Comparative Study of the Selected Apparel Retail Stores in ...

1 International Journal of Scientific and Research Publications, Volume 2, Issue 5, May 2012 1. ISSN 2250-3153. Comparative Study of the Selected Apparel Retail Stores in the Organized Sector Prof. Rajesh Faldu Assistant Professor, J. V. Institute of Management Studies, Jamnagar, Gujarat (India). Abstract- With more and more people becoming fashion- conscious including men and with shopping now being looked II. CHARACTERISTICS OF Apparel Retail SECTOR. upon as a leisure activity with Malls and mega- Stores becoming a As Retail is led by fashion, a player needs to keep a close watch place for hang out rather than shopping, there was a need to on fashion amongst teenagers as they are the trend setters.

2 Role profile Retail customers based on this. Also with lots of Stores of Bollywood in spreading fashion needs to be understood. coming up in organized sector, measuring customer satisfaction Seasonal variations on stocking pattern and need to clear in such Stores becomes important. This Study focuses on profiling inventory at the end of season should be understood by retailer. Retail customers and measuring their level of satisfaction in the Typically once an item is sold from the outlet, retailer ensures Selected Stores in the city of Ahmedabad. Primary data has been that there is no repetition of same.

3 It gets replaced by different collected using structured questionnaire. It has been found that design, style, colour. Importance of store layout, d cor is very visiting Retail outlets have become a group activity. critical. A browser visiting the store frequently likes to see Advertisements, friends and Colleagues influence majority of changes in the layout otherwise he may carry the impression that shoppers. Only 80 respondents out of 150 came for shopping stocks are not moving out of the store. Category management inside store, rest came for hang out, enjoy crowd, meeting friends becomes very crucial function as transformation of design into and getting refreshed.

4 Lifestyle was found to have higher level of production and delivery has to be completed before fashion or satisfaction followed by Pantaloons and Westside. fad changes in the market. This highlights the importance of profile of Retail customers Index Terms- Customer Satisfaction, Shopping, Retail and level of satisfaction with the Retail outlets. Retailer needs to Outlets, Malls, Hang Out understand the profile of Retail customers first. Understanding the level of satisfaction and providing the same can accelerate I. INTRODUCTION purchases which substantially reduce retailer's financial and etailing is considered to be the world's largest industry with R US $ trillion sales annually.

5 The retailing industry in India is worth around 300b$ (Indian Management-January inventory risk. This paper compares profiling of Retail customers and the level of satisfaction in the Selected Retail Stores in organized sector. 2007).1 According to a report compiled by Ganguly (www. ), there are around 5 million Retail III. REVIEW OF LITERATURE. outlets of all sizes and styles. The Retail market is likely to The Study briefly reviews the existing literature in the area of increase by 20% Moreover, Lifestyle in India is factors influencing shopping behavior and store choice behavior. changing from soberness to hedonism due to dual-income There are a few common characteristics among the different nuclear family unit, a steady shift towards an ambition of a classifications of shoppers as proposed by different authors.

6 Global lifestyle. A consumer of today spends to attain the feel Kopp et al (1989)4 proposed price consciousness, quality good factor. Shopping, therefore has developed from a need- consciousness, fashion consciousness, Nicholl et al.'s (2002). based activity to a spare-time entertainment. window (leisure) driven shoppers, Kopp's recreational shopping, With the advent of modern format retailers, prosperous urban Boedekar's (1995) search for experience and recreation, Arnold Indian customers are shopping like never before. They spend and Reynolds' (2003) hedonic shopping motivations and Jin and mornings surfing in Stores looking for latest styles or deals.

7 In the Kim's (2003) leisurely motivated shoppers. large urban centres, Apparel retailers like Shopper's Stop, With reference to store choice variables, Moye and Kincade Pantaloons and others have popularized their private labels which (2003) 5 reported that the occasion for which an Apparel item is have attracted urban shoppers. It is said customers have loyalty bought does influence the consumer's importance rating of the to a store rather than a particular garment brand which has led to store environment and there were higher expectations for the thriving local brand market for ready-to-wear clothes leading to environment of a store offering formal merchandize than a store severe competition.

8 According to a report by Datamonitor 2006, offering casual merchandize. global Apparel , accessories and luxuries market is likely to Leung and Taylor (2002)6 in a Study on fashion buying criteria expand by annually and Asia pacific region is expected to of X generation consumers in Hong Kong found that X-ers are acquire leadership position by attracted by a good interior store layout; and feel good service is essential when buying fashionable clothing. In the Indian context, a Study was done by Sinha et al. (2002) on store choice International Journal of Scientific and Research Publications, Volume 2, Issue 5, May 2012 2.

9 ISSN 2250-3153. behavior that indicated Indian shoppers on an overall basis give satisfaction of customers in these Stores is crucial for the importance to proximity of the store, merchandise and service betterment of customers. Moreover, it becomes necessary for a provided by the store and Stores dealing in apparels are also retailer to understand the critical role of the profile of Retail chosen based on ambience. customer for accelerating purchases. Apparel sector is on the As far as interpersonal influence is concerned Nicholls et al. edge for growth in domestic and global markets due to (2002)7 discussed the role of companions in shopping and Kopp liberalization.

10 With the rapid growth of organized retailing in et al. (1989) proposed advice-seeking tendency. India, there is a dire need to understand these, explore reasons behind it and pose managerial challenges. Magleburg et al. (2004)8 suggested that the teenagers who shop often with their friends are more vulnerable to informational V. SCOPE OF Study . influence and less prone to normative influence. The present Study is undertaken to understand the profile of Prus (1993)9 in a qualitative Study said that a number of customers visiting new-generation Retail outlets like Lifestyle, dilemmas for consumers are created by shopping companions Pantaloons and Westside Store and to know the customer's level like additional definitions (encouragements, discouragements and of satisfaction of the present day Retail outlets in a city like distractions)