PROJECT ON THE INFLUENCE OF

BRANDING ON
CONSUMER PURCHASING
BEHAVIOUR WITH
THE SPECIAL REFRENCE
TO
KOUTONS
SESSION: 2011-1012

SUBMITTED TO:
SUBMITTED BY:

MR Fahad beg
Faculty of Management

Radhika Sharma
BBA IV Sem.

CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that Radhika sharma has carried out the project report on
THE
CONSUMER BUYING BEHAVIOUR WITH RESPECT TO
KOUTONS APPARREL for the partial fulfillment of under graduate degree
in BBA 4th sem under my supervision.

(PROJECT GUIDE)
Mr. Fahad Beg
KCMT BAREILLY

DECLARATION

I , Radhika Sharma here by declare that the project work on THE

CONSUMER BUYING BEHAVIOUR WITH RESPECT TO KOUTONS
APPARELis the original work done by me and is submitted to the MJP
Rohillkhand University in partial fulfillment of requirement for the award of
degree BBA under the supervision of Mr. Fahad Beg.

RADHIKA SHARMA
BBA 4th SEM
ROLL NO. 11110538

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I am not a research expert
. I am management student with
foundations of management principles and theories, who is curious
about various sectors and its latest happenings.
I am highly obliged to Mr Fahad Beg, faculty, Management
Department for her invaluable support; guidance and knowledge
that she shared with me thereby aiding me in making this project a
successful research.
Definitely, I cant ignore the technology, with internet as the
backbone and those search engines which helped me in building up
this research project.
Lastly, I would like to thank the ALMIGHTY and my parents for their
moral and financial support and my classmates with whom I shared
my day-to-day experience and received lots of suggestions that
improved my work quality.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
In this era of growing professional and development of the new era
concept and industries, education is not complete with theoritical
knowledge of the lecture theater.
One needs a practical experience to identify how the management
concepts are helpful in managing the organization being a BBA
student.
This report is the outcome of KOUTONS.
This project proved very beneficial for me to understand the
organization, their operation as well as help in knowing the
influence of branding on consumer purchasing behaviour with
special reference to koutons are done.
This project has well proved beneficial for our future managerial and
professional life, has also helped me to learn the real environment
of business operations which provide us a vast exposure to the
business environment.

CONTENTS
.
1. CONSUMER PURCHASING BEHAVIOUR

INTRODUCTION

STAGES OF CONSUMER PURCHASING BEHAVIOUR

TYPES OF CONSUMER PURCHASING BEHAVIOUR

HOW ARE PURCHASING AND SOURCING DIFFERENT TODAY

WHAT INFLUENCE CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR

PSYCHOLOGICAL EFFECTS

IMPORTANCE AND NEED TO STUDY

TYPES OF CONSUMER PURCHASING DICISION

HOW CONSUMERS BUY?

WHAT INFLUENCES PURCHASING?

2. INFLUENCE OF BRANDING ON CONSUMER PURCHASING

BEHAVIOUR.

3. BRIEF HISTORY OF KOUTONS

4. BOARD OF DIRECTORS(KOUTONS)
5. BRANDS OF KOUTONS
6. MAJOR EVENTS
7. REVIEW OF PERFORMANCE
8. AWARDS AND RECOGNITION
9. FINANCIAL AND STRATEGIC REVIEW
10. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
11. QUESTIONAAIRE
12. DATA ANALYSIS
13. BIBLIOGRAPHY

When creating a brand, you must be careful not to lose the image of
personal service. Every branding must show the correct image that you want
your customer to see the product.

CONSUMER PURCHASING BEHAVIOUR

INTRODUCTION -As a consumer we are all unique and this uniqueness is

reflected in the consumption pattern and process purchase. The study of
consumer behavior provides us with reasons why consumers differ from one
another in buying using products and services. We receive stimuli from the
environment and the specifics of the marketing strategies of different
products and services, and responds to these stimuli in terms of either
buying or not buying product. In between the stage of receiving the stimuli
and responding to it, the consumer goes through the process of making his
decision.
Stages of the Consumer Buying Process: Six Stages to the Consumer
Buying Decision Process (For complex decisions). Actual purchasing is only
one stage of the process. Not all decision processes lead to a purchase. All
consumer decisions do not always include all 6 stages, determined by the
degree of complexity...discussed next.

THE SIX STAGES ARE:

1. Problem Recognition-difference between the desired state and the
actual condition. deficit in assortment of products. Hunger Food. Hunger
stimulates your need to eat. Can be stimulated by the marketer through
product information--did not know you were deficient? I.E., see a commercial
for a new pair of shoes, stimulates your recognition that you need a new pair
of shoes.

2. Information search-Internal search, memory. External search if you

need more information. Friends and relatives (word of mouth). Marketer
dominated sources; comparison shopping; public sources etc. A successful
information search leaves a buyer with possible alternatives, the evoked set.

Hungry, want to go out and eat, evoked set is

Chinese food
Indian food
burger king

3.

Evaluation

of Alternatives--need to establish criteria for

evaluation, features the buyer wants or does not want. Rank/weight

alternatives or resume search. May decide that you want to eat something
spicy, Indian gets highest rank etc. If not satisfied with your choices then
return to the search phase. Can you think of another restaurant? Look in the
yellow pages etc. Information from different sources may be treated
differently. Marketers try to influence by "framing" alternatives.

4. Purchase decision--Choose buying alternative, includes product,

package, store, method of purchase etc.

5. Purchase--May differ from decision, time lapse between 4 & 5, product

availability.

6. Post-Purchase

Evaluation--outcome: Satisfaction or Dissatisfaction. Cognitive Dissonance,

have you made the right decision. This can be reduced by warranties, after
sales communication etc. After eating an Indian meal, may think that really
you wanted a Chinese meal instead.

Types of Consumer Buying Behavior

Types of consumer buying behavior are determined by:
Level of Involvement in purchase decision. Importance and intensity of
interest in a product in a particular situation.

Buyer level of involvement determines why he/she is motivated to seek

information about a certain products and brands but virtually ignores
others.

High involvement purchases--Honda Motorbike, high priced goods, products

visible to others, and the higher the risk the higher the involvement. Types of
risk:

Personal risk

Social risk Economic risk

The four type of consumer buying behavior are:

Routine Response/Programmed Behavior--Buying low involvement
frequently purchased low cost items; need very little search and decision
effort; purchased almost automatically. Examples include soft drinks, snack
foods, milk etc.
Limited Decision Making-Buying product occasionally. When you need to
obtain information about unfamiliar brand in a familiar product category,
perhaps. Requires a moderate amount of time for information gathering.
Examples include Clothes--know product class but

How Are Purchasing & Sourcing Different Today?

The new year's arrival made me ponder how purchasing in 2008 differs from
purchasing in 1998. Here are the top 10 purchasing changes in those 10
years.
1. The Supply Chain Was Recognized. In the last decade, companies more
closely analyzed the way material flows into, through, and out of the
organization. This "supply chain" focus has those who once just placed
orders now responsible for inventory, warehousing, outbound logistics, and
2. The CPO Position Got Adopted. This past year alone, I've encountered an
unprecedented number of folks with the title "Chief Procurement Officer.
3. Global Sourcing Went Mainstream. Ten years ago, only the progressive
companies were searching abroad for suppliers. Now, in some countries, it is
difficult to find products manufactured domestically.

4. Supplier Roles Expanded. In 1998, there was talk about "partnering" with
suppliers. Today, there's action. Top purchasing departments actively develop
their suppliers and look to the supply base for ideas, better performance, and
innovation
5. Strategic Sourcing Went DIY. In the '90's, strategic sourcing was done
mostly by consulting firms hired to help companies reduce spend. Today,
many companies have their own refined and documented in-house strategic
sourcing processes.
6. Measurement Was Mandated. With the potential of smart purchasing
widely known,
senior management more strictly holds their purchasing departments
accountable for results. The use of purchasing metrics and dashboards is
now commonplace.
7. Social Responsibility Became A Top Priority. Whether for philanthropy or to
avoid media scandals, management counts on Purchasing more than ever to
buy from diverse suppliers, make environmentally-conscious decisions, and
do business ethically.
8. Purchasing Grabbed More Spend. When purchasing departments deliver
results, management seeks more spend that Purchasing can positively
impact. Once sourced by other departments, categories like fleet
management, benefits, and travel services are now sourced by Purchasing.
9. Center-Led Procurement Arrived. In 1998, even top purchasing
departments processed purchase orders. Today, purchasing departments aim
to centralize the supplier selection process, not transactions, which are
delegated to end users or outsourced.
10. Technology Proliferated. Today, Procurement and Sourcing are two of the
most useful practices in purchasing. Ten years ago, those terms were
unheard of.

WHAT INFLUENCES CONSUMER

BEHAVIOR?
Marketers must fully understand both the theory and reality of consumer
behavior.

A consumer buying behavior is influenced by cultural, social, and personal

factors. Cultural factors exert the broadest and deepest influence.
Cultural Factors:
Culture, subculture, and social class are particularly important on consumer
buying behavior. Culture is the fundamental determinant of a person wants
and behavior. The growing child acquires a set of values, perceptions,
preferences, and behaviors through his or her family and other key
institutions.
A child growing up in the United States is exposed to the following values:
achievement and success, activity, efficiency and practicality, progress,
material comfort, individualism, freedom, external comfort, humanitarianism,
and youthfulness.
Each culture consists of smaller subcultures that provide more specific
identification and socialization for their members. Subcultures include
nationalities, religions, racial groups and geographic regions.
When subcultures grow large and affluent enough, companies often design
specialized marketing programs to serve them. Multicultural marketing grew
out of careful marketing research, which revealed that different ethnic and
demographic niches did not always respond favorably to mass-market
advertising.
Companies have capitalized on well-though-out multicultural marketing
strategies in recent years. For instance, many banks and life insurance
companies are focusing on Hispanic Americans because although their
income level is rising the 40 million Hispanic Americans living in the United
States have not yet become big consumers of financial services.
Virtually all human societies exhibit social stratification sometimes takes the
form of a caste system where the members of different castes are reared for
certain roles and cannot change their caste membership. More frequently, it
takes the form of social classes, relatively homogeneous and enduring
divisions in a society, which are hierarchically ordered and whose members
share similar values, interest, and behavior. One classic depiction of social
classes in the United States defined seven ascending levels, as follows:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7. Upper Uppers

Lower
Upper
Working
Middle
Upper
Lower

Lowers.
Lowers.
Class
Class.
Middles.
Uppers

Social classes have several characteristics. First, those within each class tend
to behave more alike than persons from two different social classes. Social

classes differ in dress, speech patterns, recreational preference, and many

other characteristics. Second, persons are perceived as occupying inferior or
superior positions according to social class. Third, social class is indicated by
cluster of variables for example, occupation, income, wealth, education, and
value orientation rather than by any single variable. Fourth, individuals can
move up or down the social-class ladder during their lifetimes. The extent o
this mobility varies according to how rigid the social stratification is in a
given society.
Social classes show distinct product and brand preferences in many areas
including clothing, home furnishings, leisure activities, and automobiles.
Social classes differ in media preferences, with upper-class consumers often
preferring magazines and books and lower class consumers often preferring
television. Even within a media category such as TV, upper class consumers
tend to prefer news and drama, and lower-class consumers tend to prefer
soap operas and sports programs. There are also language differences
among the social classes. Advertising copy and dialogue must ring true to
the targeted social class.

PSYCHOLOGICAL EFFECTS -There are multiple psychological factors

that influence the buying behaviors of consumers. An individual consumer's
purchasing decisions are often influenced by his perceptions of his needs,
wants and status in life. Some consumer behaviors are caused by subconcious behaviors, while others are influenced by conscious decisions made
by the consumer in order to achieve certain goals or fit a specific segment of
lifestyle choices.
An individual consumer may purchase an item that they believe will further
their own goals or will satisfy a need they have. For example, a shopper may
stop at the mall food court because they are hungry, and may select a salad
to eat because they believe it will help them achieve weight loss or a
healthier lifestyle.
Personality
A person's personality will affect their behavior as a consumer as well.
Individuals have likes and dislikes that are solely their own. For example, two

forty-year-old women might be shopping in the same department store and

see a pink blouse on sale. The first woman might decide to buy the blouse
because pink is her favorite color, while the second woman might decide not
to buy the blouse because she doesn't like pink.
Perception
Consumer behavior is often influenced by individual's perceptions of
products or items. If two quilts are for sale in the same store, one mass
produced in China and the other marked as hand-made in America, the handmade quilt is likely to have a higher price and be perceived as more valuable
and desirable by consumers, even though both quilts would keep the
consumer warm equally well. Attitudes and knowledge, whether justified or
implied, heavily influence individual consumer perceptions about products.
Social Class
Certain consumer behaviors, especially the popularity of designer items and
the desire to purchase them, are fueled by social class. Certain items are
perceived to belong to members of certain classes. Consumers are likely to
purchase items they view as a part of their social standing, or that they
believe will elevate them to a higher social standing.
Culture
Consumers may be driven to certain behaviors by the culture to which they
belong. Some items may be viewed as normal in one culture, yet strange in
another. Ethnic background and geographical locations play a large part in
culture and establishing culturally acceptable and unacceptable consumer
behavior.

IMPORTANCE/NEED TO STUDY CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR

Consumer behaviour plays following role:Consumer behaviour helps into determine the changing needs and
wants of customer.
Consumer behaviour also helps into identifying the factor influencing
the behaviour
of customer like social, culture, personal and
psychological factor.
Consumer behaviour helps into the detailed or comprehensive analysis
of consumer behavior i.e, what to buy, when to buy, how to buy, where

to buy, whom to buy, why to buy.

Consumer behaviour also helps into do the effective marketing

planning.

With the help of consumer behaviour marketers are able to make the
effective make the effective marketing strategies regarding promotion,
price, place, product.

With the help of consumer behaviour it is possible for the marketers to

provide the maximum satisfaction to customer.

Types of Consumer Purchase Decisions

Consumers are faced with purchase decisions nearly every day. But not all
decisions are treated the same. Some decisions are more complex than
others and thus require more effort by the consumer. Other decisions are
fairly routine and require little effort. In general, consumers face four types of
purchase decisions:

Minor New Purchase these purchases represent something new to a

consumer but in the customers mind is not a very important purchase
in terms of need, money or other reason (e.g., status within a group).

Minor Re-Purchase these are the most routine of all purchases and
often the consumer returns to purchase the same product without
giving much thought to other product options (i.e., consumer is brand
loyalty).

Major New Purchase these purchases are the most difficult of all
purchases because the product being purchased is important to the
consumer but the consumer has little or no previous experience
making these decisions. The consumers lack of confidence in making
this type of decision often (but not always) requires the consumer to
engage in an extensive decision-making process..

Major Re-Purchase - these purchase decisions are also important to the

consumer but the consumer feels confident in making these decisions
since they have previous experience purchasing the product.

For marketers it is important to understand how consumers treat the

purchase decisions they face. If a company is targeting customers who feel a
purchase decision is difficult (i.e., Major New Purchase), their marketing
strategy may vary greatly from a company targeting customers who view the
purchase decision as routine. In fact, the same company may face both
situations at the same time; for some the product is new, while other

customers see the purchase as routine. The implication of buying behavior

for marketers is that different buying situations require different marketing
efforts.

How Consumers Buy

So now that we have discussed the factors influencing a consumers decision
to purchase, lets examine the process itself. This process is presented in a
sequence of 5 steps as shown below.

However, whether a consumer will actually carryout each step depends on

the type of purchase decision that is faced. For instance, for minor repurchases the consumer may be quite loyal to the same brand, thus the
decision is a routine one (i.e., buy the same product) and little effort is
involved in making a purchase decision. In cases of routine, brand loyal
purchases consumers may skip several steps in the purchasing process since
they know exactly what they want allowing the consumer to move quickly
through the steps. But for more complex decisions, such as Major New
Purchases, the purchasing process can extend for days, weeks, months or
longer. So in presenting these steps marketers should realize that, depending
on the circumstances surrounding the purchase, the importance of each step
may vary.

Purchase Decision Steps 1 and 2

1. Need/Want/Desire is Recognized
In the first step the consumer has determined that for some reason he/she is
not satisfied (i.e., consumers perceived actual condition) and wants to
improve his/her situation (i.e., consumers perceived desired condition). For
instance, internal triggers, such as hunger or thirst, may tell the consumer
that food or drink is needed. External factors can also trigger consumers

needs. Marketers are particularly good at this through advertising, in-store

displays and even the intentional use of scent (e.g., perfume counters). At
this stage the decision-making process may stall if the consumer is not
motivated to continue (see Motivation above). However, if the consumer
does have the internal drive to satisfy the need they will continue to the next
step.

2. Search for Information

Assuming consumers are motivated to satisfy his or her need, they will next
undertake a search for information on possible solutions. The sources used to
acquire this information may be as simple as remembering information from
past experience (i.e., memory) or the consumer may expend considerable
effort to locate information from outside sources (e.g., Internet search, talk
with others, etc.). How much effort the consumer directs toward searching
depends on such factors as: the importance of satisfying the need, familiarity
with available solutions, and the amount of time available to search. To
appeal to consumers who are at the search stage, marketers should make
efforts to ensure consumers can locate information related to their product.
For example, for marketers whose customers rely on the Internet for
information gathering, attaining high rankings in search engines has become
a critical marketing objective.

3. Evaluate Options
Consumers search efforts may result in a set of options from which a choice
can be made. It should be noted that there may be two levels to this stage.
At level one the consumer may create a set of possible solutions to their
needs (i.e., product types) while at level two the consumer may be
evaluating particular products (i.e., brands) within each solution. For
example, a consumer who needs to replace a television has multiple
solutions to choose from such as plasma, LCD and CRT televisions. Within
each solution type will be multiple brands from which to choose. Marketers
need to understand how consumers evaluate product options and why some
products are included while others are not. Most importantly, marketers must
determine which criteria consumers are using in their selection of possible
options and how each criterion is evaluated. Returning to the television
example, marketing tactics will be most effective when the marketer can
tailor their efforts by knowing what benefits are most important to
consumers when selecting options (e.g., picture quality, brand name, screen
size, etc.) and then determine the order of importance of each benefit.

4. Purchase
In many cases the solution chosen by the consumer is the same as the
product whose evaluation is the highest. However, this may change when it

is actually time to make the purchase. The "intended" purchase may be

altered at the time of purchase for many reasons such as: the product is outof-stock, a competitor offers an incentive at the point-of-purchase (e.g., store
salesperson mentions a competitors offer), the customer lacks the
necessary funds (e.g., credit card not working), or members of the
consumers reference group take a negative view of the purchase (e.g.,
friend is critical of purchase). Marketers whose product is most desirable to
the consumer must make sure that the transaction goes smoothly. For
example, Internet retailers have worked hard to prevent consumers from
abandoning online purchase (i.e., online shopping carts) by streamlining the
checkout process. For marketers whose product is not the consumers
selected product, last chance marketing efforts may be worth exploring, such
as offering incentives to store personnel to "talk up" their product at the
checkout line.

5. After-Purchase Evaluation
Once the consumer has made the purchase they are faced with an
evaluation of the decision. If the product performs below the consumers
expectation then he/she will re-evaluate satisfaction with the decision, which
at its extreme may result in the consumer returning the product while in less
extreme situations the consumer will retain the purchased item but may take
a negative view of the product. Such evaluations are more likely to occur in
cases of expensive or highly important purchases. To help ease the concerns
consumers have with their purchase evaluation, marketers need to be
receptive and even encourage consumer contact. Customer service centers
and follow-up market research are useful tools in helping to address
purchasers concerns. As weve seen, consumer purchasing is quite complex.
In our next tutorial, Business buying behavior we will see that marketers
must also have a thorough understanding of how business purchase
decisions are made.

WHAT INFLUENCE PURCHASING

As we discussed the decision-making process for consumers is anything but
straight forward. There are many factors that can affect this process as a
person works through the purchase decision. The number of potential
influences on consumer behavior is limitless. However, marketers are well

served to understand the KEY influences. By doing so they may be in a

position to tailor their marketing efforts to take advantage of these
influences in a way that will satisfy the consumer and the marketer
(remember this is a key part of the definition of marketing).

For the purposes of this tutorial we will break these influences down into
three main categories: Internal, External and Marketing. However, those
interested in learning more about customer buying activity may want to
consult one or more consumer behavior books where they will find additional
methods for explaining consumer buying behavior.
For the most part the influences are not mutually exclusive. Instead, they are
all interconnected and, as we will see, work together to form who we are and
how we behave.
For each of the influences that are discussed we will provide a basic
description and also suggest its implication to marketers. Bear in mind we
only provide a few marketing implications for each influence; clearly there
are many more.

Internal Influences
We start our examination of the influences on consumer purchase decisions
by first looking inside ourselves to see which are the most important internal
factors that affect how we make choices.

Perceptual Filter
Perception is how we see ourselves and the world we live in. However, what
ends up being stored inside us doesnt always get there in a direct manner.
Often our mental makeup results from information that has been consciously
or subconsciously filtered as we experience it, a process we refer to as a
perceptual filter. To us this is our reality, though it does not mean it is an
accurate reflection on what is real. Thus, perception is the way we filter
stimuli (e.g., someone talking to us, reading a newspaper story) and then
make sense out of it.
Perception has several steps.

Exposure sensing a stimuli (e.g. seeing an ad)

Attention an effort to recognize the nature of a stimuli (e.g.

recognizing it is an ad)

Awareness assigning meaning to a stimuli (e.g., humorous ad for

particular product)

Retention adding the meaning to ones internal makeup (i.e., product

has fun ads)

How these steps are eventually carried out depends on a persons approach
to learning. By learning we mean how someone changes what they know,
which in turn may affect how they act. There are many theories of learning, a
discussion of which is beyond the scope of this tutorial, however, suffice to
say that people are likely to learn in different ways. For instance, one person
may be able to focus very strongly on a certain advertisement and be able to
retain the information after being exposed only one time while another
person may need to be exposed to the same advertisement many times
before he/she even recognizes what it is. Consumers are also more likely to
retain information if a person has a strong interest in the stimuli. If a person
is in need of new car they are more likely to pay attention to a new
advertisement for a car while someone who does not need a car may need to
see the advertisement many times before they recognize the brand of
automobile.
Marketing
Implication
Marketers spend large sums of money in an attempt to get customers to
have a positive impression of their products. But clearly the existence of a
perceptual filter suggests that getting to this stage is not easy. Exposing
consumers to a product can be very challenging considering the amount of
competing product messages (ads) that are also trying to accomplish the
same objective (i.e., advertising clutter). So marketers must be creative and
use various means to deliver their message. Once the message reaches
consumer it must be interesting enough to capture their attention (e.g., talk
about the products benefits). But attending to the message is not enough.

For marketers the most critical step is the one that occurs with awareness.
Here marketers must continually monitor and respond if their message
becomes distorted in ways that will negatively shape its meaning. This can
often getting the consumer to give positive meaning to the message they
have retained requires the marketer make sure that consumers accurately
interpret the facts about the product

INTERNAL INFLUENCES: KNOWLEDGE

Knowledge is the sum of all information known by a person. It is the facts of the
world as he/she knows it and the depth of knowledge is a function of the breadth of
worldly experiences and the strength of an individuals long-term memory.
Obviously what exists as knowledge to an individual depends on how an individuals
perceptual filter makes sense of the information it is exposed to.
Marketing
Implications:
Marketers may conduct research that will gauge consumers level of knowledge
regarding their product. As we will see below, it is likely that other factors
influencing consumer behavior are in large part shaped by what is known about a
product. Thus, developing methods (e.g., incentives) to encourage consumers to
accept more information (or correct information) may affect other influencing
factors.

INTERNAL INFLUENCES: ATTITUDES

In simple terms attitude refers to what a person feels or believes about
something. Additionally, attitude may be reflected in how an individual acts
based on his or her beliefs. Once formed, attitudes can be very difficult to
change. Thus, if a consumer has a negative attitude toward a particular issue
it will take considerable effort to change what they believe to be true.
Marketing
Implications:
Marketers facing consumers who have a negative attitude toward their
product must work to identify the key issues shaping a consumers attitude
then adjust marketing decisions (e.g., advertising) in an effort to change the
attitude. For companies competing against strong rivals to whom loyal
consumers exhibit a positive attitude, an important strategy is to work to see
why consumers feel positive toward the competitor and then try to meet or
beat the competitor on these issues. Alternatively, a company can try to
locate customers who feel negatively toward the competitor and then
increase awareness among this group

INTERNAL INFLUENCES: PERSONALITY

An individuals personality relates to perceived personal characteristics that
are consistently exhibited, especially when one acts in the presence of
others. In most, but not all, cases the behaviors one project in a situation is
similar to the behaviors a person exhibits in another situation. In this way
personality is the sum of sensory experiences others get from experiencing a
person (i.e., how one talks, reacts). While ones personality is often
interpreted by those we interact with, the person has their own vision of their
personality, called Self Concept, which may or may not be the same has how
others view us.
Marketing
Implications:
For marketers it is important to know that consumers make purchase
decisions to support their self concept. Using research techniques to identify
how customers view themselves may give marketers insight into products
and promotion options that are not readily apparent. For example, when
examining consumers a marketer may initially build marketing strategy
around more obvious clues to consumption behavior, such as consumers
demographic indicators (e.g., age, occupation, income). However, in-depth
research may yield information that shows consumers are purchasing
products to fulfill self-concept objectives that have little to do with the
demographic category they fall into (e.g., senior citizen may be making
purchases that make them feel younger). Appealing to the consumers self
concept needs could expand the market to which the product is targeted.

INTERNAL INFLUENCES: LIFE STYLE

This influencing factor relates to the way we live through the activities we
engage in and interests we express. In simple terms it is what we value out
of life. Lifestyle is often determined by how we spend our time and money.
Marketing
Implications:
Products and services are purchased to support consumers lifestyles.
Marketers have worked hard researching how consumers in their target
markets live their lives since this information is key to developing products,
suggesting promotional strategies and even determining how best to
distribute products. The fact that lifestyle is so directly tied to marketing
activity will be further examined as we discuss developing target market
strategies tutorial.

INTERNAL INFLUENCES: MOTIVATION

Motivation relates to our desire to achieve a certain outcome. Many internal
factors we have already discussed can affect a customers desire to achieve
a certain outcome but there are others. For instance, when it comes to
making purchase decisions customers motivation could be affected by such
issues as financial position (e.g., Can I afford the purchase?), time
constraints (e.g., Do I need to make the purchase quickly?), overall value
(e.g., Am I getting my moneys worth?), and perceived risk (e.g., What
happens if I make a bad decision?).
Marketing
Implications:
Motivation is also closely tied to the concept of Involvement, which relates to
how much effort the consumer will exert in making a decision. Highly
motivated consumers will want to get mentally and physically involved in the
purchase process. Not all products have a high percentage of highly involved
customers (e.g., milk) but marketers who market products and services that
may lead to high level of consumer involvement should prepare options that
will be attractive to this group. For instance, marketers should make it easy
for consumers to learn about their product (e.g., information on website, free
video preview) and, for some products, allow customers to experience the
product (e.g., free trial) before committing to the purchase.

INTERNAL INFLUENCES: ROLE

Roles represent the position we feel we hold or others feel we should hold
when dealing in a group environment. These positions carry certain
responsibilities yet it is important to understand that some of these
responsibilities may, in fact, be perceived and not spelled out or even
accepted by others. In support of their roles, consumers will make product
choices that may vary depending on which role they are assuming. As
illustration, a person who is responsible for selecting snack food for an office
party his boss will attend may choose higher quality products than he would
choose when selecting snacks for his family.
Marketing
Implications:
Advertisers often show how the benefits of their products aid consumers as
they perform certain roles. Typically the underlying message of this
promotional approach is to suggest that using the advertisers product will

help raise ones status in the eyes of others while using a competitors
product may have a negative effect on status.

EXTERNAL INFLUENCES
EXTERNAL INFLUENCES: CULTURE
Consumer purchasing decisions are often affected by factors that are outside
of their control but have direct or indirect impact on how we live and what
we consume. One example of this are cultural factors
Culture represents the behavior, beliefs and, in many cases, the way we act
learned by interacting or observing other members of society. In this way
much of what we do is shared behavior, passed along from one member of
society to another. Yet culture is a broad concept that, while of interest to
marketers, is not nearly as important as understanding what occurs within
smaller groups or Sub-Cultures to which we may also belong. Sub-cultures
also have shared values but this occurs within smaller groups. For instance,
sub-cultures exist where groups share similar values in terms of ethnicity,
religious beliefs, geographic location, special interests and many others.
Marketing
Implications:
As part of their efforts to convince customers to purchase their products,
marketers often use cultural representations, especially in promotional
appeals. The objective is to connect to consumers using cultural references
that are easily understood and often embraced by the consumer. By doing so
the marketer hopes the consumer feels more comfortable with or can relate
better to the product since it corresponds with their cultural values.
Additionally, smart marketers use strong research efforts in an attempt to
identify differences in how sub-culture behaves. These efforts help pave the
way for spotting trends within a sub-culture, which the marketer can
capitalize on through new marketing tactics (e.g., new products, new sales
channels, added value, etc.).

External Influences: Group Membership

In addition to cultural influences, consumers belong to many other groups
with which they share certain characteristics and which may influence
purchase decisions. Often these groups contain Opinion Leaders or others
who have major influence on what the customer purchases. Some of the
basic groups we may belong to include:

Social Class represents the social standing one has within a society based
on such factors as income level, education, occupation

Family ones family situation can have a strong effect on how purchase
decisions are made

Reference groups most consumers simultaneously belong to many other

groups with which they associate or, in some cases, feel the need to
disassociate

Marketing
Implications:
Identifying and understanding the groups consumers belong to is a key
strategy for marketers. Doing so helps identify target markets, develop new
products, and create appealing marketing promotions to which consumers
can relate. In particular, marketers seek to locate group leaders and others
to whom members of the group look for advice or direction. These opinion
leaders, if well respected by the group, can be used to gain insight into group
behavior and if these opinion leaders accept promotional opportunities could
act as effective spokespeople for the marketers products.

External Influences: Purchase Situation

A purchase decision can be strongly affected by the situation in which people
find themselves. In general, a situation is the circumstances a person faces
when making a purchase decision, such as the nature of their physical
environment, their emotional state, or time constraints. Not all situations are
controllable, in which case a consumer may not follow their normal process
for making a purchase decision. For instance, if a person needs a product
quickly and a store does not carry the brand they normally purchase, the
customer may choose a competitors product.
Marketing
Implications:
Marketers can take advantage of decisions made in uncontrollable situations
in at least two ways. First, marketers can use promotional methods to
reinforce a specific selection of products when the consumer is confronted
with a particular situation. For example, automotive services can be
purchased that promise to service vehicles if the user runs into problems

anywhere and at anytime. Second, marketers can use marketing methods

that attempt to convince consumers that a situation is less likely to occur if
the marketers product is used. This can also be seen with auto products,
where marketers explain that using their product will prevent unexpected
damage to their vehicles

INFLUENCE OF BRANDING ON CONSUMER

PURCHASING BEHAVIOUR
Tapping people's need to connect with one another is one tactic for widening
brand appeal. Branding is how a company presents itself to the consumer.
Through its ads, logo and communications style, the company hopes to build
a long-lasting relationship with its target audience. However, there is a fine
line between success and failure. As the "new Coke" fiasco proves, tampering
with old favorites is an invitation to trouble. On the other hand, Apple's
simplified logo is frequently held up as a successful example of branding
done correctly.
Function
The personal computer revolution opened new possibilities in mass
marketing.
Companies must constantly re-examine strategy, which sometimes requires
a complete overhaul of the brand. Faced with declining business during the
1990s, Apple abandoned its old rainbow-hued logo for a starker,
monochromatic update -- and simplified its advertising, "Wired" reported in a
December 2002 commentary. According to "Wired," the move convinced
consumers that Apple had not lost its creative touch and is credited as a key
factor in restoring its commercial fortunes.
Effects
In April 1985, Coca-Cola introduced a sweeter version of its classic soft drink.

The company based its decision on four years of tests, in which 55 percent of
the 190,000 participants chose the new formula, the "New York Times"
reported in January 2009. Before long, more than 1,500 complaints per day
lit up company hotlines. Ten weeks later, the old formula returned to shelves
as "Coca-Cola Classic" -- a title that remained in effect through the summer
of 2009.
Features
Catering to families' economic struggles enabled Old El Paso to boost its
market share.
Tough situations can offer chances to successfully re-brand a product. When
Coca-Cola's Australian division ran into resistance to its Mother energy drink,
the company rolled out a reformulated version that became one of the year's
biggest marketing successes, "Data monitor" reported in February 2010. In
America, Old El Paso did equally well by capitalizing on recession-pinched
families re-creating the ritual of "taco night." Sales jumped 9 percent during
the last quarter of 2009 as a result.
Identification
Using celebrities to sell products has limits, too. The implosion of Tiger
Woods' personal life and picture-perfect image led to an 18 to 19 percent
drop off in his approval rating, Brand Camp University reported in November
2009. With endorsements accounting for 80 to 90 percent of the golfer's
income, the loss of his Accenture, Gatorade and Gillette sponsorships
promised to be devastating. According to Brand Camp, the Woods scandals
showed the difficulty of building personal brands around an overly idealized
image.
Considerations
Ethical branding has emerged as an important marketing tool in driving
purchasing decisions. Facing a flat market for household care products,
Clorox responded by tapping public interest in environmentally friendly
"green" products, according to Data monitor. As a result, Green Works now
accounts for about 40 percent of the green marketplace. Apple has made
similar inroads by offering products like the iPod, which are meant to make
computing a more in

BRIEF HISTORY OF KOUTONS

KOUTONS are an integrated apparel manufacturing and retail company in
India they are in the business of designing, manufacturing and retailing
apparel under the KOUTONS and Charlie Outlaw brands through a

network of 999 exclusive brand outlets (as of August 20,2007) across

India.
They started their business with the formation of a partnership fi rm
M/s. Charlie Creations. They established a manufacturing unit (having a
capacity to manufacture approximately 20,000 pieces of apparel per
annum) in Delhi in 1993. In 1994, their Promoters with the vision of
broadening operations incorporated our Company, as a private limited
company i.e. Charlie Creations Private Limited. The Company started its
operations by taking over the business of the erstwhile partnership firm. As
of August 20, 2007 we had 18 in-house manufacturing/finishing units and 14
warehouses which are spread across various locations in and around
Gurgaon, Haryana. They have increased their annual finishing and
manufacturing capacity from 3,000,000 and 600,000 pieces of apparel,
respectively as of March 31, 2005 to 22,920,000 and 12,360,000 pieces of
apparel, respectively as of March 31, 2007 they have also entered into
fabricating agreements with various manufacturing units to which we
outsource stitching of certain apparel. Their manufacturing and finishing
facilities are backed by adequate facilities for product testing, apparel
development, design studio and sampling infrastructure to ensure high
quality apparel for our customers.
Their brand KOUTONS has contributed to the success of our business.
Sales from their brand
KOUTONS has increased from Rs. 516.32 million for fiscal 2005 to Rs.
3,726.91 million for fiscal 2007 and has contributed 99.11% and 92.34% of
their total income in fiscal 2006 and 2007, respectively. They have
positioned the KOUTONS brand in the middle to high fashion segment,
offering a complete range of a mans wardrobe (in the age group of 22 to
45 years) ranging from formal to casual and party wear. They have
reinvented and re- launched their old premier brand Charlie as Charlie
Outlaw. The Charlie Outlaw brand is a casual brand targeted at fashion
conscious youngsters in the age group of 14 to 25 years and is positioned
as a fashionable and contemporary, value for money brand.

They marketed their apparel through a network of distributors spread all

over India till fiscal 2002. However, in fiscal 2002 with a view to improve
marketing efficiencies, they introduced the model of retailing on a
consignment basis through exclusive franchise stores. Their first exclusive
store was launched in 2002. As of August 20, 2007, the Koutons brand was
sold on a total floor area of approx. 482,966 sq. ft. and their Charlie
Outlaw brand was sold on a total floor area of approx. 360,738 sq. ft. The
Company was incorporated on November 25, 1994 under the Companies Act,
1956 as Charlie Creations Private Limited. The name of the Company was
changed to Koutons Retail India Private Limited with effect from February 7,
2006. The Company was converted into a public limited company and its

name was changed to Koutons Retail India Limited with effect from June 27,
2006.
The registered office of the Company was changed from T-60/1, D.C.M.
School Road, New Rohtak Road, Karol Bagh, New Delhi 110 005 to J-2 Udyog
Nagar, Peera Garhi Chowk, New Delhi on November 26, 2001 and thereafter
on February 1, 2006 to its current registered office at T-60/1, D.C.M. School
Road, New Rohtak Road, Karol Bagh, New Delhi 110 005.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

DPS
Kohli
(Chairman)
One of the founding promoters of this company, he heads Marketing, Finance,
Information Technology, Administration and Human Resource.

B.S.
Sawhney
(Managing
Director)
The other founding promoter of the company, he looks after Sampling,
Merchandising, Sourcing and Sales. He is instrumental in company's growth.

G.
(Deputy
The youngest of the company,
Production and Personnel. He is
company possible.

S.
Sawhney
Managing
Director)
he looks after the Warehouse, Logistics,
instrumental in making the growth of the

ABOUT DPS KOHLI-KOUTONS FASHION

Mr. Kohli had a vision of providing fashion at an affordable price. This vision
has taken Koutons from a relatively small beginning to a dominant player in
the menswear branded garments. He is a remarkable leader who can
visualize an opportunity and implement it efficiently which has resulted in
the success of the brand.
Prior to the birth of Koutons, Mr. Kohli was involved with the family business
of retailing bicycles, electrical and electronic goods in Orissa. In 1982 he
shifted to the electronics industry and started manufacturing his own
television under the brand name "Apollo". He lost everything in Sikh riots in
1984, but he never gave up and later on teamed up with his brother in law
Mr. B.S Sawhney and launched Charlie Creations. The focus was on providing
fashion and quality at an affordable price.
In 1997, Mr. Kohli launched Koutons with a focus on complete mens
wardrobe. Understanding the consumer behaviour, he decided to create his
own brand outlets. He desgined a franchisee model that turns small
business men into entrepreneurs. He realized the potential of the domestic
market and worked hard for a win-win relation between the company and his
franchisees.

Mr. DPS Kohli graduated in 1980 as a Mechanical Engineer with a B.Tech

Degree from Sambalpur University in Orissa.
He has been honoured with number of recognitions.

He was awarded the title of "UDYOG VIBHUSHAN for Excellence in

Industrial Performance" by the Institute of Trade and Industrial
Development.

He was awarded the title of "Entreprenuer of the Year" by the

Institute of Trade and Industrial Development in 2003.

He has been awarded the title of "2008 Top Marketing Man Award"
by IMM, Delhi.

He was also awarded the title of "Most Admired Fashion Face" at

Images Lycra Fashion Awards 08 Mumbai.

Mr. Kohli is a man of thinking considers himself a servant of God. He believes

that God has made him in charge of a business which he has to run to the
best of his ability. In return, he has given him a good life and a good family.
He has also given him the opportunity to help others, which he will continue
doing to the best of his ability.

BRANDS
KOUTONS MENSWEAR
The well known apparel house, Koutons Retail India Ltd. has unveiled their
latest collection of menswear. This collection offers a wide range of formal
and informal clothing for men for the age group of 18 years and above.

Known for their comfort and durability the brand has become synonymous
with 'fashion and quality' at affordable price'. The collection caters to men
which includes the working professionals.
The collection includes the shirts, T-shirts, pull overs, sweat shirts ,denim and
non-denim trousers, cargo and shorts for men in trendy yet formal shades
the collection also offers a variety of fabrics to choose from. The basic formal
shirts are available in linen and cotton fabrics. The range is also available in
blended fabrics. The special product range wrinkle resistant flaunts ten to
twelve colors to choose from. Using wrinkle-resistant technology the
company has sought to introduce a new breed of weaved hundred percent
cotton fabric and blended cotton.
The latest collection of Koutons menswear is a range created for today's
generation of men who wear what they like and firmly believe in themselves.
The collection is for those who like to blend comfort with style.

Koutons Retail launches Koutons Junior for kids

All set to redefine the kids wear market in the country, Koutons Retail India
Ltd. has unveiled the Koutons Junior collection exclusively meant for the
fashion conscious kids of 21st century. The collection offers a wide range of

trendy and playful apparels for kids. Known for their comfort and durability,
the brand has become synonymous with 'fashion and quality at affordable
prices'. Koutons Junior offers a wide range of apparels t-shirts, shirts, night
wear, capris, cargos, denims, dangris to denim skirts for boys and girls in the
age group of 2-15yrs.
Right from providing formals and casual for boys and girls, Koutons Jr. offers
a youthful and trendy blend of bright shades and wintery hues along with
playful cuts and patterns for kids. The yarn used in Koutons Jr. 100%
cotton,100% acrylic, lambs wool blend. The all new kids range is made from
superior quality fabrics keeping in mind the delicate and sensitive skin of
children so the natural fibers used in the apparels are soft in feel for young
kids.
Koutons Besides the normal range of apparels a special range of accessories
is also available which includes bags, sun glasses, swim glasses, pencil
boxes, bottles, caps, belts ties and many more

Koutons To Launch Shoes, Women`s Wear Brands

Business Standard:

Koutons India Retails Ltd will expand its productline and launch its own brand
of shoes by 2008.
The company is also planning to enhance its current store size to 5,0006,000 sft after launching the three products. Besides, it is looking forward to
establish its operations in the international markets by entering Saarc and
the Gulf countries after consolidating its position in the domestic market.
Talking to Business Standard, DPS Kohli, chairman of the company, said, We
are planning to launch womens western wear and childrens wear by 2008.
We also plan to launch our own brand of shoes. This will be part of our
extension of the existing line of products.?
HS Sidhu, executive vice-president, said the company was planning to
increase the current space of its stores to accommodate the new range of
products.

Our franchisee stores are currently spread over some 1,200 sft, which will
be increased to 5,000-6,000 sft after the launch of the new range of
products,? he added.
The company, which had stopped exports in 2003 to consolidate its domestic
network, is planning to enter the international market.
We plan to enter the Saarc countries and West Asia after consolidating our
position in the domestic market. We currently have 600 Koutons stores
across the nation and plan to take it to 1,000 by the end of the next year. We
plan to have around 2,000 stores of our new brand Charlie Outlaw. After this,
we will look at foraying into the international market,? Kohli said.
The company, which had recently set a record of opening 100 stores in a single day,
is aiming to break its own record by opening 200 stores across the country.

Major Events
Year Milestone

1994 The Company was incorporated as Charlie Creations Private

Limited with the main objective of inter alia acquiring the business of
the M/s. Charlie Creations.

1997 The Company diversified its business by introducing non-denim

trousers in the existing product range of denim apparel.

Awarded the title "Best Menwear (Casual) Collection by Apparel

Exporters and Manufacturers Association.

1998 The Company launched the brand Koutons

Award received for best display of denim clothing from CMAI-Ashima

Group.

2000 Award received for Outstanding Domestic Sales from Clothing

Manufacturers Association of India.

2002 The first exclusive brand outlet under the Koutons brand was
opened

2003 Mr. DPS Kohli was awarded the title of Entrepreneur of the Year by
the Institute of Trade and Industrial Development.

2005 Nominated for the Brand of the Year-Men's Casual Wear (Large)
by the Clothing Manufacturers Association of India.

2006 The Company was converted into a public limited company and
consequently its name was changed to Koutons Retail India Limited
with effect from June 27, 2006.

The Company re-launched the brand Charlie Outlaw On October 5,

2006 104 Charlie Outlaw exclusive brand outlets were opened in a
single day, which was recorded in the Limca Book of Records 2007

UTI Venture Funds Management Company Private Limited subscribed

to 852,500 Equity Shares out of which 680,000 Equity Shares were
allotted at Rs. 600 per Equity Share* and 172,500 Equity Shares were
allotted at Rs. 800 per Equity Share*.

Argonaut Ventures subscribed to 575,000 Equity Shares at Rs. 800 per

Equity Share*.

Awarded the title Most Dynamic Brand of the Year 2006 by LYCRA
Images Fashion Awards.

Awarded the title Value Retailer of the Year 2007 by Star Retailer-The
Consumer Way.

Nominated for the Chain Store of the Year at Apex Award, 2009 by the
Clothing Manufacturers Association of India

Nominated for the Brand of the Year - Men's Casual Wear (Large) at
Apex Award, 2006 by the Clothing Manufacturers Association of India

2010 Passport India Investments (Mauritius) Limited subscribed to

600,000 Equity Shares at Rs. 350 per Equity Share.

FID Funds (Mauritius) Limited purchased 1,162,791 Equity Shares from

the Promoters at Rs. 430 per Equity Share

Mr. DPS Kohli was awarded the title of UDYOG VIBHUSHAN for
Excellence in Industrial Performance by the Institute of Trade and
Industrial Development. Acceptable consumer behavior.

Competitive Strengths
They believe that they are well positioned to capture the growth
opportunities in Indias
apparel manufacturing and retail sectors, because of their following key
strengths:
Wide network of Exclusive Brand Outlets.
Integrated player with low-cost sourcing capabilities.
Unique brand positioning.
Design and merchandising expertise, with a pulse on fashion.
Experienced and efficient management.

Wide apparel range.

IT Infrastructure

Principal elements of their strategy are the following:

Increase geographic penetration by spreading the network of
exclusive brand outlets.
Enhancing manufacturing capacities.
Target the growing segments
Strengthen the competitive position and recognition of their
brands.
Further improving their cost structure.
Pursuing potential strategic acquisitions to complement their
existing brand portfolio.
Exports of apparel under their Koutons or other brands.

Their Strategy

Third party manufacturers

To cater to the growing demand for our brands Koutons and Charlie
Outlaw they also Outsource manufacturing of apparel. For this, the
Company has executed 211 agreements with 211 fabricators pursuant to
which the fabricators usually work for the Company on a job work basis.
They typically enter into fabrication agreements pursuant to which the
Company supplies fabric to the fabricator and the fabricator stitches the
apparel as instructed and desired by the Company. Under the terms of the
agreement, the fabric which is in the possession of the fabricator is the
exclusive property of the Company and the fabricator cannot
hypothecate, sell or create any third party interest in the fabric. The
agreement also provides that the fabricator is solely responsible for the
safety and security of the fabric and is required to indemnify the Company
for any loss caused, while it is in the possession of the fabricator.

Manufacture of production sample

A product sample is produced in house according to the specifications
provided for the range of products for a particular season. The first
production report is prepared on the basis of this sample. All apparent and
intricate corrections are made in the sample so as to make it error free.
Accordingly, a detailed production plan is devised.

Fabric cutting and stitching

They commence with creating a layout for cutting the respective products
with the help of CAD plotter machines. The use of this system ensures that
there is optimum usage of the fabric. The fabric is then laid on a table in
multiple layers where the plotted layout is used for cutting the various parts
of fabric with the help of electrical cutting machines. These pieces are sent
to production lines where they are stitched as per an assembly line
system with each machine and worker performing a specific job in the
assembly line. This process ensures that the quality of the apparel meets
the required specifications and is also an efficient system of
manufacturing. This, along with a team of dedicated quality controllers
ensures that the final product which comes out of the line meets the
specifications.

Post stitching treatment

The stitched product from our in-house production as well as from that of
the outsourced one is taken to their washing department. The apparel are
washed and treated in high capacity washing machines and the hydro water
expellers are used to drain the water out from the apparel. Thereafter,
apparel are tumble dried. In some instances where specific washes and
treatment are required like in case of denim products, we also get the same
done on a job work basis.

Finishing and packaging

Upon completion of the washing process, the apparel under finishing and
are thereafter packaged. Finishing of apparel involves labeling, putting
tags, removal of loose and unwanted threads, proper and customized
ironing. They attach utmost importance to the quality of our final product
and hence care is taken to ensure that the apparel that is dispatched to the
warehouse has undergone stringent quality checks. They are also very
careful in ensuring that the apparel are packaged in a manner that will give
the apparel an attractive look and at the same time protect the apparel
from any wear or tear. Their packing department takes into consideration all
the above factors and makes the product ready for retailing.

Warehousing
Once the apparel are packaged, they are directed to warehouses. They
operate a total of 14 warehouses in the vicinity of their in-house
manufacturing facilities where they store their finished goods and raw

materials. The shipments for exclusive branch outlets are put together
and dispatched through transport agencies from their warehouses. They
maintain separate warehouses for both our brands.

Sales and distribution

One of the most important functions in our business operations is retailing
and logistics. They have a dedicated Sales and Marketing team which
consists of 90 employees. This team along with the merchandising and
production team devises the retailing strategy at the beginning of every
season on the basis of the companys business plan, demands, preferences
and other requirements of stores in various regions and on the basis of a
review of the last years performance.

Distribution and marketing

To ensure that merchandise flows directly to the right outlets in a timely
and cost efficient manner, the retailing plan is supported with a detailed
logistics plan. This includes setting up of outlets in various regions,
inventory management, warehouse management and supply chain
management. The plan is then shared with the various departments, namely
merchandising and production which are responsible for their respective
activities. The distribution and marketing team members are spread across
the country and work on region-wise basis. Periodic reporting to the central
levels at corporate office and co-ordination with other divisions is
maintained to ensure smooth and uninterrupted distribution flows.
Further, their custom designed computer application permits better
control of inventory thereby lowering inventory holding costs.

KOUTONS RETAIL INDIA LIMITED is gurgaon based apparels enterprise which

was established in 1993with a seed capital of just RS 400 thousand.
Company was established by Devinder Pal Singh kohli and present chairman
of the company.
The 51 year old chairman of the 1046crore company, who had once dreamed
of making
KOUTONS a 100 crores brand some day, has beaten his own expectation by
becoming a serious competitor to the many established BRANDS in the
country. Main theme of the company is value to money, but high on
fashion.
Koutons Retail India Ltd. is the leading retailer of readymade and fashion
wear brand in the countrytoday. With more than 1400 outlets across India, it
has a wide range of apparel designs suited for all segments including
corporate, formal and casual dressings.

Koutons aptly creates the conducive environment for a family outing, making
family shopping the best experience at an affordable price - allot one place.

Koutons was born in 1991 as Charlie Creations and are now

Koutons Retail India Ltd.
Koutons started primarily as a denim brand but are today manufacturing and
selling complete men, women and kids wardrobe under the brand name
Koutons, Les Femme and Koutons Junior respectively. Another brandfrom the
stable of
Koutons is Charlie Outlaw, which caters to the teens of the country with
apparel including jeans,
T- shirts, jackets etc.
Koutons Brand is catering to the Upper Middle Class of Society with a vast
target age group between 18-60 years."Value for Money and High on
Fashion" being their USP,
Koutons has given the brand an extension delving into specific consumer
segments.
The garments are made keeping in view the overall need of the niche market
and the basic/fashion demand of the Indian masses.
Our product range also caters to the tastes of all segments.
Our Brand is placed as the most dynamic brand of India.

\
Vision of the Company

To emerge as the most profitable retailer in India by being the most

efficiency
To provide contemporary fashion at affordable prices.
To cut away all areas of distribution and value chain those do not
benefit the consumer.

Mission of the Company

We aim to lead through innovation & improve through introspection to serve

our customers and stakeholders equally and become an efficient and low
cost operator with a commitment to quality.
We aim to be world leader yet remain firmly rooted to our local markets.

Format wise store distribution

There are 5 formats in all. Here is the breakup of the various formats:

Region Wise Store Distribution

The company has divided the country into 4 regions: North, West, East,
South and Central. North India has constitutes more than half of the total
share of stores.
North54%West11%East24%South &Central11%

Malls vs. Standalones

Looking at the above table, we see that only 11% of the total EB
Os are in malls. Most of these are in North in regions like Delhi/NCR, Punjab,
UP. As of now, they have been targeting strategic locations in busy markets,
community centers.
They are not targeting the malls because the target audience they cater to is
primarily middle class which looks for heavy discounts. Going by the
consumer behavior, especially in tier-2 and tier-3 cities, people identify malls
to be expensive and a little out of their budget and therefore prefer buying
merchandize from outside mal

REVIEW OF PERFORMANCE
During the year, your Company recorded growth in to line as well as in
bottom line. Income from operations went up from Rs 106313.48 lacs in F.Y.
2008-09 to Rs. 120667.26 Lacs in F.Y. 2009-10 recording a growth of 13.50
percent. Profit before depreciation, Interest and tax stood at Rs. 23161.19
Lacs in F.Y. 2009-10, an increase of 3.09 percent over the preceding year.
Profit after tax for F.Y. 09-10 was Rs 8179.97 Lacs, an increase of 2.82
percent over F.Y.08-09.

DIVIDEND:
Keeping in view the current economic scenario and future fund requirements
of the Company, your Directors have recommended a dividend of 20 paisa
per Equity Share for the financial year ended 31st March 2010, which on
approval at the forthcoming Annual General, will be paid
(i) to those Equity Shareholders, holding shares in physical form ,whose
name appear on the Register of Members of the Company at the close of
business hours on 23rd September, 2010 after giving effect to all valid
transfers in physical form lodged with the Company or its Registrar and
Share Transfer Agent before 24th September, 2010

(ii) to those beneficial owners, holding shares in electronic form, whose name
appear in the statement of beneficial owners furnished by the Depositories to
the Company as at the close of business hours on 23rd September, 2010 The
total proposed dividend amount shall be Rs.71,25,120/- (Rupees Seventy
One Lacs Twenty Five Thousand One Hundred and Twenty Only) including
Dividend tax, for the financial year 2009-10 as against total dividend payout
Rs 3,57,43,607/- for the previous year.
The Register of members and share transfer books will remain closed from
24th September 2010 to 30th September 2010 (both days inclusive). The
Annual General Meeting of the Company will be held on 30 th September
2010.

TRANSFER TO RESERVES:
No portion of profits has been transferred to General Reserve Account
during the financial year.

SUBSIDIARY COMPANY:
During the Financial Year 2009-10, the Company has only one subsidiary
Company viz., M/s. DBG Retail Holdings Limited. The statement pursuant to
Section 212 of the Companies Act, 1956 is attached and forms part of the
Annual Report.
In accordance with Accounting Standard 21 relating to consolidated financial
statements your Directors have pleasure in attaching the said consolidated
financial statements, which form part of this report and accounts. These
statements have been prepared on the basis of audited financial statements
received from the Subsidiary Company as approved by its Board.

PRIVATE PLACEMENT:
The Company with a view to expand its business by way of opening its family
stores and to integrate its IT operations and for general Corporate purposes
as may be decided by the Board in the best interest of the Company, it is
proposed to raise funds to the tune of
Rs.4,00,00,00,000/- (Rupees Four Hundred Crores Only) in one or more
tranches through a public issues and/or on a private placement basis and/or
QIP within the meaning of Chapter VIII of SEBI (Issue of Capital and

Disclosure Requirements) Regulations 2009 and/or preferential issue and/or

any other kind of public issue and/or Foreign Currency
Convertible Bonds (FCCBs), Optionally Convertible Debentures (OCD),
Bonds with share warranted attached, Global Depositary Receipts (GDRs),
American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) or any other equity related
instrument of the Company or a combination of the foregoing.
The resolution contained in the business of the Notice is regarding proposal
to create, offer, issue and allot equity shares and/or such other Securities as
stated in the Special Resolution (the Securities) which seeks to empower
the Board of Directors (hereinafter referred to as Board which include any
Committee thereof, whether constituted or to be constituted) to undertake
such issue or offer of securities.

CORPORATE GOVERNANCE:
Committed to good corporate governance practices, your Company fully
conform to standards set out by SEBI and other regulatory authorities and
has implemented and complied with all of its major stipulations. Koutons
Retail India Limited is committed to conduct the business of the company
with the highest level of integrity and transparency. The commitment of your
company is clearly reflected in the business activities of the company. As per
clause 49 of the Listing Agreement, a report on Corporate Governance along
with Compliance Certificate from the Practicing Company Secretary form part
of this Annual Report.

Code of Conduct
As per Clause 49(I)(D), the Board of the Company has laid down Code of
Conduct for all the Board members of the Company and senior management
as well and the same has been posted on website of the Company. Annual
Compliance Report for the year ended 31st March 2010 has been received
from all the Board members and senior management of the Company
regarding the compliance of all the provisions of Code of Conduct.
Declaration regarding compliance by Board members and senior
management personnel with the Companys Code of Conduct is hereby
attached as annexure to this report.

MANAGEMENT DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS:

Management Discussion and Analysis Report as required under the Listing
Agreement is annexed to this report.

DEPOSITS:
The Company has not accepted any deposit within the meaning of Section
58A of the Companies Act, 1956 read with the Companies (Acceptance of
Deposits) Rules, 1975 made there.

AWARDS & RECOGNITION

2010

Koutons received the Award of "Emerging Corporate" at the Corp

Excel Award 2010 for National SME Excellence on 30th Dec, 2010,
organized by Corporation Bank.

Koutons received "The Value Retailer of the Year" Award of Star

Retailer on 27th November, 2010 organized by Franchise India.

Koutons received the "Best Clothing Company of the Year" of

CMAIs Apex Awards on 21st December, 2010..

Koutons was also nominated for the "Best Advertising Campaign of the
Year" and "Brand of the Year" for CMAI's Apex Award.

Mr. D.P.S Kohli was awarded for "Retail Excellence" award by Asia
Retail Congress in January, 2010.

2009

Mr. D.P.S. Kohli, Chairman, Koutons Retail India Ltd. was awarded the
title of Most Admired Fashion Face at Images Fashion Awards 09
Mumbai

Koutons Retail India Ltd was award Most Admired Fashion Group at
Images Fashion Awards 08 Mumbai.

Mr. DPS Kohli was awarded the title of 2009 Top Marketing Man
Award by IMM, Delhi

Awarded the Brand of the Year Casual (SME) : Charlie Outlaw by

CMAI.

Award of Best Display at India International Garment Fair

Koutons Retail India Ltd has won the prestigious Brand of the Year
Mens Casual Wear (Large) Award at the National Awards for the
excellence in Apparel business organized by CMAI.

Franchise Award for

Development- Retail.

Nominated for the Clothing Company of the Year- Domestic by CMAI.

Nominated for the Best Advertising Campaign of the Year Retail by

CMAI.

Koutons was nominated in Textile & Apparel Category in Emerging India

Awards by ICICI.

Excellence

in

Franchising

&

Business

2008

Mr. DPS Kohli was awarded the title of UDYOG VIBHUSHAN for
Excellence in Industrial Performance by the Institute of Trade and
Industrial Development in 2008.

Koutons Retail India Ltd has won the prestigious Chain Store of the
Year Award at the National Awards for the excellence in Apparel
business organized by CMAI.

Koutons is also credited with another award of Brand Entrepreneur of

the Year Award at the APEX AWARDS 2007 organized by CMAI.

Nominated for the Best Advertising Campaign of the Year- Retail by

CMAI

2007.

Awarded the Most Dynamic Brand of the Year by Lycra Images

Fashion Awards

Awarded the title of Value Retailer of the Year by Star Retailer- The
Consumer Way.

Koutons Retail India Ltd nominated for Chain Store of the Year Award
at the National Awards for the excellence in Apparel business organized
by CMAI.

Nominated for the Brand of the Year Award Mens Casual Wear
(Large) at Apex Award, by the Clothing Manufacturers Association of
India Group at Images Fashion Awards 08 Mumbai.

2005- Koutons was nominated for the Brand of the Year Award- Mens Casual
Wear (Large) by the Clothing Manufacturers Association of India.
2003- Mr. D.P.S. Kohli was awarded the title of Entrepreneur of the Year by
the Institute of Trade and Industrial Development.
2000- The Company received an award for outstanding Domestic Sales from
Clothing Manufacturers Association of India.
1998- The Company received an award for best display of denim clothing
from CMAI- Ashima Group.
1997- The Company was awarded the title of Best Menswear (Casual)
Collection by Apparel Exporters and Manufacturers association.

Kou
tons received the Award of "Emerging Corporate" at the Corp Excel Award 2008
for National mSME Excellence on 30th Dec, 2009, organized by Corporation Bank.

"E

merging Corporate"(2009). "Most Admire Fashion Face of the Year" (2008).

"Chain
Store
of
the
Year"
(2007).

"Most Admire Fashion Group Of the Year" (2006). "Brands Of The Year
Casual (SME )" Charlie Outlaw (2005). "Brand Entrepreneur of the Year"
(2003)

LISTING FEES:
The equity shares of your company are listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange
Limited and National Stock Exchange of India Limited. The annual listing fee
for the financial year 2010-11 has been paid.

DEMATERIALISATION OF SHARES:
The company has entered into agreements with the National Securities
Depository Limited (NSDL) and Central Depository Services (India) Limited
(CDSL) for dematerialization of shares of the company. Accordingly shares of
the company are available for dematerialization and can be traded in Demat
form.

DIRECTORS:
Pursuant to provisions of the Companies Act, 1956, and Articles of
Association of the Company, Mr. Krishnamurthy Santhanam, Mr. Girish
Chandra Raghubir, and V.C. Sinha, Directors of the Company, retire by
rotation at the ensuing Annual General Meeting and being eligible, have offer
themselves for re-appointment.
Your Directors recommend their re-appointment.
Brief resume of the Directors proposed to be appointed / re-appointed,
nature of their expertise in specific functional areas and names of companies
in which they hold directorship and membership / chairmanship of the
Board / Committees, as stipulated in Clause 49 of the Listing Agreement with
the Stock Exchanges in India, are provided in the Report on Corporate
Governance forming part of the Annual Report.

ASCENT CAPITAL EXITS FROM KOUTONS RETAIL AT A

LOSS
Three months after a spate of lawsuits were filed in the Delhi high court by
suppliers to recover their dues from Koutons Retail India Ltd, Ascent Capital,
one of the principal investors in the cloth seller, has exited the firm at a loss
and considers the investment a write-off, said two executives at the private
equity (PE) firm briefed on the development.
We have completely exited Koutons. Its at a lossits as good as a writeoff. We havent made any money in it, one of them, a top executive at
Ascent Capital, said on condition of anonymity. He declined to give more
details.
Ascent Capital, formerly known as UTI Ventures, invested about `54.6 crore
in Koutons through two rounds in 2006, a year ahead of the company going
public. The PE firm held an 8.3% stake.
In December, VC Circle reported that Ascent Capital part-exited from its
investment by selling 2.8% stake at a 58% loss. It sold the balance stake in
the market late December.
Repeated emails, text messages and calls to Koutons chairman D.P.S. Kohli
and the companys external public relations firm did not elicit any response.
Trouble for Koutons started with inventory misestimates, which had debts,
taken to buy the merchandise, shooting up, said the second Ascent Capital
executive mentioned earlier.
More inventory was bought than could be sold over the years. The leftover
was then sold for much lesser prices and debts kept piling up, he said. The

latest we know is that some funds are in talks with them (Koutons) for taking
over.
In August, three directors exited Koutons, including Rajiv Grover, an
independent director, Anil Khatod, who represented the $2 billion (`9,360
crore) fund Argonaut Private Equity, and Ajay Mittal, an appointee of Ascent
Capital.
Koutons, established in 1991, sells clothing for men, women and children
through more than 1,300 company-owned and franchisee outlets across
India.
It moved up the value chain from a garment manufacturer to a retailer by
opening its own stores in 2002.
It went public in 2007, listing at `510. The companys stock has been falling
over the past year and ended Thursday at `42.50 on the Bombay Stock
Exchange. Its 52-week low on the exchange is `39.35.
Other investors in Koutons include Argonaut, Fid Funds (Mauritius) Ltd, ING
Vysya Life Insurance Co. Ltd and Lloyd George Investment Management
(Bermuda) Ltd.
ING said in an email reply that as a policy, it does not comment on individual
investments. The other firms did not reply to emails sent on Wednesday
enquiring about their investments in Koutons.
Koutons is the latest in the line of modern Indian retailers, including discount
store operators such as Subhiksha Trading Services Ltd, Vishal Retail Ltd and
the India franchisee of US-based My Dollar Store Inc., to be facing cash
problems.
Defunct Subhiksha is facing several winding-up petitions in the Madras high
court after a financial crunch stalled operations of the once aggressive
supermarket chain.
In September, debt-ridden Vishal Retail sold its retail trading business to
Shriram Group and its wholesale division to PE investor TPG Capital for a
combined value of `100 crore.
Fabric vendors Berry Cotts Pvt. Ltd and RC Velvet have filed winding-up
petitions against Koutons in the Delhi high court.
Still, analysts arent brushing off the retail sector.
Deals go wrong in all sectors. There is a flip side to investment business. In
every space, be it auto components or IT (information technology), there
have been deals that have done exceedingly well, while some have gone
nowhere. We cant broad-brush a sector on the basis of one or two deals,
said Avinash Gupta, leader-financial advisory, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India
Pvt. Ltd.
Some PE-backed retailers are doing well and the sector is still attractive,
given overall macroeconomic considerations, said Gupta.

Experts say some retail firms expanded too aggressively and built capacities
for fast growth but at high rentals and at the expense of profitability.
One needs to be conservative in this business. It is not about the number of
stores or revenues from new stores, its about sales from the same stores,
said Vikram Utamsingh, executive director, KPMG India Pvt. Ltd, a consulting
firm. If the same stores have consistent sales, you can be sure that your
product category is in demand.
It is key to have a good management team that can control costs, leverages
carefully and ensures that operational processes are robust, said Amit Jain,
partner, BMR Advisors.
To be successful, one needs to ensure that the outlet selection is
appropriate, pricing policy is strong, inventory is rotated fast and the supply
chain is good, he said.
Control over the processes needs to be very strong. There has to be a
separate profit-loss management for each store.

KOUTONS RETAIL CREDITORS FILE WINDING UP PETITIONS

IN H.C.
New Delhi: Debt-laden clothes seller Koutons Retail India Ltd is facing at least
four lawsuits, of which two are winding-up petitions filed in the Delhi high
court by its suppliers to recover dues.
Last week, Berry Cots Pvt. Ltd, a New Delhi-based vendor of fabrics, filed a
winding-up
petition
against
the
troubled retailer. Troubled times: A
Koutons store in New Delhi. Ankit
Agrawal/Mint
Another
winding-up
petition was earlier filed by RC
Velvet, a supplier of corduroy fabric
based in Gurgaon near New Delhi.
Fortunex Ltd, headquartered in Hong
Kong
with
facilities
in
Dhaka,
Bangladesh, has also moved court to
recover dues.
A person familiar with the Berry Cots lawsuit said the firm was trying to
recover more than Rs10 crore for supplies to the retailer.

A Berry employee said his firm stopped all supplies to Koutons three months
ago. Both executives asked not to be named since the matter is in the court.
Mukesh Berry, executive director of Berry Cots, declined comment.
A person with direct knowledge of the issues between Koutons and RC Velvet
confirmed filing a winding-up petition but declined to give details on the
companys out standings against Koutons.
He, too, requested anonymity.In an earlier email, Ajay Mahajan, chief
financial officer at Koutons, said his firm had never conducted any business
with Fortunex in the past year.
However, in a recent email he said Koutons once procured supplies from
Fortunex and had already made a payment of Rs34.3 lakh. We have not
received any of the containers for which we have already made the
payment, he said.
Meanwhile, Pankaj Kumar, head of finance at Fortunex, said its the only
payment the company has made even as it is still to recover remaining dues.
The consignment for which Koutons has paid is lying in Delhi where the
company has not taken its delivery.
Navneet Bhagat, managing director of Fortunex, which also supplies to WalMart Stores Inc. and JC Penny Co. Inc., said it is trying to recover dues worth
$1.2 million (Rs5.30 crore) for supplies made over 2008 and 2009.
In two separate emails, Mahajan said Koutons had reached agreements with
Berry Cotts and RC Velvet and that the companies would not take legal
action against them.
Mahajan also said his company has not received any legal notice regarding
any lawsuit from Fortunex.
Anil Jain, managing director of RC Velvet, however, said the suit was still in
the Delhi high court even though negotiations with Koutons were ongoing.
A lawyer involved in one of the filings against Koutons said his firm is
currently in the process of filing at least four more recovery cases against
Koutons in the coming weeks from various other vendors. He requested that
neither he nor his client be named.
Koutons is the latest in the line of modern Indian retailers, including discount
store operators such as Subhiksha Trading Services Ltd, Vishal Retail Ltd and
the India franchisee of US-based My Dollar Store Inc., that are facing cash
problems.
Defunct Subhiksha is facing several winding-up petitions in the Madras high
court after a financial crunch stalled operations of the once aggressive
supermarket chain.

Vishal Retail is facing winding-up cases from lenders, including Singapores

DBS Bank Ltd, London-based Barclays Bank Plc and Germanys Deutsche
Bank AG. Vishal is currently in the final stages of selling its assets to a
combine of US-based private equity TPG Capital Lp and Chennai-based
Shriram Group.
Koutons, which operates about 1,300 company-owned and franchisee
apparel stores across India, went public in 2007 and its investors voted with
their wallets, pushing its share up 42% on debut to Rs590. But lately the
companys stock has fallen.
The scrip closed at Rs108.60, up by 1.54%, on the Bombay Stock Exchange,
after touching a record low of Rs103, while the benchmark Sensex lost 1.07%
to 20,005.37 points on Wednesday.
Koutons came under the spotlight after three of its directors quit the
company in the past three months.
A late September downgrade to risk-prone credit status by rating agency
ICRA Ltd added to Koutons woes as its stock crashed 20% in a single day to
close at Rs172.

KOUTONS RETAIL TO OPEN 200 STORES BY FY11

Mumbai: Retailer Koutons Retail India plans to open 200 stores in FY11 in
addition to its existing 1,400, a senior official said on Tuesday.
Of the 200 stores, 100 would be family concept stores, which would include
women and childrens wear, Akash Deep Sandhu, general manager of sales
and marketing, said on the sidelines of the Asia Retail Congress Summit.
We are moving from the mens model to the family concept model as it
creates a bigger shopping basket, he said, adding the family concept model
was still in the initial stages.
Koutons has 150 family store outlets across India at present.
Sandhu said the expansion would not require any significant investment from
the companys side as it would be done primarily through the franchise
route.
We have had major successes through the franchise route in the past, we
do not want to disturb that, he said.

The firm will also consider opening stores in the Middle East and South East
Asia in the next fiscal, he said. He did not provide details.
He also said that banks were still tight in lending to the retail sector, adding
the firm has not yet set a capex for the next fiscal.
Banks are currently tight on lending. They need to be more liberal and
understand our potential so as to give a push to the retail sector, he said.
Sandhu said that it would take 6 months to a year for Indias retail sector to
recover fully from the economic slowdown.
People are still wary and they will start evaluating their buying patterns
after 6 months to 1 year. We see retail standing up (then) currently it is
reclining, he said
At 1:05 p.m., shares in Koutons were up 2.55% at Rs382.75 in the Mumbai
market that was up 0.85%.

KOUTONS AIMS TO DOUBLE SALES THIS YEAR TARGET IS

RS.1,300 CRORE
Apparel chain Koutons Retail Ltd is aiming at a turnover of Rs1,300 crore this
fiscal on the back of a major expansion that would see it take the total
number of the companys stores to 1,800.
The company also plans to take the number of Koutons Family Stores to
100 and enter West Asian market.
From last years turnover of Rs794 crore, we are aiming to almost double
the figure this year and reach a turnover of Rs1,300 crore, Koutons Retail
chairman D.P.S. Kohli said. The company had opened its 1,300th store in New
Delhi this weekend and would be adding 500 more by the end of the year
across India, he added.
At present, the company has 55 Family Stores, which cater to mens,
womens and kids wear. The Family Stores are spread over an average of
7,000sq. ft and have a floor each dedicated to the three segments. Another
45 Family Stores would be added by the end of the year at an investment of
Rs75 crore, Kohli said. The Family Stores would be, for the time being,
restricted only to the metros and big cities and we have identified 38 places
for such stores.

Koutons Retail India Limited (532901) - Financial and

Strategic Review
Koutons Retail India Limited (Koutons) is a designer, manufacturer and
retailer of apparel. The company sells wide range of apparels for men,
women and children, including shirts, T-shirts pull over sweat shirts, cargos,
caprices denim and non-denim trousers and footwear. The company offers its
products under Koutons, Charlie Outlaw, Koutons Junior, K2ONE and Les
Femme brands. The company operates through a network of 1,430 company
owned and franchised stores across India. The company is headquartered in
Gurgaon,
India.
Koutons
Feb
Jan

09,
28,

Retail
2010:
2010:

India

Limited

Koutons
Koutons

Key

Recent

to
expand
its
reports
increase

Developments

business
in
in
its
net

India
profit

This comprehensive SWOT profile of Koutons Retail India Limited provides

you an in-depth strategic analysis of the company's businesses and
operations. The profile has been compiled to bring to you a clear and an
unbiased view of the company's key strengths and weaknesses and the
potential opportunities and threats. The profile helps you formulate
strategies that augment your business by enabling you to understand your
partners, customers and competitors

RESEARCH AND METHODOLOGY

Methodology can be defined as a systemic way of approaching a problem to

identify the truth and for this certain step should be taken in a systematic
order and these steps are called methods.
Research methodology is a process of planning, acquiring, analyzing and
disseminating relevant data and information.

The use of right methodology is necessary because if the right methods are
not adopted and thoughts are not arrange in a logical order the exact truth
might not be expressed. Thus the methodology means correct arrangement
of thoughts and knowledge.

WHY RESEARCH IS REQUIREDConceptually, the purpose of research is to discover the answers for the
questions through application of scientific procedures. The main aim of the
research is to find out the truth which is hidden and which has not been
discovered yet.
Through each research study has its own specific purpose, but
generally researchers are done:
To gain familiarities with a phenomenon or to achieve new insights into
it.
To determine the frequency with which something occurs or with which
associated with something else.
To test the hypothesis of casual relationship between variables.

Research is a careful and systematic effort of gaining new knowledge.

Research is an original contribution to the existing stock of knowledge

making for its advancement, it is pursuit of true with the help of study,
observation, comparison and experiment.
In short the search of knowledge through objectives and systematic method
of finding solution to problem is research.
RESEARCH DESIGN :
The research design is the plan, structure and strategy of investigation
conceived so as to obtain answer to research questions and to control
variance.
The definition of three important terms plan, structure and strategy. The
plan is an outline of the research scheme on which the researcher is to work.
The structure of the research is a more specific outline or the scheme and
the strategy shows how the Research will be carried out, specifying the
methods to be used in collection and analysis of data.
Research design is the specification of methods and the procedure fro
acquiring the information needed. It is the operational pattern or framework
of the projects that stipulate what information is to be collected from which
sources by the procedures. The importance of research design lies in the fact
that it makes a statement of what is to be done in order to achieve the
research objectives and how it is to be done. It is an expression of what of
the research exercise in terms of results and the analytical input needed to
convert data into research findings.

A design may be quite suitable in one case but could not fit in some other
research problem. One design cannot serve the purpose of all types of
research problems. Also most of the research problems are complex in
nature and cannot be solved by a specific research design. Hence a
combination of research design is used to reach a solution.
The research design when chosen correctly prevents deviation in the study.
The present study is the cross sectional descriptive type with fields study and
partly casual in nature as it seeks to find out consumer behavior with respect
to mobile and correlate them with income, age, education, professions etc.
and formulate marketing strategies based on the study.

SAMPLING AND SAMPLE DESIGN :

It is not possible to examine every item in the population hence interferences
is drawn about a large numbers of items possessing a particular attribute
based on based analysis of fraction of such items. It is called a sample.

DATA COLLECTION
Primary data

Primary Data are those collected a fresh and for first time and thus
happen to be original in character important primary data are:

Observation Method

Interview Method

structured Questionnaire

Sample Design :

Target Population : Customers

Sample Size :

50

Sampling Technique : Population method

Sample Area : Bareilly city

Secondary data
The data collection of koutons Is from the newspaper, magazine, internet,
advertisement the statistical tool are MS EXCEL, MS WORD From which I able
to complete my project of koutons.

QUESTIONNAIRE

NAME:
AGE:
GENDER:
PROFESSION:
MOBILE NO.:

1. SINCE HOW LONG YOU ARE PURCHASING KOUTONS PRODUCT.

(A) LESS THAN 1 MONTH
(C) 6-12 MONTH

(B) 2-6 MONTH

(D) MORE THAN 1 YEAR

2. FROM WHICH SOURCE DID YOU CAME TO KNOW ABOUT KOUTONS.

(A) ADVERTISEMENT

(B) HORDINGS

(C) NEWSPAPER

(D) MOUTH PUBLICITY

3. ARE YOU SATISFIED WITH THE QWALITY OF KOUTONS APPRAISAL?

(A) YES

(B) NO

(C) CANT SAY

4. RATE THE DISCOUNT SCHEMES OF KOUTONS?
[A] 1

[B] 2

[D] 4

[E] 5

[C] 3

5. IS PRESENCE OF KOUTONS SHOWROOM IS WITH IN YOUR EACH?

[A] YES

[B] NO

6. ARE YOU SATISFIED WITH THE VARITY OF PRODUCT?

(A) HIGHLY SATISFIED

(B) SATISFIED

(C) DISSATISFIED

(D) HIGHLY DISSATISFIED

7. ARE YOU SATISFIED WITH PROMOTIONAL TOOL TECHNIQUE?

(A) LUCKY COUPAN

(B) FREE GIFT

(C) DISCOUNT

(D) BUY ONE GET ONE

8. DO YOU CONSIDER PRICE OF KOUTONS ECONOMICAL?

[A] YES

[B] NO

[C] CANT SAY

9. ACCORDING TO YOU WHAT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT FEATURES OF YOUR
BRAND.
(A) COMFORT

(B) PRICE

(C) DURABILITY

(D) ANY OTHER

10. ARE YOU SATISFIED WITH THE SERVICE OF KOUTONS?

[A] YES

[B] NO