Chapter 1

INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION TO THE TOPIC:
CONSUMER:
The consumer production Act 1986 defines “Any person who buys and
goods or avail services for personal use, for a consideration’’

CONSUMER BEHAVIOR:
The term consumer behavior refers to the behavior that consumers display
in searching using evaluation and disposing in searching for purchasing
using evaluation and disposing of products and services that they exact will
satisfy of how individuals make decisions to send their available resources,
time, money and effort on consumption related items. Every day of our life
we are buying and consuming an incredible variety of goods and services.
However, we all have different tastes, likes, dislikes, and adopt different
behavior patterns while making purchase decisions. According to ’WALTER
AND PAUL” consumer behavior is the process whereby individual decide
whether, what how and from when to purchase goods and services. It is the
important to note that consumer behavior never remains fixed but it is ever
changing various such as psychological, economical, and sociological
factors. It is the body of knowledge which studies various aspects of
purchase and consumption of products and services by individuals with
various social and psychological variables at play.

The behavior that the consumers display in searching for purchasing,

evaluating and disposing of products and services that they expect will
satisfy their needs. It’s the behavior displayed by the consumers during the
consumption and disposition of products, services, time and ideas by
decision making units. In olden days, provisional stores are used for the
purchasing of the day to day needs and it was purchased in retail. Because
of the busy and rushes, the people in cities and semi cities are making use
of supermarket for the whole sale purchase made for a month. The
provisional stores are used only in the rural areas. In today’s competitive
market, consumers are the kings. They are the decision makers. The
behavior pattern of the Indian consumers has undergone a major change in
the organized retail sector. The consumer landscape is changing very fast.
Occupational changes and penetration of media have caused a significant
change in the way the consumer lives and spends his money.
Consumer now wants to eat and shop and get entertained under the same
roof. Consumers today see an exciting explosion of choices, new categories
and new shopping options and have increasing disposable income to fulfill
their aspirations. They are looking for more information to make these
choices. Consumers are increasingly seeking convenience in shopping and
want the shopping experience to be enjoyable. Shopping is no longer seen
as mundane chore, but it is now more exciting and keeps the prospect
engaged. Consumer dynamics in India is changing and the retailers need to
take note of this and formulate their strategies and tactics to deliver value
to the consumers. Therefore, each retailer needs to evaluate the enablers
and deterrents in the retail market place. This primarily involves
identifying the key drivers of growth, the consumer’s profile and
expectations. It also means evaluating the nature of competition and
challenges in the market place. All these have led the Indian organized
retail sector to give more attention to and analysis of the consumer buying
behavior in order to satisfy the target market’s needs more effectively than
its competitors.

Consumer buying behavior of the new generation of Indians has altered the
complexion of shopping in terms of formats and experience. The Indian
marketing conditions in particular, the entry of FDI and the role of the
government and the steadily emerging movement necessitates that
retailers in India must understand the buying behavior of consumers in
terms of their needs, aspirations, expectations and problems. Currently
there are multiple formats present in the Indian organized retail industry
namely, hypermarkets, supermarkets, department store, malls,
convenience stores, discounters, specialty retail and cash and carry retail.
Among them two popular formats hypermarkets and supermarkets are
growing very fast.
INTRODUCTION TO INDUSTRY:
SUPERMARKET:
A supermarket is a departmentalized self service retail store. Most
supermarkets are very large stores, which stock a wide range of product to
customers. Customers select the items that they want to buy from shelves
as they go around a store. After a customer has selected the items he wants
to purchase he takes them to a till where he must pay for them. In most
area of country customer can choose to shop at several different
supermarkets. Therefore the supermarket owners must compete with each
other to attract new customers and to keep their existing customers. A
supermarket, which is also know has grocery sector is an organized retail.
It demands self-service; larger in size and offering a wide variety of food
and household merchandise and organized into departments. These are
located in or near residential high streets. Supermarkets can further be
classified into mini supermarkets typically 1,000 sq to 2,000 sq and large
supermarkets ranging from 4,000 to 25,000 sq. they normally sell grocery,
fresh vegetables and fruit, toiletries, cosmetics and other items of daily use.
Supermarket are the second most attractive retail formats in India after
hypermarket and are the currently growing at 30% annually. The rapid
growth of supermarkets can be attributed to the increasing demand for
packaged food and also the shift in the customer buying behavior that led t
change from traditional stores to supermarkets. Some of the major players
in this format are food world, more and reliance fresh etc. though the
arrival of supermarkets in India a way bit late but they are fast becoming a
range among the retail enthusiasts. The tremendous growth of organized
retail formats is mainly due to the change in the customer’s buying
behavior.

History:
In the early days of retailing, all products generally were fetched by an
assistant from shelves behind the merchant’s counter while customers
waited in front of the counter and indicated the items they wanted. Also,
most foods and merchandise did not come in individually wrapped
customer-sized packages, so an assistant had to measure out and wrap the
precise amount desired by the consumer. This also offered opportunities
for social interaction: many regarded this style of shopping as “a social
occasion” and would often “pause for conversations with the staff or other
customers”. The concept of an inexpensive food market relying on large
economics of sale was developed by Vincent Astor. He founded the Astor
market in1915. In 1950s supermarkets frequently issued trading stamps as
incentives to customers. Today most chains issue store-specific
“membership cards”, club cards, or loyalty cards”.

FEATURES:
Supermarkets are usually located in or near primary or secondary
shopping areas but always in a place where parking facilities are available.
They operate largely on a self-service basis with a minimum number of
customer services. Supermarkets came into existence during the
depression period in the U.S.A. at that time they sold only food products,
and their principal attraction was the low price of their merchandise. As
supermarkets increased in number of day by day, they also
expanded into other limes of merchandise.
ADVANTAGES:
The various economics and advantages of supermarkets may be
enumerated as under:

Low prices: the supermarkets generally charged a lower price for the
products sold because the operating costs all kept in the minimum. Hence a
supermarket is born to the customers.

Large volume of sales: since the price are cheaper more customers can be
attracted towards them. Hence they are able to have large as well as rapid
turnover.

Convenient shopping: supermarkets stand for convenience in shopping

because the customers can buy all their food requirements at once place.
Beside they also have a wide variety of items to select. The customers are
also given perfect freedom to make their selection without the pressure
from the salesman.
INTRODUCTION TO THE ORGANIZATION:
*Reliance fresh
*More
*lulu hypermarket
*Margin free market
*Supply co stores
Reliance fresh:
Location: Toll junction, edapally
Phone: 0484-4014771, 08921774754
Reliance Retail Ltd. is a subsidiary company of Reliance Industries Limited.
Founded in 2006, it is the largest retailer in India in terms of revenue.
Founder of Reliance Retail is Mukesh Ambani and V Subramaniam is CEO.
Its retail outlets offer foods, groceries, apparel and footwear, lifestyle and
home improvement products, electronic goods, and farm implements and
inputs. The company’s outlets also provide vegetables, fruits, and flowers.
It focuses on consumer goods, consumer durables, travel services, energy,
entertainment and leisure, and health and well-being products, as well as
on educational products and services. It had a total of 3,837 stores in April
2018 in India with an area of over 17.7 million square feet across 750
cities, with yearly revenue of over ₹690 billion

It had a turnover of Rs. 337 billion in the financial year 2016-17. Reliance
Retail has announced revenues of Rs. 450 billion for the nine months ended
December 2017 for financial year 2017-18, showing of over 90% jump
from the corresponding previous period. The company also reported a
profit of Rs. 7 billion for the period. Continuing Reliance’s hallowed
tradition of backward integration, Reliance Retail directly partners with a
large number of farmers and small vendors in a farm-to-fork model. The
linkages with the farm has brought about transformational changes in the
quality of life of the farmers as also enhancing the quality of produce,
reducing wastage by shortening the time to move fresh produce and
reducing intermediaries in the value chain thereby benefiting all.

Giant corporations like Wal-Mart and Reliance have started totry and take over
the Indian retail sector. The entry of the giant corporate retail in India’s food
market will have direct impact on India’s 650 million farmers and 40 million
people employed in tiny retail. More than 6600 mega stores are planned with
Rs.40, 000 crore by 2011.Our case is intended to cover two primary objectives
which are: First, when experts and giants like future group Wall Mart and
Reliance they are ready to start operations in retail what kind of strategies and
structure they would be having to get the competitive edge over each other and
established small and unorganized retailers. Second, what kind of impact has
been on other retailers including unorganized ones with the opening of
Reliance Fresh stores, In the following case findings about Reliance Fresh were
quitea wakening and exemplary. Even after recent shutdown of Reliance fresh
stores from UP and unwelcoming vibes from states like Kerala, West Bengal,
Orissa and Jharkhand for its retail format (which was allegedly capturing the
unorganized sector and leaving thousands of self employed people jobless)
Reliance was not in any mood to hamper its 25000 crore plan. Reliance
responded with superb strategy in which it shifted its focus from retailer to
being a supplier i.e. targeting hawkers, vendors, Push cart wheelers instead of
customers.

More Super market:

Location: Thrikkakara, Ernakulam - 682021, Opposite to Cardinal Higher
Secondary School

Phone: 9961994448, 9947790069

Aditya Birla Retail Limited (ABRL) is the retail arm of Aditya Birla Group
Company. ABRL is the fourth largest supermarket chain in the country after
Future Group, Reliance Retail and D-Mart. It operates two different store
formats - Supermarket and Hypermarket under the brand more. It has
about 590 supermarkets and 23 hypermarkets around the country. ABRL
provides online grocery retail services in Bangalore, NCR, and Pune
through its e-Commerce website My More Store. ABRL plans to open 100
supermarkets and 6-8 hypermarkets. To fund this expansion, ABRL has
borrowed Rs 500 crore from Yes bank. Besides this, it has decided to
increase its borrowing limit to Rs 7,500 crore from Rs 5,000 crore. Aditya
Birla Retail Limited (ABRL) is the retail arm of Aditya Birla Group, a $43
billion corporation. The company ventured into food and grocery retail
sectors in 2007 with the acquisition of Trinethra Super Retail and
subsequently expanded its presence across the country under the
brand with two formats - Supermarkets and Hypermarkets. There are
currently 523 Supermarkets and 20 Hypermarkets and aims to offer a
shopping experience that delivers unbeatable value and quality.

More Quality 1st Supermarkets ―Conveniently located in neighbourhoods,

More Quality 1stSupermarkets cater to the daily, weekly and monthly
shopping needs of consumers. The product offerings include a wide range
of fresh fruits and vegetables, groceries, personal care, home care, general
merchandise and a basic range of apparels. Currently, there are 523
supermarkets across the country. More strives to delight customers
through a wide range of brands that deliver high quality at attractive prices
across ready-to-eat food, beverages, tea, staples, cereals, instant mixes,
pickles, apparel, footwear, household cleaning essentials, personal care and
devotional products. The power brands — VOW, Kitchen’s Promise and
Feasters — deliver world-class quality to discerning consumers. All these
brands are developed in-house

Lulu hypermarket:
Location: Kochi Edapally

Phone: 04842727722

Lulu Hypermarket (stylized as LuLu Hypermarket) is an Indian business

owned hypermarket chain and retail company headquartered in Abu
Dhabi. It was founded in 2000 by Yusuff Ali M.A. who hails
from Nattika, Thrissur district in India. Lulu Hypermarket is one of the
divisions of Indian multinational conglomerate company “Lulu Group
International” from Kerala, India. LuLu has over 40,000 employees of
various nationalities.

It is one of the largest retail chains in Asia and is the biggest in Middle
East with 154 outlets in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. Lulu
Hypermarket is administrated by LuLu Group International which also
have 13 malls all over the GCC Countries, LuLu International Shopping Mall
largest mall in India along with Marriott Hotels & Resorts, Kochi in the
same Lulu campus and largest mall in Malaysia. Research firm Deloitte,
recently placed it amongst the world’s 50 fastest growing retailers. Lulu
has also started Lulu Convention Centre in Thrissur which is spread across
an area of 18 acres (73,000 m2) with a built-up area of 160,000 square feet
(15,000 m2). Lulu's project of Lulu Bolgatty International Convention
Centre in Bolghatty Island is one of the largest Convention Centre in South
Asia along with the third largest Grand Hyatt branded hotel in the same
campus. In 2016, Yusuff Ali M.A. founder of Lulu purchased the Scotland
Yard Building in London.[7] According to 2013, Yusuff Ali Hold 9.37 per cent
share in Cochin International Airport.[8] Lulu Group International has
bought a 10 per cent stake in the UK-based trading firm, East India
Company, and a 40 per cent stake in its fine foods subsidiary for around
$85 million in total.
LuLu Group International opened its first supermarket in Abu
Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, in 1995, when the retail business scenario in
the region started to change with the entry of Continent (now Carrefour).
Later, more LuLu Supermarket stores were opened in different parts of Abu
Dhabi. There are also several Lulu stores found in the emirate of Dubai. In
the late 1990s, the LuLu Center department stores were launched, and the
group expanded to other countries in the Middle East.
In 2000, the first Lulu Hypermarket store was opened in Dubai. With this
launch, the Group embarked on an aggressive expansion plan. It soon grew
into a chain with several outlets across the UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, Kingdom of
Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Oman, and Yemen. On March 10, 2013, LuLu
Hypermarket was opened in Kochi, India at LuLu Mall which is the largest
shopping mall in India. LuLu group also plans to invest Rs 1,000 crore to set
up an international convention centre, a five-star hotel and a mall
in Lucknow, India. They have also started construction of Lulu mall
in Trivandrum, which on completion will be the second biggest mall in
India after the one in Kochi.
Margin free market:
Location: Kalamassery, Kochi, Ernakulam
Phone: 04843062558
Margin Free Market is a chain of speciality supermarkets in South India.
During the past six years, a price increase of essential commodities by 100
to 200% became a regular feature in Kerala. Some of the citizens
in Trivandrum City thought of organizing a forum which could help the
consumers in their day-to-day needs. This is the background of the
formation of Consumer Protection & Guidance Society registered in the
year 1993. It is the policy of the Society to give full support to the
Government, in controlling the price of essential commodities. Amongst
other things, the Society has given importance to open a venue where the
consumers can get products at reasonable rates . The idea of "Margin Free"
programme came up as a first step, based on these ends in view. The
Margin Free Market is a co-operative venture of the Consumer Protection &
Guidance Society and the management, which came forward to take up the
responsibility of launching it. The First Margin Free Market,
Fort, Trivandrum was inaugurated on 26 January 1994 by the Hon. District
Collector Nivethitha P Haran. Later, another Margin Free Market at Bakery
Junction, Trivandrum was inaugurated on 10 December 1997 by the Hon.
Principal Secretary, Finance, Vinod Rai, IAS and one more at Padmavilasam
Road, Fort by Hon. Collector in charge, C.A. Latha on 19 October 1998. Hon.
Civil Supplies Minister E. Chandrashekaran Nair inaugurated the fourth
MARGIN FREE MARKET at Alwaye on 20 December 1998.
Margin free Market chain in Kerala helps consumers buy products for
prices discounted from Maximum Retail Price (MRP). Margin free Market
chain is responsible for running home the idea of buying products at lowest
prices, much below usual MRP rates.
Mr Ravi Kumar, an average general worker thought of better consumer
experience when he saw how the largest consumer society is being
exploited by established businesses that dominate Kerala markets. Thus
began Consumer Protection Guidance Society and the concept of Margin-
Free marketing.
Margin free Market has been delivering grocery and consumer products at
margin-free rates since January 26, 1994. Margin free chain today has more
than 350 shops in and outside Kerala.
Annual turnover exceeds Rs. 720/- Crore (INR 7.2 billion). The total
discounts to consumers exceed Rs. 80/- Crore (INR 800 million).
Margin free brought before rural consumers a new shopping experience.
We deliver highest quality food products at lowest prices. Consumers who
trust Margin free brand also take advantage of MFREEM Consumer Card,
which entitle them for additional discounts for the products they buy from
Margin free franchisee shops.

Supply co stores:
Location:, Cheranaloor, Kunnumpuram, Kochi Kerala - 682024

Phone: 04842377651
Maveli Stores is a venture of the Kerala State Civil Supplies
Corporation (Supplyco).
Under the Government programme of market intervention, pulses and
spices are purchased and sold to the consumers at subsidised prices fixed
by the Government. The Government of Kerala aids this operation by giving
grants every year. The task has been fulfilled through the network of Maveli
Stores, which was started to commemorate the saga of Mahabali, legendary
king of Kerala. Now the Maveli Stores has become a prominent name
among the consumers in the state. Supplyco operates through
Maveli Stores and Mobile Maveli Stores throughout the state covering
almost all the panchayaths. Quality products and subsidised pricing are the
twin advantages, which Supplyco extend to the consumer. Supplyco has
also undertaken distribution of pulses and spices and other branded
products of Civil Supplies Corporation at subsidised prices, through the
network of 2000 selected ration shops.
Succumbing to the overwhelming public demand, Supplyco expanded its
horizon of activities into other vital areas of consumer interest by starting
Super Markets, Petrol Bunks, LPG outlets and Medical Stores
(Sabari Medical Stores). Supplyco also markets its own branded products of
tea, coffee, milled wheat products, curry products, iodized salt, washing
soaps and detergents.
Supplyco sells essential commodities at subsidised prices to the public
through the Maveli Stores. Maveli Stores are the prime retail channel
owned by Supplyco to arrest any hike in the open market price of essential
commodities. Apart from selling Rice, Sugar and Pulses and spices at
subsidised rates, the Maveli Stores provide a window for purchasing other
FMCG/products at a rate lower than the MRP offered by the companies. In a
nutshell Maveli Stores provides all necessary consumables and cosmetics
to the public and play a big role in controlling the open market prices.

The Kerala State Civil Supplies Corporation Limited, abbreviated as and

known better by its brand name Supplyco, is a Government of Kerala-
owned company headquartered at Kochi, India. It acts as the execution arm
of the Department of Food and Civil Supplies of the Government of
Kerala.[2] Founded in 1974,[3] the company serves the purpose of
governmental intervention in the retail market to control prices of essential
commodities.[4]
The corporation runs a chain of retail supermarkets under the brand name
Supplyco, and a chain of general store retail outlets under the name Maveli
Stores. The Kerala State Civil Supplies Corporation better Known as
Supplyco is the gateway for the 30 million people of the State of Kerala,
assuring the much needed food security in a substantive style by supplying
life's essentials and reaching out to the rural-poor and the urban-rich alike.
It was incorporated in 1974 as a fully owned government company, with
authorised capital of 150 million, to meet the limited objective of regulating
the market price of essential commodities at reasonable prices. The growth
of Supplyco over nearly three decades was substantial, and is more
expansive than similar organisations in the country. Headquartered in
Kochi and operating through five regional offices, 14 district depots,
56 taluk depots and around 1500 retail outlets, it has a work force of more
than 4500.