MBA Minor Project

8/2/2019 MBA Minor Project

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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

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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 GITAM Institute of

Management

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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: (S

MANIKANTA DUGGIRALA)

3



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 coordinatorDepartment 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

4



CONTENTS

SECTION-1 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK a. Retailing 09b. Consumer Behavior 10

c. Customer satisfaction

11

SECTION-2 THE PRESENT STUDYa. Need of the study 13b. Objectives of the study 13c. Scope of the study 13d. Research design 14

SECTION-3 ORGANISATION PROFILEa. Industry profile 17b. Organization profile 21c. Topic profile in the organization 23

SECTION-4 ANALYSIS 31

SECTION-5 FINDINGS,SUGGESTIONS AND

CONCLUSION 45

BIBLIOGRAPHY 50 ANNEXURE 51

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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 abledo 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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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marketing

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balanced_Scorecard


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Customer_satisfaction#cite_note-Marketing_Metrics-0


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marketing






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 attractiveVisakhapatnam 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 thecustomer 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.

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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.

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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 samplespace.

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, unpredictableavailability, 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

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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. Unorganizedretailing, 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.

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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 andhigher 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 logisticsand 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:

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COORDINATED

EFFORT

VALUE DRIVEN

CENTRAL

STRATEGY

CUSTOMER

ORIENTED

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shopping_mall

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/India

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shopping_mall

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/India



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

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GOAL ORIENTED



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.

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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

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Youth Wear Rs 500 off

Women’s Wear Rs 300 off

Kid’s Wear Rs 200 off

Foot Wear 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:

Developing a Feedback System:

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REWARD

SPENDING

PATTERN

BUILD

CUSTOMER

DATABASE

CREATE

EFFICIENT

TARGET

GROUP

ENABLE

RELEVANT

PERSONAL

SERVICE

CUSTOM

ER

LOYALTY

IDENTIFY

INDIVIDUALCUSTOMERS



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

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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 itsnew 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

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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

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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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Pric

e

Availability/variety Ambience Quality Others

3 95 24 19 9



Table: 04 (a)

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

38 105 7



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

55 92 3



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)

37

Excellent Good Poor

81 69 0

Excellent Good Poor

80 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 heexpected the mall to have more wide variety of brands.

Overall Experience:

Table: 04(e)

38

Excellent Good Poor

51 99 0



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

39

Excellent Good Average Worst

25 98 27 0



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

40

Very

Attractive

Fairly

Attractive

Neutral Not

Attractive

20 79 38 13



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

41

Extremely

satisfied

Satisfied Neither

satisfied

nor

dissatisfied

Dissatisfied Dissatisfie

22 55 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

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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

43

Yes No

136 14



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.

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• 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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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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Annexure

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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 e)Others

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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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 (d) Worst

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Particulars

Excellent

Good

poor

Customer

service desk

Billing

process

Ambiance of

the store

Collection of

brands

Service

standards

Overall

experience



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 d) >40,000

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MBA Minor Project

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