Zainual Bashar Bhutto, Rambalak Yadav, Vikram Singh

Consumer Perception of Retail Outlets: A Comparative Study of Big Bazaar and More Megastores
Email: zainualbashar@in.com,vikksecb@gmail.com, rbyadav1988@gmail.com Abstract
This study focuses on the Consumer Perception of Retail outlets: A comparative study of Big bazaar and More mega store. With the help of consumer perception of retail outlets increase their sale and provide total customer satisfaction. These Retail Outlets increase the India as well as in all over the world The term consumer perception refers to the perception that consumers display in searching for purchasing, using, evaluating and disposing of products and services that they will expect will satisfy their needs.To study and compare consumer perception for Big bazaar as well as More Megastore. The sample size used in the study consists of 100 respondents of which 50 are consumer of Big Bazaar and 50 are consumer of more megastore retail outlets. The study conducted is analytic in nature aimed at finding out the consumer perception of retail outlets and Big Bazaar and More megastores. The conclusion of the study was that the suggestions were the increase After having analyzed interpreted the findings. It is concluded that consumer perception of retail outlets play a significant role to enhance the perception with consumers and provide total consumer satisfaction. It signifies that several factors, then after set hypothesis to accept and reject hypothesis. The dimensions factor like, PERSONALISATION, FACILITIES, RESPONSIVNESS, FLEXIBILITY, COURTESY, PRIVILIGES TO REGULAR CUSTOMER, EMPATHY, PARKING SPACE Which consumers get influenced about a big bazaar and More mega store, these are all the identified factor of Consumer perception of Retail Outlets in the study, increase the sell of retail outlet and create good brand image in the mind set of consumers.The study for future study is that is to feel up form with consumers sensuously and take interview of consumer, who walking in the shop floor of Retail Outlet. And to know in-depth psychology and perception of consumers, it will give better result for study.

1. Introduction i. Conceptual Framework

Marketing aims at identifying customer needs and wants and satisfying them with product, however it is necessary that the marketers must study their target customers, perception buying behavior which provide them clues for developing new products add new features to the existing product design pricing and channel strategies along with other marketing mix elements.

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ii. Customer and Customer perception

A customer is someone who makes use or receives of the product or service of an individual or organization the historically derived from custom meaning habit a customer was someone who frequented a particular shop, who made it habit to good of the short the shop sold their rather than elsewhere and with whom the shopkeeper had to maintain a relationship to keep his custom meaning expected purchases in the future. In psychology and the cognitive sciences perception is the process acquiring interpretation selection and organization sensory information the word perception comes from the Latin perception meaning receiving collection action of taking a possession. Apprehension with the mind or sense. Method of studying perception range from essentially biological or physiological approaches though psychological approaches though the philosophy of mind and in empiricist epistemology.

iii. Big Bazaar and More Megastores

The worldwide country chain, Big Bazaar, is formed by CEO of Future Group Mr. Kishore Biyani.Big Bazaar is a chain of hypermarket in India, which caters to every familys needs and requirements. This retail store is a subsidiary of Future group, Pantaloons Retail India Ltd. and is an answer to the United States Wal-Mart. Big Bazaar has released the doors for the fashion world, general merchandise like sports goods, cutlery, crockery, utensils, and home furnishings etc. at best economical prices. Big Bazaar group offers more than 100 stores all over the country with an amalgamation of Indian bazaars feel and touch with a convenience and choice of the modern retail facilities. The retail format of the Big Bazaar group includes Aadhar, Rural & Home-Town retail chain, Ezone home-improvement chain, sportswear retailer, depot and music chain is few among others. ABRL has a long and strong presence across India through its large network of 642 supermarkets and 4 Hypermarkets. Launch of more megastores in Bengaluru is now a milestone since it will be our first store in this major modern metropolitan city which today boasts of almost all major retailers in India. We already have a rich presence in the state of Karnataka with 107 supermarkets and one large hypermarket in Mysore. Aditya Birla Retail Limited (ABRL) launched its fourth hypermarket -- More Megastore in Indore. Speaking at the launch, Thomas Varghese, CEO, ABRL said, Our vision is to consistently provide the Indian consumer a complete and differentiated shopping experience. This hypermarket is a step in this direction. There are large aisles and 23 cash counters to facilitate quick billing and free parking space for over 300 cars for hassle free traffic, informed Varghese. The store has more than 35,000 variants of products, spread over an area IJNPME,ISSN:22500839,Volume2Issue12012

of 60,000 square feet, across a wide range of categories including Fresh Fruits and Vegetables, Large range of Personal Care products, Youth Fashion, Footwear, Luggage, Steel Utensils and other Home needs, Kids toys, Sports, Local foods, Latest electronics, mobiles and computers, Clothing and Footwear for ladies, men and children. ABRL has already 640 supermarkets and three other Hypermarkets across country. iv.

Retailing In India
Total retail sales in India will grow from US$ 395.96 billion in 2011 to US$ 785.12 billion by 2015, according to the Business Monitor International (BMI) India Retail Report for the second-quarter of 2011. Strong underlying economic growth, population expansion, the increasing wealth of individuals and the rapid construction of organized retail infrastructure are key factors behind the forecast growth. With the expanding middle and upper class consumer base, there will also be opportunities in India's tier II and III cities.A retailer is a business that sells products and services to for their personal or family use. A retailer is the final business in the distribution channel that links manufacturer with consumer.

Manufacturing

Wholesaler

Retailer

Consumer

Diagram 1: Retail position with the distribution channel. India has the largest number of retail outlets in the world 12 million of which no less then 5 million sell food and related products. A part from a few large players in the market, such as IJNPME,ISSN:22500839,Volume2Issue12012

kishore Biyani Big bazaar, Aditya Birla More Megastore and Mukesh Ambani Reliance Fresh, the sector is largely fragmented.

v. Malls:
The form of organized retailing today. Located mainly in Metro cities, in proximity to urban outskirts. Range from 60,000 sq ft to 7, 00,000 sq ft and above. They lead and ideal shopping experience with an amalgamation of product, service and entertainment, all under a common roof. Shoppers stop, Pantaloon.

vi. Department Stores:

Department stores are expected to take over the apparel business from exclusive brand showrooms. Among these the biggest success is K Raheja shoppers stop, which started in Mumbai and now has more than seven large store (over 30,000 sq ft) across India and even has its own in store brand for clothes called stop.

vii. Hyper Markets/ Supermarkets

Large self service outlets, catering to varied shoppers needs are termed as Supermarkets. These are located in or near residential high streets. These stores today contribute to 30% of all food and grocery organized retail sales. Super market can further classified into mini supermarkets typically 1000 sq ft to 2000 sq ft and large supermarkets ranging from 3500 sq ft having a strong focus on food and grocery and personal sales.

2. Literature Review i. Rationale of the study

India is having huge customer base having different choices and behavior. To satisfy their need is a different task. To achieve this Indian retail has change from Kirana to retail outlets and has becoming the need in India. Different retail outlets are offering different scheme and promotional strategies. Thus a study can be conduct to comparison Big Bazaar and More megastores by taking consumer perception

ii. Objective of the study

To study consumer perception for Big bazaar as well as More Megastore To compare Big bazaar and More Megastore on the basis of their consumer perception iii. A Review of the literature on store image research revealed that it is quite extensive (Doyle & Fenwick 1974; Jain & Etgar 1976: King & Ring 1980; Chowdhury et al 1998), with some research efforts having attempted to explore the evolution of store image formation (Mazursky and Jacoby 1986); and others seeking to conduct a meta-analysis of retail patronage studies (Pan & Zinkhan 2006). However, the existing literature did not retail IJNPME,ISSN:22500839,Volume2Issue12012

image. Consumers perception of store image is based, in part, on functional qualities that the store may possess, and by other, less tangible or psychological attributes (Lindquist 1974). Lindquist analyzed over 20 studies dealing with store image formation and identified 35 different aspects that in reveal any prior studies where clustering techniques had been used to study consumers perceptions of stofluence store image formation. These were grouped into nine broad categories, including: merchandise, service, clientele, physical facilities, convenience, promotion, store atmosphere, institutional attributes, and post-transaction satisfaction. Mazursky and Jacoby (1986) conducted a similar analysis and verified that merchandise related aspects (such as quality, pricing and assortment), and service related aspects (such as quality in general and salespersons service) are among the most important components of store image. A 1994 study by Baker, Grewal and Parasuraman confirmed that the store image literature suggests there are linkages between merchandise and service quality, and store image. A later study by Baker, Grewal and Voss (2002) also confirmed that service quality was a key determinant of store image. Given the prevalence in the literature of merchandise and service as two key determinants in the formation of store image, these two attributes were selected for this present study to gauge consumers perceptions of retail stores. These attributes were incorporated in this study by obtaining consumer similarity judgments on retailers service quality and merchandise quality. The clustering of retail stores based on these two attributes will yield a better understanding of competition within the retailing industry. This is of interest from a strategic marketing standpoint in that many off-price retailers carry the same quality merchandise as other, higher priced retailers (namely, department stores and specialty stores). In previous years, competition within the retail sector was more clearly delineated in that department stores tended to compete with other department stores; and in general, stores of a specific type tended to compete with like stores in reality, these distinctions (at least with regards to merchandise quality) may not be as clear today since off-price retailers often carry the same merchandise as specialty and department stores. No longer can the competition be viewed as narrowly merely by store type - as it had been in the past for purposes of marketing strategy development. Off-price retailers strive to convince consumers that their product quality is comparable to that of department stores. This study will enable us to confirm whether consumer perceptions of product quality will also yield information that would be of strategic interest to retailers.

3. Research Methodology
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i. The Study
The study conducted is analytic in nature aimed at finding out the consumer perception of retail outlets and Big Bazaar and More megastores.

ii. The Sample

The sample size used in the study consists of 100 respondents of which 50 are consumer of Big Bazaar and 50 are consumer of more megastore retail outlets.

iii. The Tools: For Data Collection:

Data will be collected using self designing questionnaire.

Tool of Data Analysis

Z test is used to test the null hypotheses in order to estimate the consumer perception of retail outlets: A comparative study of Big bazaar and More mega store for the purpose of analysis of the collected data.

4. Results
The factors have been identify by crusting be statement of similar types. Finally factor have been formed which one as follows.

Factor 1: Personalization H01 (Null Hypothesis): There is no significance difference in the consumer perception practices adopted by Big bazaar and more mega store regarding Personalization. Stores Big bazaar More mega store Respondents n=50 n=50 Mean x1 = 14.74 x2 = 14.56 Standard Deviation SD.1=1.651345 SD.2=1.402039 Z=0.261135 Z value

Therefore, Ho1 is accepted. There is no significance difference in the consumer perception practices adopted by Big bazaar and more mega store regarding Personalization. Factor 2: Facilities H01 (Null Hypothesis): There is no significance difference in the consumer perception practices adopted by Big bazaar and more mega store regarding Facilities. Stores Big bazaar Respondents n=50 Mean x1 = 22.8 Standard Deviation SD.1=2.52336 Z value Z=3.006634

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More mega store

n=50

x2 = 21.22

SD.2=2.727711

Therefore, Ho1 is rejected. There is no significance difference in the consumer perception practices adopted by Big bazaar and more mega store regarding Facilities. Factor 3: Responsiveness H01 (Null Hypothesis): There is no significance difference in the consumer perception practices adopted by Big bazaar and more mega store regarding Responsiveness. Stores Big bazaar More mega store Respondents n=50 n=50 Mean x1 = 10.26 x2 = 10.1 Standard Deviation SD.1=1.20898 SD.2=1.24949 Z=0.65723 Z value

Therefore, Ho1 is accepted. There is no significance difference in the consumer perception practices adopted by Big bazaar and more mega store regarding Responsiveness. Factor 4: Flexibility H01 (Null Hypothesis): There is no significance difference in the consumer perception practices adopted by Big bazaar and more mega store regarding Flexibility. Stores Big bazaar More mega store Respondents n=50 n=50 Mean x1 = 14.08 x2 = 14.1 Standard Deviation SD.1=1.397374 SD.2=1.606746 Z=0.066414 Z value

Therefore, Ho1 is accepted. There is no significance difference in the consumer perception practices adopted by Big bazaar and more mega store regarding Flexibility. Factor 5: Courtesy H01 (Null Hypothesis): There is no significance difference in the consumer perception practices adopted by Big bazaar and more mega store regarding Courtesy. Stores Big bazaar More mega store Respondents n=50 n=50 Mean x1 = 6.84 x2 = 7.1 Standard Deviation SD.1=1.056757 SD.2=0.952976 Z= 1.291983 Z value

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Therefore, Ho1 is accepted. There is no significance difference in the consumer perception practices adopted by Bigbazaar and more mega store regarding Courtesy. Factor 6: Privileges to regular customers H01 (Null Hypothesis): There is no significance difference in the consumer perception practices adopted by Big bazaar and more mega store regarding Privileges to regular customers. Stores Big bazaar More mega store Respondents n=50 n=50 Mean x1 = 6.74 x2 = 7.24 Standard Deviation SD.1=1.274715 SD.2=0.893514 Z=2.271196 Z value

Therefore, Ho1 is rejected. There is no significance difference in the consumer perception practices adopted by Big bazaar and more mega store regarding Privileges to regular customers. Factor 7: Empathy H01 (Null Hypothesis): There is no significance difference in the consumer perception practices adopted by Big bazaar and more mega store regarding Empathy. Stores Big bazaar More mega store Respondents n=50 n=50 Mean x1 = 5.92 x2 = 5.42 Standard Deviation SD.1=1.651715 SD.2=1.591369 Z= 1.591369 Z value

Therefore, Ho1 is accepted. There is no significance difference in the consumer perception practices adopted by Big bazaar and more mega store regarding Empathy. Factor 8: Parking space H01 (Null Hypothesis): There is no significance difference in the consumer perception practices adopted by Big bazaar and more mega store regarding Parking space. Stores Big bazaar Respondents n=50 Mean x1 = 4.56 x2 = 4.58 Standard Deviation SD.1=0.501427 SD.2=0.498569 Z= 0.2 Z value

More mega store n=50 Therefore, Ho1 is accepted.

There is no significance difference in the consumer perception practices adopted by Big bazaar and more mega store regarding Parking space. IJNPME,ISSN:22500839,Volume2Issue12012

5. Conclusion & Suggestion

After having analyzed interpreted the findings. It is concluded that consumer perception of retail outlets play a significant role to enhance the perception with consumers and provide total consumer satisfaction. It signifies that several factors, then after set hypothesis to accept and reject hypothesis. The dimensions factor like PERSONALISATION, FACILITIES, RESPONSIVNESS, FLEXIBILITY, COURTESY, PRIVILIGES TO REGULAR CUSTOMER, EMPATHY, and PARKING SPACE. Which consumers get influenced about a big bazaar and More mega store, these are all the identified factor of Consumer perception of Retail Outlets in the study, increase the sell of retail outlet and create good brand image in the mind set of consumers. With reference to the objectives of study, Consumer Perception of retail outlet a comparative study of Big bazaar and More mega store. The study shows that almost same type of consumer perception practices adopted by Big bazaar and More mega store. But there is significant difference in the consumer perception practices adopted by retail outlets regarding empathy The Retail outlets should send mail at certain joyful occasion such as marriages, Birthday, Anniversaries etc. The consumers will have the feelings of concern about themselves by the retail outlets. The Retail outlet should provide free home delivery for bulk purchasing to regular consumers. The Retail outlets shroud provides proper training programs for sales person. Because they are the person who push brand to the consumers. And they give proper response for query to enhance consumer perception. The Retail outlet should provide information regarding special schemes to regular consumers personally by phone or mail, who walking in the shop floor regularly. The Retail outlet should offer Coffee/ Tea/ Cold drinks etc to consumers with the help of this hospitality activity to create relationship with consumers. The study for future study is that is to feel up form with consumers sensuously and take interview of consumer, who walking in the shop floor of Retail Outlet. And to know in-depth psychology and perception of consumers, it will give better result for study. The present study concentrates on only one aspect of retailing, CONSUMER PERCEPTION OF RETAIL OUTLETS: A comparative study of Big bazaar and More mega store. There are various dimensions in retailing that have due impact on Consumer Perception. Which have identified in the IJNPME,ISSN:22500839,Volume2Issue12012

study like the Personalization, Facility, Responsiveness, Flexibility, Courtesy, Privileges to regular customer, Empathy and Parking space.

6. References
i. Baker, J., Grewal, D., & Parasuraman, A. (1994). The influence of store environment on quality inferences and store image.Jouranal of the Academy of marketing science. ii. Doyle, P. & Fenwick, I. (1974). How store images affect shopping habits in grocery chains. Journal of retailing. iii. Jain, A.K. & Etgar, M. (1976). Measuring store image through multidimensional scaling of free response data. Journal of retailing. iv. Mazursky, D. & Jacoby, J. (1986). Exploring the development of store images. Journal of retailing. v. Chowdhury, J., Reardon, J. & Srivastava, J. (1998). Alternative modes of measuring store image: an empirical assessment of structured versus unstructured measures. vi. Journal of marketing theory and practice.

7. Appendices QUESTIONNAIRE
Dear Respondent, I am doing a major research project on consumer perception of retail outlets so I request you to kindly help me by filling up this questionnaire. The information given by you will be used purely for academic purpose and will be kept confidential. Thanking you, Zainual Bashar,Rambalak & Vikram

PERSONAL INFORMATION NAME:. OCCUPATION:.. GENDER: AGE: 15-25 Male ( ) Female ( ) ( ) 45-55 ( ) More than 55 ( ) Rs. 20,000 to Rs.40,000 p.m. ( ) More than Rs.50,000 p.m. ( )

( ) 25-35 ( ) 35-45

FAMILY INCOME GROUP Less than Rs.10,000 p.m. ( ) Rs. 10,000 to Rs.20,000 p.m. ( ) Rs. 40,000 to Rs. 50,000 p.m. ( )

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Please tick the relevant for the following as per your experience on the basis of:Strongly agree - 5, Agree- 4, Neutral- 3, Disagree- 2, Strongly Disagree- 1

The Retail Outlet that I often visit is kindly choose Big bazaar/ More Megastore
Parameter

Response

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20.

I get good quality products at my Retail Outlet. The Retail Outlet provides me sufficient information regarding product features. Sufficient information regarding product price is provided at Retail Outlet. The Retail Outlet provides me sufficient information regarding product durability. The Retail Outlet provides any information regarding special schemes to me personally by mail or phone. Fair price policy is followed by the Retail Outlet. The Retail Outlet provides free passes for special event/ shows. The Retail Outlet exchange the products without hassles. The Retail Outlet sales person gives proper response for query. The Retail Outlet provide discount or rebate to regular customers. The Retail Outlet provides new items according to the changing to the changing needs of the customers The Retail Outlet provides value added services (credit cards) facility to consumers. The behavior of employees is good. The Retail Outlet provides coupons or points on bulk purchasing. The Retail Outlet provides credit facility to customers. The Retail Outlet tries to take personal interest in each customer. The retail outlet handles customers complaints properly. The products offered in the retail outlet are of good quality. The Retail Outlet has clean drinking water facility. The Retail Outlet has the separate zone for kids.

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21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27.

The Retail Outlet frequently asks for suggestions to customers and tries to improve the services. The ambience of the Outlet is comfortable. The employee of the Retail Outlet offers me coffee/ tea/ cold drinks etc, When I am purchases. The Retail Outlet takes part in social and charitable activities. The Retail Outlet sends cards or mail to me on special occasions like Diwali, Anniversary, New-year. The Retail Outlet provides free home delivery. The Retail Outlet has sufficient parking space.

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