COMPARATIVE STUDY OF MARKETING STRATEGY REFERENCE TO 4PS OF BIG BAZAR & OTHER RETAIL COMPANY Page |1 Management Thesis – 1 | 3rd Semester COMPARATIVE STUDY OF MARKETING STRATEGY REFERENCE TO 4PS OF BIG BAZAR & OTHER RETAIL COMPANY CERTIFICATE It is certified that the work contained in the thesis entitled “A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF MARKETING STRATEGY REFERENCE TO 4PS OF BIG BAZAR AND OTHER RETAIL COMPANY” By Rajesh Kumar has been carried out under my supervision and that this work has not been submitted elsewhere for a degree. Dr. Kausik Dutta (Department of Marketing) ICFAI University, Jharkhand. Page |2
Management Thesis – 1 | 3rd Semester COMPARATIVE STUDY OF MARKETING STRATEGY REFERENCE TO 4PS OF BIG BAZAR & OTHER RETAIL COMPANY ABSTRACT Page |3 Management Thesis – 1 | 3rd Semester Retail is India’s largest industry, accounting for over 10 per cent of the country’s GDP and around eight per cent of the employment. Retail industry in India is at the crossroads. It has emerged as one of the most dynamic and fast paced industries with several players entering the market. But because of the heavy initial investments required, break even is difficult to achieve and many of these players have not tasted success so far.
However, the future is promising; the market is growing, government policies are becoming more favorable and emerging technologies are facilitating operations. Retailing in India is gradually inching its way toward becoming the next boom industry. The whole concept of shopping has altered in terms of format and consumer buying behavior, ushering in a revolution in shopping in India. Modern retail has entered India as seen in sprawling shopping centers, multi-storied malls and huge complexes offer shopping, entertainment and food all under one roof.
The Indian retailing sector is at an inflexion point where the growth of organized retailing and growth in the consumption by the Indian population is going to take a higher growth trajectory. The Indian population is witnessing a significant change in its demographics. A large young working population with median age of 24 years, nuclear families in urban areas, along with increasing working-women population and emerging opportunities in the services sector are going to be the key growth drivers of the organized retail sector in India. COMPARATIVE STUDY OF MARKETING STRATEGY REFERENCE TO 4PS OF BIG BAZAR & OTHER RETAIL COMPANY
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The thesis what I have presented is not the made outcome of my labor alone. There are dozens of hands buttressed me all through the programme it doesn’t go without thanking all of those who constantly keep me on the move. I would like to give heartily thanks to ICFAI University, Jharkhand who have given us an opportunity to learn something practical apart from books by including the inplant training in our MBA Programme. I express my gratitude to Faculty Guide Dr. Kausik Dutta who has supported me to complete this thesis. I would like to express my most sincere thanks and gratitude to External guide Mr.
Somen Banerjee (HR Manager, BIG BAZAAR) who have given a good support to grab the external exposure and to complete a thesis in Big Bazaar. I give my sincere token of thanks to all my faculties, relatives and friends who have gathered me the wisdom of knowledge. This work is dedicated to my parents who have supported me throughout my study. Page |4 Management Thesis – 1 | 3rd Semester COMPARATIVE STUDY OF MARKETING STRATEGY REFERENCE TO 4PS OF BIG BAZAR & OTHER RETAIL COMPANY TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CO 1. BASIC OF MARKETING 2. INTRODUCTION TO RETAIL ION 3.
RETAILING INDUSTRY IN INDIA 4. SHOPPER INTELLIGENCE 5. CURRENT TRENDS AND CHALLENGES 6. COMPANY PROFILE …………….. …………….. …………….. …………….. …………….. …………….. Page 6 Page 21 Page 28 Page 29 Page 33 Page 35 Page 39 Page 40 Page 42 Page 43 Page44 Page44 Page44 Page45 Management Thesis – 1 | 3rd Semester 7. BIG BAZAAR : Positioning & Establishment Establishment……………. 8. BIG BAZAAR : 7 P’s Analysis s 9. STUDY STORE 10. STUDY STORE : Organisational Structure 11. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 12. OBJECTIVE OF THE THESIS 13. DATA COLLECTION METHOD 14. SAMPLING METHOD 15. ANALYSIS & INTERPRETATION NALYSIS 16.
SURVEY FINDINGS 17. CONCLUSION 18. BIBLIOGRAPHY ……………. ……………. ……………. ……………. ……………. ……………. ……………. ……………. ……………. ……………. ……………. Page 46 Page55 Page56 Page57 Page |5 COMPARATIVE STUDY OF MARKETING STRATEGY REFERENCE TO 4PS OF BIG BAZAR & OTHER RETAIL COMPANY BASIC OF MARKETING TABLE OF CONTENTS HISTORY The practice of marketing is almost as old as humanity itself. A Market was originally simply a gathering place where people with a supply of items or capacity to perform a service could meet with those who might desire the items or services, perhaps at a pre-arranged time. rranged Such meetings embodied many aspects of today’s marketing methods, although sometimes in an informal way. Sellers and buyers sought to understand each other’s needs, capacities, and psychology, all with the goal of getting the exchange of items or services to take place. Today’s New York Stock Exchange had its humble beginnings as an open air market located at Wall Street in New York City. The rise of Agriculture undoubtedly influenced markets as the earliest mea of means ‘mass production’ of an item, namely foodstuffs.
As agriculture allowed one to grow more food than could be eaten by the grower alone, and most food is perishable, there was likely motivation to seek out others who could use the excess food, before it spoiled, in exchange for other items. t In 1960 Theodore Levitt wrote a journal article called Marketing Myopia. This is said to have really begun the marketing craze. In it he discussed that the big manufacturing industries at the time were misinterpreting what industry they were misinterpreting part of. He stated that until you fully understood the industry you were part of you were likely to fail.
For example the rail industry was not in the business of rail transport but in the industry of transport in general they were still competing with were the likes of cars and public transport. Levitt is said to be one of the founders of the marketing discipline, and contributed to the making of the 4Ps framework that transactional marketing is based around. A little bit of marketing theory… All it takes is a little theory practiced and applied, and soon you will find that marketing comes naturally. Marketing is more than sales. Marketing is the set of activities used to 1. Get your potential custome attention customer’s 2.
Motivate them to buy 3. Get them to actually buy Page |6 Management Thesis – 1 | 3rd Semester COMPARATIVE STUDY OF MARKETING STRATEGY REFERENCE TO 4PS OF BIG BAZAR & OTHER RETAIL COMPANY 4. Get them to buy again (and again…) Marketing is how you define your product, promote your product, distribute your product, and to maintain a relationship with your customers. Marketing theory is made up of the 5 P’s. Product, Positioning, Place, Price and Promotion. Each “P” contributes to your marketing Product Product is, of course, the thing (or service) that you have to offer to the customers.
There are a number of thing about the product you should evaluate. It is important to understand your product from the customer’s point of view. Product Description It is critical to be able to say in one clear sentence why your product is perfect for a specific buyer and what it does best. ” To (target audience), (product name) is the type of (product) that (performs this task). ” Product Name It is more important to be descriptive than creative. There are some exceptions to this – such as music band names. One of the best ways to determine a name for a product is to have a brainstorming session. The rules of brainstorming are: 1.
No ideas are rejected or criticized 2. It is a free form “brain dump” 3. Someone is in charge of writing the ideas on a board where everyone can see them. 4. After the ideas a generated, they are ranked by preference. 5. The pros and cons of the top ideas are discussed. Functionality, Features & Benefits In order to begin to understand the product from a customer’s point of view, list the functionality, the features, and the benefits that product has. List functionality and features that could be added. Prioritize each for the target market or market segments to determine the development of the product going forward.
This list will be used in positioning the product. Page |7 Management Thesis – 1 | 3rd Semester COMPARATIVE STUDY OF MARKETING STRATEGY REFERENCE TO 4PS OF BIG BAZAR & OTHER RETAIL COMPANY Product Adaptability By understanding how adaptable your software is, you can incorporate the necessary elements into your marketing. There are five factors for measuring how “adaptable” a new product is: • Relative advantage of the product: How superior is the innovation to the product or other problem-solving methods it was designed to compete against? Compatibility: Does it fit with current product usage and customer activity? • Complexity: Will difficulty or confusion arise in understanding the innovation’s basic idea? • Divisibility: How easily can trial portions of the product be purchased? • Communicability: How likely is the product to appear in public places where it is easily seen and studied by potential users? Example – Product Music CD What is it that you are selling? You could say you are selling music, or an experience, or a feeling, or yourself. But the bottom line is that you want people to buy your CD.
Note: Producing CDs has many advantages over producing tapes. CDs can be produced for about $2 – $3 each, and you can charge $10 – $20 for them. CDs give a professional, polished impression, and it is the media of choice for music listeners. Ah. But what about tickets you sell to a show? Or T-shirts you sell? Aren’t these your product? Not really. They are ways to promote your CD. Everything you do should be done with the end result of selling CDs. Positioning Simply, positioning is how your target market defines you in relation to your competitors. A good position is: 1. what makes you unique 2.
This is considered a benefit by your target market Both of these conditions are necessary for a good positioning. So what if you are the only red-haired singer who only knows how to play a G minor chord? Does your target market consider this a good thing? Positioning is important because you are competing with all the noise out there competing for your potential fans attention. If you can stand out with a unique benefit, you have a chance at getting their attention. Page |8 Management Thesis – 1 | 3rd Semester COMPARATIVE STUDY OF MARKETING STRATEGY REFERENCE TO 4PS OF BIG BAZAR & OTHER RETAIL COMPANY
It is important to understand your product from the customer’s point of view relative to the competition. Environment In order to begin positioning a product, two questions need to be answered: 1. What is our marketing environment? 2. What is our competitive advantage? The marketing environment is the external environment. Some things to consider: • How is the market now satisfying the need your software satisfies? • What are the switching costs for potential users for your market? • What are the positions of the competition? The competitive advantage is an internal question.
What do you have that gives you advantage over your competitors. Some things to consider: • Is your company small and flexibility? • Do you offer low cost and high quality? • Does your product offer unique benefits? • Are you the first on the market with this product (First mover advantage)? Positioning Strategies There are seven positioning strategies that can be pursued: • Product Attributes: What are the specific products attributes? • Benefits: What are the benefits to the customers? • Usage Occasions: When / how can the product are used? • Users: Identify a class of users. Against a Competitor: Positioned directly against a competitor. • Away from a Competitor: Positioned away from competitor. • Product Classes: Compared to different classes of products. Segmentation There are three types of segmentation: 1. Mass Marketing or Undifferentiated Marketing: Go after the whole market with one offer and focus on common needs rather than differences 2. Product-variety Marketing or Differentiated Marketing: target several market segments and design separate offers for each Page |9 Management Thesis – 1 | 3rd Semester
COMPARATIVE STUDY OF MARKETING STRATEGY REFERENCE TO 4PS OF BIG BAZAR & OTHER RETAIL COMPANY 3. Target Marketing or Concentrated Marketing: Large share of one or a few sub-markets. Good when company’s resources are limited. To identify a niche market, a series of 2 by 2 matrixes can be used to identify an area that is being overlooked by larger competitors. The competitors are mapped on this matrix and you can see where there may be some opportunities. Positioning Differences The differences that are promoted for a product must be: • Important: The difference delivers a highly valued benefit to the target buyers. Distinctive: Competitors do not offer the difference, or the company can offer it in a more distinctive way. • Superior: The difference is superior to other ways that the customer might obtain the same benefit. • Communicable: The difference can be explained and communicated to the target buyers. • Preemptive: Competitors cannot easily copy the difference. • Affordable: Buyers can afford to pay the difference. • Profitable: Company can introduce the difference profitably. Place Place, or distribution channel, is the method for making your product available to the consumer.
Functions There are eight main functions for distribution channels: 1. Information: gathering and distributing marketing research 2. Promotion: developing and communicating offers 3. Contact: communicating with prospective buyers 4. Matching: fitting the offer to the buyer’s needs 5. Negotiation: reaching agreement on price and terms 6. Physical distribution: transporting and storing the goods 7. Financing: getting and using funds to cover the costs of channel work 8. Risk taking: assuming the risks the channel work. Example – Selling a CD Place is simply where your fans buy your CD.
You can also call it distribution. P a g e | 10 Management Thesis – 1 | 3rd Semester COMPARATIVE STUDY OF MARKETING STRATEGY REFERENCE TO 4PS OF BIG BAZAR & OTHER RETAIL COMPANY There are many ways to distribute your CD. Retail Probably the most difficult is retail (selling your CD in music stores). This is difficult for independent musicians or bands because you usually need to have a relationship with a distributor. Online Isn’t the Web wonderful? You can easily and cheaply set up a web page with your information, sample audio files, show dates, and how to order your CD.
In Person Whenever you perform, you should sell your CDs. You can mention that you are selling CDs and where to buy them while you are performing. It is easier if you have a friend to help you. This person can collect the money, hand out the CDs, etc. so you don’t have to worry about it during a show. In Home There is nothing wrong with telephone orders! Price Price is the amount of money charged for a product or service or the value exchanged for the benefits of the product or service. For a new product, you must understand your positioning before you set a price.
Make sure it is not too low, or the product will not be taken seriously. If it is too high, the potential customer will not take the risk. Management Thesis – 1 | 3rd Semester Pricing Strategies There are five general pricing strategies: 1. Product Line: Setting price steps between product line items 2. Optional Product: Pricing optional or accessory products 3. Captive Product: Pricing products that must be used with the main product 4. By-Product: Pricing low value by product to get rid of them 5. Product Bundle: Pricing bundles of products sold together New Product Pricing
There are two new product pricing strategies: P a g e | 11 COMPARATIVE STUDY OF MARKETING STRATEGY REFERENCE TO 4PS OF BIG BAZAR & OTHER RETAIL COMPANY Market-Skimming: Initially set high prices to “skim” revenue layer by layer from the market. Works when: Quality and image support the higher price Enough buyers want the product at that price Cost of producing a small volume cannot be high Competitors should not be able to enter the market easily • Market Penetration: Set a low initial price in order to penetrate the market quickly and deeply to win a large market share.
Works when: Market is highly price sensitive • Production and distribution costs fall as sales volume increases • Low price must help keep out the competition • Price Adjustment The following are price adjustments based on changing situations: • Discount & Allowance: reduced prices to reward customer responses such as paying early or promoting the product • Discriminatory: adjusting prices to allow for differences in customers, products, and locations • Psychological: adjusting prices for psychological effects. Ex: $299 vs. 300 • Value: adjusting prices to offer the right combination of quality and service at a fair price • Promotional: temporarily reducing prices to increase short-run sales • Geographical: adjusting prices to account for geographic location of customer. • International: adjusting prices in international markets Promotion Promotion is the specific mix of advertising, personal selling, sales promotion, and public relations a company uses to pursue its advertising and marketing objectives. If you are an entrepreneur, you most likely have limited resources and you are still learning about the market.
Information gather is extremely important at this stage of the game. The trick is the start the revenue stream without spending too much money. P a g e | 12 Management Thesis – 1 | 3rd Semester COMPARATIVE STUDY OF MARKETING STRATEGY REFERENCE TO 4PS OF BIG BAZAR & OTHER RETAIL COMPANY Objectives The objectives that are met by promoting are to move the target market through the following phases: “It is believed that consumers cannot skip over a phase, but they need to move through them. Promotion is used to move the target market from one phase to another to finally purchase. ” The Offer
The offer needs to be identified before you begin any promoting. What are you offering the target customer? What do you want the target market to do? One mistake that can be made is to create a promotional advertisement and not tell the customer what to do. You should prompt the customer and tell them to “call this number to place an order” or “download this software from our web site”. Measuring Response Testing different offers, advertisements, direct mail letters, lists, and promotion techniques can tell you what method is most effective. There is a trade-off. Testing is expensive.
You need different versions of promotions, which raises production expense. You need to track the results, which takes time. But the information you gather could help you reduce wasteful, ineffective spending in the future. If you decide to test, make sure you have a method for measuring response. You can do this by first asking the customer where they heard about you when taking the order, if it is a telephone order. If it is an order form that they mail back to you, you can code the order form with a tracking number that lets you know exactly what promotion the customer is responding to.
This information can then be entered into the customer database for future analysis. World Wide Web The Web allows for a cheap way of promoting your product. It is a great tool because it allows the target customers to educate themselves about your product by reading about it, seeing a demo, and download a copy (and therefore serve as your distribution channel). P a g e | 13 Management Thesis – 1 | 3rd Semester COMPARATIVE STUDY OF MARKETING STRATEGY REFERENCE TO 4PS OF BIG BAZAR & OTHER RETAIL COMPANY Remember, you are trying to reduce the perceive risk of purchasing your product.
By providing a Web page, you are moving the target market through the communication cycle from unawareness to purchase. Also, you are trying to reach innovators and early adopters. These people are actively searching for better ways to meet their needs. The Web is a natural place for them to go to look for you. The difficulty with the Web is all of the noise out there. It is very crowded and difficult to be noticed. Register with the entire search engines, such as Yahoo and Alta Vista. Make sure that there are keywords in your web site that will attract your target audience. Direct Mail
An average response rate for direct mail is about 1%. This depends on the offer, the mailing list, the target audience, the creative (how the direct mail piece looks), and the timing of the mailing. There is a whole industry built around direct mailing. This promotional activity involves many steps. Direct mail is a way of promoting your software product by sending prospects mail. It is a way of directly communicating to a list of people. List Selection A list is the names and addresses that you use to send your direct mail piece. This list is very important to the success of a mailing.
Some experts place 40% – 60% of importance to the list and 40% – 60% to other combined factors, such as offer, sales letter, and timing. You rent a list from a company – as opposed to buying a list. You can rent a list for one-time use, n-time use, or unlimited use. However, until you test the list, it would be best to rent it for one-time use. Once you determine which list works for you, then you can start negotiating multi-use lists. Be aware that list rental companies track the use of your list. They include “seed” names that you will not be able to identify.
These seed names show if you use the list more times than you rented it for. Once a name on the list contacts you, whether to buy or simply inquire, you can then use that name any way you want. They are considered your customer now. You rent lists from a variety of sources: P a g e | 14 Management Thesis – 1 | 3rd Semester COMPARATIVE STUDY OF MARKETING STRATEGY REFERENCE TO 4PS OF BIG BAZAR & OTHER RETAIL COMPANY • P a g e | 15 Management Thesis – 1 | 3rd Semester Compiled List: Names and addresses from a common source – such as a phone book.
These lists are the least expensive, but have the lowest response rate. • Mail Order Buyer Lists: Names and addresses of people who have responded to direct mail in the past. Lists can be selected by lifestyle or special interests. These lists respond better than compiled lists. • Publication Lists: Names and addresses of people who subscribe to a particular magazine. General interest magazines tend to have a lower response rate than special interest magazines. Special interest newsletters have a small circulation, but if this group is your target market, it can have a better response rate than other lists. Donor Lists: Names and addresses of people that are of interest to non-profit organizations. • House Lists: Names and addresses owned by a specific company of customers and inquires of their product. You can narrow lists down by demographic information, such as gender, geographic location, income, homeowners, frequency of purchase, regency of purchase, and monetary (amount) of purchase. Regency of purchase tends to be a good indicator of response rate. The older the names, the less likely the response – although you must test your lists to determine how old is old.
Make sure that the company renting you the list has merged/purged it for duplicate names, has updated the names and addresses using NCOA (National Change of Address), and cleaned the file (removed all non-deliverables from the list). You should have in your contract you get credit for names that are returned for nondelivery. You should merge/purge the file against any customer list you already have, or any other rented lists you have. Prices are usually given in cost per thousand. There is usually a minimum order such as 5,000 names. There is usually a cost to select based on certain criteria.
Price ranges can be from $50/M to $300/M for a base price. Each source varies. However, the cheapest list may not be the most cost effective. You need to look at cost per acquisition once the mailing is complete. COMPARATIVE STUDY OF MARKETING STRATEGY REFERENCE TO 4PS OF BIG BAZAR & OTHER RETAIL COMPANY Common Measurements Cost per acquisition = Total Cost of Mailing / Number of Responders (people who ordered). • Cost per piece = Total Cost of Mailing / Number of People Mailed. • Response rate = Number of Responders / Number of People Mailed. Response rates to prospects (non-customers) average around 1%. •
Response Mechanism One of the most important parts of your direct mail piece is the response mechanism. This is the device that the prospect will use to place the order (or request information). In designing your response mechanism or order form you need use all you have thought about so far – your offer, your product, the benefit it gives your customers, the price, and the risk reducer (such as a money back guarantee or a free trial period). Make it easy for the prospect to place the order. Give them many ways to do it telephone, e-mail, fax, mail back order form. Tell them exactly how to pay for the order.
The response card should be easy to fill out, offer as few choices as possible, be short, and be easy to read and understand. Although using a postcard may be cheaper, people will not put confidential information on a postcard. They will not put credit card number or even name and phone number on something everyone can read. Use a business reply envelope, even if it is a little more expensive. You will get a higher response rate. And make sure the response card fits in the envelope without folding it. Involvement devices work. Give the prospect something to do, such as check a box to order or place a sticker or stamp on the order form.
Give the order form a look of intrinsic value. Use the bond-like borders, seals, stamps, and other money look a-likes. Product Brochure This piece of the direct mail can be made a little more “slick” than the sales letter will be. The brochure will describe your product, the technical specifications, and P a g e | 16 Management Thesis – 1 | 3rd Semester COMPARATIVE STUDY OF MARKETING STRATEGY REFERENCE TO 4PS OF BIG BAZAR & OTHER RETAIL COMPANY the benefits to the customer, and testimonials from other customers, any free trial period, and money back guarantee. Include the company’s name, address, phone number, fax number, and web address.
Sales Letter The first line of a sales letter is a headline. It should give the reader immediately the benefits of the offer being made. This is the first thing a reader will read. The P. S. at the bottom of the letter is the second thing a read will read. Be sure to add a P. S. to your letter, giving the offer, the benefits, the free trial period, and the deadline. The average length of the sales letter is 4 pages long. Two pages long are considered a short length letter and six or more is considered a long length letter. Printing on both sides of a page test as well as one sided print.
The use of push dates test better than no push dates. A push date is a deadline for the prospect to order – “PLEASE RESPOND BY MONDAY”. If you are going to use a specific date, allow for at least three weeks for delivery for third class mail. Envelope The first thing the prospect sees is the envelope. Some people use this to print a “teaser” copy on the front of the envelope. This could be used to hint at what great offer lies inside if they just would open the letter. The risk is that the teaser copy immediately tells the prospect that this is another advertisement junk mail piece, and it may not get opened as a result.
If you do use teaser copy, make sure that whatever is promised on the outside is fulfilled on the insider. Otherwise the person will be angry, and therefore, no sale. Testing and Tracking Response On your response card, you can assign a code so you can keep track of what the customer is responding do. What list did you use, what offer, what sales letter, what brochure, what price, etc. There is no limit to the things you can test via direct mail. For example AA-123-MA-1 could translate to the first mailing of list source AA, sales letter 1, brochure letter 2, and price 3, in Massachusetts.
If you are testing price, make sure that everything else is constant. Use the same list and the same direct mail piece, with just the price changed. P a g e | 17 Management Thesis – 1 | 3rd Semester COMPARATIVE STUDY OF MARKETING STRATEGY REFERENCE TO 4PS OF BIG BAZAR & OTHER RETAIL COMPANY Some Tricks That Work Remember that direct mail is a personal medium. The more personal you can make your mail look, the better response you will get. Stamps work better than metered mail. Stamps look more like a personal letter. First-class stamps provide a fast delivery, but don’t necessarily improve response rate version third-class stamps.
Flamboyant color just for the sake of color does not pay off. If you decide to use some color for conservative enhancement, browns and greens do not work as well as aquamarine blues, cold and warm grays, warm reds. Some other successful colors have been bright orange, yellow ochre light and/or a metallic gold. Soft white book and antique-finish papers work better than slick super white paper. Cheap thin paper makes the product look cheap. Address labels perform worse than computer printed addresses directly on the envelope. Make a dummy sample to determine folding of paper, size, and most importantly weight.
Postage is very expensive, and if you go over the designated weight set by the post office, you will be paying for it. See the post office for the weight and size limits for first-class and third-class mail. People like to do things. Checking a box, using stickers and stamps and work to improve response. Classified Advertisements Although it may nice to be able to take out a full color, full page advertisement in an industry magazine, it is very expensive and will not reach your target market of the innovators and early adopters. This target market will read the classified ads in the magazines looking for and willing to try new things.
The key for classified advertisements is frequency. Running an ad once will create awareness, but not necessarily action. Request a media kit from the magazine you are considering. This should contain circulation information, subscriber profiles, and prices. This will help you determine if your target market reads this magazine. P a g e | 18 Management Thesis – 1 | 3rd Semester COMPARATIVE STUDY OF MARKETING STRATEGY REFERENCE TO 4PS OF BIG BAZAR & OTHER RETAIL COMPANY Press Releases A press release is an announcement of a new product release.
Editors may take this information and publish it as news in their magazine or newspaper. This is a great way to get free publicity. To send a press release, you should prepare a press kit that includes: • Cover letter to the editor Press release product announcement Product features sheet • Corporate background sheet Evaluation product Technical specifications sheet (if any) Reprint of any past articles Names of end user contacts and comments Picture of your product The editor may take your product announcement, make some modifications to it by hand, and send the original to be printed.
In general, editors like to have the press releases double spaced with plenty of margin room. There can be a 3-4 month lead time before your press release is published. If possible, tie your press release into current events or human interest. It has a better chance of being published. Don’t write your press release like an advertisement. Any claims you make be sure to back them up with user testimonials. Tailor your press release to each publication, or at least each type of publication. Mass mailing press releases don’t usually get published. Also, send your press release to one person at each magazine.
If you are unsure of the person, contact the magazine for a contact name. Include in your press release the product name, the price, a company contact name, the company name, address, phone number, fax number, and e-mail address. Be prepared to take questions. Your opening sentence should be clear and concise. “The first (product) capable of (doing this benefit) is now available from (your company) for people who need to (this need)”. P a g e | 19 Management Thesis – 1 | 3rd Semester COMPARATIVE STUDY OF MARKETING STRATEGY REFERENCE TO 4PS OF BIG BAZAR & OTHER RETAIL COMPANY
Product Reviews Magazines have product review editors that review it in an article or column. This can provide great exposure. However, it can also be risky. What damage will it do if you get a bad review? Before pursuing this promotional activity, it may be safest to fully complete testing, and have contacted many new customers to get their feedback on the product. Make sure there are no surprises. Choose a magazine your target market is reading. You can always use quotes from the review in your promotional material for other promotions.
With more people accepting the product, the faster you will move past the early adopters and innovators. Call the magazine for the name of the correct person to send the product to. Ensure that this person gets a full product. Be available for questions. If a reviewer has problems, there will usually be a phone call to the company first. Example – Promotion Your Music P a g e | 20 Management Thesis – 1 | 3rd Semester COMPARATIVE STUDY OF MARKETING STRATEGY REFERENCE TO 4PS OF BIG BAZAR & OTHER RETAIL COMPANY INTRODUCTION TO RETAIL TABLE OF What is retailing?
Retailing involves selling products and services to consumers for their personal or family use. Department stores, like Burdines and Macy’s, discount stores like Wal WalMart and K-Mart, and specialty stores like The Gap, Zales Jewelers and Toys ‘R’ us, Mart, are all examples of retail stores. Service providers, like dentists, hotels and hair ll salons, and on-line stores, like Amazon. com, is also retailers. line Many businesses, like Home Depot, are both wholesalers and retailers because they sell to consumers and building contractors. Other businesses, like The Limited, are both manufactures and retailers.
Regardless of other functions these businesses perform, they are still retailers when they interact with the final user of the product or service. Retailing consists of the sale of goods or merchandise, from a fixed location such as a nsists department store or kiosk, in small or individual lots for direct consumption by the purchaser. Retailing may include subordinated services such as delivery. Purchasers may be individuals or businesses. In commerce, a retailer buys goods or products in viduals large quantities from manufacturers or importers, either directly or through a wholesaler, and then sells smaller quantities to the end user.
Retail establishments end-user. are often called shops or stores. Retailers are at the end of the supply chain. ops Manufacturing marketers see the process of retailing as a necessary part of their overall distribution strategies. Shops may be on residential streets, or in shopping streets with few or no house or houses, in a shopping center or mall. Shopping streets may or may not be for pedestrians only. Sometimes a shopping street has a partial or full roof to protect customers from precipitation. Retailers often provided boardwalks in front of their stores to protect customers from the mud.
Online retailing, also known as e commerce is the tect e-commerce latest form of non-shop retailing. shop Shopping generally refers to the act of buying products. Sometimes this is done to obtain necessities such as food and clothing; sometimes it is done as a recreational activity. Recreational shopping often involves window shopping (just looking, not buying) and browsing and does not always result in a purchase. P a g e | 21 Management Thesis – 1 | 3rd Semester COMPARATIVE STUDY OF MARKETING STRATEGY REFERENCE TO 4PS OF BIG BAZAR & OTHER RETAIL COMPANY P a g e | 22 Management Thesis – 1 | 3rd Semester
Most retailers have employees learn facing; a hyperreal tool used to create the look of a perfectly-stocked store (even when it’s not). Retail pricing The pricing technique used by most retailers is cost-plus pricing. This involves adding a markup amount (or percentage) to the retailers cost. Another common technique is suggested retail pricing. This simply involves charging the amount suggested by the manufacturer and usually printed on the product by the manufacturer. In Western countries, retail prices are often so-called psychological prices or odd prices: a little less than a round number, e. . $6. 95. In Chinese societies, prices are generally either a round number or sometimes a lucky number. This creates price points. Often prices are fixed and displayed on signs or labels. Alternatively, there can be price discrimination for a variety of reasons. The retailer charges higher prices to some customers and lower prices to others. For example, a customer may have to pay more if the seller determines that he or she is willing to. The retailer may conclude this due to the customer’s wealth, carelessness, lack of knowledge, or eagerness to buy.
Price discrimination can lead to a bargaining situation often called haggling — a negotiation about the price. Economists see this as determining how the transaction’s total surplus will be divided into consumer and producer surplus. Neither party has a clear advantage, because the threat of no sale exists, whence the surplus vanishes for both. Retailers who are overstocked, or need to raise cash to renew stocks may resort to “Sales”, where prices are “marked down”, often by advertised percentages – “50% off” for example. Sales” are often held at fixed times of the year, for example January sales, or end-of-season sales, or Blue Cross Sale. Etymology Retail comes from the French word retaillier which refers to “cutting off, clip and divide” in terms of tailoring (1365). It first was recorded as a noun with the meaning of a “sale in small quantities” in 1433 (French). Its literal meaning for retail was to “cut off, shred, paring”. Like the French, the word retail in both Dutch and German (detailhandel and Einzelhandel respectively) also refer to sale of small quantities or items.
COMPARATIVE STUDY OF MARKETING STRATEGY REFERENCE TO 4PS OF BIG BAZAR & OTHER RETAIL COMPANY Retail types There are three major types of retailing. The first is the market, a physical location where buyers and sellers converge. Usually this is done on town squares, sidewalks or designated streets and may involve the construction of temporary structures (market stalls). The second form is shop or store trading. Some shops use counterservice, where goods are out of reach of buyers, and must be obtained from the seller. This type of retail is common for small expensive items (e. . jewelry) and controlled items like medicine and liquor. Self-service, where goods may be handled and examined prior to purchase, has become more common since the Twentieth Century. A third form of retail is virtual retail, where products are ordered via mail, telephone or online without having been examined physically but instead in a catalog, on television or on a website. Sometimes this kind of retailing replicates existing retail types such as online shops or virtual marketplaces such as eBay. Buildings for retail have changed considerably over time.
Market halls were constructed in the Middle Ages, which were essentially just covered marketplaces. The first shops in the modern sense used to deal with just one type of article, and usually adjoined the producer (baker, tailor, cobbler). In the nineteenth century, in France, arcades were invented, which were a street of several different shops, roofed over. From this there soon developed, still in France, the notion of a large store of one ownership with many counters, each dealing with a different kind of article was invented; it was called a department store.
One of the novelties of the department store was the introduction of fixed prices, making haggling unnecessary and browsing more enjoyable. This is commonly considered the birth of consumerism. In cities, these were multi-story buildings which pioneered the escalator. In the 1920’s the first supermarket opened in the United States, heralding in a new era of retail: self-service. Around the same time the first shopping mall was constructed which incorporated elements from both the arcade and the department store.
A mall consists of several department stores linked by arcades (many of whose shops are owned by the same firm under different names). The design was perfected by the Austrian architect Victor Gruen. All the stores rent their space from the mall owner. By mid-century, most of these were being developed as single enclosed, climate-controlled, projects in suburban areas. The mall has had a considerable impact on the retail structure and urban development in the United States. P a g e | 23 Management Thesis – 1 | 3rd Semester COMPARATIVE STUDY OF MARKETING STRATEGY REFERENCE TO 4PS OF BIG BAZAR & OTHER RETAIL COMPANY
In addition to the enclosed malls, there are also strip malls which are ‘outside’ malls (in Britain they are called retail parks. These are often connected to supermarkets or big box stores. Also, in high traffic areas, other businesses may lease space from the supermarket or big box store to sell their goods or services from. A recent development is a very large shop called a superstore. These are sometimes located as stand-alone outlets, but more commonly are part of a strip mall or retail park. Local shops can be known as brick and mortar stores in the United States.
Many shops are part of a chain: a number of similar shops with the same name selling the same products in different locations. The shops may be owned by one company, or there may be a franchising company that has franchising agreements with the shop owners (see also restaurant chain). Some shops sell second-hand goods. Often the public can also sell goods to such shops, sometimes called ‘pawn’ shops. In other cases, especially in the case of a nonprofit shop, the public donates goods to the shop to be sold (see also thrift store). In give-away shops goods can be taken for free.
There are also ‘consignment’ shops, which is where a person can place an item in a store, and if it sells the person gives the shop owner a percentage of the sale price. The advantage of selling an item this way is that the established shop give the item exposure to more potential buyers. The term retailer is also applied where a service provider services the needs of a large number of individuals, such as with telephone or electric power. Why is Retailing Important? As the final link between consumers and manufacturers, retailers are a vital part of the business world.
Retailers add value to products by making it easier for manufactures to sell and consumers to buy. It would be very costly and time consuming for you to locate, contact and make a purchase from the manufacturer every time you wanted to buy a candy bar, a sweater or a bar of soap. Similarly, it would be very costly for the manufactures of these products to locate and distribute them to consumers individually. By bringing multitudes of manufacturers and consumers together at a single point, retailers make it possible for products to be sold, and, consequently, business to be done.
Retailers also provide services that make it less risky and more fun to buy products. They have salespeople on hand who can answer questions, may offer credit, and display products so that consumers know what is available and can see it before P a g e | 24 Management Thesis – 1 | 3rd Semester COMPARATIVE STUDY OF MARKETING STRATEGY REFERENCE TO 4PS OF BIG BAZAR & OTHER RETAIL COMPANY buying. In addition, retailers may provide many extra services, from personal shopping to gift wrapping to delivery, that increase the value of products and services to consumers.
The Future of Retailing Advances in technology, like the Internet, have helped make retailing an even more challenging and exciting field in recent years. The nature of the business and the way retailing is done are currently undergoing fundamental changes. However, retailing in some form will always be necessary. For example, even though the Internet is beginning to make it possible for manufacturers to sell directly to consumers, the very vastness of cyberspace will still make it very difficult for a consumer to purchase every product he or she uses directly. On-line retailers, like Amazon. om, bring together assortments of products for consumers to buy in the same way that bricks-and-mortar retailers do. In addition, traditional retailers with physical stores will continue to be necessary. Of course, retailers who offer personal services, like hair styling, will need to have face-to-face interaction with the consumer. But even with products, consumers often want to see, touch and try them before they buy. Or, they may want products immediately and won’t want to wait for them to be shipped. Also, and perhaps most importantly, in many cases the experience of visiting the retailer is an important part of the purchase.
Everything that the retailer can do to make the shopping experience pleasurable and fun can help ensure that customers come back. Retail Strategy Planning Why Strategy? To define the business idea and validate the same through: • Market entry strategy • Market positioning strategy • New concept development • Business feasibility analysis For Whom? Strategy planning service caters to the needs of: • Entrepreneurial retail venture • Organizations planning to foray into the retail arena • Manufacturing companies with retail business ideas • Existing traditional retail businesses trying to reinvent themselves P a g e | 25
Management Thesis – 1 | 3rd Semester COMPARATIVE STUDY OF MARKETING STRATEGY REFERENCE TO 4PS OF BIG BAZAR & OTHER RETAIL COMPANY How? A series of activities are required to frame a strategy. These include: • Management interviews • Organization assessment • Segment analysis • Competitive performance analysis • Customer research • Capturing target segments ‘Share of Mind’ • Analysis of different format options • Analysis of merchandise mix • Analysis of various price points • Rollout plan • Business feasibility plan Why Integrated Retail?
Integrated Retail carries out Strategy Planning based on the following strengths: • Large team with over 200 man-years of retail operations and business experience • Successful implementation track record of similar projects • Constantly updated repository of best business practices in retail from across the world P a g e | 26 Management Thesis – 1 | 3rd Semester COMPARATIVE STUDY OF MARKETING STRATEGY REFERENCE TO 4PS OF BIG BAZAR & OTHER RETAIL COMPANY • • Data bank of benchmark retail performance data Access to macro-economic data impacting overall retail and consumer businesses.
Retail Summary Chart Below us summarizes each retail format by using the seven categorization characteristics. The characteristics identified for each format should be viewed as the “most likely” case for that format and are not necessarily representative of all retailers that fall into this format. For example, under distribution, clearly most retailers today have an online presence, however, for many the predominant distribution methods is still selling through retail stores. Format Target Market Products Carried Pricing Strategy Promotion Emphasis Distribution Service Level Ownership Structure
Mom-and-Pop mass general competitive advertising specialty specialty direct mail stand-alone strip center shopping area stand-alone strip-center stand-alone stand-alone strip center shopping area shopping mail stand-alone strip center shopping area assorted individually o/o Mass Discounter mass General discount advertising self corp. chain Warehouse Store Category Killer mass mass General Specialty discount advertising self assorted corp. chain corp. chain discount advertising competitive competitive advertising Department Store specialty General assorted corp. chain Boutique peciatly Specialty exclusive full Selling full individuallly o/o chain Catalog mass general discount specialty specialty competitive direct mail direct marketer assorted corp. structure e-Retailer mass general discount advertising specialty specialty competitive full mass Specialty competitive advertising online seller self corp. structure Franchise stand-along strip center stand-alone assorted contractual Convenience mass General full advertising self individually o/o corp. chain corp. structure Vending mass Specialty full None vending self P a g e | 27 Management Thesis – 1 | 3rd Semester
COMPARATIVE STUDY OF MARKETING STRATEGY REFERENCE TO 4PS OF BIG BAZAR & OTHER RETAIL COMPANY RETAILING INDUSTRY IN INDIA TABLE OF It was only in late the 1980’s that organized retailing started in India. Till 1990’s the organized retailing industry was dominated by manufacturer-owned retail store like owned Raymonds, Grasim, S kumars and Bombay Dyeing. With liberalization of Indian economy in 1990 multi-national players like Nanz entered in Indian retailing national industry. Encouraged by the response to branded retail stores, Indian entrepreneurs Indian set up retail chains like Viveks, Nilgiris and Cotton World.
Now the retailing industry is flooded with large stores, shopping malls and multiplexes. Shopper’s Stop, Lifestyle, West Side, Pantaloons, Giant, Food World, Croosword and Big B Bazaar are some of the big names in the organized retailing industry. The retail customer of India in 21st century is different from those in 1980’s & 90’s. Retail strategies need to be continuously assessed in view of changing demographics and new buying patterns. There is an increase in the number of small patterns. households with working couples. Their children including teenagers have high purchasing power.
With emergence of call centers which employ young graduates, many of them stay in cities away from parents Thus, the purchasing power of the parents. , young has increased considerably. The increasing number of Indians working in multinational companies, frequent trips abroad, and to a certain extent the media have all played their part in increasing brand consciousness among customers. They equate brand with quality, prestige and status. Hence, retailers should strive to maintain superior quality products and enhance their brand image and store image to retain customer’s confidence and win their loyalty.
In India, the retailing industry is still in the growth phase, with lot of untapped etailing potential. Existing players are expanding their operation while new players are entering the industry to tap the potential. P a g e | 28 Management Thesis – 1 | 3rd Semester COMPARATIVE STUDY OF MARKETING STRATEGY REFERENCE TO 4PS OF BIG BAZAR & OTHER RETAIL COMPANY SHOPPER INTELLIGENCE Once this has been achieved, they can start asking the more complex questions around shopper insights,” says Stephen Mawby, managing director of Glendinning Management Consultants. He points to technology and software vailable in the UK, which allows the marketer to input sales data obtained from the retailer, and then P a g e | 29 Management Thesis – 1 | 3rd Semester TABLE OF Specialist shopper research must be carried out to make sense of the retail environment, and to gain an understanding of what motivates the shopper’s behaviours and decisions in the store. “Global research spend allocated to retail, including the shopper, is between 15 and 20 per cent. In South Africa only five per cent of spend goes to retail, but it’s what everybody is talking about,” says Siemon Scamell-Katz, founder, TNS Magasin, and global director of TNS Retail and Shopper.
The shopper retail/marketing industry is said to be worth R130 bn (and that’s just 0 the FMCG categories), according to Michael Broughton, acting CEO of the Consumer Goods Council of SA (CGCSA). The good news is that there is a lot of research innovation taking place. “There are a greater number of store pilots and targeted shopper research going on. Retailers are waking up to it and they want category insights. They are thinking about their competitors,” says Andrea Ellens, associate brand director, Added Value.
Shopper research can be a costly investment, so brand owners are encouraged to start small and be very particular about the type of ers research methodology used. “When companies don’t know what research to buy, we actually recommend that they begin by studying existing in store data and use it to in-store get their basics right, including supply chain and merchandising. ight, COMPARATIVE STUDY OF MARKETING STRATEGY REFERENCE TO 4PS OF BIG BAZAR & OTHER RETAIL COMPANY slice it up and analyse it in many different ways to get a holistic understanding of the performance of its brands.
Locally, sales data is available, but there is a shortage of standardised software or tech systems. Very important is that the research itself be integrated into marketing strategy to address the business goals and problems of a brand or store, and should be accompanied by both pre- and post-testing to determine its effectiveness. Yet fewer than five per cent of brands globally are confident that shopper research has been integrated into their strategies, according to Peter Wilson, business manager: TNS Research Surveys Client Services. I have seen very little evidence of shopper research finding its way into retail trade by way of a coherent shopper strategy,” says Marne Dirks, MD, Executrac. A lot of rich shopper and activation insights never make it into the store, due to a lack of execution capabilities. “Research firms tend to complicate research feedback in this area and I have seen as many as 18 shopper demographic profiles for one FMCG company in the same channel, making it near impossible for a sales rep to execute a strategy,” says Dirks. Classifications should be kept to a simple two to three shopper types per channel, based on in-store observation.
It should also be kept in mind that a store owner is the best source of free information about the shopper, category routes and pricing levers, so working more closely with them will provide simpler, more cost-effective insights. Shopper research: step by step Shopper research begins by understanding what happens before the shopper enters the store. At this stage, the researcher is investigating the brand equity pre-disposition (whether the shopper has a positive perception of the brand, as created by previous consumption and advertising), as well the different shopping missions that the shopper plans and their impact on in-store behaviour.
The next stage of shopper research investigates how the shopping mission has motivated the choice of store, the behaviour in the store and the impact of different marketing media and messages. As says Kristina Couzyn, director: Shopper Marketing, Ogilvy, it’s overly simplistic to say that 70 per cent of decisions are made at the point of sale without understanding what kinds of decisions are made. The experience of the shopper both before and during the shopping process as well as during consumption post-shopping will feed back into the pre-shop motivations, and will inform future shopping missions and decisions.
P a g e | 30 Management Thesis – 1 | 3rd Semester COMPARATIVE STUDY OF MARKETING STRATEGY REFERENCE TO 4PS OF BIG BAZAR & OTHER RETAIL COMPANY New technology The use of technologies like infrared and radio frequency identification (RFID) have not seen extensive rollout locally. “SA is essentially a follower in terms of international technology developments. We do not anticipate much before 2011,” says Broughton. Coca-Cola SA, however, is reportedly using GPS trackers in trolleys to get maximum exposure in-store by tailoring its execution standards by channel, geography and shopper type.
This allows Coca-Cola to ensure that the correct brand and pack mix is available at the correct price and is communicated effectively in every outlet. “This means moving away from a one-size fits all approach into a segmented approach where the picture of success is altered for every outlet based on the variables. The caveat, as always, is the capability of the sales and trade marketing folk to execute against multiple pictures of success in various outlets,” says Dirks. The ultimate goal will be for South African companies to manage day part marketing on this level.
Radio Frequency Identification RFID tracking sees the trolley being fitted with a device which tracks its path through the store, as well as registering where the shopper lingers and for how long. This is helpful in identifying the store hot spots from the shopper’s perspective. Infrared-assisted research Infrared technology was used by Nielsen’s US offices in the PRISM project to provide traffic counts for different parts of a store; this allows the store to be rated a medium for marketing.
However, the project has been shelved due to lack of funding (Wal-Mart pulled out of the project in late 2008, according to reports on www. adadge. com). Video mining In the US, technology that was developed by homeland security is being used to ‘watch’ video recordings of the shopper in action and anonymously record their demographics, while also analysing which store elements the shopper engages with (www. videomining. com). However, shopper privacy is an issue. P a g e | 31 Management Thesis – 1 | 3rd Semester COMPARATIVE STUDY OF MARKETING STRATEGY REFERENCE TO 4PS OF BIG BAZAR & OTHER RETAIL COMPANY
Eye-tracking Eye-tracking could be useful for understanding what the shopper sees in the store. But researchers say that there is a disconnect between what the shopper looks at and what that actually does for decision-making in the store. This form of observation must be layered with other methodologies for better insights. Marketing at Retail Initiative (MARI ) research MARI research is endorsed by the Point of Purchase Association (POPAI), which has been established locally (www. popai. co. za). The MARI research aims to measure engagement with in-store media and marketing messages.
A sample of shoppers is fitted with a clipcam (surgical camera, attached to their glasses, or a dummy pair of glasses). This camera records what the shopper sees, and which brands and marketing messages they interact with, to determine what sort of marketing works and where it is best situated in the store. There are concerns, however, that the cameras will impact shopper behaviour and will compromise the research. P a g e | 32 Management Thesis – 1 | 3rd Semester COMPARATIVE STUDY OF MARKETING STRATEGY REFERENCE TO 4PS OF BIG BAZAR & OTHER RETAIL COMPANY
CURRENT TRENDS AND CHALLENGES T The current economic recession is changing the retail marketing environment in terms of an increase in retail marketing spend even as tail consumers tighten their purse strings and overall marketing budgets shrink. This dichotomy has ome about as the realisation of the ‘moment of truth’ drives more focus into the retail environment. However, in light of the current economic climate, there will need to be much more retail marketing and shopper insight research carried out to push brand sales. If we review what is happening in the US and use this as the base case, pend within the retail marketing environment will continue to increase year on ear,” says Elton Scheepers, commercial business director, Todwil. With marketing udgets shrinking, the trend is moving towards more tactical below-the-line below campaigns, though not necessarily at the expense of above-the-line branding. “With ne ver 60 per cent of shopper decisions being made in the outlet, this trend is here to tay.
As always, when volume and profitability come under threat from weak economic conditions, more knee knee-jerk-type activities find their way into the marketplace,” says Scheepers. Manufacturers too, are trying to cut their costs. Marne Dirks, MD, Executrac, finds that to keep margins intact, manufacturers are focusing on making business processes more efficient and cutting costs, although it seems to have only a limited impact. The only bright light on the horizon is the drop ve in fuel prices. Retailers are also under severe pressure to cut costs while meeting profit targets and retaining shopper loyalty.
Reports (www. tradeintelligence. co. za) indicate that retailers had better than expected December trade, but that January is off to a slow start. The bottom line is that this year will be tough. To maintain profits, stores are going to have to work hard at creating the right shopping environment; service delivery is key, and a simpler, more pleasant shopping ivery experience must be created. P a g e | 33 Management Thesis – 1 | 3rd Semester COMPARATIVE STUDY OF MARKETING STRATEGY REFERENCE TO 4PS OF BIG BAZAR & OTHER RETAIL COMPANY
Brands and retailers are going to have to work more closely together as a key component in maintaining profits for both parties is to keep the shelves stocked with the right brands, at the right price. All too often, shoppers are faced with empty shelves and products missing for inordinate amounts of time, eroding loyalty and confidence in product, brand and retailer. Stephen Mawby, managing director of Glendinning Management Consultants, compares SA’s retail market to those of more developed countries, where the average store product range is very complex, and all aspects of the service and supply chain have been refined.
Locally, he says, there are still issues around supply, store range, store layout and so on; retailers need to drive the research that exposes the weak spots and highlight new opportunities. As stores try to achieve this, we may see continued focus on ready to eat, prepared meals, and also on healthy or organic foods; however, pricing needs to be carefully considered (even premium shoppers will be cutting back and looking for value). Another result of the tightening of purse strings will see the loyalty of high-end retail shoppers being eroded as they switch to mid-range. P a g e | 34 Management Thesis – 1 | 3rd Semester
COMPARATIVE STUDY OF MARKETING STRATEGY REFERENCE TO 4PS OF BIG BAZAR & OTHER RETAIL COMPANY COMPANY PROFILE T Pantaloon Retail (India) Limited, is India’s leading retail company with presence across multiple lines of businesses. The company owns and manages multiple retail formats that cater to a wide cross cross-section of the Indian society and is able to capture almost the entire consumption basket of the Indian consumer. Headquartered in Mumbai (Bombay), the company operates through 5 million square feet of retail space, has over 331 stores across 40 cities in India and employs over 17,000 people.
The company registered a turnover of Rest 2,019 crore for FY 2007 08 2007-08 It owns and operates multiple retail formats including Pantaloons, Big Bazaar, Food Bazaar, Central, E-Zone, Fashion Station, Depot and many others. Zone, Pantaloon Retail forayed into modern retail in 1997 with the launching of fashion retail chain, Pantaloons in Kolkata. In 2001, it launched Big Bazaar, a hypermarket chain that combines the look and feel of Indian bazaars, with aspects of modern retail, like choice, convenience and hygiene. Food Bazaar, food and grocery chain hygiene. nd launch Central, a first of its kind seamless mall located in the heart of major Indian cities, followed this. Some of its other formats include, Collection i (home improvement products), E-Zone (consumer electronics), Depot (books, music, gifts Zone electronics), and stationary), All (fashion apparel for plus size individuals), Shoe Factory plus-size (footwear) and Blue Sky (fashion accessories). It has recently launched its retailing venture, futurebazaar. com. The group’s subsidiary companies include, Home Solutions Retail India Ltd, Pantaloon Industries Ltd, Galaxy Entertainment
