Chapter - 1. (Introduction)

What is Retailing?

Retailing consists of the business activities involved in selling goods and services to

consumers for their personal, family, or household use. It includes every sales of goods and

services to the final consumer.

Retailing as an Industry?

Retailing is the world's largest private industry with annual sales over $ 6600 billion. Wal-

Mart annual sales over $ 250 billion. It has share of 2.3% of U.S. G.D.P. There are nine

retailers in Fortune 100, which highlights the importance of retailing as category. According

to a market estimate after agriculture, retail is the largest single sector, both in term of

turnover or will as employment in India. With market size of $ 200 billion. The report said

the Indian retail industry is in revolution phase. Organized retailing in India, which account

for less than 4%, is likely to grow four fold in the next five years. That means it will grow

from current size of around $ 4 billion ( ` 17,000 Crore) to around $15 billion ( ` 66000

Crore) the neighborhoods corner shops estimated at 70 million across the country, and village

Mela’s characterize the unorganized and fragmented nature of retailing in India.

What is Retail Marketing?

In the growing market, retail marketing has become one of the major emerging trends in the

entire economical cycle. It is the retail market only which provides the consumer a basic

platform to encounter with goods and a shop keeper for the first time. Retail market consists

of a fixed location like boutique, store, departmental store etc, here in these location

consumers meets the shop keeper and purchase goods in return of certain value. Maintaining

a certain profit margin, these shop keepers sell goods to their consumers. The basic motive of

these shopkeepers is to satisfy the consumers and fulfill their needs and demands.

Retail marketing strategy has become one of the basic elements of marketing strategy which

includes a lot of planning and proper execution of this planning. Now let us first focus on the

basic nature of retail. Firstly in retail, a marketer needs to focus primarily on the needs and

desires of the customers.

Retail marketing even focuses on satisfying the customers, maintaining a proper profit

margin for the owner of the goods. Customer needs are the basic key factors of retail. Retail

marketing consists of 5 basic pillars, first is saving the precious time of the customers.

Second is setting the right prices of the goods, third is creating a proper connection with the

emotions of the customers, fourth pillar is paying the right respect to the customers and lastly

solving the problems of the customer is the fifth pillar of retail.

Creating customer loyalty is the basic function of retail, as once you create customer loyalty

towards your brand it will be easier for you to stay in the market for a longer period of time.

Creating customer loyalty is not a very easy task, as it takes years for a brand to create

customer loyalty.

You can only create customer loyalty if you have a retail marketing plan, some of such

marketing plans are the sales promotional activities like loyalty cards, loyalty one, gifts,

coupons, special discounts and reward program.

With so many new sales promotional programs promoted by the retail marketing strategies,

now it is possible to create a healthy relationship with the customers. Previously creating

emotional bonding with the customers was not taken into consideration, and thus customers

were only treated as customers who were just supposed to pay the price of the goods. Thus,

this resulted in lower customer loyalty and it gave rise to huge number of product switching.

Previously customers used to shift to other brands very easily as there did not exist any brand

loyalty. But now with the extensive features of retail marketing, it has become easier for the

company not only to capture a huge market but at the same time create a strong bonding with

the customers. Thus, this sort of marketing strategy did not only ignite the sales target and

profits but at the same time increased the brand loyalty.

INDIAN RETAIL INDUSTRY

Introduction

The Indian retail industry has emerged as one of the most dynamic and fast-paced industries

due to the entry of several new players.

It accounts for over 10 per cent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and around

8 per cent of the employment. India is the world’s fifth-largest global destination in the retail

space.

Market Size

The Boston Consulting Group and Retailers Association of India published a report

titled, ‘Retail 2020: Retrospect, Reinvent, Rewrite’, highlighting that India’s retail

market is expected to nearly double to US$ 1 trillion by 2020 from US$ 600 billion in

2015, driven by income growth, urbanization and attitudinal shifts.

The report adds that while the overall retail market is expected to grow at 12 per cent

per annum, modern trade would expand twice as fast at 20 per cent per annum and

traditional trade at 10 %

Retail spending in the top seven Indian cities amounted to Rs 3.58 trillion (US$ 53.7

billion), with organised retail penetration at 19 per cent as of 2014.

Online retail is expected to be at par with the physical stores in the next five years.

India’s direct selling industry increased 6.5 per cent in FY2014-15 to Rs 7,958 crore

(US$ 1.19 billion) and is expected to reach a size of Rs 23,654 crore (US$ 3.55

billion) by FY2019-20, as per a joint report by India Direct Selling Association

(IDSA) and PHD.

Investment Scenario

The Indian retail industry in the single-brand segment has received Foreign Direct Investment

(FDI) equity inflows totalling US$ 344.9 million during April 2000–September 2015,

according to the Department of Industrial Policies and Promotion (DIPP).

With the rising need for consumer goods in different sectors including consumer electronics

and home appliances, many companies have invested in the Indian retail space in the past few

months.

Amazon India expanded its logistics footprint three times to more than 2,100 cities

and towns in 2015, as Amazon.com invested more than US$ 700 million in its India

operations since July 2014.

Adidas AG, renowned for its Adidas and Reebok sports brands, has become the first

foreign sports company to get government approval to open 100 per cent foreign-

owned stores in India.

Walmart India plans to add 50 more cash-and-carry stores in India over the next four

to five years.

Aditya Birla Retail, a part of the US$ 40 billion Aditya Birla Group and the fourth-

largest supermarket retailer in the country, acquired Total hypermarkets owned by

Jubilant Retail.

Government Initiatives

The Government of India has taken various initiatives to improve the retail industry in India.

The Ministry of Urban Development has come out with a Smart National Common

Mobility Card (NCMC) model to enable seamless travel by metros and other

transport systems across the country, as well as retail purchases.

IKEA, the world’s largest furniture retailer, bought its first piece of land in India in

Hyderabad, the joint capital of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, for building a retail

store. IKEA’s retail outlets have a standard design and each location entails an

investment of around Rs 500–600 crore (US$ 75–90 million).

The Road Ahead

E-commerce is expanding steadily in the country. Customers have the ever increasing

choice of products at the lowest rates.

E-commerce is probably creating the biggest revolution in the retail industry, and this

trend would continue in the years to come. Retailers should leverage the digital retail

channels (e-commerce), which would enable them to spend less money on real estate

while reaching out to more customers in tier-2 and tier-3 cities.  

Both organised and unorganised retail companies have to work together to ensure

better prospects for the overall retail industry, while generating new benefits for their

customers.

Nevertheless, the long-term outlook for the industry is positive, supported by rising

incomes, favourable demographics, entry of foreign players, and increasing

urbanisation.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

MARKET ANALYSIS

The research objectives of this project are:-

A). Marketing activities and operational activities are always driven with an aim of getting

sale increased with innovate ideas. Offers are designed in such a manner that customers are

made to go and experience the shopping. Marketing also gives some offer to increase the bill

size, taking in consideration the ongoing fashion in vogue.

B). Marketing Strategies targeting the customer: Advertising Strategy –Understanding the

media consumption habits of the customer.

C). Understanding the consumer behavior & its implication in business.

SOURCE OF DATA

SURVEY METHOD

Data are usually collected through the use of questionnaires. The data is collected by mean of

simple survey done in the retail store of the customers.

CROSS-SECTIONAL SURVEYS

Cross-sectional surveys are used to gather information on a population at a single point in

time. The customers were surveyed to find out their consumption behavior for the products in

various schemes. A different cross sectional survey questionnaire might try to determine the

relationship between two factors, like religiousness of parents and views on Internet filtering.

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

In order to write the literature review chapter component of my dissertation you need to go

through complete four basic stages.

i. Problem formulation stage:

ii. Literature Search:

iii. Data Evaluation:

iv. Analyze and Interpret Findings:

There are a number of key points that should be included in the actual review of the literature.

For example, you should provide an overview of the subject as well as the theory or issue you

are writing about. This area should already be thoroughly covered in your dissertation and

should connect smoothly to the literature review component.

Introduction to Consumer Behavior: Role of Consumer Behavior in Marketing, Distinction

among consumer, customer, buyer, user and payer.

Framework of Consumer Behavior – Internal Influences, External Influences, Self-Concept &

Life Style and Decision Process. Interdisciplinary subject encompassing concepts from

psychology, sociology, anthropology, microeconomics and organizational (buying) behavior.

Applications of Consumer Behavior.

Consumer Perception: Perception Process & Involvement, Sensation & Sensory Thresholds,

Sensory Overload & Selective Perception, Use of Gestalt Principles in Marketing

Communications, Common Perceptions of Colors, Interpretation – Semiotics. Perceived

Risk. Marketing Strategies targeting the customer: Advertising Strategy –Understanding the

media consumption habits of the customer.

Consumer Needs & Motivation: Needs & Wants, Latent & Manifest Motives in a Purchase

Situation, Maslow’s Needs & Consumer Behavior, Trio of Needs Theory, Motivation

Theories - Optimum Stimulation, Hedonic Experiences, maintaining behavioral freedom,

avoiding risk, attributing causality. Motivational Conflict, Motivational Research.

Consumer Attitude Formation & Change: Attitude functions. Tri-component attitude model,

hierarchies of attitude components. Multi-attribute attitude models. Attitude measurement.

Changing consumer attitudes.

Consumer Learning: Applications of behavioral learning theories (classical conditioning &

operant conditioning) and cognitive learning theories (iconic rote, vicarious/modeling and

reasoning/analogy) to consumer behavior.

Consumer in the Market Place: Factors influencing consumer outlet choice. Shopping

orientation & shopping styles. Types of purchases. In-store influences on purchase.

Consumer responses to marketing communications. Different forms of advertising appeals &

consumer behavior.

Post-Purchase Behavior: Satisfaction/dissatisfaction – loyalty/nonuse or complaint behavior.

Measuring satisfaction, handling complaints, achieving customer loyalty. Post-purchase

dissonance – causes and approaches to reducing the same. Disposal alternatives

Dark Side of Consumer Behavior: Concerns of marketers and dark side of consumer behavior

(addictions, devious behaviors).Organizational Consumer Behavior: Organizational buying

roles, buying situations & buying processes. Influences on organizational buying behavior.

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY:

PRIMARY OBJECTIVE:

1. Study about the LOYALTY schemes run by the mall.

2. Study the customer approach towards the mall.

3. Study about the floor operations in a shopping mall.

SECONDARY OBJECTIVE:

1. Comparative analysis of all retailers in this section to differentiate with other competitors.

Chapter 2 – Corporate & Company profile

Corporate Overview

The K Raheja Corp has diversified their business into hospitality, retail and education sectors.

History: K Raheja Corp stands out for the quality of its homes and excellent service to its

customer. It focuses to build a better quality living environment for its customers. It aims to

be one of the top real estate developers. It is a pioneer in constructing world class hotels and

convention centers with ultra-modern facilities and technology. The company has

successfully developed residential and commercial properties in the prime localities of

Bangalore, Mumbai, Coimbatore, Pune, Chennai, Hyderabad and Gandhinagar.

Management:

• Mr. Chandru L. Raheja - Chairman

• Mr. Ravi C. Raheja - Group President

• Mr. Neel Raheja - Group President

Specialty:

• Commercial

• Residential

K Raheja Corp is a success story spanned across decades and continues to achieve higher

targets relentlessly for quality performance and service in diverse fields of real realty

business, hospitality sector and retailing outfits.

The group has made an impact on the supply side of the modern day living. A style that has

been the dream of new class of consumers, a style encompassing the whole range of

consumption pattern of the young and the upcoming consumers that has become synonym

with the brand K Raheja Corp.

The group has pioneered the trend of setting world class hotels and convention centers across

the country with enhanced facilities to meet the business and leisure needs of the international

and domestic traveler.

The higher standards set by the group in its pursuit to position India on par with the

developed economies of the world and with a vision to be and remain at the commanding

height of Real Estate Business.

Retails

1991 Shopper’s Stop

2000 Crossword – Book Store

2004 Inorbit Mall

2006 Hypercity

2008 Inorbit Vashi

2009 Inorbit, Hyderabad

2011 Inorbit, Pune

Company Profile

Shoppers Stop is an Indian department store chain promoted by the K Raheja Corp Group

(Chandru L Raheja Group), started in the year 1991 with its first store in Andheri, Mumbai

Shoppers Stop Ltd has been awarded "the Hall of Fame" and won "the Emerging Market

Retailer of the Year Award", by Congress at Barcelona, on April 10, 2008. Shoppers Stop is

listed on the BSE. In 2011, Shoppers Stop had 52 stores in India. 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 52 stores across the country

(with the latest one being the outlet at Kumar Pacific Mall, Pune) including three airport

stores.

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, 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, who’s 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.

Shoppers Stop Limited engages in retailing various household, consumer products, and books

through departmental stores in India. Its Shoppers Stop stores offer apparel, accessories,

cosmetics, and home and kitchenware products; HomeStop stores provide home decor

products, furniture, bath accessories, bedroom furnishings, mattresses, draperies, carpets,

modular kitchens, and health equipment; and Crossword stores offer books, magazines, CD-

ROMs, music, stationery, and toys. The company also provides

Shoppers Stop's sister stores are

Crossword Bookstores

Crossword Bookstores is the largest chain of bookstores in

India with 83 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 encourage 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.

Brio

Brio has 20 outlets in select cities. Café Coffee Day

(CCD), the retail division of Amalgamated Bean Coffee

Trading (ABCTL), has signed a MoU with Shoppers Stop

to run its BRIO outlets.

Desi Cafe

Desi Café and their operations have been taken over by Café

Coffee Day (CCD), the retail division of Amalgamated Bean

Coffee Trading (ABCTL), has signed a MoU with Shoppers

Stop to run its Desi Café 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 Shopper’s Stop Ltd. entered into a nonexclusive 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 20 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,

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 world’s 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.

Timezone

Shoppers Stop forayed into the Entertainment sector by

acquiring 45% stake in Timezone Entertainment Private

Limited which is in the Business of setting up and operating

Family Entertainment Centers (FECs). It has 5 outlets in

Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Navi Mumbai and Mumbai.

COMPANY VISION

“To Be A Global Retailer in India and Maintain Its No. 1 Position In The Department Store

Category.”

COMPANY MISSION STATEMENT

“NOTHING BUT THE BEST”

We will provide the “BEST” Value In Terms Of Products and Services And Adopt “best”

Process for Stakeholders, Without Compromise, and Thereby Matching Global Standards

Thereby Matching Global Standards Of Performance.

SHOPPER’S STOP LTD. (SSL)

Setting up shop in 1991 (October) with its flagship store in Adhere, Mumbai, Shoppers’ Stop

is a member of the K. Raheja Corp. of Companies. Shoppers’ Stop first retail venture by the

K. Raheja Corp. Promoted by Mr. Chandra L. Raheja, Mr. Ravi C. Raheja and Mr. Neel C.

Raheja, K. Raheja Corp. have been leaders in the construction business for over 48years.With

its wide range of merchandise, exclusive shop-in-shop counters of international brands and

world-class customer service, Shoppers’ Stop brought international standards of shopping to

the Indian consumer providing them with a world class shopping experience. Today,

Shopper’s Stop has acquired the status of a pioneer in organized retailing in the country. It is

the only department store chain in India to be a member of IGDS, “International Group of

Department Store”

COMPANY ANALYSIS

Revenue of the Company: Rs.19.30 billion as of 2011-12

Industry: Retail

Stores in India (2015) - 73 Stores

Products: Department Store, Supermarket, SuperStore

Employee Strength: 14000+

Chapter 3 - Board of Directors

Mr. Chandru L. Raheja

Chairman and Non-Executive Director

Mr. Chandru L. Raheja, 71, is the Chairman and Non-Executive

Director of our Company. He is a law graduate from Mumbai.

Mr. Raheja has extensive experience with the real estate,

hospitality and retail industries across India. He has been

involved in real estate development for more than four decades. Under his leadership, K.

Raheja Corp Group has built residential and commercial buildings, hotels and malls

throughout India. His vision and foresight enabled K, Raheja Corp to develop Mindspace, an

integrated township, with commercial, retail and residential developments at Malad, Mumbai.

Similar developments are now being carried out in Hyderabad, Pune, Bangalore and other

cities across India.

Mr. Ravi C. Raheja

Non-Executive Director

Mr. Ravi C. Raheja, 40, is the Non-Executive Director of our

Company. He is a management graduate from London Business

School. Designated as the Group President at the K. Raheja

Corp, Mr. Raheja has over 19 years industry experience with

special focus on the group’s Real Estate & Retail arm. He

overlooks the retail, real estate and hospitality business of the group guiding the team on

Finance, Corporate Strategy and Planning, and is actively involved in charting future growth

strategies. He is currently involved in planning large townships, SEZ, IT Parks and luxury

hotels in the country. He is also handling the strategic entry of the group into infrastructure

and other new initiatives. Mr. Raheja is also the Chairman of Green Building Council

(Mumbai Chapter) and member of the World Economic Forum.

Mr. Neel Raheja

Non-Executive Director

Mr. Neel Raheja, 38, is the Non-Executive Director of our Company. He is an alumnus of

Harvard Business School, Masters in Commerce and Law Graduate from Mumbai University

and has over 16 years of experience in real estate development,

hospitality and retail. Mr. Raheja plays a leadership role in the K.

Raheja Corp real estate development business. He has visualized and

developed the “Inorbit” shopping mall at Malad. He also takes active

interest in the customer satisfaction and human development part of

Shoppers Stop business.

Mr. Gulu L. Mirchandani

Independent and Non-Executive Director

Mr. Gulu L. Mirchandani, 69, is the Independent and Non-

Executive Director of our Company. He is an alumnus of BITS, Pilani and holds a degree in

BE (Mechanical). Mr. Mirchandani presently serves as the chairman and managing director

of Mirc Electronics Limited. He is closely involved with the development of corporate

strategy and formulating, incubating and delivering emerging technologies and services in the

area of televisions and other products of the Company. Under his able leadership, Mirc

Electronics Limited won an award for excellence in Electronics in 1999, from the Ministry of

Information Technology, the Government of India. Mr. Mirchandani has held several key

positions in the industry such as President of Consumer Electronics and TV Manufacturers

Association (CETMA) for two consecutive years in 1992 and 1994.

Prof. Nitin J. Sanghavi

Independent and Non-Executive Director

Prof. Nitin J. Sanghavi, 64, is the Independent and Non-Executive

Director of our Company. He holds Bachelor’s from Saurashtra

University, Master’s and PhD from The University of Manchester. He is

a Professor of Retail Marketing and Strategy at Manchester Business

School, The University of Manchester. He brings to our Board immense

wisdom as an educator and experience in retailing of over 31 years. He

has held senior positions in buying, merchandising, operations and

commercial areas for major organizations in UK and overseas. Since joining MBS he has

directed and taught on many executive programmes for major retail and related organizations

as well as FMCG organization and financial institutions from UK, USA, Asia and Middle

East. He has also held a number of visiting appointments at universities around the world,

including Japan, Australia, France, Switzerland; as well as Visiting Scholar/Professor at

Harvard Business School and now at IIMA and Great Lakes Institute of Management in

India,

Mr. Govind Shrikhande

Customer Care Associate & Managing Director

Mr. Govind Shrikhande, 51, is the Managing Director of our

Company. He is a graduate of Technology from Veermata Jijabai

Technological Institute (VJTI), Mumbai, and is a management

graduate from Symbiosis Institute of Business Management,

Pune. Mr. Shrikhande has been with our Company for more than eleven years and has played

a key role in our Company’s growth from 7 stores in 2000 to 73 stores (including HomeStop

stores) till date. He was also instrumental in re-branding initiative of the Department Store

format – Shopper’s Stop in the year 2008, which reinvigorated the brand market positioning,

product and service offerings

Chapter 4 - MARKETING STRATEGIES.

Segmentation, targeting, and positioning together comprise a three stage. Process which

Shopper’s stop follows:

a. Determine which kinds of customers exist,

b. Select which ones we are best off trying to serve,

c. Implement our segmentation by optimizing our products/services for that segment and

communicating that we have made the choice to distinguish ourselves that way.

SEGMENTATION:

Segmentation involves finding out what kinds of consumers with different needs exist. In the

apparel market, for example, some consumers of Shoppers’ stop demand latest fashion, while

others are much more concerned about comfort and price. In general, it holds true that “You

can’t be all things to all people,” and experience has demonstrated that firms that specialize in

meeting the needs of one group of consumers over another tend to be more profitable.

Several different kinds of variables can be used for segmentation:-

1. Demographic variables essentially refer to personal statistics such as income, gender,

education, location (rural vs. urban, East vs. West),ethnicity, and family size. Tommy

Hilfiger, for instance, has found the most of their buyer is associated with elite group thus,

you get a different product in the same cans at the East and West coasts. Facing flat sales of

“peter England” dominated market, a manufacturer came out with this the Madura, f&l a

more compact, taking this a step further, it is also possible to segment on lifestyle and

values.”

2. Some consumers want to be seen as similar to others, while a different segment wants

to stand apart from the crowd e.g.; Calvin Klein & fcuk ,Tommy Hilfiger etc.

3. Another basis for segmentation is behavior. Some consumers are “brand loyal”

4. One can also segment on benefits sought, essentially bypassing demographic

explanatory variables. Some consumers, for example, like the product of “Black berry”

because it’s more comfortable while others prefer the brand like Arrow & Allen Solly. Some

consumers use cloth to hide the body while other uses it for the status & fashion.

TARGETING:

1. In the next step, we decide to target one or more segments. Our choice should

generally depend on several factors:-

Firstly: - How well are existing segments served by other manufacturers? It will be more

difficult to appeal to a segment that is already well served than to one whose needs are not

currently being served well.

Secondly: - How large is the segment, and how can we expect it to grow?

Thirdly:- Shoppers stop target to the elite group of people which is higher income group

mainly but in some way it also target to the middle group as well.

POSITIONING:

Positioning involves implementing our targeting. Shoppers stop has done there positioning by

introducing foreign brand such as FCUK, CK Jens and Tommy Hilfiger etc.

MARKETING MIX

Main Aspects of Marketing Mix

The easiest way to understand the main aspects of marketing is through its more famous

synonym of "4Ps of Marketing". The classification of four Ps of marketing includes

marketing strategies of product, price, placement and promotion.

PRODUCT:

In simpler terms, product includes all features and combination of goods and related services

that a company offers to its customers. Product is the most important aspect of marketing mix

for two main reasons. First, for manufacturers, products are the market expression of the

company’s productive capabilities and determine its ability to link with consumers. So

product policy and strategy are of prime importance to an enterprise, and product decisions

dictate the scope and direction of company activity.

Secondly, it is imperative to realize that the product of any organization is both a component

and a determinant of the marketing mix. as the Shopper’s stop are of high quality & cater to

all elite group of people like CALVIN KLEIN,FCUK,TOMMY HILFIGHER,ALLEN

SOLLY etc.

PRICING:

Pricing is basically setting a specific price for a product or service offered. In simplistic to the

concept of price as the amount of money that customers have to pay to obtain the product.

Setting a price is not something simple. Normally it has been taken as a general law that a

low price will attract more customers. It is not a valid argument as customers do not respond

to price alone; they respond to value so a lower price does not necessarily mean expanded

sales if the product is not fulfilling the expectation of the customers. Generally pricing

strategy under marketing mix analysis is divided into two parts: price determination and price

administration (ibid). Price determination is referred to as the processes and activities

employed to arrive at a price for a product including consideration of relative prices of

products within the same line, and differences in price for similar products of differing grades

and qualities. “ Shopper’s stop follows premium pricing strategy that is selling high quality

products at the higher price”.

PLACE:

Place under marketing mix involves all company activities that make the product available to

the targeted customer while planning placement strategy under marketing mix analysis. E.g.

location of Shoppers’s stop in all the metros is on premium place in the like Garuda mall in

Bangalore.

PROMOTION:

Promotional strategies include all means through which a company communicates the

benefits and values of its products and persuades targeted customers to buy them. E.g.

Shoppers stop communicate to customers through news paper, fm, hoarding etc.

Limitation of Marketing Mix Analysis (4Ps of Marketing)

Despite the fact that marketing mix analysis is used as a synonym for the 4Ps.Of Marketing,

it is criticized on the point that it caters seller's view of market analysis not customers view.

To tackle this criticism, attempted to match 4Ps of marketing with 4 Cs of marketing to

address consumer views:

Product – Customer Solution

Price – Customer Cost

Placement – Convenience

Promotion – Communication

RETAIL MIX:

1. Merchandise assortment

The company was looking for a solution that would bring all of its businesses and processes

together. After a comprehensive evaluation of different options and software companies, the

management at Pantaloon decided to go in for SAP.

Some of the qualities of SAP retail solutions are that it supports product development, which

includes ideation, trend analysis, and collaboration with partners in the supply chain; sourcing

and procurement, which involves working with manufacturers to fulfill orders according to

strategic merchandising plans and optimize cost, quality, and speed–variables that must be

weighted differently as business needs, buying plans, and market demand patterns change

managing the supply chain, which involves handling the logistics of moving finished goods

from the source into stores and overseeing global trade and procurement requirements; selling

goods across a variety of channels to customers, which requires marketing and brand

management; managing mark-downs and capturing customer reactions, analyzing data, and

using it to optimize the next phase of the design process.

2. Place

In the channels of distribution, the physical facilities point of location.

3. Price; premium price

4. Visual merchandising

Visual merchandising supports:-

a) Sales

b) Retail Strategies

c) Communicates with Customers

d) Communicates Image

e) supports retailing trends.

Visual merchandising includes:-

1. Interior merchandising

➢Sufficient visual merchandizing within the store that included danglers, signage, standees,

distribution of pamphlets, which gave details of the offer. Display, point of purchase, fixture,

equipment and furnishings store layout.

➢Product packaging and labels.

2. Exterior merchandising

➢Hoarding in the big metros & staff with announcements about the offer to make people

aware.

➢Store atmosphere.

RETAIL PROMOTION MIX

1. ADVERTISING:

Advertising is recognized as an indispensable tool of promotion. It has acquired a lot of

significance in the national and international markets. With the advent of globalization and

liberalization its imperativeness in the Indian retail sector has increased as a result of

competitions, latest technologies, and the rapidly changing consumer lifestyles.

a. Objectives of Advertising:

The fundamental objective of advertising is to sell something –a product, service. The Major

Objectives of advertising are:

1. To promote a new product.

2. To warn the public against imitation of the retailer’s product.

3. To manage competition in the market.

b. Benefits:

I. Advertisement helps in creating awareness among the

ii. Customer about the existence, price, and availability of product.

iii. Increases the utility of existing products.

iv. It educates customer about new product and their diverse uses.

1. PROMOTION:

Promotion can be loosely classified as "above the line" and "below the line "promotion. The

promotional activities carried out through mass media like television, radio, newspaper etc. is

above the line promotion. The terms 'below-the-line' promotion or communications refers to

forms of non-media communication, even non-media advertising. Below-the-line promotions

are becoming increasingly important within the communications mix of many companies, not

only those involved in FMCG products, but also for industrial goods.

BELOW THE LINE SALES PROMOTION

Some of the examples of BTL (bridge to luxury) promotions are by exhibitions, sponsorship

activities, public relations and sales promotions like giving freebies with goods, trade

discounts given to dealers and customers, reduced price offers on products, giving coupons

which can be redeemed later etc. Below the line sales promotions are short-term incentives,

largely aimed at consumers. With the increasing pressure on the marketing team to achieve

communication objectives more efficiently in a limited budget, there has been a need to

find out more effective and cost efficient ways to communicate with the target markets. This

has led to a shift from the regular media based advertising.

Methods of below the line sales promotion:-

i. Price promotions

Price promotions are also commonly known as" price discounting". These can be done in two

ways:-

A. A discount to the normal selling price of a product, or more of the product at the

normal price.

B. Price promotions however can also have a negative effect by spoiling the brand

reputation or just a temporary sales boost (during the discounts).

ii. Coupons

Coupons are very versatile, way of offering a discount. Following are the examples of the use

of coupons:-

On a pack to encourage repeat purchase

In coupon books sent out in newspapers allowing customers to redeem the coupon at a

retailer.

A cut-out coupon as part of an advert.

The key objective with a coupon promotion is to maximize the redemption rate – this is the

proportion of customers actually using the coupon. It must be ensured when a company uses

coupons that the retailers must hold sufficient stock to avoid customer disappointment. Use of

coupon promotions is often best for new products or perhaps to encourage sales of existing

products that are slowing down.

iii. Gift with purchase

The "gift with purchase" is a very common promotional technique. In this, the customer gets

something extra along with the normal good purchased

1) Purchase of ` 5000/- & get the perfume worth ` 2000 /-

2) Buy three trouser of blackberry & get the gift voucher of ` 1000 /-

iv. Competitions and prizes

Shoppers’s stop organize the event on the eve of new year that sing 6 songs of the same

starting word in 2 minutes get the ` 1000 of gift voucher.

v. Money refunds

Here, a customer receives a money refund after submitting a proof of purchase to the

manufacturer. Customers often view these schemes with some suspicion – particularly if the

method of obtaining a refund looks unusual.

vi. Frequent user / loyal incentives

Repeat purchases may be stimulated by frequent user incentives.

vii. Point-of-sale displays

A data collection system that electronically receives and stores bar code information derived

from a sales transaction. This could the zip codes for library users, facilitating the library in

determining geographic market are that users reside in. Most of the big brands are following

the suit of BT promotion because of rising prices of media based promotion, advertising

clutter and increased impulse purchasing.

BTL promotions are gaining popularity among all big companies nowadays considering their

effectiveness because of the "individual customer promotion" at a price, which is much lesser

than the normal media promotions.

PERSONAL SELLING:

Persuasive communication between representative of the company and one or more

prospective customers, designed to influence the person's or group's purchase decision.

PUBLICITY OF PRODUCT:

Publicity non-personal communication in news story form about an organization, its products

or both, that is transmitted through a mass medium at no charge.

PUBLIC RELATION:

Public relations the planned and sustained effort to establish and maintain goodwill and

mutual understanding between an organization and its target publics.

LOGISTICS:

Logistics is the art and science of managing and controlling the flow of goods, energy,

information and other resources like products, services and people from the source of

production to the marketplace. It’s Important to have professional logistical support

logistical. The operating responsibility of logistics is the geographical repositioning of raw

materials, work in process and finished inventories where required at the lowest cost possible.

SUPPLY CHAIN:

Supply chain, is a coordinated system of organizations, people, activities, information and

resources involved in moving a product or service in physical or virtual manner from supplier

to customer. Supply chain activities transform raw materials and components into a finished

product that is delivered to the end customer.

COMPETITORS

Shoppers stop operates in a competitive environment. For each line of business, they face

competition from established national and regional companies. In the fashion segment, they

probably face competition from pantaloon, Trent and Lifestyle. The hypermarket business is

relatively new, being just about three to four years old in the country. Shoppers stop faces

competition from the likes of RPG (Spencer’s), Trent (Star India Bazaar) .

MAJOR PROBLEMS

Employee Turnover

E –commerce

Auditing

Economic challenge

Technology

FUTURE PLANS OF THE ORGANISATION:-

Shoppers' Stop aims to leverage brick and mortar strength news Retail major Shoppers' Stop

Ltd has just launched its virtual store “shoppersstop.com. The website, apart from selling the

usual wares --apparel, books, gift articles, toys -- will also hawk flowers and furniture, not

stocked by the company's brick and mortar chain due space constraints. The virtual store will

be a boon for people who want to send gifts to their loved ones living and within and without

the city. Expecting sizeable business from this segment, Shoppers' Stop is tying up with

support service providers to overcome the myriad complexities involved in logistics and

back-end operations. Says the company's general manager “information systems, Anish Shah.

"We have made arrangements for logistics, payment gateways and call centers for goods

ordered over the website." However, virtual store transactions will be initially restricted to the

cities where the company has its brick & mortar outlets. Interestingly, the `virtual store' -- a

Net-enabled computer -- will be there in every Shoppers' Stop store, enabling a shopper to

order on the web, specifying the place of delivery after seeing the goods in the physical store.

Shoppers ‘Stop, the first retail chain in India to invest on an ERP package, is again investing

heavily on software. This time around, the company is buying a software package called

Arthur Planning, and a data warehousing solution from JDA, USA from which it bought the

ERP package. "Arthur Planning is useful in measuring the stock position at the store shelf

level and for auto replenishment of the shelves," Mr. Shah explains. It may be recalled that

the Raheja's acquired 51 percent equity stake in Crossword store some time back. According

to Mr. Nagesh, this format will be implemented in all future stores. In Mumbai, Shoppers'

Stop has tied up with Planet M (of the Times of India Group) for music retailing. Responding

to the query of why he is not looking at contract management of stores on a profit sharing

basis (similar to the practice in the hotel industry),thereby saving heavy outlays and achieving

faster brand growth, Mr. Nagesh replies, "We are still on the learning curve with lot of things

still to be mastered."

Understanding of the consumer behavior

Consumer behavior can be the prominent aspect in any business but in retail sector it is very

important because we have to deal with customer every day& we have to be on the front to

sell the product & to get profit for the company by increasing the bottom line of the company.

To understand the consumer behavior we need to observe the customer closely & know about

them about these:

I. What they want

ii. How much they want to pay for that

iii. Whom they seek for the information

iv. Who can influence their decision?

V. From where they manage the money

vi. How they spend money

vii. What location they choose for the purchase

viii. Are they innovators, majority, laggard

ix. Are they satisfied with the product?

x. Are they getting after sell service that can be very crucial?

BUYING PROCESS

a. NEED RECOGNITION:

The customer first points out the things which he need. His good part of Income is spending

on things of his daily requirement.

b. INFORMATION SEARCH:

Before purchasing of a product, customer research internally and externally. Internally-

retrieving information about similar purchase made earlier, decision about choice criteria,

brand included, or advertisement related to the product. Externally- source such as family,

friends, commercial sources, etc.

c. EVALUATION OF ALTERNATIVES:

Before, purchasing customer looks for the alternatives of that product. Customer goes for

good quality in cheapest rate.

d. PURCHASES:

Purchaser many times faces cognitive dissonance which arises due to uncertainty of making

right decision. This is because choice of one product often means rejection of attractive

features of the alternatives.

e. AFTER PURCHASE EVALUATION:

Customer by using the product comes to know about the real value of product.

CONCLUSION:

It should be considered that shopper’s stop targets every class. Thus we know that different

people have different thinking style.

Most of their buying decisions or his behavior depends on his:-

a. PERCEPTION:

Perception is the process by which a customer makes sense of information that he receives.

Therefore, it is to be tried that customer receives the right information about every product

and about its scheme, because a single error in communication to customer can create

confusion to him and he may not buy the product.

b. LEARNING:

It is the change in the content or organization of long time memory and is a result of

information processing. Thus company should try to hit the customer’s memory. I.e.

Company should have good impression on the memory of the customer. As this memory acts

as a internal information source in the decision making process.

c. MOTIVATION:

Motivation helps a lot to maintain loyal customers. A customer is loyal only when he sees

any extra benefits. Thus discounts, free gifts, free coupons, etc such schemes motivate them a

lot. Many times, good quality of the product, reasonable prices, packaging, etc also works as

motivational tool.

d. PERSONALITY:

Personality can be of many types as introvert-extrovert, sociable-loner, and Competitive-

cooperative. Brand personality is the characterization of brands as perceived by customers.

Brand may be as ‘for young’ like branded jeans of Levi’s, Lee, ck, etc. that Shoppers stop has

got in its portfolio.

CUSTOMER LOYALITY AND PROFITABILITY:

Relationship between loyalty and profitability should be decided on the basis of loyal

customers that are really profitable for company. The loyal customers are believed to be cost

less to serve, they are willing to pay more than other customers and act as a word- of- mouth

promoters for the company. It is believed that one sure way to earn greater profits is to win

loyalty of customers.

TO GET THE RIGHT POSITIONING DONE OF THE PRODUCT UNDER

SCHEME:

It is the customer’s beliefs about the company’s product being of, say, high quality, or low

price, or durable, etc. Thus it is very necessary that product should be according to the

customers need. It should not be damaged, in store product should be given open facing. For

pack of two the products were given alternate 4 facing. I.e., one row of single and other row

of double.

TO MAINTAIN STOCK ON THE FLOOR:

In retail stores less stock is maintained. This stock on other hand is sufficient enough to fulfill

the demand of that vary product in store.

To know the exact amount to be maintained on floor it is very necessary to know:-

a. Product facing

b. Capability to maintain stock in warehouse

c. Demand of the product.

d. Profit margin on the product.

INVENTORY CONTROL:

Since inventory represents cost, managers seek stock minimization. To always have in stock

every conceivable item that a customer might order would normally be prohibitively

expensive for companies marketing many items.

One solution is to separate items into those that are in high demand and those that are is slow

moving. Two related inventory decisions are knowing when and how much to order so that

stocks are replenished. This is because there is a lead time between ordering and receiving

inventory, and there should not be stock out as the company is waiting for the order items to

arrive. The more variable the lead time and higher will be the safety or buffer stock that the

company will be required to keep to prevent a stock out.

How to work on bar code tender

Labels which shows price of product after giving the discount on that product. Bar tender is

the software by which we use to take out the bar codes.

Process:-

a. To select items according to their EAN numbers Include for export exit enter.

b. No. of quantity done.

c. Now go to next program of print select the items; ok

Shoppers ‘Stop basically follows 2 marketing strategies:

1. Guerrilla marketing

Guerrilla marketing is an unconventional system of promotions that relies on time, energy

and imagination rather than a big marketing budget. Typically, guerrilla marketing tactics are

unexpected and unconventional; consumers are targeted in unexpected places, which can

make the idea that's being marketed memorable, generate buzz, and even spread virally.

Guerilla Marketing involves unusual approaches such as intercept encounters in public

places, street giveaways of products, pr stunts, any unconventional marketing intended to get

maximum results from minimal resources. More innovative approaches to Guerilla marketing

now utilize cutting edge mobile digital technologies to really engage the consumer and create

a memorable brand experience. Principles of guerrilla marketing Guerrilla Marketing is

specifically geared for the small business and entrepreneur. It should be based on human

psychology instead of experience, judgment, and guesswork. Instead of money, the primary

investments of marketing should be time, energy, and imagination. The primary statistic to

measure your business is the amount of profits, not sales. The marketer should also

concentrate on how many new relationships are made each month. Create a standard of

excellence with an acute focus instead of trying to diversify by offering too many diverse

products and services. Instead of concentrating on getting new customers, aim for more

referrals, more transactions with existing customers, and larger transactions. Forget about the

competition and concentrate more on cooperating with other businesses. Guerrilla Marketers

should always use a combination of marketing methods for a campaign. Use current

technology as a tool to empower your business.

2. Interactive marketing

Interactive marketing is a strategies adopted by then retailers where they allow customers to

customize the product as per their preference. This strategy is mainly followed by service

industries like hotels but Shoppers ‘Stop is able to carve out this facility in a retail store.

The concept that has already made a debut at Shoppers‘ Stop outlets in Mumbai, allows

customers who are referred to as guests to go through various stages of activity in creating

their own teddy bear (or other stuffed toy), including choosing a stuffed animal, stuffing it,

giving it a heart, stitching, fluffing, naming and dressing it. And though the toys are priced at

a premium level ranging between Rs 595 and Rs 1,295 for a stuffed animal and add-ons such

as sound chips, clothes and accessories coming at extra cost

ERP:

Shoppers ‘Stop were the first few retailers to use scanners and barcodes and completely

compute raising its operations. Today it is one of the few stores in India to have retail ERP

(Enterprise resource planning) in place, which is the best retail planning system in the world.

With the help of the ERP, they are able to open new stores faster and get information about

merchandise and customers online, which reduces the time in taking quick decision.

SCM:

Understanding the importance of distribution and logistics in ensuring that merchandise is

available on the shop floors has led Shoppers ‘Stop to streamline its supply chain. The

company has developed process manuals for each part of the logistics chain. These modules

include vendor management, purchase order management, stock receiving systems, purchase

verification and inventory buildup, fixing of price and store tags, dispatch of stocks to the

retail floor and forwarding of bills for payment. If we talk about various brands then the

answer is that they have a direct tie ups with different companies and companies deliver all

the needed products to their door-step means deliver all the goods to every shopper‘s stop

showroom. But there are some companies which do not provide them these services so for

those they have their own carrier.

Controllable & Uncontrollable Factors

Controllable & Uncontrollable factors are those which are directly or indirectly affect the

retail outlet. The difference between these two factors is that one can be controlled by the

retailer and another cannot be controlled. The variables which are controllable can be change

according to the retailers but if we talk about uncontrollable factors then the retailer have to

change him/her according to those factors. There are various Controllable & Uncontrollable

Factors. When we ask about these factors to the employee of Shopper‘s Stop, he told us the

following important things:

S.W.O.T. ANALYSIS

Strengths:

First Citizens: Our First Citizens Club has continued to be one of the main strengths of our

business. In the year gone by the programme has exceeded the 2 million mark in

memberships, making it one of the largest loyalty membership programmes in the country

across sectors. The company continues to believe that its loyalty programme is not only a

source of substantial competitive advantage, but is also a very strong strategic tool. Your

company believes that its First Citizens will continue to drive its growth by increased average

expenditure in our stores which will be aided by targeted promotional activities.

Strong focus on Systems & Processes: We continue to invest in our front and back end

processes and systems. The company believes that continuous investment in people, process

and technology will drive sustainable and profitable growth for the company. We have in the

past year, undertaken a number of new investments in the back end and continue to upgrade

our current information technology capabilities and processes.

Strong distribution and logistics network and supply chain: We have created as strong

distribution and logistics network, with our four Distribution Centers covering more than

350,000 square feet handling over 400,000 SKUs per year, and working 24x7. The company

believes that the "hub - and-spoke" model followed by it for its distribution network, will

stand it in good stead for the expansion envisaged in the forthcoming years.

Enhancing our Human capital: We continue to assess our Customer Care Associates(CCAs)

across all levels through assessment centers to identify competency gaps and use

development inputs (i.e. training, job rotation etc.) to bridge them. We continue to benchmark

our compensation and benefits through consultants, with the best in the industry to pay our

associates accordingly.

Strong understanding of the real estate business: We benefit from our Promoters ‘association

with the real estate business and their relationships with developers, which have helped us

acquire preferred properties at competitive rates.

Shopping Experience: The Company pioneered the departmental store format in the Indian

market when the Indian consumer was deprived of choice. Customers were drawn by the

shopping experience. This is the differentiation that the Company continues to bank on. Price

is not essentially a differentiator for the Company, shopping experience is. The Company

imparts special training to its employees to ensure that service is not compromised on. The

company's store positioning in the "bridge to luxury “segment clearly sets apart its stores

from those of the rest of the industry players.

Management Strength & Corporate Governance: The Company has a professional and well-

established management team, headed by Mr. Govind Shrikhande. Furthermore, the

Company’s unwavering focus on good corporate governance has been a beacon for the

industry. Our internal and external auditors are amongst the Big 4 audit firms of the globe.

The Board has 5 independent Directors.

Strong bargaining strength: Having been in existence for so many years and due to its strong

brand image, the Company believes that it is well placed in negotiations/re-negotiations of

property rentals, better commercials terms with merchandise suppliers etc. The Company has

successfully grown gross margins year on year.

Risks and Concerns

Execution: We believe the key risk to our growth is execution risk. The next wave of

expansion is expected to happen over the next 36 months and the timely execution of this

expansion will be critical. The Company has a strong execution team and we believe, it has

the capability to execute varied retail formats.

Employee retention: With the Indian economy back on a growth path and consumption back

on track, the Company believes that employee satisfaction and retention will become very

important. The demand for experienced personnel in modern retail will only increase in the

near term and long-term. Your Company believes that this problem will persist until the

industry reaches a steady growth phase.

Delay in store delivery: Majority of the new stores planned are in malls and any delays in the

construction of the malls will delay the company's retail expansion plan. However, the

Company has built up a robust pipeline of future stores and believes that delays will not

materially affect expansion.

Pressure on retail lease rentals: Rent is one of the largest components in a retail business'

fixed costs, and the case is no different for the Company. Rentals are expected to harden once

again in the near term.

Government levies: Retail is currently not viewed as an industry in India. Hence there are

certain levies/cascading effect of taxes on the business which are proving to be a very large

burden as there are no modes for the industry to recover or pass on these levies. The recent

levy of excise duty on readymade garments is also a cause of concern. Delay in the roll out of

the GST regime is also a matter of concern.

Investee Companies: The Company has invested in other entities and lower than expected

returns from these entities will have an impact on the cash flows and consolidated results of

the company.

Opportunities:

Geographical reach: Your Company continues to increase its Pan-India footprint and is

expecting to launch into its next expansion phase in the next 36 months. The Company’s

strategy to increase the number of departmental stores, and therefore improve city wise

penetration in new cities, increase market share in existing cities through additional new

stores in those cities, and new stores in tier II cities, remains unchanged.

Hyper city: The Company has acquired 32% of the equity share capital of Hypercity Retail

(India) Ltd. on June 30, 2010. Pursuant to the said acquisition, Hyper city Retail (India) Ltd.

has become 51% subsidiary of the Company. The hypermarket segment continues to be a

high growth segment in the country. We believe that the scope for hypermarkets in India is

immense and Hyper City will be a significant growth engine for the Company. The stores run

by Hyper City have shown very impressive performance in the year gone by.

Format diversification and expansion: Your Company, in its constant endeavor to capture

wallet share, has diversified into multiple formats via, HomeStop which retails hard and soft

furnishings. Crossword for books, music and stationery, MAC. Which retails high end

cosmetic products, Clinique which retails skin care products, MotherCare which retails infant

and kids merchandise and airport retailing, by tying up with The Nuance Group AG of

Switzerland. The Company has also made a successful foray into internet retailing through its

e-retailing portal. The company will continue to focus and expand these formats.

Preferred partner for foreign players: Your Company believes that by virtue of its presence

across all lifestyle categories in the departmental format, it's strong brand value and its

presence in the books and music segment, it is best placed to bring in international brands

into the country, there by enriching the product bouquet for its customers and in turn

increasing opportunities for product diversification and profit enhancement.

Threats:

Economic slowdown: Economic slowdowns have a direct impact on consumption. Retail,

being the "last mile" in the supply/value chain, is bound to face difficulties in an environment

of economic slowdown.

Threat of new entrants: With India continuing to be an attractive retail market, the Company

expects many new entrants into the sector, thus increasing competition.

Competitive rivalry in the industry: There is intense rivalry among leading national retailers

for new locations and quality real estate. This will further sharpen in the coming 2 years as

the established players will focus on growth. The company believes that it has a robust

pipeline of stores for future expansion.

Due to the sheer volume of people visiting retails outlets coupled with easy access, retail is

considered as a soft target and hence more prone to terror attacks as compared to others.

Marketing:

Our brand philosophy of 'Start Something New' was translated into our brand campaign,

which was themed at voicing the Urban Social Concerns of environment, health, road &

public transport, amongst others. At the same time the campaign portrayed the high fashion

brand imagery of Shoppers Stop. Taking the brand philosophy a step further, we initiated the

'Start Something New Today' campaign in key markets like Mumbai, New Delhi and

Bengaluru. This campaign is a series of small Ads that are published every Thursday on page

3 of key city supplements of a leading publication in these cities. These ads provide

interesting fashion/shopping tips to the customers every week, which are also highlighted at

the physical stores through Visual Merchandising.

We continued with our exclusive retail arrangements for merchandise licensing with

Vodafone-Essar for their brand mascot - Zoozoo. In our endeavor to provide unique

merchandise, we also tied-up with the film 'Break Ke Baad' starring Imran Khan and Deepika

Padukone and gave a chance to our customers to emulate the fashion depicted in the film.

This year we also continued with category-based promotions like the Denim Fest, Watch Out

festival. Foot fair. Stares & Glares, Glitter & Glam to name a few. These festivals focused

on offers that were available across all brand available in our store for the particular category.

Customer engagement became the big highlight of this year with innovative initiatives in

Social Media Marketing. Various contests on this space have ensured that Shoppers Stop

enjoys a large number of LIKES, more than 7 lakhs on Facebook. Shoppers' Stop is also

active on other platforms such as Twitter, Foursquare and You Tube.

Risk Management and Internal Control:

Effective governance consists of competent management; implementation of standard

policies and processes; maintenance of an appropriate audit programme with internal control

environment effective risk monitoring and management information systems (MIS).

The Company has an integrated approach for management of risk and has formulated the

framework for regulatory and risk management, standardizing the definition of internal

controls.

It also provides a framework for risk management and regulatory compliance, which requires

risk assessments and related policies, a control-based environment and activities, information

and communication procedures, and a monitoring mechanism for the control environment.

The Company has a sound system of Internal Controls for financial reporting of various

transactions, efficiency of operations and compliance with relevant laws and regulations

commensurate with its size and nature of business. The Company has a well-defined system

of management reporting and periodic review of businesses to ensure timely decision-

making.

These internal control procedures ensure the following:

Efficient use and protection of resources.

Compliance with policies, procedures and statutes.

Accuracy and promptness of financial reports.

The MIS forms an integral part of the Company's control mechanism. All operating

parameters are monitored and controlled, with material deviations from the annual planning

and budgeting and business outlook including capital expenditure reported to the Board on

quarterly basis.

Reports of internal auditors are reviewed by the Audit Committee, and corrective measures

are carried out towards further improvement in systems and procedures and compliance with

Internal Control System. The board also recognizes the work of the auditors as an

independent check on the information received from the management on the operations and

performance of the company.

Human Resources:

For your Company, the Human Resource function has evolved from pure HR to Talent

Management over the last one year. With our focus being on Talent Management - Talent

development and retention were of prime importance over the past year.

Your Company is known for its well-defined and effective module - The Baby Kangaroo

programme which fundamentally develops the front end associates to a managerial roll. This

year we worked with and helped 27 associates cross the bridge from a front end associate

towards a managerial roll. We identified, developed, trained and groomed them to their next

big assignment.

The Managerial and Supervisory Training programme (M.A.S.T) was conducted for 37 days

with the help of internal as well as external trainers. The content was exhaustive and

effective.

Your Company has also redefined the Key Result Areas (KRA's) in a Balanced Score Card

format. The sole objective for doing the same was to categorize the KRA's into financial,

employee, internal process and strategic so that every associate gets a clear idea on their

performance criteria. This ensures that the associate performs to the maximum which results

in personal as well as organizational growth.

With the changing consumer behavior and to bestow good customer service we hired a pool

of Management Trainees through campus placements and also hired students from fashion

institutes and designated them as "CCA & Fashion Assistants".

The focus on Learning & Development has been an ongoing and integral part of the

organization where there has been a 56% growth in training hours extended to associates

across all levels.

MARKETING MIX of Shopper’s Stop

PRODUCT

1. General Products: Shopper’s Stop includes domestic as well as international retail

articles and products

2. Private Label: Shopper Stop has also launched their own private labels such as STOP.

3. Others: In addition to the above, Shopper Stop also does promotional marketing. e.g.

They launched Zoozoo range and also other similar products have been launched. These also

form the part of the Product as SS.

PLACE

1. Shoppers Stop is Indian largest chain of Super Stores and has many stores in whole of

India

2. Shoppers Stop Ltd. Excels in Service quality and the stores of a high class feel which is

different from Big Bazaar or similar stores.

PROMOTION

1. The communication strategy of Shopper’s Stop has been to reach out to the customers in

their own style and language

2. SS uses print as well as OOH media to promote the brand. The brand uses brand

ambassadors like Kareena Kapoor to endorse the brand.

3. The private label STOP is promoted in store through logo and proper placement in the

store adjoin similar national brands

4. Associates itself with Local festivals and events

PRICING

SS has a proper mix of both premium and affordable priced products. The brands are sold at

MRP and lower. The main USP is the choice given to the customer rather than the Price.

Various Pricing Strategies used by Shopper’s Stop are as below

1. Premium Pricing

2. Economy Pricing

3. Psychological Pricing

4. Optional Product Pricing

5. Promotional Pricing

6. Geographical Pricing

7. Value Pricing

Chapter – 5 Competitors

Indian apparel retailers are increasing their brand presence overseas, particularly in developed

markets. While most have identified a gap in countries in West Asia and Africa, some majors

are also looking at the US and Europe. Arvind Brands, Madura Garments, Spykar Lifestyle

and Royal Classic Polo are busy chalking out foreign expansion plans through the

distribution route and standalone stores as well. Another denim wear brand, Spykar, which is

now moving towards becoming a casual wear lifestyle brand, has launched its store in

Melbourne recently. It plans to open three stores in London by 2008-end.

The low-intensity entry of the diversified Mahindra Group into retail is unique because it

plans to focus on lifestyle products. The Mahindra Group is the fourth largest Indian business

group to enter the business of retail after Reliance Industries Ltd, the Aditya Birla Group, and

Bharti Enterprises Ltd. The other three groups are focusing either on perishables and

groceries, or a range of products, or both.

REI AGRO LTD Retail: 6TEN and 6TEN kirana stores

Future Groups-Formats: Big Bazaar, Food Bazaar, Central, Fashion Station, Brand

Factory, Home Town, E-Zone etc.

Raymond Ltd.: Textiles, The Raymond Shop, Park Avenue, Park Avenue Woman,

Parx, Colourplus, Neck Ties & More, Shirts & More etc.

Fabindia: Textiles, Home furnishings, handloom apparel, jewellery, etc.

RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group Retail-Formats: Spencer’s Hyper, Spencer's Daily, Music

World, Au Bon Pain, Beverly Hills Polo Club

The Tata Group-Formats: Westside, Star India Bazaar, Steeljunction, Landmark,

Titan,Tanishq, Croma.

Reliance Retail-Formats: Reliance MART, Reliance SUPER, Reliance FRESH,

Reliance Footprint, Reliance Living, Reliance Digital, Reliance Jewellery, Reliance

Trends, Reliance Autozone, iStore

K Raheja Corp Group-Formats: Shoppers Stop, Crossword, Hyper City, Inorbit

Mall

Nilgiri’s-Formats: Nilgiris’ supermarket chain

Shri Kannan Departmental Store (P) Ltd ., : Groceries, Clothing, Cosmetics

[Western Tamilnadu's Leading Retailer]

Lifestyle International-Lifestyle, Home Centre, Max, Fun City and International

Franchise brand stores.

Pyramid Retail-Formats: Pyramid Megastore, TruMart

Next retail India Ltd (Consumer Electronics)(www.next.co.in)

Vivek Limited Retail Formats: Viveks, Jainsons, Viveks Service Centre, Viveks Safe

Deposit Lockers

PGC Retail -T-Mart India, Switcher, Respect India, Grand India Bazaar,etc.,

Aditya Birla Group- Formats: more., acquired Pantaloon from Future group,

acquired Trinetra (Fabmall and Fabcity)

Vishal Retail Group-Formats: Vishal Mega Mart

BPCL-Formats: In & Out

Shoprite Holdings-Formats: Shoprite Hyper

Paritala stores bazar: honey shine stores

Kapas- Cotton garment outlets

AaramShop - a platform which enables hybrid commerce for thousands of

neighborhood stores.

Nmart Retails with 131 operating Stores till now and total 287 Stores in India and 1

to open in DUBAI Shortly and many more in Process Globally (ZAMBIA,

BANGLADESH, SRI LANKA etc.). (Expected to be 500 by the end of 2012)

(www.nmart.co.in)

Gitanjali- Nakshatra, Gili, Asmi, D'damas, Gitanjali Jewels, Giantti, Gitanjali Gifts,

etc.

Chapter 6- FDI IN THE INDIAN RETAIL SECTOR

FDI POLICY IN THE RETAIL SECTOR

India has kept the retail sector largely closed to outsiders to safeguard the livelihood of nearly

15 million small storeowners and only allows 51 per cent foreign investment in single brand

retail with prior Government permission. FDI is also allowed in the wholesale business.

Single-brand retailers such as Louis Vuitton, Fendi, LLadro, Nike and Toyota can operate

now on their own. Metro is already operating through the cash-and-carry wholesale mode.

The policy makers continue to explore areas where FDI can be invited without hurting the

interest of local retail community. Government is considering opening up of the retail trading

for select sectors such as electronic goods, stationery, sports goods, and building equipment.

Foreign direct investment (FDI) in retail space, specialized goods retailing like sports goods,

electronics and stationery is also being contemplated. The Government has to walk a

tightrope to ensure a `level playing field' for everyone.

The policy of permitting 51 per cent FDI in single-brand product retailing has led to the entry

of only a few global brands such as Nike (footwear), Louis Vuitton (shoes, travel accessories,

watches, ties, textiles ready-to wear), Lladro (porcelain goods), Fendi (luxury products),

Damro (knock-down furniture), Argenterie Greggio (silverware, cutlery, traditional home

accessories and gift items) and Toyota (retail trading of cars), into retail trading. A 12-billion

euro French luxury industry is also eyeing the domestic luxury segment to make a presence

through retailing directly

FDI IN RETAIL: OPINION OF OPPOSITION

The Indian Economy is highly regulated and the most significant directive is the restriction of

foreign ownership.

The main fear is that the ingress of MNC Giants like Walmart, Tesco and Carrefour and

E-Commerce will throw the hundreds of thousands of the neighborhood Kirana store

owners out of Business, leading to millions of job losses.

Another concern is with regard to the pricing power of the global retail giants which the

communists say will squeeze out the suppliers and hurt farmers. The left are also worried

that the foreign retail majors will hurt domestic players with the practice of predatory

pricing and become monopolies.

Most of these stores will be focused on major cities and big towns, resulting in a skewed

urban development.