction.
One point to be kept in mind is:
 205

Every person likes cash discount. May be its because cash discount is immediately
realizable. But there are two kinds of consumers in this category. One kind likes only cash
discount and no other sale or promotional offer holds any effect on it. Other kind of course
likes cash discount but other promotional offers hold significant influence on its purchase.

The favourite promotional offers for different consumer goods are as following:

• Apparel- buy one get one free.

 206

• Footwear- buy one get one free.

• Grocery (food) - any free item accompanying the original purchase.

• Grocery (non-food) - any free item accompanying the original purchase.

• For the home- any free item accompanying the original purchase.
• IT/Telecomm- any free item accompanying the original purchase.
• Consumer durables- installment purchase.
207
208
 209

Perception of value of price paid:

From store
 210

5-10 k

41%
1
2
59%
 211

From field
 212

14%
Picking up some
standard priced
item

Comparing the
price of any item
in another store

86%
 213

Key findings:

 When ever a person enters in a store he looks around and tries to find out whether
he paying the right price for all the items he might purchase from the store. A person
can not have the idea of the price of all the items so what does he do? He tries to
reach to a conclusion after comparing the price of the articles he sees in the store
with those he already knows the price of. There can be two ways for him to check out
the pricing factor.

1) Picking up some signpost item i.e. a standard priced item.

 214

2) Comparing the price of some non standard priced item.

The findings were very fruitful as people did agree to it that they tend to judge a store in the
above ways only. So the major tactic they apply to check out the pricing at a shopping store
is:

• Picking up some standard priced item.

 215

Effect of price disparity

From store
 216

A generalized view
regarding pricing
32%

Comparison of
other articles
68%
before making a
conclusion
 217

From field
 218

A generalized view
regarding pricing
42%

58% Comparison of
other articles
before making a
conclusion
 219

 Key findings:

Once the consumer finds difference between the prices of an identical item in some
another store he faces a situation of price disparity. The consumer in this income class
largely generalizes the pricing factor of the shopping place. The major finding for this
income class was:
 220

• After finding the price of any signpost item the consumer tends to generalize the
pricing at the store i.e. if they find the price of the signpost item cheaper they
consider the store as an economical one and vice-versa.
 221

Evaluation of post purchase satisfaction

From store
 222

1% Comparing the
price of the
2% alternative/substit
ute
Comparing the
features of
alternative/substit
ute available
97% Comparing both
the price and
alternative/substit
ute available
 223

From field
 224

Comparing the price

7% of the
alternative/substitute
3%
Comparing the
features of
alternative/substitute
available
Comparing both the
90% price and
alternative/substitute
available
 225

Key findings:

 Immediately after the purchase is being made the consumer tends to evaluate his
purchase. Almost every time the consumer feels that he has made the wrong choice.
The consumer wants to reassure himself and for that he makes post purchase
evaluations. If he finds his purchase satisfactory he is highly satisfied and that makes
 226

him feel loyal towards the purchase be it the brand or the shopping place. The major
methodology that they acquire for their post purchase evaluation is:

• Comparing both the price and features of the alternative/substitute available.

A healthy sign defining the knowledgeable consumer who looks at both price and features
before feeling any dissonance about the purchase he made.
 227

Income group

Rs 10,000-20,000/month

Frequency of shopping

From store
 228

1
00%

90%

80%

70%
monthly

60% fortnightly

50% weekly

40% P
urchasemadeonly……

30% annually
20% Half yearly
1
0%
quarterly
0%
Apparel Footw
ear Grocery Forthe Forthe Consum er
home hom e(non durables
(plasticware) plasticware)
 229

From field
 230

100%

90%
Purchase made only……
80%
seasonally
70%
monthly
60%
fortnightly
50%
weekly
40%
annually
30%
Half yearly
20%
quarterly
10%

0%
Apparel Footwear Grocery For the For thehome Consumer Agri-inputs
home(plastic (nonplastic durables
ware) ware)
 231

Key findings

 Frequency of shopping for different items is like:

• Grocery- monthly.
• Apparel- quarterly.
• Footwear- half yearly.

• For the home (plastic ware) - half yearly.

• For the home (non plastic ware) - annually.

 232

• Agri-inputs- quarterly.
• Consumer durables- purchase made only when the product in use gets faulty.

Ideal distance of a place for shopping

From store
 233

1
00%

90%

80% D istancedoesn’t m atter

if theconnectivityis
70%
good
5-10km
60%

50% 2-5km

40%
1-2km
30%

20% <1km

1
0%

0%
Grocery Apparel Footwear Consum er Forthe Agri-inputs
durables hom e
 234

From field
 235

1
00%

90% Distancedoesn’t m atter if

80% theconnectivity is good
70% 5-10km
60%
2-5km
50%

40%
1-2km
30%

20% <1km
1
0%

0%
Grocery Apparel Footwear Consum er Forthe Agri-inputs
durables hom e
 236

Key findings

 Ideal distance for shopping for different consumer goods is like

• Grocery- less than 1 km.

• For the home- 1-2 km.
• Apparel- 5-10 km.
• Footwear- 5-10 km.
 237

• Agri-inputs- 5-10 km.

• Consumer durables- 5-10 km.

Preferred location of shopping

From store
 238

1
00%

90%
80% Super market

70% Exclusive
60%
showroom s
Shoppingm alls
50%
Retail outlets
40%

30% Local market

20%

1
0%
0%
Apparel(dayto Apparel(special Footwear(day Footw ear(for Grocery(for Grocery(for
dayw ear) occasions) todayw ear) special regularuse) bulkpurchase)
occasions)
 239

From field
 240

100%

90%

80%

70%
Super market
60% Exclusive
50% showrooms
Shopping malls
40%

30% Retail outlets

20%
Local market
10%

0%
Apparel(dayto Apparel(special Footwear(day Footwear(for Grocery(for Grocery(for
daywear) occasions) to daywear) special regular use) bulkpurchase)
occasions)
 241

 The favourite location of purchase for this income class for different goods is as
following:

• Grocery-local market.

• Apparel (day to day wear) - local market largely dominates but retail outlets are also
present with a considerable share.

• Apparel (special occasions)- retail stores come in picture capturing a lion’s share,
exclusive show rooms also made their presence felt to a little extent.
 242

• Footwear (day to day wear) - local market dominates but retail outlets are also
present with a considerable share.

• Footwear (special occasions) - local market and retail outlets are almost neck to neck
here. It makes us realize that here is a large scope of growth.
 243

Factors defining quality

From store
 244

1
00%

90% Brandimage
80% Attractivepackaging
70% Multiplefeatures

60% Brandeditems

50% Catchyadvertisements

40% Celebrityendorsement

30% Attractive/fancylook

20% Higher price

1
0%

0%
Apparel Footw
ear Grocery
(food) Grocery(non Consum er
food ) durables
 245

From field
 246

1
00%

90%

80% Brandloyalty
70% Multiplefeatures

60%
Attractivepackaging
Brandeditems
50%
Catchy advertisements
40%
Celebrity endorsement
30% Attractive/fancy look
20% Higher price
1
0%

0%
Apparel Footwear Grocery(food) Grocery(nonfood) Consum er
durables
 247

Key findings

 The factors defining quality for this income group are as following

• Apparel – BRAND, even celebrity endorsements.

• Footwear- branded items.

 248

• Grocery- advertisements and attractive packaging both having a close call here.
Grocery items pertaining to food are still not that popular even in moderately high
income groups.

• Grocery (non food)-advertisements dominate the scene here. The non food items
like toiletries, bulbs, skin care, and oral care do not attract the consumers by
attractive packaging.
 249

Favourite promotional offers

From store
 250

1
00%

90%
Installment
80%
purchase

70%
Anyfreeitem
accom panyingthe
60% original purchase
Discount on
50% further purchases

40% Luckydraw

30%
Buyoneget one
20% free

1
0% C ash
discount(exclusive
0
% ly)
Apparel Footw
ear Grocery
(food) Grocery(n
on - Con
su m er Forthehome IT/Telecomm
food ) durables
 251

From field
 252

1
00% Installment purchase
90%

80% Any free item

accompanying the
70%
original purchase
60% Discount on further
purchases
50%

40%
Lucky draw

30%
Buy one get one free
20%

1
0%
Cash
0%
Apparel Footwear Grocery(food) Grocery(non- Consum er Forthehome IT/Telecomm
discount(exclusively)
food) durables
 253

Key findings

 The favourite promotional offers for this income group

• Apparel- buy one get one free.

• Footwear-buy one get one free.

• Grocery (food)-any free item accompanying the original purchase.

• Grocery (non food) - any free item accompanying the original purchase.
 254

• For the home- any free item accompanying the original purchase.

• Consumer durables- any free item accompanying the original purchase.

• IT/Telecomm- any free item accompanying the original purchase.

 255

Perception of value of price paid

From store
 256

10-20k

28%
Pickingupsom e
standardpriceditem

Com paringthepriceof
anyiteminanother
store
72%
 257

From field
 258

32% Picking up some

standard priced item

Comparing the price of

any itemin another
store
68%
 259

Effect of price disparity

From store
 260

A generalized view
28% regarding pricing

Comparison of
other articles
72% before making a
conclusion
 261

From field
 262

A generalized view
regarding pricing
40%
Comparison of
60% other articles
before making a
conclusion
 263

Evaluation of post purchase satisfaction

From store
 264

Comparing the
2%
price of the
4% alternative/substit
ute
Comparing the
features of
alternative/substit
ute available
94% Comparing both
the price and
alternative/substit
ute available
 265

From field
 266

Comparing the price

of the
14%
alternative/substitute
0%
Comparing the
features of
alternative/substitute
available
Comparing both the
price and
86%
alternative/substitute
available
 267

Income group

Above Rs 20,000/month

Frequency of shopping

From store
 268

1
00%

90%

80%
m
onthly
70%

60% fortnightly

50% weekly

40% P
urchasem
adeonly……

30% annually
20% H
alf yearly
1
0%
quarterly
0%
Ap
parel Footw
ear Grocery Forth e Forthe Consum er
hom e hom e(non durable
s
(plasticware) plasticware
)
 269

From field
 270

1
00%

90%

80% Purchasemadeonly……

70%
seasonally
monthly
60%
fortnightly
50%
weekly
40%
annually
30%
Half yearly
20% quarterly
1
0%

0%
Apparel Footwear Grocery For the For thehom e Consum er Agri-inputs
home(plastic (nonplastic durables
ware) ware)
 271

Key findings

 The frequency of shopping could be summarized as below for this income group

• Apparel- quarterly.
• Footwear- half yearly.
• Grocery- monthly.

• For the home (plastic ware) - quarterly.

 272

• Consumer durables- the cell phone is changed annually frequently in this income
group. Though its not essentially a consumer durable item.
 273

Ideal distance of a place for shopping

From store
 274

100%

90% Distancedoesn’t
m atter if the
80% connectivity is good

70% 5-10km

60%
1-2km
50%

40%
<1km
30%

20%

10%

0%
Grocery Apparel Footwear Consum er Forth
ehome Agri-inputs
durables
 275

From field
 276

1
00%

Distancedoesn’t matter if the

80%
connectivity is good
5-10km
60%
2-5km

40%
1-2km

20% <1km

0%
Grocery Apparel Footwear Consum er Forthe Agri-inputs
durables hom e
 277

Key findings

 Things are almost the same in this case also. The answers given defined it as
following.

• Grocery- less than 1 km.

• Apparel- 5-10 km
• Footwear- 5-10 km
 278

• For the home-1-2 km

• Consumer durables- 5-10 km and distance does not matter if the connectivity is
good.

Preferred location of shopping

From store
 279

1
00%

9
0%

8
0%
Super
7
0%
market
Exclusive
6
0% showrooms
5
0% Shopping
malls
4
0%
Retail outlets
3
0%
Local market
2
0%

1
0%

0
%
Ap
parel(da
yto Ap
parel(special Footw
e ar(d
ayto Footwear(for Grocery
(for Groce
ry (forbulk
d
ayw ear) occa sions) dayw ear) special re
g u
laruse) p
u rch ase
)
occasion s)
 280

From field
 281

100%

90%

80%

70%
Super market

60%
Exclusive
50% showrooms
40% Shopping malls
30%
Retail outlets
20%

10%
Local market
0%
Apparel(dayto Apparel(special Footwear(day Footwear(for Grocery(for Grocery(for
daywear) occasions) todaywear) special regular use) bulkpurchase)
occasions)
 282

Key findings

 Preferred location of shopping for this high income group is like below.

• Apparel- retail outlets.

• Footwear-retail outlets.
 283

• Grocery- super markets are gaining popularity in this income group. However for
bulk purchases local market is still hot favourite.
 284

Factors defining quality

From store
 285

1
00%

9
0%

8
0% Brandim
age

7
0% Attractivepackaging

6
0% Multiplefeatures

Brandeditem
s
5
0%
Catchyadvertisements
4
0%
Celebrityendorsement
3
0%
Attractive/fancylook
2
0%
Higher price
1
0%

0
%
Ap
pare
l Footw
ear Groce
ry(food
) Groce
ry(n
on Con
su mer
food) dura
ble
s
 286

From field
 287

1
00%

90%

80% Brand loyalty

70% Multiple features

60%
Attractive packaging
Branded items
50%
Catchy advertisements
40%
Celebrity endorsement
30% Attractive/fancy look
20% Higher price
1
0%

0%
Apparel Footwear Grocery(food) Grocery(nonfood) Consumer
durables
 288

Key findings

 Once again the brand factor comes into picture with a bang. Consumers in this
income group largely rely on the branded items when they say quality. Summary for
this group regarding quality parameters is below as.

• Apparel- branded items

• Foot wear- branded items
 289

• Grocery (food) - advertisements.

• Grocery (non food) - advertisements.

• Consumer durables- brand image.

Favourite promotional offers

From store
 290

1
00%
Installment purchase
90%

80%
Any freeitem
70% accompanying the
original purchase
60% Discount onfurther
purchases
50%
Lucky draw
40%

30% Buy oneget one free

20%
Cash
1
0%
discount(exclusively)
0%
Apparel Footwear Grocery(food) Grocery(non- Consumer Forthehome IT/Telecomm
food) durables
 291

From field
 292

100%

90%

80% Installment purchase

70%

60%
Any free itemaccompanying
the original purchase
50%
Discount on further
40% purchases
30% Lucky draw
20%
Buy one get one free
10%

0%
Apparel Footwear Grocery(food) Grocery(non- Consumer For the home IT/Telecomm
Cash discount(exclusively)
food) durables
 293

Key findings

 Taking into consideration the importance of sales and promotional offers for a good
marketing mix to boost up the sales, the favourite promotional schemes of this class
of consumers are as below.

• Apparel- buy one get one free.

• Footwear- buy one get one free.

• Grocery (food) - any free item accompanying the original purchase.

 294

• Grocery (non food) - any free item accompanying the original purchase.

• For the home- any free item accompanying the original purchase.
• Consumer durables- any free item accompanying the original purchase.
• IT/Telecomm- any free item accompanying the original purchase.

Perception of value of price paid

 295

From store
 296

>20 k

31% Picking up some

standard priced item

Comparing the price of

any itemin another
69% store
 297

From field
 298

A generalized
25% view regarding
pricing

Comparison of
other articles
before making a
75% conclusion
 299

Effect of price disparity

From store
 300

14% A generalized view

regarding pricing

Comparison of
other articles
before making a
86% conclusion
 301

From field
 302

A generalized
25% View regarding
Pricing

Comparison of
Other articles
Before making a
75% Conclusion
 303

Evaluation of post purchase evaluation

From store
 304

0% Comparing the
price of the
0% alternative/substit
ute
Comparing the
features of
alternative/substit
ute available
100% Comparing both
the price and
alternative/substit
ute available
 305

From field
 306

0% Comparing the price

of the
0% alternative/substitute

Comparing the
features of
alternative/substitute
available
Comparing both the
price and
100% alternative/substitute
available
 307

Other findings regarding consumer behaviour

Positive effect of the courtesy and helpfulness of sales staff

From store
 308

2%
Stronglyagree(no. of
0% 0% responses)
29% Agree(no. of
responses)
Does not matter(no.
of responses)
Disagree(no. of
69% responses)
Stronglydisagree(no.
of responses)
 309

From field
 310

2%
Strongly agree(no. of
0% 0% responses)

29% Agree(no. of
responses)
Does not matter(no.
of responses)
Disagree(no. of
69% responses)
Strongly disagree(no.
of responses)
 311

Repeat visit made by the consumer because of the courtesy and

helpfulness of sales staff

From store
 312

2%
Stronglyagree(no. of
0% 0%
responses)

29% Agree(no. of
responses)
Does not matter(no. of
responses)
Disagree(no. of
69% responses)
Stronglydisagree(no.
of responses)
 313

From field
 314

0% Strongly agree(no. of
responses)
Agree(no. of responses)
40%
Does not matter(no. of
responses)
60% Disagree(no. of responses)

Strongly disagree(no. of
responses)
 315

Additional features making a shopping place more attractive

From store
 316

No. of cumulative responses

300

250

200
No. of cumulative
150
250 responses
241
100 188
155
50

0
ATMcounter Mobile/laptop Videogames/joy Separatewash
chargingfacilities rides forkids rooms formen
andwomen
 317

From field
 318

No. of cumulative responses

250 219
201
200 186
169
150
No. of cumulative
100 responses

50

0
ATM counter Mobile/laptop Video games/joy Separatewash
chargingfacilities rides forkids rooms formen
andwomen
 319

Specific findings at Choupal saagar

Visit to Choupal saagar

 320

Visit to Choupal saagar

27%
1
2

73%
 321

Awareness level regarding the fact that Choupal saagar honours credit card
 322

Credit cardholder

No. of credit card

38% holders
No credit card
62%
 323

No. of credit card

holders awareof
thefact that CS
honors credit
40% card
Not aware

60%
 324

No. of persons
aware of the
aforesaid and
used credit
45% Not used
55%
 325

Satisfaction expressed as per store lay out

Visibility of other departments

 326

Visibility of other
departments

100%
 327

Easy movement and navigation

 328

easymovement
and navigation

100%
 329

Comfortable trial room

 330

Comfortable trial room

16%

Yes
No

84%
 331

Break up of reasons for uncomfortable trial room

 332

10% 3%

No fan
Less space
suffocation

87%
333
334
 335

Specific findings in field

Awareness level regarding Choupal saagar

 336

43% Yes

57%
No
 337

Information source
 338

8%
3%
0%
wordof mouth
6%
TV tickers
12% handbills
posters
hoardings
71% banner
 339

Departments shopped from

 340

13%
4% grocery
1% apparel
4% footw ear
51% stationary
7%
consumer durables
for the home
20% toys
 341

Reasons for shopping

 342

better quality than

7% local market

33% pleasant ambience

29%
wide range

impulsive buying

31%
 343

Frequency of shopping from Choupal saagar

 344

4%
4% 22%
fortnightly
quarterly

8% monthly
half-yearly
annually
62%
 345

Awareness level regarding various promotional schemes that happened at Choupal

saagar

Mahine bhar diwali

 346

Mahine Bhar Deew ali

w ord of
9%
35% mouth
13% TV tickers
Y es 39%
No hoardings
65% 11%
posters

28% handbills
 347

Bachat ki Bauchhar
 348

Bachat ki Bauchhar
0% w ord of
mouth
TV tickers
Yes
hoardings
No

posters
100%

handbills
 349

Nav varsh Hungama

 350

Nav Varsh Hungama

15% w ord of
30% mouth
TV tickers
36%
Y es 10% hoardings
No posters
3%
70% handbills

36%
 351

Specific findings from both store and field survey with respect to
Choupal saagar:

Reasons for shopping being a pleasant experience at Choupal saagar

From store
 352

No. of responses(cumulative)

250
206
200

154
150
No. of responses(cumulative)
100
76

50
25
0
0
Com plete Better quality Entertainm ent Presenceof Econom ical
shopping thanlocal facilities foodcourt prices
under oneroof m arket
 353

From field
 354

No. of responses(cumulative)

60
51
50 44 44
40

30

N o. of
20
responses(cumu
11 lative)
1
0
0
0
Complete Cou rteous En
tertainm ent Presenceof Econom ical
shopping behaviourof facilities foodcourt prices
un
deroneroof thesalesstaff
 355

Industrial analysis
Yearly cycle for the Choupal saagar
 356

A yearly cycle can be made for Choupal saagar that will help us know about the time period
in which the demand for a particular genre of consumer goods can go high. For example in
the months of February and March it is the festivity season i.e. Holi. In these months
demand of consumer goods like apparel, footwear, grocery (food) is particularly high. So
taking this into consideration more shelf space should be given to these consumer goods
with fast replenishment and adequate supply. A yearly cycle that might be used to serve as
 357

a reference could be like below:

 February-March- Holi, one of the biggest festival in Indian culture.

Items to be emphasized more upon.

1) Apparel- full range of apparel for kids, women and men.

 358

2) Footwear- full range of footwear for kids, women and men.

3) Grocery (food) - large consumption of food items like flour, sugar, cooking oil,
salt etc.

 April- June- it is the season for the harvesting of wheat. The farmers who come to
Choupal saagar for the sale of their wheat are mostly paid in cash. A lot of impulsive
buying can take place as with his newly earned cash comes together the urge to
spend the same on various utilitarian goods.
 359

Items to be emphasized more upon.

1) Apparel- full range of apparel for kids, women and men.

2) Footwear- full range of footwear for kids, women and men.
3) Grocery (food) - items like sugar, salt, cooking oil etc.
4) Grocery (non food) - all items.
 360

5) Consumer durables- as the income of a farmer is largely seasonal in nature

and comes in bulk hence this could be the right time to sell him consumer
durables like TV and VCD player. Some lower end TV sets and VCD player
would be much favoured by farmers who don’t have a TV or VCD player yet at
home.
6) IT/Telecomm- reasons same as the above. Lower end handsets ranging from
Rs.2,500-Rs.4,000 will definitely see a rise in the sales of mobile handsets.
 361

 October- November- This is probably the most fruitful month from the point of view
of sales. Deepawali being arguably the biggest festival of our country calls for an
increase in expenditure.

Items to be more emphasized upon

1) Apparel- full range of apparel for kids, women and men.

2) Footwear- full range of footwear for kids, women and men.
 362

3) Consumer durables- all kind but specially TV and VCD players.

4) For the home (non plastic ware) - Dhanteras being an auspicious occasion for the
purchase of utensils. Hence utensils.
5) Grocery (food) - large consumption of food items like flour, sugar, cooking oil,
salt etc.
6) IT/Telecomm- latest handsets with of course an eye over the price.
 363

 December-January- The arrival of a New Year has yet to gain its share of popularity
in rural areas but this period has got potential in its own sense. Liquidation of
stagnant items by offering some schemes like any free item accompanying the
original purchase will be particularly helpful here.
 Miscellaneous months- auspicious days known as “sahalags”. These days are
considered to be auspicious regarding marriage ceremonies to take place.

Items to more emphasized upon

 364

1) Apparel- full range of apparel for kids, women and men.

2) Footwear- full range of footwear for kids, women and men.

3) Consumer durables- all kind but specially TV and VCD players.

4) For the home (non plastic ware) - utensils, cooking range.

 365

5) Grocery (food) - large consumption of food items like flour, sugar, cooking oil, salt
etc.

6) IT/Telecomm- latest handsets.

SWOT analysis
 366

Weaknesses Strengths

1) Lack of awareness regarding Choupal 1) Back up of strong brand name of ITC.

saagar. 2) Financial power.
2) Replenishment of fast moving items is 3) Quality of items much better than local
not satisfactory. market. The fact also accepted by the
3) Located at an inconvenient place far consumers who shopped from Choupal
 367

from the consumers with no proper saagar.

connectivity.
4) No installment facility for consumer 4) Power of vision.

durables.
5) No home delivery option for items like
grocery.
 368

6) High running costs as compared to

other “mom and pop” stores raising
break even point higher.
 369

Opportunities Threats

1) Only organized retail store in the 1) Entry of any new entrant. (Wal-mart
Chandauli Janpad. proposes to target rural India)
2) Huge population in rural sector owing 2) Local markets still dominate the scene
to huge potential. in every department for the majority of
 370

consumer population.

3) Exit barriers are as high as the entry

barriers.
 371

Porter’s 5 force model

All these forces combine to give tough challenges not only to the existence of Choupal
saagar but also to every retail store be it a normal dukandaar or an organized retail player.
But as the potential and opportunities are very alluring in rural sector we should reinforce
our strengths and lessen our weaknesses to come up as winners. A list of suggestions and
recommendations will follow to look into these issues.
 372

Supplier power
Suppliers are
powerful because in
retail replenishment
and supply should be
very fast so otherwise
a current consumer
as well as potential
consumer is lost.

Barriers to entry
Buyer power
Entry barriers are
very high as any Buyer power is high
organized retail store in case of retail
costs a lot in terms of segments as the
establishing as well as switching cost is nil.
running costs

Rivalry

Threat of
substitutes
Degree of rivalry
Threat of substitutes
Extremely
is high because of the
High. Every store is a
local markets
rival let alone other
dominating almost
organized retail
98% of the total
players. Exit barriers
market and new
are also very high.
entrants are already
giving signs to enter
the rural market.
373
374
 375

SUGESSTIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

• Aggressive promotions that can increase the awareness level regarding Choupal
saagar. The promotional efforts should be centered towards making Choupal saagar a
brand here. The penetration should be deep and effective with consumers also having
brand association. A consumer feels highly associated with the brand when he sees
the promotions even after the purchase of the product.
 376

• Strong supply meeting excess demands of different products with respect to season
and festival.
• Capitalizing on visual merchandise effect. Especially in case of kids who can be
decision makers regarding their purchases. For example in case of toys and kids
wear. Adjusting the height and sight level accordingly can help increase sales.
• Proper informative banners at Choupal saagar. These banners/talkers should be very
interactive and visible. As we can see that majority of credit card holders do not
 377

know that Choupal saagar honours credit card. To add more importance to this
finding we can see that a considerable portion of credit card holders who knew that
Choupal saagar honours credit card have used credit card to make payments.
• Relevant promotional schemes. The use of these schemes will not only help us attract
more consumers at store but also help us liquidate the stagnant items. Care should
be taken to look for the complimentary items that should accompany the original
purchase. For example a packet of chilly powder with a bag of flour may be attractive
 378

in case of grocery (food) purchase but it will not be as effective in case of for the
home or IT/Telecomm.
• Making people spend more time at the store. Impulsive buying and power of vision is
the driving force here. A person spending more time at store tends to realize his
latent needs also. He might look and pick some item just by his impulse and he may
also look at other items and make a plan to purchase it in the near future.
Laptop/mobile charging facility, joy rides/video games for kids can help in this way.
 379

• The food court should also be renovated and made more comfortable. As we can see
that the respondents largely agreed that the presence of food court was one of the
“feel good” factors while making shopping at Choupal saagar. Air conditioning facility
at least in one portion of the food court will attract more families increasing the foot
falls at Choupal saagar also. Differential charges could be applied to the air
conditioned and non air conditioned portions.
• Facilities like home delivery for consumer durables and grocery.
 380

• Installment purchase facility, if feasible in case of consumer durables.

• Suggestion box for the list of missing items. These listing should be reviewed
regularly so that we can look out for the items that are in demand and not at Choupal
saagar.
• Properly trained CSAs for high involvement purchase items like consumer durables
and IT/Telecomm.
 381

• Motivation for CSAs and store in charge. Some thing like employee of the month or
the store of the month will increase healthy competition in the stores.
• Something unique about Choupal sagar. Any day for low prices, any day for free
home delivery of grocery or consumer durables. We can see that most of the
consumers come to Choupal saagar by 2 wheelers. It would be difficult for a person
to carry heavy goods or total house hold commodities to his home.
 382

• Subtle pricing at Choupal sagar. As we have seen that the signpost items are playing
an important role as consumers use them to check out the pricing done at the store.
Standard priced items like grocery could be brought down more and the price of
other items like unbranded clothes and footwear could be increased to make up for
the lost margins and earn even more.
• Organize events, sponsor events, scholarship for meritorious students.
 383

• Tangible assurance of better post purchase services in case of high involvement

purchases like consumer durables.
384
 385

CONCLUSION
 386

With the help of the earlier findings we can see that a fair idea can be obtained regarding
the income groups that we took into consideration. We can see that within an income group
the buying habits of consumers are largely identical. As explained earlier that this
information can be used to target the consumers in a better manner. There are many areas
to be worked upon as the competition is very stiff in the case of retail sector. Even a simple
nickel and dime store is a competitor to Choupal saagar if it is providing consumer his
desired level of satisfaction.
 387

The road ahead is neither easy nor impossible. Careful planning and right promotions can
make Choupal saagar a one stop shop as per the idea. It will take some time and planned
investments. The retail sector is definitely the next big thing and Choupal saagar is
undoubtedly a unique endeavour. Knowing consumer behaviour exactly is an impossible task
but we can design our marketing plans accordingly to make the best of our marketing
efforts.
388
389
 390

REFERENCES
Books
 Business Research Methods by Cooper and Schilndler.
 391

 ICMR text book on Business Research Methods.

 Marketing Management by Philip Kotler

 Marketing Management part-1 and part-2 by ICMR publication.

Websites
 www.itc-portal.com
 www.itc-ibd.com
 www.retailbizz.com
 392

 www.timesnow.tv
 www.cnbc.com
 www.knowthis.com
 www.ficc.net.in
 www.outlook.com

Newspaper and magazines

 393

 Economic Times.

 Business Standard.

 Business World.

 India Today.
 Management Compass.
394
 395

APPENDICES
 Questionnaire designed for store survey.
 Questionnaire designed for field survey.
 Sampling sheet.
396
 397

Questionnaire Design (for store)

(07CS- )
Personal Information

Name: Gender: male female

 398

Address

Phone Number
Residence:
 399

Office:

Mobile Number:

E-mail(if any)
 400

Occupation: salaried self employed farmer student

Number of members of family:

Customer’s age: 10-20(years) 21-35(years) 35-55(years) >55(years)

 401

Monthly Income(in rupees): < 5000 5000-10,000 10,000-20,000 >20,000

Mode of conveyance(for shopping): 2-wheeler 4-wheeler hired vehicle others

Consumer durables at home: TV refrigerator room cooler/AC VCD player

 402

How did you come to know about Choupal saagar : Posters handbills hoardings word of
mouth banners TV tickers

SHOPPING
 403

Type of purchase/shopping: apparels footwear consumer durables

Grocery for the home Agri inputs
Electronics item toys automobile others

If others please specify:

 404

Frequency of shopping:

1)apparels: monthly quarterly half-yearly annually

2)footwear: monthly quarterly half-yearly annually

 405

3)grocery: daily weekly fortnightly monthly quarterly

4)for the home (a)plastic ware: fortnightly monthly quarterly half-yearly

Annually
(b)non-plastic ware: fortnightly monthly quarterly half-yearly
Annually
 406

5)consumer durables/IT telecom: quarterly half yearly annually purchase made

Only when the product in use gets faulty
6)Agri inputs/products: monthly quarterly half yearly annually seasonally
 407

Preferred Location of Shopping for:

(1)apparels:(day to day wear):local market retail outlets shopping malls exclusive

showrooms
 408

Special occasions(marriage, family functions etc.): local market retail outlets shopping
malls exclusive showrooms
Place you go to:(town or shopping place) & why

2) Footwear : day to day wear: local market retail outlets shopping malls exclusive
showrooms
 409

Special occasions( marriage, family functions etc.): local market retail outlets shopping
malls exclusive showrooms
Place you go to:(town or shopping place)

3)grocery :(for regular use) local market super market

Special occasions( marriage, family functions etc. mainly bulk purchase):
 410

Place you go to:(town or shopping place)

4)consumer durables: retail outlets exclusive showrooms

If retail outlets then why?
More variety w.r.t. different brands discount offers installment purchase facilities like home
delivery (paid/free) combi-offer
 411

● Preferred season for shopping (other than grocery/for the home): festivals
Special occasions nothing particular

●Preferred time for shopping: <10AM 10AM-2PM 2PM-5:30PM after 5:30PM

 412

●Preferred days for shopping: weekends any day

●Factors which define quality to you.

(Apparels)-higher price attractive/fancy look celebrity endorsements catchy advertisements
branded items
 413

(Footwear)- Higher price attractive/fancy look celebrity endorsements catchy

advertisements branded items
(Grocery-food)- Higher price attractive packaging advertisements
(Grocery-non food)- Higher price attractive packaging advertisements
(Consumer durables)-multiple features higher price celebrity endorsements
Catchy advertisements brand loyalty
 414

●Do sales and promotional offers effect your buying decisions?

Yes No
●Have you ever purchased an item under any promotional scheme that you wouldn’t
Have purchased otherwise?
Yes No
 415

●Do you tend to shop more than you have planned because of the attractive
Sales/promotional schemes?
Strongly agree agree no effect disagree strongly disagree

●Factors influencing buying decision of customer:

 416

(Apparel): price quality availability promotional offers variety brand

Image
What kind of promotional offers: cash discounts buy one get one free type lucky
Draws discount on further purchases

(Footwear): price quality availability promotional offers variety brand

 417

Image
What kind of promotional offers: cash discounts buy one get one free type lucky
Draws discount on further purchases

(Grocery-food)- Price quality availability promotional offers

 418

What kind of promotional offers: cash discounts lucky draws discount on further purchases
any free item accompanying original purchase

(Grocery-non food)- Price quality availability promotional offers brand

Image
 419

What kind of promotional offers: cash discounts buy one get one free type lucky
Draws discount on further purchases any free item accompanying original purchase

(Consumer durables)- Price quality availability promotional offers brand

 420

Image
What kind of promotional offers: cash discounts lucky draws discount on further purchases
any free item accompanying original purchase installment purchase

(For the home)- Price quality availability promotional offers

 421

What kind of promotional offers: cash discounts buy one get one free type lucky
Draws discount on further purchases any free item accompanying original
purchase

(IT/Telecomm)- Price quality availability promotional offers

What kind of promotional offers: cash discounts buy one get one free type lucky
 422

Draws discount on further purchases any free item accompanying original

purchase

●Before making a purchase for a particular product you gather information from:
Friends/members of family advertisements in magazines/newspapers TV/radio
Internet personal visits others
 423

If others please specify :

 424

Retail Image Dimensions:

●What is the ideal distance according to you for shopping purpose?(in kilometers)
(A)grocery : <1 1-2 2-5 5-10distance doesn’t matter if the connectivity is good
(b)apparel :<1 1-2 2-5 5-10 distance doesn’t matter if the connectivity is good
 425

(c)footwear: <1 1-2 2-5 5-10distance doesn’t matter if the connectivity is good
(D)consumer durable: <1 1-2 2-5 5-10distance doesn’t matter if the connectivity
Is good
(e)FTH: <1 1-2 2-5 5-10distance doesn’t matter if the connectivity is good
(f)Agri-inputs: <1 1-2 2-5 5-10distance doesn’t matter if the connectivity is
good
 426

●What are the barriers that stop you from going a particular shopping place? Kindly rank
from 1-6. 1 for the biggest and 6 for the lowest.
 Uneven roads ( )
 Railway crossing ( )
 Police booth ( )
 Heavy traffic ( )
 427

 Non availability of parking facility ( )

 Toll barriers ( )

●Does the presence of multiple brands influence your visit to a particular place for
shopping?
Strongly agree agree I am not a brand looker disagree strongly disagree
 428

●How do you perceive the value for price that you have paid?
1)picking up some standard priced item
2)comparing the price of a standard priced item in another store
 429

●When you find the price of some item higher/lower in a particular store than an alternate
store you:
1) will have generalized view regarding the pricing
2) will look for other articles and compare the prices before making a conclusion
3) are ready to pay little extra if the store provides a pleasant place to shop
 430

●When you find the price of some item higher/lower in a particular store than an alternate
store you:
1)never visit that store again( at high price)
2)visit that store again( finding lower price)

●Do you find this store lay out good as per

 431

 Visibility of other departments :Yes No

If no please give your suggestions:

 Easy movement and navigation Yes No

If no please give your suggestions:
 432

 Comfortable trial-room Yes No

If no please give your suggestions

●Was your experience a pleasant one at Choupal saagar?

Yes No
If yes what factors were responsible for it
 433

1) You made a complete shopping less than one roof

2) Economical prices
3) Courteous behaviour of the sales staff
4) Entertainment facilities TV/music
5) Presence of food court
 434

If no what factors were responsible for it?

1) You could not make a complete shopping less than one roof
Please list the missing items:

2) Higher prices
Items you found higher priced :
 435

3) Discourteous behaviour of the sales staff

Please name the concerned department

4) Entertainment facilities were not working properly TV/music

 436

●Do you believe that the courtesy and helpfulness of staff is one of the decisive factors for a
customer to visit a particular store?
Strongly agree agree it doesn’t matter to me disagree strongly disagree

●Do you visit a shopping place more often because the staff there is very helpful and
courteous towards you?
 437

Strongly agree agree it doesn’t matter to me disagree strongly disagree

OR
●Have you ever visited a shopping store again because you found the staff there very
courteous and helpful?
Yes No
 438

●While making the inquiry of any product from a staff member you like it when the sales
agent:
Only tells the price of the article
Tells the price, describes the products and its features also
Tells the price, describes the product and its features along with the substitutes available
 439

●At a shopping store you:

Insist on obtaining a proper bill
Don’t care much about a proper bill
Don’t bother at all
 440

●Which other factors influence your repetitive visits to a particular shopping store(tick one
or more):
Credit facilities
Delivery promptness and care
Eating facilities
Reliable advertising
 441

Free/paid home delivery of heavy/fragile goods

●Do you have a credit card?

Yes No
●Do you go more to a place where you can shop from a credit card?
Yes No
 442

●Do you tend to shop more if you find the shopping place less congested
Yes No
●Do you know Choupal saagar honours credit card?
Yes No If yes, Have you used it in Choupal saagar. Yes No

●How do you evaluate your satisfaction with an item that you have already purchased?
 443

Comparing the price of the substitute or alternative available

Comparing the features of the substitute or alternative available
Comparing both price and the features of the substitute or alternative available

●Do you only go to a shopping store where there is a facility of purchase returns and
adjustments?
 444

Strongly agree agree no effect disagree strongly disagree

●What additional features influence your visits to a particular shopping place?

Separate wash rooms for men and women
Mobile/laptop charging facilities
Video games/joy rides for kids
 445

ATM counter

●What additional items would influence your visits to a particular shopping place?(give
At least three options).
446
447
448
449
 450

Questionnaire Design (for field)

(07CS- )
Personal Information

Name: Gender: male female

 451

Address

Shone Number
Residence:
 452

Office:

Mobile Number:

E-mail (if any)

 453

Occupation: salaried self employed farmer student

Number of members of family:

Customer’s age: 10-20(years) 21-35(years) 35-55(years) >55(years)

 454

Monthly Income (in rupees): < 5000 5000-10,000 10,000-20,000 >20,000

Mode of conveyance (for shopping): 2-wheeler 4-wheeler hired vehicle others

Consumer durables at home: TV refrigerator room cooler/AC VCD player

 455

How did you come to know about Choupal saagar: Posters handbills hoardings word of mouth
banners TV TICKERS?

SHOPPING
 456

Type of purchase/shopping: apparels footwear consumer durables

Grocery for the home Agri inputs
Electronics item toys automobile others

If others please specify:

 457

Frequency of shopping:

1) Apparels: monthly quarterly half-yearly annually

2) Footwear: monthly quarterly half-yearly annually

 458

3) Grocery: daily weekly fortnightly monthly quarterly

4) For the home (a) plastic ware: fortnightly monthly quarterly half-yearly
Annually
(b) Non-plastic ware: fortnightly monthly quarterly half-yearly
Annually
 459

5) Consumer durables/IT telecom: quarterly half yearly annually purchase made

Only when the product in use gets faulty
6) Agri inputs/products: monthly quarterly half yearly annually seasonally
 460

Preferred Location of Shopping for:

(1) apparels :( day to day wear): local market retail outlets shopping malls exclusive
showrooms
 461

Special occasions (marriage, family functions etc.): local market retail outlets shopping
malls exclusive showrooms
Place you go to :( town or shopping place) & why

2) Footwear: day to day wear: local market retail outlets shopping malls exclusive
showrooms
 462

Special occasions (marriage, family functions etc.): local market retail outlets shopping
malls exclusive showrooms
Place you go to :( town or shopping place)

3) Grocery :( for regular use) local market super market

Special occasions (marriage, family functions etc. mainly bulk purchase):
 463

Place you go to :( town or shopping place)

4) Consumer durables: retail outlets exclusive showrooms

If retail outlets then why?
More variety wart. different brands discount offers installment purchase facilities like home
delivery (paid/free) combi-offer
 464

● Preferred season for shopping (other than grocery/for the home): festivals
Special occasions nothing particular

●Preferred time for shopping: <10AM 10AM-2PM 2PM-5:30PM after 5:30PM

 465

●Preferred days for shopping: weekends any day

●Factors which define quality to you.

(Apparels)-higher price attractive/fancy look celebrity endorsements catchy advertisements
branded items
 466

(Footwear)- Higher price attractive/fancy look celebrity endorsements catchy

advertisements branded items
(Grocery-food)- Higher price attractive packaging advertisements
(Grocery-non food)- Higher price attractive packaging advertisements
(Consumer durables)-multiple features higher price celebrity endorsements
Catchy advertisements brand loyalty
 467

●Do sales and promotional offers effect your buying decisions?

Yes No
●Have you ever purchased an item under any promotional scheme that you wouldn’t
Have purchased otherwise?
Yes No
 468

●Do you tend to shop more than you have planned because of the attractive
Sales/promotional schemes?
Strongly agree agree no effect disagree strongly disagree

●Factors influencing buying decision of customer:

 469

(Apparel): price quality availability promotional offers variety brand

Image
What kind of promotional offers: cash discounts buy one get one free type lucky
Draws discount on further purchases

(Footwear): price quality availability promotional offers variety brand

 470

Image
What kind of promotional offers: cash discounts buy one get one free type lucky
Draws discount on further purchases

(Grocery-food)- Price quality availability promotional offers

 471

What kind of promotional offers: cash discounts lucky draws discount on further purchases
any free item accompanying original purchase

(Grocery-non food)- Price quality availability promotional offers brand

Image
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What kind of promotional offers: cash discounts buy one get one free type lucky
Draws discount on further purchases any free item accompanying original purchase

(Consumer durables)- Price quality availability promotional offers brand

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Image
What kind of promotional offers: cash discounts lucky draws discount on further purchases
any free item accompanying original purchase installment purchase

(For the home)- Price quality availability promotional offers

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What kind of promotional offers: cash discounts buy one get one free type lucky
Draws discount on further purchases any free item accompanying original
purchase

(IT/Telecomm)- Price quality availability promotional offers

What kind of promotional offers: cash discounts buy one get one free type lucky
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Draws discount on further purchases any free item accompanying original

purchase

●Before making a purchase for a particular product you gather information from:
Friends/members of family advertisements in magazines/newspapers TV/radio
Internet personal visits others
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If others please specify:

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Retail Image Dimensions:

●What is the ideal distance according to you for shopping purpose? (In kilometers)
(A) Grocery : <1 1-2 2-5 5-10distance doesn’t matter if the connectivity is good
(b) Apparel :< 1 1-2 2-5 5-10 distance doesn’t matter if the connectivity is good
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(c) Footwear: <1 1-2 2-5 5-10distance doesn’t matter if the connectivity is good
(D) Consumer durable: <1 1-2 2-5 5-10distance doesn’t matter if the connectivity
Is good
(e)FTH: <1 1-2 2-5 5-10distance doesn’t matter if the connectivity is good
(f)Agri-inputs: <1 1-2 2-5 5-10distance doesn’t matter if the connectivity is
good
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●What are the barriers that stop you from going a particular shopping place? Kindly rank
from 1-6. 1 for the biggest and 6 for the lowest.
 Uneven roads ( )
 Railway crossing ( )
 Police booth ( )
 Heavy traffic ( )
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 Non availability of parking facility ( )

 Toll barriers ( )

●Does the presence of multiple brands influence your visit to a particular place for
shopping?
Strongly agree agree I am not a brand looker disagree strongly disagree
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●How do you perceive the value for price that you have paid?
1) Picking up some standard priced item
2) Comparing the price of a standard priced item in another store
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●When you find the price of some item higher/lower in a particular store than an alternate
store you:
4) will have generalized view regarding the pricing
5) will look for other articles and compare the prices before making a conclusion
6) are ready to pay little extra if the store provides a pleasant place to shop
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●When you find the price of some item higher/lower in a particular store than an alternate
store you:
1) Never visit that store again (at high price)
2) Visit that store again (finding lower price)
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●Do you believe that the courtesy and helpfulness of staff is one of the decisive factors for a
customer to visit a particular store?
Strongly agree agree it doesn’t matter to me disagree strongly disagree

●Do you visit a shopping place more often because the staff there is very helpful and
courteous towards you?
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Strongly agree agree it doesn’t matter to me disagree strongly disagree

OR
●Have you ever visited a shopping store again because you found the staff there very
courteous and helpful?
Yes No
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●While making the inquiry of any product from a staff member you like it when the sales
agent:
Only tells the price of the article
Tells the price, describes the products and its features also
Tells the price, describes the product and its features along with the substitutes available
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●At a shopping store you:

Insist on obtaining a proper bill
Don’t care much about a proper bill
Don’t bother at all
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●Which other factors influence your repetitive visits to a particular shopping store (tick one
or more):
Credit facilities
Delivery promptness and care
Eating facilities
Reliable advertising
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Free/paid home delivery of heavy/fragile goods

●Do you have a credit card?

Yes No
●Do you go more to a place where you can shop from a credit card?
Yes No
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●Do you tend to shop more if you find the shopping place less congested
Yes No
Do you know Choupal saagar honours credit card?
Yes No If yes, Have you used it in Choupal saagar.
●How do you evaluate your satisfaction with an item that you have already purchased?
Comparing the price of the substitute or alternative available
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Comparing the features of the substitute or alternative available

Comparing both price and the features of the substitute or alternative available

●Do you only go to a shopping store where there is a facility of purchase returns and
adjustments?
Strongly agree agree no effect disagree strongly disagree
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●What additional features influence your visits to a particular shopping place?

Separate wash rooms for men and women
Mobile/laptop charging facilities
Video games/joy rides for kids
ATM counter
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●What additional items would influence your visits to a particular shopping place? (Give
At least three options).

CHOUPAL SAGAR AND YOU:

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●Do you know about Choupal sagar?

Yes No

●How did you get to know about Choupal saagar?

Word of mouth hoardings/banners Road Sign TV Ticker

●How many departments are you aware of?

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grocery apparel for the home consumer durables lubricants Agri inputs toys automobiles

footwear stationery Telecomm entertainment all

●Have you ever visited Choupal sagar?

Yes No

●If you have visited did you shop there?

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Yes No

●If yes, why?

Better quality then local markets economical prices pleasant ambience wide range impulsive

buying

●Which department/s did you shop from?

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grocery apparel for the home consumer durables lubricants Agri inputs toys automobiles

footwear stationery Telecomm entertainment all

●If no, then why not?

Higher prices lower quality limited range problems in carrying the goods, no credit offered

finance facility not offered

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●Was your experience a pleasant one at Choupal saagar?

Yes No
If yes what factors were responsible for it?
1) You made a complete shopping less than one roof
2) Economical prices
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3) Courteous behaviour of the sales staff

4) Entertainment facilities TV/music
5) Presence of food court

If no what factors were responsible for it?

1) You could not make a complete shopping less than one roof
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Please list the missing items:

2) Higher prices
Items you found higher priced:

3) Discourteous behaviour of the sales staff

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Please name the concerned department

4) Entertainment facilities were not working properly TV/music

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●How often you shop from Choupal sagar? (Frequency)

Daily weekly fortnightly monthly quarterly half-yearly annually

●What else can make you come and visit and shop from Choupal saagar?

●Awareness level regarding the promotional activities happening in Choupal saagar.

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MBD BKB NVH

●How did you come to know about above

(MBD): Posters handbills hoardings word of mouth banners TV tickers

(BKB): Posters handbills hoardings word of mouth banners TV tickers

(NVH): Posters handbills hoardings word of mouth banners TV tickers

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