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Table Of content

1. Introduction
2. Objectives
3. Research Methodology
4 . Research Findings
5 . Analysis
6. Conclusion
7. Annexure 1
CONSUMER SATISFACTION WITH
RESPECT TO THE SHOPPING
MALLS

Abstract
The behavior of the Indian population has undergone a drastic make over and the people
today prefer a complete experience in terms of dinning, shopping, and entertainment.
Shopping malls have become an important part of the economic and social fabric of India
especially in some of the big cities of the North like New Delhi, Ludhiana and
Chandigarh. Today most Indian families prefer to purchase their goods at ‘one stop
shops’, where everything is available under one roof. Indian retailing has witnessed
drastic changes in the last few years – from a poorly stacked dirty kirana store in the by-
lanes of the residential areas, changing to an aesthetically decorated store, with properly
arranged goods, offering ambience and convenience. These shopping centers are
complete in themselves, capable of meeting all the essential requirements of the
population, right from the perishable to durable goods and shopping to the specialty
goods.

This study examines the impact of growing congestions of shopping malls in urban areas
of shopping conveniences and shopping behavior. Based on the survey of urban shoppers,
the study analyses the cognitive attributes of the shoppers towards attractiveness of
shopping malls and intensity of shopping. The result of the study reveals the ambiance of
shopping malls, assortments of stores, sales promotion and comparative economic gains
in the malls attract higher customer traffic in the malls.
INTRODUCTION

Talk of any metro or a mini metro, all of them now, have simply superb shopping malls
to rule the shoppers’ hearts . Today most Indian families prefer to purchase their goods at
‘one stop shops’, where everything is available under one roof. Indian retailing has
witnessed drastic changes in the last few years – from a poorly stacked dirty kirana store
in the by-lanes of the residential areas, changing to an aesthetically decorated store, with
properly arranged goods, offering ambience and convenience. On the other hand, instead
of lanes and by-lanes growing into a bazaar, planned shopping centers well connected
with main roads, freeways are emerging today in all towns and cites. These shopping
centers are complete in themselves, capable of meeting all the essential requirements of
the population, starting from the perishable to durable goods or shopping to the specialty
goods. In the recent past, the large format retailing has picked up like wild-fire, thanks to
the neo-rich, time starved urban dual income population. Centrally air conditioned malls
like Ansal Plaza in New Delhi, Crossroads in Mumbai and Spencer Plaza in Chennai,
seem to be perpetually crowded everyday. The concept of malls in India started with
Ansal Plaza’s Shopper’ Stop in Delhi. It was indeed real experience of luxurious
shopping under one roof, hang out space in metros with air conditioned tastefully done up
in décor, piped music, sophisticated lighting. Within a short span of time few more names
appeared on the competitive scenario like – Pantaloon, Lifestyle, Westside, Globus and
Ebony. The behavior of the Indian population has undergone a drastic make over and the
people today prefer a complete experience in terms of dinning, shopping, and
entertainment. Shopping malls have become an important part of the economic and social
fabric of India especially in some of the big cities of the North like New Delhi, Ludhiana
and Chandigarh. Indian retailing industry has seen phenomenal growth in the last six
years (2003-2009) paving the way for India to top in AT Kearney's annual Global Retail
Development Index (GRDI) for the third consecutive year, maintaining its position as the
most attractive market for retail investment

It all began in 1990. The first wave of the malls sprung up in the form of Spencer Plaza in
Chennai, Crossroads in Mumbai, and Ansal Plaza in New Delhi. The shopping habits
have thawed. Consumers are no longer reserved. Instead, they are fashion conscious and
are on the look out for shops that offer the latest style and design. India has now entered
into a second phase of retail development wherein the focus is shifting from indigenous
development towards more global trends, be in the tenant mix, the presence of more and
more international brands, the international facilities or overall international look and the
feel of the mall. Ambience Mall in Gurgoan, is the largest in the country, with over a km
of shopping per floor. This is the first integrated mall to have woven together national
and international brands, never before anchor stores, platinum shopping tower, fitness
center, spas, bowling alley, gaming zone, multiplex, specialty restaurants and food court,
amphitheater along with a five star Deluxe Hotel and Serviced Apartments.
OBJECTIVES

1.To cross-analyze the buying behavior pattern vis-à-vis demographics of the consumers
in shopping malls

2.To study the attitudes of customers visiting the shopping malls and delve on their
expectations vis-à-vis their decision making criteria.

3. To investigate the impact of situational / locational factors on buying decisions in

shopping malls.

METHODOLOGY
An exhaustive and detailed questionnaire has been designed to explore all the
aspects enumerated above. To arrive at the final questionnaire, we first formulated a
rough draft with a few questions, which generated a lot of qualitative data, which played
a crucial role in helping us zero in on the final questions. An attempt was made to make
the study as broad based as possible by taking a sample of 10 malls in the Delhi NCR
region. A minimum of 5-8 shopkeepers and tenants in each of these malls were contacted
and surveyed. Detailed and specific information was extracted from them and
documented. Personal visits were made to conduct a detailed interview of the respondents
(these included both the customers and shopkeepers at these malls). A method of passive
observation of shoppers at these malls was also adopted to study the shopping styles and
behavior of the Indian customerOut of the randomly selected 200
respondents (100 males and 100 females) half of the data had been drawn through mall
intercept interview and out of mall visits. The tool used for collecting the responses of the
selected sample is a carefully designed questionnaire.
Another important tool used for data collection was that of Appreciative Inquiry (AI).
Appreciative Inquiry is a positive approach to change that focuses on probing a firm's
best attributes and practices. AI is typically thought of as a "soft" strategy used in
creating organizational visions, aligning groups, and building cultures. We visited various
malls and observed the way the various consumers were going about making their
purchases. This helped us get a glimpse of how the mind of the consumer makes choices
in real life scenarios.

And third tool i adopted is of secondary data i.e.; through internet and various other
articles and journals. Deep research is done according to get relevant data in consumer
behavior towards shopping mall.

II: RSEARCH FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

The most important thing is to forecast where customers are moving and to be in front of
it. Gone are the days when enterprise believed strongly rather wrongly that if they
manufacture a product, customer would time up automatically for it. This view worked
well in past, but today customer satisfaction is viewed as an integral part of total quality.
Consumer behaviour refers to “the behaviour that consumer display in searching for
purchasing, using, evaluating and disposing of products and services that satisfy their
needs” and the study of consumer behaviour is the study of how individuals make
decisions to spend available resources. The challenge to the market is to determine the
relative influence of the various factors and to adopt and apply skillfully so called
information to a proper marketing mix. CONSUMERS’PERCEPTIONS: Little more than
one half of (52.5 per cent) respondent-consumers visited Malls/Stores once a month, 28
per cent twice a month and 12.5 per cent visited the Mall/Store thrice a month. Only 7 per
cent visited more often. Newspapers (37.5 per cent) were the major source of information
about Shopping at Mall/Store. 32 per cent of consumers came to know about Malls/Store
through Television. Remaining 22 per cent consumers rely mainly on their friends and
relatives. Consumers Bazaar was the favourite place for the shopping with 43 per cent
consumers. 21.5 per cent favored Multiplex/malls, 12.5 per cent consumers’ preferred
wholesale market. 18 per cent consumers were in favour of shopping complex/center, 5
per cent consumer were inclined towards local market. One fourth of consumers purchase
clothes at Malls, and Men’s wear each, 19 per cent grocery items. 15 per cent consumers
were in favour of buying Ladies wears, 5 per cent favour of Kids Wear & Toy, 16 per
cent consumers were in favour of buying daily use items and only 2.5 per cent consumers
purchased cosmetics. Nearly one-third consumers on an average spent Rs. 5,000 to Rs.
10,000 on shopping at Malls; 22.5per cent consumers spent less than Rs. 5,000; 21per
cent consumers spent between Rs. 20,000 to Rs. 30,000; 16 per cent consumers spent
between Rs. 10,000 to Rs. 20,000; 5.5 per cent consumers spend on an average between
Rs. 30,000 to Rs. 50,000 and merely 3per cent consumers spent Rs. 50,000 & above.
Furthermore 55 per cent consumers were satisfied with the prices of products & services
at the malls. 29 percent consumers were not satisfied with the prices at the malls. 16per
cent consumers were not able to express themselves about the product and prices at the
shopping malls. 93per cent consumers agreed that professional Mall Management &
Wide range of cheaper products have persuaded them to spend more time and money at
Mall. 82.5per cent consumers were aware about the promotional schemes and offers
organized at the malls. 17.5per cent consumers were not aware about the promotional
scheme and offers organized at the malls. 68per cent consumers agree that lucky draw
schemes and promotional offers or discounts make them to visit mall frequently. 25%
consumers did not agree that the lucky draw schemes & Promotional offers or discounts
make them to visit mall frequently. On the other hand, 7per cent consumers remained
silent. 31.5per cent consumers were inclined towards Professional Services as far as
Shopping experience is concerned compared to traditional shopping. 28per cent
consumers were in favour of full value to money. 16per cent consumers were in favour of
Excellent Ambience. 8per cent preferred fixed prices. 6per cent were giving weightage to
Proper display of products. 5.5per cent consumers were in favour of International brands.
3per cent consumers preferred more fun & excitement and 2per cent gave weightage to
less hassle.62.5per cent consumers were highly satisfied with the quality of products they
purchased at Mall/Stores. 29 per cent consumers were satisfied with the quality of the
products they purchased at Malls. 8.5per cent consumers were partially satisfied with the
quality of products, which they had purchased at the Malls/Store. FACTOR RATING
Consumers were asked to assign rating to importance of different factors they consider
while taking the purchase decision at various malls. Factors considered are like quality,
wide range of products, fixed prices, International Brands, Discount, Packaging, and
Advertisement, Proper display of products, Ambience & value for money. Likert Scale
was used to assign different weights which are 5 for the most important, 4 for important,
3 for neither important nor unimportant, 2 for unimportant and 1 for most unimportant.
Weighted average score was computed. Discount with 31.2 as weighted average score
(WAS) is a most important factor according to perception of consumers. 78 rated
discount as most important and 12 rated the discount as important. 10 were indifferent.
International brands is another important factor with WAS of 30.86. 68 respondents rate
it as the most important factor in purchase, 27 respondents say that it is important. 5
respondents say that it is neither important nor unimportant. The Value of money is the
third important factor with WAS of25.86.66 rated value for money as most important,
and 24 rated the value for money as important. 10 were indifferent towards value for
money while shopping at malls. Quality with 29 as WAS is the fourth important
factor.55respondent feel that quality is very important factor. 30 respondents feel that the
quality is an important factor. 10 respondents are indifferent to it. 5 respondents consider
it unimportant. Next in importance is Proper display of products with 27.06 as WAS.
Majority of the respondents, that is, 55, consider proper display of products as most
important, 22 respondents were indifferent and 20 respondents had considered it
important. 10 respondents revealed it as unimportant. Apparently, consumers are rapidly
accepting the modern form of shopping with unique advantages of good atmosphere,
wide range of products, multi-sections of products and professional management.
Increased consumer’s purchasing power demands more personal attention and
professional services while shopping at the malls. Consumers are expecting more of
International Brands at competitive prices. Globalize and westerner foreign goods are
becoming part and parcel of every Indian consumer. The owners of the malls have
understood that the tastes and preferences of the consumers have been changing day by
day, requiring prompt service and replacing the old stock of goods with new one to face
today’s cut throat competition. But the consumers were not satisfied with parking
facilities provided at the malls as they have to park their vehicles on the road and too at
their own risk. It may lead to incidences of mishappening like theft and damage to their
valuables that were lying in their vehicles. Consumers were also not happy with the
luggage and personal property being taken off at the main entrance of the mall. The mall
owners have to look for a remedy to avoid any inconvenience while shopping at the mall.
Quality was the main concern as today’s consumer is very well aware about the different
quality products and wants full value for his money at any cost. Consumers feel that
prices charged at Mall/Stores are very high as compared to traditional means of shopping.
Newspapers and television was the only source of information about the Malls. Majority
of consumers prefer to do more shopping at Bazaar and Local Market only. Shopping
complex or Malls/Multiplexes are newly emerging places for shopping for young or
middle age persons. Men’s wear and clothes are the main items of shopping at mall.
Consumers were highly satisfied with quality of products, which they have purchased at
Malls/Store. Consumers preferred professional mall management and wide range of
cheaper products which persuaded them to spend more time and money at Malls/Store.
They were aware about the promotional schemes and offers organized at the Malls which
make them to visit the Mall/Store frequently. This was supplemented by professional
services and full value of money they got at Mall/Stores. Monthly and annual sales
turnover at Malls are quite encouraging and satisfactory. With the emergence of more
malls cum shopping complexes, the Mall owners are coming up with more innovative
and modern promotional ideas such as discounts, free gifts, better quality and debit/credit
cards facilities etc. Mall owners, however, were not satisfied with the low margin as well
as untimely replacement of damaged goods by the company; apart from mishandling of
goods by the customers was a matter of great concern. RETAILER PERCEPTIONS:
Retailer is one who sells to consumer a wide variety of goods which are assembled at the
premises as per needs of final users. The survey of retailers is done with the help of
structured questionnaire and in-depth interviews. One half of the respondent retailers had
kept all the product range like grocery items & clothes, electronic items, cosmetics, daily
use items etc. Furthermore, 30per cent retailers kept only Grocery items and Clothes and
20per cent kept electronic items, cosmetics and daily use items. 50per cent retailers have
their average monthly sales turnover between Rs. 10 to Rs. 25, lakh. 30percent retailers
have average monthly sales turnover above Rs.25laks. One-tenth of retailers have
average monthly sales turnover between less than Rs. 5 to Rs. 10lakh. Furthermore, one
half of retailers revealed that 150 and above customers visit their Malls/Store daily.
Other40 per cent retailers were visited by 100 to 150 customers. Rests of retailers
revealed that merely 50 to 100 visit their Store/mall daily. Garments with 40per cent
share are clearly most visited section at Mall/Store. Daily use items with 30per cent share
come second. Grocery, beauty product and imported goods with 10per cent each share
are the rest of sections which are visited by the customers at Malls/Stores. 60per cent of
consumers had excellent perception towards the international brands at Malls/Store.
30per cent consumer considered International Brand as very good, 10per cent perceived
International Brands as good only. 40per cent of customers who visited Malls/Store
belongs to upper middle class. 30per cent each was from Elite class & Middle class who
had visited their Mall and Store. 80per cent retailers are using promotional methods for
promoting their products. Retailers gave highest ranking to Newspapers Advertisement
(42 ranks) as most preferred sales advertising done by mall. Bill Boards comes next with
37 points, followed by posters with 28 points and TV Commercial with 14 points. Stands
as preferred point of Sale advertising mean got fifth ranking with 23 points. Cash
Discount with 43 points is the most effective incentive scheme for sale promotion; Free
Gifts with 32 points is ranked Second and replacement guarantee as third with 28 points.
Discount coupon with 22 points and lucky draw with 20 point was conceived by retailers
as the fourth and fifth preferred incentive scheme for sale promotion. Customer preferred
quality with 42 points and ranked first amongst various important attribute they consider
while shopping at Mall/Store. The other in sequence are discount/offers with 33 points,
Price range with 29 points , Wide range of products with 18 points as 4th rank and lastly
all the attribute collectively with 12 points ranked fifth. Apparently, retailers prefer
keeping wide range of product, mainly Grocery, Clothes, Electronic Items, Cosmetics
and Daily use items. Average Monthly Sales Turnover is above Rs. 25 lakh. More than
150 customers visit their store daily. Garments and Daily use products are most visited
sections. International brands are the most preferred item. Upper middle and lower
middle class is mostly visited at the malls. The quality is the most preferred attribute of
customer while shopping at mall. Modern Professional advertisements both the print and
electronic are the popular methods for promoting their products. Replacement guarantee,
cash discount and free gift are most effective incentive schemes which they are using for
attracting the customers to their mall. RECOMMENDATIONS In the light of above
discussion, following recommendations are made separately for the companies as well as
for the retailers. Companies should keep the prices reasonable and competitive so that
low level income groups can also become a regular customer of malls. Companies should
adopt market penetration policy to capture the market. The pricing objectives of the
company should be retaining back customers and capturing more share of market. In
these days business can only survive if companies share good share in market and if they
keep their customers satisfied. Advertising is assuming much importance now.
Companies should maximize their advertisement especially in interiors of cities and main
G.T. Road, like Bill Boards, Posters etc, and T.V. as an Advertisement media is also very
effective and companies should focus their attention on it. Companies can achieve
success with active sales promotion and awareness amongst the local residents of city.
The sales people of the companies should regularly visit their respective retailers of
Malls/Stores in order to get their feedback and Market Information. Companies should
give adequate advertising support to the retailers. Company should provide them special
cabinets, stands, hoardings, glow boards and banners etc. of different companies brand
for advertisement purpose. The promotion campaign should be intensified round the year,
particularly during festival seasons. These are boom periods for Mall owners hence
companies should offer a variety of promotion schemes like price offer, free gifts,
quantity discount to Fetch maximum sales. In today’s Market share, logistics efficiency is
a key factor for success. So companies should try to make its distribution very effective
and improve its reach by increasing the number of Malls and opening more malls
surrounding the cities, so that more and more small towns can be covered. Most of
retailers at Malls complain of low profit margins. The companies should increase the
retailer’s margin. Companies should offer good incentive schemes to Mall owners to
motivate them. Policies regarding replacement of expired stock should be modified and
should be made more liberal and flexible. On the other hands, Retailers should provide
adequate feedback to the companies. They should provide adequate and reliable
information about his Malls structure. This helps the companies in formulating
appropriate marketing strategies according to the Market conditions. Retailers should
provide excellent professional management at their mall by recruiting qualified staff.
Retailers should suggest and recommend the product brands to the customer by in Mall
and out mall man campaigning. Mall owners should store adequate quality product in
their mall in order to attract more and more new customers. Mall owners should use
modern methods of promoting the products and services in their Malls/Stores. Though
every effort was made to elicit authenticity in every sense, yet there can be uncomfortable
factors which may have their influences on the final outcome. The survey is conducted in
Jalandhar district of Punjab. It may not be true representation of entire national market.
Few respondents who are not familiar may give a neutral or unfavorable response to
some of the questions. Some variables might have omitted in the study. There may be
some biases in the information provided by mall owners. Limited rather no access to
secondary data pertaining to shopping mall management and its performance was another
problem in finding a correct market response. POLICY IMPLICATIONS In today’s fast
emerging concept of professionalized mall management with best and innovative
products under one roof at competitive prices, the consumers are rapidly and more
consistently accepting the modern form of shopping. Increase in consumer’s purchasing
power has led to expecting more personal attention and care at the malls and inclined
more towards malls due to availability of more international brands at competitive prices
coupled with prompt as well as replacing the old stock with new one more regularly.
Customer’s tastes and preferences have changed with westernization and globalization.
The monthly and annual sales turnover figures were quite satisfactory and encouraging as
customers are ready to spend more than usual due to availability of different product and
services at one place. Quality was the foremost thing that customers want at competitive
prices. There were also some bottlenecks like customers were not satisfied with the
parking facilities at malls, as they have to park their vehicles in open on roads. Mall
owners were not satisfied with profit margin and non-replacement of damages of goods
by concerned companies. The customers have also shown their resentment towards their
luggage and personal property being taken off at the main entrance of the mall. The
company should keep the prices of goods at malls reasonable and competitive, so that
low level income groups can also become a regular customer of malls. Advertising is
assuming much importance now; companies should maximize their advertising especially
in interiors of cities through billboards, posters, newspapers ads and television ads etc.
The retailer should provide adequate feed back to the companies. Retailer should store
adequate quality products in their malls. With a large number of malls in the pipeline one
of the critical factor that will give an edge to one retail center over the others is the way it
is managed. Competent mall managers are in short supply and the situation will remain
the same for next 2-3 years. Some of the B-Schools are launching specialized courses on
retail management including mall management. Over the next few years, professional
mall management service will establish its significance in the industry. The country
requires higher attention to be given to developing more number of persons with the right
skills and knowledge, who can be employed in this function. Corporate know that the
Indian agriculture sector is a potential goldmine that has not been tapped till now and
farmers have a lot of reasons to be happy with the corporate entry into agriculture
scenario. Rural economy of India will be substantially improved through innovative
agriculture and linking them to retail boom in agricultural sector. India is endowed with
several advantages for ushering in retail boom in agriculture since it has second largest
arable land in the world; diverse agro climatic conditions across the country, round the
year sun shine potential to cultivate vast range of agricultural products through vast pool
of crops. Currently Indian agriculture is only quantity oriented rather than quality
oriented. Markets also do not procure the product by giving price based on quality
parameters of the produce. But the retail boom necessitates placement of products with
value in terms of its nutritive and neutracutical value, taste, tempting to buy appearance,
attractive colours etc. When multinationals or big business houses enter the retail trade
the chain of intermediaries between the producers and the consumers are minimized and
there will be scope for higher share of profit reaching the farmers who toils in the farm.
Hence the farmers stand to gain much due to retail boom by way of enhanced price for
their produce and assured market.

ANALYSIS
Our Study of Consumer Behavior in India
At this stage a study of consumer behavior yields great insights into the strategy
which must be adopted by the organized retail sector in India. Consumer behavior is seen
to involve a mental decision process as well as physical activity. The actual act of
purchase is just one stage in a series of mental and physical activities that occur during a
period of time . Some of these activities precede the actual buying , while others follow
it. However since all are capable of influencing the adoption of products and services ,
they will be considered as part of the behavior of consumers.
 Table 4

Consumer Perception Of Prices

70

60

50

40

30

20
Percent

10

0
Higher at the Malls Equal
Low er at the Malls Cannot Say

 
‘Know your enemy’, as the saying goes, is considered to be among the most
crucial factors for success in retail. Comparing oneself with the competition is a perpetual
function of all marketers. The two most commonly used factors for comparison are price
and quality, and the perception of the people in both these factors is paramount.
In our survey, the respondents perceived the malls to be more expensive as
compared to the local kirana stores. This is a clear indication of the need to adopt
an effective strategy by the malls to communicate their competitive advantage to
the right audience.
 Table 5

Factors that influence people the most

50

40

30

20

10
Percent

0
Brand Loyalty Retailer's Recommend
Wide Range Warranty/ Guarantee

Factors that influence people the most

Another aspect that emerged was the strong preference of the buyer for tried and
tested brands and also his penchant for variety at the point of purchase. Traditionally,
kirana stores are known to keep an inventory of brands that their regular customers
usually buy (e.g. Parachute Hair Oil) while malls stock up on a wide range of brands in
the same category. While the customers do appreciate a large variety to choose from, the
more popular brands should be displayed prominently to
 
 Table 6

What consumers value most

70

60

50

40

30

20
Percent

10

0
Multiple services un Ambience and Shoppin
Conversation w ith re Entertainment and Le

What consumers value most

 
Table 7

40

30

20

10
Percent

0
Distance From Home Personal Touch
Home Delivery Scope to bargain

Convenience factors people value most in Kirana stores

The process of choosing a specific store involves the matching of consumer
characteristics and purchase characteristics with store characteristics. An individual may
use different criteria to evaluate which store best meets his or her needs depending on the
type of purchase. Consumers compare retail and store options based on how they
perceive each will perform on the various criteria.
Evaluative Criteria:
         Location ( Distance )
         Assortment Breadth and Depth
         Price
         Advertising and Promotion
         Point Of Purchase (POP) Display
         Store Personnel
         Services
         Customer Characteristics
         Store Atmosphere
As observed in Tables 6 and 7, the convenience seeking consumer greatly
appreciates the provision of multiple services under one roof. Although this facility is
available in the malls, most people surveyed were found to be purchasing their daily
groceries and other requirements from the local grocer or kirana store. This contradiction
in consumer behavior maybe attributed to the drawbacks that people perceive in the malls
as well as to certain convenience factors in the kirana stores that they treasure, which
prevents them from making this switch.
ANOVA BRAND
Sum of Squares df Mean F Sig.
Square
Between Groups 2.137 3 .712 3.034 .034
Within Groups 20.186 86 .235
Total 22.322 89
 
The above table reveals the relationship between people who usually buy products
on the basis of the brand and also the people who value convenience greatly . In this table
the brand is the dependent variable which is shown to be dependent on the convenience
factors that people value in the kirana stores(home delivery , personal association with
shop keeper etc).This tells us about the need to stock the brands that the target customer
values and usually buys and to also display it in the best possible way . This is another
segment that the malls need to aggressively target as their current shopping behavior is
being serviced by the local kirana stores extremely well.
 
Table 8

Shopping pattern of people surveyed

50

40

30

20

10
Percent

0
Buy as and w hen requ Bulk Buying
visit once/tw ice a m Trying new products

Shopping pattern of people surveyed

The people surveyed seem to fall in one of the 2 categories – those who shop for
products as and when the need arises and also those who visit a store once/twice a month
and stock up. The malls need to decide on a strategy to target the buyers who shop as and
when the need arises as such people greatly value convenience and usually buy such
products from the nearby local vendors.
 
 Table 9

Drawbacks in the mall format

40

30

20

10
Percent

0
0 Distance from home Queues
Parking arrangement crow ds of Window Sho

Drawbacks in the mall format

The reason for this is largely typical to India – lack of appropriate physical
infrastructure like fast moving roads and vacant urban lots for parking requirements.
Also, many people tend to indulge in window shopping at the malls ,while not making
any significant purchases.
 
 Table 10

Where would the people rather be seen

50

40

30

20

10
Percent

0
In a shopping mall at the tow n bazaars
at up market general at exclusive outlets

Where would the people rather be seen

It has often been noticed that what others say often influences consumer behavior
to a very large extent. The term conspicuous consumption describes purchase decisions
motivated in part by the desire to show others just how successful we are. As can be seen,
this kind of outlook is widely prevalent amongst the people surveyed.
Hence, two factors which we felt would be highly correlated did not turn out to
show any significant relationship – these factors included the prestige factor associated
with shopping in the malls and also the peoples perception of the prices in the malls.
ANOVA
Where would the people rather be seen
Sum of df Mean F Sig.
Squares Square
Between Groups 3.716 3 1.239 .840 .476
Within Groups 122.353 83 1.474
Total 126.069 86
 
 Table 11

70

60

50

40

30

20
Percent

10

0
Low er price and less Pack Quantity
Higher price and lon Value for money

Factors that influence when shopping for perishables

 
This chart emphasizes the traditional value seeking behavior of the Indian
consumer. Any retail format aiming to target the masses must be seen as providing the
best value for the consumer’s money.
Through our focused group discussions and interviews with people in the malls
we were able to identify certain strengths and weaknesses of the malls in India, as
perceived by the people who shop in them.

CONCLUSION
Annexure 1
QUESTIONNAIRE

Name:
Age:

Q1. Compared to local vendors are the prices of vegetables and other household goods

1. Higher in the malls

2. Lower in the malls
3. Equal
4. Cannot say

Q2. While taking purchase decisions in malls what factors influence you the most:

1. Brand loyalty – sticking to tried and tested products.

2. Wide product range to choose from.
3. Retailers recommendation
4. Warranty/Guarantee

Q3. While shopping for household requirements what do you value more:
 Availability of multiple services and products under one roof.
 One on one conversation with the retailer/shop floor attendant
 Ambience and overall shopping experience
 Entertainment and leisure

Q4. Which convenience factor do you most value with regard to the local market/local
vendors you buy your groceries and daily household requirements from:
 Distance from home
 Home delivery
 Personal touch
 Scope to bargain on the prices.

Q5. Your shopping for household products like soap, toothpaste, table salt, deodorants
etc follows what pattern:
 Buy as and when required
 Visit a store once/twice a month and stock up
 Buy in bulk from discount stores to avail of discounts and better prices.
  Trying out new products

Q6. According to you what is the biggest drawback in the malls:

 Vehicle Parking arrangements
 Distance from home resulting in uncomfortable driving
 Crowds of window shoppers
 Queues at cash counters

Q7. While purchasing a product you look for :

 Packaging
 Brand
 Touch and feel of the product
 Price

Q8. Given your personal image and social position where would you rather be seen:
 In a shopping mall
 At up-market General Store
 At the town bazaars
 At exclusive outlets

Q9. What do you prefer when choosing edible items:

 A lower price on a product with a lesser shelf life
 A higher price on a product with a longer shelf life
 Pack quantity
 Value for money

Shelf life = Life of the product left until the expiry date

Q10. While purchasing products at the mall, which of the following applies to you the
most and which the least. Mark M for “Most” and “L” for least.
 Daily groceries and household requirements are difficult to carry back home
 The infrastructure (lifts, escalators etc) is good and the sales people are helpful
 Neatness and airconditioning is good
 Display and variety is attractive