11/30/2009

A COMPARATIVE STUDY ON
-
SPAR & BIG BAZAAR

Gaurav Kumar
08PG304
Marketing- B
Spar Hypermarket:

Address: 39/4&44, Bannerghatta Road, Bangalore- 560029

Landmark: Near HSBC Bank ATM

SPAR Bangalore Location: Near Dairy Circle on Bannerghatta Road, Bangalore, India (Drive from
Diary circle towards Bannerghatta Road, after Oracle you can find it on the left side of the road)

About SPAR:

 Netherlands based
 75 years old
 Spread across 34 countries
 6 million shoppers per day
 SPAR comes from the Dutch word DESPAR meaning "We all benefit from joint cooperation"

WEBSITE: www.spar-international.coM

"SPAR was founded in the Netherlands in 1932 by Adriaan van Well, as a voluntary chain of grocers
under the name "De Spar". His purpose was to secure cooperation between independent wholesalers
and retailers as a response to the emergence of grocery chains in Europe."

Max Hypermarkets India Pvt. Ltd tied up with SPAR and Max Hypermarkets is a part of Dubai based
Landmark Group. Spar Hypermarket is a great retail concept.
Spar’s Products:

Spar fulfils all your household needs from detergent to imported cheese, utensils to electronics and lots
more. Spar is a one-stop shop for all your daily needs. Processed food, fresh fruits and vegetables,
personal care products, crockery and cutlery as well as confectionary, fine liquors and delicious cooked
food line the surroundings of this hypermarket.

It offers varieties of Garments, groceries, meat items, fruits, vegetables, home appliances, electronic
goods and liquor items etc.

In house brands: Max, Maxx garments are some of the in house brands tht spar has. The quality is
pretty good along with the look of the farments.

Arrangement of the products:

All in all, it has two floors/levels. Once customers cross via middle entrance way, customer will find right
side huge garments for kid’s price ranging from Rs 100 to 1000 onward, and the right side may find
varieties of Chocolates and biscuits items shelf apart from that the shelf contains hundreds of national
and international magazines with different titles and different states newspaper.

The inner length of the showroom is around 100 meters for each level. If you move ahead at right side,
you will then find varieties of Men garments from Pants, shirts, T-Shirts, varieties of Shoes, chappals,
Sandals and casual wear etc. and at the same opposite, you will find varieties of stationary items, books,
pen, pencil and travel bag varieties etc. including writing desk and sitting chair for children.

As in any retail outlet the products targeted towards different segments are clubbed together like here
products related to men are arranged nearby for ease of search.

End of this hall you may find lots of branded electrical and electronic goods where we can find many
choices to compare and select them with discounted prices. Left side at the end of this hall, you may
find electronic items most of them related to Computer, IPOD, DVD, Television etc. varieties of branded
laptop and desktop displays are there, different IPOD available with discounted price and branded DVD
are ready to purchase with warranty and Television has many choices to select such as Flat TV to normal
one and from 14” TV to 110” home theatre TVs along with verities of Amplifier. Also right side at the end
of this hall, you may find electrical items such as Refrigerator, Oven items, branded Stoves, Iron boxes,
Air-condition, Fans, other barbeque grill items etc.
You may find varieties of Digital cameras, Pen Drive items and branded mobiles show room at right
corner that near stairs toward 1st level. In the ground level itself if you move at left side dead end, you
may find mini-restaurants, different branded mini-show rooms and (Duetsche) ATM centre etc.

When you reach 1st level, you will find almost half hall with grocery items along with home and kitchen
appliances. There is a separate corner is meant for varieties of sea food, mutton and chicken items.
Another corner is only for liquor items.

It is really helpful for monthly groceries from SPAR. Verities of rice, grams, branded teabag, tea, sugar
and salt etc. also, varieties of fruits can be found at any day in a year regardless of fruit season. It also
helps in buying varieties of vegetable with quality and fewer prices.

When you reach 2nd level, you will find almost all items related to home furniture such as varieties of
single and double Bed, many designs of Dining table and chairs, restaurant and home chairs, children’s
bed, wardrobe, curtain, cushion, extra accessories for house and car decoration etc.

Billing: When you enter SPAR from middle entrance, you will find at left side around 5 cash counters
and 7 cash counters at the right side. For fruits and vegetables, you have to pick a plastic cover/bag and
get the required items and fill in it and weigh at the relevant counter to electronic tag the price which
cashier scan them before payment at cash counter.

Ambience: the ambience at Spar as mentioned before is of international feel. The shopping
experience itself is very appealing. The shop has well kept look with a fresh fragrance with uniform light
everywhere.

Signage: There are directions and guidelines for the ease of movement for the public.

Attractions at SPAR what I felt:

Ample shopping space

Parking space
Quality products
Freedom to Choose
Trollivator: Hassle free trolley drive moving around in different floors
Very attractive prices
 Friendly staff
Good offers
Kids Play area in a reasonable price tag for shopping with kids.

Just name the product you want and you will get it what you want from here. Even banana leafs
and tender coconut (wrapped ~Rs 8 at SPAR, Street Vendor price is Rs 10).

Service at Spar: The outlets are spacious and even though they have over ten cash counters, you
can’t avoid the wait at billing on weekends. Service is attentive and the staff takes your purchases
right up to your car.

But I have noticed that the staff standing at the billing counters do not even have the slightest
idea about the promo offers and when we pick something that is on promo and come to the billing
section, people there are not aware of the promo offers. And even if we tell them about it, the
price they come to is totally different than the price mentioned on the placards placed near the
products. This makes our experience a bad one. I myself have left the product after picking it up.

The store is clean and range of products is good but when it comes to prices, it is not so great
compared to Big Bazaar. Almost all kinds of vegetables are available and that too very fresh and
clean. Lots of billing counters that goes at a better pace than all the other stores. It has a kid's
play area also but they charge Rs. 50 per hour or so. There is plenty of parking though paid one.
Overall the outlet provides a good shopping experience.

Positive points about SPAR:

 You can find anything in this place, a great variety and assortment of products.
 Spar has sections called "everyday low prices"-EDLP
 The floors are divided according to products, on the first floor a few independent retailers have
stores and on the second and above floors, a super - hyper market exists.
 Grocery, cutlery, confectionaries, electronic items, food, vegetables, meat, and plastic ware you
name it and its there at spar hypermarket.
 The place kind of gives me the feeling of being abroad – i.e. provides international experience.
Negative points about SPAR:

 Most of the time, long queue will be there at each cashier counter to bill for their customer.
 Problem in finding products as there is less assistance available during peak hours.
 It is crowded, especially during the weekends it's a really busy place.

SPAR’s brand proposition revolves around the four pillars of:

Freshness
Service
Choice
Value

SPAR offers a truly International shopping experience and customer satisfaction.

Big bazaar

Address: 22,Salarpuria Tower,Koramangala Industrial Layout,Hosur Road, Bangalore, 560095

Big Bazaar is a chain of hypermarkets in India, with more than 100 stores in operation. It is a subsidiary
of Pantaloon Retail India Ltd's, Future Group, and follows the business model of United States-based
Wal-Mart. With a slogan of "Is se sasta aur accha kahin nahi!" ("Nowhere cheaper or better than this!"),
the Big Bazaar targets itself directly at the average Indian's love of following the crowd and scrambling
for a good discount. However, the chaos and crowds often make shopping there a challenge.

WEBSITE: bigbazaar.futurebazaar.com
Description

The Outlets are spread in 60 locations across the country. It sells furniture, electronics, clothes,
cookware, cosmetics, household items, food, gifts, jewelry and books. Also have special Food Bazaar
outlets. Most stores open from 10 a.m. until 9.30-10 p.m. daily.

Products: Men's Clothing, Women's Clothing, Furniture, Home Decor, Electronics and Appliances,
Malls and Super Markets, Music and Movies, Kids' Shopping, Accessories, Shopping, Entertainment

Big Bazaar claims to offer over 1,70,000 products under one roof. These include clothes, home
furnishings, crockery, books, computer accessories, groceries and the like. Big Bazaar gives a variety of
options under the same roof starting from kids cloths to electronics items to cosmetics and vegetables.
The Big Bazaar is a useful place to find cheap household items, clothes, and food all under one roof.

In house brands: Koryo, Dj&c, Fresh & pure, Sarapolo, Renuka, Clean mate , Star sitara, Sensei,Care
mate, majithia etc. The in house brands are not that good when it comes to quality and style.

Arrangement: It has helpful for me to choose products and browse them because all the products are
categorized in a uniform way as the electronics on 1st floor , furniture is on 2nd floor ,clothings and
dressings are on 3 rd floor and vice versa.

The store is neatly arranged and well stocked with various items. Every thing is kept so well arranged
that you will never find it difficult to locate anything. The sales staff are also very professional and well-
trained. If you dont know where a particular item is and they will be delighted to help you find the place
where you can find things of your choice. We spend hours there and felt so nice. You can get almost
everything here.

You won't find neatly ordered aisles at the Big Bazaar. Instead, stores are laid out to replicate a market
environment, with items all thrown in together. Promotions such as "Sabse Saste Teen Din" (Cheapest
Three Days) and "Purana Do, Naya Lo" (Give Old, Take New) result in shoppers flooding the stores, to
the point that some stores have become so overcrowded they've had to close.

Ambience: There is no specific theme as such. The ambience is more of a generalized form with
uniform lighting everywhere. There are continuous announcements going on about the discounts and
the offers the outlet provides. There is no specific fragrance.
Signage: There are signages but being a customer myself I have hardly noticed them easily. I have
always asked for help from the sales people.

Billing: The waiting line model in big bazaar is not so efficient comapared to spar because the counters
are lesser in number and the crowd is huge. Especially during festivals it’s very difficult to get the
products billed.

Service: The sales persons in big bazaar according to me are not that efficient in directing people
towards the products. Often they are not aware of the products present in the outlet. The space is not
properly utilized. Personally I find it very messy because of the crowd. Toilet facilities etc are available
for the public.

Pros:

• Low prices.
• Great sales and promotions.
• Wide range of products under the one roof.
• Many stores.

Cons:

• Overcrowded.
• Checkout can be extremely slow.
• Poor customer service and overcharging.
• Quality is variable.

Attractions at BIG BAZAAR what I felt:

The biggest attraction as I feel with Big Bazaar is its continuous discount offers. It always says that you
cannot find a product cheaper than what they are selling. I think this is a legit claim. They really sell with
less price tag than what I buy sometime from other stores. However, it applies only to general home
based products
Another great thing about this market is the shopping experience that one is bound to get here.
Everything is there under one roof. This is a novel experience at least in India. Then the support to the
customer is perfect with every section is equipped with a knowledgeable sales man. This market is best
for home based general items like FMCG products.

Table showing the comparison between Spar and Big Bazaar

SPAR BIGBAZAAR

Format Hypermarket Hypermarket

Target Upper middle class to upper Middle class to upper middle

class class

Variety and assortment Very good Good

Ambience International Indian

Lighting Constant Constant

Arrangement Organized Less organized

Prices Cheap Cheaper

Billing Quick Comparatively slow and messy

Parking space Ample Not adequate

Products Better quality Quality not so good

Service Good Average

Conclusion: Being a customer of both the retail outlets I have personally felt that spar hypermarket is
better than big bazaar in the following aspects

Better Range
Better Convenience
Better Parking
Better Experience

Hence, Spar gives a better shopping experience for me compared to Big Bazaar.