Introduction to Retailing sector

Retailing sector of India can be split into two segments. They are the informal and the formal retailing sector. The informal retailing sector is comprised of small retailers. For this sector, it is very difficult to implement the tax laws. There is widespread tax evasion. It is also cumbersome to regulate the labor laws in this sector. As far as the formal retailing sector is concerned, it is comprised of large retailers. Stringent tax and labor laws are implemented in this sector.

If the retail industry is divided on the basis of retail formats then it can be split into the modern format retailers and the traditional format retailers. The modern format retailers comprise of the supermarkets, Hypermarkets, Departmental Stores, Specialty Chains and company owned and operated retail stores

The traditional format retailers comprise of Kiranas, Kiosks, Street Markets and the multiple brand outlets. The retail industry can also be subdivided into the organized and the unorganized sector. The organized retail sector occupies about 3% of the aggregate retail industry in India.

DIVISION OF RETAILERS IN INDIA

The retail sector in India can be divided into two major categories: 1) Organized 2) Unorganized

PART 1.

Overview of Retail outlet

RELIANCE MART

ABOUT RELIANCE MART

RELIANCE RETAIL LTD has launched its much-awaited hypermarket format (which also happens to be Indias largest hypermarket) called Reliance Mart at Iscon Mall, SG Highway, Ahmadabad on August 15. After the successful launch of the supermarket format Reliance Fresh and the consumer electronics concept mega store Reliance Digital, the hypermarket is the third retail format launched by Reliance Retail.

Spread across 165,000 square feet of shopping area, Reliance Mart will provide the shoppers a never-before-experienced shopping delight. The hypermarket will carry a range of over 95,000 products catering to the entire family. Shoppers will have the option to choose from a wide array of products in every category ranging from fresh produce, food & grocery, home care products, apparel and accessories, non-food FMCG products, consumer durables and IT, automotive accessories, lifestyle products, footwear and much more. The launch of Reliance Mart is yet another step by Reliance Retail towards providing international shopping experience to all our customers at unmatched affordability, guaranteed quality and choice of products and services. Reliance Mart marks the achievement of another milestone in our effort to unleash a retail revolution in India.

Reliance Mart offers some unique services to the shoppers like tailoring, shoe repair, watch repair, a photo shop, gift services and laundry services, all within the store. The store also houses its own fresh bakery, serving hot, off-the-oven bread and bread products throughout the day and local savouries, an ice-cream train for the kids, a chakki, ready-made batter and loose tea and pickle for the housewives. Reliance Mart will also sell fine jewellery and

fashion jewellery as part of its lifestyle section.

Reliance Mart will also house a health and wellness store providing pharmaceutical drugs and other wellness products The hypermarket also launched a host of Reliances own brands in select categories with superior quality and affordable prices like First Class, Network, Netplay, Team Spirit and

Sparsh in Mens and Womens Formal / Casual and Ethnic wear, DNM- X in the jeans category for men and women, Panda for kids clothing and Grip in the luggage section. The footwear category will carry Zig in formal wear. Hi Attitude for semi -formal, Tosco for party wear and Monza for the sports enthusiast. There are many products that will be exclusively available in Reliance Mart stores only.

Services Offered
It offers some unique services to the shoppers like tailoring, shoe repair, watch repair, a photo shop, gifting services and laundry services all within the store under one roof and also it has its own bakery shop. Reliance Mart will also provide easy and attractive finance options, including zero per cent financing for the purchases on select products. Reliance Mart will continue to offer all its customers Reliance One, a common membership and loyalty programme across all its formats, which follows the philosophy of 'Earn Anywhere, Spend Anywhere'.

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

Strategy The hypermarket would be selling the products on EDLP (every day low price) basis at prices 15-20 percent lower than market prices. In order to grow faster and better in local markets with higher margins, it has focused largely on local brands instead of national brands or private labels. Local brands include Induben Khakrawalas Namkeens, Lijjat Papad, Wagh Bakri and Madhur (spices brand). This is in addition to 100 private labels that Reliance plans to display. Companys Sources says that the share of regional brands in the hyper marts would be over 10%.

 Popular Brands of Reliance Mart are:

Zeppelin :

Mens Shirts & Trousers

Fizzy Babe : Jasmine :

Ladies & Kids Girls Ladies & Kids Girls

Kitaan Studio : Mens Shirts & Trousers Blues & Khakis : Paranoia : Chlorine : Mens Trousers Mens Shirts & T-Shirts Mens Shirts

Zero Degree : Kids Boys Soil : Massa Bay : Mens Shirts Mens Trousers & Bermudas

CRM POLICY OF RELIANCE MART

CRM policy of reliance mart can be divided into four major parts, namely; 1) Customer loyalty 2) Customer retention 3) Customer communication 4) Customer gratification

There exists a blanket customer relationship programme called the reliance one membership programme for the purpose of maintaining customer loyalty. The customers also get the opportunity of availing four different kinds of insurance on the payment of a nominal fee. For example a customer can get an accidental death insurance of rs six lacs on the payment of rs. 400 only. Other forms of insurances are disability, hospitalization and home insurances. The members of reliance one get the opportunity of taking part and winning prizes by the way of lucky draws on regular intervals.

Customer retention policy implementation is at the zonal level. Generally each state is
regarded as a zone and the offers and discounts in a zone are not available in other zones. Such policy helps reliance retail to understand and capture the local markets better. The products which show improvement due to offers and discounts on them are repeated with these offers again so as to retain the sales of the customers who bought it the last time. Also such the days best offers are constantly announced in the store making the regular customers aware about them. Maintaining a good store ambiance is also a part of customer retention policy of reliance retail. Clean and hygienic environment with properly and well spaced products along with a uniform color theme attracts the existing customers to the store again and again. Communication to existing customers takes the form of sms and e-mails, generally sent to reliance one members. They get information about ongoing offers and also information and latest news about their nearest stores and the company in general. Another source of customer database is the information collected during the organizing of special events in the stores. Customers participating in such events provide their contact information which are also used in form of database for communication purposes. Thank you and festive cards on special occasions are an innovative way of communicating with the customers.

Trained salespersons make customer gratification very easy. A simple thank you with a smile goes a long way for the store to keep the customers happy. The special events organized by the stores across india are also a way to gratify the customers by allowing them to play and win prizes. Gift vouchers and discount coupons are an attraction for the customers and give them the feel that the store cares about them and their money. Local customers many a times make limited personal contacts with the store staff just like that made at a kirana store and help the store to some extent to maintain a relationship with the customer

SWOT ANALYSIS

RELIANCE MART

Strengths:
High quality, latest in-style products, international shopping experience value for money pricing loyal following Own brand of merchandise, which is both trendy and individualistic. new introductions every week variety of designs and styles exciting mix with a range extending from stylized clothes, footwear and accessories for men, women and children to well-co-coordinated table linens, artefacts, home accessories and furnishings. Well-designed interiors, sprawling space, prime locations, lovely coffee shops add to the customers shopping experience.

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

OPPORTUNITIES:

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

Threats:
If the unorganized retailers are put together, they are parallel to a large supermarket with no or little overheads, high degree of flexibility in merchandise, display, prices and turnover. Shopping Culture: Shopping culture has not developed in India as yet. Even now malls are just a place to hang around with family and friends and largely confined to Window-shopping. Cultural Variation leads to variation in merchandise in India at different geographical locations. Competition from future group and various other retail stores which are growing rapidly.

PART 2. STUDY OF RELIANCE MART ON DIFFERENT PARAMETERS:

LOCATION PRODUCTS FACILITIES LIMITATION

Locations of Reliance Mart Stores: Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Ranchi, Pune, Faridabad, Jodhpur Tirupati, Jamnagar, Bangalore, Mumbai, Gurgaon, Tiruchirappalli.

Products of Reliance mart

cameras, home & kitchen appliances, mobile phones and software. groceries, clothing, computers, jewelry, shoes, books, music services of a cobbler and a photo-printing service. fresh produce, food and grocery, apparel and accessories, footwear, consumer durables and IT, furniture & furnishings refrigerators, air conditioners, blenders, chimney and gas stoves, coffee makers, electric cookers, electric kettles, fans and coolers, irons, juicers, microwaves mixers, grinders and processors, toasters and sandwich makers, vacuum cleaners, washing machines, water filters

Facilities available:
For the shoppers convenience, the store has a cafeteria providing quality food and beverages for ready consumption, an ATM machine and a consumer service / membership desk to provide the customer a truly international shopping experience Reliance Mart, Has 61 check-out counters has for the first time in India introduced the Mobile POS system for faster check outs. This is aimed at reducing customer wait-time. The store planning, atmospherics and layout has been designed specifically to provide a complete solution to the customer. The store has over 400 highly skilled and trained customer sales representatives. Reliance Mart continue to offer all its customers Reliance One, a common membership and loyalty program across all its formats, which follows the philosophy of Earn Anywhere, Spend Anywhere. Reliance Mart also provide easy and attractive finance options, including 0% financing for your purchases on select products. There exists a blanket customer relationship programme called the reliance one membership programme for the purpose of maintaining customer loyalty. The membership programme is a very simple one where a willing customer is required to fill a form giving personal information and he gets a temporary card which will be made permanent after six months. The customers also get the opportunity of availing four different kinds of insurance on the payment of a nominal fee. For example a customer can get an accidental death insurance of rs six lacs on the payment of rs. 400 only. A fast billing system and good and easy grievance handling system which can be accessed thru customer service desk and company website,

Limitations in Reliance mart: The personal contact numbers of reliance one members are open to tele marketing calls from various marketers as they leak out of the reliance retails database, causing unnecessary harassment to customers. The customer communication policy is less followed in small towns and cities and is more concentrated towards the metro cities. There is a common crm policy for both reliance fresh and mart. This should not be the case as both the stores offer different kinds of merchandize and generally attract different kinds of customers. Reliance retail generally delays the processing of permanent membership cards to those customers who have not paid for such a card. Customers have been waiting for over three months for their card. Those who have paid the nominal fee of rs. 50 get their permanent card within 15 days but the rest who have optioned not to pay the fees do not receive the card until too late. Unmanned billing counters create long queues at the open counters. This creates impatiens in the customers as they expect faster billing at the stores and do not want to stand with too much of goods held in their hands while billing.

PART 3:

OBSERVATION,ANALYSIS AND INTERPREATATION

 Research Objectives

Primary Objective To study consumers buying behaviour $ Limitation towards Customer service at Reliance Mart of Thane

Secondary objectives To know about the consumer awareness towards services provided by Reliance Mart of Thane. To know about the customer awareness towards promotional activity of Reliance Mart. To suggest changes that can be brought in Reliance mart as per the customers point of view.

Research Problem
To make a comprehensive study of Reliance Mart and know the Buying behaviour of Reliance Mart customers.

Importance of data collection

Reliance Mart basically means business and in business collection of raw data allows the managers to see the real scenario and then take a decision as per the data obtained.

 Type of research
Descriptive type research has used to complete this project. This research is based on fact finding enquires and the variables are totally independent .

Research design
Descriptive research design was taken in the research project.

Data Collection :
Data has been collected through both primary and secondary approach.

Data Sources
PRIMARY DATA
Primary data generally means those raw data or data structures that are collected first- hand and have not had any previous meaningful interpretation. For This Project Report, we have collected such primary data through face to face interview method through questionnaire and observation.

SECONDARY DATA
Secondary data are those data which has been already collected by someone and may be already used the data by someone. Secondary data were collected through: Companies website Reports and publications of the company Through internet Newspapers, books and magazines.

 Sampling Design
Probability sampling design technique was used in the research. We have given equal weightages to all respondent and chose them randomly without any biased like gender, age, income culture.

Sample size
Around 50 customers and Employees of Reliance Mart were taken as sample size for the research

 DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION:-

The major objectives of analysis of data are: 1. To evaluate and enhance data quality 2. Examine effects of other relevant factors 4. Level of satisfaction, 5. Causes of dis-satisfaction, 6. Customer responses regarding services.

Interpretation
Pie charts and Bar diagrams are used to interpret the data.

1. How frequently you visit Reliance Mart?

Daily ( ) weekly ( ) fortnightly ( ) once in month ( ) Table of Customers visit Details Daily weekly Fortnightly Once in a month Respondent 09 48 20 23 Percentage 9% 48% 20% 23%

Chart 1
48

50 45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0

20 9

23

Daily

weekly

Fortnightly

Once in a month

ANALYSIS
Data collected for project from 100 responded in which 9 are like to visit daily, 48 are like to visit weekly, 20 are likely to visit fortnightly and 23 likely to visit once in a month .

InterpretationIn total respondent we analyzed that most of the customer are likely to visit on weekly. In our observation we found that more scheme should be provided on weekend.

(2). What do you mostly shop for at reliance mart store?

Cloths ( ) Grocery ( ) cosmetic product ( ) all products ( ) Items of mostly shop Details
Cloths Grocery Cosmetic product All product

Respondent 24 23 06 47
Chart 2

Percentage 24% 23% 6% 47%

Cloths 24% All product 47%

Cosmetic product 6%

Grocery 23%

ANALYSIS
Data collected for project from 100 responded in which 47 customer are like to purchase all product, 24 are like to purchase cloths, 23 are likely to purchase grocery, 6 likely to purchase cosmetic product .

InterpretationIn total respondent we analyses that most of the customer are like to purchase variety of product in the store. Company should try to retain the customer. And should increase the variety of cosmetic product & grocery.

(3) Are the Price of Reliance mart is lower than the other competitor? Move this question Yes ( ) No ( ) Equal ( ) no idea ( ) Price at reliance mart Details Yes No Equal No Idea Respondent 35 20 31 14 Percentage 35% 20% 31% 14%

Chart 3

No Idea 14%

Yes 35%

Equal 31% No 20%

ANALYSIS
Data collected for project from 100 responded in which 35 customer say and 20 say no, 31 say some time and 14 customer are say never .

Interpretation-

According to respondent customers are not fully satisfied . Company should try to give the best quality product in minimum price to the customer.

(3). Do advertisement and promotion influence your shopping decision? Yes ( ) No ( ) Influence in shopping decision Details Yes No Respondent 92 08 Percentage 92% 08%

Chart 4

92 100 80 60 40 20 0 Yes No 8

ANALYSIS
Data collected for project from 100 responded in which 92 customer are like promotion scheme and 8 are those people say promotion scheme doesnt effect on purchasing.

Interpretation
In my observation we found promotion scheme is must to sustain customer attract customer & influence the purchasing.

4. Are you aware of different promotional schemes provided by reliance mart? Yes ( ) No ( ) Somewhat ( Awareness of promotional scheme Details Yes No Somewhat Respondent 65 19 16 Percentage 65% 19% 16%

Chart 4

Somewhat 16%

No 19%

Yes 65%

ANALYSIS
Data collected for project from 100 responded in which 65 customers are aware promotion scheme and 19 customers are not aware of promotion scheme and 16 customers are somewhat aware .

Interpretation

In total respondent we analysed that most of the customer are aware of promotion scheme. In our observation we found that attractive promotion scheme will increase more sale .

5. Are Promotion scheme taken by reliance mart easy to understand? Yes ( ) NO ( ) some time ( ) Understanding of promotional scheme Details Yes No Sometime Respondent 51 21 28 Percentage 51% 21% 28%

Chart 5 60 50 40 30 51 20 10 0 Yes No Sometime 21 28

ANALYSIS
Data collected for project from 100 responded in which 51 customer say yes and 21 are those which say no and 28 say some time .

InterpretationCompany should try making promotion scheme understandable, promotion scheme should be in both in English & Hindi easy

6. How likely are you to recommend Reliance Mart to a friend or relative? Excellent ( ) Good ( ) Fair ( ) Poor ( ) Recommended reliance mart Details

Excellent Good Fair Poor

Respondent 07 47 44 02

Percentage 7% 47% 44% 2%

Chart 6

Poor 2% Fair 44%

Excellent 7%

Good 47%

ANALYSIS
Data collected for project from 100 responded in which 7 customer say excellent and 47 say good, 44 say fair which are and 2 customer are those say poor .

Interpretation

In our observation we found that only 47% customer are fully satisfied from the store. Company should try satisfy the customer by providing better service and rectify their problem immediately.

7. How do you come to know about various products available at Reliance Mart? Friend ( ) TV ( ) Radio ( ) Telephone ( ) Information about products Details Friend TV Radio Telephone Respondent 28 50 10 12
Chart 7 50 50 45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0

Percentage 28% 50% 10% 12%

28

10

12

Friend

TV

Radio

Telephone

Interpretation According to responded result most of customers come to know about product from TV. Company can try to retain customers and increase customers as they get information from friends.

8. Are you satisfied with the services provided by Reliance Mart. Price ( ) Product Quality ( ) Variety ( ) Selling Techniques ( ) Promotion offers ( )

Satisfaction with services Details Price Product Quality Selling Techniques Promotion offer Variety Respondent 20 17 07 21 35 Percentage 20% 17% 7% 21% 35% Rank 3 4 5 2 1

Chart 8
35 30 25 20 20 15 10 5 0 Price Product Quality Selling Techniques Promotion offer Variety 7 17 21 35

Interpretation
In total respondent we analysed that most of the customer are believe in variety of products. Here we observed that company can come with more variety in the market.

9. Kindly suggest improvement that can be done according to operations of Retail mart more effective and impactful. Cashier Speed ( ) Staff Knowledge ( ) Waiting Time Management ( ) Suggestion for operation management

you to make

Detail
Cashier Speed Staff Knowledge Waiting Time Management

Respondent 45 30 25

Percentage 45% 30% 25%

Chart 9

Waiting Time Management 25% Cashier Speed 45%

Staff Knowledge 30%

ANALYSIS
Data collected for project from 100 responded in which 45 customer say cashier speed and 30 say staff skill, 25 say waiting time management .

InterpretationAccording to respondent customers are not fully satisfied. company should recruit new skilled cashier for better performance.

10.Do u think changes in parking system according to your convenience should be done or improved ?

Figure 10

Analysis :Data collected from 100 respondents shows that 21% says it is important,16% says some what important,63% says extremely important .

Interpretation:
We analysed that majority of respondents says proper and convenient parking system should be designed.

11.According to you which retail outlet offers you products at lowest

price reliance mart or big bazaar?

Analysis:
Out of 100 % of respondents,84% says big bazaar offers product at lowest price whereas 76% says reliance mart,

Interpretation:
We analysed that price of reliance mart products are higher as compare to big bazaar.

12. Which retail outlet reliance mart or big bazaar offers the best
value for your money?

Analysis: Out of 100 respondents 69 % favours bigbazaar whereas only 41 % says reliance mart offers best value for money. Interpretation: Here out of the above survey we can say that customers are more satisfied with big bazaar as compare to reliance mart .

PART 4.

RECTIFICATION

IF WE WOULD BE THE MANAGER OF RELIANCE MART