ANALYSIS OF SSLS CUSTOMERS AND PARTNERS LEVEL OF SATISFACTION

IN

PGDM (2010-2012) Entrepreneurship and Management Processes International Business School, New Delhi

Submitted by: Mansi Agarwal

Industry guide:
Mr. Rahul Bansal

Academic Guide:
Ms. Arvind Kaur

CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that the project entitled Analysis of SSLs Customers and Partners level of satisfaction, done by Mansi Agarwal; Roll no. 132, is an authentic work carried out by him at EMPI Business School under my guidance. The matter embodied in this project work has not been submitted earlier for the award of any degree or diploma to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Date:

Ms. Arvind Kaur Academic Guide

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I take this opportunity to thank all the people who helped me with valuable inputs, guidance and suggestions during my tenure of dissertation, without which this report would not have taken its final shape. This acknowledgement would be incomplete without thanking my HOD, Dr. Sushama Khanna, my academic guide Ms. Arvind Kaur and industry guide Mr. Rahul Bansal, whose timely guidance and support at needed time made the undertaking of this project an enriching learning experience.

Mansi Agarwal Roll No.-132

TABLE OF CONTENTS S.N O.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

TOPIC
COMPANY PROFILE ABOUT SSL INTRODUCTION OF STUDY OBJECTIVE, SIGNIFICANCE & SCOPE OF THE PROJECT EXECUTIVE SUMMARY RESEARCH METHODOLOGY FINDINGS & ANALYSIS CONCLUSION & RECOMMENDATIONS BIBLIOGRAPHY

PAGE NO. 6-15 16-19 20-21 22 23-24 25-29 30-42 43 44

COMPANY PROFILE

IMRB International (formerly known as 'Indian Market Research Bureau' or 'IMRB') is a marketing research company in South Asia.

It was established in 1971.

IMRB is a part of the Kantar Group, the research & consulting division of WPP.

It is associated with a group of international market companies such as the 'British Market Research Bureau (BMRB)' and 'Millward Brown International'.

IMRB International operates through own offices, joint ventures and associates in over 29 cities across 10 countries - Singapore, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, India, Pakistan, Dubai, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Iran.

IMRB International one of the premier sources for market research and consultancy services for specific countries or on a multi-country basis throughout South Asia, the Middle East and North Africa.

IMRB International's specialised areas are :

consumer markets, industrial marketing, business to business marketing, social marketing and rural marketing.

INDIA

IMRB International has five full service offices IMRB has fifteen field offices.

IMRB research supports 40 of the top 50 brands in the country.

IMRB International has eight specialist units:

Probe Qualitative Research (PQR) Social and Rural Research Institute (SRI) Media & Panel Group CSMM : Partners in Managing Stakeholder Relationships BIRD : Research-based Consultancy for B2B and Technology Markets
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eTechnology Group@IMRB IMRB MindTech Systems: Software development house Abacus Research: Data Processing House.

Probe Qualitative Research (PQR)

Probe Qualitative Research is one of India's leading qualitative research groups. It has executives specially trained in India and overseas in qualitative research methods. Drawing on learning from ethnography, psychology and anthropology, PQR has created an array of validated tool-kits for product innovation, communication and brand development.

Media and Panel Group

IMRB International is a pioneer in the field of media research in India. The Group also runs one of the worlds largest household panels. With over 70,000 households in urban and rural India, chronicling changing consumption habits across the country.

CSMM: Partners in Managing Stakeholder Relationship

Is an independent, specialist unit of IMRB International It is the exclusive member of the Walker Global Network (WGN) for the Indian subcontinent. As a specialist unit of IMRB International, CSMM provides the widest field coverage with five full service offices and 15 field offices in Delhi, Calcutta, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Cochin, Pune, Patna, Ahmedabad, Guwahati, Bhubaneswar, Lucknow, Indore & Ludhiana.
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CSMM services clients in India and neighboring countries (Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Nepal) This diverse network has made CSMM the leading provider of stakeholder products and services in South Asia. In addition through its associates, AMRB, headquarters in Dubai and operating through out the Middle East and North Africa, provides Walker proprietor Tools throughout region.

BIRD: Research-based Consultancy for B2B and Technology markets

It is a Research based consultancy arm B2B and technology markets. Operating out of four locations in India, viz., Mumbai, New Delhi, Bangalore & Chennai. BIRD has been advising clients from India and across the globe the since last thirty five years.

eTech Group @ IMRB

As technology evolves and creates new opportunities, barriers to progress continue to arise. Some problems are technical, economic or policy-related, while the hardest combine all three aspects in any country. It is the continuous link with the industry and constant monitoring that has given us capabilities of understanding the movement of technologies markets. The eTech Group @ IMRB constantly monitors technology trends in IT, Internet, Telecom and Convergence Space helping Indian and International companies alike. It also has a partnership with Yankee Group USA to representing the Indian market.

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Social and Rural Research Institute (SRI)

It specializes in social research. It conducts research on emerging rural markets. It has staff with special expertise in conducting Knowledge, Attitudes & Practice (KAP), o Studies on health and sanitation, o water, o environment and other fields, in India as well as internationally.

IMRB MindTech Systems - Software development House

A client servicing oriented specialized software unit of Media & Panel. Mumbai facilitating solutions to critical business questions. Mind Tech Systems has been providing business solutions since 2000 and has thus acquired an extensive expertise in Market Research applications. Having based ourselves on the features demanded by large number of companies, we have created innovative, user-friendly applications. Our solutions help clients to convert marketing research knowledge in to actions.

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Abacus Market Analytics: Data Processing House

It was established in 2001. Abacus Market Analytics unit offers a wide range of services to all the research units in IMRB. These include data processing, o charting, o statistical analysis, o database management & updation, o software development & testing. Abacus Data Processing (DP), a part of Abacus Market analytics. It offers similar service to international clients. Data processings Clients include o Millword Brown across Asia Pacific, Africa and Australasia, o Kantar Operations in UK, o BMRB International in UK, o AMRB in the Middle East and N Africa, o RI in Asia Pacific & o the Brand Survey Company in S Africa. In the days ahead, the key business development areas identified include: Advanced analytics Advanced statistical services Modeling and trend analyses Database creation and management Data mining Scripting Data interpretation and reporting.

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Sectors where IMRB researches

Agriculture and Agro-products Alcohol Automotive Building and Construction Consumer Durable IT, Internet and Telecom Industry and Business Financial Services B2B and Industrial Research Brand Research Customer Satisfaction Research Corporate and Employee Research Channel and Retail Research Product and Packaging Research Pricing Research Strategic Market Research

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Abacus field

Abacus Field handles the field operations for all the business division

in IMRB.

Abacus Field has a network of 15 regional offices spread across the country that gives IMRB the capability to run pan India research projects smoothly & effectively.

An example of the magnitude of Abacus Field operations can be gauged from the following:

On any given day 5000 freelancer interviewers are in the Field all over India. Working on over 8000 projects annually Conducting over 4 million interviews annually Additionally, a 262 seated Tele Calling Centre conducts over 100,000 interviews per month . Abacus Field is consistently striving to exceed client expectations, through high quality work, promotes integrity, innovativeness and building a culture which professional and personal growth opportunities.

Future Plans
In the days ahead, the key business development areas identified include: Advances analytics
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 Data mining

Scripting Data interpretation and Reporting

Advanced statistical services

Modeling and trend analysis

Database creation and management In the days to come, IMRB is going to work in many areas. Some of which are: 1. HOMEMAKER BIOSCOPE A Decision Support System for Comprehensive understanding of Home-Makers: It will tell us if;

Women of today has very high self confidence - 60% of women in Urban India strongly agrees they are responsible for everything that happens in their life Every third urban women is open to send their girl child to another town for higher education Every third urban women believes their children would be better off being educated than being rich 34% of urban women believes in insurance policies for their children 31% of urban women strongly believes in vegan food for their family

2. TGI INDIA A single source Marketing & Communication Tool: IMRB International is launching Target Group Index (TGI) in India, an international product from Kantar Media Research (KMR) - WPP's specialist

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global research agency offering media research services. KMR offers TGI in 36 countries and is widely used by Advertising agencies, Media owners and Advertisers around the world. TGI is the largest single source database offered in India till date, combining products, brands, media, demographics and lifestyles. TGI INDIA covers more than: 200 categories 3000 brands 15 radio stations 125 television channels 250 press titles 100 lifestyle statements Truly, its market analysis possibilities are limitless!

3. NATIONAL FOOD SURVEY: The National Food Survey is a comprehensive study on food habits and consumption across urban India. Over the past two decades NFS has completed 6 rounds with the last one, NFS VI: The Convenience Foods Handbook 2 conducted in December 2010. NFS is one of the most comprehensive studies in terms of categories, and information coverage, providing marketers with baseline information on food purchase behaviour. The sixth edition of the National Food Survey focuses on Convenience Foods as a segment and the handbook is a mlange of 58 varied product categories ranging from well known ones like breakfast cereals and instant noodles to relatively nascent categories like Ready-to-eat and instant pasta. NFS SIX equips a food marketer with information on marketing variables like category penetration, frequency of purchase, trial and usage of brands and barriers to adoption of certain food categories. The study has also captured exhaustive information on media, demographic, and kitchen related variables.

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This handbook provides a marketer a panoptic view of the entire purchase basket, thus enabling him to understand where his category of interest lies in overall purchase pattern of the consumer. The Food Continuum from NFSVI traces the progression path of consumers along the six distinct bands created by differing levels of incidence of purchase of various food items. There are many more plans like STAR- Small Town and Rural study, 3G mobile Services in India etc.

ABOUT THE CLIENT- SHOPPERS STOP LTD.

Shoppers Stop is one of the leading retail stores in India. Shoppers Stop began by operating a chain of department stores under the name Shoppers Stop in India. Shoppers Stop has 35 stores across the country and three stores under the name HomeStop. Shoppers Stop retails a range of branded apparel and private label under the following categories of apparel, footwear, fashion jewellery, leather products, accessories and home products. These are complemented by cafe, food, entertainment, personal care and various beauty related services. Shoppers Stop launched its e-store with delivery across major cities in India in 2008. The website retails all the products available at Shoppers Stop stores, including apparel, cosmetics and accessories. Shoppers Stop opened stores in Amritsar, Bhopal and Aurangabad. Shoppers Stop retails products of domestic and international brands such as Louis Philippe, Pepe, Arrow, BIBA, Gini & Jony, Carbon, Corelle, Magppie [1], Nike, Reebok, LEGO, and Mattel. Shoppers Stop retails merchandise under its own labels, such as STOP, Kashish, LIFE and Vettorio Fratini, Elliza Donatein, Acropolis etc. The company also licensees for Austin Reed (London), an international brand, whos men's and women's outerwear are retailed in India exclusively through the chain. In October 2009, Shoppers Stop has bought the license for merchandising Zoozoo the brand mascot for Vodafone India.

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In April 2008, Shoppers Stop changed its logo and adopted the mantra "Start Something New mantra. And introduced international brands like CK Jeans, Tommy Hilfiger, FCUK, Mustang, Dior across the stores. The focus of the reposition was on the service, ambience upgradation and customer connect. Shoppers Stop connects with the youth audience through adopting the communication routes relevant to youth, up the fashion quotient through merchandising, and create ambience that connects with the mindset. The brand campaign addresses environment-related issues in a youthful, tonguein-cheek manner. Shoppers Stop as a brand active on social media marketing platforms with Facebook and Twitter to connect with this audience.

Loyalty program Shoppers Stops has a loyalty program called First Citizen. They also offer a co-branded credit card with Citibank for their members. Shoppers Stop's sister stores are Crossword Bookstores Crossword Bookstores is the largest chain of bookstores in India with 52 branches. Shoppers Stop acquired 100 per cent stake in bookstore chain Crossword Crossword is positioned as a lifestyle bookstore with their spacious, well laid out stores which encourages customers ease in browsing through the merchandise of books, music, stationary and toys. HomeStop HomeStop is premium home furnishings home concept store, which offers products in home decor, furniture and accessories, bath accessories, bedroom furnishings, mattresses, draperies, carpets, modular kitchens and health equipment.

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Brio Brio has 20 outlets in select cities. Caf Coffee Day (CCD), the retail division of Amalgamated Bean Coffee Trading (ABCTL), has signed an MoU with Shoppers Stop to run its BRIO outlets. Desi Cafe Desi Caf and their operations have been taken over by Caf Coffee Day (CCD), the retail division of Amalgamated Bean Coffee Trading (ABCTL), has signed an MoU with Shoppers Stop to run its Desi Caf outlets.

HyperCity HyperCity provides customers a wide variety of range of products for shopping in a large and modern retail environment. It offers a contemporary range of products, sourced from both local and international markets. The product range covers: Foods and Grocery, Homeware, Home Entertainment, Hi-Tech, Appliances, Furniture, Sports, Toys & Fashion. M.A.C. M.A.C. and Shoppers Stop Ltd. entered into a non exclusive retail agreement with cosmetics major Estee Lauder to open up M.A.C. Cosmetics stores in India. M.A.C. Makeup-Art Cosmetics - the professional brand of choice, is the first brand under the Estee lauder Group of Companies portfolio to enter the Indian retail market. Currently there are 9 M.A.C. stores operating Arcelia Arcelia is a new retail concept aiming at the growing accessories and cosmetics segment, with a strong emphasis on experience and indulgence and primarily caters to discerning women shoppers. It retails cosmetics,

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fragrances, fine jewelry, footwear, handbags.

MotherCare MotherCare and Shoppers Stop come together to introduce products for infant and toddler care which stocks a variety of products for mother and babies, toddlers and children till eight years of age with the focus being on style, function and safety. The UK-based maternity and kidswear brand has nine standalone and 13 shop-in-shop formats.

Nuance Group Nuance Group with Shoppers Stop makes an entry into airport retailing. The alliance is marked with a joint venture with The Nuance Group AG of Switzerland, the worlds leading airport retailer. Shopper's Stop Ltd. is handling the retail operations at the duty free zones in international terminals. The joint venture company, called Nuance Group (India) Private Limited. is operating outlets at the International airports at Bengaluru and Hyderabad. HyperCity-Argos HyperCity-Argos and Shoppers Stop, the two retail ventures of K Raheja group had signed a memorandum of understanding with UKs leading retail chain Home Retail group to develop the Argos (retailer) retail format stores in India. Two years later, Shoppers Stop Ltd has informed Bombay Stock Exchange shall wind down and discontinue its catalogue retail operations under the Hypercity-Argos brand. Timezone Shoppers Stop forayed into the Entertainment sector by acquiring 45% stake
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in Timezone Entertainment Private Limited which is in the business of setting up and operating Family Entertainment Centres (FECs). It has 5 outlets in Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Navi Mumbai and Mumbai.

Introduction of the Study The project was done for Shoppers Stop by IMRB International. It comprises of two subprojects. One was Customer Satisfaction Survey for Home Stop (a subsidiary of Shoppers Stop) and the other was Partner Satisfaction Survey for Shoppers Stop. i) Customer Satisfaction Survey: In this, two segments of customers were chosen for our sample of Home Stop customers; First are walk-ins, these are customers who enter Home Stop, buy goods / spend equal or more than minimum Average purchase value (i.e. Rs 2500). There are two forms, recruitment form and face-to-face interview form. Recruitment forms are to be filled by the walk-in customers and an interview time should be scheduled (which suites them). Recruitment form contains only some specific questions, which will tell whether they qualify different requirements. Only those customers are to be interviewed face-to- face who qualify the recruitment questions. Thus the recruitment questionnaire is not needed in the analysis of our survey. Second are loyalty customers, they have loyalty card of Shoppers Stop and most of them prefer shopping at the store. Loyalty card are of 3 types i.e
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Gold, Silver and First Citizen. They are loyal customers and hence they were called to fix an appointment for face-to-face interview with them. Shoppers Stop was having a database of these loyal customers, which they provided to IMRB. The total sample size was of 40 customers, which were equally divided between walk-ins and loyalty customers i.e. 20 each.

ii) Partner Satisfaction Survey: In order to offer products in categories as diverse as ethnic wear, western clothing, kids wear, books, jewelry, etc., SSL has a large base of partners from whom it sources merchandise. These are divided in 4 wide areas, which are different in functions but have to deal with the same departments of Shoppers Stop. Thus only 1 questionnaire is required for all these organizations. These are: 1. Consignment/ Sale Return segment These are those organizations in whose case the entire merchandise supplied to SSL on a consignment basis. That is, the goods are lifted by SSL from the partner organization, but stocks/merchandise that do not get sold at the SSL stores are returned to the partner company and not paid for by SSL. SSL pays the partner only for the value of goods that are purchased by the end-customers from its stores. Other areas are similar to what was explained for Own Bought partners. Some prominent examples of consignment partners are Tantra T- Shirts and Moustache International. 2. Outright Bought Brands: These are those brands owned by the partner (manufacturing company) and goods supplied to SSL under the label of these brands is bought outright by SSL at the start of the season. E.g. goods offered by the brands of companies like Madura Garments, Levi Strauss, Welspun India, Mattel Toys are bought outright by SSL and sold at their stores, under the same label/brand name of the manufacturer or partner
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company. 3. Private label: Private Label manufacturers are those who manufacture and supply merchandise to SSL that is sold under their (i.e. SSL owned) brands such as Stop, Life, Kashish, etc. 4. Concessionaire Partners : These are those organizations in whose case, the in-store space is operated by personnel who are employees of the partner organization. SSL charges these companies a percentage commission on sale as fees for allowing use of its stores. Some examples are Gili Gitanjali Jewels, Gini & Jony. The total number of partners in the NCR region is 20, who are divided into the above-mentioned categories. Thus the marketing heads of that organization were interviewed accordingly after taking the appointment. Objective of the Project: Since it is a Satisfaction Survey, the main objective is to find out to what extent is the other party (customers and partners) is satisfied in dealing with Shoppers Stop. The objective is also to understand the faults and amend them before more damage happens. Analyzing the questions from questionnaire can do this. Significance of the Project: The significance of the project lies in the fact that Shoppers Stop is seriously considering to increase its market share. For that to happen the company requires information about the brands perception in the minds of the consumer and what they have to say. Thus the data collected by the interns would give the officials an idea of what impact the brand has in the market, and what are the customers needs and outlook regarding the various brands that are available in the market. The importance of the project is also to know the feedback of the customers, which can be helpful in making the stores, store personnel, the brand etc more attractive and influential to customers. In case of the partners, this project can be a source of communication for their problems. If there is any problem in the supply chain, the returned material or any problem with the different departments like finance, merchandizing, etc can be conveyed to the higher officials.
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Scope of the Project: The scope of the project is wide spread. It attempts to present a picture of customer insights regarding the stature of Shoppers Stop in comparison to other major players. One hand it tries to explain the customer buying behaviour and the factors that motivates them to go for a particular brand, while on the other it sheds light on brand loyalty and few factors that influence it. Overall the project research is descriptive in nature with emphasis on primary data collection method so that it presents a true picture of the current standings of Shoppers Stop, in comparison to the other brands, operating in India.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The survey comprises of 2 parts:

Customer Satisfaction Survey with sample size of 40.

Partner Satisfaction Survey with sample size of 20.

In Customer Satisfaction Survey, there were two subparts i.e. we had to collect our samples in two ways. One was walk-ins, in which I stood outside the Home Stop store in DLF, Saket and took the interviews of those who came out with a purchase of more than Rs. 2500. The walk-ins sample was 20. They were to be interviewed first for recruitment and I had to see whether they qualify for the main interview (on the basis of some criteria). The main interview was to be fixed for only those customers who qualified, for some other time and place according to their convenience. The other 20 were the interviews of Loyalty members i.e. the customers who have loyalty card of Home Stop (a branch of Shoppers Stop). The name of

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these customers was given in a database, which consists the names of 100 loyalty cardholders. From these, I had choose a sample size of 20 and had to take interviews of these by fixing an appointment on phone. The main questionnaire contained questions related to the customers feeling towards the store, their overall quality of experience, the behavior of store personnel and the guard, the merchandise on display and kept on shelf etc. In Partner Satisfaction Survey, a list was given to me of all the partner organizations of Shoppers Stop in NCR. I had to fix appointments of their CEOs and take their interview to know their satisfaction level in dealing with Shoppers Stop. The questionnaire contained question about different aspects like finance team of Shoppers Stop, merchandise department, Store Personnel and Store Head, the supply chain of Shoppers Stop, net income and return on investment from Shoppers Stop etc. The questionnaire has both open and close ended questions. The rating in both the cases was to be done on a 5-point scale. EXCELLENT VERY GOOD FAIR POOR GOOD 05 04 03 02 01 The answers of all the consumers were taken very seriously, they were probed to explain the problems in detail and their reply was noted down word by word. The observation was done accordingly and the final conclusion was made. For attracting more customers and for keeping their partners, Shoppers Stop has to implement some new measures. Customer Buying behavior and Brand loyalty are two closely related aspects of any business. The later can be achieved if the former is correctly. However it is a practiced art which takes time and effort to master and requires close working relationship with the target group of customers.
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An efficient way to achieve this is to stop and switch roles with the customer. What would I want from the business or company in case I was the client? How would I want to be treated and what facilities I would have cherished if provided? All of these questions were answered while I was doing this study. I had a good opportunity to understand consumers mind.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY Research Design Research design is not related to any particular method of collecting data or any particular type of data. Any research design can, in principle, use any type of data collection method and can use either quantitative or qualitative data. Research design refers to the structure of an enquiry: it is a logical matter rather than a logistical one. Its been argued that the central role of research design is to minimize the chance of drawing incorrect causal inferences from data. Design is a logical task undertaken to ensure that the evidence collected enables us to answer questions or to test theories as unambiguously as possible. When designing research it is essential that we identify the type of evidence required to answer the research question in a convincing way. This means that we must not simply collect evidence that is consistent with a particular theory or explanation. Research needs to be structured in such a way that the evidence also bears on alternative rival explanations and enables us to identify which of the competing explanations is most compelling empirically. It also means that we must not simply look for evidence that supports our favorite theory but
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we should also look for evidence that has the potential to disprove our preferred explanations. In this project, the data was collected through questionnaires. There were 2 main questionnaires, 1 for each survey i.e. customer and partner. Data Collection Sources: The research work is based upon primary data and minor help from secondary data in the form of organizational background. The data in NCR Region was collected from Home Stop Store, DLF, Saket since only that place was to be surveyed (as told by Shoppers Stop). Care was taken so that respondents provide actual data with respect to all the fields provided in the questionnaire.

Data Collection Methods & Instruments

The data collected was mainly primary data and it was collected by 2 methods : Walk-ins and interview of loyalty card holders for Customer Satisfaction Survey Face-to-face interview in the case of Partner Satisfaction Survey. In walk-in, I used to stand outside the Home Stop Store of DLF, Saket (with prior permission of the store manager) and take the recruitment interview of the customers. The interview time and date was fixed only from the eligible customers. The eligibility was decided on the basis of: Total amount of purchases made. Whether the customer has given any market research interview in past 3 months. Whether any of his family members work in advertising or market research agency.

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 Whether he is a member of loyalty program. Customers should be of an age group of 20-45.

Classification of the Chief Wage Earner (Socio Economic Classification

Grid).

SEC GRID
Some School up to 4 years School 59 years SSC/ HSC college but not gradua te Unskilled Skilled Workers Petty traders Shop Owners Businessmen with No employees Businessmen with 1-9 employees Businessmen with 10+ E2 E2 E2 D D E2 E1 D D C E1 D D C B2 D C C B2 B1 D C C B1 A2 Graduat Graduat e/Postgr aduate general e/Post Graduat e professio nal D B2 B2 A2 A2 D B2 B2 A2 A1

Illiterate

C B1

B2 B1

B2 A2

B1 A2

A2 A1

A1 A1

A1 A1

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employees Self Employed professional Clerical/Salesman Supervisory Level Officers/ExecutivesJunior Officers/ExecutivesMid/Senior D D D C D D D C D D C C B2 C C B2 B1 B2 B2 B1 A2 B1 B1 A2 A1 B1 A2 A2

B1

B1

B1

B1

A2

A1

A1

The people who come under A & B classification of this grid, only those are interviewed. This is so because only the people who lie under these categories have the potential to be loyal customers.

Analysis Techniques & Procedures

The analysis was done using help of graphic tools. Simple quantitative techniques such as percentage were used to find out meaningful information from the data captured through the questionnaire. In the first step, data from each question was taken and recorded separately. Next percentages were calculated. Following that, all the data were plotted on the excel software and graphs were developed with proper labels attached to them. Finally the charts were analyzed and inferences were drawn.

Sampling Plan

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We were provided with the sample size in all 3 cases i.e. walk-in, loyalty and partner survey. The sample size was 20 for all three. Thus there was no such sampling plan. For loyalty customers and Partner survey, we got a database from which we had to call and take appointments.

Fieldwork Plan
All studies have budget limitations, and one can't measure everything. The trick is to develop a practical list of parameters that is affordable and meets the project goals. This isn't always easy. Further the method should reflect a certain degree of accuracy, required for drawing meaningful conclusions. Thus everything was planned accordingly. I used to take 2 appointments for a day if the addresses were close and 1 if it was far away.

Assumptions & Limitations of the study

1. Customer Satisfaction Survey survey. Please ensure that at no point in time (during recruitment or the Main interview), should the customer know that we are doing a survey on behalf of Home Stop.
Open-ended questions: Open-ended questions should be probed and

For the walk-in customers of Home Stop stores, the survey is a Blind

clarified as much as possible (since each question was having a part as open end question, they were probed on each question).
Only those customers should be interviewed who fall in SEC (Socio

Economic Classification) A or SEC B category.

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 Only those customers should be interviewed who brought something

from the store (more than Rs. 2500).

2.

Partner Satisfaction Survey

No interviews should be outside from the database. Open-ended questions should be probed and clarified as much as

possible.

FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS

1. CUSTOMER SATISFACTION SURVEY

Q1) How would you rate the overall quality of shopping experience provided by Home Stop? RANKING EXCELLENT VERY GOOD GOOD FAIR 05 04 03 02 CUSTOMERS 08 20 10 00

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POOR

01

02

Analysis- Only 5% customers have a poor experience at Home Stop, rest 95% have either of the three experiences i.e. excellent, very good and good. Thus, the analysis shows that upto 20% of the customers are brand loyal and 5% (poor) are switchers i.e. they change to different brands.

Q2) Do you exactly get the value for money? RANKING EXCELLENT VERY GOOD GOOD FAIR POOR 05 04 03 02 01 CUSTOMERS 8 25 5 2 0

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Analysis: Overall value of the products are very important for the customer because he is paying for it and if he doesnt find it worth it, it may be possible that he decides never to shop at that place again. Most of the customers got very good value from the store i.e. 62%. 20% of the customers perceived their value to be excellent and only 5% i.e. 2 customers found it to be fair. Q 3) How would you rate the display of merchandise? RANKING EXCELLENT VERY GOOD GOOD FAIR POOR 05 04 03 02 01 CUSTOMERS 00 24 14 02 01

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Analysis: Most of the customers were satisfied with the display of merchandise since the rating is above good for about 95% of the customers. Only 5% i.e. 2 of the sample size rated it fair because they werent able to find what they were looking for in the section and some of the display items had a torn price tag on them. If we take a close look at the statistics, merchandise display doesnt have any bad effect on consumers perception of the store. Q 4) How would you rate the Merchandise Quality & Range available at Home Stop? RANKING CUSTOMERS EXCELLENT VERY GOOD GOOD FAIR POOR 05 04 03 02 01 02 24 11 02 01

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Analysis: Since anything above good is considered in favor of the organization, the merchandise quality is above standards and better than other stores. 92% of the customers from NCR have rated the merchandise quality as excellent, very good and good. Only 1 has rated it poor and 2 fair. Thus it can be concluded from the findings that more than 90% of the customers dont have any reasons to be Switchers as far as the quality of merchandise is concerned. Q 5) How would you rate the overall quality of Store Personnel? RANKING EXCELLENT VERY GOOD GOOD FAIR POOR 05 04 03 02 01
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CUSTOMERS 00 05 20 13 02

Analysis The quality of store personnel is need to be improved a little since only 62% have rated them well. If we compare all other points with this, it surely is rated below. When asked in open ended question, customers had problems that the store personnel are not able to understand their requirements and they also didnt had enough knowledge about the product. Many times they were not able to guide the customer in the proper direction of the product. The attitude of store personnel should be changed and they should have proper knowledge about the store and the merchandise. Q 6) How would you rate the overall quality of Billing and adequacy of Billing Counters? RANKING CUSTOMERS EXCELLENT VERY GOOD GOOD FAIR POOR 05 04 03 02 01 01 05 10 22 02

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Analysis: The billing quality is below satisfactory level. 60% of the customers have rated it fair and poor. Most of the customers said that for such a large store, at least 3 to 4 counters are needed whereas there is only 1. Many of them have to wait in line for 10-15 minutes, which is very tiring and time consuming. This may increase the frustration level of the customer and from the next time customer may be unwilling to shop at the store. Due to this reason, the brand can become infamous between the customers. 2. PARTNER SATISFACTION SURVEY: The partner organizations arent only tied with Shoppers Stop, they have other partners too like, Westside, Globus, Pantaloons, Lifestyle and Central. Thus, this survey will include the comparison between these retail stores and Shoppers Stop (if more than 5 partners rate Shoppers Stop as poor) along with the rating of Shoppers Stop by partner organizations. The total number of partner organizations is 20 in NCR. Q 1) How would you rate the Overall Quality of Relationship that you enjoy with Shoppers Stop (SSL)? RANKING EXCELLENT VERY GOOD 05 04
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PARTNERS 06 04

GOOD FAIR POOR

03 02 01

10 00 00

Analysis: Each partner organization is satisfied with the quality of relationship they share with Shoppers Stop (SSL). All of them think that its a prestigious organization and they have a strong attachment with SSL. Some of them are very committed to the business relationship with SSL and are proud to work with them. Also they dont have any real reason to stop working with SSL.

Q 2) How will you describe the Net Income & Return on Investment to you from this relationship? RANKING PARTNERS EXCELLENT 05 12

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VERY GOOD GOOD FAIR POOR

04 03 02 01

05 01 02 01

Analysis: The Net Income from SSL is more than any other retail store for maximum partner organizations. They are happy with the amount of work that SSL put in in maintaining their partnership. The ROI is good including the profit, which they get. Some of them just have problem with the discount rate, which SSL offers. They were very clear that discount rates offered by SSL are very less and they should increase. If we look at the statistics, only 2 partners are little satisfied as far as Net Income is concerned rest all are satisfied with the working of SSL team.

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Q 3) How would you rate the overall quality of Finance Team of Shoppers Stop? RANKING EXCELLENT VERY GOOD GOOD FAIR POOR 05 04 03 02 01 PARTNERS 15 03 01 01 00

Analysis By having a look at the total statistics, we can conclude that the SSL has a very efficient finance team. In open ended question, the feedback was that payment was done timely and if there is and query regarding billing or payments, its responded as soon as possible. The accuracy of reconciliation statements is also excellent.

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Q 4) How would you rate the overall quality of Senior Management of Shoppers Stop? RANKING EXCELLENT VERY GOOD GOOD FAIR POOR 05 04 03 02 01 PARTNERS 5 7 5 3 00

Analysis: The quality of Senior Management is more or less good. This is because a few (15%) have rated it fair. The feedback was that the Senior Personnel doesnt give a positive response to the feedbacks i.e. he in not receptive to them. But most of the partner organizations said that they have accessibility to the Senior Management and he is able to build and strengthen their confidence in SSL.
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Q 5) How would you rate the overall quality of Store Planning & Visual Merchandising? RANKING EXCELLENT VERY GOOD GOOD FAIR POOR 05 04 03 02 01 PARTNERS 0 5 10 2 3

Analysis: Some of the partners had a problem that they dont have a say in the store planning i.e. what kind of drawings should be there or what should be the physical aspect of store layout or look. Most of the partner organizations are satisfied with the store planning quality. If we look at the numbers and graph, it shows that 75% of the partners are satisfied by the store planning and rest 25% have above-mentioned problems.
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Q 6) How would you rate the overall quality of Unit Team in supporting your Store Personnel (if provided any)? RANKING EXCELLENT VERY GOOD GOOD FAIR POOR 05 04 03 02 01 PARTNERS 0 5 10 4 1

Analysis: Many of the partner organizations have provided their in-store personnel in all the retail outlets of SSL. Sometimes the unit team of that retail outlet doesnt behave properly with the in-store personnel. They dont solve their problems or dont make them feel as a part of SSL. 25% of the partners feel that their in-store personnel dont get support as they should get. This may sometimes act as a negative point for SSL because it can make the partners a little annoyed, which can be a problem for future relationship.
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CONCLUSION & RECOMMENDATIONS

Brief Summary of Project The survey conducted revealed interesting insights regarding customer buying behaviour and their brand switching tendencies. It also revealed the factors that a customer values the most while making a purchase. Overall the survey identified consumer perceptions, brand equity and also provided insights about Shoppers Stop, from the customer and partners viewpoint. The survey was for Shoppers Stop customer and partner satisfaction. A particular sample size was given and survey was done. The findings were deeply analyzed. Major finding of the Study The major finding of the study, in customer satisfaction survey of Home Stop, was that the customers were more or less satisfied by every thing, except the adequacy of billing counters and quality of billing. Its got the lowest rating of all the things. Most of the customers think that the store is too large to have only one billing counter. Very less advertisements are given and promotional activities done are negligible.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY Marketing management by Philip Kotler Consumer Behaviour by Schiffman & Kanuk
www.imrbint.com

Organization Manuals- by courtesy of Mr. Rahul Bansal

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