BUSINESSFAMILIARIZATION

PROJECT
BUSINESS AREA: SHOE
SHOP
Submitted by
ELSA JOSE
Under the Supervision of
Prof. Stephen Analil

2012-2014

INTRODUCTION TO THE BUSINESSAREA

Footwear consists of garments worn on the feet, for fashion, protection against the environment,
and adornment. Being barefoot is commonly associated with poverty, but some cultures chose
not to wear footwear at least in some situations.
Socks and other hosiery are usually worn between the feet and other footwear, less often with
sandals and flip flops (thongs). Footwear is sometimes associated with fetishism, particularly in
some fashions in shoes, including boots.
Durable shoes are a relatively recent invention, though many ancient civilizations wore
ornamental footwear. Many ancient civilizations saw no need for footwear. The Romans saw
clothing and footwear as signs of power and status in society, and most Romans wore footwear,
while slaves and peasants remained barefoot.[1] The Middle Ages saw the rise of high-heeled
shoes, also associated with power, and the desire to look larger than life, and artwork often
depicted someone barefoot as a symbol of poverty. Bare feet are also seen as a sign of humility
and respect, and adherents of many religions worship or mourn barefoot, or remove their shoes
as a sign of respect towards someone of higher standing.
In some cultures, it is customary for people to remove their shoes before entering a home, and
some religious communities require shoes to be removed before entering a building which they
regard as holy, such as a temple.
Practitioners of the craft of shoemaking are called shoemakers, cobblers.
Footwear business is one of the main businesses capable of making maximum profit. The
demand for footwear is endless. Though there occurs a change in trend there is no decrease in
demand for footwear. People still use footwear. As the standard of living has improved and
people now a days spend lot of money and they have more than one sandal with them. Today
people identify their footwear as a part of their status and it is equally important as the dress they
wear. So people today are really bothered about their choice of footwear and are ready to spend
for it.
Due to the increased demand and the readiness from the part of customers make footwear
business a profitable one motivating people to start a shoe shop. This is a field where one can
make more profit when compared to many other businesses.

ORGANIZATION PROFILE

HISTORY
The shoe shop K.J.FOOTMARK is owned by Mr. Thomas John. He started it with the name K.J.
AGENCIES in the year 1990with wholesale division only. The shop got its new name five years
back in the year 2007 after its renovation which added the retail outlet to the shop. The shop is
located about 3kms from Perinthalmanna Town in the first floor of a building. Mr. Thomas John
started the business with the cash he had from his ancestral property. He has a diploma in
electronics and then started the business. The showroom has an area of 500 sq.kms.and the
stockroom area of 2500sq.kms. The showroom is L-shaped and the stockroom is of rectangular
shape.

BUSINESS MODEL
Products
The products that are available for sale in this shoe mart are as follows

Footwear
Bags
Umbrellas
Travel goods

Pricing strategy
The pricing strategy that is adopted in the shop is that for all branded items the MRP given by
The Company is the price, whereas non-branded items are sold with a margin of 25-30%. A
discount of 5% is allowed for each sale. The price of products ranges from Rs.100- Rs.2500.

Volume of business
The shop has a dealership of more than 32 footwear companies which includes odyssia and
mark. The shop has the dealership of both popy and johns umbrellas. The company also owns
the dealership of candyman and scoobee day bags.
The revenue on an average is 225000/month. And the cost incurred is 125000/month which
makes a profit of 1 lakh/month. Seasonal variations occur in the footwear business. March is
found to be the dull period during an entire year whereas May and June brings the maximum
profit due to the school re-opening.

EMPLOYEE
There are mainly 6 employees which includes 3 male staff and 3 female staff. There is no
specific reporting hierarchy. All the employees report to the owner. One female staff is in the
billing section and all the others in sales. Payment mode is of daily wages for all the male staff
and monthly salary for female staff. Their roles includes attending the customer, understanding
their traits and influence the customer to buy maximum number of items from the shop and
ensure that they come back for more purchase.

CUSTOMER
All categories of people come in as customers from children to old aged ones. Since the shop
provides footwear for all type of people there is no discrimination as far as customers is
concerned. The preferences differ from one customer to the other. So the shop tries its maximum
to satisfy the taste of all its customers. Customers expect the salesperson to assist them in

Selecting the best for them and want new models and variety of colors in the same model so that
they can choose the best out of it. Customers are all generally satisfied with the collections the
shop has and the only suggestion that the customers make is that the shop could have been in the
ground floor so that it would have been easy for them.

SUPPLIER
Products for sale are collected from all over Kerala especially Calicut. Footwear industry is
mainly located in Calicut. Order is given through the salesperson who comes to the shop or the
owner go to those companies, select the models and then give orders. Products are also taken
from Ernakulam, Delhi and Bombay. All branded items like Reebok, Adidas, Woodland, Aston,
Bata and Doc & Mark comes from their companies. The items are supplied through parcel
service, bus, goods carrier or by van delivery. Items if ordered in bulk are supplied in case. Each
case has 30 pairs of sandals. The orders are delivered within 3 days if the suppliers are within
Kerala and if outside Kerala it may take a few weeks. The payment is either ready cash payment
or for credit. Usually the credit period allowed is for 3 months.

COMPETITION
Competition in footwear industry is very high. There are many footwear retailers who are
competitors for this shop. The main competitors are

Boots footwear
Bon footwear
Bata
Stepz footwear

The above mentioned shops are competitors in different ways. Boots footwear has an
advantage of having a fancy shop of their own next to their shop and having a textile
shop in the same shopping complex. So the customer who comes for shopping would go
for this shop since it is easy for them for their purchase. Bon and Bata are very near to the
junction and have all sorts of shops near to it. So the customer would prefer them. Stepz
footwear is a strong competitor for this shop with the strong advertisement they give in
form of leaflets and in local channels.
The strategies used to differentiate from the competitors are sufficient car parking facility,
fully air conditioned showroom. One of the major features is that all the items are put to
display so that the salesperson does not have to go on opening each and every box. The
customer can have a look at each sample and get a piece of that which matches their size.
One of the prominent features is that the shop provides a variety of branded items as
Well as the ones that costs cheap. An added advantage of K.J.Footmark is that they have
both wholesale and retail outlet so that they can give products at a cheaper rate than its
competitors

SUPPORTING FUNCTIONS
Inventory management
The owner himself keeps the inventory management. He checks for the stock, tries to replace the
sold out goods at the earliest, checks for the product which has maximum demand and stock it
before the peak season so that they dont find it difficult to get the required product at the
required time. Once in 3 months on a Sunday which is actually a holiday they arrange the stock
and check the details of it.

Logistics

The transportation part comes mainly in the wholesale division. But as far as the retail division is
concerned the transportation mainly includes the incoming of goods from other companies from
different parts of Kerala and India. This is done through parcel service, goods carriers, company
van delivery and buses.

Financing
The business was started with an initial investment of 5 lakhs for the retail section alone since a
wholesale division already existed. The financial assistance for K.J.Footmark is provided by
SBT, Perinthalmanna. A loan was taken in the year 2009. He also used his ancestral property for
the same.

Advertisement
Advertisement is not that prominently used by the shop. They give advertisements in local TV
channels once in a while and have put up flex through road sides. No much amount is being
spend on advertisements.

KEY LEARNING

Interaction with stake holders

Stake holders are all those who are interested in the business. Interaction with the suppliers
proves that they are satisfied with the shop and hence they give many compliments like LCD TV
as a token for their good sales. All the staff and other people related to the business are also
found to be satisfied.

Break Even Point Analysis

Break even point is the state where there is neither loss nor profit in a business firm. From the
owner it is known that the shop has not yet come to such a point where there is no loss or gain
and where both balances.

SWOT Analysis
Strengths

The biggest strength is the employees

Good relationship with the suppliers
Capacity to make customer satisfaction
Ability to maintain customers
Ability to provide branded items at a cheaper rate when compared to other shops.
Fully air-conditioned showroom which makes the customers feel comfortable
Full display of samples

Weakness

More number of competitors

The main weak point is that the shop is in the first floor
At the time of peak sale the lack of required number of sandals
Lack of enough number of employees at the time if peak sale

Opportunities
Try to improve advertising
Increasing inventories
Try to open another branch

Threats

The location is a threat for the shop. The shop should have been more close to town
People go for footpath sales where they get everything so cheap.
More number of new shops
The shop which is in first floor is a drawback

Analysis of the customer satisfaction survey

The survey was conducted to know about the customer satisfaction. A sample 30 was taken as it
is statistically relevant for the test. The mode of study was questionnaire method which consisted
of 12 questions which includes questions about their personal profile, their level of satisfaction
with the products and the service.

Gender classification
The table below shows the customers divided in terms of gender

Gender
Male
Female
Total

Frequency
12
18
30

frequency

male
40%
60%

female

The total sample taken was 30 and the sample collected includes more number of females than
males.

Age wise classification

The table below shows the age wise classification of the customers
Age
20 years and below
21-30
31-40
41-50
51-60
Above 60
Total

Frequency
3
8
6
7
3
3
30

Frequency

20 years and below

10% 10%

21-30

10%

31-40
27%

41-50
51-60
Above 60

23%
20%

The distribution shows that the maximum number of customers fall under the age group from 3150 years. This means that youngsters as well as middle aged people are more interested in

footwear purchase. It is seen that youngsters have and prefer sandals matching or suitable for
their dress and so they keep buying and updating themselves with the new trends in the market.
Opinion about the quality of service
The table below shows the opinion people expressed regarding the quality of service offered at
the shop.
Satisfaction level
Not at all satisfactory
Not very satisfactory
Neutral
Satisfactory
Very satisfactory
Total

Frequency
0
2
3
15
10
30

Column2

The graph shows that among the customers none of them tell that the shop is not at all
satisfactory. But a few tells that it is not satisfactory. This might be because the
employees could not attend to some of them because of a rush in the customers. Some of

them have a neutral attitude towards the service provided. The best thing is that the more
number of people tells that they are satisfied with the kind of service and less than that,
still a good number tells that they are very much satisfied with the quality of service
provided by the shop.

Opinion about Satisfaction with the shop

The table below shows the opinion about satisfaction with the shop as a whole

Satisfaction level
Not at all satisfactory
Not satisfactory
Neutral
Satisfactory
Very satisfactory
Total

Frequency
0
2
3
5
20
30

Frequency

Frequency

The graph shows that much number of people have told that they are satisfied with the shop. And
a few have told that they are very much satisfied. Whereas some has a neutral opinion and a
relatively few number has told that they are not that satisfied. The shop can be proud that no has
told that they ate not at all satisfied with the shop.

The analysis for quality of service and quality of shop were done using the following questions

How do you rate the quality of product?

How do you rate the quality of service?
How economic do you think the quality of products sold here are?
How conveniently located is the retail outlet for you?
How do you rate the retail shop compared to its competitors?

Overall, how do you rate your satisfaction with the retail outlet?
The answers are marked based on a 5- point scale that ranges from not at all satisfactory
to very satisfactory

Suggestions for improvement

Should try to satisfy the customers equally

Expand advertisement
Keep on updating the new trends in the footwear industry
Motivate the employees like taking them for a holiday trip and give them
compliments for their sincere service

Conclusion
The study was conducted on a footwear shop and this study helped a lot to know more about the
footwear industry. The study was conducted using a sample of 30 people selected in random.

They were asked their opinion about the quality of service provided and their overall evaluation
about the shop. In both the aspects most of them rated the shop to be satisfactory as far as they
are concerned. The major strengths, weakness, opportunities the shop has and the threats were
identified using SWOT analysis. By this study the background in starting the business, its
competitors, its source of finance, advertisement policies were examined. It was found that the
shop has never come to a break even point. Based on all the information collected suggestions
were also made that could help in improving the business.