A SUMMER TRAINING PROJECT REPORT ON

Study of Consumer Behavior at Reliance Fresh stores, Ahmedabad

Submitted in partial fulfillment for the award of two years full Time masters Program me in management (2011-2012) Prepared by Bhavya V. Patel ( Enrol: 117340592156) Kushal D. Nathwani (Enrol: 117340592030) Submitted to GTU

Certificates

Acknowledgment

The Summer Internship project at Reliance Retail Ltd. has been a quantum leap in terms of practical survey understanding and above all self confidence. In particular, We would like to thank to Mr. Kishan Sata senior H.R Manager Reliance Retail who gave us the opportunity to do our project training in Reliance Retail Ltd. & without whose facilitation and cooperation, this project would not have been so fulfilling. We would like to take this opportunity to thank our project guide Mrs. Mona Bhandari state head, Customer Relation manager (Gujarat) for this guidance and for keeping us on track through her expertise in the field of knowing customer behavior. We would also like to thank Prof Vaishali joshi, mentor for her support throughout the project period.

Preface

Reliance Retail Ltd. gave us the opportunity to undergo practical summer training in their organization. We have done specific project on The Study of Retail marketing Strategy used by Reliance retail during my Training period. The project report contains all the study covered in the project. The project helped us a lot to learn regarding the practical aspects of research on consumer buying behavior in retail sector. We are thankful to Reliance Retail Ltd. for giving us such an opportunity which would be beneficial and helpful to me in future.

Executive Summary

We have done this project at Reliance Retail Ltd., Ahmadabad as a part of our summer internship program. Reliance Retail Ltd. is one of the biggest retailers in the organization in India. Our project was completely on the Consumer buying behaviour in the organized as well in the unorganized retail market in India. The different range of the products plays an important role in increasing footfall of the consumers in the store of Reliance Fresh.

INDEX OF CONTENTS 1) 1.1) 1.2) 1.3) 1.4) 2) 2.1) 2.2) 2.3) 2.4) 2.5) 3) 3.1) 3.2) 4) 5) 6) 7) Industry overview History Growth and development Performance and other statistical data Major players in retail field in India Company overview History Growth and development Performance and other data Detailed department overview SWOT analysis Research methodology Literature review Methodology Data analysis and interpretation Findings, recommendation and conclusion Bibliography Appendix 7 7 9 13 16 17 17 18 19 20 43 44 44 51 53 63 68 69

1) 1.1) History

Industry overview

RELIANCE COMPANY PROFILE RELIANCE GROUP

The Reliance Group, founded by Dhirubhai H. Ambani (1932-2002), is India's largest private sector enterprise, with businesses in the energy and materials value chain. Group's annual revenues are in excess of USD 27 billion. The flagship company, Reliance Industries Limited, is a Fortune Global 500 company and is the largest private sector company in India. Backward vertical integration has been the cornerstone of the evolution and growth of Reliance. Starting with textiles in the late seventies, Reliance pursued a strategy of backward vertical integration - in polyester, fibre intermediates, plastics, petrochemicals, petroleum refining and oil and gas exploration and production - to be fully integrated along the materials and energy value chain. The Group's activities span exploration and production of oil and gas, petroleum refining and marketing, petrochemicals (polyester, fibre intermediates, plastics and chemicals), textiles and retail. Reliance enjoys global leadership in its businesses; The Group exports products in excess of USD 15 billion to more than 100 countries in the world. There are more than 25,000 employees on the rolls of Group Companies. Major Group Companies are Reliance Industries Limited (including main subsidiaries Reliance Petroleum Limited and Reliance Retail Limited) and Reliance Industrial Infrastructure Limited.

FOUNDER PROFILE "Growth has no limit at Reliance. I keep revising my vision. Only when you can dream it, you can do it."

Dhirubhai H. Ambani Founder Chairman Reliance Group December 28, 1932 - July 6, 2002 BOARD OF LIMITED DIRECTORS OF RELIANCE INDUSTRIES

Mukesh D. Ambani Chairman & Managing Director Nikhil R. Meswani Executive Director Hital R. Meswani Executive Director H.S.Kohli Executive Director

APKA FRESH APKA PADAOS ME Indias Fortune 500 private sector giant, Reliance Industries Ltd, has, in fact, been first off the blocks by launching its first Reliance Fresh outlets in Hyderabad,

1.2) Growth and Development

Reliance fresh is the retail chain division of reliance industries of India which is headed by Mukesh Ambani. Reliance has entered into this segment by opening new retail stores into almost every metropolitan and regional area of India. Reliance plans to invest rs 25000 crores in the next 4 years in their retail division and plans to begin retail stores in 784 cities across the country. The reliance fresh supermarket chain is rils rs 25,000 crore venture and it plans to add more stores across different g, and eventually have a pan-India footprint by year 2011. The super marts will sell fresh fruits and vegetables, staples, groceries, fresh juice bars and dairy products and also will sport a separate enclosure and supply-chain for non-vegetarian products. Besides, the stores would provide direct employment to 5 lakh young Indians and indirect job opportunities to a million people, according to the company. The company also has plans to train students and housewives in customer care and quality services for part-time jobs. Reliance Fresh will ` Forge strong and lasting bonds with millions of farmers and will transform the relationship with customers to a new level Offer unmatched affordability, quality, convenience, service and choice Offer our customers the widest range of fruit and vegetables at the best prices in the neighborhood Provide for the daily needs of our customers by offering staples, grocery and household products at great prices Offer consistent high quality, unbeatable freshness and great service so that our Customers know that we can be trusted every day. The main aim is to provide good quality products in lower price & customer service & customer satisfaction. Reliance Industries launched its first retail format called Reliance Fresh in Hyderabad. Spread over 2,000-5,000 sq ft, 11 such Reliance Fresh neighborhood convenience stores were come up in the city.

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Branches: Chennai, New Delhi, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Mumbai, Chandigarh, Ludhiana, Orissa, Karnatka UP West Bengal Jharkhand

Reliance is gearing up to revolutionize the retailing industry in India. Towards this end, we are aggressively working on introducing a pan-India network of retail outlets in multiple formats. A world class shopping environment, state of art technology, a seamless supply chain infrastructure, a host of unique value-added services and above all, unmatched customer experience, is what this initiative is all about The retail initiative of Reliance will be without a parallel in size and spread and make India proud. Ensuring better returns to Indian farmers and manufacturers and greater value for the Indian consumer, both in quality and quantity, will be an integral feature of this project. By creating value at all levels, we will actively endeavor to contribute to India's growth

Product range of reliance fresh

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Vegetables and fruits: this is the specialty of the store as they provide fresh fruits and vegetables at a rate lower than the market price. Households Items: In the stores we can get items which are at slight premium rate than market price, but usually of high quality. Food and Beverages: This area of the product line they stock all the premier brands and also their private label. Groceries: In this sector reliance is promoting its private label as they are promoting their own brands and they do the packaging of the product and then label it privately and then sell it at premium as compared it to the loose items. Dairy Products: The dairy products in some locations are procured from the farmers themselves and some places they procure it from the manufacturers. Refrigerated products: This product line is dominated by the brands available in market and very less private labeling is done. Non food items: Here we get many petty non food items at a premium than market price. Reliance Fresh would carry fresh fruits and vegetables, staples, top-up grocery, non-food items and dairy products and a whole lot of other categories at very competitive prices. All the stores opened have an average area of about 1,800 sq ft and an average of about 20 sales associates attending to customers in each store open from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. on all seven days of the week.

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A targeted sales turnover of Rs 90,000 cores (US$ 20 billion) by 2010 with a planned investment of Rs 30,000 cores over the next five years that's the retail vision of Mukesh Ambani and his RIL retail team. RIL's retail venture seems all set to achieve the status of being the flag-bearer of India Retail Inc, and that too in record time!

Retail Will Become Core Business of RIL:

Reliance Industries Limited is the largest and one of the fastest growing private sector companies in India, with business activities encompassing almost all major growth sectors of the Indian economy. The company manufactures and markets a wide range of products with market leadership in almost all its businesses. All of Reliance Group production and services ventures have one common feature global scale operations employing state-of-the-art technology in all fields. The company is truly emerging as a well diversified conglomerate with global competence in technology, management and financial capabilities to meet the needs of a rapidly growing Indian market. With domestic market shares ranging from 40-80 per cent, RIL is also ranked among the top 10 producers globally, for all its major product segments. It is one of India's largest business conglomerates with total revenues of Rs 1, 00,650 crores (US$ 22.6 billion). It is being speculated within the industry that the ROIs made by RIL in the retail space will far out-shadow its existing core flagship businesses and very soon retail will become the core business for the Mukesh Ambani-controlled Reliance empire.

1.3) Performance and other Statically data

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Company plans to have a pan-India presence by opening stores in 784 cities and 600 small towns and achieve a target of Rs.10 billion revenue by 2010 by which time it hopes to complete Phase 1. In the first phase company plans to employ 500,000 people. It is following an all-inclusive model giving the right affordability across all income groups. Company is aggressively partnering farmers by following a farm-to-fork strategy in its supply chain management model and ensures that it delivers fresh fruits and vegetables at affordable prices to consumers. Currently, Reliance Fresh has over 100 stores across the country. Reliance Fresh also offers a membership and loyalty programme - Reliance One to deliver customized benefits to frequent shoppers. Currently, it has 200,000 loyalty customers across Hyderabad, Jaipur and Chennai. Reliance Retail, the 100% subsidiary of Reliance Industries, on October 28 unveiled Reliance Fresh, the first of its multi-format retail foray involving an investment of Rs 25,000 crores. Reliance Fresh is the companys brand for neighborhood fresh-food outlets. It will also sell kitchen equipment and other edibles. The Reliance Fresh supermarket chain is RILs Rs 25,000 crores venture and it plans to add more stores across different geographies, and eventually have a panIndia footprint by year 2011. The super marts will sell fresh fruits and vegetables, staples, groceries, fresh juice bars and dairy products and also will sport a separate enclosure and supply-chain for non-vegetarian products.

Supply Chain Management:

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A supply chain is a network of facilities and distribution options that performs the functions of procurement of materials, transformation of these materials into intermediate and finished products, and the distribution of these finished products to customers. Supply chains exist in both service and manufacturing organizations, although the complexity of the chain may vary greatly from industry to industry and firm to firm.

From the above pictorial representation of supply chain management of reliance fresh it is clear that raw material is procured from vendors, transformed into finished goods in a single step, and then transported to distribution centers, and ultimately, customers. Realistic supply chains have multiple end products with shared components, facilities and capacities. The

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flow of materials is not always along an arbores cent network, various modes of transportation may be considered, and the bill of materials for the end items may be both deep and large

1.4) Major Retailers in India:

In India basically there are 5 major players in the field of retail which are namely: Reliance

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Future Group Tata Group RPG Group A V Birla Group

2) Company Overview Introduction to Reliance Retail

2.1) History With a vision to generate inclusive growth and prosperity for farmers, vendor partners, small shopkeepers and consumers, Reliance Retail Limited (RRL),

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Since its inception in 2006, Reliance Retail Limited (RRL) has grown into an organization that caters to millions of customers, thousands of farmers and vendor. Based on its core growth strategy of backward integration, RRL has made rapid progress towards building and entire value chain starting from the farmers to the end consumers.

In the last year, Reliance Retail Limited (RRL) continued fulfill it s commitment of enriching at an attractive value proposition. More than 3 years into operation, RRL has now expanded its presence in more than 85 cities across 14 states in India. RRL forged ached with now spans a network of more than 1000 stores.

The value formats that RRL operates are: Reliance fresh- A neighborhood concept Reliance Super-A mini-mart concept Reliance Mart- An all under one roof supermarket concept The value formats offer a wide range and assortment of products required for daily household needs.

2.2) Growth and Development

The specialty format that retail operates is: Reliance Digital- a consumer durables & information technology Concept Reliance Trends-an apparel & accessories concept

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Reliance Wellness- a health, wellness & beauty concept Reliance Footprint- a footwear concept Reliance Jewels- a jewellery concept Reliance Timeout- a books, music & entertainment concept Reliance AutoZone- an automotive products & services concept Reliance living-a home ware, furniture, modular kitchens, furnishings concept Store by Reliance Digital- an exclusive Apple products concept RRL rapidly expanded the store network; it operates through strategic partnerships with worldclass companies such as Marks & Spencer and Pearl Europe. RIL also entered into an exclusive distribution arrangement with Asics Corporation Japan to market Asics brands of shoes and accessories in India. RRl has recently opened its flagship store under its franchise agreement with Hamleys and plans to expand the store network in the coming year. RRL has also expanded its presence in business-to-business office supplies through its joint venture with Office Depot. Trough Reliance One, RRls loyalty membership program, RRl enjoys the patronage of over 5.5 million customers.

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2.3) Performance and other data

Reliance Fresh falls under Reliance Industries. It is the first retail venture of the Group. The company offers fresh fruits and vegetables, staples, groceries, fresh juice bars, FMCG products and dairy products and non-vegetarian items. Reliance Industries has invested nearly Rs. 3,000 crores to expand the Reliance Fresh stores. Reliance Fresh directly buys stock from the farmers to cut down on the wastage. The stores work on The Ranger Format which means selling of fresh vegetables to the road sellers. Reliance Retail has signed a pact with Apple for the establishment of a chain of Apple Specialty Stores branded as is tore, starting with Bangalore.

Reliance Fresh is the convenience store format which forms part of the retail business of Reliance Industries of India which is headed by Mukesh Ambani. Reliance plans to invest in excess of Rs 25000 crores in the next 4 years in their retail division. The company already has in excess of 560 reliance fresh outlets across the country. These stores sell fresh fruits and vegetables, staples, groceries, fresh juice bars and dairy products. A typical Reliance Fresh store is approximately 3000-4000 square. feet and caters to a catchment area of 1-2 km.

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2.4) Detailed departmental overview Interpretation and Analysis Analysis Of Store Operations - Presentation Transcript 1. ANALYSIS OF STORE OPERATIONS RELIANCE FRESH 2. RELIANCE FRESH

Reliance Fresh is the convenience store format which forms part Headed by Mukesh Ambani. The company already has in excess of 560 reliance fresh outlets These stores sell fresh fruits and vegetables, staples, groceries, A typical Reliance Fresh store is approximately 3000-4000 Reliance plans to invest in excess of Rs. 25000 crores in the next

of the retail business of Reliance Industries of India.

across the country.

fresh juice bars, dairy products and other FMCG products.

square. feet and caters to a catchment area of 1-2 km.

4 years in their retail division.

3. MERCHANDISE DETAILS

Product width: Fruits, Vegetables, Juices and other FMCG Product length: Fruits and vegetables both Indian and imported FMCG Product length includes detergents, hair products,

Products.

are available.

perfumes, cosmetics, household products etc.

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4. DAILY OPERATIONS OF THE STORE

o Store opens by 5:30 am with the help of guard and the supervisor. o o o o o o Daily indent of fruits, vegetables and milk products reach by 5:30. Merchandise lay by the customer associates and makes the store ready Store manager updates the opening stock. Revises the rate list sent by the head office. Updates the discounts and the promotions on various product Perishable merchandise is put on discount of 20% after 4 pm.

for customers by 6:30am.

categories.

5. DAILY OPERATIONS OF THE STORE

The merchandise is checked properly from time to time by the The house keeping people does the cleaning at least 7 times a Refrigeration and temperature are checked regularly several In the latter half of the day indent of the next day merchandise In the end closing stock is checked and further details of

supervisor.

days span.

times a day by the store manager.

is given by the store manager with the help of the supervisor.

replenishment are forwarded to the head office by the supervisor.

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The cash manager checks the balance and compares it with the The store gets wind up for customers around 10 pm. After all the accounting procedures done the operators shut

sale.

down at 11 pm.

6. STORE OPERATORS

STORE MANAGER VISIUAL MERCHANDISER CATEGORY HEADS SUPERVISIOR CASH MANAGER CUSTOMER ASSOCIATES HOUSE KEEPER GAURDS

7. STORE MANAGER

Every reliance fresh has one store manager. The store manager is appointed by the HR department of the Experience required: At least 4 years in retail. Pay packet ranges from 12k-22k. The undergo a 15 days training sessions before they work on the His working hours are 11 a.m to 9 p.m

Centre Head Reliance Fresh.

floor.

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8. DAILY WORK PROFILE OF STORE MANAGER IN

RELIANCE FRESH

He is responsible for day to day operations of the store. Coordinate with the store supervisors: His work is to give Coordinate with the category heads. Product management, including ordering, receiving, price Full check on the inventory control. Convey about different promotion schemes to the supervisors. Store performance of the day is reported to by him on daily basis To check the closing stock of all the merchandise and give the To handle any customer complaints which are not managed by He has to inspect and manage all the sales record daily, monthly

instructions to the store supervisors.

changes, handling damaged products, and returns.

to the head office.

indent for the next order accordingly.

the supervisors.

and annually

8. VISUAL MERCHANDISER

Every store has a visual merchandiser who has to set up the

merchandise as per the instructions given by the head office.

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Every store is given a set of standard laying patterns which are His work is basically to set the merchandise in order to increase

supposed to be strictly followed.

the sales of the store.

9. DAILY WORK PROFILE OF VISUAL MERCHANDISER

His job is to communicate with store managers to work out the

floor layout and display points, as well as how and what items are to be displayed. It includes:

His work includes moving merchandise, shelving and putting Proper presentation of the merchandise kept. Taking care of the perishable merchandise and keeping it under Proper placements of the promotional schemes and banners on

fixtures.

proper refrigeration's.

daily basis.

10.SUPERVISIOR

Every Reliance Fresh has two supervisors. The supervisor is appointed by the HR department of the Centre Exp. required: At least 2 years in customer service. Pay packet ranges from 8k-12k. The undergo a 20 days training sessions before they work on the His working hours are 8a.m to 11p.m.

Head Reliance Fresh with the help of the store manager.

floor.

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11.DAILY WORK PROFILE OF SUPERVISIOR IN RELIANCE FRESH

Coordinate with the cash manager, customer associates, Keep a check on the stock as well as the expiry dates of the Checks about the stock replenishment and sends details to the Reports to the store manager about day to day activities. Takes care of the customer complaints. He is given incentives to promote products and are also given To keep fruits and vegetables in right temperature and moisture.

housekeeping and security guards and give them instructions.

merchandise.

head office by using the software called SAP.

bonus on crossing sales targets.

12.CASH MANAGER
o o o o o Every reliance fresh has two cash manager. The store manager is appointed by the HR department of the Centre Exp. required: At least 1.5 years in retail. Pay packet ranges from 6k-8k. The undergo a 15 days training sessions before they work on the floor His working hours are 6:30a.m to 11 p.m

Head Reliance Fresh with the help of store manager.

13.WORK PROFILE OF CASH MANAGER IN RELIANCE FRESH

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All the transactions are managed by him. He scans the goods that the consumer wishes to purchase. After

all of the goods have been scanned, the cashier then collects payment for the goods, make change and handout receipts.

The place of his operation is known as Point Of Sale. Software used in Reliance Fresh is called Retail. At the end of their shift, he balances the amount of money they At the end of the day he has to collect the cash and get it

have taken in with the total sales recorded.

deposited with Companys account in ICICI Bank. 14. CUSTOMER ASSOCIATES

Every reliance fresh has 11 customer associates. The store manager the customer associates. Exp. required: 0-6 months. Pay packet ranges from 4.5k-5.5k. His working hours are 6:30a.m to 11 p.m

15.DAILY WORK PROFILE CUSTOMER ASSOCIATES IN RELIANCE FRESH

To set all the fresh merchandise in the store early morning. To put the rate list and price tags on merchandise. To help the customers during their purchase. Inform about the usage of the product and suggest various other To inform customers about various promotional schemes and

alternatives for his need satisfaction.

discounts at the store.

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To check the refrigeration, temperature at which perishable

merchandise is kept.

16.DAILY WORK PROFILE OF HOUSE KEEPING

The house keeping people has the responsibility of the cleanliness and hygiene of the store

Every Reliance Fresh Store has at least two house keepers. Cleaning is done 7 times a day. A regular check on their attendance is kept by the supervisor.

17.DAILY WORK PROFILE OF SECURITY GUARD

Every Reliance Fresh Store has two security guards working in He comes in the morning to help supervisor to open the shop He helps to prevent any kind if theft. He checks the bill of the product purchased. His pay scale in Reliance Fresh is Rs.3000 pm.

two shifts of morning and evening.

and lock it in the morning.

18.DAILY WORK PROFILE OF CATEGORY HEADS

Reliance Fresh has different categories of product hence every There are basically two categories Fruits Vegetables and FMCG

categories has a product head.

Products.

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He helps to lay various promotion schemes and discounts with To inform the store manager about the performance of various

the help of the head office.

products in the store which come under his product categories.

ACTIVITIES GROUPS WITHIN THE STORES Getting Products to Shelf 1) Indenting & Purchase Orders (POs) (a)Indenting DC Delivery:Indenting will be happen after checking stock in the store and goods in transit. Or whenever if required any changes in indenting due to season, weekends or any festivals then the quantity is modified. For branded goods there is a automatic indenting system which is handled by the head office (Mumbai). Delivery of fruit & vegetables is after 48hours after being raised. Indenting for milk and dairy products is delivered after 36 hours.

(b) Raising PO for Bakery

PO (purchase order) for bakery supply is raised in the store and also released to the vendors by the stores. PO on vendors can be raised only once each day & it will be valid for 24 hours.

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2) Receiving:(a) Checking of Delivery in DC

All the Dry DC delivery will be checked by a store staff in the DC staging area before packing and loading. This is to minimize delivery count error and ensure that right quantity is delivered to the stores. Behind this all the activity owner is Store Manager. (b) Receiving Goods in Store: From DC & CPC Receiving indented goods from the DC & CPC as per the delivery schedule. At the time of receiving goods from DC many things which is followed by the SM, ASM,& CSA: Check the seal in front of driver. Note down the air condition temperature. Inspect stocks for transit damages. If any HU (Handling unit) / article is found damaged, excess, or missing noted it on the trip sheet for return to DC. Do the GRN (Goods return note) for the delivery for the actual received quantity.

Stores are not unloading transit damaged stocks. Transit damages will be returned to DC in the same delivery truck.

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 The main focus during goods receiving must be to unload the crates/ cartons from the truck as quickly and safely as possible.

(c) Receiving from Vendors

Procedure for receiving goods directly from vendors. Behind this whole activity owner is store manager/ asst. store manager. Reliance fresh stores indenting specially bakery, beverage and books/magazines and music. SM/ASM Checks: Check the deliveries for quantity, damages and freshness and accept only good products as per shelf life norms. Do not accept any short shelf life or damage quantity from vendor and reduce it from the invoice if required. Remove all expired products from the shelf and get them replaced with fresh product without any GRN for the same. In case of books/magazines and music SM/ASM check bar-codes on the books or music CDs delivered by the vendor & return the unsold items to the vendors. Vendors and store staff check physically check DSD deliveries for damages and freshness and accept only fresh saleable products.

3) Replenishment of goods
(a) Replenish Shelf from Goods Receiving Area Process of moving goods from goods receiving area to the respective bays/freezers/chillers as per the priority fill rule.

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 Frozen products received must have first priority for stacking in the Freezers. Strictly follow FIFO

Place previous stock in the front/top of the shelf. Chilled product received must have second priority after frozen product for stacking in the chillers.

4) Managing Price Changes

(a) Changing SELs for those SKUs where price has been changed. All the changing of SKUs is done by headquarter Mumbai.

5) Managing Plano gram Implementation of changes of Plano gram

The Plano gram indicates the location for each SKU on a shelf. This process describes how to change Plano gram. Changing of Plano gram is wholly managed by headquarter. Headquarter send new Plano gram to store by mail. Changing of fixtures and shelf heights, at Per new Plano gram. The major change of shelf is less than 5 bays. Check quality of stock received as per Plano gram, raise an indent of additional stock if required.

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Stack goods as per Plano gram and readjust SEL to align with the left hand side of the first facing going from the left. All the changes made on shelf to be signed off by store manager. The entire Plano gram to be provided in standard format. Plano gram indicates shelf heights. Plano gram is send to the store at least 2 days in advance of the change. No stock to be displayed on the shelf if it not in the Plano gram. If the F& V section looks empty in the late evening because of stock outs, then store manager may change only the F& V Plano gram in a suitable manner to give appearance of full store.

6) Getting Products from Shelf to customers

(a) Promotion management (setting up the store for new promotions) Store check that all new promotional stock has been received from the DC and the free gift under promotional offer are bundle along with the promotional stock. If the free gift is too large to be accommodated on the shelf the gift should be provided to the customer at the till. Put up new promotional signage above the end cap at the marketing defined locations. ASM/SM briefs the staff at the morning and afternoon meeting on the promotion details. Staff need to be briefed on the following : Details of the promotion Period of the promotion Advantages to the customer

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 Any special arrangements at the till Sales target for the promotion Process for dealing with left over promotion stock If the customer brings the promotion item back for exchange / refund the customer has to bring back the free offer as well. Exception can be made at the customers favour at discretion of store manager.

7) Stock Display Management

Filling up the gaps on the shelves for SKU sold during the day is defined as spot fill. Fill F&V in a similar manner using crates stored in the bottom shelf of the wall racks, below heapers and in back room. Follow FEFO, FIFO rules. In case of F&V, remove the old crates, place the new crates on the racks and then place the older products on top of the newer products FIFO Checking of temperature of chillers and freezers is also a part of SDM.

It is the process of checking and moving stocks to ensure that the older stock gets sold before the newer ones. FEFO / FIFO to be followed for stock rotation for non F&V SKUs. The thing which is strictly followed is removal of damaged part of the F&V will not be carried out at the shop floor under any circumstances. In every store every day employees check for date code check schedule for the day in store perform.

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 Employees removed expired products from the shelves and take them to the back of the store. Employees identify & segregate near expiry products for mark down as per markdown policy and guidelines. Procedure for selling loose staple products to the customer in desired quantity. Procedure for managing the concessionaire in our stores like the Pickles counters, Sweet counters etc. Home delivery: for this there is some procedure which is followed by stores.
Purchase a detailed street map of the local area e.g.

Either map Outline on the map the catchments which fall in 2 Km radius of the store. Prepare a list of roads / building with in that area. They appoint two employees for Home delivery champions (HDC) for order taking, picking and billing. Home delivery associate (HDA) billing and delivery.
There is two type of home delivery which is given

by the RF: Convenience order this is a situation in which the customer has come to the store, picked items, got them billed and then request RF store team to deliver to his residence. The payment in this case for the goods has already been received.

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Phone Orders - This is a situation in which the customer does not carry out the activities of physically picking, billing etc. but places an order on phone by calling either at the store or at the call centre. The payment in this case would be received once the delivery CSA goes to the customer destination and hands over the goods.

Big orders store hire auto, rickshaws & it is decided by store manager.

8) Managing waste and markdowns:

(a) Segregation of damaged and expiry in store:(a) For F&V crates are received carefully for the item not for sale as per reliance retail quality and are removed from the shelf. (b) It is done by CSA / F&V champion. EXPIRY:(a) Near expiry product is markdown as per the RR rule. (b) An expired product is segregated and is treated as per following. PRODUCT TYPE DSD supply TREATMENT Exchange with fresh stock from the vendor at the time of next delivery DC supply Dump in store.

(b)Markdown for damages and near expiry:-

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Damaged and near expiry products is markdown as per the following rules: Markdown criteria:Up to Rs. 15 or 15 % of selling price (whichever is lower) & it is done by Store manager. Up to Rs 30 or 30% of SP (whichever is lower) & it is also done by DM / AM. Beyond Rs 30 or 30% of SP & it is done by state fresh head.

Dumping of damages & expiry product:- Treatment for damaged & expired product are done in following manner:Loss type (a) Type C damage (b) All expiry (DC supply & DSD without RTV) (c) Expiry (DC supply with RTV) Action Dump in store (shown in SAP) Dispose in store. Dump in system (SAP) Display in store Exchange with fresh stock, fresh vendor at the time of next delivery

For processing of dump (damaged & expired) approval is obtained from store manage.

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 After dumping, all the dump are entered into dump register in the presence of SM with his /her signature.
The entire dumped product is then get hand overfed to garbage collection

agency. For type C damaged product some part of each product is kept as proof. Finally the dump register is present near DM/AM for approval (signature). (c)Dump on arrival: On arrival of goods (F&V stock received from DC) poor quality goods are segregated. It is kept in separate place in the store with the sticker dumped on arrival not for sale along with receiving date. And the respective SM is informed. In the GRN (goods received roles) for the delivery, poor quality stocks are entered as Damaged Quality. Further it is kept for inspection and area F&V executive is informed. E-mail is send to the F&V head / F&V category head. Finally dumped stocks are hand over to garbage agency. In case the GRN is done at the back end maintain a record of the DUA and also record the some on the invoice that is sent to the commercial team. (9) Returns:(a) Goods Return to DC: A finalized list of good stock article for return to DC is obtained from state merchandising team.

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 According to the list stock of articles are segregated and are moved to the back office. Return schedule is obtained from the state merchandising team and packing of goods carton are planned. They are packed properly. Food and non-food items are packed separately. And GRDC is created in SAP for the quality to be returned. Finally it is loaded and dispatched to DC in DC truck and return to DC documents is get signed by the truck driver and is kept with itself. (b) Goods Return to Vendor: Stocks which are to be returned to vendor are taken out to the back

room. DSD returns are segregated as per category guidelines. Return to vendor document is created in the store. Returns are loaded to the vendors vehicle. 2 copies of vendor document are made and is got signed by the vendor.
One copy is issued to the vendor and 2nd copy is filled as record.

Security control register for returns are updated regularly (c) Physical verification of stock: All PI documents present in the system are checked and closed. Stocks take checklist is updated. It is managed with DC to ensure that there is no afternoon or evening delivery on the stocks count day.

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 Following are checked and ensure:(i) (ii) (iii) (iv) (v) (vi) GRN for all DC deliveries have been prepared. GRN for all DSD deliveries have been completed. All damaged products (type c) have been dumped. All expiry products have been dumped. PI documents for stocks take are generated. HHTs are managed and ensured that they working properly etc.

(d) Stocks count and reconciliation: Objective of the count, the layout of the stores and the process are briefly explained to the staff. For stock count staffs are delivered for counting of articles in fixtures and for entering the count in the HHT. Back of store store take SKUs by weight (F&V, loose staples, etc)
(i)

Each loose article is weighed separately and quantity stickers are pasted. It is continued until all SKUs are weighed.

(ii)

SKUs by count:(i) Product variants are segregated. Numbers of units are counted and stickers are pasted with the quality on SKUs. (ii) It is continued until all the SKUs are not counted. (iii) PI count in the HHT is opened (all PI document together) and quantity is entered after scanning the EAN / article code of the SKUs from the product in the HHT PI document.

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(iv)It is continued in this manner till all the SKUs in the back of store is counted and the quantity is entered in the PI documents with the help of HHT. (e) Store Opening :(i) (ii) (iii) (iv)
(v)

Store shutter is opened. Burglar alarm is put off. Entry for collection of keys and store opening details are recorded in the register kept at the security. Lights are switched on and all the equipments are checked for working made. Generators are checked for water level, engine oil and Diesel.

(f) Store closing:(i) (ii) (iii) (iv) (v) (vi)

(vii)

Announcement is made for store closing 10 min before closing. No. of tills to be closed or operated fully depends upon the no. of customer in the store. Ensure that no customer is present inside the store. POS & EDC closure process is performed. It is checked that equipment is in order or not after which the store is closed. Security guard is got to put paper seal on safe and almirah. All air-conditioners are switched off except server room a/c (which must be maintained between 22-24 degree c ) Display lights and faade lights are switched off. Back room lock is sealed with a paper seal. Burglar alarm in the store is updated and key register is signed in. Finally shutters are locked.

(viii) (ix) (x) (xi)

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On the sales floor-stock take:(i) Counting and weighing of bays are started, and quantity or count stickers are pasted. (ii) PI documents are opened, EAN/ article code on the products are scanned using the HHT and the counted number is entered. (iii) Similarly all the SKUs shelves and bays counted on sales floor and the count entry is entered in the PI document. (iv)Control sheet for the fixtures that has been counted are updated. (v) Once all the articles in the store are counted and count entry is done in the HHT, post the count data by pressing the post count button in the HHT only. (vi)HHT would display the list of SKUs for which count has been not entered then the article in the store is looked upon and count is updated in case the article is present in the store and count entry was missed earlier. (vii) (viii) The final counted data is posted once again by pressing the post count button. Success log is checked to ensure that all the PI documents are successfully posted. (ix)The stock take report is generated is SAP and inventory differences is listed. (x) In case of major variations record is performed and the count in the PI document is changed and the count is reported. (xi)The variation is checked and confirmed and then the difference is posted by posting the PI documents in ZSTORE, using the Post option under Phy inv. Post in the physical inventory menu. (xii) The stock take check list lifted in the store.

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An overview of companys supply chain management

FARMERS CATEGOR Y1 FARMERS CATEGOR Y2 FARMERS CATEGOR Y3

Fa rm ers

Ow nT

ran sp

ort at

ion

COLLECTIO N POINT/UNI T
RELIANCE OWN LOGISTICS

O ers rm Fa

wn

tion rta spo ran T

RF
w eo

s tic gis o nL

PROCESSIN G UNIT/POINT
Re li an ce

RF
ow nL

c an e li R

og

RELIANCE FRESH OUTLETS

RELIANCE FRESH OUTLETS

ist ics RELIANCE FRESH OUTLETS

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2.5) SWOT Analysis

Strengths Brand Name Strong Financial Backup Good employee base Easily Reachable First Mover advantage Opportunities Potential Market Weaknesses More time in billing Fruits & Vegetables are not always fresh Offers announcements are not proper Threats Local retailers Opposition by Govt. Big retailers are entering

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3) Research methodology 3.1) Literature review

Who is a customer? A customer, also called client, buyer, or purchaser, is usually used to refer to a current or potential buyer or user of the products. This is typically through purchasing or renting goods or services. The slogans "the customer is king" or "the customer is god" or "the customer is always right" indicate the importance of customers to businesses - although the last expression is sometimes used ironically. What is Perception? Perception is the process of attaining awareness of understanding of sensory information, in order to understand and describe process of perception we have to find all input and out of information. Customer Perception: Perception is the act of discerning, realizing, and becoming aware of through the senses. The customers perception is what counts, not what we think it is. The art of marketing is the ability to differentiate products and services in a way that attracts and retains customers. In order to do this well, having a handle on how the customer thinks and feels is essential. There is no substitute for gauging how customers think and feel than by assessing customer perception through intelligently designed and unbiased initiatives. To understand this point it helps to consider perception categorized into (4) quadrants (Table 1):

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Table 1 How a Graphic Arts Company views itself The real view of the Graphic Arts company How a Graphic thinks views Arts the the Company customer company How the customer views the Graphic Arts company

The first quadrant has value, but includes obvious blind-spots. Some of us score higher in self objectivity than do others. The second quadrant is the one that counts most and the goal of assessing customer perception is to develop as accurate a picture of the customers view as possible. The third quadrant is a companys perception of how its customers perceive it. Bias creeps into this quadrant as well. The fourth quadrant is an amalgam of 1 3 and deals with a philosophical discussion similar to, If a tree falls in the forest . In practice, our profile of customer perception resides in the third quadrant because our ability to vision, listen, and interpret is in itself a perception which carries filters. A quick review of concepts related to perception helps attain higher degrees of accuracy when assessing customer perception because it is wise to remember that beauty is in the eyes of the beholder and in this case the beholder writes the check.

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When we have completed the assessment activity, What information about how our customers perceive us Do we want to ensure that we obtain? Building Customer Perception and loyalty 1. SERVICE NETWORK: The mantra for marketing professionals is service, service and more service! Thats right! One of the best ways of ensuring your customers keep coming back to you is providing impeccable service. This includes everything from service at the point of sale to after-sales service, which builds a lasting relationship with the customer. Most manufacturers of white goods understand relationship marketing like no one else. The peculiarity lies in the product itself, where it might need to be serviced long after it is bought. Moreover, the purchase might have taken place somewhere different from where the service is required. Companies like Eureka Forbes and Whirlpool pride themselves on superb customer service satisfaction levels. They manufacture a wide range of durables which can be serviced at various locations throughout the country. 2. QUALITY CONTROL:You never get a second chance to make a first impression was the tagline for Head and Shoulders shampoo years ago. Impeccable service too cannot save you if you do not deliver a good quality product each and every time. This is true especially for restaurants, where the food served has to be of the same quality time and again to keep customers coming back to you. Here, quality is conveyed via word-of-mouth. One bad experience is enough to ruin the impression forever.

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3. CONSTANT INNOVATION:Once a customer, always a customer, is no longer true in these days of fluctuating brand usage. Customers now have more choices than before and are more willing to try out new brands. This fickleminded buying warrants a constant focus on the changing mindset of the customer. The brand too has to change with customer tastes. Nestle India does it best with its brand of Maggie food products. They now have variants for their instant noodles like Dal Atta Noodles and Rice Noodle Mania. Their competitors in the food segment, HLL (Hindustan Lever Limited, now called Hindustan Unilever Limited) tickled the Indian palate by making multiple variants of the traditional Tomato Ketchup in flavors like mint, tamarind and chili. Amul, which has a strong presence in the ice-cream segment, sensed the need to keep the health-conscious customer in its kitty by adding the new Probity range of sugar free ice-creams! 4. DIVERSIFICATION INTO SIMILAR PRODUCT LINES: If a customer feels that Dove Soap is the best for her skin, why not make her think the same way about shampoos as well? Thats exactly why the brand name has now been extended to shampoos in the Indian market. Stretch the loyalty and benefits associated with a brand to include other similar products. Lotus Herbals, for instance, makes chemical-free skincare products like creams, lotions and sunscreens. It has a strong base of happy customers because of its USP - herbal ingredients. Now, it has also launched its herbal range of cosmetics on the shelves. 5. STRONG DISTRIBUTION CHAINS: If I want to buy a product, it must simply be available. For fast moving consumer items, it means availability at the nearest grocer. From personal experience, I can tell you how important this is. I like Nestls Munch chocolate a lot, but many a time I end up coming home with

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a Cadburys Perk in hand, due to unavailability of the other brand. Perk tastes just as good, and pretty soon I ended up asking for Perk at the local grocery shop instead of Munch. This shows how just availability or lack of it can affect the customers brand choices forever. For a long period Amul faced a similar problem with its products. Originating from Gujarat, the availability of its products was restricted to the home state and a few neighboring ones. Consciously, after a lot of effort Amul successfully expanded its distribution chains throughout the country. An effective media campaign helped pass this advantage on to the customers. If you want people to keep buying your brands, make sure the grocery store around the corner stocks it. 6. REINFORCE THE DECISION: Lastly, after people have tried your product, tell them that they have made the right decision. What better example to give you than the Pepsi ad which said, Yehi hai right choice baby, aha! You will have customers hanging on to you forever. The human mind looks for signals to reinforce the decision made by it, to tell itself that yes, you were correct! Its no wonder then that the LOreal ad shows Aishwarya Rai spouting the phrase Because youre worth it! Benefits Customer loyalty towards your brand can give you the advantage of decreased cost of advertising. You can also increase the price of your brand to capitalize on the same. Loyalty Sales % = Sales through the Loyalty Card Total Sales Customer Loyalty programs need to stay fresh is easy to administer, and tightly integrate with the central price file and all the customer touch points. Successful Loyalty programs pinpoint value to a specific group of consumers. The X 100

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continuous change in programs keeps consumers engaged and avoids the attitude of entitlement. The Retail customer loyalty application suite, however, is not your run-of-the-mill solution. It is comprehensive, easy to administer, and effective. Retail Loyalty is a real time, online, centralized system that manages the Loyalty and Promotional marketing campaigns for Grocery and Convenience Store Retailers. Coupled with the Retail 1-to-1 Targeted Marketing Analysis tool, a retailer can easily reward customers according to their specific taste and loyalty level via a multitude of reward programs to keep it fresh and fun. Retail Loyalty includes: Integrated POS and Pump interface to collect data, print Loyalty program information on the receipt, display messages to the cashier and customer, discount items, and redeem e-gift certificates, tender credits, and loyalty points Net-based online communications architecture Multiple set of basic programs (Charity, Continuity, Sweepstakes, eCoupons, Points) Tiered pricing rewards (electronic discounts) including fuel, according to loyalty levels Reports to measure loyalty not only by gross spending but also by gross profit Reports to measure program participation by store and chain Net-based Centralized Management System Retail 1-to-1, Targeted Marketing

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Why the card is not being used? Customer forgets their card. Customer doesnt know the benefits of card. Quality of temporary card is very poor. Cashier forgets to ask about the card. Many unwanted details are to be filled in form by customer.

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3.2) Research Methodology:

Primary Data - I have collected such primary data through: Benchmarking. Observation. Methodology used by me in this project is benchmarking and observation. There are different variables in fruits & vegetable were found out in this project. Those variables are assortment range Pricing, freshness of fruits & vegetables and availability of fruits & vegetables in the store and variety of products with their convenience. To find out the effectiveness of each variable I have also done some informal interview of the sales staff. I have also interacted with some customers and took feedback by the help of questionnaire on their visit. Frequent visits were also done to find out the changes in the in-store communication tools used by the retailers. Sample Universe: Retail stores covered in this studied are Reliance Mart, Reliance Super and Reliance Fresh. There are 34 stores of Reliance Retail in Ahmadabad among this one is Reliance Mart another one is Reliance Super and remaining 32 is Reliance Fresh. We mostly concentrated on Reliance Fresh in our study. Sample Size: 200 Analysis:

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Reliance retails competitor are Big bazaar, Star Bazaar as well as some unorganized markets such as sabji mandi, Road side vendors etc. The data of assortment range was collected by counting the number of Fruits & vegetables available in the particular retail fresh. Visits to the organized retail fresh were made during the evening time. The Freshness of the fruits and vegetable were also noticed while every visit made to the market and retail stores. The prices of few fruits and vegetable were taken in to consider for comparison of different marketing strategies used by retail stores in organized as well as unorganized market.

Research objective
The main objective of our training is to do research on the company. Our project was on Reliance fresh stores and even we had some research objectives. The research objective of our training in Reliance fresh was as follows:

1. 2.

To study the consumers shopping experience at Reliance Fresh To study the consumers preference for loyalty cards of Reliance Fresh

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4) Data Analysis & Interpretation

Q.1) How do you often visit the store?

Chart
20 10

Daily 50 Weekly 120 Monthly 1st time

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Q.2) How much money do you spend at the store per visit?

Chart
40 0 to 250 100 60 250 to 500 500 to Above

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Q.3) How would you rate the offer at reliance:

Chart
40 80 30 Excellent Good Fair Acceptable

50

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Q.4) what you prefer most in reliance?

Chart
20 20 Price & Schem a Service 100 40 Quality Quantity

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Q.5 how do you rate the freshness of fruits and vegetables?

Chart
10 60 80 Outstanding Good Average Poor 50

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Q.6) Do you get everything that you are looking for at reliance?

Chart

40

Yes 100 No Som etim es 60

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Q.7) How do you rate the services provided by staff?

Chart
30 60 Excellent Good 60 50 Satisfactory Acceptable

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Q.8) Your over all shopping experience with reliance?

Chart
20 80 Excellent Good Average Bad 60

40

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Q.9) What you think about prices of the product in reliance store?

Chart
20

Cheap 100 80 Affortable Costly

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Q.10) Are you using the membership card of reliance fresh?

Chart

90 110

Yes No

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5) Findings, Conclusion and Recommendations

There was a questioner, which was filled by the customer to know the feedback of the customer about the Customer Perception. There were 100 sampling had filled up by the customer who were coming to the Reliance fresh store.

Findings
People prefer smaller quantities and good quality products. There are less retail shops nearby the store. Customer has no time. They dont want to waste their time in selecting good vegetables. Customers are more attracted when they are provided with the schemes. Reliance offers big discount especially on every Wednesday. People preferred to buy products mainly during morning and evening time. Afternoon was always seen as slack period Main finding from the training in the store was that consumers preferred to purchase fruits, vegetables and soft drinks only from the store.

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Recommendations
Announcement for the Membership card should be there. Effective utilization of storage space is possible. Rigidity in following Plano gram should be avoided. Possibility of Non-Food FMCG Effective utilization of empty Shelves Consistency in quality should be maintained. Proper training should be imparted to CSAs. Effective utilization of space should be done. Mark down of SKUs especially for Fruits & Vegetables should be done at proper time. Sample of wheat and other staple items can be kept for better exposure. Consistency in quality should be maintained Proper training should be imparted to CSAs Effective utilization of space should be done Mark down of SKUs, especially for Fruits & Vegetable should be done at proper time. Sample of wheat & other staples items can be kept for better Exposure Fine Line Product Differentiation of SKUs should be done.

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 Announcement for the Membership card should be there. Effective utilization of storage space is possible. Rigidity in following Plano gram should be avoided. Possibility of Non-Food FMCG There should not be any communication barrier; company should have norms regarding communication process.
Plano gram should be systematic in a way that products categories can be

identified at ease. Store manager needs to give more focus on employees as well as customer to have efficient work flow and better customer relationship which will result in enhancement of companys goodwill in the market, and will have better working environment. Spoiled F & V champion should be taken off. So that, remaining goods can be prevented from spoilage. This will save companys cost. Hence, companys profit will increase. There should have proper cleanliness in the store, to attract customer. Temperature should be maintained in chiller display. Store manager needs to see that Job Implementation Card gets updated at regular intervals or properly on time.

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67

Conclusion
Corporate retailing in India is witnessing considerable growth. The share of corporate retail in overall retail sales is projected to jump from around 3% currently to around 9-10% in the next three years. A number of large domestic business groups have entered the retail trade sector and are expanding their operations aggressively. Several formats of corporate retailing like hypermarkets, supermarkets and discount stores are being set up by big business groups besides the ongoing proliferation of shopping malls in the metros and other large cities. This will have serious implications for the livelihood of millions of small and unorganized retailers across the country. Large organized retail is controlled across the world by many governments. An appropriate regulatory framework for the organized retail sector in India has to be framed keeping in mind the Indian specificities. India has the highest shop density in the world with 11 shops per 1000 person. If the corporate retail starts spreading in India without any control and if the Government brings in Foreign Direct Investment in the sector, the potential social costs of the growth and consolidation of organized retail, in terms of displacement of unorganized retailers and loss of livelihoods will be enormous. Regulation needs to be more stringent and restrictive. In this wake it is important to take note of the recent meeting which was held by the Indian Government with the EC officials in Brussels on june28- 29 2007. There has been a great impact by the unorganized sector in the country. Customer prefer more unorganized sector than the organized. 98% of the total retailing is contributed by the unorganized sector and remaining by organized. So there is a huge difference lies here which needs to be taken care. Even though customer have more benefit in buying goods from super market and hypermarket as they will be getting discounts, coupons, membership card, and buying will be easy as they can buy all types of goods at one place, instead customer prefer to go for

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unorganized sector. It is mainly due to organized sector does not have more concentration on the rural market; it is manly focusing on urban and semi urban area. It can be concluded that if organized sector will focus on the rural area, we could see the increment in its market share.

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6)BIBLIOGRAPHY
Magazines Newspaper Books Questionnaire Internet www.ril.com www.reliancefreshinfo.com www.google.com www.outlook.com www.economitimes.com www.4psof marketing.com

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7)
QUESTIONNAIRE

Appendix

1) How often do you visit the store? a) Daily b) Weekly c) Monthly d) First time

2) How much money do you spend at the store per visit? a) 0-250 b) 251-500 c) 501 and above

3) How would you rate the offer at reliance store? a) Excellent b) Good c) Fair d) Acceptable

4) What do you prefer the most in reliance? a) Price & scheme b) Service

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c) Quality d) Quantity

5) How would you rate the freshness of fruits and vegetables? a) Outstanding b) Good c) Average d) Poor

6) Do you get everything you are looking for at reliance store? a) Yes b) No

c) Sometimes

7) How would you rate the services provided by the staff? a) Excellent b) Good c) Satisfactory d) Acceptable

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8) Overall shopping experience with reliance? a) Excellent b) Good c) Average d) Bad

9) What do you think about the prices of the product in Reliance stores? a) Cheap b) Affordable c) Costly

10) Are you using membership card of reliance fresh? a) Yes b) No

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