Marketing Specialization

A
Project Report
On

A Study on Customer Satisfaction at Pantaloons Retail Store

In partial fulfilment of the requirements of

Post Graduate Diploma in Business Management

Conducted by
Rizvi Academy of Management

Under the guidance of

Prof. Aijaz Jafri

Submitted by:
Shadab J Ansari
PGDBM
Batch: 2018 – 2020
 Objective

• To measure the satisfaction level of overall shopping experience at pantaloon retail

store.
• To check if the availability of goods and variety of products and service attract the
customer towards the Pantaloons.
• To understand consumer perception towards various sales promotion offered at
pantaloons.
 TABLE OF CONTENT

Chapter No. Chapter Page No.

Introduction
1 1.1 Introduction to Industry Scenario 1
1.2 Classification of Retail Industry

2 Literature Review 13

Organization Information
3.1 About Future group
3 20
3.2 About Pantaloon
3.4 Pantaloon’s Operational Structure

4 Pantaloon Retail Strategy 36

5 Customer Satisfaction Attributes 42

6 SWOT ANALYSIS 48

7 Research Methodology 52

8 Data Finding and Analysis 54

Conclusion 62

Annexure

Bibliography
 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This project report throws light on the reasons behind customer’s decision of choosing
Pantaloons for the purchase of Apparels and various other products. Pantaloons as a Retail
Brand is one of the fast- growing players in the Indian retail industry and offer a deep insight
to the industry. For studying customer satisfaction, a survey was conducted and for fulfilment
of questionnaires, a sample size of 200 was selected. Among those who were interviewed
consist of housewives, professionals, even students. Though the sample size taken was small
but it was varied to overcome all the odds.

A structured questionnaire was constructed to measure the responses of the respondents on

suitable scales so that it could be analysed. Primary data collection was done via questionnaires
and secondary data collection through company websites. Through survey, effect of various
factors like ambience of the store, discount and convenience came in light and the reason of
consumers choosing Pantaloons over other retail outlets became visible. It is essential to
understand customer’s needs to serve them better and to do so, management should understand
key purchasing factors and prepare themselves. We must satisfy and even felicitate our
customer with the value of our products and services to gain their loyalty and repeat purchases.
Customer satisfaction should be the initial target of any organization. One of the best ways to
find out is to ask them using customer satisfaction surveys.

Employee and the management of the store can use the survey information to identify
opportunities for ongoing process improvement and to monitor the impact of those
improvements. A non-satisfied customer will exaggerate about their negative experience. A
satisfied customer will only tell a few people about their positive experience. So, a retailer
should always think in that way to satisfy their customer and delighting them with the services
which enhances differentiation.
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION

1
1.1 INTRODUCTION TO INDUSTRY SCENARIO
Industry Insight - Indian Retail Industry
The retail sector in India is witnessing a huge revamping exercise as traditional markets make
way for new formats such as departmental stores, hypermarkets, supermarkets and specialty
stores. Western-style malls have begun appearing in metros and second-rung cities alike
introducing the Indian consumer to a shopping experience like never before. Traditionally, the
small store (kirana) retailing has been one of the easiest ways to generate self- employment, as
it requires minimum investments in terms of land, labour and capital. These stores are not
affected by the modern retailing as it is still considered very convenient to shop. In order to
keep pace with the modern formats, kiranas have now started providing more value-added
services like stocking ready to cook vegetables and other fresh produce.

They also provide services like credit, phone service, home delivery etc. The organized
retailing has helped in promoting several niche categories such as packaged fruit juices, hair
creams, fabric bleaches, shower gels, depilatory products and convenience and health foods,
which are generally not found in the local kirana stores. Looking at the vast opportunity in this
sector, big players like Reliance and K Raheja has announced its plans to become the country's
largest modern retainers by establishing a chain of stores across all major cities. Apart from
metro cities, several small towns like Nagpur, Nasik, Ahmedabad, Aurangabad, Sholapur,
Kolhapur and Amravati as witnessing the expansion of modern retails.

Small towns in Maharashtra are emerging as retail hubs for large chain stores like Pantaloon
Retail because many small cities like Nagpur have a student population, lower real estate costs,
fewer power cuts and lower levels of attrition. However, retailers need to adjust their product
mix for smaller cities, as they tend to be more conservative than the metros. In order for the
market to grow in modern retail, it is necessary that steps are taken for rewriting laws,
restructuring the tax regime, accessing and developing new skills and investing significantly
in India.

2
The Indian retail industry is divided into organized and unorganized sectors. The unorganized
retail comprises of the local baniyas or kirana shop, and the other owner manned general stores.
These retailers normally do not pay taxes and most of them are not even registered for sales
tax, VAT, or income tax. “Unorganized retailing” is defined as an outlet which is run locally
by the owner or the caretaker of a shop who lacks the technical and the accounting
standardization. The supply chain and the sourcing are also usually done locally to meet the
local needs. Unorganized merchandising, refers to the normal formats of cheap retail, the
native kirana retailers, the owner manned general stores, the convenience stores, hardware
stores at the corner of one’s street, small medical shops etc. Small- store (kirana) retailing has
been one of the easiest ways to generate what is called self-employment as it requires a very
limited investment in land, capital and labour. It is generally a family run business; there is
lack of standardization and the retailers who run this store lack education, experience and
exposure.

The Indian Retail sector has come off age and has gone through major transformation over the
last decade with a noticeable shift towards organized retailing. A T Kearney, a US Based global
management consulting firm has ranked India as the fourth most attractive nation for retail
investment among 30 flourishing markets. The retail market is expected to reach a whooping
Rs. 47 lakh crores by 2016-17, as it expands at a compounded annual growth rate of 15 per
cent. The retail market, (including organized and unorganized retail), was at Rs. 23 lakh crores
in 2011-12. According to the study, organized retail, that comprised just seven per cent of the
overall retail market in 2011- 12, is expected to grow at a CAGR of 24 per cent and attain 10.2
per cent share of the total retail sector by 2016-17.

Retailing is the world’s largest private industry

Retail is the world’s largest private industry with global retail sales of roughly USD 8 trillion.
Retailing is also one of the biggest contributors to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of most
countries and also one of the biggest employers. (Source CII McKinsey Report titled “Retailing
in India, the Emerging Revolution”). In India, however, the retail sector has seen a high level
of fragmentation with a large share held by unorganized players.

3
1.2 Classification of Retail Industry
Retail industry can be broadly classified into two categories namely-
organized and unorganized retail.
Organized retail - Organized traders/retailers, who are licensed for trading activities and
Register Organized retailing. It is a place all the items are segregated and brought under one
roof, unlike the unorganized retail where there are different things are sold in different shops.
Organized retailing comprises mainly of modern retailing with busy shopping malls, multi
stored malls and huge complexes that offer a large variety of products in terms of quality,
value for money and makes shopping at memorable experience encored to pay taxes to the
government.
Unorganized retail – It consists of unauthorized small shops - conventional Kirana shops,
general stores, corner shops among various other small retail outlets - but remain as the
radiating force of Indian retail industry Traditional or unorganized retail outlets are normally
street markets, counter stores, kiosks, and vendors where the ownership and management rest
with one person only. This sector accounts for the two thirds of the market and requires low
skilled labour. These are highly competitive outlets, with negligible rental costs (unregistered
kiosks or traditional property), cheap workers (work is shared by members of family) and low
taxes.

The last few years witnessed immense growth by this sector, the key drivers being changing
consumer profile and demographics, increase in the number of international brands available
in the Indian market, economic implications of the Government increasing urbanization, credit
availability, improvement in the infrastructure, increasing investments in technology and real
estate building a world class shopping environment for the consumers. In order to keep pace
with the increasing demand, there has been a hectic activity in terms of entry of international
labels, expansion plans, and focus on technology, operations and processes. This has led to
more complex relationships involving suppliers, third party distributors and retailers, which
can be dealt with the help of an efficient supply chain. A proper supply chain will help meet
the competition head-on, manage stock availability; supplier relations, new value-added
services, cost cutting and most importantly reduce the wastage levels in fresh produce.

4
Large Indian players like Reliance, Ambani’s, K Raheja’s, Bharti Airtel, ITC and many others
are making significant investments in this sector leading to emergence of big retailers who can
bargain with suppliers to reap economies of scale. Hence, discounting is becoming an accepted
practice. Proper infrastructure is a pre-requisite in retailing, which would help to modernize
India and facilitate rapid economic growth. This would help in efficient delivery of goods and
value-added services to the Consumer making a higher contribution to the GDP. International
retailers see India as the last retailing frontier left as the China’s retail sector is becoming
saturated. However, the Indian Government restrictions on the FDI are creating ripples among
the international players like Walmart, Tesco and many other retail giants struggling to enter
Indian markets. As of now the Government has allowed only 51 per cent FDI in the sector to
‘one-brand’ shops like Nike, Reebok etc. However, other international players are taking
alternative routes to enter the Indian retail market indirectly via strategic licensing agreement,
franchisee agreement and cash and carry wholesale trading (since 100 per cent FDI is allowed
in wholesale trading).

The structure of Indian retail is developing rapidly with shopping malls becoming increasingly
common in the large cities and development plans being projected at 150 new shopping malls.
However, the traditional formats like hawkers, grocers and tobacconist shops continue to co-
exist with the modern formats of retailing. Modern retailing has helped the companies to
increase the consumption of their products for example: Indian consumers would normally
consume the rice sold at the nearby kiranas viz. Kolam for daily use. With the introduction of
organized retail, it has been noticed that the sale of Basmati rice has gone up by four times than
it was a few years back; as a superior quality rice (Basmati) is now available at almost the same
price as the normal rice at a local kirana. Thus, the way a product is displayed and promoted
influences its sales. If the consumption continues to grow this way it can be said that the local
market would go through a metamorphosis of a change and the local stores would soon become
the things of the past or restricted to last minute unplanned buying. The food business in India
is largely unorganized adding up to barely Rs.400 billion, with other large players adding
another 50 per cent to that. The All India food consumption is close to Rs.9, 000 billion, with
the total urban consumption being around Rs.3, 300 billion.

5
This means that aggregate revenues of large food players are currently only 5 per cent of the
total Indian market, and around 15- 20 per cent of total urban food consumption. Most food is
sold in the local ‘wet’ market, vendors, roadside push cart sellers or tiny kirana stores.
According to McKinsey report, the share of an Indian household's spending on food is one of
the highest in the world, with 48 per cent of income being spent on food and beverages. The
ready-mades and western outfits are growing at 40-45 per cent annually, as the market teams
up with international brands and new entrants entering this segment creating an Rs.5 billion
market for the premium grooming segment. The past few years has seen the sector aligning
itself with global trends with retailing companies like Shoppers’ stop and Crossroads entering
the fray to entice the middle class. However, it is estimated that this segment would grow to
Rs. 3 billion in the next three years.

The gems and jewellery market are the key emerging area, accounting for a high proportion
of retail spends. India is the largest consumer of gold in the world with an estimated annual
consumption of 1000 tonnes, considering actual imports and recycled gold. The market for
jewellery is estimated as upwards of Rs. 650 billion. The pharma retailing is estimated at about
Rs. 300 billion, with 15 per cent of the 51 lakh retail stores in India being chemists. Pharma
retailing will follow the trend of becoming more organized and corporatized as is seen in other
retailing formats (food, apparel etc). A few corporates who have already forayed into this
segment include Dr Morepen (with Life spring and soon to be launched Tango), Medicine
Shoppe, Apollo pharmacies, 98.4 from Global Health line Pvt. Ltd. and the recently launched
CRS Health from SAK Industries. In the south, RPG group’s Health & Glow is already in this
category, though it is not a pure play pharma retailer but more in the health and beauty care
business. The size of the Indian music industry, as per this Images-KSA Study, is estimated at
Rs.11 billion of which about 36 percent is consumed by the pirated market and organized music
retailing constitutes about 14 percent, equivalent to Rs.1.5 billion. The book industry is
estimated at over Rs. 30 billion out of which organized retail accounts for only 7 per cent (at
Rs.2.10 billion).

6
This segment is seen to be emerging with text and curriculum books accounting to about 50
per cent of the total sales. The gifting habit in India is catching on fast with books enjoying a
significant share, thus expecting this sector to grow by 15 per cent annually. The consumer
durables market can be stratified into consumer electronics comprising of TV sets, audio
systems, VCD players and others; and appliances like washing machines, microwave ovens,
air conditioners (A/Cs). The existing size of this sector stands at an estimated US$ 4.5 Billion
with organized retailing being at 5 per cent.

Modern retailing has entered India in form of sprawling malls and huge complexes offering
shopping, entertainment, leisure to the consumer as the retailers experiment with a variety of
formats, from discount stores to supermarkets to hypermarkets to specialty chains.
Traditionally, the small store (kirana) retailing has been one of the easiest ways to generate
self- employment, as it requires minimum investments in terms of land, labour and capital.
These stores are not affected by the modern retailing as it is still considered very convenient
to shop. In order to keep pace with the modern formats, kiranas have now started providing
more value-added services like stocking ready to cook vegetables and other fresh produce.
They also provide services like credit, phone service, home delivery etc. The organized
retailing has helped in promoting several niche categories such as packaged fruit juices, hair
creams, fabric bleaches, shower gels, depilatory products and convenience and health foods,
which are generally not found in the local kirana stores. Looking at the vast opportunity in this
sector, big players like Reliance and K Raheja’s has announced its plans to become the
country's largest modern retainers by establishing a chain of stores across all major cities.

Apart from metro cities, several small towns like Nagpur, Nasik, Ahmedabad, Aurangabad,
Sholapur, Kolhapur and Amravati as witnessing the expansion of modern retails. Small towns
in Maharashtra are emerging as retail hubs for large chain stores like Pantaloon Retail because
many small cities like Nagpur have a student population, lower real estate costs, fewer power
cuts and lower levels of attrition. However, retailers need to adjust their product mix for smaller
cities, as they tend to be more conservative than the metros. In order for the market to grow in
modern retail, it is necessary that steps are taken for rewriting laws, restructuring the tax
regime, accessing and developing new skills and investing significantly in India.

7
Indian Retail Industry
The Indian Retail Sector is at an inflexion point, with changing demographics driving growth
of organized retailing and driving growth in consumption. With an expanding economy, the
country ‘s overall retail sector will become a $450 billion (Rs20.85 trillion) business by 2020.
Along the way, the modern retail business will create about 1.6 million jobs in the next five
years acc. to McKinsey. Modern retailers will not only create employment opportunities but
also would help raise India ‘s overall economic productivity and could also result in lowering
prices of goods. With changing demographic and economic profile of the Indian population, it
is believed that India is expected to experience accelerated consumption over the next few
years. India has a large number of retail enterprises. With close to 12 million retail outlets India
has one of the highest retail densities in the world. In terms of the structure, the industry is
fragmented and predominantly consists of independent, owner-managed shops. The retail
businesses include a variety of traditional retail formats, such as "kirana" stores which stock
basic household necessities (including food products), street markets-regular markets held at
fixed centres retailing food and general merchandise items, street vendors-mobile retailers
essentially selling perishable food items-fruits, vegetables etc. and small non specialized
retailers.

Growth in organized retail

In sharp contrast to the global retail sector, retailing in India – though large in terms of size –
is highly fragmented and unorganized. With close to 12 million retail outlets India has the
largest retail density in the world. However, most of these retail outlets belong to the
unorganized sector. The Indian retail industry is evolving in line with changing customer
aspirations across product groups, with modern formats of retailing emerging. Organized retail
derives its advantages in generating operational efficiencies while simultaneously catering to
rising consumer aspirations. Size drives economies on procurement, and lowers logistics and
marketing costs while delivering better value to customers in terms of lower price, better
quality, greater selection, improved service and in store ambience.

8
Drivers of Growth in Organized Retailing
We believe that India is experiencing certain socio-demographic changes which are furthering
the growth in organized retail while enablers such as availability of quality real estate are
hastening the pace of this transformation.

Rising income levels

We believe increasing household income has led to a substantial change in the profile of the
Indian consumer. A larger number of households are getting added to the consuming class with
growth in income levels. In the chart provided below the profile of the ‘Climbers’,
‘Consuming’ and ‘Very Rich’ consumers class is biased towards self-indulgent consumption
patterns.

Types of Retail Outlets

A marketplace is a location where goods and services are exchanged. The traditional market
square is a city square where traders set up stalls and buyers browse the merchandise. This
kind of market is very old, and countless such markets are still in operation around the whole
world.
In some parts of the world, the retail business is still dominated by small family-run stores, but
this market is increasingly being taken over by large retail chains.

Retail is usually classified by type of products as follows

➢ Food products.
➢ Hard Goods (Hardline Retailing) – appliances, electronics, furniture, sporting goods.
➢ Soft Goods – Clothing, apparel, and other fabrics.

9
There are the following types of retailers by marketing strategy
➢ Departmental stores - A very large stores offering a huge assortment of "soft" and "hard
goods; often bear a resemblance to a collection of specialty stores. A retailer of such store
carries variety of categories and has broad assortment at average price. They offer
considerable customer service.
➢ Discount stores - It tend to offer a wide array of products and services, but they compete
mainly on price offers extensive assortment of merchandise at affordable and cut-rate
prices. Normally retailers sell less fashion-oriented brands.
➢ Supermarkets - It sell mostly food products.
➢ Warehouse stores - - Warehouses that offer low-cost, often high-quantity goods piled on
pallets or steel shelves; warehouse clubs charge a membership fee.
➢ Variety stores or Dollar stores - These offer extremely low-cost goods, with limited
selection.
➢ Demographic - Retailers that aim at one particular segment (e.g., high-end retailers
focusing on wealthy individuals).
➢ Mom and Pop (or Kirana Stores as they call them in India) - It is a retail outlet that is
owned and operated by individuals. The range of products are very selective and few in
numbers. These stores are seen in local community often are family-run businesses. The
square feet area of the store depends on the store holder.
➢ Specialty stores - A typical specialty store gives attention to a particular category and
provides high level of service to the customers. A pet store that specializes in selling dog
food would be regarded as a specialty store. However, branded stores also come under
this format.
➢ General store - A rural store that supplies the main needs for the local community.
➢ Convenience stores - It is essentially found in residential areas. They provide limited
amount of merchandise at more than average prices with a speedy checkout. This store is
ideal for emergency and immediate purchases.
➢ Hypermarkets - It provides variety and huge volumes of exclusive merchandise at low
margins. The operating cost is comparatively less than other retail formats. A classic
example is the Metro in Bangalore.

10
➢ Supermarket - It is a self-service store consisting mainly of grocery and limited products
on non-food items. They may adopt a Hi-Lo or an EDLP strategy for pricing. The
supermarkets can be anywhere between 20,000-40,000 square feet. Example: SPAR
supermarket.
➢ Malls - It has a range of retail shops at a single outlet. They endow with products, food
and entertainment under a roof.
➢ Category killers or Category Specialist - By supplying wide assortment in a single
category for lower prices a retailer can "kill" that category for other retailers. For few
categories, such as electronics, the products are displayed at the Centre of the store and
sales person will be available to address customer queries and give suggestions when
required. Other retail format stores are forced to reduce the prices if a category specialist
retail store is present in the vicinity.
➢ E-trailers - The customer can shop and order through internet and the merchandise are
dropped at the customer's doorstep. Here the retailers use drop shipping technique. They
accept the payment for the product but the customer receives the product directly from the
manufacturer or a wholesaler. This format is ideal for customers who do not want to travel
to retail stores and are interested in home shopping. However, it is important for the
customer to be wary about defective products and non-secure credit card transaction.
Example: Amazon and E-bay.
➢ Vending Machines - This is an automated piece of equipment wherein customers can
drop in the money in machine and acquire the products. For example: Soft drinks vending
at Bangalore Airport.

Others types of retail store include:

➢ Automated Retail – Automates retail stores are self-service, robotic kiosks located in
airports, malls and grocery stores. The stores accept credit cards and are usually open 24/7.
Examples include Zoom Shops and Red box.
➢ Big-box stores – Big-box stores encompass larger department, discount, general
merchandise, and warehouse stores.
➢ Convenience store - a small store often with extended hours, stocking every day or
roadside items.

11
➢ General store – A store which sells most goods needed, typically in a rural area. Retailers
can opt for a format as each provides different retail mix to its customers based on their
customer demographics, lifestyle and purchase behaviour. A good format will lend a hand
to display products well and entice the target customers to spawn sales.

Challenges for Organized retail

➢ Availability of skilled manpower: The non-availability of trained manpower, especially
at the management level, poses a key risk for the retail sector. With growing opportunities
in the emerging service sectors, the ability of the retail business to hire and retain quality
people is under pressure. Further, as organized retail grows rapidly, there will be pressure
on existing players as new entrants look for trained manpower at various levels.
➢ Supply chain issues: Supply Chain Management efficiencies are essential to retailers to
maintain and improve margins. SCM includes vendor management and logistics
management. Vendor selection is an important outcome of the sourcing process and a key
to most efficient sourcing. Logistics management aims to get the goods from the vendor
to the store in the shortest possible time thereby avoiding unnecessary stocking of goods.
In India, both vendor management and logistics management are still underdeveloped.
However, with growing size of operations, supply chain efficiencies will become a key
differentiator of profitability in retail. Similarly, supply chain tools and techniques are still
developing in India with the increase in organized retailing and entry of international
brands. Bar coding is now being implemented, driven by the retailers for whom it is an
essential ingredient for supply chain management.

12
CHAPTER 2
Literature Review

13
2.1 Customer Satisfaction level
In this article author (Rajalakshmi Nittala, A. Vijaya Kameswari 2009) has talked about
how organizations need to attract and retain customers to ensure a sustainable competitive
advantage. To achieve this objective, service organizations must focus on their efforts to
developing and sustaining an organizational culture that emphasizes internal customer
wellbeing as a means to attract and retain external customer patronage. In the service industry,
customer satisfaction levels are revealed during what we like to call the “moments of truth",
being the moment that the customer comes in contact with affront-line employee of the firm.
This made the interaction between people within the organization and the external customers
more vital. In retail sector instead of selling services they will eventually start to sell
experiences that augment the actual product.

The study states that retail stores should concentrate on internal marketing to have satisfied
employees to deliver customer satisfaction. Ipek Deveci Kocakoc and Ali Sen (2006) [2] have
undertaken a study on improvement areas for customer satisfaction along the supply chain.
The study states that today’s competitive environment means that companies need to
understand their customers’ expectations and preferences, and use these as a guide in order to
achieve competitive advantage. In dynamic market conditions, it is vitally important to
perceive and satisfy customer needs.

If customer satisfaction measurements are used as a source of improvement efforts, results will
be more satisfactory and realistic. Customer satisfaction is a highly personal assessment that
is greatly influenced by individual expectations. Some definitions are based on the observation
that customer satisfaction or dissatisfaction results from either the confirmation or
disconfirmation of individual expectations regarding a service or product.

To avoid difficulties stemming from the kaleidoscope of customer expectations and

differences, some experts urge companies to “concentrate on a goal that’s more closely linked
to customer equity.” According to Kotler-Customer satisfaction depends on the product’s
perceived performance relative to buyer’s expectations. If the product performance falls short
of expectations, the customer is dissatisfied.

14
If performance matches expectations, the customer is satisfied. If performance exceeds
expectations, the customer is highly satisfied or delighted. Outstanding marketing companies
go out of their way to keep important customers satisfied. Highly satisfied customers make a
repeat purchase and tell others about their good experience with the product. The key is to
match customer expectation with company performance. Smart companies aim to delight
customers by promising only what they can deliver, then delivering more than they promise.
However, although the customer-centered firm seeks to deliver high customer satisfaction
relative to competitors, it does not attempt to maximize customer satisfaction. A company can
always increase customer satisfaction by lowering its price or increasing its services. But this
may result in lower profits.

Thus, the purpose of marketing is to generate customer value profitability. This requires a very
delicate balance: The marketer must continue to generate more customer value and satisfaction
but not “give away the house.” “The gulf between satisfied customers and completely satisfied
customers can swallow a business.” For more than a decade now, a range of studies that address
environmentally sound consumer behaviour, e.g. car use, waste sorting, minimization and
recycling practices have been conducted.

However, few studies evaluated consumer acceptance of the PSS concept – a consumption
based on non-ownership of physical products, see, for example, studies on car sharing schemes
(Schrader 1999; Meijkamp 2000), ski rental and washing services (Hirschl, Konrad et al.
2001). Besides the information processing perspective, manufacturing analyses consumer
behaviour by employing a psychologically grounded concept of attitudes (Balderjahn 1988;
Ronis, Yates et al. 1989; Luzar and Cosse 1998). It is consumer attitudes that are usually named
as the major factor in shaping consumer behaviour and a wealth of studies is available on the
topic of how attitudes can predict behaviour.

Customer’s involvement is also important as when buyer consider the product important and
invests time to seek information then it ultimately enhances the satisfaction level (Russell-
Bennett, McColl Kennedy and Coote, 2007). This satisfaction may influence the concerned
company by repurchase, purchase of more products, positive word of mouth and willingness
of customer to pay more for the particular brand.

15
Any business is likely to lose market share, customers and investors if it fails to satisfy
customers as effectively and efficiently as its competitors is doing (Anderson, Fornell, and
Mazvancheryl, 2004). According to Kotler and Armstrong (2010) price is the amount of money
charged for a product or service, or the sum of the values that customers exchange for the
benefits of having or using the product or service while Stanton, Michael and Bruce (1994)
defined price as the amount of money or goods needed to acquire some combination of another
manufacturing and its companying services.

2.2 Study on Customer satisfaction level at Hypermarkets in Indian Retail

Industry
In this article author (Jeevananda, November 3 July 2011) has stated that Satisfying customers
is one of the main objectives of every business. Businesses recognize that keeping current
customers is more profitable than having to win new ones to replace those lost. Management
and marketing theorists underscore the importance of customer satisfaction for a business’s
success. Customer satisfaction is the key factor in knowing the success of any retail store or
business, therefore it is very important to measure it and to find the factors which affect the
customer satisfaction. Customers are most likely to appreciate the goods and services that they
buy if they are made to feel special.

This occurs when they feel that the goods and services that they buy have been specially
produced for them or for people like them. It should be always keep measuring in order to get
feedback for the product and service in order to develop it further with wide customization.
Customer satisfaction refers to the extent to which customers are happy with the products and
services provided by a business. Customer satisfaction levels can be measured using survey
techniques and questionnaires.

Gaining high levels of customer satisfaction is very important to a business because satisfied
customers are most likely to be loyal and to make repeat orders and to use a wide range of
services offered by a business. Customer satisfaction is an asset that should be monitored and
managed just like any physical asset. This is true for both service-oriented and product-oriented
organizations.

16
It can be concluded from the study that personal assistance is the most important service
attribute that helps in customers’ buying decision making process. It can be concluded from
chi squared test that loyalty of customers is highly dependent on customers’ satisfaction level
in the store and henceforth retailer should take every step possible to increase satisfaction level
in order to generate customer Loyalty. The retailer believes that retail mix variables such as
store layout, atmosphere, assortment of products and promotion tools, pricing are highly
important in order to increase customer satisfaction level while shopping in the store.

2.3 Internal Marketing for Customer Satisfaction in Retail Sector

In this article author ( Nittala & Kameswari, September 2009) has stated that Organizations
need to attract and retain customers to ensure a sustainable competitive advantage. To achieve
this objective, service organizations must focus on their efforts to developing and sustaining
an organizational culture that emphasizes internal customer wellbeing as a means to attract and
retain external customer patronage. This rationale is based on the notion that to the external
customer, the internal customer represents the firm. In services marketing, the employee plays
a central role in attracting, building and maintaining relationships with customers. The
recognition of the central role of employees has given rise to "internal marketing" programs
strongly oriented to employee development.

Customer satisfaction is one of the biggest priorities of business. In the service industry,
customer satisfaction levels are revealed during what we like to call the "moments of truth",
being the moment that the customer comes in contact with a front-line employee of the firm.
This made the interaction between people within the organization and the external customers
more vital. In retail sector instead of selling services they will eventually start to sell
experiences that augment the actual product. Grönroos recognized that an improved service
quality will lead to customer satisfaction. He also added that this in turn has a twofold effect.
Internally this will lead to an improved working atmosphere since increased customer
satisfaction is noticed by the employees. This in turn will create obvious positive effects which
are supported by the service- oriented strategic direction that is chosen by management.
Strategic decisions like this have a positive effect on the internal environment of the firm and
on employee motivation

17
The aim of internal marketing on a strategic level is the creation of an appropriate environment
that will support employees' interest in external customer satisfaction. It is the application of
marketing inside an organization to in still customer-focused values. As such, it joins
marketing with human resources to attract, motivate and retain employees, with an emphasis
on getting employee commitment to provide customer satisfaction and achieve organizational
goals. Internal marketing is for the care of both customers and employees. It is based on the
relationship between employee satisfaction and customer satisfaction (take care of the
employees, and they'll take care of the customers).

It has been proposed as a way of increasing lower level commitment to corporate strategies
and improving organizational integration. Internal marketing can be used to increase employee
involvement in reaching decision, making commitments and taking action. Employees are a
particularly important participant in the formulation of the image that customers get in relation
to the offered service. External customer satisfaction cannot be achieved without the
fundamental contribution of the customer- contact employees who provide the service. The
front-line employees of the retail store interact with the majority of customers and generally
handle a wide range of customer transactions. Grönroos mentioned that the emerging
importance of services in almost every business has led to the recognition that well-trained and
service- oriented employees are the most important resource of a company, rather than raw
materials, production technology or the actual products.

Since the employees meet the external customers and responsible for the offered service
quality, they impact heavily on how the organization is viewed by the customers. In line with
this Ahmed and Rafiq state that the focus upon employee satisfaction in internal marketing is
due to the fact that in the marketing of services a large part of what customers ask for is in fact
labour, or human acts of performance. The basic premise of this study has been that the job
motivation and job satisfaction of employees in retail sector are strongly influenced by internal
marketing. The results showed that the working conditions and hours, hygiene &sanitation,
rest rooms, support from superior, and attitude of colleagues have highest influence on job
satisfaction and motivation.

18
Retail owners and managers should give careful attention to each aspect. There are some
factors that have significant negative relationship to job satisfaction and motivation. Retail
stores, particularly those spending significant time and money in providing these aspects,
should take care to highlight the benefits of these factors to the employees. The store managers
should play a prominent role in educating the employees about the benefits and to encourage
them. This is possible by maintaining regular interaction with the employees.

Retail organizations need to integrate their activities aiming for effective high-quality service
delivery, recruiting the right employees, retaining them with proper incentives and motivation.
Attitude of colleagues is significantly related to both job satisfaction and motivation.
Management must encourage healthy competition, where there is a win-win situation for all
the employees. The team work should be encouraged, since it results in positive attitude among
them. Another interesting fact is that it might not include a great cost as the retail store has to
integrate the existing activities rather than implementing new.

As the employees are considered as internal customers, the factors that are not considered as
benefits by the employees should be eliminated and jobs must be redesigned based on their
needs and wants. Good control and monitoring system can help to understand the needs and
problems of employees. The retail sector is an emerging sector with potential opportunities
and growth. Internal marketing is essential for the success of growing retail sector. The study
reveals that there is a positive relationship between internal marketing and job satisfaction and
motivation. The study identified several Internal marketing factors contributing to job
satisfaction and motivation. The retail stores should concentrate on these to improve the
employee motivation and satisfaction, consequently leading to external customer satisfaction.
Internal marketing must be the priority in order to push the employees in the right direction to
provide customer satisfaction.

19
 CHAPTER 3
Organization Information

20
3.1 About Future group
Future Group, led by its founder and Group CEO, Mr. Kishore Biyani, is one of India’s
leading business houses with multiple businesses spanning across the consumption space.
While retail forms the core business activity of Future Group, group subsidiaries are present
in consumer finance, capital, insurance, leisure and entertainment, brand development, retail
real estate development, retail media and logistics.

Led by its flagship enterprise, Pantaloons Retail, the group operates over 16 million square feet
of retail space in 73 cities and towns and 65 rural locations across India. Headquartered in
Mumbai (Bombay), Pantaloons Retail employs around 30,000 people and is listed on the
Indian stock exchanges. The company follows a multi-format retail strategy that captures
almost the entire consumption basket of Indian customers. In the lifestyle segment, the group
operates Pantaloons, a fashion retail chain and Central, a chain of seamless malls. In the value
segment, its marquee brand, Big Bazaar is a hypermarket format that combines the look, touch
and feel of Indian bazaars with the choice and convenience of modern retail.

The group’s specialty retail formats include supermarket chain - Food Bazaar, sportswear
retailer - Planet Sports, electronics retailer - eZone, home improvement chain -Home Town
and rural retail chain - Aadhaar, among others. It also operates popular shopping portal -
www.futurebazaar.com. Future Group believes in developing strong insights on Indian
consumers and building businesses based on Indian ideas, as espoused in the group’s core
value of ‘Indianness.’ The group’s corporate credo is, ‘Rewrite rules, Retain values.’

Future Groups Includes-

➢ Future Retail -Covering all retail business.
➢ Future Capital -Covering consumers finance, insurance and advisory services.
➢ Future brands -Covering all brands owned and managed by company.
➢ Future space -which includes development and management of real states.
➢ Future logistics -which manages supply chain and distribution.
➢ Future media -which develops and manages retail media spaces.

21
Future Group Manifesto: -
“Future” – the word which signifies optimism, growth, achievement, strength, beauty, rewards
and perfection. Future encourages us 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. 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, they will affect 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. They will not just post satisfactorily results, they will write success stories. They will not
just operate efficiently in the Indian economy; they will evolve it.

22
Rewrite Rules, Retain Values: -
Group Vision
Future Group shall deliver Everything, Everywhere, Every time for Every Indian Consumer in
the most profitable manner.

Group Mission
• To 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.
• Will be the trendsetters in evolving delivery formats, creating retail realty, making
consumption affordable for all customer segments – for classes and for masses.
• To infuse Indian brands with confidence and renewed ambition.
• To be efficient, cost- conscious and committed to quality in whatever we do.
• To ensure that our positive attitude, sincerity, humility and united determination shall be the
driving force to make us successful.

Core Values
✓ Indianness: 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.

23
3.2 About Pantaloons
Evolution of Pantaloons: -
The Company was incorporated on October 12, 1987 as Manzo Wear Private Limited. The
Company was converted into a public limited company on September 20, 1991 and on
September 25, 1992 the name was changed to Pantaloons Fashions (India) Limited and in the
same year the Company made an initial public offering. We later changed our name to
Pantaloons Retail (India) Limited on July 7 1999.

The Equity Shares of the Company were first listed on BSE, DSE and ASE, on July 30, 1992.
Thereafter, the Equity Shares were listed on the NSE on February 20, 2001. The company
started his operations by selling branded garments under Pantaloons, Bare and John Miller
brands. They set up our first menswear Pantaloons Shoppe Outlet in 1993.

The business has grown from one store in Kolkata in 1997 occupying an area of 8,000 Sq. ft.
to 72 stores, apart from our 22 factory outlets located in the multiple cities occupying an
aggregate area of 21,07,608 Sq. ft. They focus on the Lifestyle segment through 14 Pantaloons
stores, 3 Central Malls, 2 ally, 2 Fashion Station and 1 Mela store. In the Value offering, they
cater to the mass through our 21Big Bazaar and 30 Food Bazaar outlets.

Objects of our Company our objects as contained in our Memorandum of

Association include:

✓ To carry on the business of manufacturing, buying, selling, exchanging, altering,

importing, exporting, distributing or otherwise dealing in readymade garments an hosiery
made of cotton, silk, rayon, wool, nylon, man-made fabrics, polyester, canvas, jute, leather,
any other fabric coated with any chemical or not, or other preparation and other fabric.
✓ To carry on the business of manufacturing, processing, dyeing, bleaching, buying, selling,
exchanging, importing, exporting or otherwise dealing in yarns and textiles made of cotton,
silk, rayon, wool, nylon, man-made fibres, polyester, canvas or any other substances.
✓ To carry on trade or retail business in India through retail formats and including but not
limited to hyper markets, super markets, mega stores/discount stores, cash & carry,
departmental stores, shoppers plaza, direct to home, phone order and mail order, catalogue,

24
 through internet and other forms and multi-level channels for all products and services,
dealing in all kinds of goods, materials and items including but not limited to food &
provisions, household goods, consumer durables, jewellery, home improvement products,
foot wears, lug gages, books & stationery, health care and beauty products, toys and music,
computers & accessories, telecom products, agri input products, furniture & furnishings,
automobile & accessories, and acquiring and running food, service and entertainment
canters including but not limited to multiplexes, cinemas, gaming centres, amusement
parks, restaurants and food courts and acquiring of land or building on lease or freehold or
any commercial or industrial or residential building for running and management of retail
business and to acquire flats, offices and retail spaces for carrying on retail business and to
sell them, lease or sublet them and to undertake and execute civil, mechanical, electrical
and structural works contracts and sub contracts in all their respective branches to carry
on retailing business.

Pantaloons Fashion & Retail Ltd.

Pantaloons, previously controlled by the Future Group, has been recently taken over by Aditya
Birla Nuvo Limited, a US $4 billion premium diversified conglomerate and India's largest
manufacturer of linen fabric. Pantaloons offer multiple accessories and clothing brands across
a spectrum of categories for men, women and kids. The company provides an incredible and
complete one-stop shopping experience to its buyers through its vast collection of more than
100 prestigious brands for the discerning fashionista.

Pantaloons, headquartered in Mumbai (Bombay), the company operates over 2.2 million
square feet of retail space with a presence across 47 cities through 100 aesthetically designed
large format stores and 26 factory outlets, displays a range of classy and trendy merchandise
that truly lives up to Pantaloons’ maxim of ‘fresh fashion’. A typical Pantaloons store
comprises a brand portfolio that runs across a gamut of styles that spell class.

The collection includes ready-to-wear western and ethnic apparel for men, women and kids,
complemented by an exhaustive range of accessories. The variety of products and brands has
helped propel Pantaloons to become one of the best clothing brands in India.

25
Future Group, led by its founder and Group CEO, Mr. Kishore Biyani, is one of India’s leading
business houses with multiple businesses spanning across the consumption space.

While retail forms the core business activity of Future Group, group subsidiaries are present in
consumer finance, capital, insurance, leisure and entertainment, brand development, retail real
estate development, retail media and logistics. Pantaloons Retail (India) Limited (PRIL) is the
flagship company of Future Group, a business group catering to the entire Indian consumption
space. Pantaloons Retail (India) Limited, is India’s leading retailer that operates multiple retail
formats in both the value and lifestyle segment of the Indian consumer marker.

Headquartered in Mumbai (Bombay), the company operates over 5 million n square feet of
retail space, has over 350 stores across 40 cities in India and employs over 18,000 people.
PRIL is India’s leading retailer that operates multiple retail formats catering to the needs of
both the value and lifestyle segment of the Indian consumer market. The company which
started its operations from Kolkata is now headquartered in Mumbai (Bombay), India’s
commercial capital.

The company’s leading formats include Pantaloons, a chain of fashion outlets, Big Bazaar, a
uniquely Indian hypermarket chain, Food Bazaar, a supermarket chain, blends the look, touch
and feel of Indian bazaars with aspects of modern retail like choice, convenience and quality
and Central, a chain of seamless destination malls. Some of its other formats include, Depot,
Shoe Factory, Brand Factory, Blue Sky, Fashion Station, all, Top 10, bazaar and Star and
Sitara. The company also operates an online portal, futurebazaar.com.

A subsidiary company, Home Solutions Retail (India) Limited, operates Home Town, a large-
format home solutions store, Collection i.e. selling home furniture products and E-Zone
focused on catering to the consumer electronics segment. Pantaloons Retail is the flagship
company of Future Group, a business group catering to the entire Indian consumption space.

Spotlighting today’s buoyant youth, Pantaloons, India’s premium lifestyle apparel company
offers chic and trendy fashion to meet the youth's ever-changing needs. Pantaloons reflects the
ideology of keeping alive the 'newness factor' through fashion apparel and accessories that are
visually appealing and fashionably upbeat.

26
The first Pantaloons store was launched amidst much fanfare in Gariahat, Kolkata in 1997.
Over the years, the brand has undergone an evolution process to bring to life compelling trends
and styles catering to every fashion need across women, men and kids.

Currently we are a chain of 100+ fashion stores across 43cities. Since its inception, Pantaloons
progressed from retailing just a mix of brands to its very own popular private labels as well,
designed by the in-house Design Studio. With a sharp focus on bringing the latest in fashion,
the Design Studio combines its prowess in design and aesthetics to present styles that keep the
consumer fashionably dressed each season. Initially positioned as a store catering to the fashion
needs of the entire family, Pantaloons has transitioned to a fashion and lifestyle brand with an
emphasis on youth and a focus on designs that are inherently in sync with current fashion
trends.

This compelling combination has helped Pantaloons retain its place on the style radar of every
consumer’s wardrobe. A typical Pantaloons store is spread across a sprawling retail space of
about 18,000 sq. ft., with a brand portfolio that runs across a wide gamut of styles that spell
class. Pantaloons stores have an abundance of choices across categories that range from
western to Indian wear, formal to party wear and active wear for men, women and kids.

To further add to the customer’s innumerable choices that reflect style, attitude, and comfort,
Pantaloons has extended its horizons to fashion accessories like fragrances, footwear,
handbags, watches, sunglasses and much more. With a vast collection of more than 100
prestigious brands for the discerning fashionista, Pantaloons offers an incredible and complete
one-stop shopping experience to its buyers. With a chain of 100 fashion stores and 25 factory
outlets across 47 cities and towns, Pantaloons is constantly extending its foot-prints into the
rest of modern India. Pantaloons which was previously controlled by the Future Group was
taken over by Aditya Birla Nuvo Limited ['ABNL'] in July 2012.

ABNL is a part of the prestigious Aditya Birla Group, a $40 billion Indian multinational,
operating in 36 countries across the globe with over 120,000employees. The Aditya Birla
Group ranks high in the League of Fortune 500 Corporations of the world with a strong mix of
talented and capable personnel comprising 42 different nationalities, who are credited with
anchoring the organization and scripting one brilliant success story after another.

27
With its overwhelming repertoire of lifestyle apparel brands, Pantaloons is focused on growth
while continuing to create fresh fashion. Pantaloons are recognized by its warm personalized
service that completes the core proposition of this trendy chain. With all these advancements,

Apparels, Brands and Accessories

Pantaloons offers, customers a variety of apparels and accessories from the globally renowned
brands. The labels for men in western wear cover Rig, Lombard, Bare Leisure, SF Jeans, Bare
Denim, JM Sport, Byford, F Factor and trendy brands like John Miller and Akkriti as ethnic
wear. The women’s section includes the private labels — Bare Leisure, Bare Denim, Rig,
Honey, Ajile and Annabelle — in western, as well as the ethnic wears from RangManch,
Trishaa and Akkriti. Popular brands as Lee Cooper, Bibaa real so included. The formal wear
offers a range of well-tailored collection by international brands such as Allen Solly, Van
Heusen, Peter England and Louis Philippe.

Kids wear like Bare Denim, Bare Leisure, Rig and exclusive brands like Chalk, Poppers, Pink
& Blue, and in addition to international brands like Barbie and Disney. Pantaloons offers more
than just apparel. Customers can shop from a range of watches from renowned brands. Trendy
sunglasses from Polaroid, Guess, and Police are available. The accessories and beauty product
segments display a remarkable collection of ladies’ handbags from Lavie, Caprese. Products
from colour cosmetic brands such as Chambor, Revlon, Deborah, Maybelline, and Lakme, as
well as a wide collection of attractive fragrances.

In its challenge to meet the consumer’s varying fashion needs, Pantaloons has introduced new
brands including Candies, Alto Moda, Spykar, AND, Turtle, Global Desi, 109F, Chemistry,
and Giny&Jony. Pantaloons is a vital part of the prestigious Aditya Birla Group, a USD 40
billion Indian MNC, operating in 40 countries across the globe with over 130,000 employees,
accepted as ‘India’s Most Preferred Apparel Retail Brand’ in the Brand Equity Survey 2014,
Pantaloons continues to meet consumer trust and confidence. With its overwhelming collection
of lifestyle apparel brands, the company is focusing on growth while creating fresh fashion.

28
3.3 Pantaloon’s Operational structure

Pantaloon
s Retail
India Ltd.

Value Entertai
Lifestyle
Retailing nment,
Retailing
Leisure
Sports

Pantalo Central Fashion aLL MeLA Big Food

ons Station Bazaar Bazaar

From our beginning in 1987, the organization have today evolved as one of the leading
manufacturer-retailer and are among the pioneers in setting up a nation-wide chain of large
format stores in India. They believe that the various initiatives taken by them have played a
key role in enhancing the standards of retail in the country. They are an entrepreneur driven,
professionally managed retailer focused on meeting the customer requirements for a large
component of their spend across fashion, food, general merchandise, home in both value and
lifestyle segments. Pantaloons have also entered into partnerships/joint ventures to expand
their offerings from home to apparel to household products to durables etc.

They believe our focus on customers supported by systems and processes and a committed
work force are the key factors that have contributed to the organizations success and will help
us scale up as we embark on our strategic growth plan. The business has grown from one store
in Kolkata in 1997, occupying an area of 8,000 Sq. ft to 72 stores, apart from our 22 factory
outlets located in multiple cities occupying an aggregate area of 2107608 Sq. ft. Pantaloons
focus on the Lifestyle segment through 14 Pantaloons stores, 3 Central Malls, 2 aLL stores, 2
Fashion Station and 1 MeLa store. In the Value segment, they cater to the masses through our
21 Big Bazaar and 30 Food Bazaar outlets.

29
They believe that managing customer expectation by offering them all the requirements for
their entire family under one roof is the key to being a successful retailer, and hence have built
our business model around ‘Family focus’ rather than ‘individual focus’. Pantaloons believe
addressing the family attracts more customers into the store. Pantaloons retail a range of
branded and Private Label apparel, footwear, perfumes, cosmetics, jewellery, leather products
and accessories, home products, books, music and toys in our stores.

To complete the idea of a family store, besides garments, we also retail household items,
consumer durables, home furnishings, apart from food and personal care products. This is
complemented by cafes, food stalls, entertainment, personal care and various beauty related
services. Promotions and events are an integral part of our service offering to our customer,
which helps us create a unique shopping experience.

Pantaloons’ Exclusive format includes-

1. Pantaloons: Lifestyle products under Private Labels and third-party brands.
2. Central: Seamless mall providing the customer with a wide range of lifestyle products
across multiple national and international brands.
3. Big Bazaar: Value retailing with a range of products from apparel, toys, accessories,
consumer durables to household products and furnishing.
4. Food Bazaar: Food and personal care products including dry groceries and FMCG
products.

Pantaloons believe their offerings provides to our customers is a unique shopping experience,
comprising of a vast range of lifestyle and value retail products, mix of retailing formats
coupled with the facility of entertainment and leisure. Pantaloons loyalty program, called
‘Green Card’ in our format Pantaloons, currently has 219989 members as on August 31, 2005.

The Green Card programmed accounted for about 31% of our sales in Pantaloons for the year
ended June 30, 2005. They offer Green Card holders’ rewards points on their purchases,
special offers and discounts, and invitations to exclusive events and promotions. They have
four subsidiaries and have two joint venture entities supplementing the business.

30
In the initial stages the organizations had small format outlets branded Pantaloons Shoppe,
which were franchise operations. Realizing the problems associated with franchise model, they
decided to have their own retail outlets. They launched their own retail store “Pantaloons” in
1997. They also launched Big Bazaar- a hypermarket with over 170000 products as the first
offering in value retailing segment. Food is the largest basket in terms of household
expenditure, as a logical extension they launched their new format Food Bazaar. They have
introduced the concept of seamless malls in India through their new format ‘Central’. Recently
they have launched new retail formats; aLL, Fashion Station and MeLa.

Pantaloons- ‘Fresh Fashions’

Started in 1997 through one 8,000 square feet store in Kolkata, Pantaloons is the first organized
departmental store format targeting the Indian middle class and upper-class customers across
age and gender. The focus is largely on apparels and accessories and covers the entire family.
They offer a wide variety of product range including trousers, shirts, casual wear, western and
ethnic wear for women, children’s clothes, accessories, jewellery. They also provide a
combination of private label and third-Party Label.

Private Labels- “Pantaloons” is life style retailing format. The objective is to offer
differentiated products not available elsewhere. The focus is on Private Label products and
fashion at affordable prices. The antecedent of the Company lies in garment and fabric
manufacturing and trading, this ability to understand the apparel business has translated into
active and strong Private Label offering contributing to 77% of our total apparel revenues in
Pantaloons in FY 2005.

31
Some of their Initial Private Labels includes

Private Label Year of Launch Category

Pantaloon trouser 1987 Men’s wear

Bare Jeans 1991 Jeans, Shirts, Knit wear,

Gaberdines, Jackets and
other accessories.

John miller 1995 Shirts

Shrishti 1998 Ladies wear

Scotsville 1999 Winter wear, Sweaters,

Cardigans and Blazers.

Annabelle 1999 Ladies western wear

Ajile 2000 Sports wear

An intensive Private Label offering requires a proactive and innovative design team. To fulfil
this objective a Design Studio was created at Mumbai. They have a design team comprising of
35 members, all qualified graduates form National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT),
National Institute of Design (NID), Nottingham Trent University, UK (NTU) and other
institutes. The team has a combination of senior designers and new recruits providing a mix of
experience and youth. In addition to conceptualizing designs for apparels, the team also designs
and develops logos, labels and tags. Presence of a dedicated design team has resulted in faster
introduction of new Private Labels as well as ensures that all existing Private Labels undergo
frequent refurbishment. The organization has brought to India, Underground Music Movement
(UMM) a brand licensed from Moda & Música SEM of Italy. They have exclusive retail
license for international brands like Popeye and Disney. They have acquired 49% of the equity
share capital in Planet Sports Private Limited. Planet Sports, through its wholly owned
subsidiary Supreme Trade Links Private Limited which is the sole franchisee of the UK-based
Marks and Spencer in India. Planet Sports also holds exclusive distribution licensing rights for
brands like Wilson, Speedo. It has six Mark and Spencer and 25 Planet Sports stores in India.

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Big Bazaar- ‘Isse Sasta aur accha kahin nahin’
On October 12, 2001, they launched ‘Big Bazaar’ as the offering in the value retailing segment.
By removing inefficiencies from the distribution chain, they are able to unleash attractive
savings which are passed on to the consumer. Big Bazaar is India’s first hypermarket in the
discount store format. Big Bazaar provides more than 2,00,000 items- food, grocery, utensils,
kitchen needs, home needs, bath needs, toys, stationery, electronics and white goods which are
sold at a discount to the maximum retail price. Price is the principal value proposition at these
stores. A big driver at Big Bazaar is the product variety.

This is achieved by selling a wide range of products and through the “Shop-in-Shop” format.
As a result, a typical Big Bazaar comprises shops that stock medicines, optical accessories,
camera rolls, bakery products, dry fruits, crockery, glassware, health and beauty products,
ladies accessories, electronics, infant necessities, watches, clocks, computer accessories, food
and beverages, stationery, readymade garments, household appliances, home furnishings,
luggage. They believe this is a win- win situation as the customer is assured of product
availability, the shop owner can benefit of the infrastructure and they enjoy assured income
without needing to stock inventory. Also, the Shop-in-Shop offering is able to increase the
customer traffic into the stores. The Big Bazaar has been positioned to the customer as a place
where the customer can shop for each and everything for which it goes to a market.

Gold Bazaar- ‘Sista phi shush phi’

The organization have opened ‘Gold bazaar’ within Big Bazaar in 2002, they foray into gold
retailing. Gold Bazaar offers various advantages like no weight reduction on exchange,
transparent and fixed making charges, purity check through Carat meter, certificate by World
Gold Council, 100% free insurance against theft, burglary and loss by National Insurance
Company with every product, no-questions asked 15 day return policy and free life time
maintenance of the gold jewellery. Gold Bazaar operates as a part of Big Bazaar.

Food Bazaar- ‘Wholesale prices

The organization ventured into food retailing with Food Bazaar in April 2002. It began as a
part of Big Bazaar and now operates as standalone outlets in addition to being part of Big
Bazaar.

33
Food Bazaar provides a wide product range from fresh fruits and vegetables to FMCG products
and ready-to-cook products. It stocks about 8,000 to 12,000 SKUs per location. Food Bazaar’s
core concept is to create a blend of a typical Indian market and International supermarket
atmosphere with the objective of giving the customer all the advantages of Quality, Range and
Price associated with large format stores. Food Bazaar offers the Indian consumers
convenience, cleanliness and hygiene through pre-packed commodities while retaining
Indian’s preference of "See- Touch- Feel" created by displaying products in the open at
competitive prices. Food Bazaar also provides home delivery services to the customers.

Central- ‘Shop, Eat, Celebrate’ In the heart of the city’

Central is the second offering under the lifestyle format. Central is a seamless mall. The
concept of seamless mall is relatively new to India and Central is a pioneer of this format. The
design of the mall does away with in-between walls and Shop-in-Shops thus offering
customer’s unobstructed shopping experience. The first Central opened in Bangalore on May
14, 2004. Located in the heart of the city the mall is spread over 125000 Sq. ft. across five
floors and provides customers with a wide array of facilities ranging from shopping, eating,
leisure and entertainment.

The mall allows customers to choose from amongst a range of brands in apparel, toys, books,
music, sports, lifestyle accessories and more under one roof. Central also has a Food Bazaar,
food courts and restaurants. The second Central was launched in Hyderabad in November,
2004 covering an area of 216000 Sq. ft. In April, 2005 the third Central was launched in Bund
Garden, Pune covering an area of 137000 Sq. ft. Central provides a platform to showcase in
house labels amidst other national and international brands thereby improving brand visibility.

Fashion Station
A thematic store, Fashion Station is an attempt to offer current fashion products to the mass
market. The organization believe with increasing media penetration and a proliferation of
television channels some of which cover fashion extensively, the average Indian is being
steadily exposed to bolder and more contemporary fashion. Fashion Station is positioned to
meet the fashion requirements of this growing number of customers.

34
They opened the first Fashion Station opened in Mulund, Mumbai in March 2005. Spread over
25,000 square feet, the store houses a mix of Private Labels sold in Big Bazaar and Pantaloons.
These are backed by the requisite fashion accessories and appropriate footwear, which lends
an integrated feel to the store and meets the entire fashion requirements of a customer. The
second Fashion Station has been opened in Ghaziabad which is spread over 15,000 Sq. ft.

aLL- ‘A little larger’

aLL is our latest format in the Lifestyle retail segment. aLL is the exclusive store dedicated to
the fashion needs of both plus size men and women which has been launched as a single
dedicated stand- alone store. It was launched in Vashi, Mumbai on July 16, 2005 and covers
an area of 650 Sq. ft and at Andheri on August 21, 2005 covering an area of 2,000 Sq. ft. The
‘aLL’ store houses a wide range of ready-to-wear fashionable clothes and accessories that are
otherwise not easily available for plus size customers.

The store has a wide collection to select from - Western wear, Indo-western and Ethnic wear
in both formal and casual categories. Matching accessories like belts, ties, and handbags are
also available. To complement the collection, the store layout is designed keeping in mind the
requirements of its customers. The sales staffs are trained to provide a comfortable shopping
experience to this new segment of customers.

MeLa
MeLa marks the entry into the home solutions market through our subsidiary Home Solutions
Retail (India) Limited. With a record number of houses being bought annually in India and the
organized retailing being largely absent in this segment, home solutions are a logical expansion
of the retail business. Under this business, they cater to the value and lifestyle segment through
existing and new formats. MeLa provides a complete range of home furnishings, besides also
offering a range of services that includes tailoring facilities and customized home solutions by
in-house interior designers. The company currently has one MeLa store in Mumbai.

35
 CHAPTER 4
Pantaloon Retail Strategy

36
Pantaloons’ Strategy-
Pantaloons intend to maintain and enhance their position as a leading retail entity through
continued focus on the Indian market and investing further in their competitive strengths to
grow their business. The key elements of Pantaloons business strategy include:

➢ Increasing offerings to meet a higher portion of the consumer spend.

Pantaloons intend enhancing their share of the customers monthly spend by launching new
formats or adding categories to their existing product range. They intend to implement this
by launching such formats directly or by way of strategic tie ups in areas where they have
the opportunity to tie up with an appropriate partner.
➢ Increasing penetration in existing cities and expanding their reach across the country.
Increasing their penetration in existing cities with a larger number of stores, increasingly
of larger size, will enable us to penetrate into new catchment areas within these cities and
optimize their infrastructure. Enhancing they reach to cover additional cities; will enable
them to reach out to a larger population. This will help to provide a platform to domestic
and international brands wanting to reach out to domestic consumers with the same profile
as their customers.
➢ Enhancing merchandise width by adding product categories
Consumer’s tastes are shifting and the propensity to spend on new categories of
merchandise is increasing along with needs for new services. Pantaloons’ focus will be to
add on such new categories in their stores along with developing existing categories to
increase their share of the spend of not only existing customers, but also acquire new
customers.
➢ Introducing new brands and developing more Private Labels to offer a better depth
in each category.
Pantaloons continuously focus on enhancing the depth and width of their merchandise.
Their Private Label and private brands initiative are part of such focus and offers us a
differentiating factor as compared to their competition at the same time helps us enhance
margins. They had a tie up with Popeye and Disney wherein they are their exclusive retail
licensee for India. They continue to evaluate such opportunities for tie ups with national
and international brands, which can be introduced in India through their stores.

37
➢ Utilising economies of scale as they grow in size and expand their reach.
Pantaloons believe that their existing corporate infrastructure and software systems have
been designed for a higher scale of operations than their current size, and can help them
grow without the need to significantly increase costs. They are having in place their
distribution and logistics infrastructure, which can handle larger business volumes at
marginal addition to costs. Higher business volumes will also improve their negotiating
powers and help us get further economies of scale in their buying with opportunities of
incremental margins.
➢ Enhancing operational efficiencies through systems and processes.
They are having a consistent focus on enhancing their operational efficiencies and monitor
key operational parameters on an ongoing basis using concepts such as gross margin return
on floor space, gross margin return on labour and gross margin return on inventory to
improve their productivity on space, labour and inventory. Pantaloons benchmark of the
stores on performance parameters on a historical as well as on a comparable basis to seek
areas for improvement to reduce their operating costs and enhance our productivity levels.
➢ Enhancing human capital.
The aim at recruiting the best talent available in a cross section of industries, identifying
fresh talent, grounding them in the value system and providing opportunities for growth.
They follow a Balanced Score Card approach which deals with the individual
aspirations/goals and links them to the overall company strategy. Keeping in mind their
needs and the industry’s future requirement of professionals and given the lack of
educational facilities plus a gap between demand and supply in the retail industry, they set
up a two year Post Graduate Programme in Retail Management in collaboration
with Wellingkar Institute of Management Development & Research, a Mumbai based
management institute.

38
Pantaloons Marketing Mix Strategy
Marketing Mix of Pantaloons analyses the brand/company which covers 7Ps (Product, Price,
Place, Promotion, People, Process, Physical Evidence) and explains the Pantaloons marketing
strategy.

Product
The product strategy and mix in Pantaloons marketing strategy can be explained as
follows:
Pantaloons is one of the leading fashion retail brands in India. Pantaloons offers Apparel brands
for Men, Women and Kids. Along with Apparel it also features accessories. Some of the most
popular brands offered are Indusroute, SF, BYFORD, BARE, Ajile, Factor, IZABEL, Honey,
Poppers, chalk etc. Pantaloons offers accessories from watches to shoes, bags, jewellery and
perfumes. The shops are designed in an aesthetically appealing way with excellent customer
support. The tagline of Pantaloons is “In love with Fashion”. Pantaloons offer products from
traditional outfits to high end western outfits as part of its marketing mix strategy. The target
group is the middle and upper middle class residing in Tier I, II and III cities of the country.
The have dedicated outlets and also presence in shopping malls. They launch new products
every festive season. Pantaloons have a dedicated website online that features collections-
based seasons like “summer” collection, “Winter” collection etc. They have also featured an
online catalogue which is updated regularly that is in vogue with the latest fashion available.

Price
Below is the pricing strategy in Pantaloons marketing strategy:
Pantaloons offers value for money strategy to all its customers. Pantaloons offer discounts
during festive season. They also have end of year clear off sales. All the goods are procured
from private small-scale producers and are bundled and sold under private labels. Pantaloons
follows relationship marketing where premium is charged for the in-store service offered by
the shop. Relationship marketing has helped bring customer service, quality and improving
visibility into closer alignment.

39
Place
Following is the distribution strategy of Pantaloons:
Pantaloons offers sales through omni channel. They have an online presence where items can
be ordered from their home website. The website of Pantaloons is designed in accordance with
keeping e-commerce strategies in place. The items are differentiated under headings suitably.
Pantaloons currently has 130 fashion stores in 40 cities and towns in India. Pantaloons has a
retail space of 1.7 million square feet, which is among the largest in India.

Promotion
The promotional and advertising strategy in the Pantaloons marketing strategy is as
follows:
Pantaloons uses a diverse range of promotional activities to market its brands. Pantaloons uses
media like TV, print, online etc as part of its marketing mix promotional strategy. Pantaloons
also offers its flagship Green card membership. It is available in 4 different offerings with one,
three, five and seven-star. Discounts are offered based on the type of card the user has
purchased. This has helped in providing loyalty points which can be redeemed at every next
purchase. Loyalty programs are one the best ways of promoting, especially in the retail apparel
segment. Loyal customers of Pantaloons are always cheap to serve, they are willing to pay
more for a service and they act as brand ambassadors for the product, by word of mouth
marketing.

People
Pantaloons values customer service and in-store service. Pantaloons have excellent customer
engagement skills. The higher management consists of people sourced from reputed institutes
and with years of excellent experience. Also, the sales people at Pantaloons stores are very
well trained and equipped to handle queries of customers.

Process
Pantaloons has several processes in place for smooth execution of its business. The clothes are
shopped from manufacturers to warehouses to the Pantaloons retail outlets all across the
country. Also, the online model ensures online purchase, online payment and delivery at the
customer doorstep.

40
Pantaloons has installed SAP based software to track movement and sales of products through
their retail stores. SAP has helped them in implementing ERP services which has improved
their tracking and sales of goods.

Physical Evidence
Pantaloons’ stores are the biggest physical evidence of the brand. The uniqueness of stores,
store planning, colour & design etc are all unique across stores. The physical evidence also
includes its loyalty cards, carry bags etc. Pantaloons is a winner of the prestigious North-East
consumer awards. It is also one of the most preferred Fashion Retail destination of the year.
Pantaloons also received the “Emerging market Retailer of the year” award. It has also received
HR excellence awards for some of its best industry people management standards. It has also
received awards for some of the best loyalty program awards.

41
 CHAPTER 5
Customer Satisfaction Attributes

42
Pantaloons are among India's largest chains of fashion stores. Pantaloons Fresh Fashion, with
its focus on 'fresh look, feel and attitude' offers, trendy and hip collections that are in sync
with the hopes and aspirations of discerning young and 'young-at-heart' consumers.
Pantaloons Fresh Fashion stands out as a fashion trendsetter, on the lines of how fashion is
followed internationally. This 'fresh fashion' destination allows customers to shop for the
latest in fashion apparel and accessories throughout the year in an attractive and visually
stimulating ambience. Pantaloons Fresh Fashion stores have presence with stores not just in
Metros but also in smaller towns. All stores have a wide variety of categories like casual
wear, ethnic wear, formalwear, party wear and sportswear for Men, Women and Kids.
Defining Customer Satisfaction:
It is a measurement or indicator of the degree to which customers or users of an organization’s
products or services are pleased with those products or services.

Customer satisfaction to a company can be defined as:

➢ The company's ability to fulfil the business, emotional, and psychological needs of its
customers
➢ Quality of service delivery expected by the customers.
➢ An internal drive to satisfy an unsatisfied need of customer.
➢ Providing good service in a pleasant manner and meeting the customer's expectations;
➢ The measure of the degree to which a product or service meets the customer's expectations;
➢ Comparison of expectations versus actual experience.

Delighted Customers Are Profitable:

It is widely accepted that it is almost five times more profitable to sell to an existing customer
than to find a new customer. More important, the difference between satisfied customers and
very satisfied customers can make a big difference in customer repeat business and the profits.
Measuring client satisfaction is very important and distinguishing between degrees of
satisfaction by using customer surveys is crucial.

43
Measuring Customer Satisfaction
There are several ways to gather input from customers. The simplest way to find out how
customers feel and what they want is to ask them. If you have only 20 customers, you can talk
to each one personally. The advantage of this approach is that you'll get a personal "feel" for
each customer. The disadvantage is that you'll gather different information from each customer
depending on how the conversation goes. Customer surveys with standardized survey question
ensure that you will collect the same information from everyone. Remember that few of your
customers will be interested in "filling out a questionnaire". It's work for them without much
reward. By launching a customer survey as an attempt to find out "how we can serve you
better" -- your customers will feel less put upon.

Here are a few of the possible dimensions that one could measure:
➢ Quality of product Pricing Offers and discounts
➢ Pricing
➢ Offers and discount
➢ Staff’s behaviour
➢ Complaints or problems
➢ Billing experience
➢ Security’s behaviour
➢ Store’s ambience & cleanliness
➢ Overall experience in store

Using satisfaction Surveys to achieve a Competitive advantage consider

these statistics:

➢ Only 4% of all customers with problems complain

➢ The average person with a problem eventually tells 9 other people
➢ Satisfied patients and customers tell 5 other people about their good treatment
➢ Cost of acquiring a new customer is usually 5-7 times greater than retaining current ones
➢ Cost of hiring and training a new employee is up to 10 times greater than retaining current
ones.

44
These facts underscore the need to satisfy your current customers so they remain with your
organization. Ensuring their satisfaction is vital to your long-term business survival and
profitability. The technology available to both you and your competitors has made it easier to
duplicate each other’s products or services. Because of this, it is increasingly difficult to rely
on features alone to differentiate yourself from the competition. Excellent customer
satisfaction is one of the few ways to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage.

Customer Satisfaction Attributes A Pantaloons

➢ Quality
If you have a poor product or service, it affects the satisfaction level. There’s a. No amount
of aggressive PR or marketing that can make a product or service sell. So, product should
be up to the mark.

➢ Differentiation
In Mumbai market, there’s usually many players like big bazaar, max, westside, central
etc. Customer service may not work when choosing the appropriate product or service, but
word of mouth certainly plays into customer satisfaction. If a product is the best in quality
and discounts, then it’s necessary to separate it from the rest of the brands, through
customer service, marketing and product quality.
➢ Access
The era of digitalization has made finding products and services a snap. What Emailing
and finding products and services on the Internet has become such a trend, companies have
invested millions in making sure access is free and extremely easy.
➢ Face Value
When a product or service costs high, but is worth it, the value which becomes acceptable
to the consumer. When a consumer specifically buys trousers from peter England or bare
denim, the positive features of the products outweighs the cost, creating a strong sense of
good value. Pantaloons should have more international brands which is rated excellent by
the customers.

45
➢ Ambience
When the customers shop at pantaloons, the first impression that they look for is of a clean,
safe and well- organized environment. The store’s ambience affects the purchasing
behaviour of the customers immensely.

➢ Faster services
The services as in billing process, exchange process etc. should be faster so that the
customer won’t be waiting in a queue for a long time. Pantaloons has come up with
additional billing and exchange counters so that they can attend a greater number of
customers at a time.

➢Technology
To satisfy customers, pantaloons have come up with the latest technological advances.
Technology like capillary cashier terminal, cashier in touch, qwik cilver help improving
the quality of the purchasing experience without delay or adding staff to the payroll.

Loyalty Program
The Pantaloons Green card, loyalty program, has been designed exclusively for Pantaloons'
customers to enhance customer satisfaction. Presently offered to over 4 million members, the
programmer entitles members to discounts, point’s redemption and special privileges at all
Pantaloons stores. The card has four tiers depending on the year's shopping. When a customer
shops, the card updates with increasing privileges and discounts. The benefits covered under
Green card include discounts, complimentary parking, complimentary delivery of altered
garments, relaxed exchange policy, complimentary shipping, exclusive sale preview, exclusive
billing counters.

46
Green Card Membership
There is a membership for customers in pantaloons, where customers become members and
enjoy discounts on shopping.
➢ 1 Star
To become one-star member customers have to give Rs.100 With that they become one-
star customer and get Rs.200 discount coupon for next shopping and 5% discount on
Fridays.
➢ 3 Stars
If the total purchase by a customer crosses Rs.8000 than they become 3star customer and
enjoys 5% discount on all days and additional 5% on Fridays.
➢ 5 Stars
If purchase crosses Rs.20000 mark then they become 5-star customers and enjoys 7.5%
discount with additional 5% on Fridays.
➢ 7 Stars
If the total purchase crosses Rs.40000 mark then they become 7-star customers and enjoys
10% discount with additional 5% on Fridays.

Exclusive Benefits And privileges:

Satisfaction is an overall psychological state that reflects the evaluation of a relationship
between the customer/consumer and a company-environment-product-service. Satisfaction
involves one of the following three psychological elements: - cognitive (thinking/evaluation),
affective (emotional/feeling) and behavioural. "Satisfaction" itself can refer to a number of
different facts of the relationship with a customer. For example, it can refer to any or all of the
following: -
➢ Satisfaction with the quality of a particular product or service.
➢ Satisfaction with an ongoing business relationship.
➢ Satisfaction with the price-performance ratio of a product or service.

47
CHAPTER 6
SWOT ANALYSIS

48
SWOT ANALYSIS

Definition
SWOT analysis (or SWOT matrix) is a strategic planning technique used to help a person or
organization identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats related to business
competition or project planning. It is designed for use in the preliminary stages of decision-
making processes and can be used as a tool for evaluation of the strategic position of a city or
organization. It is intended to specify the objectives of the business venture or project and
identify the internal and external factors that are favourable and unfavourable to achieving
those objectives. Users of a SWOT analysis often ask and answer questions to generate
meaningful information for each category to make the tool useful and identify their competitive
advantage. SWOT has been described as the tried-and-true tool of strategic analysis.

Strengths and weakness are frequently internally-related, while opportunities and threats
commonly focus on the external environment. The name is an acronym for the four parameters
the technique examines:

STRENGTH WEAKNESS
• Company’s strength: Popular • Areas in which your company is
brand or service. not performing well
• Things makes you different from • Major dependency on a
your competitors particular thing

OPPORTUNITY THREAT
• Tapping new markets to increase • External factors affecting your
penetration company’s business-like Tax and
• Use advance technologies like regulatory structure, commodity
machine learning to make better prices etc.
decision • Competition in business

49
SWOT analysis of Pantaloons

Strengths
• Pioneer in the industry, largest market share and capitalization.
• Reputation for value for money (Competitive pricing), convenience and a wide range of
products all in one store
• Presence in major cities
• Highly Strategic human resource management and development. It invests time and money
in training people, and retaining them.
• Most trusted and respected brand by the consumers
• Being financially strong helps pantaloons retail India deal with any problems, ride any dip
in profits and out perform their rivals
• Development and Innovation are high at Pantaloons India with regards to it products and
consumer preferences and lifestyle changes which keep its ahead of its competitors.

Weakness
• Pantaloons does not function internationally, which has an effect on success, as they do not
reach consumers in overseas markets.
• PRIL is the World’s largest grocery retailer and control of its empire, despite its IT
advantages, could leave it weak in some areas due to the huge span of control
• Since Pantaloons Retail India Ltd sell products across many sectors, it may not have the
flexibility of some of its more focused competitors.
• Each business line faces competition from specialty companies. Fashion segment,
Shoppers Stop, Trent, Lifestyle. In hypermarket-RPG (Spencer’s), Trent (Star India
Bazaar) In Food business, Reliance Fresh, Spinach, Food World.

50
Opportunities
• Huge untapped market.
• The Indian middle class is already 30 Crore & is projected to grow to over 60 Crore by
2010 making India one of the largest consumer markets of the world.
• Organized retail is only 3% of the total retailing market in India. It is estimated to grow at
the rate of 25-30% p.a. and reach INR 1, 00, 000 Crore by 2010.
• To take over, merge with, or form strategic alliances with other global retailers, focusing
on specific markets.
• New locations and store types offer PRIL opportunities to exploit market development.
(Diversification into insurance, property, and variety of products and stores.
• Opportunities exist for PRIL to continue with its current strategy of large, super centres.
• Rural Retailing.

Threats
• Being number one means that you are the target of competition. (Extra competition and
new competitors entering the market could unsteady pantaloons retail India).
• A slow economy or financial slowdown could have a major impact on pantaloons retail
India business and profits.
• Consumer lifestyle changes could lead to less of a demand for pantaloons retail India
products/services.
• Price wars between competitors, price cuts and so on could damage profits for pantaloons
retail India.
• The actions of a competitor could be a major threat against pantaloons retail India, for
instance, if they bring in new technology or increase their workforce to meet demand.
• 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.
• If unorganized retailers are put together, they are parallel to a large supermarket with little
overheads, high degree of flexibility in merchandise, display, prices and turnover.

51
CHAPTER 7
Research Methodology

52
Research Methodology
The study is based on primary and secondary data. The sample for the data collection is decided
completely on the convenience of the researcher and supporting the purpose of the study. The
sample size for the study comprises of 100. This study will help to identify customer
satisfaction towards Pantaloons retail store

Primary Data
The primary data for research have been found through self-constructed questionnaire.

Secondary Data
Secondary data is collected from company websites and various Literature reviews. Secondary
research sources have also been used, where appropriate, from published journals, articles for
obtaining the data. These include market size information from various market segments of the
industry.

53
 CHAPTER 8
Data Finding and Analysis

54
 1. Age

Percentage

9%2%12% below 18
18-34
35-50
51-69
77%

Inference:
Above chart shows that the large percentage of people who visits pantaloon is from the age
group of 18-34.

2. Gender

Percentage

45% Male
55% Female

Inference:
Above chart shows that females visit pantaloons more than males.

55
 3. How did you come to know about Pantaloon retail store?

percentage

Electronic media
16% 20%
Hoardings
12%
Print media
16%
Road shows
36% other

Inference:
Above chart shoes that 36 % of people come to know about pantaloons from print media, 20%
of people come to know about pantaloon from electronic media, 16 % of people come to know
about pantaloon from hoardings, 16 % of people come to know about pantaloon from others
and 12 % of people come to know about pantaloons from road shows.

4. How often do you visit pantaloon retail store?

percentage

2%11%
Daily
39% Weekly
Monthly
48% During offers

Inference:
Most of the respondents visited pantaloons every month that is 48%, 39% of people visit
pantaloons during offers, 11% of people visit pantaloons weekly and 2% of people visit
pantaloons daily.

56
 5. What is the reason for choosing pantaloon over others?

percentage

11% Brand image

7% 33%
Quality service
offers

49% less price

Inference:
Evidently pantaloons have a wider and better customer service and the coverage is 49%, Brand
Image has been voted 33%, less price 11%. Customer prefer to shop at pantaloon rather to for
an exclusive store having lesser price, and quality service.

6. Are you satisfied with the service being provided by pantaloon?

percentage

3%
3%
Yes

31% To some extent

Can't say
63%
No

Inference:
63% of people from the total respondents are satisfied by the quality of service which being
provided at pantaloon store.

57
 7. Have you faced any problem at the time of purchase and usage?

percentage

23%
Yes
No
77%

Inference:
Above chart depicts that a large percentage of people didn’t faced any problem at the time of
purchase and usage.

8. How do you feel about the pricing of Pantaloons products as

compared to others?

percentage

11% Competitive
17% Expensive
56% less expensive
16%
Can't say

Inference:
A very high percentage of people are of the opinion that the pricing of pantaloons products is
competitive as compared to the others

58
 9. What is your opinion on the serviced availability of Pantaloons
retail?

percentage

8% Easily Available
Not Available
47%
38% To some Extent
Can't Say
7%

Inference:
The service quality of a store can be sensed from the service desk and 46.3% of the
respondents are satisfied with the CSD where as 37.9%of customers reacted to some extent.
The personal interaction with the respondents revealed that they had mainly some minor
issues regarding cards and points which was handled immediately.

10. How do you rate the store ambience and cleanliness?

percentage

1% 15%
Excellent

40% Very good

Good
44% Bad

Inference:
People were found to be a more satisfied with the ambience of Pantaloons as compared to some
other outlets with 43.3% to be very good.

59
 11. How do you rate offers and discounts at Pantaloons retail store? (1
being the lowest and 5 being highest)

percentage

1
14%-1%
6%
2
34% 3

46% 4
5

Inference:
As Pantaloons operates in discount retailing, it was assumed that Pantaloons discount and low
prices were one of the magnum opuses for customers but respondents feel that the discount is
not that promising and it should be enhanced.

12. Will you purchase products from Pantaloons in future?

percentage

28% Yes
No
4%
68% Maybe

Inference:
From the above chart 67.5% of the total respondents are satisfied with the purchase of products
of pantaloons mainly because of the better quality of the products and customer services.

60
 13. Do you recommend Pantaloons to your friends, colleagues and
family?

Percentage

31% Yes
No
4% 65% May be

Inference:
Above chart depicts that 65.3 % people will recommend pantaloons store to their friends,
colleagues and family while a very small percentage will not recommend pantaloons.

61
CONCLUSION

62
Conclusion
This research report aims to study consumer attitude and customer satisfaction towards
Pantaloons and highlights its strengths and weaknesses in order that Pantaloons can fight the
competition in a better way. Though Pantaloons captures a different market and is giving
competition to big players like Vishal mega mart and big bazaar. Retail in India is a booming
sector nowadays and Pantaloons should try to benefit more from it.

This research throws light on various pros and cons of Pantaloons and can help Pantaloons to
improve on different aspects to have an advantage over its peers. The overall satisfaction from
the study reveals that the company is performing very well and customers buying are much
satisfied with the service given to them.

Through the study, it is observed that Pantaloons can be said an organization where the P’s of
marketing is taken seriously for the maximum profitability through large range of products,
promotional activities for the company through newspapers , magazines , internet ,banners and
posters and a solid sales organization monitoring that the P’s are worked effectively. The store
has been well maintained in accordance with the latest demands of the consumers and through
all these strategies. Pantaloons ensures repeated customer patronage.

If possible, more lucrative discounts and offers should be implemented to attract more
customers. The schemes and offers should be analysed before generalizing to customers Staff
should be trained up to the mark to assist people and to make them understand the benefits of
green card membership which will strengthen Customer loyalty. Good quality of merchandise
should be which should be trendy and compete with the latest market trend. The Cashiering
Should be optimized to save time of customers and avoid unnecessary queues.

63
 ANNEXURE

1. Age
• Below 18
• 18-34
• 35-50
• 51-69
2. Gender
• Male
• Female
3. How did you come to know about Pantaloon retail store?
• Electronic Media
• Hoardings
• Print Media
• Road shows
• Others
4. How often do you visit pantaloon retail store?
• Daily
• Weekly
• Monthly
• During offers
5. What is the reason for choosing pantaloon over others?
• Brand image
• Quality service
• Offers
• Less price

64
6. Are you satisfied with the service being provided by pantaloon?
• To some extent
• Can’t Say
• No
7. Have you faced any problem at the time of purchase and usage?
• Yes
• No
8. How do you feel about the pricing of Pantaloons products as
compared to others?
• Competitive
• Expensive
• Less Expensive
• Can’t Say
9. What is your opinion on the serviced availability of Pantaloons
retail?
• Easily Available
• Not Available
• To some extent
• Can’t say
10. How do you rate the store ambience and cleanliness?
• Excellent
• Very good
• Good
• Bad

65
11. How do you rate offers and discounts at Pantaloons retail store? (1
being the lowest and 5 being highest)
1 2 3 4 5
Offers
Discount

12. Will you purchase products from Pantaloons in future?

• Yes
• No
• Maybe
13. Do you recommend Pantaloons to your friends, colleagues and
family?
• Yes
• No
• Maybe

66
Bibliography

67
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retail-industry/
apparel Industry. (2018, feb). Retrieved from bbmantra.com:
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