CHAPTER-II

CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
Meaning of customer
An individual or business that purchases the goods or services produced by a
business. The customer is the end goal of businesses, since it is the customer who
pays for supply and creates demand. Businesses will often compete through
advertisements or sales in order to attract a larger customer base
Businesses often follow the adage that "the customer is always right" because happy
customers will continue to buy goods and services. Companies closely-monitor the
relationships that they have with their customers, eliciting feedback to see if new
products should be created or adjustments be made to what is currently offered
A customer may or may not also be a consumer, but the two notions are distinct, even
though the terms are commonly confused. A customer purchases goods; a
consumer uses them. An ultimate customer may be a consumer as well, but just as
equally may have purchased items for someone else to consume. An intermediate
customer is not a consumer at all. The situation is somewhat complicated in that
ultimate customers of so-called industrial goods and services (who are entities such as
government bodies, manufacturers, and educational and medical institutions) either
themselves use up the goods and services that they buy, or incorporate them into other
finished products, and so are technically consumers, too. However, they are rarely
called that, but are rather called industrial customers or business-to-business
customers. Six Sigma doctrine places (active) customers in opposition to two other
classes of people: not-customers and non-customers. Whilst customers have actively
dealt with a business within a particular recent period that depends on the product
sold, not-customers are either past customers who are no longer customers or
potential customers who choose to do business with the competition, and noncustomers are people who are active in a different market segment entirely. Geoff
Tennant, a Six Sigma consultant from the United Kingdom, uses the following
analogy to explain the difference: A supermarket's customer is the person buying milk
at that supermarket; a not-customer is buying milk from a competing supermarket,

whereas a non-customer doesn't buy milk from supermarkets at all but rather "has
milk delivered to the door in the traditional British way".

Types of Customers
Customers play the most significant part in business. In fact the customer is the actual
boss in a deal and is responsible for the actually profit for the organization. Customer
is the one who uses the products and services and judges the quality of those products
and services. Hence its important for an organization to retain customers or make
new customers and flourish business. To manage customers, organizations should
follow some sort of approaches like segmentation or division of customers into groups
because each customer has to be considered valuable and profitable.
Customers can be of following types:
1. Loyal Customers- These types of customers are less in numbers but promote more
sales and profit as compared to other customers as these are the ones which are
completely satisfied. These customers revisit the organization over times hence it is
crucial to interact and keep in touch with them on a regular basis and invest much
time and effort with them. Loyal customers want individual attention and that
demands polite and respectful responses from supplier.
2. Discount Customers- Discount customers are also frequent visitors but they are
only a part of business when offered with discounts on regular products and brands or
they buy only low cost products. More is the discount the more they tend towards
buying. These customers are mostly related to small industries or the industries that
focus on low or marginal investments on products. Focus on these types of customers
is also important as they also promote distinguished part of profit into business.
3. Impulsive Customers- These customers are difficult to convince as they want to
do the business in urge or caprice. They dont have any specific item into their
product list but urge to buy what they find good and productive at that point of time.
Handling these customers is a challenge as they are not particularly looking for a
product and want the supplier to display all the useful products they have in their tally
in front of them so that they can buy what they like from that display. If impulsive

customers are treated accordingly then there is high probability that these customers
could be a responsible for high percentage of selling.
4. Need Based Customers- These customers are product specific and only tend to
buy items only to which they are habitual or have a specific need for them. These are
frequent customers but do not become a part of buying most of the times so it is
difficult to satisfy them. These customers should be handled positively by showing
them ways and reasons to switch to other similar products and brands and initiating
them to buy these. These customers could possibly be lost if not tackled efficiently
with positive interaction.
5. Wandering Customers- These are the least profitable customers as sometimes
they themselves are not sure what to buy. These customers are normally new in
industry and most of the times visit suppliers only for confirming their needs on
products. They investigate features of most prominent products in the market but do
not buy any of those or show least interest in buying. To grab such customers they
should be properly informed about the various positive features of the products so that
they develop a sense of interest.An organization should always focus on loyal
customers and should expand or multiply the product range to leverage impulsive
]

Meaning of Customer Preference

The underlying foundation of demand, therefore, is a model of how consumers
behave. The individual consumer has a set of preferences and values whose
determination are outside the realm of economics. They are no doubt dependent upon
culture, education, and individual tastes, among a plethora of other factors. The
measure of these values in this model for a particular good is in terms of the real
opportunity cost to the consumer who purchases and consumes the good. If an
individual purchases a particular good, then the opportunity cost of that purchase is
the forgone goods the consumer could have bought instead. We develop a model in
which we map or graphically derive consumer preferences. These are measured in
terms of the level of satisfaction the consumer obtains from consuming various
combinations or bundles of goods. The consumers objective is to choose the bundle
of goods which provides the greatest level of satisfaction as they the consumer define

it. But consumers are very much constrained in their choices. These constraints are
defined by the consumers income, and the prices the consumer pays for the goods.
We will formally present the model of consumer choice. As we go along, we will
establish a vocabulary in order to explain the model. Development of the model will
be in three stages. After a formal statement of the consumers objectives, we will map
the consumers preferences. Secondly, we present the consumers budget constraint;
and lastly, combine the two in order to examine the consumers choices of goods

Business Techniques of Customer Preference

One of the key customer satisfaction techniques is the need to provide front
line employees with the ability to respond to customer situations quickly

without the need to ask for permission.

Innovation drives customers' satisfaction. As customers' needs keep changing,
an innovation-driven company is capacitated to exceed customers'

expectations.
To provide after sale services.
Listen actively and carefully.
Anticipate that the customer will be asking questions. They may be easy, they
be hard. But encourage them anyway. If you cannot provide an answer,

promise to find out the answer from someone who can.

Be patient, look from the customer's point of view and work from there. This
point of view will always give you the best outlook on the situation.

Always

keep a smile on your face when dealing with customers which can

lead to customer satisfaction. This positive attitude can rub off and turn a
potentially negative situation into a positive experience.

Three Cs of Customer Preference at Big Bazaar

Customer-journey consistency
Its well understood that companies must continually work to provide customers with
superior service, with each area of the business having clear policies, rules, and
supporting mechanisms to ensure consistency during each interaction. However, few
companies can deliver consistently across customer journeys, even in meeting basic
needs.

Simple math illustrates why this is so important in a world of increasingly

multichannel, multitouch customer journeys. Assume a customer interacts six times
with a pay-TV company, starting when he or she undertakes online research into
providers and ending when the first bill is received 30 days after service is installed.
Assuming a 95 percent satisfaction rate for each individual interactionwhether
measuring responsiveness, the accuracy of information, or other factorseven this
level of performance means that up to one in four customers will have a poor
experience during the on-boarding journey.
The fact is that consistency on the most common customer journeys is an important
predictor of overall customer experience and loyalty. Banks, for example, saw an
exceptionally strong correlation between consistency on key customer journeys and
overall performance in customer experience. And when we sent an undercovershopping team to visit 50 bank branches and contact 50 bank call centers, the analysis
was confirmed: for lower-performing banks, the variability in experience was much
-higher among a typical banks branches than it was among different banks
themselves. Large banks typically faced the greatest challenge.
Emotional consistency
One of the most illuminating results of this survey was that positive customerexperience emotionsencompassed in a feeling of trustwere the biggest drivers of
satisfaction and loyalty in a majority of industries surveyed. We also found that
consistency is particularly important to forge a relationship of trust with customers:
for example, customers trusted banks that were in the top quartile of delivering
consistent customer journeys 30 percent more than banks in the bottom quartile.
What is also striking is how valuable the consistency-driven emotional connection is
for customer loyalty. For bank customers, a brand I feel close to and a brand that I
can trust were the top drivers for bank differentiation on customer experience. In a
world where research suggests that fewer than 30 percent of customers trust most
major financial brands, ensuring consistency on customer journeys to build trust is
important for long-term growth.

Communication consistency
A companys brand is driven by more than the combination of promises made and
promises kept. Whats also critical is ensuring customers recognize the delivery of
those promises, which requires proactively shaping communications and key
messages that consistently highlight delivery as well as themes. Southwest Airlines,
for example, has built customer trust over a long period by consistently delivering on
its promise as a no-frills, low-cost airline. Similarly, Progressive Insurance created an
impression among customers that it offered lower rates than its competitors in the
period from 1995 to 2005 and made sure to highlight when it delivered on that
promise. Progressive also shaped how customers interpreted cost-reduction actions
such as on-site resolution of auto claims by positioning and reinforcing these actions
as part of a consistent brand promise that it was a responsive, technology-savvy
company. In both cases, customer perceptions of the brands reinforced operational
realities. Such brands generate a reservoir of goodwill and remain resilient on the
basis of their consistency over time in fulfilling promises and their strong, ongoing
marketing communications to reinforce those experiences.

Factors which attracts customers towards Big Bazaar

Prices

This is obviously one of the more important aspects of the business world. While they
want to make a profit to stay a float in the business world, they also need to make sure
that they are still fairly competitive with other business of the same kind and maybe a
little lower with more product to offer which will offset the lower prices. Because of
the low prices the Big bazaar products attracts most of the customers.

Marketing

Big bazaar has a good marketing strategies & this is the main reason which attracts
the most of the customers .Poor marketing could not only be preventing you from
attracting customers it could be driving them away in droves. Lack of promotion

affects business in the wrong way could explain whythey not attracting enough
customers. If people dont know them exist, they wont buy from them. If their
promotional activity fails to convince them to at the very least find out more about
them,they will simply be wasting their time and money.
Quality
If a product fulfils the customers expectations, the customer will be pleased and
consider that the product is of acceptable or even high quality. If his or her
expectations are not fulfilled, the customer will consider that the product is of low
quality. This means that the quality of a product may be defined as its ability to fulfill
the customers needs and expectations.Big bazaar products is known for their best
quality of products in the market and this is the most the one advantage which attracts
the customers for buying their products.

Growing Preference of Big Bazaar

Indian retail sector is witnessing one of the most hectic Marketing activities of all
times. The companies are fighting to win the hearts of customer. There is always a
'first mover advantage' in an upcoming sector. This advantage goes to "BIG
BAZAAR" in India. It has brought about many changes in the buying behavior of
people as Big Bazaar provides all items in one roof at low rates.
The consumer's preferences are changing & they are moving from shops stores to
Modern Retail outlet. It's the main challenge to the Modern retail outlets to attract the
customers towards them from that of competitors. To attract more customers
companies have to carry out the promotional activities in unique way. BIG BAZAAR
has maintained that uniqueness & has succeeded in attracting customers.
The promotional activity of the company, which famous as less Price than others as it
says 'Nobody Sells Cheaper and Better!' is made its place in minds of customer. As
the competition is becoming stiff in the market the activities conducted by the
company are unique, that have brought fruitful result to the company. Among them
sales Promotions is one of the leading activity or unique among all other activities &
has high influence on the customer walk-in.

Retail Industry in India

India has one of the largest numbers of retail outlets in the world. Of the 12 million
retail outlets present in the country, nearly 5 million sell food and related products.
Thought the market has been dominated by unorganized players, the entry of domestic
and international organized players is set to change the scenario. Organized retail
segment has been growing at a blistering pace, exceeding all previous estimates.
According to a study by Deloitte Haskins and Sells, organized retail has increased its
share from 5 % of total retail sales in 2006 to 8 % in 2007. The fastest growing
segments have been the wholesale cash and carry

stores (150%) followed by

supermarkets (100%) and hypermarkets (75-80%). Further, it estimates the organized

segment to account for 25 per cent of the total sales by 2011. India retail industry is
the largest industry in India, with an employment of around 8% and contributing to
over 10% of the country's GDP. Retail industry in India is expected to rise 25% yearly
being driven by strong income growth, changing life styles, and favorable
demographic patterns. It is expected that by 2016 modern retail industry in India will
be worth US$ 175 - 200 billion. India retail industry is one of the fastest growing
industries with revenue expected in 2007 to amount US$320 billion and is increasing
at a rate of 5% yearly. A further increase of 7-8% is expected in the industry of
retail in India by growth in consumerism in urban areas, rising incomes, and a steep
rise in rural consumption. It has further been predicted that the retailing industry in
India will amount to US$21.5 billion by 2010 from the current size of US$ 7.5 billion.
Shopping in India has witnessed a revolution with the change in the consumer buying
behavior and the whole format of shopping also altering. Industry of retail in India
which has become modern can be seen from the fact that there are multi- stored malls,
huge shopping centers, and sprawling complexes which offer food, shopping, and
entertainment all under the same roof.
India retail industry is progressing well and for this to continue retailers as well
as the Indian government will have to make a combined effort.
Challenges faced by retail industry

The tax structure in India favors small business

Lack of adequate infrastructure facilities

High cost of real estate

Dissimilarity in consumer groups

Restrictions in Foreign Direct Investment

Shortage of retail study options

Shortage of trained manpower

Low retail management skill

The retail industry in India is currently growing at a great pace and is expected to go
up to US$ 833 billion by the year 2013. It is further expected to reach US$ 1.3 trillion
by the year 2018 at a CAGR of 10%. As the country has got a high growth rates, the
consumer spending has also gone up and is also expected to go up further in the
future. In the last four year, the consumer spending in India climbed up to 75%. As a
result, the India retail industry is expected to grow further in the future days. By the
year 2013, the organized sector is also expected to grow at a CAGR of 40%.
Big bazaar
Big bazaar is a name renowned in Retail. It is now a brand image in private retail
sector. Wal-Mart is the retail stores of USA and is known all over the world for its
fashionable and affordable materials and is known as one of the best in its field, big
bazaar can be said as the Wal-Mart of India running a chain of more than 100 retail
stores in India.People around the country thinks that big bazaar is inspired from WalMart and it is quite obvious to think as Wal-Mart is world leading chain of retail
shopping but actually the idea of big bazaar came to the CEO Kishore Biyani from a
25 years old store Saravana which was owned by a family and worked on the
philosophy of low margin high turnover.Following its slogan of isse sasta or achha
kahin nahi(Meaning cannot find cheaper and better than this anywhere) it provides
the consumer with the best of the materials at a rate less than rest of the market.

Big bazaar is the subsidiary of Future Group, Pantaloons Retail India ltd.The brain
behind big bazaar is the CEO of Future Group Mr. Kishore BiyaniFuture group is has
various brands like Pantaloons, F123, Copper Chimney, Etam, Staples, One Mobile,
Urbana, Brand Factory, Loot Mart, Home Town and Central. Big bazaar covers all
parts of India including the metro cities Kolkata, Delhi, Chennai, and Mumbai. Big
bazaar started with its first store in Kolkata, west Bengal in 2001 and now owns more
than 100 stores all over India making itself the fastest growing retail chain in India
and leaving all its competitors behind.

Marketing mix (4 p s of big bazaar)

The following describes the four P's of marketing:
Product
Products are the goods and services that your business provides for sale to your target
market. When developing a product you should consider quality, design, features,
packaging, customer service and any subsequent after-sales service.
Place
Place is in regards to distribution, location and methods of getting the product to the
customer. This includes the location of your business, shop front, distributors,
logistics and the potential use of the internet to sell products directly to consumers.
Price
Price concerns the amount of money that customers must pay in order to purchase
your products. There are a number of considerations in relation to price including
price setting, discounting, credit and cash purchases as well as credit collection.
Promotion
Promotion refers to the act of communicating the benefits and value of your product
to consumers. It then involves persuading general consumers to become customers of
your business using methods such as advertising, direct marketing, personal selling
and sales promotion.

Marketing strategies of Big Bazaar

Some of the key marketing strategies and promotional activities that are successfully
employed by Big Bazaar are:-

Discount Selling
Big Bazaar sells all its products at a much cheaper price as compared to the local
markets. The range of discounts ranges from 5 to 60%. Although the store sells the
products at a cheaper rates it does not compromises with the qualities of the products.
Huge No. of Brands
Big Bazaar maintains a huge number of brands under its dispose which give the
customers the liberty of buying the product of their favorite brand. This helps the
customers as they dont go looking out for a product of a particular brand.
Large Product Line
Big Bazaar also stocks a large product line of a single brand or multiple brands which
give the customers the choice to select the most appropriate product out of many
available at the most economical prices.

Complaint Handling Procedure of Big Bazaar

Screening and Logging
The type of product or service; manufacturer/brand name; model name/number; date
of purchase/contract; warranty expiration date; salesperson; cost of product/service;
date problem occurred; and a description of the problem is listed. This allows
organization to exercise control, and assure proper follow-through.
Investigating
Customer's explanation of a problem provides much information. Nevertheless, to
assure they have all the information needed for a thorough review of the facts
involved by:
Researching in-house records on the customer;
Requesting receipts, or other records;

 Inspecting the product, or service performed; and

Following-up with the customer for any necessary additional information.
Acknowledging
When Big Bazaar cannot resolve an issue immediately, it is important to let customer
know that the matter is receiving attention. Customer is given information about how
long it will take to complete action on the complaint. If there is further delay, its
made sure to advise customer why and when Big Bazaar expects to have an answer.
Formulating A Solution
Solution is made to be consistent with established customer relations policy and
important criteria are taken into account:
Contractual and/or warranty obligations;
The customer's expectations;
expectations of the customer;
The cost/benefit of alternative solutions;
The probability and cost of customer seeking redress in some other way;
The comprehensiveness and fairness of solution;

CHAPTER-IV
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION
From all the available results this can be concluded that people have huge
expectations from the company. They not only want all the things they are getting
from other companies but in addition they also want some other benefits which in turn
can give them security of being a part of Big Bazaar as a customer in long run.
Big Bazaar has many brands in Food Bazaar such as Big bazaar, HUL, Cadbury,
Amul, Tata, Parle, Bikaji, Marico, Adanis Suffola, etc. but after that they do not have
the large product range of these brands that is why they are losing their customers.
Since many customers have different brand preferences.In Food Bazaar they have big
brands as mentioned above but many times they do not achieve the target due to the
arrangements of merchandise is not good and employees interaction with customers
are very less.
However, Food Bazaar contributes almost 50% of daily sale of the store. But
sometimes in normal days, Food Bazaar does not achieve the target. In fact, during
festival offers and Big Days, Food Bazaar has the major contribution in attracting
customers and increasing the store sale. So we can say that customers want huge
offers and discounts. If Big Bazaar gives huge discount and offers, it will definitely
increase its sales.
All the customers know about the Big Bazaar that is:
Isse Sasta Aur Achha Kahin Nahi!
Although Big Bazaar provides many services yet there are many areas where
customers demand for more than what they should get and which is beyond company
policy like, free servicing, additional free gifts and extra term benefits.

It seems that the most of the people is satisfied with big bazaar products
quality.

This project reaveals that the people also buy this products because the Big

bazaar products are easy available and it is cheaper in prices.

This project reaveals that the people are like most the kitchen and clothing

items than other.

Some people is satisfied with their services also.
Most of the people like the Big bazaar products because of their variety in
items.

Limitations

One of the reasons is the lack of time to cover all the aspects regarding the

study.
As secondary data is used in this project so there may be less accuracy.
Te topic is very vast but study is limited to only up to Delhi.
As the data is from primary source, so it could be bias because of personal
likings and disliking of respondents.

Suggestion
The following suggestions could be made for the better performance of Big Bazaar:

Review of everyday discounts/offers at signage whether they are updated

properly or not.

Signages should be displayed properly on the floor and near the entrance gate.

More security gadgets and checks should be there to control thefts and
employees working.

Availability of products in each size should be at the floor.

At least 6 to 8 cash counter should remain open everyday to avoid crowd at

cash counter.

Increase the number of supporting staff (team members) on the floor of Food
Bazaar to pay proper attention to the customers.

Increase the brand and products range in the Food Bazaar to increase the sale.

Interaction should be there between employees and customers.

Sitting arrangement and drinking water facilities on the floor for customers
should be maintained regularly.

The arrangement of merchandise should be proper on the floor.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

 Books
1. Kotler , Philip Marketing Management, Pearson education , New Delhi , 13 th
edition, 2014
2. Hill , Nigel Customer Satisfaction ,Cogent Publishing , New Delhi , 12 th
edition ,2012
3. Cochran , Craig Customer Satisfaction, Scott. M. Patton, United States, 9 th
edition ,2003
4. Gupta ,S.L Marketing Research ,Excel Books , New Delhi , 2nd edition , 2006
5. Beri ,G.C Marketing Research , Mcgraw Hill , New Delhi , 4th edition, 2000

Websites
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/bigbazaar( Last accessed on 14th jan 2015)
2. http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/bigbazzar( Last accessed on

10th

feb2015)
3. http://www.satisfactionsecrets.com/tag/bigbazza( Last accessed on 25th
march2015)
4. http://www.mckinsey.com/insights/consumer_and_retail/the_three_cs_of_cus
tomer_satisfaction( Last accessed on 28th march 2015)
5. http://blog.clientheartbeat.com/why-customer-satisfaction-is-important/( Last
accessed on 10th march 2015)