Marketing Strategies Adopted by Reliance Mart Vishal Mega Mart

Project Report (On

Marketing Strategies Adopted By Reliance Mart & Vishal Mega Mart

Submitted in the partial fulfillment of the degree of

Master of Business Administration (200810)

Submitted To: -

Submitted By:-

Controller of Examination

Vivek Gupta

M.D. University,

Semester-4(th

Rohtak

Inst. Roll No-08/MBA/29

B.S.Anangpuria Institute of Technology & Management Alampur, Faridabad.

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PREFAC E Masterj jofj jBusinessj jAdministrationj j(MBA)j jProgrammej jisj jonej jofj jthej jmostj jreputed professional courses in the field of management. This course includes both theory & its applications as its content of Curriculum. The Research Project is an integral part of the curriculum and its purpose is to provide the practical exposure of business world in the changing scenario. In this way it helps the student in development of practical skills and analytical thinking process. It makes more aware about the perceptions and tastes of the people of the corporate world. Thus it helps in moulding the students according to the requirements of the market Each student is required to complete a project in his or her field of interest after the completion of his or her second semester examination. The purpose of this project is to expose the students on practical and research front of his or her area of interest. The project gives a unique experience to aspirants who can visualize things what they have been taught in classroom. I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to do a research project on “MARKETING STRATEGIES ADOPTED BY RELIANCE MART & VISHAL MEGA MART”. As a complementary to Project, every student has to prepare and submit a report. It is an attempt to present practical knowledge & observation gathered during the project.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMEN T I wish to express my sincere esteemed thanks to our institution, which provided me this most awaited opportunity of undergoing training in the corporate world.

Along with the institution I also want to express my gratitude to my faculty members who help me with their immense knowledge and their experience.

Last but not least I want to express my immense heartly thanks to all the personalities who havej jbeenj jinstrumentalj jinj jmakingj jthisj jprojectj jonj j“MARKETINGj jSTRATEGIESj jOF RELIANCE MART & VISHAL MEGA MART “possible and successful.

Vivek Gupta

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INDE X CONTEN T

PAGE NO.

CHAPTER1

 Introduction of the Project

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CHAPTER2  Objective, Scope & Limitations of the Study

29

CHAPTER3  Research Methodology

37

CHAPTER-4  Data collection & Analysis

CHAPTER5  Findings of the study

42

66

CHAPTER6 Conclusion 

71

 Suggestion

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Appendi x Bibliography

73

Questionnaire

76

4

Introduction of the Project

5

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Introduction to Retailing sector Retailing sector of India can be split into two segments. They are the informal and the formal retailing sector. The informal retailing sector is comprised of small retailers. For this sector, it is very difficult to implement the tax laws. There is widespread tax evasion. It is also cumbersome to regulate the labor laws in this sector. As far as the formal retailing sector is concerned, it is comprised of large retailers. Stringent tax and labor laws are implemented in this sector. If the retail industry is divided on the basis of retail formats then it can be split into the modern format retailers and the traditional format retailers. The modern format retailers comprise of the supermarkets, Hypermarkets, Departmental Stores, Specialty Chains and company owned and operated retail stores The traditional format retailers comprise of Kiranas, Kiosks, Street Markets and the multiple brandj joutlets.j jThej jretailj jindustryj jcanj jalsoj jbej jsubdividedj jintoj jthej jorganizedj jandj jthe unorganized sector. The organized retail sector occupies about 3% of the aggregate retail industry in India.

Size and contribution of the retail industry in India In terms of value, the Indian Retail industry is worth $300 billion. India retail industry is the largest industry in India, with an employment of around 8%. Its contribution to the Gross Domestic Product is about 10%, the highest compared to all other Indian Industries. The retail sector has also contributed to 8% of the employment of the country. The organized retail sector is expected to triple its size by 2010. The food and grocery retail sector is expected to multiply five times in the same time frame. The major reason behind the low participation in the Indian retail sector is the need for lumpy investments that cannot match up their break even points. The government policies are being revised from time to time to attract investments in this sector.

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The Indian Retail Industry — Sky is the limit In terms of the retail development index India ranks fifth. In Asia it occupies the second position, next to China. Among all the global markets, the Indian retail market is the most expanding. This is owing to absence in restriction at the entry level. So the large foreign companies can reap the benefits of economies scale by entering the green retail fields of India. There are many reasons why the retail industry in India can reach the zenith. Firstly the organized retail sector in India has a very low contribution to the entire retail sector in the country. Hence there is ample scope for the new players to achieve success in the backdrop of soaring disposable income of the upcoming generation. Secondly, not only have the incomes increased but there has been a sea change in the preferences of the consumers. These factors have acted as a stimulus for the ushering of foreign players retailing inj japparels,j jaccessories,j jelectronicj jappliancesj jetc.j jLargej jshoppingj jmallsj jhavej jalready mushroomed in the metropolitan cities. There still lies untapped potential in the Indian Retail Market.

The size of retail industry in an economy depends on many factors and the level of consumer spending is the most important among these factors. The retail sector in India has grown by leaps and bounds in the last five years. The reason behind this growth has been the synergy of many propellants. However the growth is not always genuine as there are exaggerations as well.j jButj jthesej jexaggerationsj jalsoj jhavej jbenefitsj jsincej jtheyj jgivenj jaj jfeelj jofj jgrowing competition all around. Secondly the present situation is just a depiction of nascent stage. The future of the trajectory may not be as steep as it is now or may be even slope downward. 'What will be the future size of the retail industry' is the mind boggling question. Another moot point that will gain importance in due time concerns the future of the unorganized retail market which constitute a significant proportion of the whole industry. The retail stores have proved to be a vantage point for the customers. This implies that the small farmers who used to sell their product in the sabji-mandis and on roadsides are going to lose a significant marketj sharej as they can'tj employ thej two profitj maximizers-economiesj of scalej and economies of scope. 8

Retailing in India: the present scenario The present value of the Indian retail market is estimated by the India Retail Report to be around Rs. 12,00,000 crore($270 billion) and the annual growth rate is 5.7 percent. Retail market for food and grocery with a worth of Rs. 7, 43,900 crore is the largest of the different types of retail industries present in India. Furthermore around 15 million retail outlets help India win the crown of having the highest retail outlet density in the world. The contribution of retail sector to GDP has been manifested below: Country

Retail( (Sector's( (share

India USA China Brazil

in GDP (in %) 10 10 8 6

As can be clearly seen, retailing in India is superior to those of its contenders. Retail sector is a sunrise industry in India and the prospect for growth is simply huge. There are many factors that have stimulated the rise of the shopping centers and multiplex-malls in a jiffy. Some of them can be listed as follows: − Rise in the purchasing power of Indians- the rise in the per capita income in the last few years has been magnificent. This has led to the generation of insatiable wants of the upper and middle class. The demand of new as well as second hand durables has risen throughout the country thus providing the incentive for taking up retailing.

− Favorable to farmers- retailing has helped in removing the middlemen and has thus enhanced the remuneration to farmers. This is a new revolution in the agricultural sector in India and will go a long way in amending the condition of agriculture, a major concern among policy makers.

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− Use of credit- a typical Indian is most conversant with using credit cards than carrying money. These have led to a shift of the consumer base towards supermarkets and make the payments in the form of credit. − Comfortable Atmosphere- a visit to a retail store appears to be more soothing for the generation-Y. People and kids prefer to shop in an air conditioned a tech savvy manner. The retail industry is the second largest employer in India. It currently employs about 7 percent of the total labor force in India. Finance Minister P. Chidambaram's recent statement “salaries ought not to be legislated” is a welcome move as most of the organized retail is in private hands. However only about 4.6% of the total retail trade is in organized sector. It generates about Rs.55, 000 crore ($12.4 billion). The major and minor players desperately need to work hard in this direction so that next time the figures look more decent. The government must also make an attempt to ameliorate the situation as political instability and infrastructure namely power and roads are the major roadblocks in the path of smooth functioning of the market.

Retail sectors in neighboring countries: China - The total sales from retail market in China reached US$755 billion in 2005. However organized retailing in China accounts for only 20% of it. Also the fragmentation of China's retail market is so high that top 100 retailers make up for only 10.5% of the total market. The registered sales of department stores grew by 25.7% and that of convenience stores grew by 36.5% in 2005. The Chinese retail market is expected to reach new highs as the population of strong middle class is expected to double by 2020 and mergers and acquisitions among retailers are3 going in great guns. The WTO restrictions are also expected to have a favorable impact on its retail sector. Japan - total annual sales for the Japanese retail industry for 2003 amounted to JPY 133,273 billion. Japan had 1.2 million retail establishments in June 2004 and there were 42,738 specialty superstores. Between 2002 and 2004 annual sales per store increased by 3.8%. The growthj jwasj jmainlyj jdrivenj jbyj jthej jgroceryj jsuperstoresj jbutj jthej jnumberj jofj jsuperstores

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specializing in clothes gradually came down. The organized retail sector in Japan couldn't perform at its full efficiency because of collapse of the 'bubble economy' in the early 90s.

Retail Distribution in India The distribution sector bridges the gap between the producer and consumer and thus forms a crucial link. Distribution of retail in India has multiple dimensions. Its uniformity is difficult to decide and easy to argue. Distribution in any sector is usually measured by the reach of its products to people. But in case of the retail sector in India it also implies the dispersion among the organized and unorganized spheres. The question of distribution hovers mainly around the intentions of private players to reach out to the less rich people. But the point that has caught the public eye recently is the ambiguous mood of the beneficiaries and the chauvinist government that produces civil service.

Propagation of the retail sector: The expansion of the retailing in India has been magnificent especially after the advent of liberalization and the abolition of licensing. A comparative study with other developed countries indicates that the retail sector has achieved a fantastic breakthrough in the Indian economy. India topped the A.T. Kearney's Global Retail Index in both 2005 and 2006as can be seen below: Thej jGRDIj jScorej jasj jcalculatedj jbyj jA.T.j jKearneyj jisj jaj jweightedj javeragej jofj jmarket attractiveness, market saturation, country risk and time pressure. India had a GRDI score of 100 in both 2005 and 2006.implying market potential and attractiveness. As the graph clearly depicts, India's contenders like Russia and China are nowhere in competition. This result has been obtained mainly because of a higher APC (Average Propensity to consume) of the Indian people. According to IMF, India has a APC of more than 60% while the corresponding figure for Japan is 57% and China is 39%. Also Indians tend to exhaust 40% of their consumer spending on groceries (foodstuffs). These figures are intensified by the fact that Indians have special preference for lifestyle products and they feel comfortable in buying against credit as 11

the credit card and mortgage market has been growing by more than 30%. We present the results from another survey below in order to strengthen our findings.

Availability of Retail Stores Country

Number( (of( (stores

India Japan USA

per 1,000 people 22 10 3.8

The above table reinforces our view that India has done a great job in retailing. One noteworthy point here is that Japan in spite of being one of the most densely populated countries has fared poorly than India. But this euphoria loses its charm if we compare the percentage of organized retail in the total value generated by the retailing sector. Accordingj jtoj jinternationalj jstandards,j ja retailj jstorej jisj jnominatedj jasj jorganized onlyj jwhenj jitj jfeaturesj jmorej jthanj j10 employees.j jThej jabovej jchartj jclearly portrays the miserable condition of India's organized retail A forecast of 40% annual growthj jinj jthej jorganizedj jretailj jsector seems sound. The number of shopping malls in India has grown from 1 in 2001 to 100 in 2005 but still more effort is needed to turn the predictions into reality. Studies have further showed that non-urban areas account for only about 15% of organized retailing So it is high time that the retail industries pay importance to diversification and reach out to non-urban markets. If they remain confined to the metropolis then they will soon hit a ceiling and will be able to grow no more. But at the same time they must realize that the rustic people are sceptic about the urbane lifestyle habits. The mega retail players will have to drop their policy of full extraction of consumer surplus and will have to employ the local 12

people to overcome the myth that entry of a branded retail will displace the millions of traders, shopkeepers and hawkers. Protests must be welcomed and meetings encouraged making

life

saner.

Retail markets in Germany, South Africa and many other countries allow 100% foreign investment in retail. This has helped in setting up of cash and in creating wholesale markets. However, in India, only 51% FDI is allowed in single-brand retail and that too with prior approval. In case of multi-brand retail, FDI is completely prohibited. This is a perfect beginning but foreign investment should be gradually liberalized to modernize farming and help farmers scale up. Moreover, restricting FDI for protecting mom-and-pop stores seems unjustifiable since Tata, Reliance and Bharti have already made a foray in the sector.

Components of Retail Sector 13

The major components of the retail sector are: Food and Grocery, Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCGs), Consumer Durables, Apparel, Footwear and leather, Watches, Jewellery, and Health and Beauty The anatomy of the retail market has shown that the clothing and textiles constitutes 39 per cent of the organised retail pie, followed by food and grocery, which accounts for 11 percent of the total retail market.

However, according to the survey conducted by KPMG for Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), among these, the food and grocery is expected to witness the fastest growth followed by clothing as the second-fastest growing segment.

Marketing Strategies 14

Marketing strategy is a method of focusing an organization's energies and resources on a course of action which can lead to increased sales and dominance of a targeted market niche. Aj jmarketingj jstrategyj jcombinesj jproductj jdevelopment,j jpromotion,j jdistribution,j jpricing, relationship management and other elements; identifies the firm's marketing goals, and explains how they will be achieved, ideally within a stated timeframe. Marketing strategy determines the choice of target market segments, positioning, marketing mix, and allocation of resources. It is most effective when it is an integral component of overall firm strategy, defining how the organization will successfully engage customers, prospects, and competitors in the market arena.j Corporate strategies, corporate missions, and corporate goals. As the customer constitutes the source of a company's revenue, marketing strategy is closely linked with sales. Types of strategies Marketing strategies may differ depending on the unique situation of the individual business. However there are a number of ways of categorizing some generic strategies. A brief description of the most common categorizing schemes is presented below: •

Strategies based on market dominance - In this scheme, firms are classified based on their market share or dominance of an industry. Typically there are four types of market dominance strategies:

•

o

Leader

o

Challenger

o

Follower

o

Nicher

Porter generic strategies- strategy on the dimensions of strategic scope and strategic strength. Strategic scope refers to the market penetration while strategic strength refersj jtoj jthej jfirm’sj jsustainablej jcompetitivej jadvantage.j jThej jgenericj jstrategy framework (porter 1984) comprises two alternatives each with two alternative scopes. These are Differentiation and low-cost leadership each with a dimension of Focusbroad or narrow. o

Product differentiation

o

Market segmentation

1 5

•

Innovation strategies - This deals with the firm's rate of the new product development and business model innovation. It asks whether the company is on the cutting edge of technology and business innovation. There are three types:

•

o

Pioneers

o

Close followers

o

Late followers

Growth strategies - In this scheme we ask the question, “How should the firm grow?”. There are a number of different ways of answering that question, but the most common gives four answers: o

Horizontal integration

o

Vertical integration

o

Diversification

o

Intensification

DIVISION OF RETAILERS

IN INDIA

The retail sector in India can be divided into two major categories: 16

1)jOrganized 2)jUnorganized

Marketing Strategies of RELIANCE MART

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RELIANCE RETAIL LTD has launched its much-awaited hypermarket format (which also happens to be India’s largestj hypermarket)j called “Reliancej Mart” at Iscon Mall, SG Highway, Ahmadabad on August 15. After the successful launch of the supermarket format ”Reliance Fresh” and the consumer electronics concept mega store “Reliance Digital”, the hypermarket is the third retail format launched by Reliance Retail. Spread across 165,000 square feet of shopping area, Reliance Mart will provide the shoppers a never-before-experienced shopping delight. The hypermarket will carry a range of over 95,000 products catering to the entire family. Shoppers will have the option to choose from a wide array of products in every category ranging from fresh produce, food & grocery, home care products, apparel and accessories, non-food FMCG products, consumer durables and IT, automotive accessories, lifestyle products, footwear and much more. Commentingj on the launch,j Shri.j Mukesh Ambani, Chairmanj and Managing Director, Reliance Industries Ltd, said: “Organized retail has the potential to trigger socio-economic transformation on an unprecedented scale in our country and will bring about enormous spinoff benefits to the Indian economy and its various constituents”. “The launch ofj Reliance Mart jis yet another step by Reliance Retail towards providing international shopping experience to all our customers at unmatched affordability, guaranteed quality and choice of products and services. Reliance Mart marks the achievement of another milestone in our effort to unleash a retail revolution in India.” Shri Ambani added. Reliance Mart offers some unique services to the shoppers like tailoring, shoe repair, watch repair, a photo shop, gift services and laundry services, all within the store. The store also houses its own fresh bakery, serving “hot, off-the-oven” bread and bread products throughout the day and local savouries, an ice-cream train for the kids, a chakki, ready-made batter and loose tea and pickle for the housewives. Reliance Mart will also sell fine jewellery and fashion jewellery as part of its lifestyle section. Reliance Mart will also house a health and wellness store providing pharmaceutical drugs and other wellness products. For the shopper’s convenience, the store has a cafeteria providing quality food and beverages for ready consumption, an ATM machine and a consumer service / membership desk to provide the customer a truly international shopping experience. 18

The hypermarket also launched a host of Reliance’s own brands in select categories with superior quality and affordable prices like “First Class”, “Network, Netplay, Team Spirit” and Sparsh in Men’s and Women’s Formal / Casual and Ethnic wear, “DNM- X” in the jeans category for men and women, “Panda” for kids clothing and “ Grip” in the luggage section. The footwear category will carry “Zig” in formal wear. “Hi Attitude” for semi -formal, “Tosco” for party wear and “Monza” for the sports enthusiast. There are many products that will be exclusively available in Reliance Mart stores only. Reliance Mart, with 61 check-out counters has for the first time in India introduced the Mobile POS system for faster check outs. This is aimed at reducing customer wait-time. The storej jplanning,j jatmosphericsj jandj jlayoutj jhasj jbeenj jdesignedj jspecificallyj jtoj jprovidej j“a complete solution” to the customer. jReliance Mart jwill remain open from 10:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m., seven days a week. The store has over 400 highly skilled and trained customer sales representatives. Reliance Mart will continue to offer all its customers Reliance One, a commonj jmembershipj jandj jloyaltyj jprogramj jacrossj jallj jitsj jformats,j jwhichj jfollowsj jthe philosophy of ‘Earn Anywhere, Spend Anywhere’. Reliance Mart will also provide easy and attractive finance options, including 0% financing for your purchases on select products. Reliance Retail plans to have a pan-India presence by opening over 30j Reliance Mart hypermarkets this year and over 500 by the end of 2010.

Services Offered It offers some unique services to the shoppers like tailoring, shoe repair, watch repair, a photo shop, gifting services and laundry services all within the store under one roof and also it has its own bakery shop. Reliance Mart will also provide easy and attractive finance options, including zero per cent financing for the purchases on select products. Reliance Mart will continue to offer all its 19

customers Reliance One, a common membership and loyalty programme across all its formats, which follows the philosophy of 'Earn Anywhere, Spend Anywhere'.

Future Plans The next two hypermarkets are to be opened in Jamnagar in Gujarat and in the NCR by next month with plans to open 30 such marts by the year. Raghu Pillai, President and CEO (operations and strategy), Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) said the company is planning to set up 500 hypermarkets across 784 towns by 2010.

Strategy The hypermarket would be selling the products on EDLP (every day low price) basis at prices 15-20 percent lower than market prices. In order to grow faster and better in local markets with higher margins, it has focused largely on local brands instead of national brands or private labels. Local brands include Induben Khakrawala’s Namkeens, Lijat Papad, Wagh Bakri and Madhur (spices brand). This is in addition to 100 private labels that Reliance plans to display. Company’s Sources says that the share of regional brands in the hyper marts would be over 10%. Strengths Keeping local brands at the outlets is more profitable and also makes the supply chain more efficient. Being a bulk purchaser, Reliance Mart can offer products at very low prices. Also taking into consideration the local brands, the products at the outlets would be easily acceptable by the customers. And there would be comparatively less efforts needed by the marketer to explain the product to the consumers.

Weaknesses In some cases, few regional brands strongly liked by the consumers offer lower margins than that offered by the national brands. It has to face a tough competition by big shopping malls i.e. Big Bazaar, Spencer Hyper, Vishal Mega Mart and the upcoming Wall Mart. 20

Popular Brands of Reliance Mart are:

Zeppelin : Mens Shirts & Trousers Kitaan Studio :(Mens Shirts & Trousers

Fizzy Babe : Jasmine :

Ladies & Kids Girls Ladies & Kids Girls

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Blues & Khakis : Mens Trousers

Zero Degree : (Kids Boys

Paranoia :

Mens Shirts & T-Shirts

Soil :

Chlorine :

Mens Shirts

Massa Bay :

Mens Shirts Mens Trousers & Bermudas

Marketing Strategies of Vishal Mega Mart Product Vishal Mega Mart offers a wide range of products which starts from apparels to food items, footwear to home furnishing, crockery to sport items, child care products to toys, watches, 22

drinks etc. There are many in house brands promoted by Vishal Mega Mart. In pursuance of their business plan to diversify their portfolio of offerings, FMCG products play a key role. Price Vishal Mega Mart promises its consumers the lowest availablej price. The conceptj of psychological discounting (Rs. 99, Rs. 49, etc.) is used as promotional tool. Vishal Mega Mart also caters on Special Event Pricing (Close to Diwali, Christmas, New Year etc.). Selling combo-packs and offering discount to customers. The combo-packs add value to customer. Through Bundling, they also reduced the price of the products. In addition to VRPL’s strategy to continue procurement of goods from small and medium size vendors and manufacturers which leads to cost efficiencies, VRPL intend to procure FMCG and apparels from low-cost production centers located outside India. Towards this objective, VRPL’s propose to increase their procurement of finished and semi-finished goods from China and thereby realize economies of scale and pass on the benefits so accrued to their customers. Place Vishal Mega Mart stores are located in 110 cities with more than 180 outlets. Vishal Mega Mart has presence in almost all the major Indian cities. They are aggressive on their expansion plans. VRPL intend to increase their penetration in the country by setting up new stores in cities where they already have presence, as also entering into new areas in the country. In particular, they intend to focus on expansion in Tier II and Tier III cities. VRPL target locations with good infrastructural facilities such as easy accessibility, provision for water, electricity, parking, security and other basic amenities.

Promotion Advertisingj jhasj jplayedj jaj jcrucialj jrolej jinj jbuildingj jofj jthej jbrand.j jVishalj jMegaj jMart advertisements are mainly seen in print media i.e. newspapers, Television with Tina Parekh as there in advertisement, and sometime road-side bill-boards. VRPL’s category management system is used to plan promotional schemes. They launch promotional schemes weekly. Apart from general sales promotion, the category manager formulates promotional plans for ‘slow movers’. In addition,j toj promotej sales, they focus on layoutj of thej stores and positioning, presentation and display of merchandise, in order to appeal to the customer. In 23

addition, VRPL have introduced, in association with SBI Cards & Payment Services Private Limited, a co-branded credit card. VRPL’s propose to continuously undertake such initiatives to increase the satisfaction of their customers. Some of the features of the co-branded card include Rs 250 discount voucher on signing up for the card and a process by which the cardholder earns five reward points on every Rs 100 spent. A cardholder accumulates points on the basis of purchases made and the points accumulated can be redeemed for gifts or purchases. In September 2005, VRPL entered into a long term advertising agreement with Bennett, Coleman & Company Limited (“BCCL”). Under the agreement, they are entitled to fixed discounts for their advertisement in print publications of BCCL for a period of five years from the date of the agreement. As a part consideration, VRPL had issued 1,670,605 Equity Shares of Rs. 10 each and 384,190 Preference Shares of Rs. 146 each amounting to an aggregate of Rs. 300 million.

Strong understanding of the ‘value retail’ segment VRPL’s business plan involves implementation of the concept of the ‘value retailing’, targeting the middle and lower middle income groups, which constitute majority of the population in India. VRPL intend to provide quality products at competitive prices. VRPL sell a vast range of merchandise across apparels and accessories, FMCG products, food products and consumer durables. VRPL’s emphasis has been to maximize the value that the customersj jderivej jinj jspendingj jonj jgoodsj jboughtj jinj jtheirj jstores.j jVRPLj jendeavorj jto 24

continuously reduce their costs through a variety of measures, such as, in-house production of apparels, procurement of goods directly from the small and medium size vendors and manufacturers, efficient logistics and distribution systems along with customized product mix at their stores depending on the regional customer behavior and preferences. Central to their value retail strategy is to pass on the benefits of cost reduction measures to their customers.

VISHAL MEGA MART

“Future is thinking beyond horizon” & in order to keep its pace with the modern retail, Vishal Retail Limited is spreading its wings. Instead of resting on its laurels the Group are busy identifying new avenues of growth by venturing in other formats like cash & carry, convenios as well as specialty stores and inspiring local retailers to grow along with the big names. The group has tied up with HPCL to open corner stores at their petrol pumps and in 25

addition to the above Vishal has come up with an institute to train manpower for the service industry.

Today Vishal Retail Limited, Flagship Company of Vishal Group, engaged in Hyper Market stores with an average area of 25,000 to 30,000 sq. ft. through an impressive chain of more than 100 fully integrated stores in spread of more than the area of around 22, 00,000 sq. ft. in 69 cities across India & has a plan to cross total retail area of 35 lakh sq. ft. in tier II and tier III cities by the end of 2009 . According to Mr. Ram Chandra Agarwal, CMD, Vishal Retail Limited, the group owes its origin toj a small 50 sq ft shop in Kolkata's Lal Bazaar that started selling readymade garments. In tune with the pulse of the market, he envisioned a mega store that would sell garments at prices none other could match. . The first big store opened in Calcutta's Esplanade area in 1997, under the banner of Vishal Garments. He was involved in all the aspects of the business: right from sourcing the garments to interacting with customers. And this led to his greatest finding “The Vishal Group.”

After identifying the immense market in fashion garment for the masses, He moved to Delhi in 2001 and opened his first store in Delhi’s Rajouri Garden by the name of Vishal Mega Mart (The jewel in Vishal Group’s crown) and then there was no looking back for Mr. Ram Chandra Agarwal. At present, in addition to garments, Vishal Mega Mart stores retail the entire range of household products, FMCG and electronic goods. Vishal's prices are roughly 15 to 20 per cent less than other mass market garment labels. Mr. Ram Chandra Agarwal, CMD, Vishal Retail Limited believes that the shopping habits of Indians are changing due to their growing disposable income, higher aspirations, relative increase in the younger population, and the change in attitudes towards shopping. The emphasis has changed from price consideration to design, quality and trendy. Age is also a major factor that affects the spending decisions of an individual. Consumer spending is an important factor that affects the economic growth and development in a country. As a trend,

26

consumer is more educated. He has access to all reforms taking place through various arrays of communication. He is becoming a “value shopper” everyday. Keeping this in mind, the group is now looking for franchisees to join hands with Vishal and grow junderj commonj banner.j jThis jpartnershipj jwillj helpj smallj jretailersj toj jsurvivej jthe onslaught of organized retail as it will enhance their competitiveness. Small stores can avail of the benefits on account of the economies of scale, a key advantage for big retailers. As per the plans, Vishal Retail will completely take over the supply chain of its franchisees and providej jthemj jwithj jtechnology,j jnewj jpractices,j jvisualj jmerchandisingj jskillj jandj jspecial promotional schemes, besides its brand and costumer base.

Some of the Franchisee exclusive business categories are  Mens Fashion  Ladies and Kids  Footwear  Toys and Games 27

 Home – General  Convenience (FMCG)  CDIT  Watches  Mobile The Group also has a plan to raise around Rs 200 crore through preferential issue in the next few months to fund the company’s expansion plan. Mr. R C Agarwal said “Rs 100 crore corpus raised through the initial public offering had already been utilized and more money was required to push the expansion plans further.” The group has registered a consistent growth over the years. Itj recorded a whopping turnover of more than Rs.700 crores in 2008-09 as opposed to a turnover of Rs 550 Crore for 2007- 2008.( This ascent has inspired the Group to chalk out an ambitious expansionj jprogram,j jwithj jexpansionj jandj jgrowth jplansj jbeingj jimplementedj jonj jdifferent dimensions. “Retailing is an engine for taking merchandise to the end-users. There is a lot of opportunity in this sector for us since demand of the potential consumers are not being met under the existing facilities. Therein lies the road to success.” says Mr. R C Agarwal

Product Categories

- HOME FURNISHING 28

Drawing Room Door Mat Carpet Curtains Kitchen Apron Kitchen Napkin

Bedroom Bed Sheet Pillows Pillow Cover Bathroom Bath Mats Towel Gift Sets

FOOTWEAR BOYS Shoes Sandals LADIES Shoes Slippers

GIRLS Slippers Sandals MENS Shoes Slippers

MENS Upper Shirt Casual Shirt Formal Ethnic & Sports Night Suits T-Shirts Dupatta Sherwani

Lower Jeans(MP) Cotton Trouser(MPC) Winter Wear Suit(WMC) Blazer(WMB) Windcheater(WMW) Jacket

LADIES ACCESSORIES Upper Kurta Skirt Top Ethnic Nighty Lancha Sharara Salwar Suit

Lower Pants Jeans Capri Winter Wear Jackets Stawl Blazer Track Suit

INFANTS Garments Hot Pant Frock Baba Suit

Accessories Bed Sheet Under Garments Socks

WOMEN Sarees Fancy(SRF) Synthetics

Personal Items Cap(LCA) Socks(Las) 29

Banarsi Jewellery Necklace Ring

Cosmetics LIp Gloss Nail Polish

KIDS BOYS Lower Jeans Bermudas Dungries Upper Shirt Formal T-Shirt

Sets Night Suit Baba Suit

Winter Wear Suit Blazer Jacket

Ethnic Kurta- Pyjama Sherwani

KIDS GIRLS Lower Hot Pant Skirt Dungries Upper Tops(GWT) Frock(GFK)

Sets Night Suit Capri Set

Winter Wear Hipster Set Blazer Jacket

Ethnic Sharara Lancha

HOUSEHOLD Dinner Set Jug Home Aids Pressure Cooker Floor Wiper Cooker Sanitary Brush Pressure Pan General Plastic Goods(Electrical App. Coffee Mug Chopper Bucket Microwave Oven Glass Ware Thermo Ware Cup Tiffin L$emon Set Container

Cake Server Non Stick Handi Dosa Tawa Bone China Soup Set Dessert Set Porcelain Cup & Saucer

LIFESTYLE Time Zone Ladies Wrist Watch Mens Wrist Watch Mens Accessories

Opticals Ladies Sun Glass Mens Sun Glass Electric & Electronics

Gifts & Novelties Flower Vase Key Chain Perfume/Deo

Belts Wallets

Items Battery(ABT) Calculator(EEC)

Spray Deo

30

TOYS & GAMES Soft Toys

Dolls

Cycles & Scooters

Musical Toys Non-Musical Board Games Wooden Blocks Puzzles

Barbie Doll Other Dolls Infant Toys Teether Swing

Cycles Scooters Video Games T.V. Video Game Hand Video Game

FOOD MART FOOD & BEVERAGES Snacks Drinks

31

OBJECTIV E

32

Objectives of Study 33

1. To Study the promotional strategies of RELIANCE MART & VISHAL MEGA MART. 2. To study the challenges and future prospects of RELIANCE MART & VISHAL MEGA MART. 3. To study the different Brand offerings by RELIANCE MART & VISHAL MEGA MART. 4. To study the distribution strategies of RELIANCE MART & VISHAL MEGA MART.

34

Scop e

3 5

Scope of study This project gave us great exposure to the customer’s perception to the marketing strategies adopted by the Reliance mart & Vishal mega mart because it includes the service offered by them. The study also identifies the attitudes and preference of the consumers. The study also focused on Media through which the product reaches the consumers This project helped us in knowing the market practically.

36

IMITATION OF THE STUD Y

37

LIMITATION

Although it would have been nice to conduct a perfect research study, but this study is conducted under certain limitations, which were faced while doing this research. So it is highly recommended to consider these limitations while going through the project study. These limitations are as follows 1. LIMITATION OF DATA The statistical data regarding the city was not available to us on secondary source of data and to generate such data on the primary source was a task, which cannot be achieved in such a short time. 2. LIMITATION OF TIME The limitation of time was another constraint in the study as the study had to be conductedj jinj jfewj jmonthsj jthereforej jmanyj jaspectsj jhavej jbeenj jleftj junexplored. Research period is not just much enough to know fully about the strategies & consumers perception 3. INHIBITIONS OF THE RESPONDENTS The respondents did not reply the question with precision as they were busy with their own work or they were not interested in taking part in such a research. Employees sometimesj jfeelj jhesitatedj jwhilej jtellingj jaboutj jtheirj jviewj jaboutj jtheirj jmarketing strategies. 4. RESEARCH HAS BEEN CONDUCTED IN A LIMITED AREA The research has been conducted for the Vishal mega mart(sec-31.fbd) & reliance mart(Crown Interiors Mall, Faridabad) but not all their retail outlet have been covered therefore it has been mentioned that the research has been conducted in a limited area.

38

5. THE SAMPLE SIZE IS LARGE The sample size taken of the respondents is large therefore a very rough picture of their marketing strategies has been generated therefore this limitation has to be considered in the study.

These limitations were very common and yet we came across these with a positive note and the subsequent chapters in this report shall explain the rationality behind the structural compilation.

39

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

40

41

Research Methodology

Research Methodology is a way to systematically solve the research problem. When we talk to research methodology we not only talk of research methods but also consider the logic behind the method we use in the context of our research results are capable of being evaluated either by researcher himself or by other. The purpose of this section is to describe the methodology carried out to complete the work. The methodology plays a dominant role in any research work. The effectiveness of any research work depends upon the correctness and effectiveness of the research methodology. This section deals with research design used, data collection, methods used and sampling methods used. Research design A research design specifies the methods and procedures for conducting a particular research. According to Ker linger “Research design is a plan, structure and strategy of investigation conceived so as to obtain answers to research questions and have to control variance.”

My research design I have chosen descriptive research design for my study because I am interested in knowing the marketing strategies adopted by Reliance Mart & Vishal mega mart To accomplish the predefined objectives of the research, descriptive research design is used to collect the require information from the sources. It’s a fact finding approach generalizing a cross sectional study of the present situation.

42

Designing the questionnaire Structured questionnaires and observation method have been used to conduct the research.

Sampling method Specific sampling method was used to collect the data from the respondents because sample size is large. Customers & employees of Reliance Mart & Vishal mega mart were selected for the survey. Sampling unit The data was collected from the Customers & employees by questionnaire and observation method in the Reliance Mart (Crown Interiors Mall) & Vishal mega mart (sec-31.faridabad) Sample size The data were collected from:  50 customers  50 employees Data collection: There are two major methods of data collection:  Primary data  Secondary data Primary data collection is used when there is need for collecting first hand data. In such cases, no adequate and usable data is available to the researcher. Secondary data collection is used where adequate and usable data is available to researcher. Primary data collection by one person may become secondary data for another.

43

In my research study I have used both primary as well as secondary data collection method. For primary data observation method is used, and for secondary data the sources used are books, journals, magazines and Internet. Data analysis All the recommendations in this project have been suggested keeping in mind the thorough analysis of all the steps in recruitment process. Data collection methods The method used for the survey process is through questionnaire.

44

Data Collection An d Analysis

4 5

CRM POLICY OF RELIANCE MART CRM policy of reliance mart can be divided into four major parts, namely; 1)jCustomer loyalty 2)jCustomer retention 3)jCustomer communication 4)jCustomer gratification There exists a blanket customer relationship programme called the reliance one membership programme for the purpose of maintaining customer loyalty. The membership programme is a very simple one where a willing customer is required to fill a form giving personal information and he gets a temporary card which will be made permanent after six months. On each purchase of rs. 100 the customer gets one redeemable point on the production of card at billing counter. The collected points can be redeemed in form of discounts on future purchases on demand of the customer. The customers also get the opportunity of availing four different kinds of insurance on the payment of a nominal fee. For example a customer can get an accidental death insurance of rs six lacs on the payment of rs. 400 only. Other forms of insurances are disability, hospitalization and home insurances. The members of reliance one get the opportunity of taking part and winning prizes by the way of lucky draws on regular intervals.

Customer retention policy implementation is at the zonal level. Generally each state is regarded as a zone and the offers and discounts in a zone are not available in other zones. Such policy helps reliance retail to understand and capture the local markets better. The products which show improvement due to offers and discounts on them are repeated with these offers again so as to retain the sales of the customers who bought it the last time. Also such the day’s best offers are constantly announced in the store making the regular customers aware about them. Maintaining a good store ambiance is also a part of customer retention policy of reliance retail. Clean and hygienic environment with properly and well spaced products along with a uniform color theme attracts the existing customers to the store again and again. 46

A fast billing system and good and easy grievance handling system which can be accessed thru customer service desk and company website, ensures that customers feel satisfied with the store management. Less harassment to customers means better customer retention. Communication to existing customers takes the form of sms and e-mails, generally sent to reliance one members. They get information about ongoing offers and also information and latest news about their nearest stores and the company in general. Another source of customer database is the information collected during the organizing of special events in the stores. Customers participating in such events provide their contact information which are also used in form of database for communication purposes. Thank you and festive cards on special occasions are an innovative way of communicating with the customers. Trained salespersons make customer gratification very easy. A simple thank you with a smile goes a long way for the store to keep the customers happy. The special events organized by the stores across india are also a way to gratify the customers by allowing them to play and win prizes. Gift vouchers and discount coupons are an attraction for the customers and give them the feel that the store cares about them and their money. Local customers many a times make limited personal contacts with the store staff just like that made at a kirana store and help the store to some extent to maintain a relationship with the customers. The implementation of the policies brings out certain limitations in them. Few major ones are as follows The personal contact numbers of reliance one members are open to tele marketing calls from various marketers as they leak out of the reliance retail’s database, causing unnecessary harassment to customers. The customer communication policy is less followed in small towns and cities and is more concentrated towards the metro cities. There is a common crm policy for both reliance fresh and mart. This should not be the case as both the stores offer different kinds of merchandize and generally attract different kinds of customers.

47

Reliance retail generally delays the processing of permanent membership cards to those customers who have not paid for such a card. Customers have been waiting for over three months for their card. Those who have paid the nominal fee of rs. 50 get their permanent card within 15 days but the rest who have optioned not to pay the fees do not receive the card until too late. Unmanned billing counters create long queues at the open counters. This creates impatiens in the customers as they expect faster billing at the stores and do not want to stand with too much of goods held in their hands while billing.

48

CRM @ Vishal mega mart  Customer profitability analysis (CPA) is done on the basis of transactions made through the future cards. o Platinum customers (most profitable). o Gold customers (profitable). o Iron customers (low profitability but desirable). o Lead customers (unprofitable and undesirable).

 Differentiate customers in terms of: (1) their needs and (2) their value to company.  Interact with individual customers to improve the knowledge about individual needs and to build stronger relationships.  There are four type of analysis done for analysis of CRM  o Periodic Surveys: It’s done on quarterly, its an overall survey done by the future group authorities and CRM is a part of it. o Customer Loss Rate : o Mystery Shoppers: They pose as normal customers perform specific tasks— such as purchasing a product, asking questions, registering complaints or behavingj jinj jaj jcertainj jwayj j–j jandj jthenj jprovidej jdetailedj jreportsj jor feedback about their experiences o Monitor Competitive Performance

 Complaint Handling Procedures :

49

•

Screening( (And( (Logging

-- jThej jtypej jofj jproductj jorj jservice;

manufacturer/brandj jname;j jmodelj jname/number;j jdatej jofj jpurchase/contract; warrantyj jexpirationj jdate;j jsalesperson;j jcostj jofj jproduct/service;j jdatej jproblem occurred; and a description of the problem is listed. This allows organization to exercise control, and assure proper follow-through. •

Investigating j--j jcustomer'sj jexplanationj jofj jaj jproblemj jprovidesj jmuch

information. Nevertheless, to assure they have all the information needed for a thorough review of the facts involved, by: o Researching in-house records on the customer; o Requesting receipts, or other records; o Inspecting the product, or service performed; and o Following-up with the customer for any necessary additional information. •

Acknowledging j--j jWhenj jVishalj jmegaj jmartj jcannotj jresolvej janj jissue

immediately, it is important to let customer know that the matter is receiving attention. Customer is given information about how long it will take to complete action on the complaint. If there is further delay, it’s made sure to advise customer why and when Big Bazaar expects to have an answer. •

Formulating A Solution -- solution is made to be consistent with established

customer relations policy and important criteria are taken into account: o Contractual and/or warranty obligations; o The customer's expectations; o expectations of the customer; o The cost/benefit of alternative solutions; o The probability and cost of customer seeking redress in some other way; o The comprehensiveness and fairness of solution; o ability to perform the solution; and o What to do if the customer rejects solution.

5 0

•

Responding -- The response is made clear and appropriate. The customer

must understand the response, and the response must address the issues raised in the customer's original complaint. An explanation of decision preserves the goodwill of customer, even if the decision itself is adverse

•

Following-Up – Customer is contacted following response to verify whether

or not the matter has been resolved satisfactorily. If customer is unhappy with response,j jorganizationj jrefersj jthej jmatterj jtoj jaj jthirdj jpartyj jdisputej jresolution mechanism for assistance.  Steps Involved in customer Satisfaction through Service: o Seeing problems from the customer’s perspective o Managing customers' "moments of truth" o Communicating effectively through better listening o Analyzing how customer perceptions are formed o Managing anger and other service behaviours o Dealing with long-term consequences of service breakdowns o Negotiating solutions o Generating an action plan for improved on-the-job effectiveness

5 1

SWOT ANALYSIS

52

VISHAL MEGA MART Strength : − High Brand Equity in evolving retails markets − State-of-art infrastructure of Big Bazaar outlets − POP to increase the purchase − One stop shop for variety of products, increasing customer time and available choices

Weakness : − Unable to meet store opening target so far − Falling revenue per square feet

Opportunity : − Organized retail is just 4.15%of total pie of Indian retail market − Evolving Customer preferences in recent years.

Threat : − Competitors, global big players planning to foray into market − Government policies are not well-defined in India − Unorganized retail market of India

5 3

RELIANCE MART Strengths : − High quality, − latest in-style products, − international shopping experience − value for money pricing − loyal following − Own brand of merchandise, which is both trendy and individualistic. − new introductions every week − variety of designs and styles −

exciting mix with a range extending from stylized clothes, footwear and accessories for men, women and children to well-co-coordinated table linens, artefacts, home accessories and furnishings.

− Well-designed interiors, sprawling space, prime locations, lovely coffee shops add to the customers’ shopping experience.

Weakness : − Needs to expand faster to maintain market share − Size of the stores should be increased to stock more products. − Targets the middle-class segment. Higher class customers do not prefer west side. − Trent limited may not be able operate west side efficiently due to its other operations.

5 4

OPPORTUNITIES:

− To survive in today’s world globalization is important. Reliance mart have a wide opportunity to go more global to improve and expand its business. − They also have the opportunity to consider more overseas supplier which will actually give them cost advantage, rather than suppliers available on a local level. − They also have the opportunity to maximize the use of available technology to improve their functioning and to gain competitive advantage.

Threats : –

If the unorganized retailers are put together, they are parallel to a large supermarket with no or little overheads, high degree of flexibility in merchandise, display, prices and turnover.

–

Shopping Culture: Shopping culture has not developed in India as yet. Even now malls are just a place to hang around with family and friends and largely confined to Window-shopping.

–

Cultural Variation leads to variation in merchandise in India at different geographical locations.

–

Competition from future group and various other retail stores which are growing rapidly.

5 5

INDIAN CONSUMERISM The lifestyle and profile of the Indian consumer is going through a rapid transformation. The population of India is young, energetic and full of enthusiasm. 50% of the Indian population is under the age of 25. There has been a transition from price consideration to quality and design, as the focus of the customer has changed. The upper and middleclass population of today needs a feel good experience even if they have to spend a little more for that. People are moving towards luxury and want to experiment with fashion and technology. There is an increasing need of better apparels, cars, mobile phones and consumer durables.

56

The food & grocery, clothing, consumer durables and books & music sectors are the major retail sectors. However, unorganized small outlets largely control the sector. Hence there is tremendous potential for the organized sector in various formats, such as hypermarkets, supermarkets, specialty stores, category killers and discount chains.

5 7

ANALYSIS

Q1) What Retail chain do you usually go to? 

Reliance mart



Vishal mega mart



Any other

5 8

The observation shows that 44 % of people out of 100 person surveyed prefer to go to Vishal mega mart and only 38 % & 18% prefer to go reliance mart & any other retail outlet respectively.

Q2) How often do you visit a Coffee Shop? 

Once in a month



Twice in a month



Thrice in a month

5 9

The observation shows that 42 % of people out of 100 person surveyed visits retail stores once in a month and only 38 % & 20% visits the retail stores twice & thrice in a month respectively.

Q3) How much money do you usually spend on shopping in a month? 

0-2500 Rupees



2500-7500 Rupees



7500-12500 Rupees



Over 12500 Rupees

The observation shows that 52 % of people out of 100 people surveyed spend Rs 2500-7500 on shopping in a month. There are only 5% people who spend more then 12500 on shopping out of 100 people surveyed. 60

Q4) How much time do you usually spend at a Shopping mart? 

Less than 1/2 hour



1/2- 1 hour



1-2 hours



Over 2 hours

The observation shows that 49 % of people out of 100 people surveyed spend 1-2 hours in shopping mart and 30 % people spend ½-1 hour on shopping at retail store. There are only 9 % people who spend more than 2 hours at shopping mart. 61

Q5) How many people do you usually go with? 

Alone



With 1 person



2-4 people



More than 4 people

The observation shows that 51 % of people out of 100 people surveyed goes along with 2-4 person for shopping & there are only 4 % people who goes for shopping along with more than four persons...

62

Q6) Please rate the following, according to your personal choice, for both Reliance mart & Questions Reliance mart Vishal mega mart 1. Quality of products: (1=Bad and 5= Excellent) 

Accessories



1





3

4

2 

Household



1





3

4

2 

Lifestyle



1





3

4

2



63





5

1

2

3









5

1

2

3









5

Vishal mega mart….



1

2

3





4

5





4

5





4

5

Questions

Reliance mart

Vishal mega mart

2. Prices of products: (1=Bad and 5= Excellent) 

Accessories



1





3

4

2 

Household



1





3

4

2 

Lifestyle



1





3

4

2







5

1

2

3









5

1

2

3









5

64



1

2

3





4

5





4

5





4

5

Questions

Reliance mart

Vishal mega mart

3. Staff: (1=Bad and 5= Excellent) 



1

Behaviour





3

4

2 



1

Manners





3

4

2 



1

Helpfulness





3

4

2 



1

Service





3

4

2









5

1

2

3









5

1

2

3









5

1

2

3









5

1

2

3

Staff 5

4

Realiance art

3 Vishal ega art 2

1 Behaviour

Manners

Questions

Helpulness

Reliance mart

65

Service

Vishal mega mart





4

5





4

5





4

5





4

5

1. What excite you most? : (1=Bad and 5= Excellent) 

Promotional offers



1





3

4

2 

Variety of products



1





3

4

2 

Price5of the products



1





3

4

2

Questions

Reliance mart









5

1

2

3









5

1

2

3













4

5





4

5





4 5

1

2

3

Vishal mega mart

2. Do you ever face any problem?(Yes/No)

66



Billing Problems



1





3

4

2 

Heavy Rush



1





3

4

2 Personnel’s lack of



5 knowledge

1







3

4

2

Questions

Reliance mart









5

1

2

3









5

1

2

3













4

5





4

5





4 5

1

2

3

Vishal mega mart

3. Overall experience? : (1=Bad and 5= Excellent) 67

Products





1





3

4

2 

People



1





3

4

2 

5 Ambience



1 2





3

4









5

1

2

3









5

1

2

3













4

5





4

5





4 5

1

2

3

68

Finding s

Findings

1. The choice of a store location has a profound effect on the entire business life of a retail operation. A bad choice may all but guarantee failure, a good choice, and success. 69

2. Choosingj jaj jretailj jlocationj jis,j jatj jbest,j jaj jriskyj jundertaking.j jConsideringj jthe consequences of choosing a location that proves to be unsuitable, it pays to get as much assistance as possible. According to a survey more than 60% of the customer prefers to shop in a retail store which is easily accessible to them. 3. Advertising plays a very important role in achieving growth for any retail company.

This is evident from the fact that Advertising by Retail Industry registered a rise of 14 percent during January - May 2009 over January - May 2008. 4. The right location, trained manpower, software assistance, product with a distinct differentiation, a strong value proposition, efficient supply chain management - these are the factors that influence the success of a retail outlet. With competition in this segmentj jincreasing,j jdifferentiationj jandj jaj jstrongj jvaluej jpropositionj jassume significance. Retail chains are realizing that they cannot be another ‘me-too’ store. The differentiation today among the 5-6 retail chains has come through private labels, which in some cases account for as much as 70 per cent of the total merchandise in the outlet. 5. Variety offered by any retail store is of very much important to attract all type of customers in the stores. A large variety of products caters to each segment of customers. 6. Shopping experience within a store also has a great impact on selecting a product fromj a jparticularj retailj store. jOverallj ambiencej includesj jinfrastructurej jfacilities provided by the store such as air conditioners, lighting etc. 7. Pricing is in fact a dramatic controller of at least 3 key strategic elements to any company's success: Company’s image, the product and services company sells and consumer behavior. The Importance of Pricing their Products' will give them an insight into developing appropriate costing methods and the impact of getting it wrong in today's competitive creative market. This topic should be of interest to anyone who is unsure if they are getting it right. Remember the difference between over or under-pricing their work can mean a very short future for any business. Approximately 60% customers think that Price is the most important factor while they go for shopping in a retail stores 8. Quality in everyday life and business, engineering and manufacturing has a pragmatic

interpretation as the non-inferiority, superiority or usefulness of something. This is the most common interpretation of the term. The quality of a product or service refers to the perception of the degree to which the product or service meets the customer's 70

expectations. Quality has no specific meaning unless related to a specific function and/or object. Quality is a perceptual, conditional and somewhat subjective attribute. And in addition to that, more than 90% of customers place quality as the most important factor than anything else in the list to shop in a retail store. 9. More than 70% of customers place variety as an important factor to shop in a particular retail store. 10. Brands name bears an important role while shopping of any type of goods. So building a brand for a retail store is important as 80% of customer still prefer to buy branded clothes in the retail store instead of local or unbranded clothes.

71

Conclusion & Suggestions

72

Conclusion Given the developments and prospects, the Indian retail sector is in its nascent stage of evolution. While there are obstacles, there are clear opportunities in modern retailing in India. There are many lessons that India can take from other countries, which have moved along the path of retail evolution. The retail sector has proved to be of immense significant from macro-economic point of view. The sector’s capability to give strong growth momentum by creating multiplier effects on other sectors is not in dispute. It is now necessary to cautiously 73

expand and develop the sector, as the government, at present, has done by permitting partial FDI in the sector. Given the scope, the retail sector is certainly expected to fetch the longterm economic benefits for the country. The convenience and personalized service offered by the unorganized sector holds its future in good stead for the future. Organized retail of late has seen a tremendous boom and is attracting more people to the malls. What is to be seen is how organized retail can duplicate the same level of personalized customer service levels offered by the unorganized sector to have a higher conversion ratio. The target audience for both the organized and unorganized retail formats remains relatively the same. When shopping in malls, people value the experience related to the trip the most and return most frequently for the same. Besides, while enjoying the experience they seem to buy high ticket and items of conspicuous consumption most frequently. Gaining and maintaining consumer preference is a battle that is never really won. Continued and consistent branding initiatives that reinforce the consumer’s purchase decision will, over time, land the product in consumer preference sets. Attaining and sustaining preference is an important step on the road to gaining brand loyalty

Suggestions 1.jInclude more trained sales person to help customers in the store while shopping. 2.jImprove quality of the products especially clothes. 3.jPlay good songs or soothing music in the store rather than cheap filmy songs. 4.jCustomer care service can be introduced 5.jMore branded products can be displayed in the store as people still prefer branded clothes than offered by local vendors. 74

6.jConstant reminder of discounts through pamphlets, speakers inside the store for inducing consumers for impulse buying. 7.jAdd more cosmetic products as its having a huge market of consumers attached to it. 8.jDisplay of product should be improved so that the product is easily visible to the consumers. 9.jProper advertisement in press and outdoor to make Vishal Mega Mart should be visible in the eyes of consumers. 10.jShould have parking spaces in front of every store. 11.jHire more salesgirls as in ladies section its very difficult for both the consumers and salesman to interact with each other. 12.jRegular training to sales person to improve there overall performance. 13.jCustomization of clothing should be given an important consideration. 14.jProper packaging and provide contrast labelling in displays of product. 15.jShould apply electronic supply chain management for better inventory management. 16.jProper power back up as air conditioners are not working to their full capacity at many stores. 17.jProper placements of Gondola in the stores as space between them are very less. 18.jProper display in the gondola and top most rack of the gondola should be used for storing of inventory rather than display of product. 19.jShould provide more festival schemes and at proper time. 20.jShould use psychological pricing-more discounts by increasing the price 21.jProper display of cutlery items 22.jClothes should be in sync with fashion.

7 5

Bibliography

76

BIBILIOGRAPHY

Books referred: 77

 Retailing Management Pradhan, Swapna

 Retail Management – A Strategic Approach Berman, Barry & Evans, Joel R.  The Art Of Retailing Lamba, A.J.

Websites :  www.google.com  www.wikipedia.com  www.vishalmegamart.com  www.reliancemart . com

 www.indianretailindustry.com

78

QUESTIONNAIRE

QUESTIONNAIR E Dear Sir/Madam, 79

I Vivek gupta student of MBA of Bhawani Shankar Anangpuria institute of technology & management, Faridabad. I am doing my project on “Marketing Strategies of Reliance Mart and Vishal Mega Mart”. Please give your precious time for filling these details.

Name: Age: Profession: Sex: Q1) What Retail chain do you usually go to? 

Reliance mart



Vishal mega mart



Any other

Q2) How often do you visit a Coffee Shop? 

Once in a month



Twice in a month



Thrice in a month

Q3) How much money do you usually spend on shopping in a month? 

0-2500 Rupees



2500-7500 Rupees



7500-12500 Rupees



Over 12500 Rupees

Q4) How much time do you usually spend at a Shopping mart? 

Less than 1/2 hour



1/2- 1 hour 80



1-2 hours



Over 2 hours

Q5) How many people do you usually go with? 

Alone



With 1 person



2-4 people



More than 4 people

Q6) Please rate the following, according to your personal choice, for both Reliance mart & Vishal mega mart….

Questions

Reliance mart

Vishal mega mart

1. Quality of products: (1=Bad and 5= Excellent) 

Accessories



1





3

4

2 

Household



1





3

4

2 

Lifestyle



1





3

4

2

Questions







5

1

2

3









5

1

2

3









5

Reliance mart

1. Prices of products: (1=Bad and 5= Excellent)

81



1

2

3

Vishal mega mart





4

5





4

5





4

5



Accessories



1





3

4

2 

Household



1





3

4

2 

Lifestyle



1





35

4

2

Questions









5

1

2

3









5

1

2

3













4

5





4

5





4 5

1

Reliance mart

2

3

Vishal mega mart

2. Staff: (1=Bad and 5= Excellent) 

Behaviour



1





3

4

2 

Manners



1





3

4

2 

Helpfulness



1





3

4

2 

5Service



1 2

Questions

Reliance mart





3

4









5

1

2

3









5

1

2

3









5

1

2

3













4

5





4

5





4

5





4 5

1

2

3

Vishal mega mart

3. What excite you most? : (1=Bad and 5= Excellent) 82

Questions Promotional offers







1Reliance mart 3







4

2. Overall experience? : (1=Bad and 5= Excellent) 2 5

Products Variety of products

  

 





11

3 3

4 4

2 2 

People Price of the products





11

5 



3 3







1





3

4



1

2

3











4

45

5

 



4

5





4

5





4

5





4

5





4

5

23

3



 

 

 

4 51

12

23

3









5

Reliance mart

1

2

5 

12





 

51 5

5

2

Questions



4 4

2 2 

Ambience







Vishal mega mart 4

3

Vishal mega mart

4. Do you ever face any problem?(Yes/No) 

Billing Problems



1





3

4

2 

Heavy Rush



1





3

4

2 Personnel’s lack of



knowledge

1







3

4

2







5

1

2

3









5

1

2

3









5

83



1

2

3