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Sales & Marketing Practices in Big Bazaar

Index
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Topic Retail Industry Future Group Big Bazaar Big Bazaar Ranchi Sales & Marketing Practices In Big Bazaar In Store Survey Problems & Suggestions Conclusion Questionnaire References

Page no. 3-8 9-10 11 12-13 14-29 30-43 44-47 48-49 50 51

Retail Industry
Indian Retail Industry Retail sector is considered a sunrise industry in Indian economy. This industry is the next biggest sector after IT and it provides about 17% employment. Indian retail industry is one of the fastest growing industries with revenue in 2007 accounting to the mark of US$320 billion and increasing at a rate of 5% yearly. Although the sector is not fully organized in India, however, it contributes 13% of GDP. The growth in this sector is mainly due to 2

consumerism in urban areas. Some of the biggest players in the world are expected to enter the Indian market soon. Shopping in India has witnessed a revolution with the change in consumer buying behaviour and altered format of shopping. The modern look of this sector is evident from multi-storied malls, huge shopping centres and sprawling complexes offering food, shopping destinations and entertainment all under same roof. At present there are about 300 malls and over 1,000 hypermarkets and 3,000 supermarkets projected to come up by 2011 Factors supporting the growth of Indian Retail Industry Booming economy of India Increase in working [population which include youth and women Change in consumer buying behaviour pattern Change in lifestyle, which is mainly influenced by western culture

Indian retail market is mostly fragmented with 12 million outlets. Only 4% of the entire retail business is under organized sector. Nearly 96% of the outlets occupy less than 500 square feet of the space. In the Indian retailing industry, food is the most dominating consumable and is growing at a rate of 9% annually. The branded food industry is trying to enter the Indian retail sector and convert Indian consumers towards branded food. At present about 60% of the Indian grocery basket consists of non branded items. A collective effort by the retailers and government can further enhance the growth pattern of this well progressing industry in India. Challenges faced by the Indian Retail Industry Unlike western countries, the Indian Retail Industry is not fully organized and is still a new concept. 3

The other major challenge in front of the Retail Industry in India is lack of retail space. With the increase in demand and change in buying behaviour of Indian consumers it is essential to organize the retail sector.

Finding trained retail manpower is also a difficult task for India also it is very expensive to train employees to get better result. This again brings down the Indian retailers profit levels.

Another problem in front of retail industry in India is lack of national network distribution.

India vs. World Indian retail is fragmented with over 12 million outlets operating in the country. This is in comparison to 0.9 million outlets in U.S.A, catering to more than 13 times of the total retail market size as compared to India. India has the highest number of outlets per capita in the world widely spread retail network but with the lowest per capita retail space (about 2 sq. ft. per person) Annual turnover of Wal-Mart (sales in 2001 were $219 billion) is higher than the entire size of Indian retail industry, almost 100 times more than the turnover of HLL (Indias largest FMCG company) Wal-Mart operates through over 4,800 stores (over 47 million square meters) where as none of Indias large format store can match it. The sales per hour of $22 million are incomparable to any retailer in the world. Number of employees in Wal-Mart is about 1.3 million where as the entire Indian retail industry employs about three million people. Developed countries like U.S. employ between 10 and 11 percent of their workforce in retailing (against 7 percent employed in India). 60% of the retailers in India feel that the multiple format approach is more effective for the growth of industry. However, limited format is widely acclaimed in U.S. retail sector.

 Inventory turns ratio (the measure of efficiency of operations) is about 18 in U.S. retail sector, while many Indian retailers have inventory turns level between 4 and 10. Global best-practice retailers can achieve more than 95% availability of all SKUs on the retail shelves. The stock-out levels among Indian retailers range from 5 to 15 percent.

Retail Formats
Malls It is the largest form of organized retail format. This type of format gives an ideal shopping experience by providing a mix of all kinds of products and services, food and entertainment under one roof. Speciality Stores The retail chain which deals with limited number of complementary merchandise of specific categories and provide deep assortment in them are speciality stores. They mainly cover the area of about 8000 sq. ft. Example: Crossword Discount Store A discount store is a retail format that offers a broad variety of merchandise and limited service in low price. This type of store offer both private label and national brand product but these brands are typically less fashion oriented. It also focus on mass selling and even sale the stock left after the season is over. Hypermarkets / Supermarkets - These are generally large self-service outlets, offering variety of categories with deep assortment. These types of store contribute 30% to 40% of groceries and other general merchandise. Example: Big Bazaar. Convenience Store - These stores provide limited variety and assortment of merchandise at a convenient location in a 2,000 to 3,000 sq ft with fast check-out. This form of store deals with limited range of high-turnover convenience product. Prices at these stores are slightly high due to the convenience premium. Departmental Store - The retailer offering general merchandise of various kinds with different quality product and services are department store. Prices are slightly higher at their store due to convenience given to the customer. It covers the area of about 20,000 to 50,000 sq ft. 5

Analysis of Indian Retail Industry

The figure shows that the revenue turn-over of Indian Retail Industry is growing at fast pace. It is likely to achieve a turnover of US$637 billion in year 2015 from a level of US$300 in year 2006.

The figure reveals that north zone is most prosperous for the retail sector. On the other hand the growth in east zone is too slow.

As expected the metro have well accepted the organized retail sector resulting fast growth of malls, supermarket is all metro cities of this country. 7

The above figure shows that food and grocery segments dominate over all other segment in Indian Retail Industry. Durable, footwear and watches and jewellery are least preferred by Indian consumer through retail store.

Future Group:
Future Group is one of the countrys leading business groups present in retail, asset management, consumer finance, insurance, retail media, retail spaces and logistics. Some of its leading retail formats include, Pantaloons, Big Bazaar, Central, Food Bazaar, Home Town, eZone, Depot, Future Money and online retail format, futurebazaar.com. Future Group companies includes, Future Capital Holdings, Future Generali India Indus League Clothing and Galaxy Entertainment that manages Sports Bar, Brew Bar and Bowling Co. Future Capital Holdings, the groups financial arm, focuses on asset management and consumer credit. It manages assets worth over $1 billion that are being invested in developing retail real estate and consumer-related brands and hotels. The groups joint venture partners include Italian insurance major, Generali, French retailer ETAM group, US-based stationary products retailer, Staples Inc and UK-based Lee Cooper and India-based Talwalkars, Blue Foods and Liberty Shoes.

Future Group Manifesto Future the word which signifies optimism, growth, achievement, strength, the word which signifies optimism, growth, achievement, strength, beauty, rewards and perfection. Future encourages to explore areas yet unexplored, write rules yet unwritten; create new opportunities and new successes. To strive for a glorious future brings to us our strength, our ability to learn, unlearn and re-learn our ability to evolve. We, in Future Group, will not wait for the Future to unfold itself but create future scenarios in the consumer space and facilitate consumption because consumption is development. Thereby, we will effect socio-economic development for our customers, employees, shareholders, associates and partners. Our customers will not just get what they need, But also get them where, how and when they need. We will not just post satisfactory results, we will write success stories. We will not just operate efficiently in the Indian economy, we will evolve it. We will not just spot trends; we will set trends by marrying our understanding of the Indian consumer to their needs of tomorrow. Group Vision 9

Future Group shall deliver Everything, Everywhere, Every time for Every Indian consumer in the most profitable manner. Group Mission We share the vision and belief that our customers and stakeholders shall be served only by creating and executing future scenarios in the consumption space leading to economic development. We will be the trendsetters in evolving delivery formats, creating retail realty, making consumption affordable for all customer segments for classes and for masses. We shall infuse Indian brands with confidence and renewed ambition. We shall be efficient, cost- conscious and committed to quality in whatever we do. We shall ensure that our positive attitude, sincerity, humility and united determination shall be the driving force to make us successful. Core Values Indian ness: confidence in ourselves. Leadership: to be a leader, both in thought and business. Respect & Humility: to respect every individual and be humble in our conduct. Introspection: leading to purposeful thinking Openness: to be open and receptive to new ideas, knowledge and information. Valuing and Nurturing Relationships: to build long term relationships. Simplicity & Positivity: Simplicity and positivity in our thought, business and action. Adaptability: to be flexible and adaptable, to meet challenges. Flow: to respect and understand the universal laws of nature.

Big Bazaar:
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Big Bazaar, a chain of hypermarket is a part of companys venture owned by the Pantaloon Retail (India) Limited, Future Group. It is the first of its kind in the world which has been successfully launched by Future Group. It works on same economic model as Wal-Mart and has achieved considerable success in many cities and towns. The first Big Bazaar came up in year 2001 and since then the company has leveraged on the value segment and expanded its presence in terms of reach and size considerably. Today there are 150 stores all over India. It is the biggest and the fastest growing chain of departmental store in India. In Big Bazaar there are many different sections for different types of merchandise category. Among all section Food Bazaar play the role of backbone as it has highest sales and is the most profitable section of Big Bazaar. Moreover it caters to every need of family. Big Bazaar claims that the best products are available at best price. With the ever increasing array of private labels, it has opened doors into the world of fashion and general merchandise including home furnishing, utensils, crockery, cutlery, sports goods and much more at prices that will be a surprise for the customers. Big Bazaar has also planned to add much to give a complete good shopping experience for the entire family.

Sales and Marketing practices in Big Bazaar

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The main objective of the sales and marketing practices followed in Big Bazaar is to increase the overall footfall, brand image, brand awareness and sales figure of the company. For this the company performs several activities which are planned in the zonal headquarter of the company and later on implemented in all the stores across the zone. Some of the major sales and marketing practices followed by Big Bazaar are as discussed below.

Marketing Practices
Big Bazaar follows several BTL, ATL and other promotional activities for the promotion of its products and offers in national and local levels. These activities are implemented by the marketing team of stores in every team on routine basis. Following are some of the marketing activities conducted by Big Bazaar. Below The Line (BTL) promotional activities: Below The Line sales promotion is an immediate or delayed incentive to purchase and operates for a short duration. It is an efficient and cost-effective way of targeting a specific group of customers. It uses less conventional methods of advertisement mainly focusing on direct means of communication like e-mail, leaflet distribution etc. BTL is a common technique used for "touch and feel" products, i.e. products for which the customer will tend to obtain the information at point of purchase rather than previously researched items. BTL techniques ensure recall of the brand while at the same time highlighting the features of the product.

Some of the BTL activities followed by Big Bazaar:

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Society activities: This is a practice of conducting promotional events in different residential societies of the city, which already has a huge customer base or has the potential of creating new target customers. This activity includes several games and entertainment programmers for the society people in order to interact with them and in the process make them aware about the different offers and products available in Big Bazaar, through frequent announcements and leaflet distributions. Company sponsored gifts and discount vouchers are also given to the winners and participants of different contests organized in these society activities, in order to make a new customer base. Overall these types of promotional events are highly capable of drawing the present and new customers to the store and also help in building a sustaining relationship with them. It enables the company employees to directly interact with their customers outside the store, which provides them with valuable feedbacks to improve their services and follow the latest consumer trends. Van activity: This is a promotional activity conducted in different parts of the city by a branded van or vehicle. In this activity a vehicle carrying posters and brand logo of Big Bazaar travels in different residential areas and makes people aware about the different offers, discounts and products available in the store, through leaflet distribution and frequent announcements. This practice is very useful in small towns and cities where it is quite common for companies to advertise their products through announcements in residential areas. In this practice the Big Bazaar employees visit each and every house, in the locality they are visiting, and provide the residents with leaflets describing the ongoing offers and product range in the store. This activity is very much similar to door to door promotion practice and is very effective in creating value for the customers and spreading brand awareness. Leaflet distribution through newspapers: This activity includes distribution of the leaflets and pamphlets displaying the product range and ongoing offers in the store, along with the newspapers. This process enables easy and assured distribution of the leaflets in each and every household of the city where newspaper is distributed. Hence, customers are made aware of the various offers and discount opportunities in the very early part of the day, which creates a great opportunity for the company to increase their footfall. 13

In store events: This is a practice of conducting various competitions and entertainment activities in the store premises to attract the customers and increase the overall foot fall in the store. Usually these events are communicated to the present and target customers, through other forms of promotional activities, and they are invited to participate in these programs. The basic idea of these events is to make the retail outlet not only an ideal place for shopping but also for family outing. Through these programs, customers are encouraged to spend more time in the store and are made aware about the different products and benefits in Big Bazaar. Moreover these activities help in good relationship building and customer retention. These events may also include some big scale events like fashion shows, dance competition etc. to attract a huge crowd, hence creating a good base for carrying out promotional activities. Festival and anniversary celebrations: These activities include celebration of various occasions like festivals and store anniversary with the customers. It helps in relationship building with the customers and also creates brand awareness. Above The Line (ATL) promotional activities Above The Line is an advertisement technique which involves communication media such as television, cinema, radio, print, web banners and web search engines to promote brands. This type of communication is conventional in its nature and is regarded as impersonal to customers. It is much more effective when the target group is very large and difficult to define.

Major ATL activities followed in Big Bazaar: Advertisement through newspaper: This promotional practice through newspapers is done both in local as well as national level. The company gives ads in the local newspapers 14

describing the current ongoing offers and product range while the national newspapers, which have a reach in many states of the country are used to display ads for brand awareness and convey the achievements of the company. This method is very useful, as it is very effective in creating brand image and brand awareness among the customers. Advertisement through television: Like newspaper advertisements, television advertisements are also conducted in both local and national level. The local TV channels are used to convey the ongoing offers and product range in the local Big Bazaar stores through attractive ads while the national TV channels are used to promote the company as a brand and make people aware about its general product range. Advertisement through radio: Radio is a mass entertainment and communication media, and it is very helpful in promoting the ongoing offers and store activities through small and attractive ads. Due to its huge reach among the customers, radio is a very important media for creating brand awareness and creating new customer base.

Other marketing practices:

Promotion through Visual Merchandising: Visual Merchandising is the art of presentation, which puts the merchandise in focus with in a retail outlet to the best of its advantage. It sets the context of the merchandise in an aesthetically pleasing fashion and presents them in a way that would convert the window shoppers into prospects and ultimately buyers of the particular store. Visual merchandising helps to achieve operational product management objectives, maximizing the efforts of the buying teams by giving the product the best opportunity to sell. Visual merchandising blends with the store design to create an environment that sends out strategic messages to consumers in order to reinforce the retailer's brand values. It also includes window displays, signs, interior displays, cosmetic promotions and any other special sales promotions taking place.

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Visual Merchandising has also played major role in Educating the customers about the product or service in an effective and creative way. Present merchandise in 3D environment and thereby enabling long lasting impact. By keeping the merchandise in prime focus it create linkage between fashion, product design and marketing. Creative, technical and operational aspects of a product and the business. Enable customer to make purchase within short time by drawing attention Visual merchandise also include Lighting Layout Mannequin Display Stacking Promo Zone Music Cleanliness Facade Some of General Guideline for Visual Merchandise are: Product should be always placed in front and moreover should be pulled forward to the edge of the shelf so that it is clearly visible. All the stock must be always front facing so that if the product of the front row is sold than also it is clearly visible to the customer Horizontal brand blocks to be created in sections from top shelf to the bottom shelf. In order to make the old product come in front of the new product the FIFO system of display must be adopted

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The shelves should be kept at the comfortable eye level in order to correctly examine the fast moving SKU's. For stocking additional stock the top and bottom shelves are used. The stock on the top shelves must be front facing.

Regarding any offer in a particular section there must be a very clear communication. The use of appropriate signage should be guide by the signage manual.

General Merchandise Presentation Rule at Food Bazaar Fronting The position of the product at the front edge of the shelf ensure that the shelf appear full/ even when it is in need of restocking. Hence, it is recommended that the product should always been fronted of the shelf. Facing The product should always have their labels of the stock front facing in order to make sure that the front of the next package is clearly visible even though the prior have been sold out. Horizontal Brand Blocks The enormous variety of the product can be exposed in front of the customer by blocking the product horizontally in a systematic way from top to bottom. First In First Out The First in and first out system should be follow during the product display process in which the old product are pulled in front and new go behind. This ensures the frequent rotation of the merchandise.

Signage and Communication

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Adequately highlighting the entire offer regarding the product available in the store is necessary. And in order to make this happen proper guide line should be taken up by the signage manual on the uses of appropriate signage fixture. Display Instruction for Apparels The merchandise needs to be ironed before hanging. Display merchandise keeping in mind colour blocking. Display of mannequins must be change with latest style on every alternative day. Change display on the bust every alternate day. Merchandise having large number of variety should be displayed at first rather than low variety. Display should be done with selected variety of colour. Signages Signage is the best way to communicate, educate and inform customer in store and sometime it even instruct customer to visit the store too. Signage design make customer feel them at their home as they can use instruction given. Types of Signages: Directional Signages guides to customer with the store facilities like trial room, restroom, etc. Informational Signages provide information to customer and though help them in making purchases. Departmental Signages is used for identification of different department in the store. It should be very much clear from every department of the store. Instructional Signages carries instruction related to store policies like no smoking, pet not allowed, exchange polices, etc. Corporate Branding Signages "Is se sasta aur achha kahin nahi" is the signage used by Big Bazaar to show its corporate value in market. Promotional Signages are based on promotional themes currently running in 18

store. These signages are used during special promotion initiated by management heads. Supplier Signages are used by supplier to help in improving sale of product.

Sales Practices
Sales practices in Big Bazaar includes introduction of various offers and discounts in its products to encourage the customers give them preference over the other retail outlets and the local market. This also includes keeping particular day of the week, or particular period of the year as the low cost period, when the prices are very low. Some of the major Sales Practices in Big Bazaar are as follows: Offer Updating The prime objective of every retailer is to provide customer satisfaction in most profitable manner. Offers and discounts play very important role in this business. This not only serves loyal customers but also attracts the casual visitors to the stores. This may also be seen as an opportunity to increase their customer net-work. The seasonal offers and discounts are also very effective to clear their piled stoke. It is the duty of Departmental Manger or Assistant Departmental Manager to ensure the smooth running of offers in store by informing store IT, VM, CSD and Head Cashier.

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Hierarchy Structure for offer updating

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Steps involved in updating offers Stepl In the beginning of every week Category Team or Zonal Office send a mail to the Store Manager. That contains the details of "offers of the day" or "offers of the hours" in that week. Step 2 If Assistant Departmental Manager is convinced, he/ she make entry in Discount Promotion Sheet (DPS) and communicate the same to the store IT Department with a copy to Visual Managers, Customer Service Desk and Head Cashier. Step 3 Then IT updates these offers in REM and communicates to Head Cashier about the same. Step 4 IT also needs to update the list of offers running in the store during the day onthe information network. Step 5 Subsequently, Head Cashier communicates "new offers" to all the other cashiers in store for their reference. Step 6 Visual Manager then prints necessary signages to be displayed up on the floor. Step 7 As Discount Promotion Sheet is prepared and the copies are signed by DM/ADM, IT and VM. Now signages are ready to put on the floor and CSD can make announcement of new offers.

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Structural Representation of Offers Updating Process

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Some points are needed to considered will updating offers: IT department must delete old offers from REM before updating the new one for the same merchandise. Old offer running on any merchandise must be signed by DM / ADM in Discount Promotion Sheet. Signages for any new offer must not be displayed on floor before it is updated in system. Offers can be updated only either article wise, merchandise category wise, product hierarchy wise or class wise. It is necessary to ensure that the offers are under the proper scheme header.

Special occasion and festival discount offers Big Bazaar offers special discount offers in festivals and certain occasions like company anniversary. Apart from these every Wednesday the prices are kept less than rest of the week to attract customers. These practices provide customers greater value and also increase the sale for the company in these periods.

Some other useful practices performed to conduct an effective marketing campaign and hence enhance the sale:
Customer Classification: Big Bazaar classifies its customer in 5 different categories Loyal Customer - Big Bazaar retain only 20% of its customer as loyal customer. But these 20% of the customer make up more than 50% of total sales in store. Loyal customers are the one how not only visit store again but also bring new customer in store, so it is quit necessary for the store manger to be in contact with these category with the help of telephone, e-mails, etc. these customer also influence merchandise decision. These types of customer also give suggestion required for the betterment of the store or firm. 23

Discount Customer - Big Bazaar classify customer in this category who visit the store very frequently but their purchase decision depends on the size of markdowns. This category of customer helps in clearing blocked inventory. This particular category of customer usually get attracted towards the offers like "Bye 2 Get 1 Free", "Bye 1 Get 1 Free" Make a purchase of 399 and get a SIM card free", "Make Purchase of some amount and get a gift voucher", etc and make there purchases on regard basics. Impulse Customer - This group of customer visit store with not an intension to make purchase of particular item. They just come for a visit and make their purchase if they find anything good at the very moment. Impulse Shoppers are affected by display and new offers. So Big Bazaar to increase impulse customer need to focus on display and offers. These groups of customer are very necessary as they provide the store with significant amount of customer desired merchandise and knowledge. Need Based Customer - Big Bazaar management classifies customers in this group who come to store just to make the purchase of specific products only. On their entry, they move directly to the section of their interest. These customers do not visit any other section of the store. These customers can become loyal if a proper encouragement and care. Big Bazaar needs to give more consideration to this particular category. It is highly desirable not to ignore these prospers customer. Wandering Customer - This group people are not actually the customer of store. They have no specific need or desire in mind when they come into the store. Rather they come with family or friends with then intension to just for window shopping. Big Bazaar at Ranchi usually has lot of crowd due to this category. The main reason behind this is location, and this location of big Bazaar Ranchi is best. Wandering customer are some time very good of store as they stay in store for about 2 to 3 hours and during their stay they go through all the offers and product available in store. In this way they communicate information about store, merchandise available, etc and brings new customer to store.

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Every category of customers is important for Big Bazaar. A few are loyal then other helps in stock clearance. Impulse Shopper and Need Based Customers is also a kind of loyal customer if they get their desired product. Wandering customers are the source of communication for store. Customer Service Customer service is one of most important function of store operation. This part of store operation only works for customer. It is all about dealing with all short of problem faced by customer in store. Formulating policies and processes to make CSD more customer friendly. Creating relationship with customer helps companies to achieve its goal easily. Usually, Customer Relations Management handles this responsibility. Every employee of store need to be concerned about customer but Customer Service Desk is the main player. CSD helps customer by giving answer of quires asked by them. These quires can be face to face or on telephone or through mail or may be any other means of communication. Customer service also consist of some service like gift raping, home delivery, making exchange note for customers, etc. Crowd Management With the arrival of monsoon in India, retail industry across India also brings monsoon for Indian customer by various discounts and offers. Like other Big Bazaar also run discounts to celebrate Republic Day, Independence Day, Puja celebration and other occasion. Big Bazaar's crowed manages crowd well in the off season. However management becomes difficult during discount season. Big Bazaar not only faces the problem of heavy rush during discount and offer time but also on Wednesday and weak ends. Sometime crowds are even sectional this means discount is offered by specific section. This is mainly due to heavy discount offered. Following are few example of offers Live Kitchen department gives the offer of "Rs.100 free purchases on every purchase of Rs.200", Ladies Apparels department giving the offer of "Buy 1 Ethnic Get 1 Free", etc. 25 It interacting with customers and collecting their feedback.

The crowd pattern in Big Bazaar as follows: All over the store at the time of sale. Crowed accommodation high at particular section on offer by a section. Customer Service Desk for exchange, gift wrapping, for any enquiry regarding store or product. At Billing counters to make payment. Check in and Checkout counters. At parking area due to shortage of area in parking lot. To manage huge rush management team need to create better infrastructure by consider following things like Salesperson should be always at their respective section to help customer. Customer service executive should always be at their service place to help people on their need At billing counter, during rush hours a well learned cashiers must be there to serve customer rather than new or learning cashiers. Sometime cashiers are not there at the counter. movement to customer moving in and out. For parking lot rush Big Bazaar need to increase the parking area People Management People Management is all about dealing with staffs of the store. Employee scheduling and motivation is another part of people management. Following are the points to be considered for management of staffs at store: Providing job training to staff regarding merchandise, inventory, sales planning, sales budgeting and other related matter. Ensure that all the staffs are in time at their job. Make sure that all the employees are disciplined and adhere to the stores policies. Management more security guards at check-in and checkout counter for the faster

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Needs to develop & maintains a motivated and enthusiastic team who would achieve and exceed targets. Identification of potential people for higher responsibilities Boosting staff morale and developing the right attitude and team spirit in them. Creates a professional environment for internal as well as external customers. Building relationships with institutes in and around the store for recruitment and for promotions.

Making succession planning Making future plans and roles to be played by staff.

Employee Scheduling at Big Bazaar Managers have to report on a scheduled time i.e. 10.30 am. Every manger get only one week off. The reporting time for the junior executive is divided in two shifts. The first shift starts atl0.30 AM and ends at 8.30 PM. The other shift starts from 11.30 am till the last customer. Junior executive also share one week off only.

Employee's Motivation at Big Bazaar A weekly meeting is held on every Saturday. This is also a way of communication among staff of different level. All the store related matters are discussed in this meeting. To motivate junior executive Big Bazaar has certain awards ceremony on monthly basic. Other attempts which Big Bazaar takes to motivate and train the staff in different operational skill. The junior executive is deputed to deferent sections. For example cahier is sending to assist CSD security person at check in and check out gates.

In-Store Survey at Big Bazaar Ranchi

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An in-store survey was conducted at Big Bazaar Ranchi to acquire customer feedback. To know customer view on the questions in the questionnaire, a survey with sample size of 30 customers was conducted. Few questions during survey were just to know lifestyle and family background. The rest were based on parameters which formed the basis of the survey.

The figure revels among the people surveyed most of them belong to service class which was followed by student.

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The above figure shows that 30 people were surveyed out of which 19 were male and 11 were female.

Following are the certain parameters based on which the survey was conducted 1. Product at the Store In survey product at store was rated good, average or bad with relation to quality, price and availability.

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The above illustrated figure reveals the customer rating given to product quality. About 63% of customer gave good respond to quality of product.

The figure analyses the quality of product with price. As per survey most of the customer thinks products are very costly.

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The figure gives the idea regarding availability of product in store as per customers. 3. Media Survey: During this survey we even came to know about how much do ads affect customers

The figure shows customer thinking about ads.

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Majority of people coming to Big Bazaar came to know about Big Bazaar from newspapers

As per the figure most people of Ranchi prefer reading Prabhat Kabhar which is then followed by Hindustan Times with 23%

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Whichradio channel do youlik e

6% 28% 4% 44% Radio Dhoom Vividh Bharti Radio Mantra 92.7 17% None

During survey it was found that 44% of the people surveyed liked Radio Dhoom

W hichTVchannel youlik e
14% 42% Music Entertainment 35% 9% Sports News

Most of the respondents like watching news channels, which is 42% of the total sample, the second category of most popular channel in eyes of surveyed people is entertainment channels which include Star Plus, Sony, and Zee TV. 4. Fashion Attitude survey 33

Figure gives the idea about people mentality regarding cloths. Most respondent agreed to the fact that clothes reflected the social status. 5. Store Ambience and environment Survey:

Most of customer coming to store respondent that music at store is very good but around 8% of customer which mainly include age group of 50+ find the music to be very noisy.

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This figure gives the idea regarding announcement. As per survey 61% of customer feels that it is necessary as it gives an idea about offers in store.

54% of the customer wants that announcement must be clear. Moreover many of them even asked to appoint a female announcer rather than male.

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S toreC nlines lea s

9% Clean 37% 54% Not clean Fine

The above figure illustrates that 54% of customer think that store is clean.

T perature P em referredat S tore

8%

OK Shooting Comfortable

92%

Respond to towards temperature maintained in store is very good as 92% of customer respondent temperature to be comfortable for them. 36

Most of the customers are satisfies with the lighting at store.

Majority of customer said that product display is good in Big Bazaar with regard to other store is Ranchi. But some asked it to improve it bit to make it best.

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6. Staff knowledge, Parking and Service Survey

Figure reveals customer think regarding staffs knowledge. 80% of people think staff on floor has proper knowledge.

The figure shows that 58% of people want improvement in parking area.

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7. Offers Survey

The above appearing figure revels that 56% of customer prefers 50% discount on their purchase rather than any other. 8. Over all view of Customer

The above figure illustrates that 80% of the customer view regarding the store is good and 18% gives averages. 39

The figure reveals customers visit to Big Bazaar on monthly basis.

The above figure illustrates the overall experience of customer at BIG Bazaar. 80% of the customers are happy with the service and product available at store.

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The above appearing fig illustrates customer preference for shopping at Ranchi.

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Problems & Suggestions

Problems: Communication in store Advertisement is link between company and consumer. It is very essential for any company to be careful while promotion and advertising. It is very essential for management team and staff at store to be careful, conscious and prompt while advertising. Company must update regularly and should have timely display of advertisement. Merchandise Availability Merchandise department faces lots of problem. It happens when merchandise are not available at the time of demand season or over stock while the product is not in demand. This problem is very command in Loot Mart store of Big Bazaar. Management need to be very conscious in this area as it will distracts a regular customer, and they move to other stores. Management must look into the interest and requirement of consumers and before putting order to manufactures. What type of product the particular store need in a particular locality. It is also need for a company to standardize their formats at store. Coupons This is a problem common to all stores of Big Bazaar. This involves non-availability of merchandise or service against the issued coupons. Coupons mainly exist for short period of time. Problem arises when customer are not aware about expire of the coupon. The problems of coupons are very common in case of "Atta and Sugar" coupons which are to be collected by customer every month. On several occasions customers come to CSD with last month's coupons.

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It is the responsibility of company to look in to this matter. They need to give details while offering coupons. This facilitates customers to collect their gift voucher, etc. on time. Problem of long queues Problem of long queues is common in all the Big Bazaar across the country and it becomes more intense during offer periods. Many times people purchasing small amount of goods have to wait for a long time in the queue. Employees with mobile billing device should be deployed to make the bill for people purchasing small quantity of goods, during rush hours, and more departmental billing centres should be made instead of common billing centres. Lack of space Customers face the problem of lack of walking space during the rush hours and offer periods, when footfall is at the maximum level. Hence, there should be more walking space and extra inventories should be kept in warehouse instead of store. Discount Problem Usually Big Bazaar faces critical problem of discount and offers. It happens when customers doesn't get the current offer for which they are entitled due to lack of awareness and wrong advertisement. Problem of Theft in Store Theft shrinkage and shoplifting are biggest problem in retail store and the major cause of loss. It often happen that customer steals merchandise from the store and sell it outside somewhere else. Sometime they return the stolen merchandise of one store or branch to another for cash refund. This is also true that the stealing or shrinkage is done by staff also. The ratio of shoplifters within staff is very high. The reason behind this is, staffs members are aware from the steps taken for prevent theft and knows the ways of safe stealing. 43

A 2-3% loss of sales to shoplifter may result in about 25% loss in profit. For some smaller establishments or those on otherwise tight margins/ retail theft not only affects their productivity and competitiveness, but also threatens their economic existence. The problem of this crime is not merely confined to front line of the company but the consumer becomes the major victim when store subsidize losses through elevated prices. Actually, most retail theft are identified at the time of audit rather than witnessing, hence it is not clear whether customers, staff or suppliers perpetrate the theft. Ultimately, the whole society suffers when business viability becomes vulnerable. To prevent theft Big Bazaar takes follows steps: o Hard Tags o Soft Tags o Sting Tags o Closed Circuit Television Cameras (CCTV) o Separate entry and exit for staff members o Staff members checking by guards while exit o Theft prevention committee on floor What else can be done? o Make the staff realize that this is your business and loyalty is the best policy that must be adopted to get promoted. o Strict action against the section whose merchandise is missing o Loyalty programs for staff o Placement of the salesperson should be at the point from where he/she can watch the customers properly. Suggestion Big Bazaar should adopt following strategies for the betterment of the store. 44

Customer Service 1. Staff at Customer Service Desk must answer all question asked by customer either face to face and through phone or by mail. 2. They must deal with problem faced by their customer 3. Only those promises should be made with which company can deal. Employee Motivation 1. To motivate employee management should promote teamwork among employees. 2. They must create future opportunity for cross-learning. Employee of junior level should also given right to share their idea. This will create felling of belongingness among them. 3. For good performance management should identify goal and each employee amount be give target to be active by them. Managing merchandise 1. There should be proper management of merchandise. Management should know about the products on high and low demands. This makes merchandise management proper. Ways to Increase Sales 1. Set up a sale incentive program among the sales staff. 2. Store should tie up with customer by create a loyalty program among them. 3. Sales can also be increased by distributing free sample at different place like cinema hall, schools, college, etc.

Conclusion

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1.

Offers and discounts play very important role in this business. The strategy of offer must be adopted on the basis of rigorous survey. The steps involving "offer updated" in Big Bazaar are satisfactory. However, more efficient information network is necessary to avoid costumer dissatisfaction.

2.

Theft, shrinkage and shoplifting are biggest problem in retail store and the major cause of loss. Big Bazaar enforces various steps to minimize it. However, this can be overcome to a greater degree by introducing innovative ideas and deputing loyal and efficient staff at critical points.

3.

Well trained and motivated staff can make a significant difference in retail sector. Employee's Motivation at Big Bazaar includes weekly meeting, well developed communication system and awards.

4.

Big Bazaar manages crowd well in the off season. To manage huge rush, especially during festival seasons, management team need to create better infrastructure. This has also been highlighted by the customers during survey.

5.

Visual Merchandising along with Store Design create an environment that sends out strategic messages to consumers. Though Visual Merchandising and Store Designing at Big Bazaar at Ranchi are satisfactory however, customers felt that there is ample scope to improve it.

6.

Customer service is one of most important functions of store operation. Creating relationship with customer helps companies to achieve its goal easily. On the basis of survey, Big Bazaar may further strengthen the customer service to win the confidence of customers.

Following are the some important conclusions based on the survey:

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(a) (b) (c) (d) (e)

That majority of customers belong to service class followed by students. Therefore, Big Bazaar may take appropriate action to widen its customer network. Nearly 63% customers prefer quality products, however they felt that these products were expensive. As per survey 61% of customer felt that announcements help them to take appropriate action in the store. However, loud music may be avoided. 80% of people expressed satisfaction as far as the knowledge of staff is concerted. 80% of the customers are happy with the service and product available at store.

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Questionnaire
1. Please mention your profession, gender and age. 2. How do you rate the products available at Big Bazaar Ranchi? 3. From your point of view do prices match to the quality of products available? 4. Are you satisfied with the availability of products in the store? 5. What do you think about the effectiveness of advertisement campaigns of Big Bazaar? 6. How do you come to know about the store? 7. Which newspaper(s) do you read? 8. Which radio channel(s) you like? 9. Which TV channel(s) you like to watch? 10. Do the fashion clothes available in Big Bazaar Ranchi are at pace with current trends and reflect your social status? 11. How is the music inside the store? 12. How effective are the announcements? 13. What type of announcements do you prefer? 14. What do you think about the cleanliness of the store? 15. What do you think about the temperature inside the store? 16. How do you rate the lighting inside the store? 17. How do you rate the product display inside the store? 18. Do you think the staffs have adequate product knowledge? 19. How do you rate the parking space? 20. What offer you like the most? 21. What is your overall rating of the store? 22. How frequently you visit Big Bazaar, in a month? 23. How was your overall experience at the store? 24. What are the other shopping destinations you would like to visit in Ranchi?

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References Books: o Retail Management By Levy and Wetizl o Managing Retailing By Sinha and Uniyal o Marketing Management By Kotler, Keller, Koshy, and Jha o Advertising Management Concepts and Cases By Manendra Mohan Journals o Network Magazine India o Economic Times o Business Line o Business Standards o Research Paper of Pantaloon Retail India Ltd. o Survey Paper of KPMG Websites: o www.wikipedia.com o www.retailinstitute.ac o www.indianretail.com o www.imagesretail.com o www.indiasbiwatch.org o www.kpmg.cz o www.magindia.com

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