17w21e0007.pdf

A STUDY ON “CUSTOMER EXPECTATIONS AND SATISFACTION IN VISAKHAPATNAM CENTRAL”

A Project Report submitted in partial fulfillment of the Requirement for the degree of MASTERS OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION Submitted by

S MANIKANTA DUGGIRALA ROLL NO-1225110341 MBA-C Under the guidance of I.BANGAR RAJU

GITAM INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT GITAM UNIVERSITY VISAKHAPATNAM 2011 1

CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that this report entitled “CUSTOMER EXPECTATION AND SATISFACTION IN VISAKHAPATNAM CENTRAL,VISAKHAPATNAM” submitted by S.MANIKANTA DUGGIRALA in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the award of the Degree of Master of Business Administration, GITAM INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT, Visakhapatnam is a bona-fide work carried out by him under my guidance.

Date:

I. BANGAR RAJU

Assistant Professor Visakhapatnam Management

GITAM Institute of

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DECLARATION I hereby declare that the project work submitted by me entitled “CUSTOMER EXPECTATIONS AND SATISFACTION IN VISAKHAPATNAM CENTRAL” to GITAM INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT, GITAM UNIVERSITY; is carried out during the period from May 2nd to15th June as a partial fulfillment for the award of degree of Master of Business Administration (MBA). I also declare that this project has not been submitted nor shall it be submitted in future for the award of any other degree or diploma in part or full to any other institution or university.

Place: Visakhapatnam Date: MANIKANTA DUGGIRALA)

(S

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Prof. K. Siva Rama Krishna, principal of GITAM INSTITUE OF MANAGEMENT, Visakhapatnam, for giving the opportunity to work in this project. I am thankful to the Vice Principal Prof. Mrs. Sheela for her continuous support in completing the project I am grateful to Associate Professor K. Uma Devi, Programme coordinator Department of MBA, for her valuable advice. I take this opportunity to record my everlasting thanks and hearty feelings of gratitude to my project guide, I. Bangar Raju, Assistant Professor, Gitam Institute of management, Visakhapatnam for his constant encouragement and guidance for the successful completion of the project work. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Mr. NEEL KAMAL, Marketing Manager, Visakhapatnam central, Vizag for his valuable support and guidance during the entire course of project work.

Visakhapatnam Date:

S

MANIKANTA DUGGIRALA

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CONTENTS  SECTION-1 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK a. Retailing b. Consumer Behavior c. Customer satisfaction

09 10

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 SECTION-2 THE PRESENT STUDY a. Need of the study b. Objectives of the study c. Scope of the study d. Research design

13 13 13 14

 SECTION-3 ORGANISATION PROFILE a. Industry profile 17 b. Organization profile 21 c. Topic profile in the organization

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

SECTION-4 ANALYSIS

31

 SECTION-5 FINDINGS,SUGGESTIONS AND CONCLUSION

 

BIBLIOGRAPHY ANNEXURE

45

50 51

5

LIST OF TABLES 

No of visits of customers

33



Medium of awareness

34



Criteria for choosing Visakhapatnam central

35



Service offered by Sales representatives

40



Promotions in Visakhapatnam Central

41



Satisfaction level for gift voucher redemption process

42



Preference for shopping

43



Recommendation level

44

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LIST OF CHARTS 

No of visits of customers

32



Medium of awareness

33



Criteria for choosing Visakhapatnam central

34



Service offered by Sales representatives

35



Promotions in Visakhapatnam Central

41



Satisfaction level for gift voucher redemption process

42



Preference for shopping

43



Recommendation level

44

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Theoretical Framework

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RETAILING: •

Market - Any system or place where parties are engaged in exchange of either goods or

services is called as market. The parties are often called as buyers and sellers. The seller offers his goods or services to the buyer who in return purchases it in exchange of money. •

Goods - Tangible (things which can be seen and touched) physical products which are

transferred from a seller to the buyer (consumer) to fulfill the latter’s need are called as goods Retailing involves the sale of goods from a single point (malls, markets, department stores etc) directly to the consumer in small quantities for his end use. Retailing is the combination of activities involved in selling consumer goods and services directly to ultimate consumers for their personal or household use. In addition to selling, retailing includes such diverse activities as, buying, advertising, data processing and maintaining inventory. Retail is usually classified by type of products as follows:  Food products  Non Apparels - appliances, electronics, furniture, sporting goods, wellness, etc.

 Apparels - clothing and other fabrics. The retailers purchase goods in bulk quantities (huge numbers) to be sold to the end-users either directly from the manufacturers or through a wholesaler. The store location, product assortment, timings, store fixtures, sales personnel, delivery and other factors, very critical in drawing customers to the store. Therefore, retailers need to place impulse items in high traffic locations, organize store layout, train sales people, and place related items next to each other, to stimulate purchase. Retailers provide the vital link between producers and ultimate consumers. •

Organized retailing

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Organized retailing refers to trading activities undertaken by licensed retailers, that is, those who are registered for sales tax, income tax, etc. These include the corporate-backed hypermarkets and retail chains, and also the privately owned large retail businesses. •

Unorganized retailing

Unorganized retailing, on the other hand, refers to the traditional formats of low-cost retailing, for example, the local kirana shops, owner manned

Consumer Behavior The behavior of the consumer with respect to the products and services offered by the mall whether positive or negative can be called as consumer behavior. Usually this can be found out by issuing questionnaires or personally interviewing the consumers about their experience of the products. The level of satisfaction or dissatisfaction can be found out through these methods.

How consumers really make decisions 1. They are more likely to choose an alternative after an inferior option. 2. The choices that they make depend on their own tastes. 3. They choose a better-known brand if they think their purchase decision is going to be wrong. 4. Consumers often overestimate their future consumption.

Urban consumer behavior A typical urban consumer is more intelligent than one imagines. This increased awareness of the goods and services can be attributed to readily available information on internet, newspapers and opinions from friends and colleagues. Urban consumer always goes for a number of reviews from friends and colleagues which equip him/her with the required knowledge of the product. But, the general instincts of a typical consumer are always found in urban consumer too. In case of consumers of steel exchange of India Ltd, due to less competition in the city of Vizag and high brand image of “Vizag Profiles” they tend to go for its products whatever the purpose might be. It has been found out that every 7 out of 10 opt for the products of this company in the city of Vizag.

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There are three important factors which influence the consumer behavior, Cultural, Social and Personal. Cultural factors include culture, subculture and social class. Social factors include reference groups, family, social roles and status. Personal factors include age, stage in life cycle, occupation, lifestyle, personality. The four main psychological processes that affect consumer behavior are motivation, perception, learning and memory.

Customer satisfaction Customer satisfaction, a term frequently used in marketing, is a measure of how products and services supplied by a company meet or surpass customer expectation. Customer satisfaction is defined as "the number of customers, or percentage of total customers, whose reported experience with a firm, its products, or its services (ratings) exceeds specified satisfaction goals." It is seen as a key performance indicator within business and is often part of a Balanced Scorecard. In a competitive marketplace where businesses compete for customers, customer satisfaction is seen as a key differentiator and increasingly has become a key element of business strategy. Within organizations, customer satisfaction ratings can have powerful effects. They focus employees on the importance of fulfilling customers’ expectations. Furthermore, when these ratings dip, they warn of problems that can affect sales and profitability. These metrics quantify an important dynamic. When a brand has loyal customers, it gains positive word-of-mouth marketing, which is both free and highly effective. Therefore, it is essential for businesses to effectively manage customer satisfaction. To be able do this, firms need reliable and representative measures of satisfaction. In researching satisfaction, firms generally ask customers whether their product or service has met or exceeded expectations. Thus, expectations are a key factor behind satisfaction. When customers have high expectations and the reality falls short, they will be disappointed and will likely rate their experience as less than satisfying. For this reason, a luxury resort, for example, might receive a lower satisfaction rating than a budget motel—even though its facilities and service would be deemed superior in “absolute” terms.[1]

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The Present Study

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Need of the study This study has been conducted keeping in mind the need to study the customer expectations and satisfaction towards Visakhapatnam central, Visakhapatnam. This assisted us in understanding the tastes and preferences of consumers and their views on the further improvements. Another important need for the study is to understand how attractive Visakhapatnam central is from its competitors.

Objectives of the study 1. To understand what consumers really look at while making their purchase decision.

2. To study the expectation level of customer from Visakhapatnam Central. 3. To study the problem faced by Customer. 4. To study the service quality offered by Visakhapatnam Central in term of Reliability, Assurance, Tangibility, Empathy, Responsiveness. 5. To study the role of promotional offer/schemes in customer satisfaction. 6. To study the consumer preference of particular retail shop.

Scope of the study This study covers customers of Visakhapatnam Central, Visakhapatnam. The catchment areas of the Visakhapatnam Central are Beach Road, CBM compound, Seethammadara, M.V.P.Colony, Dwaraka Nagar , Gajuwaka. The study makes effort to ascertain the expectations and satisfaction level of customer of Visakhapatnam Central through survey so that company would be able to come up to the expectation level of its customer. The company can come up to the expectation only by finding out the problem that customer are facing during their purchase from Visakhapatnam Central. The subject has been taken for the research as it plays key role in the success of retail sector. No company can think of selling their product without having satisfied customers. No company can survive in long run without coming up to the expectation level of customer. So to know the customer satisfaction level such research is very important. In short it is the level of satisfaction that is link between end-user and company. As long as the company is able to satisfy its customer, customer would remain in the bracket of loyal customer. Hence it is very essential to understand the customer satisfaction and to measure the satisfaction level time to time as there is always scope of improvement. 13

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY RESEARCH METHODOLOGY It is a way to systematically solve the research problem. It may be understood as a science of studying how research is done scientifically. In it we study the various steps that are generally adopted by researchers, in studying our research problem along with the logic behind it. It is essential for the researchers to know not only the research method technique but also the methodology.

RESEARCH PROCESS It consists of a series of action necessary to effectively carry out research and the desired sequence of these steps. •

Defining the problem and research objectives

•

Develop the research plan

•

Collect the information

•

Analyze the information

•

Present the findings

•

Make the decision

RESEARCH DESIGN A very simple design has been adopted to conduct research on customer expectations and satisfactions who visit Visakhapatnam central, Visakhapatnam.

Data collection methods 1. Primary data from the consumers is being gathered through a questionnaire which essentially gives information about their tastes and preferences. 2.

Secondary data like the company and industry profiles are gathered from the internet sources and books. 14

Data tabulation Thus gathered data is being put into tables for further analysis. Simple answers like ‘yes’ or ‘no’ or the various answer options for the questions are being tabulated for the entire sample space.

Sample Size 150.

Analysis method The collected data is tabulated and then analyzed by drawing the bar graphs putting up the various options into them. Conclusions are being drawn from the diagrams.

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Organization Profile

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ABOUT INDUSTRY The retail industry is a sector of the economy that is comprised of individuals and companies engaged in the selling of finished products to end user consumers. Retail is India's largest industry. It accounts for over 10 per cent of the India's GDP and around 8 per cent of the employment. Retail sector is one of India's fastest growing sectors with a 5 per cent compounded annual growth rate. India's huge middle class base and its untapped retail industry are key attractions for global retail giants planning to enter newer markets. Driven by changing lifestyles, strong income growth and favorable demographic patterns, Indian retail is expected to grow 25 per cent annually. It is expected that retail in India could be worth US$ 175-200 billion by 2016. A number of factors are driving India's retail market. These include: increase in the young working population, hefty pay-packets, nuclear families in urban areas, increasing working-women population, increase in disposable income and customer aspiration, increase in expenditure for luxury items, and low share of organized retailing. India's retail boom is manifested in sprawling shopping centers, multiplex- malls and huge complexes that offer shopping, entertainment and food all under one roof. But there is a flip side to the boom in the retail sector. It is feared that the entry of global business giants into organized retail would make redundant the neighborhood Kirana stores resulting in dislocation in traditional economic structure. Also, the growth path for organized retail in India is not hurdle free. The taxation system still favors small retail business. With the intrinsic complexities of retailing such as rapid price changes, constant threat of product obsolescence and low margins there is always a threat that the venture may turn out to be a loss making one. A perfect business model for retail is still in evolutionary stage. Procurement is very vital cog in the retail wheel. The retailer has to fight issues like fragmented sourcing, unpredictable availability, unsorted food provisions and daily fluctuating prices as against

Consumer

expectations of round-the-year steady prices sorted and cleaned food and fresh stock at all times. Trained human resource for retail is another big challenge. The talent base is limited and with the entry of big giants there is a cat fight among them to retain this talent. This has resulted 17

in big salary hikes at the level of upper and middle management and thereby eroding the profit margin of the business. All the companies have laid out ambitious expansion plans for themselves and they may be hampered due lack of requisite skilled manpower. But retail offers tremendous for the growth of Indian economy. If all the above challenges are tackled prudently there is a great potential that retail may offer employment opportunities to millions living in small town and cities and in the process distributing the benefits of economic boom and resulting in equitable growth.

Present Indian retail scenario

The retail industry is divided into organized and unorganized sectors. Over 12 million outlets operate in the country and only 4% of them being larger than 500 sq ft (46 m²) in size. Organized retailing refers to trading activities undertaken by licensed retailers, that is, those Who are registered for sales tax, income tax, etc. These include the corporate-backed hypermarkets and retail chains, and also the privately owned large retail businesses. Unorganized retailing, on the other hand, refers to the traditional formats of low-cost retailing, for example, the local kirana shops, owner manned general stores, paan/beedi shops, convenience stores, hand cart and pavement vendors, etc. Foundation for organized retail in India was laid by Kishore Biyani of Pantaloon Retails India Limited (PRIL). Following Pantaloon's successful venture a

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host of Indian business giants such as Reliance, Bharati, Birla and others are now entering into retail sector. Biggest player in India is Pantaloon Retail India Limited

Present Indian retail scenario: The retail industry is divided into organized and unorganized sectors. Over 12 million outlets operate in the country and only 4% of them being larger than 500 sq ft (46 m²) in size. Organized retailing refers to trading activities undertaken by licensed retailers, that is, those Who are registered for sales tax, income tax, etc. These include the corporate-backed hypermarkets and retail chains, and also the privately owned large retail businesses. Unorganized retailing, on the other hand, refers to the traditional formats of low-cost retailing, for example, the local kirana shops, owner manned general stores, paan/beedi shops, convenience stores, hand cart and pavement vendors, etc. Foundation for organized retail in India was laid by Kishore Biyani of Pantaloon Retails India Limited (PRIL). Following Pantaloon's successful venture a host of Indian business giants such as Reliance, Bharati, Birla and others are now entering into retail sector. Biggest player in India is Pantaloon Retail India Limited.

Hypermarket: It is the largest format in Indian retail so far is a one stop shop for the modern Indian shopper. Merchandise: food grocery to clothing to spots goods to books to stationery. Example: Pantaloon retail’s Big Bazaar, RPG’s Spencer’s (Giant), Vishal mega mart.

1. Supermarket: A subdued version of a hypermarket. Merchandise: Almost similar to that of a hypermarket but in relatively smaller proposition. Example: Nilgiris, Apna Bazaar, Trinethra/more.

2. Convenience store: A subdued version of a supermarket. 19

Merchandise: Groceries are predominantly sold. Example: stores located at the corners of the streets, Reliance Retail’s fresh

3. Department store: A retail establishment which specializes in selling a wide range of products without a single prominent merchandise line and is usually a part of a retail chain. Merchandise: Apparel, household accessories, cosmetics, gifts etc. Example: Landmark Group’s Lifestyle, Trent India Ltd.’s Westside.

4. Discount store: Standard merchandise sold at lower prices with lower margins and higher volumes. Merchandise: A variety of perishable/ non perishable goods. Example: Viswapriya Group’s Subiksha, Piramal’s TruMart.

5. Specialty store: It consists of a narrow product line with deep assortment. Merchandise: Depends on the stores Example: Bata store deals only with footwear, RPG’s Music World, Crossword.

6. MBO’s: Multi Brand outlets, also known as Category Killers. These usually do well in busy market places and Metros. Merchandise: Offers several brads across a single product category.

7. Kirana stores: The smallest retail formats which are the highest in number (15 million approx.) in India. Merchandise: Mostly food and groceries.

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8. Malls: The largest form of organized retailing today located mainly in metro cities, in proximity to urban outskirts. Merchandise: They lend an ideal shopping experience with an amalgamation of product, service and entertainment, all under a common roof. Example: Pantaloon Retail’s Central, Mumbai’s I orbit.

ABOUT COMPANY

About future group: Future Group, led by its founder and Group CEO, Mr. Kishore Biyani, is one of India’s leading business houses with multiple businesses spanning across the consumption space. While retail forms the core business activity of Future Group, group subsidiaries are present in consumer finance, capital, insurance, leisure and entertainment, brand development, retail real estate development, retail media and logistics.

Led by its flagship enterprise, Pantaloon Retail, the group operates over 12 million square feet of retail space in 71 cities and towns and 65 rural locations across India. Headquartered in Mumbai (Bombay), Pantaloon Retail employs around 30,000 people and is listed on the Indian stock 21

exchanges. The company follows a multi-format retail strategy that captures almost the entire consumption basket of Indian customers. In the lifestyle segment, the group operates Pantaloons, a fashion retail chain and Central, a chain of seamless malls. In the value segment, its marquee brand, the group’s specialty retail formats include, books and music chain, Depot, sportswear retailer, Planet Sports, electronics retailer, Ezone, home improvement chain, Home Town and rural retail chain, Aadhar, among others. It also operates popular shopping portal, futurebazaar.com. Future Capital Holdings, the group’s financial arm provides investment advisory to assets worth over $1 billion that are being invested in consumer brands and companies, real estate, hotels and logistics. It also operates a consumer finance arm with branches in 150 locations. Other group companies include, Future Generali, the group’s insurance venture in partnership with Italy’s Generali Group, Future Brands, a brand development and IPR company, Future Logistics, providing logistics and distribution solutions to group companies and business partners and Future Media, a retail media initiative. The group’s presence in Leisure & Entertainment segment is led through, Mumbai-based listed company Galaxy Entertainment Limited. Galaxy leading leisure chains, Sports Bar and Bowling Co. and family entertainment centers, F123. Through its partner company, Blue Foods the group operates around 100 restaurants and food courts through brands like Bombay Blues, Spaghetti Kitchen, Noodle Bar, The Spoon, Copper Chimney and Gelato. SEGMENT AND RETAIL BRANDS BUILT BY PANTALOON’S KISHORE BIYANI: FASHION: Pantaloons, Central, Big Bazaar and Fashion Station FOOD: Food Bazaar GENERAL MERCHANDISE: Central Malls and Big Bazaar SPECIALITY RETAILING: All, Blue Sky

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HOME: Home Town, E-Zone, Furniture Bazaar, Electronics Bazaar, Collection I and Mela BOOKS AND STORES: Depot COMMUNICATIONS: M- Zone and Converge M WELLESS: Star and Sitara E-TAILING: Futurebazaar.Com FOOTWEAR: Show Factory LEISURE AND ENTERTAINMENT: Bowling Co, Rain, Bollywood Café, Chamosa, Fuel, Sports Bar, Food Stop and Your Kitchen.

Future Group believes in developing strong insights on Indian consumers and building businesses based on Indian ideas, as espoused in the group’s core value of ‘Indianness.’ The group’s corporate credo is, ‘Rewrite rules, Retain values.’

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ABOUT VISAKHAPATNAM CENTRAL Visakhapatnam Central

is a shopping mall in Visakhapatnam, India. It is a

newly erected huge mall in Visakhapatnam, India. The thought behind this pioneering concept was to give customers an unobstructed and a pure shopping experience and to ensure the best brands in the Indian market are made available to the discerning Indian customer.

Visakhapatnam Central Opened and started it’s functioning in Visakhapatnam since 29th July 2010. Visakhapatnam Central offers latest fashion and accessory brands in all major categories like youth wear, men’s wear, women’s wear, kid’s wear and accessories, Latest apparel, footwear, watches, eye wear, jewellery, cosmetics, perfumes, handbags and much more. In a short span of its existence, Central has revolutionized and redefined the shopping experience in Visakhapatnam.

CENTRAL STRATEGY:

CUSTOMER ORIENTED COORDINATED EFFORT

CENTRAL STRATEGY

VALUE DRIVEN

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GOAL ORIENTED

Applying the Retailing concept in Relation to Central:: •

Customer Oriented – central determines the attribute and needs of its customers.

•

Coordinated Effort – central integrates all plan and activities to maximize efficiency. All the employees give their best service to customer.

•

Value Driven – central offers good value to customers, which means having the appropriate price for the level of product and customer service.

•

Goal Oriented - central sets goals and then uses a strategy to attain them.

BRANDS @ CENTRAL: There are four floors in VIZAG CENTRAL with more than 300 Brands. 

Ground floor: consists of all Wellness & Beauty merchandise, Accessories, Perfumes, Electronic Zone, and an SIS called Neeru’s which is a specialty store for ladies and many more.



First floor: consists of Ladies Footwear, Apparel, Accessories and Kids Apparel sections. Ladies: Clothing- 14 Brands Footwear- 7 Brands Kids-: Clothing- 14 Brands Footwear- 2 Brands



Second floor: consists of Men’s formal Apparel, Accessories and Men’s Footwear. Clothing- 27 Brands 25

Footwear- 9 Brands



Third Floor: consists of Men’s Casual’s, Sports Wear, Accessories and an SIS called Odyssey. Clothing- 28 Brands Planet Sports- 11 Brands



Fourth Floor: This floor is divided into two segments, one is the Food Stop and another segment is that of Movies’. The food court is in operation but the Movie segment is yet to start.

CUSTOMER SERVICE @ Visakhapatnam Central: Customer is most important thing in retail. In retail, the idea of focusing on the best current customers should be seen as an on-going opportunity. Types of customers: •

Discount Customers

•

Loyal Customers

•

Impulse Customers

•

Wandering Customers

If we are looking at growth, then we need to focus our effort on the loyal customers, and merchandise our store to leverage the Impulse shoppers. Complimentary Services offered in Central are:  Gift wrapping.  Exchange within 7 days. 26

 T24- Shop more, Talk more.  Free alterations.  Music DJ Central.  Wi-Fi Service.  Nail Art. During my tenure, Central provided Rewarding Programs for the Loyal Customers.  Joy of Rewards- Rewarding program where in if the customer makes a purchase of:

Issued for purchase of - Rs 2500 For every Next purchase – Rs 1000 and above entry is done on the book. According to the number of visit, the customer is rewarded. Visit

Gift Voucher

Movie Voucher

Food Voucher

3rd visit

100 Rs

-

-

5th visit

300 Rs

100 Rs

-

7th visit

300 Rs

100 Rs

100 Rs

10th visit

500 Rs

200 Rs

100 Rs

The card is valid for Lifetime.  E-passbook: This strategy was used in Central during the Great Indian Shopping Festival

According to the shopping amount the points are given and later the points can be redeemed for a gift from a selected choice. (For every 250 Rs: One point) The validity of the E-passbook was only until the FESTIVAL lasted.  Gift Vouchers: These were issued for every purchase more than Rs 2500

Youth Wear

Rs 500 off

Women’s Wear

Rs 300 off

Kid’s Wear

Rs 200 off

Foot Wear

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Rs 300 off

The gift voucher has to be redeemed only during the next purchase. This ensured that the customer again makes a purchase next time to avail the Gift Voucher.  Lucky Draw coupons were also issued to the customers.

Rewarding Strategy: IDENTIFY INDIVIDUAL CUSTOMERS

ENABLE RELEVANT PERSONAL SERVICE

CUSTOM ER LOYALTY

CREATE EFFICIENT TARGET GROUP

REWARD SPENDING PATTERN

BUILD CUSTOMER DATABASE

Developing a Feedback System:

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A carefully planned and well-written customer comment book is maintained by Central and this allows the customer to express their opinion and provide valuable feedback. This form of store evaluation not only helps in measuring the customer satisfaction, but also shows the retailer what areas of operation may need additional resources or modifications. It can also be a great tool for receiving complaints. Displeased customers generally express their dissatisfaction. A conveniently placed customer comment book could prevent the unhappy customer from complaining to a third-party. Now the store can receive the complaint and act quickly to resolve the issue. This helps in retaining the customer, and it may also prevent any negative word-of-mouth

COMPETITOR ANALYSIS Central is one of the leading retail stores in Visakhapatnam, its major competitors are CMR Central, CMR Shopping mall and M&M.

CMR Central: An affiliate of the Chandana Brothers group of stores, CMR Central is a shopper’s paradise in Visakhapatnam. It started its operations in January 2010 and has grown ever since by adding even an entertainment zone to its facility. Spread over three and a half acres, this multistoried super mall has everything under one roof. This includes apparels, Gold, Diamond and silver jewellery, accessories, furniture, home appliances and furnishing items apart from a separate entertainment zone. Popular apparel brands like Mufti, Max, White House, Spykar Jeans and the indigenous Reliance Trends have their individual outlets here. So there are both western casual and ethnic Indian clothes available here for men, women and kids. CMR itself has its outlet on the ground floor offering cosmetics, accessories, sarees, jewelry and more. The home appliances division here boasts of the widest range and variety in consumer electronic goods and domestic 29

appliances. The third and fourth floors at CMR Central spread across an area of 12,000 square feet has been designed as a Fun Zone with avenues like ‘Jungle Horror House’ for those willing to be scared in pitch darkness, ‘Mirror Maze’, Play Stations, robotic Horse rides and Redemption games. But it’s the 4D theatre here that stands out the most. Visitors are provided with special glasses and made to sail through an enthralling voyage of special effects on synchronized seats for 20 minutes. This space also has an integrated food plaza. CMR also boasts of the INOX Multiplex with four screens and 969 seats. It screens Hollywood, Bollywood and Tollywood’s latest releases. Plush seats, ample leg space, luxuriant carpeting and top-class hospitality at 'Refuel' the in-house brand of theatre food like flavored popcorn, hot and cold snacks and beverages are the add-ons.

CMR Shopping mall: It is owned by Chandana Mohana Rao, owner of the famous Chandana Bros. It is a 4 story building in which you can get all the shopping items you want. In this the prices are comparatively low…the mall mainly attracts people of low income groups An affiliate of the Chandana Brothers group of stores, the CMR Shopping mall in Vizag has both clothes and gold, diamond and silver jewelry. The clothes (traditional and contemporary) are for the entire family, ranging from sarees for ladies, formals for men, kurta pyjama sets and T-shirts for boys and churidar kurta sets and skirts and tops for girls. A wide variety of brands can be found here. They also have clothes and accessories for newborns and infants.

M&M: The M&M Group, after its success in Vijayawada and other parts of Andhra Pradesh, opened its new store in the port-cum-steel city on Monday. This new store is up on an area of 40,000 sq.ft in five floors on the Sri Sampath Vinayagar road at a cost of Rs. 6 crore, and will cater to the needs of all age groups and all income groups. The store would present international brands like Jack N Jones, Energie, Giordano and Espirit for the first time in the State.

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Analysis

Analysis and interpretation No of visits of customers 31

Table: 01 Weekly

Monthly

Occasionally

Others

15

66

54

15

Interpretation: From the above graph, it is clear that 44% of the customers visit central monthly, 36% of them visit occasionally and 10% of the customers visit the store weekly. So, the customers visiting the mall monthly are more than the customers visiting either weekly or occasionally.

Medium of awareness: Table: 02

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News papers

Print ads

TV

Friends

Others

13

13

8

97

19

Interpretation: From the above graph, 65% of the people got to know about central through friends, 8% from newspapers, 13% through other means, 5% through television and 9% through print media…so most of the customers got to know about central through friends word of mouth…

Criteria for choosing Visakhapatnam central: Table: 03

33

Pric

Availability/variety

Ambience

Quality

Others

95

24

19

9

e 3

Interpretation From the above chart it is clear that, 63% of people choose Visakhapatnam central from its competitors for availability of its brands, 16% prefer for its ambiance of the store,13% for quality of the products and remaining 6% for various other reasons

Customer satisfaction levels towards: Customer service desk:

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Table: 04 (a)

Excellent

Good

Poor

38

105

7

Interpretation: From the above chart, 70% of the people felt that customer service desk is good, 25% felt the service is excellent and 5% of the people felt it is poor. So the customer service desk need to be improved a little to attain the satisfaction level of the customers

Billing Process: Table: 04 (b) 35

Excellent

Good

Poor

55

92

3

Interpretation: Coming to the customer satisfaction levels regarding the billing process, 61% felt that billing process is good, 37% as excellent and 2% of the people are not at all satisfied with the billing process. The time taken for billing can be made faster and avoid inconvience for the customers.

Ambiance of the store: Table: 04 (c) 36

Excellent

Good

Poor

81

69

0

Interpretation: From the above chart 54% of the customers felt that the ambiance of the store is excellent and 46% felt it is good. The ambiance of the store is too good as more than half of the customers i.e. 54% rated the ambiance of the store as excellent

Collection of brands Table: 04 (d)

Excellent 37

80

Good

Poor

68

2

Interpretation: 54% customers rated the collection of brands in the mall are excellent and they are highly satisfied with the availability of brands, 45% customers rated good and 1% rated poor, as he expected the mall to have more wide variety of brands.

Overall Experience: Table: 04(e) Excellent

Good

Poor

51

99

0

38

Interpretation: From the above chart, 66% of customers are happy with their overall shopping experience and rated as good and 34% of them are very happy and rated their overall shopping experience as excellent. There is no customer who is not happy with his\her overall shopping experience.

Service offered by Sales representatives: Table: 05 Excellent

Good

Average

Worst

25

98

27

0

39

Interpretation: From the above graph it is clear that 65% customers rated the services offered by the sales representatives as good, 18% rated as average and 17% of them as excellent. As more than half of the customers rated the services offered as good, we can infer that the sales representatives are doing well

Promotions in Visakhapatnam Central: Table: 06 Very Attractive

Fairly Attractive

Neutral

Not Attractive

20

79

38

13

40

Interpretation: Coming to the promotions offered in Visakhapatnam central, 53% customers felt the promotions offered are fairly attractive, 13% say the promotions are very attractive,9% customers are dissatisfied with the promotions offered and the remaining customers have no idea about the promotions in Visakhapatnam central

Satisfaction level for gift voucher redemption process: Table: 07 Extremely satisfied

Satisfied

41

22

55

Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied

Dissatisfied

Dissatisfied

50

9

14

Interpretation From the above graph, it is clear that in the gift voucher redemption process only 37% of the customers are satisfied with it, 33% customers are having no idea about the gifts redemption process,15% customers are highly satisfied with it and 9% customers are somewhat dissatisfied with, as there is a delay in issuing the gifts to the customers.

Preference for shopping: Table: 08 CMR central

CMR shopping

Visakhapatnam Central

M&M

Others

50

27

46

15

12

42

Interpretation Coming to the shopping preference of the customers, 33% would prefer CMR central for shopping, 31% in Visakhapatnam central, 18% in CMR shopping mall, 10% in M&M and the remaining 8% would prefer other stores in the city. It is clear that CMR central is tough competitor for Visakhapatnam central.

Recommendation level: Table:09 Yes

No

136

14

43

Interpretation From the above chart, it is clear that 91% of the customers would recommend Visakhapatnam central to others for shopping as they had experienced a good shopping experience in the mall.9% of the customers said that they would not recommend Visakhapatnam central to others for shopping, as they are highly dissatisfied with the gift redemption process

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Findings, Suggestions and Conclusion

FGSF Findings:

 E- Pass book: Positives: •

Most of the customer’s said it’s good. 45

•

The gifts are Worthy to points in starting range of SKC points.

•

Offer Valid in First time (at time of issue).

Negatives: •

Limited offer period.

•

Complex (gift giving procedures).

•

Additional payment of amount is discouraging.

•

Staff at POS is ineffective.

•

Staff has least idea about FGSF.

 Joy of Rewards: Positives: •

Better than E-passbook.

•

Life time validity.

Negatives: •

Need to carry this all the times.

•

Offer amount is not up to mark.

•

E.g. amount spent 3000/- Gift voucher worth 100 Rs /-

•

Offer not interesting.

•

Time gap for offer is long.

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 Gift Vouchers: Positives: •

Price amount to be redeemed is good.

•

Good to include all categories.

Negatives:

•

•

Limited time period.

•

Offer can be redeemed only on one brand.

•

Redemption rate is very low.

•

All brands are not included.

According to the findings of the survey, the management has noted down the aspects so

that these can be referred to before making any more promotions in the future.

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Study Findings 1. The customers of Visakhapatnam Central like to visit the store monthly or occasionally rather than weekly. 2. There is a good word of mouth promotion for Visakhapatnam Central as majority of customers heard about the mall from friends. 3. The main criterion for choosing Visakhapatnam central is due to good collection of brands. 4. The customers are satisfied with the service provided by customer service desk as well as the billing process. They are highly satisfied with the ambiance of the store and the collection of brands and have a satisfied overall experience. 5. The customers find the service offered by sales representatives satisfactory. 6. The promotions made by Visakhapatnam Central have fairly attracted many customers into the store. 7. The customers are satisfied with the gift voucher redemption process. 8. The customers like to go to CMR Central apart from Visakhapatnam Central. 9. The customers are highly satisfied with Visakhapatnam Central. The survey revealed that 136 out of 150 would like to recommend it to others.

Suggestions 1. The company needs to concentrate a little more on the promotion activities for improving their sales figure. The present social activities may not be sufficient. 2. 31% customers said that Central is their favorite store for shopping but its major competitor CMR central is top in the race. So Central has to keep running different promotions and events to keep the store in buzz and to retain the existing customers. 3. Visakhapatnam central may think about the decision to issue a membership card for its loyal customers, which also attracts more number of customers. 4. There should be proper promotion of Visakhapatnam central as most of the customers got to know about the mall through friends and very few from other medium. so the mall promotion can be improved by advertising through newspapers, hoardings etc. 48

5. There should be customer Feedback box in the name of “Customer Complain box”. It must be accessible only to H.R. One person should be deputed to handle it daily. By doing this customer grievances can be monitored closely. (One of the most efficient way to achieve customer satisfaction). If it is done more than 50% of the problem is solved. CSD should aware customer regarding “Customer complain box”. 6. Most of the promotional offer confused customer. It also cause dissatisfaction. Communication of promotional offer must be clear to customer. Regular announcement of promotional offer from CSD is needed. As it is found that CSD has lackluster approach. It announces but announcement is not frequent.

CONCLUSION From the survey many useful insights can be drawn. At first majority of the customers are frequent visitors to Central and majority of them rated Central as their favorite store for shopping so to retain the existing customers Central has to work on improving its promotions. From the survey customer expectation and satisfaction levels can be identified which can be worked on further to attract more customers. Apart from this since taste and preferences of the customers are known, it can be worked on to make further improvements.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY BOOKS:

 Naresh Malhotra and Satyabhusam Dash (2007) Marketing Research – An applied

orientation (Fifth edition)  Philip Kotler, Abraham Koshey, Mitleshwar Jha –Marketing Management (13th edition)

WEBSITES:

 http://www.futuregroup.in/home.asp  http://pantaloon.futurebazaar.com/indexpantaloon.jsp  http://economywatch.com

CMR CENTRAL AND M&M AVAILABLE FROM  http://mandmstores.in/index.html  http://www.cmrvizag.com/cmrvsp.htm

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Annexure

51

Dear Sir/Madam, I am a student from GITAM Institute of Management, Visakhapatnam conducting a survey on “Customer expectations and satisfaction towards Visakhapatnam Central” Kindly help in this survey process by filling the questionnaire given below. Your cooperation will be highly obliged.

1) How often do you visit Visakhapatnam central?

a) Weekly

b) Monthly

c) Occasionally

d) Any other

2) How did you come to know about Visakhapatnam central? a) News papers

b) Print ad

c) TV

d) Friends

3) What attracts you more to Visakhapatnam central from its competitors? a) Price

b) Availability/Variety c) Ambience d) Quality e) If any, please specify _______________

4) Rate the following criteria’s:

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e)Others

Particulars

Excellent

Good

poor

Customer service desk

Billing process

Ambiance of the store

Collection of brands

Service standards

Overall experience

5) How attractive are the promotions in Visakhapatnam central in your views? a) Very attractive

b) Fairly attractive

c) Neutral

d) Not attractive

6) How is the service of Sales Representatives in Vishakhapatnam central? (a) Excellent (b) Good

(c) Average

53

(d) Worst

7) Are you satisfied with gift voucher redemption process? a) Very satisfied

b) Somewhat satisfied

c) Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied

d) Somewhat dissatisfied

e) Very dissatisfied

8) Where do you usually shop in Visakhapatnam? a) CMR CENTRAL

b) CMR SHOPPING MALL c)VIZAG CENTRAL d)M&M e) OTHERS

9) Would you like to recommend central to others for shopping? a) Yes b) No ________________________

c) If ‘NO’ please specify the reason

Name: ______________________________________________________ Address: ______________________________________________________ Occupation: ___________________Age: ________Ph.No ________________________

Which income group do you fall into? a) 10,000-20,000

b) 20,000-30,000

c) 30,000-40,000

54

d) >40,000

55

56