Study Of The Departmental Stores In
Mumbai Marketing Essay
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Customer satisfaction is the key
factor in knowing the success of any departmental stores or business therefore
it is very important to measure it and to find that what the factors which
affect the customer satisfaction. The Total Quality Management is based on this
idea of customer satisfaction. Customer satisfaction refers to the extent to
which customers are happy with the products and services provided by a
business. Customer satisfaction levels can be measured using survey techniques
and questionnaires. Gaining high levels of customer satisfaction is very
important to a business because satisfied customers are most likely to be loyal
and to make repeat orders and to use a wide range of services offered by a
business. Customers are most likely to appreciate the goods and services that
they buy if they are made to feel special. This occurs when they feel that the
goods and services that they buy have been specially produced for them or for
people like them. It should be always keep measuring in order to get feedback
for the product and service in order to develop it further with wide
customisation. We cannot create the customer satisfaction by just meeting the
customer requirement fully because this has to meet in any case. The customer
satisfaction index represents the overall satisfaction level of that customer
as one number, usually as percentage.
Department store offers a wide range
of products in an organized fashion that are easily accessible to the
consumers. The product line of the departmental stores is substantially long.
The department stores provide better amenities to the consumer for shopping by
developing adequate infrastructure for parking, leisure, coffee shops etc.
Departmental stores contain 'a pin to plane' under a single roof. Therefore the
customers are able to purchase whatever they want from a single Roof. In
Mumbai, most of the departmental stores attract customers with attractive
formats of apparels and discount based daily needs (FMCG) products etc. As
Mumbai is considered one of the most crowded cities in India and so has good
income earning consumer society due to industrialization and modernization to
the greater extent. So it always provides a huge amount of customers to be
served. But when it comes to population it comes to variation in families
having various household habits as well as buying behaviour. And here arrives
the need of Departmental Stores.
Departmental stores are different
from discount departmental stores because most departmental stores have
checkout registers within individual merchandise departments as opposed to
having a central checkout area. As Departmental Stores are the products and
therefore connected to the Retail sector in flourishing in India from last
years. The contribution of Retail Sector to GDP of India is constantly growing
and expected to 22% by 2010. The retail consulting and research agency
KSA-Technopak predicted in an Nov2008 report that by 2010 annual retail sales
by chain stores will reach 21.5 billion dollars, from 7.5 billion dollars now
in Indian Metros.
Government Policies are also
favourable to Indian Retail sector in regard to FDI due to which this sector
remains undominated by foreign players which ultimately going to be beneficial
for Departmental Stores as they forms a part of it
Formation of Departmental Stores in
Mumbai is the population it is offering and constantly growing. Also the
population of Mumbai which includes people from various class and culture
gathered in search of jobs as it is a constantly growing in the sense of
industrialization are seeking a wide product line suitable to their needs
consisting various brands as well as the time saving factor which they prefers
while going for Departmental Stores which are categorized according to nature
of products in order to easily locate the product and Mumbai is no exception to
it. Following are some famous Departmental Stores in Mumbai-
Asiatic
Big Bazaar
Hyper city
KBN Stores
A To Z Super Market
Z Mart
Subhiksha
Amarsons
CUSTOMER
SATISFACTION INDEX (CSI)
The customer satisfaction Index
represents the overall satisfaction level of that customer as one number,
usually as a percentage. Plotting this Satisfaction Index of the customer
against a time scale shows exactly how well the supplier is accomplishing the
task of customer satisfaction over a period of time.
The customer satisfaction Index is
calculated as follows: Calculate the average important score assigned by
respondents for each parameter of all the weightings given by the customer.
Find out the weighting factor (divide the average important score assigned by
all respondents for each parameters by the sum/total of the importance score).
Multiply the weighting factor with corresponding satisfaction score you can get
the weighted score. Sum of the weighted score gives total customer
satisfaction.
OBJECTIVE
OF STUDY:
The primary objective of the study is
to know the factors which are affecting the customer satisfaction of service
provided by some of the departmental stores in Mumbai using customer
satisfaction index.
SECONDORY
OBJECTIVE OF STUDY
1 .To determines the level of
customer satisfaction about different parameters of services provided by the
departmental stores on Mumbai.
2. To find the most important areas
which required immediate improvements.
FOLLOWING
HYPOTHESIS WILL BE TESTED AT 95% CONFIDENCE LEVEL
1. Individual parameter is less or
more important than researcher hypothesis
2. There is significant difference
between expectation and satisfaction.
3. There is significant association
between satisfaction and area of residence.
RESEARCH
METHODOLOGY:
1.
RESEARCH DESIGN:
It is an overall framework that indicate
what information is to be collected and from which source and by which
procedure in research project. In this research, the first stage is
exploratory, in which clarification of the specific problem is identified, in
second stage we are interested in knowing the characteristics of certain group
such as - age , sex , income , education , occupation for which descriptive
study is necessary.
This study involves the field survey
conducted across different departmental stores in Mumbai. The respondents were
approached outside the billing counter of departmental stores after they had
finished shopping, before leaving stores. It also focused on the decision about
choice of stores for specific purchase incident, since each purchase occasion
might actually be a different decision.
The respondents were given the
questionnaire to respond their views about particular departmental stores. In
some of the cases respondent were subjected to personnel interview. Responses
were sought regarding customer patronage behaviour.
In India departmental stores are
proliferated with number of brands and their offering and almost all the stores
is used for stocking or displaying the merchandise. The departmental stores are
larger mostly 2000-3000 sq. ft. But very few of them have more than 5000 sq.
ft. and are being designed for better display and browsing by the shoppers. The
format was distinguished based on the facility provided to the shopper to
browse and choose by themselves. This study was conducted in old as well as new
format of departmental stores. The store was chosen from different part of city
to enable a wider spread of sample.
The general hypothesis about stores
choice drivers were that for routine purchase such as grocery items and
apparels choice driver should be include in stores services dimensions and
attractiveness of the physically layout. It is important to validate this
hypothesis. Since the indication is that departmental stores in Mumbai should
be providing more evolved dimensions of services to attract shopper it remain
to be proven that such dimension do actually improved departmental stores.
2.
SAMPLING DESIGN:
For this research, the non
probability sampling method is used. Sample size is 50 respondents from
different departmental stores in Mumbai. A customer of the departmental stores
who have done their shopping and are waiting for billing counter is taken as
sample.
3.FINDING
OF DESIGN:
1.
Reliability Test:
Reliability test is to find out the
reliability of the instrument. In this test the value of alpha is found to be
0.783 which is nearly equal to 0.8, and according to the thumb rule of alpha
reliability is good.
2.
One Sample Test
From the results of one sample test
(refer table IV), we can say that:
Respondent are considering adequate
sign board, quality of products, variety of products, plastic money service as
important factor in deciding where to shop.
Parameters which less important for
deciding where to shop are availability of open space, layout of the place,
offer coupons and mobile charging zone.
Furniture and decor, colour and
lighting, comfort and feel, adequate sign boards, courtesy and friendly
atmosphere are moderately important.
The broad conclusion about store
choice among consumer indicates that image and perception have significant impact
on final outcome. Perception about is driven substantially by tangible
characteristics of departmental stores such as format of stores, size, distance
from home, looks, as well as intangible factor like environment of stores.
Given the limited information is available on shopping behaviour of customer in
Mumbai as even customer doesn't know that what they like, so it was decided to
design an exploratory study to identify major factor which affect behaviour of
customer and their satisfaction.
3.ANNOVA
test
From the results of ANOVA test (refer
table V), we can say that:
The F value of table is 2.18. Thus,
we can accept the hypothesis that the factors quality of products, coupon and
advertisement, variety of products, overall ambience affects the customer
satisfaction.
Value of nearness to store is 3.586.
Thus, we reject the hypothesis that nearness to store affect the customer
satisfaction.
It was observed that customers are
ready to travel even far from their residence for buying in departmental stores
because of quality services and products.
4.
Overall customer satisfaction index:
Customer satisfaction index has been
calculated for all parameters taken together. Total customer satisfaction index
for departmental store is found to be 61.07% (refer table VI)
This study has research the store
choice behaviour based on the several dimensions. The broad research questions
formed on this exploratory research are:
How do consumers perceive the service
dimensions in retailing?
Are service parameters influencing
the buying behaviour among current customers?
What are the service dimensions that
departmental stores ought to pay attention to increase customer satisfaction in
departmental stores?
4.
FINDING ANALYSIS:
Customers have several reasons to
choose any departmental store. But the primary reasons are 'value for money',
'quality of product', 'variety of product' and 'service of the store'. More
than 80% respondent indicated that these are the important reasons. Out of all
respondents provided, 70% respondent responded that 'ambience and layout' was
equally important as a buying behaviour. This indicated that customer have one
or mostly two good primary reason and other reason to visit departmental
stores.
The responses were gathered through
close ended questions. The respondents were probed for much reason the first
reason being the top of the mind. The responses which were gathered through the
questionnaire is used for further analysis. The study captured about different
responses that could be classified into seven important categories.
PRIMARY
STORES CHOICE VARIABLES BY CATEGORY OF STORES:
Grocery and food items are choose by
the customer strongly based on the more proximity and patronisation. The
customer would like to reduce the time. However as indicated by the higher
scores if customer have been buying for longer period off time , they do not
mind buying from a store located at greater distance. The importance of
relationship, comfort level with the departmental stores is stressed with
regard to grocery and food items story
This seems to be some indication of
an inherent loyalty to the stores in this category. So when experience of
shopping is good there is a high chance of next visit. The customer is willing
to trade-off the extra travel with the experience. However the proximity is the
most important driver of loyalty to a grocery store. Ambiance is not important
factor for customer in this category.
In the case of consumer durable
stores, consumers attract more importance to merchandise, referral, and
ambience. They prefer to visit those stores that depth and wide range of
product. Customer in these stores looks for variety. Stores that offer good
price and discount are also visited. The ambience reflected in terms of
lighting, setting and comfort is also relevant in determining store choice. A
good display of product, so that customer can look around and touch and feel
the product becomes an important consideration in departmental stores.
Leisure sections of departmental
stores (books and music, accessories and lifestyle products) tend to attract
customers on the basis of ambience of stores. The customer wants comfortable
store as they tend to stay for longer on each visit. The lighting display and
attractive decor of the store become an important factor.
In case of apparels, customers value
merchandise, ambience and brand. They want variety and would like to touch and
feel the product. Range of merchandise, in terms of product and price, attract
shopper to a store. They would like to satisfy themselves about making right
choices by trying them out before finalizing their product.
Conclusion
and recommendations:
Customer satisfaction is the key to
keep existing customer. Customer satisfaction must be matching or greater than
the customer expectation. From the research study we have done, we concluded
that the overall customer satisfaction regarding the departmental stores in
Mumbai is reasonably good. If we define it in percentage term then it is
approximately 61%. Yet there are some aspects as noted in guideline section
where the departmental stores in Mumbai need to focus more in order to achieve
optimum customer satisfaction:
The checkout counters are crowded,
especially in peak hours and holidays. Customers have to spend 20 minutes to 45
minutes in queue. Departmental stores should take proper measures to increase
number of checkout counters in case of such occasions.
Products kept in sections such as
toys and children's sections should not be kept at height. According to
suggestions given few customers, specially children, find it difficult to get
access to such products.
In case of trolleys used, there is
not enough space to move around the departmental stores on holidays or in peak
hours. This may cause hindrance in case of emergency or in case of families
with small children. Departmental stores to take proper measure so as to
allocate enough space for movement of trolley even during holidays or peak
hours.
TABLE:
1 SAMPLE PROFILE
Gender
Male
24
Female
26
Age
group
20-24
17
25-29
10
30-34
12
35-39
11
Monthly
income
10000-20000
16
21000-30000
24
31000-40000
10
Total
50
TABLE:
II BUYING BEHAVIOR
Frequency
of visit
Money
spend
Time
spend
Seldom
4
Less than Rs.1000
4
Less than ½ hour
4
Once a month
24
Rs. 1000- Rs. 2000
20
½ hour to 1 hour
13
Once a week
13
Rs. 2000- Rs. 3000
11
1 hour to 1 ½ hour
12
More than once a week
9
Rs. 3000- Rs. 4000
9
1 ½ hour to 2 hour
11
Rs. 4000- Rs. 5000
2
2 hour to 2 ½ hour
3
More than Rs. 5000
4
More than 2 ½ hour
7
TABLE
III PRIMARY AFFECTING FACTORS
MERCHANDISE
AMBIENCE
SERVICE
Value for money
Availability of open space
Security and safety
Quality of product
Furniture and decor
Ease of movement for trolley
Ambience/ experience
Colour and lighting
After sale service
People and service
Comfort and feel
Plastic money service
Fast checkout
Adequate sign board
Hygiene and sanitation
Close to where customer live
Other entertainment (music, T.V.,
games, books)
Complaint cell
Variety of product
First aid service
Convenience of parking
Personal assistance
TABLE
IV ONE SAMPLE T TEST
Mean
Sig. (2-tailed)
Std. Deviation
t
Availability of open space
3.96
.000
.935
-5.564
Furniture and decor
4.00
.000
1.190
-4.201
Layout of the place
3.92
.000
.909
-5.939
Colour and lighting
4.28
.001
.980
-3.674
Comfort and feel
4.04
.000
.790
-6.080
Sight-seeing experience
3.88
.000
1.130
-4.956
Ease to search the product
4.12
.000
1.092
-4.028
Adequate sign boards
4.04
.001
1.207
1.455
Other entertainment
4.24
.006
1.268
-2.998
Overall ambience of the store
4.13
.003
1.296
-3.308
Value for money
4.44
.032
1.227
-2.281
Quality of products
4.72
.110
.843
1.661
Ambience/ experience
4.04
.000
1.020
-4.707
People and services
4.16
.000
.987
-4.257
Close to where customer live
4.56
.053
1.083
2.031
Courtesy and friendly atmosphere
4.08
.001
1.152
-3.994
Offer coupons in advertisement
3.80
.000
1.041
-5.765
Variety of products
4.56
.069
1.158
1.901
Convenient stocking/ display
4.16
.000
1.028
-4.086
After sales service
4.28
.007
1.208
-2.979
Plastic money service
4.32
.008
1.180
2.880
Mobile charging zone
3.48
.000
1.418
-5.361
Home delivery services
4.12
.001
1.166
-3.773
TABLE
V ANNOVA TEST
Sum of Squares
df
Mean Square
F
Sig.
Quality of products
Between Groups
5.058
8
1.265
2.111
.117
Within Groups
11.982
40
.599
Total
17.040
48
Money spend
Between Groups
5.912
8
1.478
1.018
.422
Within Groups
29.048
40
1.452
Total
34.960
48
Nearness of store
Between Groups
11.762
8
2.940
3.586
.023
Within Groups
16.398
40
.820
Total
28.160
48
Coupons and advertisement
Between Groups
4.474
8
1.119
1.039
.412
Within Groups
21.526
40
1.076
Total
26.000
48
Variety of products
Between Groups
5.557
8
1.389
1.044
.409
Within Groups
26.603
40
1.330
Total
32.160
48
Overall ambience
Between Groups
11.289
8
2.822
1.962
.142
Within Groups
27.336
40
1.439
Total
38.625
48
TABLE
VI CALCULATION OF TOTAL CUSTOMER SATISFACTION INDEX
PARAMETERS
SCORE (A)
SATISFACTION SCORE (B)
WEIGHTING FACTOR (c)=(a/T)
weighted score (d)=(b*c)
value for money
4.44
4.075
0.032
0.1304
quality of products
4.72
4.067
0.034
0.138278
ambience/ experience
4.041
4
0.029
0.116
people and services
4.167
4.087
0.03
0.12261
fast checkout
4.12
3.394
0.029
0.098426
close to where you live
4.56
4.234
0.033
0.139722
courteous and friendly employee
4.08
4.12
0.029
0.11948
offer coupons in advertisment
3.8
3.87
0.027
0.10449
variety of products
4.56
3.067
0.033
0.101211
convenience of parking
4.16
4.67
0.03
0.1401
convenient stocking / display
4.167
4.82
0.03
0.1446
avaliability of open space
3.96
3.967
0.028
0.111076
furniture and décor
4
3.789
0.028
0.106092
colours and lighting
4.28
4.234
0.232
0.982288
layout of place
3.92
4.9
0.27
1.323
comfort and feel
4.04
3.69
0.029
0.10701
sight seeing experience
3.88
4.3
0.028
0.1204
adequate signboards
4.04
4.867
0.029
0.141143
ease to search the products
4.12
3.234
0.029
0.093786
other entertainment
4.24
4.45
0.03
0.1335
overall ambience
4.125
3.6
0.029
0.1044
security and safety
3.76
4.65
0.027
0.12555
ease of movement of trolley and
basket
3.64
4.87
0.026
0.12662
parking in and out
4.16
4.12
0.029
0.11948
after sales services
4.28
4.65
0.03
0.1395
plastic money service
4.32
4.67
0.031
0.14477
hygience and sanitation
4.36
4.346
0.031
0.134726
smoking zone
3.4
3.534
0.024
0.084816
home delivery services
3.48
3.56
0.024
0.08544
complaint cell
4.12
4
0.029
0.116
first aid services
3.84
3.96
0.0267
0.105732
handicap parking space
3.72
4.36
0.0267
0.116412
pavement surface at the entry and
exit
3.8
4.34
0.027
0.11718
personal assistance
4
3.89
0.029
0.11281
138.3
6.107048
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