BUYING BEHAVIOUR OF CUSTOMERS IN

CALICUT

PROJECT SUBMITTED TO SIKKIM MANIPAL UNIVERSITY PROJECT WORK, IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

By RIJU K Enrolment No. 521053600 Under the guidance of Mr; ______________

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DECLARATION

I hereby declare that the project work entitled BUYING BEHAVIOUR OF CUSTOMERS IN BIGBAZAAR CALICUT submitted for the Degree of Master of Business Administration in Marketing Management is my original work and the project has not formed the basis for the award of any degree, diploma, associate ship, fellowship or similar other titles. It has not been submitted to any other University or Institution for the award of any degree or diploma.

Place: KOZHIKODE Date:

RIJU K En. No. 521053600

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

It is with real pleasure that, I record my indebtedness to my academic guide, Mr _____________ for his counsel and constant guidance during the preparation of this Project Work. I am also grateful to I wish to record my sincere thanks to all my well-wishers for their blessings and co-operation throughout my study. They boosted me up every day to work with a new and high spirit.

Place: Date:

RIJU K En. No. 521053600

CERTIFICATE

Certified that the Project Work BUYING BEHAVIOUR OF CUSTOMERS IN BIGBAZAAR CALICUT is a record work done by Mr Riju K during the period of his study under my guidance, and the project has not previously formed the basis for the award of any degree, diploma, associate ship, fellowship or similar other titles and that it is an independent work done by him.

Place: Kozhikode Date:

CERTIFICATE

Certified that the Project Work BUYING BEHAVIOUR OF CUSTOMERS IN BIGBAZAAR CALICUT is a record work done by Mr Riju K during the period of his study under my guidance, and the project has not previously formed the basis for the award of any degree, diploma, associate ship, fellowship or similar other titles and that it is an independent work done by him.

Head- Management Wing

External Examiner

INDEX
Chapter CONTENT Page No.

Acknowledgement List of Tables List of Figures 1. Introduction (i) About the topic (ii) About the Organization (iii)Limitations of the Study 2. 3. Review of Literature Methodology (i) Need for the study (ii) Objectives of the study (iii)Hypothesis Sample Design and Size 4. 5. 6. Analysis and Discussion Finings and Suggestions Conclusion Bibliography Appendices

CHAPTER 1

Introduction

(i)

ABOUT THE TOPIC

As customers tastes and preferences are changing, the market scenario is also changing from time to time. Todays market scenario is very different from that of the market scenario before 1990. One of the main reasons behind the changes of the market scenario is nothing but the changing tastes and preference of the customers. Income level of the people has changed and so life style and social class of people have completely changed now than that of olden days. There has been a shift in the market demand in todays world. Technology is one of the major factors which is responsible for this paradigm shift in the mark. New generation people are no more dependent on haat market and far off departmental stores. Today we can see a new era in market with the opening up of many departmental stores, hyper markets, shoppers stop, malls, branded retail outlets and specialty stores. In todays world shopping is not any more a tiresome work rather it is a pleasant outing phenomenon. My study is based on a survey done on customers of a hypermarket named Big Bazaar. Big Bazaar is a new type of market which came into existence in India since 1994. In Big Bazaar various kinds of products are available under one roof. My study is on determining the buying behavior and the satisfaction level of customers in Big Bazaar in Calicut. My study will find out the current status of Big Bazaar compared to other malls in Calicut and determine where it stands in the current market. This market field survey will help in knowing the present customers tastes and preferences. It will help me and the organization in estimating the customers future needs, wants & demands.

(ii) ABOUT THE ORGANIZATION

FUTURE GROUP OVERVIEW Every day, Future Group brings multiple products, opportunities and services to millions of customers in India. Through over 15 million square feet of retail space, we serve customers in 85 cities and 60 rural locations across the country. Most of all, we help India shop, save and realize dreams and aspirations to live a better quality of life every day. Future Group understands the soul of Indian consumers. As one of Indias retail pioneers with multiple retail formats, we connect a diverse and passionate community of Indian buyers, sellers and businesses. The collective impact on business is staggering: Around 220 million customers walk into our stores each year and choose products and services supplied by over 30,000 small, medium and large entrepreneurs and manufacturers from across India. And this number is set to grow. Future Group employs 35,000 people directly from every section of our society. We source our supplies from enterprises across the country, creating fresh employment, impacting livelihoods, empowering local communities and fostering mutual growth. We believe in the Indian dream and have aligned our business practices to our larger objective of being a premier catalyst in Indias consumption-led growth story. Working towards this end, we are ushering positive socio-economic changes in communities to help the Indian dream fly high and the Sone Ki Chidiya soars once again. This approach remains embedded in our ethos even as we rapidly expand our footprints deeper into India.

BUSINESSES: RETAIL Pantaloon Retail (India) Limited * Future Value Retail Limited FINANCE Future Generali Life Insurance Company Limited Future Generali (India) Insurance Company Limited Future Capital Holdings Limited *
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Future Ventures (India) Limited *

SERVICES Future Supply Chains Limited Future Human Development Limited Future Media (India) Limited Future Corporate Resources Limited

(* Public Limited Companies listed in the National Stock Exchange and Bombay Stock Exchange)

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. We, in Future Group, will not wait for the future to unfold itself but create future scenarios in the consumer space and facilitate consumption because consumption is development. Thereby, we will effect socio-economic development for our customers, employees, shareholders, associates and partners. Our customers will not just get what they need, but also get them where, how and when they need. We will not just post satisfactory results, we will write success stories:. We will not just operate efficiently in the Indian economy; we will evolve it. We will not just spot trends: we will set trends by marrying our understanding of the Indian consumer to their needs of tomorrow. Its this understanding that has helped us succeed. And its this that will help us succeed in the future. We shall keep re-learning. And in this process, do just one thingRewrite Rules. Retain Values.

FUTURE GROUP BELIEFS Future Group was founded on a simple idea: Rewrite rules, retain values. This fundamental belief created a new kind of marketplace, forever transforming Indian retail.

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Today our core values continue to guide how we do business and improve the quality of life of the people we serve. At Future Group we are committed to being a catalyst of positive change in the communities, societies and business sectors in which we operate. We envision Indias transformation into the legendary 'Sone Ki Chidiya' (golden bird), taking wings once again to reach greater heights. We take pride in our Indianness. Our belief in inclusiveness for long-term sustainable growth and economic prosperity evokes trust among consumers, employees, suppliers, partners, shareholders and the community.

FUTURE GROUP MISSIONS We share the vision and belief that our customers and stakeholders shall be served only by creating and executing future scenarios in the consumption space leading to economic development. We will be the trendsetters in evolving delivery formats, creating retail realty, making consumption affordable for all customer segments for classes and for masses. We shall infuse Indian brands with confidence and renewed ambition. We shall be efficient, cost- conscious and committed to quality in whatever we do. We shall ensure that our positive attitude, sincerity, humility and united determination shall be the driving force to make us successful.

FUTURE GROUP 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.

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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.

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE BOARD

Kishore Biyani: Founder & group CEO, Future Group Anshuman Singh: Managing Director & CEO, Future Supply Chain Solutions Ltd.

B. Anand: Director Finance, Future Group Damodar Mall: Director, Integrated Food Strategy, Future Group Kailash Bhatia: Director & CEO, Pantaloon Retail K. K. Rathi: CEO, Future Ventures India Ltd. Sanjay Jog : Chief People Officer, Future Group Santosh Desai: Managing Director & CEO, Future Brands India Ltd. Sumit Dabriwala: Managing Director, Agre Developers Ltd. Vibha Rishi: Group Strategy & Consumer Director, Future Group V. Vaidyanathan: Vice Chairman & Managing Director, Future Capital Holdings Ltd.

FOUNDERS BOARD Kishore Biyani - Group CEO, Future Group Anil Biyani Director, Future Group Rakesh Biyani Director, Future Group Sunil Biyani Director, Future Group Vijay Biyani Director, Future Group

BIG BAZAAR Big Bazaar is a chain of hypermarket in India. Currently there are 210 stores across 80 cities and towns in India. Big Bazaar is designed as an agglomeration of bazaars or Indian markets with clusters offering a wide range of merchandise including fashion and apparels, food products, general merchandise, furniture, electronics, books, fast food and leisure and entertainment sections.

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Big Bazaar is part of Future Group, which also owns the Central Hypermarket, and is owned through a wholly owned subsidiary of Pantaloon Retail India Limited, that is listed on Indian stock exchanges. BIG BAZAAR CALICUT BIG BAZAAR, P. V. H. CITY PARK, MAVOOR ROAD, CALICUT - 004 Phone: 0495-401555; Helpline: 1800 200 2255 Fig.1. Geographical Map of Big Bazaar

Big Bazaar, Calicut store was launched on March 3, 2010. The store is of 71,000 sq.ft floor area. Per day average sales of the store is 12 lakhs and the average daily walkins in week days is estimated as 2000-3000. In the weekends it will be around 6000. The

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store is of 5 floors and divided into 5 levels based on the nature of the products available. There are 21 sub-departments in this store and 200 human resource employed. The Store Manager is Mr Shankar Narayanan. As this store is big enough with 5 levels and 21 sub-departments, it has a long product range and product depth. Big Bazaar is not just another hypermarket. It caters to every need of your family. Where Big Bazaar scores over other stores is its value for money proposition for the Indian customers.At Big Bazaar, you will definitely get the best products at the best prices - that's what we guarantee. With the ever increasing array of private labels, it has opened the doors into the world of fashion and general merchandise including home furnishings, utensils, crockery, cutlery, sports goods and much more at prices that will surprise you. And this is just the beginning. Big Bazaar plans to add much more to complete your shopping experience. STORE HIERARCHY OR ORGANIZATION STRUCTURE Store Manager (Store Kartha)

Assistant Store Manager (Asst. Store Kartha)

Front End Operation

Back End Operation

Dept. ManagerVM MM IT Asst. Dept. Manager Team Leader Team Members

HR ADMIN CASHINGSCMCATEGORIES Securities Housekeeping SPARSH SAP SARATHI

Table 1.1 Organization Structure of Big Bazaar

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DEPARTMENTS
Table 1.2. Departments and Sub-departments of Big Bazaar Department Electronics

Sub Department
Electronics Fruits & Vegetables Food

Food Bazaar

Non-food Food Bazaar Staples GM Fashion

General Merchandise Fashion Footwear (GM Fashion) Luggage Toys & Sports GM Home Crockery GM Home Plastics Stationery Utensils Home Fashion Bed sheets Home Fashion Bed linen Carpets Kids- Dress Accessories Ladies- Dress Ethnic wear Western wear Apparels Accessories Mens- Dress Casuals

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Formals Accessories Others NBD Watches Sunglasses

(New Business Development) T24

Administration Cash Category CSD (Customer Service Desk) Store Support HR (Human Resource) Logistics Maintenance VM (Visual Merchandise) IT (Information Technology)

(iii) LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

Certain limitations do creep in a research study due to constraints of the time, money and human efforts. This study is also not free from certain limitation, which were unavoidable. Although all effort was taken to make the result of the work as accurate as possible the survey has following limitations: Some customers were not willing to give appointment due to their busy schedule. Due to very large size of the population, only a selected sample of customer could be contacted. Due to time constraint and other imperative work load during the period it could not be made possible to explore more area of concern pertaining to study.

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Due to fast pace of life, some customers were not able to do justification to the questionnaire.

Personal biases might have come while answer the questionnaire. As per company rule many information was not disclose as the manager are busy in their daily schedule. It is not possible for us to spend more time in interaction with them.

The study is based on the outlet in Calicut only and so the results do not apply for all Big Bazaar malls.

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CHAPTER 2

Review of Literature

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RETAILING
The Indian consumer could well be crowned King with all economic indicators in the right place. Queuing up for the coronation ceremony is a multitude of global companies that are looking at India as the next consumer market powerhouse. And it seems to be the retail sector that will give the Desi consumer royal status. In this study I am trying to find out the present scenario of retail market in India. This project will give focus on the global scene to retail industry and what will drive the growth of industry in the future.

India Retail Industry

The Indian retail industry is the fifth largest in the world. Comprising of organized and unorganized sectors, India retail industry is one of the fastest growing industries in India, especially over the last few years. Though initially, the retail industry in India was mostly unorganized, however with the change of tastes and preferences of the consumers, the industry is getting more popular these days and getting organized as well. With growing market demand, the industry is expected to grow at a pace of 25-30% annually. The India retail industry is expected to grow from 35,00crore in 2004-05 to 109,000crore by the year 2010. In the Indian retailing industry, food is the most dominating sector and is growing at a rate of 9% annually. The branded food industry is trying to enter the India retail industry and convert Indian consumers to branded food. Since at present 60% of the Indian grocery basket consists of non- branded items.

Growth of Indian Retail

It is expected that by 2016 modern retail industry in India will be worth US$ 175- 200 billion. India retail industry is one of the fastest growing industries with revenue expected in 2007 to amount US$ 320 billion and is increasing at a rate of 5% yearly. A further increase of 7-8% is expected in the industry of retail in India by growth in consumerism in urban areas, rising incomes, and a steep rise in rural consumption. It has further been predicted that the retailing industry in India will amount to US$ 21.5 billion by 2010 from the current size of US$ 7.5 billion.
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According to the 8th Annual Global Retail Development Index (GRDI) of AT Kearney, India retail industry is the most promising emerging market for investment. In 2007, the retail trade in India had a share of 8-10% in the GDP (Gross Domestic Product) of the country. In 2009, it rose to 12%. It is also expected to reach 22% by 2010. According to a report by North bride Capita, the India retail industry is expected to grow to US$ 700 billion by 2010. By the same time, the organized sector will be 20% of the total market share. It can be mentioned here that, the share of organized sector in 2007 was 7.5% of the total retail market. Fig 2.1 Consumption Pattern in India

Major Retailers in India

Pantaloon Pantaloon is one of the biggest retailers in India with more than 450 stores across the country. Headquartered in Mumbai, it has more than 5 million sq. ft. retail space located across the country. It's growing at an enviable pace and is expected to reach 30 million sq. ft. by the year 2010. In 2001, Pantaloon launched country's first hypermarket Big Bazaar. It has the following retail segments: Food & Grocery: Big Bazaar, Food Bazaar Home Solutions: Hometown, Furniture Bazaar, Collection-i Consumer Electronics: e-zone
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 Tata Group

Shoes: Shoe Factory Books, Music & Gifts: Depot Health & Beauty Care: Star, Sitara E-tailing: Futurebazaar.com Entertainment: Bowling Co.

Tata group is another major player in Indian retail industry with its subsidiary Trent, which operates Westside and Star India Bazaar. Established in 1998, it also acquired the largest book and music retailer in India Landmark in 2005. Trent owns over 4 lakh sq. ft. retail space across the country. RPG Group RPG Group is one of the earlier entrants in the Indian retail market, when it came into food & grocery retailing in 1996 with its retail Food world stores. Later it also opened the pharmacy and beauty care outlets Health & Glow. Reliance Reliance is one of the biggest players in Indian retail industry. More than 300 Reliance Fresh stores and Reliance Mart are quite popular in the Indian retail market. It's expecting its sales to reach ` 90,000 crores by 2010. AV Birla Group AV Birla Group has a strong presence in Indian apparel retailing. The brands like Louis Phillipe, Allen Solly, Van Heusen, and Peter England are quite popular. It's also investing in other segments of retail. It will invest `8000-9000crores by 2010.

Retail Formats in India

Hypermarts/supermarkets: large self-servicing outlets offering products from a variety of categories. Mom-and-pop stores: they are family owned business catering to small sections; they are individually handled retail outlets and have a personal touch.

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Departmental stores: are general retail merchandisers offering quality products and services. Convenience stores: are located in residential areas with slightly higher prices goods due to the convenience offered. Shopping malls: the biggest form of retail in India, malls offers customers a mix of all types of products and services including entertainment and food under a single roof.

E-trailers: are retailers providing online buying and selling of products and services. Discount stores: these are factory outlets that give discount on the MRP. Vending: it is a relatively new entry, in the retail sector. Here beverages, snacks and other small items can be bought via vending machine. Category killers: small specialty stores that offer a variety of categories. They are known as category killers as they focus on specific categories, such as electronics and sporting goods. This is also known as Multi Brand Outlets or MBO's.

Specialty stores: are retail chains dealing in specific categories and provide deep assortment. Mumbai's Crossword Book Store and RPG's Music World are a couple of examples.

Challenges Facing Indian Retail Industry

The tax structure in India favours small retail business Lack of adequate infrastructure facilities High cost of real estate Dissimilarity in consumer groups Restrictions in Foreign Direct Investment Shortage of retail study options Shortage of trained manpower Low retail management skill

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The Future of Indian Retail

The retail industry in India is currently growing at a great pace and is expected to go up to US$ 833 billion by the year 2013. It is further expected to reach US$ 1.3 trillion by the year 2018 at a CAGR of 10%. As the country has got a high growth rates, the consumer spending has also gone up and is also expected to go up further in the future. In the last four year, the consumer spending in India climbed up to 75%. As a result, the India retail industry is expected to grow further in the future days. By the year 2013, the organized sector is also expected to grow at a CAGR of 40%. India retail industry is progressing well and for this to continue retailers as well as the Indian government will have to make a combined effort.

Scope of the Indian Retail Market

The scope of the Indian retail market is immense for this sector is poised for the highest growth in the next 5 years. The India retail industry contributes 10% of the countrys GDP and its current growth rate is 8.5%. In the Indian retail market the scope for growth can be seen from the fact that it is expected to rise to US$ 608.9 billion in 2009 from US$ 394 billion in 2005. The organized retailing sector in India is only 3% and is expected to rise to 2530% by the year 2010. There are under construction at present around 325 departmental stores, 300 new malls, and 1500 supermarkets. This proves that there is a tremendous scope for growth in the Indian retail market. The growth of scope in the Indian retail market is mainly due to the change in the consumers behaviour. For the new generation have preference towards luxury commodities which have been due to the strong increase in income, changing lifestyle, and demographic patterns which are favourable. The scope of the Indian retail market has been seen by many retail giants and thats the reason that many new players are entering the India retail industry. The major Indian retailers are:

Pantaloons Retail India Ltd Shoppers Stop

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Bata India Ltd Music World Entertainment Ltd

Judging the scope for growth in the India retail industry many global retail giants are also entering the Indian retail market. They are:

Tesco Metro AG Wal- Mart

The scope for growth in the Indian retail market is seen mainly in the following cities:

Mumbai Delhi Pune Ahmedabad Bangalore Hyderabad Kolkata Chennai

The scope of the Indian retail market is very vast. And for it to reach its full potential the government and the Indian retailers will have to make a determined effort.

Growth of Retail Companies in India

Growth of Retail Companies in India exhibits the boom in the retail industry in India over the years. The increase in the purchasing power of the Indian middle classes and the influx of the foreign investments has been encouraging in the Growth of Retail Companies in India. Growth of Retail Companies in India is still not yet in a matured stage with great potentials within this sector still to be explored. Apart from the retail company like

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Nilgiri's of Bangalore, most of the retail companies are sections of other industries that have stepped in the retail sector for a better business. The Growth of Retail Companies in India is most pronounced in the metro cities of India; however the smaller towns are also not lagging behind in this. The retail companies are not only targeting the four metros in India but also is considering the second graded upcoming cities like Ahmedabad, Baroda, Chandigarh, Coimbatore, Cochin, Ludhiana, Pune, Trivandrum, Shimla, Gurgaon, and others. The South Indian zone have adopted the process of shopping in the supermarkets for their daily requirements and this has also been influencing other cities as well where many hypermarkets are coming up day to day.

Reasons for the fast Growth of Retail Companies in India:

The retail companies are found to be rising in India at a remarkable speed with the years and this has brought a revolutionary change in the shopping attitude of the Indian customers. The Growth of Retail Companies in India is facilitated by certain factors like

existing Indian middle classes with an increased purchasing power rise of upcoming business sectors like the IT and engineering firms change in the taste and attitude of the Indians effect of globalization heavy influx of FDI in the retail sectors in India

Big Bazaar
Big Bazaar is a chain of hypermarket in India. Currently there are 210 stores across 80 cities and towns in India. Big Bazaar is designed as an agglomeration of bazaars or Indian markets with clusters offering a wide range of merchandise including fashion and apparels, food products, general merchandise, furniture, electronics, books, fast food and leisure and entertainment sections. Big Bazaar is part of Future Group, which also owns the Central Hypermarket, and is owned through a wholly owned subsidiary of Pantaloon Retail India Limited that is listed on Indian stock exchanges.

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About The 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, Pantaloon Retail, the group operates over 12 million square feet of retail space in over 71 cities and towns and 65 rural locations across India. The group owns several leading formats including Pantaloons, Big Bazaar, Food Bazaar, Home Town, eZone and Central. Pantaloon Retail was awarded the International Retailer of the Year - 2007, by the US-based National Retail Federation, the largest retail trade association and the Emerging Market Retailer of the Year 2007 at the World Retail Congress in Barcelona. 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 Group Trust Genuine products with warranty Free Shipping Convenient Payment Options 7 Days Delivery Guarantee* Easy Returns

STRATEGY A new normal is being defined in the Indian consumer market every day. With far-reaching socio-economic changes that India has undergone in the last decade, the drivers in urban and rural India are maturing fast. With a growth strategy tempered with localization and an inclusive business model, Future Group is the only pure play local retailer poised to lead Indias consumption story with sustainable value creation. Our multi-format retail strategy captures almost the entire consumption basket of Indian customers. As modern retail drives new demand, efficiency and consumption in
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new categories, our strategy is based on our deep understanding of Indian consumers. We understand the varied buying behaviour of the Indian consumer across regional ethnicities and are constantly innovating to craft strategies that address the subtle differences. Future Group's strategy is aimed at achieving inclusive, sustained and profitable growth with three levers 1. Customer-orientation The bottom line in each of our retail success stories is "know your customer". An insight into the soul of Indian consumers - how they operate, think, dream and line helps us innovate and create differentiating functionally. 2. Continuous-innovation As India's largest retailer, we understand the importance of innovation. We rethink strategies and realign businesses with increasing agility to provide diverse customer groups with refreshingly different retail experiences. 3. Collaborative transformation Creating a collaborative environment combining our strengths with our suppliers and vendors helps us create immense value for our customers which in turn foster mutual growth. We believe that modern Indian retail rests on the strength of two pillars scale and efficiencies. As front-runners in both areas, we firmly believe our core responsibility lies in providing protection to customers from the overall rate of inflation. While the scale and size of our operations helps us improve efficiencies, it also ensures we deliver greater value to our customers. Our retail thrust is focused on four principal verticals of Food, Fashion, General Merchandise and Home. These four categories together accounts for nearly 65% of the consumption in the country and represent mass consumer aspirations. Acknowledging this, we are creating retail pure play through divestment and demerger of non-retail businesses to concentrate our efforts on these verticals. Indias retail boom is being driven by resurgence in the economy. Modern retail still has around 6% share of the total retail spend in the country that is estimated at around US $ 400 billion. Thus, the potential for modern retail growth in India is huge. Currently,

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leading retailers in mature markets occupy the top three slots by turnover, employment and value creation. As the Indian economy matures, it is upon us to make the same happen in our country.

About Big Bazaar

Big Bazaar is not just another hypermarket. It caters to every need of your family. Where Big Bazaar scores over other stores is its value for money proposition for the Indian customers. At Big Bazaar, you will definitely get the best products at the best prices - that's what we guarantee. With the ever increasing array of private labels, it has opened the doors into the world of fashion and general merchandise including home furnishings, utensils, crockery, cutlery, sports goods and much more at prices that will surprise you. And this is just the beginning. Big Bazaar plans to add much more to complete your shopping experience.

History
Big Bazaar was launched in September, 2001 with the opening of its first four stores in Calcutta, Indore, Bangalore and Hyderabad in 22 days. Within a span of ten years, there are now 150 Big Bazaar stores in 80 cities and towns across India. Big Bazaar was started by Kishore Biyani, the Group CEO and Managing Director of Pantaloon Retail. Though Big Bazaar was launched purely as a fashion format including apparel, cosmetics, accessory and general merchandise, over the years Big Bazaar has included a wide range of products and service offerings under their retail chain. The current formats include Big Bazaar, Food Bazaar, Electronic Bazaar and Furniture Bazaar.

Operations
Most Big Bazaar stores are multi-level and are located in stand-alone buildings in city centres as well as within shopping malls. These stores offer over 200,000 SKUs in a wide range of categories led primarily by fashion and food products. Food Bazaar, a supermarket format was incorporated within Big Bazaar in 2002 and is now present within every Big Bazaar as well as in independent locations. A typical

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Big Bazaar is spread across around 50,000 square feet (4,600 m2) of retail space. While the larger metropolises have Big Bazaar Family centres measuring between 75,000 square feet (7,000 m2) and 160,000 square feet (15,000 m2), Big Bazaar Express stores in smaller towns measure around 30,000 square feet (2,800 m2). Big Bazaar has the facility to purchase products online through its official web page, and offers free shipping on some of their products. The variety of product range in BigBazaar This large format store comprise of almost everything required by people from different income groups. It varies from clothing and accessories for all genders like men, women and children, playthings, stationary and toys, footwear, plastics, home utility products, cosmetics, crockery, home textiles, luggage gift items, other novelties, and also food products and grocery. The added advantage for the customers shopping in BigBazaar is that there are all time discounts and promotional offers going on in the BigBazaar on its saleable products.

The significant features of BigBazaar

Shopping in the BigBazaar is a great experience as one can find almost everything under the same roof. It has different features which caters all the needs of the shoppers. Some of the significant features of BigBazaar are: The Food Bazar or the grocery store with the department selling fruits and vegetables Electronics Bazar or the section concerned with electronic goods and cellular phones FutureBazaar.com or the online shopping portal which makes shopping easier as one can shop many products of BigBazaar at the same price from home Well regulated customer care tele-calling services Wednesday Bazaar is every Wednesday of a week is provided with special discount offers for the customers.

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Weekend Bazaar gives weekend special discount prices and offers to the customers in all Sundays and Saturdays. Payback is a loyalty program for the customers. If the customer shows his payback card at the time of billing, he will get points based on his bill amount (Each 40 rupees makes 1 point) and the customer can redeem his points as free purchase offer.

Big Day offer is from January 25th to January 30th of every year. This is the period of time in which the customers get products with the lowest price of the year.

Exchange Mela is from February 18th to April 1st. Customers can exchange their old products and will get discount coupons of Big Bazaar. By using these coupons they can buy any products with discount of 10 to 25%

Seva is the name given to Big Bazaar CSR i.e. Corporate Social Responsibility. Now-a-days social responsibility of corporate organizations is getting more prominence. Big Bazaar shows keen interest in this part also and has conducted many social programs. e.g.: Eye donation camp

Kids Carnival is specially meant for kids during the summer holydays time and during the childrens days. Programs like painting competition, drawing competition etc. will be conducted as a part of the Kids carnival.

Fashion Ticket is introduced mainly to attract the youth. This is just like Exchange Mela discount coupon. That is the customer who buys apparel for and above a pre-fixed amount will get this fashion ticket and by using this tickets the customer can buy apparels with discount prices next time.

Home Town is a large collection of sophisticated and innovative collection of furniture. Home town at first was a part of Big Bazaar but now it functions with Big Bazaar independently, under the Future group.

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Timeline of Big Bazaar

2001 Three Big Bazaar stores launched within a span of 22 days in Kolkata, Bangalore and Hyderabad 2002 Big Bazaar - ICICI Bank Card is launched. Food Bazaar becomes part of Big Bazaar with the launch of the first store in Mumbai at High Street Phoenix 2003 2004 Big Bazaar wins its first award and national recognition. Big Bazaar and Food Bazaar awarded the countrys most admired retailer award in value retailing and food retailing segment at the India Retail Forum A day before Diwali, the store at Lower Parel becomes the first to touch Rs 10 million turnover on a single day 2005 2006 Mohan Jadhav sets a national record at Big Bazaar Sangli with a Rs 1, 37,367 shopping bill. The Sangli farmer becomes Big Bazaars largest ever customer. Big Bazaar launches Shakti, Indias first credit card program tailored for housewives Navaras the jewellery store launched within Big Bazaar stores
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Big Bazaar enters Tier II cities with the launch of the store in Nagpur Big Bazaar welcomes its 10 millionth customer at its new store in Gurgaon

Initiates the implementation of SAP and pilots a RFID project at its central warehouse in Tarapur Launches a unique shopping program: the Big Bazaar Exchange Offer, inviting customers to exchange household junk at Big Bazaar Electronic Bazaar and Furniture Bazaar are launched

2007 The 50th Big Bazaar store is launched in Kanpur Big Bazaar partners with Futurebazaar.com to launch India's most popular shopping portal Big Bazaar initiates the Power of One campaign to help raise funds for the Save The Children India Fund Pantaloon Retail wins the International Retailer of the Year at US-based National Retail Federation convention in New York and Emerging Retailer of the Year award at the World Retail Congress held in Barcelona.

2008 Big Bazaar becomes the fastest growing hypermarket format in the world with the launch of its 101st store within 7 years of launch Big Bazaar dons a new look with a fresh new section, Fashion@Big Bazaar Big Bazaar joins the league of Indias Business Super brands. It is voted among the top ten service brands in the country in the latest Pitch-IMRB international survey 2009 Big Bazaar opens its second store in Assam at Tinsukia Big Bazaar initiates Maha Annasantarpane program at its stores in South India a unique initiative to offer meals to visitors and support local social organisations Big Bazaar captures almost one-third share in food and grocery products sold through modern retail in India 2010 Future Value Retail Limited is formed as a specialized subsidiary to spearhead the groups value retail business through Big Bazaar, Food Bazaar and other formats. Big Bazaar wins CNBC Awaaz Consumer Awards for the third consecutive year. Adjudged the most preferred Most Preferred Multi Brand Food &
32

Beverage Chain, Most Preferred Multi Brand Retail Outlet and Most Preferred Multi Brand One Stop Shop Big Bazaar connects over 30,000 small and medium Indian manufacturers and entrepreneurs with around 200 million customers visiting its stores Big Bazaar opens its third store in Kanpur at Z Square Mall Big Bazaar should open its fourth store in Kanpur at Jajmau which is the largest leather tannery garrison of Asia.

Marketing Mix of Big Bazaar

Product: Big Bazaar offers a wide range of products which range from apparels, food, farm products, furniture, child care, toys, etc. of various brands like Levis, Allen Solly, Pepsi, Coca-Cola, HUL, ITC, P&G, LG, Samsung, Nokia, HP etc. Big Bazaar also promotes a number of in-house brands like DJ&C, Tasty Treat, Clean Mate, Sensei, Care Mate, Koryo and 44 other brands Price: The pricing objective at Big Bazaar is to get Maximum Market Share. Pricing at Big Bazaar is based on the following techniques: Value Pricing (EDLP-Every Day Low Pricing): Big Bazaar promises consumers the lowest available price without coupon clipping, waiting for discount promotions, or comparison shopping. Promotional Pricing: Big Bazaar offers financing at low interest rate. The concept of psychological discounting (99, 49, etc.) is also used to attract customers. Big Bazaar also caters on Special Event Pricing (Close to Diwali, Gudi Padva, and Durga Pooja). Differentiated Pricing: Differentiated pricing i.e. difference in rate based on peak and non-peak hours or days of shopping is also a pricing technique used in Indian retail, which is aggressively used by Big Bazaar.

33

e.g. Wednesday Bazaar Bundling: It refers to selling combo-packs and offering discount to customers. The combo-packs add value to customer and lead to increased sales. Big Bazaar lays a lot of importance on bundling. e.g. 3 Good Day family packs at 60(Price of 1pack = 22) 5kg oil + 5kg rice + 5kg sugar for 599 Place: The Big Bazaar stores are operational across three formats Hypermarkets spread over 40,000-45,000 sq.ft, the Express format over 15,000-20,000 sq.ft. and the Super Centres set up over 1 lakh sq.ft. Currently Big Bazaar operates in over 34 cities and towns across India with 116 stores. Apart from the Metros these stores are also doing well in the tier II cities. These stores are normally located in high traffic areas. Big Bazaar aims at starting sores in developing areas to take an early advantage before the real estate value booms. Mr Biyani is planning to invest around 350crore over the next 1 year expansion of Big Bazaar. In order to gain a competitive advantage Big Bazaar has also launched a website www.futurebazaar.com, which helps customers to order products online which will be delivered to their doorstep. This helps in saving a lot of time of its customers.

CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR
Consumer behaviour is the study of when, why, how, and where people do or do not buy a product. It blends elements

from psychology, sociology, socialanthropology and economics. It attempts to understand the buyer decision making process, both individually and in groups. It studies characteristics of individual consumers such as demographics and behavioural variables in an attempt to understand people's wants. It also tries to assess influences on the consumer from groups such as family, friends, reference groups, and society in general.

34

Customer behaviour study is based on consumer buying behaviour, with the customer playing the three distinct roles of user, payer and buyer. Research has shown that consumer behavior is difficult to predict, even for experts in the field.

FACTORS AFFECTING CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR

Fig2.2Factors Influencing Consumer Behaviour

BLACK BOX MODEL The black box model shows the interaction of stimuli, consumer characteristics, and decision process and consumer responses. It can be distinguished between interpersonal stimuli (between people) or intrapersonal stimuli (within people). The black box model is related to the black box theory of behaviourism,where the focus is not set on the processes inside a consumer, but the relation between the stimuli and the response of

35

the consumer. The marketing stimuli are planned and processed by the companies, whereas the environmental stimulus is given by social factors, based on the economic, political and cultural circumstances of a society. The buyers black box contains the buyer characteristics and the decision process, which determines the buyers response.

Table 2.1 Black Box Model

ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS

BUYER'S BLACK BOX BUYER'S RESPONSE

Marketing Stimuli

Environmental Stimuli

Buyer Characteristics

Decision Process

Problem recognition Economic Product Price Place Promotion Technological Political Cultural Demographic Natural Attitudes Motivation Perceptions Personality Lifestyle Knowledge Information search Alternative evaluation Purchase decision Post-purchase behaviour Product choice Brand choice Dealer choice Purchase timing Purchase amount

The black box model considers the buyers response as a result of a conscious, rational decision process, in which it is assumed that the buyer has recognized the problem. However, in reality many decisions are not made in awareness of a determined problem by the consumer. If a marketer can identify consumer buyer behaviour, he or she will be in a better position to target products and services at them. Buyer behaviour is focused upon the needs
36

of individuals, groups and organisations.It is important to understand the relevance of human needs to buyer behaviour (remember, marketing is aboutsatisfying needs). Lets look at human motivations as introduced by Abraham Maslow by his hierarchy of needs: The hierarchy is triangular. This is because as you may move up it, fewer people satisfy higher level needs. We begin at the bottom level.

Fig.2.3 Abraham Maslows Hierarchy of Needs Physiological needs such as food, air, water, heat, and the basic necessities of survival need to be satisfied. At the level of safety, man has a place to live that protects him from the elements and predators. At the third level we meet our social and belongingness needs i.e. we marry, or join groups of friends, etc. The final two levels are esteem and self-actualisation. Fewer people satisfy the higher level needs. Esteem means that you achieve something that makes you recognized and gives personal satisfaction, for example writing a book. Self-actualisation is achieved by few. Here a person is one of a small number to actually do something. For example, Neil Armstrong self-actualised as the first person to step to the Moon.

37

The model is a little simplistic but introduces the concept a differing consumer need quite well. There are many factors which affects the purchase decision of any customer. Each time a customer undergoes this process to make his purchase. The figure below shows the purchase decision process of a customer.

Fig.2.4 Buyer Decision Process

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To understand consumer behaviour is to understand how the person interacts with the marketing mix. As described by Cohen (1991), the marketing mix inputs (or the 4 Ps of Price, Place, Promotion, and Product) are adapted and focused upon the consumer. The psychology of each individual considers the product or service on offer in relation to their own culture, attitude, previous learning, and personal perception. The consumer then decides whether or not to purchase, where to purchase, the brand that he or she prefers, and other choices.

fig.2.5STEPS INVOLVED IN BUYER BAHAVIOUR

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Chapter 3
Methodology

40

(i)

Need For The Study

In the modern times the business organizations are adopting new techniques and

methods for the growth of business. Every organization is trying to provide the best service to their customers to face the strong competition that increases day by day. For all business, it is very important to retain the existing customers and to attract new customers. As customers tastes and preferences are changing, the market scenario is also changing from time to time. Todays market scenario is very different from that of the market scenario before 1990. There have been many factors responsible for this change. It is the changing tastes and preferences of customer which has brought in a change in the market. Income level of the people has changed; lifestyles and social class of people have completely changed now than that of olden days. There has been a shift in the market demand in todays world. Technology is one of the major factors which are responsible for this paradigm shift in the market. Big Bazaar is a new type off market which came into existence in India since 1994. It is a type of market where various kinds of products are available under one roof. My study is on determining the customers buying behaviour in Big Bazaar and thus to identify the satisfaction level of customers in Big Bazaar. This study will find out the current status of Big Bazaar and determine where it stands in the current market.

41

(ii)

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

To find out the buying behaviour of the customers of Big Bazaar in Calicut To find out the customer response towards Big Bazaar To determine the current status of Big Bazaar in the retail market To study the satisfaction level of customers in different attributes of Big Bazaar To recognize the weak points of Big Bazaar which have to be rectified to increase the customer satisfaction level To know the loyalty of customers towards Big Bazaar

(iii)

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Market Research is any organized effort to gather information about markets or customers. It is a very important component of business strategy. Technology, customer tastes and preferences play a vital role in todays generation. Research methodology is required in every industry for acquiring knowledge of their products. It also provides important information to identify and analyze the market needs and wants, market size and market competition. My study is conducted to determine the buying behaviour if customers in Big Bazaar, Calicut.

(iv)

RESEARCH DESIGN
Explanatory / Descriptive Research Design

Steps of the research design are: Formulating the objectives of the study Designing the methods of data collection Selecting the sample Collecting and checking the data collected Analyzing the results

42

(v)

DATA COLLECTION
Two types of data, Primary data and Secondary data is collected. Primary data is

collected from various customers through personal interaction. Specific questionnaire is prepared for collecting the primary data. Some other relevant information is obtained through Secondary data by means of company websites, internet search engines, etc.

(vi)

SAMPLE DESIGN AND SIZE

The sample design used for conducting this research is Non-probability

sampling (Convenience sampling). And the sample size is 150.

(vii) HYPOTHESIS
Most of the customers of Big Bazaar are attracted in its product variety and visit the outlet to purchase, especially food products, on a monthly basis between 1p.m to 4 p.m. and spend an amount above 1000 rupees. The customers have a positive response towards Big Bazaar and are satisfied in shopping at big Bazaar. To prove this hypothesis I conducted a survey on 150 customers of Big Bazaar and the responses are properly analysed. The result analysis is given next.

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Chapter 4
Analysis & Discussion
44

ANALYSIS
I have done a market field survey in Big Bazaar. I have surveyed 150 respondents of Calicut who come to visit and purchase from Big Bazaar. A specific questionnaire is prepared for the customers and data is obtained from them by moving around big bazaar and personally interacting with them. The customers gave me valuable information regarding their consumption pattern in big bazaar and a proper analysis of the information is done. All the analysis and its interpretations are discussed below. Each of the analysis is done as per the information obtained from the customers and a serious interpretation has been done to best of my effort. Some basic information about the customer (name, age, sex, profession and income) is asked to know the general demography of the customers who visit Big Bazaar. Out of the 150 customers surveyed 8.67% customers fall in the age group of 15-20yrs. 50.67% customers fall in the age group of 21-30yrs. The age group of 31-40yrs and 4150yrs makes 21.33% and 10.67%respectively. Customers aged above 50 makes 8.67% of the total respondents of my survey. 60% of customers are male and the remaining 40% are females. And 50% customers come to Big Bazaar with friends, 31% come with their family members or with the whole family and 19% come alone to make their visit to Big Bazaar. Profession of the customers also shows considerable variation. People from almost all professions visit Big Bazaar. The customers or respondents of my survey include students, housewives, and people from different professional fields (for example: teachers, doctors, engineers, insurance, retail, government service, business, IT, chartered accountants, management, pharmaceutical, banking, marketing, navy, air force, and so on).

45

1.

INFORMATION ABOUT BIG BAZAAR

The first question in my questionnaire was to know how or from where the customers knew about Big Bazaar. And the options given are TV, Radio, Newspaper, hoardings and from Friends and relatives.
50%

47.33%

45%

40% 34.67%

35%

30%

TV RADIO

25% 20% 20% 14%

NEWSPAPER HOARDINGS FRIENDS&RELATIVES

15%

10%

8.67%

5%

0%

Table 4.1 Information about big bazaar The chart shows how the customers knew about Big Bazaar. Out of the 150 customers surveyed, 47.33% knew about Big Bazaar from their friends and relatives, 34.67% knew from the ads seen in newspapers, 20% from TV, 14% from hoardings and 8.67% from radio. From this data I understand that Big Bazaar has got high mouth publicity. And compared to other advertising media newspapers handle the top position.

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2.

FREQUENCY OF VISIT

The second question was intended to know the frequency of visit by the customers to Big Bazaar. Because people visit shopping outlets or make purchase in different manners. Some may purchase the products in a regular period of time and some may purchase without any time basis. So the options here are Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Monthly twice and On unplanned basis. The results obtained can be graphed as:
45.00% 40.00% 35.00% 30.00% WEEKLY 25.00% 20.00% 15.00% 10.00% 5.00% 0.00% 7.33% MONTHLY MONTHLY TWICE ON UNPLANNED BASIS 38.67% 33.33%

Table 4.2 Frequency of visit From the graph it is understood that a greater portion of the customers, 38.67%, make their purchase from Big Bazaar monthly. Next comes the group of 33.33% who purchase on an unplanned basis. Weekly purchasing customers constitute 17.33%, monthly twice group makes 7.33% and 3.33% of customers make their purchase daily. From this we can understand that majority of customers purchase the things that they need for a whole month in a single shopping and they prefer Big Bazaar for this as Big Bazaar provides everything that a customer needs for his/her home.

47

3.

PREFERRED DAYS FOR SHOPPING

Each customer prefers different days to make their shopping. Some people shop in the weekends while others shop in the week days. The decision depends upon many factors like work schedule, personal interest, convenience, and so on. To identify in which day higher number of customers come to Big Bazaar all the seven days are given for the customers to choose. And the result is
40.00% 35.00% 30% 30.00% 25.00% 20.00% 15.00% 10.00% 5.00% 0.00% 4.67% 2.67% 24.67% SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY 6.67% 5.33%

36.67%

Table 4.3 Mostly preferred day From this chart it is clear that in weekends the number of customers visiting Big Bazaar is very high as compared to week days. During Sundays and Saturdays the people visiting the shop is 36.67% and 30% respectively. Next mostly preferred day of the week to visit Big Bazaar is Wednesday. The count is 24.67%. The remaining week days are opted by a few people and the range comes like 4.67%, 2.67%, 6.67% and 5.33%. The reasons for the customers to visit the outlet on weekends and Wednesdays are that Big Bazaar provides a considerable discount for the products on those days. So if the customers get more offers, the count and sales will increase further.

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4.

RUSH HOUR OF BIG BAZAAR

Just like different customers prefer different days to visit Big Bazaar, the time to visit the outlet has also many choices. Some may shop in the morning; some may shop in the noon, some in the evening and some in the night. Rush hour is the time in which the highest number of customers visiting Big Bazaar.
40.00% 38% 33.33%

35.00%

30.00%

25.00%

10a.m.-1p.m. 18.67% 1p.m.-4p.m. 4p.m.-7p.m. 7p.m.-10p.m. 10%

20.00%

15.00%

10.00%

5.00%

0.00%

Table 4.4 Rush hour 1p.m. to 4p.m. is the time in which the highest number of customers visiting Big Bazaar. Out of the 150 customers 38% come to purchase from Big Bazaar at this time period and so this period i.e. 1p.m. to 4p.m. is the rush hour of Big Bazaar. 33.33% customers visit Big Bazaar in the morning (from morning 10 o clock to afternoon 1o clock). 18.67% customers come between 4p.m. to 7p.m. and the remaining 10% come between 7p.m. to 10p.m.

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5.

MOSTLY PURCHASED PRODUCTS

Big Bazaar caters to every need of your family.Big Bazaar offers a wide range of merchandise including fashion and apparels, food products, general merchandise, furniture, electronics, books, fast food and leisure and entertainment sections. Some customers buy all these categories while some others buy only selected category or categories products from Big Bazaar. Next question was to know the mostly commonly purchased products from Big Bazaar by its customers. And for the convenience to answer products are categorised into Food, Apparel, Electronics, Home needs (Home fashion Products), PUC (Plastics, Utensils, Crockery), Body & Home care and Others (Toys & Sports, Accessories, Stationaries, Luggage etc.)
45.00% 40.00% 35.00% 30.00% 30.00% 25.00% 20.00% 15.00% 10.00% 5.00% 0.00% 10.67% 8% 0.67% 22% 24.00% 20% 39.33% FOOD APPAREL ELECTRONICS HOMENEEDS PUC B&HC FURNITURE OTHERS

Table 4.5 Most commonly purchased products From this chart it is very clear that the most commonly purchased product category is Food. 39.33% customers visit Big Bazaar mainly to buy food items. The food category includes vegetables, fruits, refrigerated foods, non-food items and so on. So the organization should provide the customers with good quality food products. Next rank goes to B& HC, that is, Body and Home Care products with 30%. Next position takes the Home needs or home fashion category followed by Apparels with 22%. Electronics, PUC, Furniture and Other product categories are purchased by 10.67%, 8%, 0.67% and 20% respectively.

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6.

PURCHASE DECISION

People make their purchase in different ways. Some will prepare a list of products that they intend to buy while others just enter the shopping outlet, see the

product categories, and then decide whether to buy or not a particular product. The sixth question is meant know the purchasing method of the customers of Big Bazaar.
70.00% 60.00% 50.00% 42.67% 40.00% 30.00% 20.00% 10.00% 0.00% YES NO 57.33%

Table 4.6 Purchase planning Out of the 150 customers who responded to the questionnaire, 42.67% of customers come to visit and make their purchase with a well-planned list. And the remaining 57.33% customers do not keep a list of products to be purchased. They enter the outlet, watch every product categories, and then decide or not decide to buy that product. As Big Bazaar include almost all kinds of products customers though come without any planned list will get all the products they want.

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7.

PREFERRED PRODUCT TYPE

Quality is one of the most important features of any product. It is one of the main determinants of the price of a product. Some people like to use branded products only, some buy low priced or unbranded products and some others choose brands depend upon the product category. So three options, branded, unbranded and depends on category, are given to the customers to know what kind of products they prefer to buy. The response can be represented as:
60.00% 53.33% 50.00% 40.67% 40.00% BRANDED 30.00% UNBRANDED DEPENDS ON CATEGORY 20.00%

10.00%

6%

0.00%

Table 4.7 Preferred product type Majority of customers, that is about 53.33%, prefer branded products only. Unbranded products are preferred by only 6% and the remaining 40.67% select branded products depending upon the product category. As majority prefers branded products Big Bazaar should provide products of all brands because brand variety is very less in Big Bazaar. And during my personal interaction with the customers many of them have told that they need more brands from this outlet. If more brands are provided to the customers it will definitely help Big Bazaar to have great increase in sales.

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8.

PRE-DECISION OF BRANDS

From the survey it is very clear that majority of the customers purchasing from Big Bazaar prefer branded products only. So a question is included to know in which categories of products the customers pre-decide their brands. All product categories in Big Bazaar are given for the customers to choose.
35%

30% 24% 20% 20% 14.67%14.67%

28.67% FOOD

25%

APPAREL HOME NEEDS ELECTRONICS 16% PUC B&HC FURNITURE

15%

10%

OTHERS 7.33% 4% 6% ALL

5%

0%

Table 4.8 Pre-decision of brands Body and home care is the product category that most of the customers (i.e. 28.67%) pre-decide the brand. Food brands are pre-decided by 24% customers and 20% customers pre-decide electronic products. Some customers who contribute 16% of the 150 respondents pre-decide the brands of all products they intend to purchase. Both apparel brands and home needs or home fashion product brands are pre-decided by 14.67% of customers. PUC i.e. Plastics, Utensils, Crockery brand are pre-decided by 7.33%. Other product category (sunglass, mobiles, accessories, bags, luggage, etc.) is pre-decided by 6% and 4% customers pre-decide furniture.

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9.

TIME NEEDED TO PURCHASE

Customers need different time limits to finish their purchase. This question is intended to know the time taken by Big Bazaar customers for their purchase. Some customers need only a little time while others take a whole day to complete their shopping. So it is really difficult to give fixed time duration for the customers to choose. Yet 4 options are given like less than 1 hour, 1hour to 2hours, 2hours to 3hours and finally more than 3hours.
60.00% 54.67% 50.00%

40.00% LESS THAN 1hr. 30.00% 24.67% 20.00% 1hr.-2hrs. 2hrs.-3hrs. MORE THAN 3hrs. 16.67%

10.00% 4% 0.00%

Table 4.9 Time needed to purchase Majority i.e. 54.67% customers take 1hour to 2 hours time to finish their purchase. 24.67% make their purchase within a very short time (less than 1hour). 2hour to 3hours time is needed by 16.675 and 4% customers take more than 3hours for their purchase or shopping.

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10.

MONEY SPENT IN EACH VISIT

We have seen that customers visit Big Bazaar in regular and irregular intervals. The interval between each visit may be a day, 1 week or 2, a month, or even some months. The amount of money spent in each of these visits will also differ. Regular customers of Big Bazaar spend comparatively a high amount for their shopping because these customers purchase the products needed for a month or 2 weeks.

50.00% 45.00% 40.00% 35.00% 30.00% 25.00% 20.00% 15.00% 10.00% 5.00% 0.00% 4.67%

47.33%

46.00%

BELOW 500 500-1000 1000-5000 5000-10000 ABOVE 10000

1.33%

1%

Table 4.10 Expenditure pattern 47.33% customers spend around 500-1000 rupees in a single visit to Big Bazaar. 46% customers purchase from big bazaar for about 1000-5000 rupees. The most commonly purchase product category by these two group of customers is food products. Next money range has a considerable difference from these two groups of customers. That is only 4.67% customers spend a very little amount, below 500. 5000-10000 rupees is spend by only 1.33% and above 10,000 rupees is spend by only 1%. The last two customer groups visit Big Bazaar in irregular periods, mainly on unplanned basis.

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11.

MOST ATTRACTED FEATURE OF BIG BAZAAR

Big Bazaar is a hypermarket which provides all product categories needed for your home. There are many features that differentiated Big Bazaar from other shopping outlets. Customers may be attracted in any one or two or in all of these features. To identify the most prominent feature that attracts customers to Big Bazaar, a question is prepared. The response of customers to this question is as follows:
40% 35.33% 35% 30% 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0% 14% 14.67% 10.67% 15.33% 9.33% 24.67% PRICE CUSTOMER SERVICE PRODUCT VARIETY PRODUCT QUALITY COVENIENCE OFFERS ALL OF THESE

Table 4.11 Most attractive feature From the above chart, it is well clear that the most prominent feature of Big Bazaar which attracted customers is its product variety. 35.33% customers are attracted in the product variety of Big Bazaar. Offers took the second position in the options or features given. 24.67% customers purchase from Big Bazaar because of the offers

provided to the customers. Convenience is chosen by 15.33% customers. 14.67% customers like the customer service they get from Big Bazaar. Price is the next attractive feature of big Bazaar. 14% selected this option. The remaining two options, Product quality and all of these, are liked by 10.67% and 9.33% of customers. If more variety of products are provided to the customers the number of walk-ins will increase further and at the same time other features like product quality, customer service, and so on have to be improved much more.
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12.

OPINION ABOUT BIG BAZAAR OFFERS

We have seen that 24.67% customers are attracted to Big Bazaar because the offers they get. Not only in Big Bazaar but in any other shopping outlet offers play a vital role in attaining customer attraction and it stimulates the customer to make his purchase from that particular outlet. Big Bazaar also provides many offers like Wednesday Bazaar, T24, Exchange coupons, and so on. Each customer may have varying opinion about these offers. To know the customer opinion next question is prepared and the result is:
60.00% 52.67% 50.00%

40.00% 30.67% 30.00%

POOR AVERAGE GOOD VERY GOOD

20.00%

EXCELLENT

10.00% 4.67% 0.00%

8.67% 3.33%

Table 4.12 Opinion about offers Majority of customers responded that the offers provided by Big Bazaar are good. 52.67% contributes this majority. But 30.67% customers rate the offers as average only. Though 8.67% and 3.33% customers think that the offers are very good and excellent respectively, 4.67% customers feel that the offers are poor. This is not a positive response for Big Bazaar.

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13.

PRODUCTS TO BE IMPROVED

Though Big Bazaar provides its customers everything they need for their home, some customers may find that some products do not match their expectations. Their expectation may be more brands, more quality, etc. And so they may feel some product categories need to be improved more. 13th question is prepared to know this aspect.
35.00% 30.00% 25.00% 20.00% 16.67% 15.00% 11.33% 10.00% 5.00% 0.00% 8% 4.67% 2% 8% 14.67% 28.67% FOOD 22.67% APPAREL HOME NEEDS ELECTRONICS PUC FURNITURE B&HC OTHERS NONE

Table 4.13 Products to be improved The product category which needs improvement the most is apparels. 28.67% customers agree with this opinion. 16.67% says food section is the one that needs improvement. 14.67% customers took the option others which includes products like sunglass, accessories, bags, footwear and so on. Next is the electronics section with 11.33% customer opinion. 8%, 4.67% and 2% customers opted body and home care products, furniture and Plastics- Utensils-Crockery section respectively. All the customers who responded for at least one product category are the regular customers of Big Bazaar. Though 22.67% customers think no section needs improvement they are visiting Big Bazaar for the first or second time only. In this group there are some who visit regularly but they shop only one or two product categories and are not aware of other product available.

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14.

STATUS OF BIG BAZAAR

Big Bazaar is not the only one shopping outlet which provides all product categories to the customers of Calicut. So people may have visited or purchased from such other hypermarkets. And they may have done a comparison between Big Bazaar and other shopping centres. The result of this comparison will determine the current status of Big Bazaar as compared to other outlets.
70.00% 58.67%

60.00%

50.00% POOR 40.00% AVERAGE GOOD 30.00% 24.67% 20.00% 12% 10.00% 1.33% 0.00% 3.33% VERY GOOD EXCELLENT

Table 4.14 Current status of big bazaar 58.67% customers think that as compared to other shopping outlets Big Bazaar keeps a good position in the current market scenario. This is a positive response. But 24.67% feels the current level is only average. 12% feels Big Bazaar has got a very good position and 3.33% feels it is excellent. Unfortunately, though it is a minority, 1.33% customers rated the status of Big Bazaar as poor.

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15.

SATISFACTION LEVEL

This question is to know the satisfaction level of the customers of Big Bazaar. Any retail organization becomes successful only if it provides satisfaction to its customers. Customer loyalty will be achieved when they are satisfied in the particular organization in their first visit itself. Three options, Yes, No and to some Extent, are given to the customers to express their satisfaction level.
80.00% 70.00% 60.00% 50.00% 40.00% 30.00% 20.00% 10.00% 0.00% YES NO TO SOME EXTENT 27.33% 69.33%

3.33%

Table 4.15 Customer satisfaction level From the chart above, it is clear that majority, i.e. 69.33% customers are satisfied with purchasing at Big Bazaar. 27.33% customers are satisfied to some extent only. This is a kind of neutral response but these customers should be provided with more features to increase their satisfaction level. For this question 3.33% responded for no which means 3.33% customers are not satisfied with their purchase from Big Bazaar.

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16.

PUBLICITY

The last question of my questionnaire is did you refer Big Bazaar to anyone else? this question is added to the questionnaire to know the publicity if Big Bazaar. Publicity means mouth advertisement. It may be negative or positive. If one customer refers Big Bazaar to another customer it directly adds the publicity which in turns helps the organization to have a rise in sales and profit. The diagram below shows the response of customers for this last question.
90.00% 80.00% 70.00% 60.00% 50.00% 40.00% 30.00% 20.00% 10.00% 0.00% 23.33% YES NO 76.67%

Table 4.16 Publicity Big Bazaar has got a very good publicity. 76.67% customers have referred Big Bazaar to others. But the remaining 23.33% customers have not referred Big Bazaar to anyone else.

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CHAPTER 5

Findings & Suggestions

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FINDINGS
Newspaper advertisements are the most prominent means of public relation about Big Bazaar. To make customers more aware about the organization and the offers it provides to the customers, newspaper ads will be the best choice. Majority of the customers make their shopping at Big Bazaar on a monthly basis. This means customers find Big Bazaar convenient to make their purchase for the whole month. Food category is the most commonly purchased product variety from Big Bazaar and so the customers should be provided with high quality food products. Most of the customers purchase without any planning. At the same time impulse buying behaviour of customers comes in to play most of the times in big bazaar. Big Bazaar provides a huge product variety for its customers. Product variety is the most highlighted feature of Big Bazaar that attracts customers towards it and so the organization competes with all other speciality stores. Big Bazaar mainly deals with the customers who want quality products at reasonable cost. The offers provided by Big Bazaar help the customers to achieve this objective to some extent. Though Big Bazaar provides a large variety of products to its customers, many customers feel that many products have to be improved. They need more brands and more quality products from Big Bazaar. The customers forming a majority group are satisfied with shopping at Big Bazaar. But there are many others who are not fully satisfied with Big Bazaar. The organization should take proper actions to meet the expectation level of this customer group.

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SUGGESTIONS
Many customers have given various suggestions to improve the features of Big Bazaar to meet their expectations, needs and wants. Many of them are about the things to be corrected with immediate effect to make customer purchase more easy and comfortable. Some of the most important and most common suggestions given by the customers are: The most commonly obtained suggestion from the customers is about customer service. That is the customers need more assistance and guidance from the team members about the product categories, usual and special offers of Big Bazaar, etc. So proper training should be given to the team members to make them aware of all features of Big Bazaar. And ensure sufficient number of staffs is present in each section. Apparel collection for ladies and kids should be improved because latest trends in dress materials are not available at Big Bazaar and the available products are much costlier and of low quality. Customers have to wait a lot of time to do their billing after their purchase. Both the customer who purchased only one or two products and the customer who purchased a trolley full of products have to wait in the same queue for minutes. To avoid this problem billing of products purchased from a particular floor should be done from that floor itself. Cash counters provided in each floor or departments should be open in all time. More brands should be included in the product category. Because majority of customers make their purchase based on brands only. Many customers need more offers and more quality products. Compared with other hyper markets like Reliance Fresh, customers feel that the offers of Big Bazaar are less. They need more quality products with low price or with more offers. Other customer suggestions include better trial rooms, improved electronics, furniture, plastics, grocery departments, car parking facilities, downward escalator, security service, etc.

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CONCLUSION
Big bazaar is a major shopping complex for todays customers. It is a place where customers find variety of products at a reasonable price. Big bazaar has a good reputation in the market. It has positioned itself in the market as a discounted store. It holds a huge customer base. The majority of customers belong to middle class family. The youth generation also likes shopping and moving around big bazaar. Volume sales always take place in big bazaar. Impulse buying behaviour of customers comes in to play most of the times in big bazaar. Big Bazaar competes with all the specialty stores of different products which provide goods at a discounted rate all through the year. It holds a large customer base and it seemed from the study that the customers are quite satisfied with big bazaar.Big bazaar is a hypermarket store where varieties of products are being sold on different product category. From the survey it is understood that most of the customers come to Big Bazaar to make their monthly purchase. Product variety is the most important feature or strength of Big Bazaar and it has got a good opinion in the minds of customers and majority are satisfied with their shopping at Big Bazaar. Big Bazaar also accounts a great deal of publicity. The most important weakness or drawback of Big Bazaar is its poor customer service. This may discourage the customers to come to Big Bazaar and shop again. This will directly affect the goodwill of the organization. Another drawback is the lack of branded products. If Big Bazaar includes more common brands along with its own brands customers will be more impressed in the brand variety and they do not have to go for another shopping outlet to get the brand they intended to buy. Some product categories have to be improved as the customers feel the available products are insufficient to meet their expectations regarding quality and brand variety. Latest trend products should be included in the product categories.

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Another prominent weak point is the offers provided. Though a majority thinks offers provided are good, when compared to the offers provided by its market competitor these offers are not up to the mark. Most of the people visiting Big Bazaar are middle class families. What they need is quality products with low price or high offers. If Big Bazaar can reach this expectation surely it will be the market leader in the retail industry. The hypothesis of this study is proved true from the analysis and the objectives are achieved. The main objective was to find out the buying behaviour of customers. As the hypothesis states most of the customers of Big Bazaar are attracted in its product variety and visit the outlet to purchase, especially food products, on a monthly basis between 1p.m to 4 p.m. and spend an amount above 1000 rupees. The customers have a positive response towards Big Bazaar and are satisfied in shopping at big Bazaar. Because of all these factors Big Bazaar maintains a good status in the retail market.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Sikkim Manipal University, Retail Marketing. Sikkim Manipal University, Consumer Behaviour. Sikkim Manipal University, Marketing Management. Sikkim Manipal University, Marketing Research. ICFAI Centre for Management Research, Marketing management. www.bigbazaar.com www.futuregroup.in www.google.com www.marketingteacher.com en.wikipedia.org

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Annexure

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