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0 ANALYSIS OF
CUSTOMER
SATISFACTION
6.0 ANALYSIS - CUSTOMER SATISFACTION FOR PANTALOONS
This chapter is the analysis of customer satisfaction for Pantaloons’ outlets.
A total of 369 respondents were administered the structured questionnaire. The
researcher also elicited reasons for satisfaction and dissatisfaction on the following
dimensions using the interview method.
> Quality
> Price reasonability
> Shelf arrangement
> Variety of products
> Refrigeration
> Layout / Store design
> Offers / Promotional
> Location
> Ambience
> Display and shelf space
> Range of Brands
> Guarantee
> Home delivery
The dimensions were to be rated using five point scale
Excellent +2, Good +1, Not sure - 0, Poor -1, Very poor -2.
The analysis was carried out for three different sections of Pantaloons’ outlets
i. Food Section
ii. Clothing and Fashion Accessories
iii. Household products.
Analysis is presented section-wise on each relevant dimension.
6.1 FOOD SECTION:
Analysis for food section:
Pantaloons’ retail has a food section - Food Bazaar, clothing and Fashion
Accessories - Pantaloons’ Brand Factory, Central and Big Bazaar. This section
presents analysis of the Food section.
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Table 6.1a: Data for Customer Satisfaction in Food Section
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Quality: Quality was ascertained on a five point scale ranging between Excellent,
Good, Not sure, Poor and Very poor. Quality in Food section means
■ Freshness of stocks
■ Extent of processing of food grains and pulses
■ Quality of packing
■ Validity of expiry dates on products.
Respondents rated food section of Pantaloons’ at -0.53 (for a range excellent (+2),
Good (+1), Not sure (0), Poor (-1), Very Poor (-2). Respondents opined that stocks
were not being changed promptly and some stocks very close to expiration were still
stocked on shelves.
They also complained for packs that were perforated, packs that had leakages
and packing that wasn’t strong and durable enough. Respondents also complained of
food grains and pulses not being properly processed. Respondents also felt that
products should be stacked in ways that would not damage the packing material.
Quality of contents, packaging, processing and expiry dates were felt pivotal in
determining overall perception of quality.
Food sections of Pantaloons’ retail outlets could improve quality dimensions
to a great extent to positively influence overall customer satisfaction levels.
6.1.1 PRICE REASONABILITY:
Consumers are usually price takers and they accept prices at ‘face value’ or as
given. Consumers actively process price information, interpreting prices in terms of
their knowledge from prior purchasing experience, formal communications
(advertising, sales calls and brochures), informal communications (friends, colleagues
or family members) and point-of-purchase resources. Purchase decisions are based
on how consumers perceive prices and what they consider to be the current actual
price - not the marketers’ stated price.
They may also have a lower price threshold below which prices may signal
inferior or unacceptable quality as well as an upper price threshold above which prices
are prohibitive and seen as not worth the money.
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Figure 6a: Possible Consumer Reference Prices
• Fair price
• Last price paid
• Competition prices
• Usual discounted prices and
• Expected future prices
While deciding reasonableness of prices they rated food section pricing at Pantaloons’
at -0.43. Respondents opined that prices at local kirana were lower and hit by
recession, a small price differential meant a great deal. Respondents usually felt that
they got better price discounts with their local grocery stores. They also preferred
local kirana / grocery stores for they gave customers free-home-delivery for every
purchase of more than Rs. 1000/-. This meant for the customers lower prices,
more convenience, no parking hassles and saving time needed to travel distances.
SHELF ARRANGEMENT:
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Figure 6b: Managing merchandise Assortments is an integral to retailing success
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Respondents rated Pantaloons’ retail food section poor at -0.35 on shelf
arrangement was due to
poorly arranged shelves
overly stacked shelves
no specific merchandise arrangement.
Respondents also wanted shelves to be clearly labelled and directions to categories to
be conspicuously displayed. Customers often felt lost and it took time for them to
approach product categories. Respondents felt that shelves need to be properly
stacked with appropriate labels and directions to facilitate approach to product
categories.
- Low sugar
- Organic
- Whole wheat
- Nutritional
Respondents also felt that assortments could be based on
- Pack size
- Vendors
- Brands
- Price
6.1.3 REFRIGERATION:
Quality of refrigeration for the following was considered while evaluating
refrigeration in food section of Pantaloons’ outlets.
- Refrigeration of Dairy products
- Refrigeration for packaged vegetables
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- Refrigeration for ready-to-eat foods
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compounded the problem. Respondents also wanted widened aisles to facilitate clear
and better view of assortments. They also were of the opinion that products were
mixed up and often difficult to figure out with poor labelling. Respondents in an
informal discussion with the researcher also suggested that the central air-
conditioning at the food section was inadequate and needed to be better. Lighting
they felt should be better. Thy also opined that the food section had low ceilings
creating congestion and pungent odours.
Cash Refund Offers: Provide a price reduction after purchase rather than at the retail
shop: consumer sends a specified “proof of purchase” to the manufacturer who
“refunds” part of purchase.
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Price Packs: Offers to consumers of savings off the regular price of a product,
flagged on the label or package. A reduced-price pack is a single package sold at a
reduced price (such as two fro the price of one). A banded pack is two related
products banded together.
Prizes: Prizes are offer of the chance to win cash, trip or merchandise as a result of
purchasing something. A content calls for consumers to submit an entry to be
examined by a panel of judges who will select the best entries. A sweepstakes asks
consumers to submit their names in a drawing. A game presents consumers with
something every time they buy - bingo numbers, missing letters - which might help
them, win a prize.
Free Trials: Inviting prospective purchasers to try the product without cost in the
hope that they will buy.
Product Warranties: Explicit or implicit promises by sellers that the product will
perform as specified that the seller will fix it or refund the customer’s money during a
specified period.
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Point-of-Purchase Displays and Demonstrations: POP displays and demonstrations
take place at the point-of-purchase or sale.
Respondents rate the food sections of Pantaloons’ outlets at 0.76. They do appreciate
the promotional offers by Pantaloons’ outlets. They expect these offers to be
continued and also want more innovative ones to be introduced.
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Figure 6.1a: Freshness of Food Products
No. c* Respondents
■ YES
■ NO
67.5% of the respondents opined that the food products stacked were fresh and 32.5%
felt that stocks were not fresh. Respondents wanted stocks to be monitored and
promptly replaced as they approached expiration.
Table 6.Id: Stock availability
YES NO
Percentage 24 76
Most of the respondents (76%) were of the opinion that availability of products should
be improved. Only 24% of respondents were satisfied with availability of products in
the food section.
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their liking at Brand Factory. Their inclination for Brand Factory was for its range of
brands available under one roof. Quality being an important input into customer
satisfaction could be viewed as
- conformance to requirements
- freedom from variation.
Table 6.2a: Data for Clothing and Fashion Accessories
C & F - Data
Parameters SA A UD DA SDA
Q1 Quality of brands 111 140 19 75 24
Q2 Price 26 43 21 120 159
Q3 Offers 179 98 15 50 27
Q4 Layout 91 112 27 64 75
Q5 Display & Shelf 71 80 24 98 96
Q6 Amhience 81 43 12 112 121
Q7 Location of each section 99 58 31 72 109
Q8 Range of brands 132 107 22 54 54
Respondents felt that Brand Factory, Central and Pantaloons’ stood better off
compared to Big Bazaar in clothing and fashion accessories. They opined that
apparel at these outlets of Pantaloons was of contemporary designs, modem, trendy
and in fashion. It is obvious that outlets need to learn and master the language of
quality improvement or else become as obsolete as buggy whips. They can no longer
think of themselves as market researchers, advertising people, direct marketers or
strategists - they need to think of themselves as customer satisfiers - customer
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advocates focused on whole processes. Each retail activity - marketing research,
store design, strategy assortment, inventory and availability, sales force training,
advertising, customer service, and so on - must be performed to high standards.
6.2.1 PRICE
Figure 6c: Considerations in setting retail prices are illustrated in the figure below:
Generally, as the price of a product increase, the sale for the product will decrease
because fewer and fewer customers feel the product is a good value. The price
sensitivity of customers determines how many units will be sold at different price
levels. If customers in the target are not very price sensitive, sales will not decrease
significantly if the prices are increased. However, in the Indian scenario, customers
are highly price sensitive and sales are significantly influenced when prices are altered
- either increased or decreased. Retail price can vary with the kind of competition
existing. Retailers can price above, below or at parity with the competition.. It is
therefore important that the retailers’ pricing policy be consistent with their overall
strategy and relative market position.
Pricing could also be affected by legal and ethical issues. For example, pricing has
been particularly difficult for Carrefour hypermarkets in France, where regulation
prohibits how much it can lower its prices on branded merchandise. Carrefour has
been hurt by competitors, such as two German chains, ALDI and Lidl, both of which
sell private-label merchandise that is not subject to the French rules and thus can be
priced more cheaply than Carrefour’s’ products. Both these retailers aggressively
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entered the French market, winning over Carrefour’s shoppers. Some of the legal and
ethical pricing issues are price discrimination, resale price maintenance, horizontal
price fixing, predatory price fixing, bait-and-switch tactics, and scanned versus posted
prices.
Respondents rated Central and Pantaloons’ as being high priced, Brand Factory as
being reasonably priced in Clothing and fashion accessories. They also felt Big
Bazaar was low priced in the clothing and Fashion accessories section. Along with
the perception of low price for Big bazaar respondents had perceptions of low quality
at Big Bazaar. The overall rating of outlets for Pantaloons’ on price for clothing and
fashion accessories was -0.93. They also felt other destinations / retailers had
clothing, apparel and fashion accessories that were value for money. It is obvious that
Pantaloons’ needs to introspect into their pricing strategy from time to time keeping in
view the effect of recession and the price sensitivity of Indian customers. Another
clinching factor in pricing strategy could be the pricing followed by other retailers,
and outlets.
6.2.2 OFFERS:
Offers could be used to great effect by retailers. Retailers can use variable pricing.
The approach for variable pricing is to offer the same price schedule to all customers
but require that customers do something to get the lower price - something that
discourages customers with a high willingness to pay to take advantage of the lower
price. This approach is referred to as second-degree price discrimination. Early bird
specials, lower prices during certain periods etc., are examples. Clearance
markdowns, coupons, rebates, bundling and multiunit pricing are other examples of
this approach.
Clearance markdowns result in higher prices being charged at the beginning of the
season than at the end of the season. Fashion-conscious customers having willingness
to pay because they want to be the first to wear the latest fashions self-select to pay
higher prices.
Coupons offer a discount on the price of specific items when they are purchased.
Coupons could be issued by retailers on the shelf, at the cash register, over the internet
and through the mail. These are also considered as second-degree price
discrimination because, in general, price-sensitive customers will expand the extra
effort to collect and redeem coupons, while price-insensitive customers will not.
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Price bundling is the practice of offering two or more different products or services
for sale at one price. Price bundling is used to increase both unit and rupee sales by
increasing the amount of merchandise bought on a store visit.
Multi-unit pricing or quantity discounts are similar to price bundling in that the lower
total merchandise price increase sales, but the products or services are similar rather
than different. This is another example of second-degree price discrimination because
customers who buy and consume more or a product are presumably more price
sensitive and thus attracted by the lower prices if they buy more units.
Respondents rated Pantaloons’ outlets on clothing and fashion accessories for the
dimension of offers at 0.95. There were satisfied with pricing at Brand Factory & Big
Bazaar. Offers at Brand Factory include one plus one, two plus three type of offers or
price discounts on single unit pricing. Pricing and offers at Central and Pantaloons
was perceived to be on the higher end and fewer in number.
6.2.3 LAYOUT:
Layout and store design at Central was most appreciated for ease of access and visible
signage. However, respondents complained of inadequacy in terms of price range
available. Store design and lay out of Brand factory was perceived to good but they
found it suffocating during peak shopping hours and for special sales occasions.
Respondents were not satisfied with walkways and wanted widening of aisles, higher
ceilings and better ambience. Layout and store design for clothing and fashion
accessories they felt were far from satisfactory at Big Bazaar. They found store
design improper, poor lighting, inadequate air-conditioning and narrow walkways.
Pantaloons’ outlets were given an overall rating of +0.22 for layout and store design.
Pantaloons’ may reconsider layout for Big Bazaar and improvements in layout for
Brand Factory that support its overall strategy.
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merchandise can be defined as the number of SKUs within a category. Retailers
must consider how much space to devote to the category. Clothing and Fashion
accessories have more styles and colours and therefore require more space to display
and store merchandise properly. It would not be aesthetically pleasing to display
only a few units on the rack or to mix two merchandise categories. Respondents felt
that display and shelf space utilization was good at Central and Pantaloons. They
perceived poor utilization of space and inadequate space at Brand Factory. And they
remained sceptical of display, assortment and shelf utilization at Big Bazaar. Overall
ranking of Pantaloons’ outlets on display and shelf was at -0.18.
6.2.5 AMBIENCE:
Ambience is best explained by atmospherics. It refers to the design of an
environment through visual communications, lighting, colors, music and scent to
stimulate customers’ perceptual and emotional response and ultimately to affect their
purchase behavior. Good lighting in store involves more than singly illuminating
space. Lighting is used to highlight merchandise, sculpt space and capture a mood or
feeling that enhances the stores’ image. Lighting can also be used to down play less
attractive features that can’t be changed. A good lighting system helps create a sense
of excitement in the store. At the same time, lighting must provide an accurate color
rendition of the merchandise.
The creative use of color can enhance a retailer’s image and help create a mood.
Warm colors (red and yellow) produce excitement, whereas cool colors (blue and
green) have a calming effect.
Like color and lighting, music can either add to or detract from a retailers’ total
atmospheric package. Music can control the pace of store traffic, create an image and
attract or direct customers’ attention. Many buying decisions are based on emotions
and smell has a large impact on our emotions, such as happiness, hunger, disgust and
nostalgia - the same feelings marketers want to tap.
The overall rating of Pantaloons’ outlets on ambience was at -0.40. They wanted
lighting and other parameters of atmospherics to be improved in Big Bazaar and
Brand Factory.
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6.2.6 LOCATION OF EACH SECTION:
Another important ingredient into overall customer satisfaction is the location of
Men’s wear, Ladies wear, children’s section and so on. Respondents rated
Pantaloons’ outlets at -0.09 on this dimension.
Outlets were perceived good on this dimension for visible signage and direction for
each of these sections.
Most of the respondents (85.4%) opined that stocks in Clothing and Fashion
Accessories were available and adequate. Remaining few (14.6%) was not satisfied
with availability of stocks.
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Table 6.2d: LATEST FASHION IN DISPLAY
YES NO
Percentage 13 87
Most of the respondents (87%) felt that the latest fashion was not on display at the
clothing and fashion accessories section.
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Table 6.3a: Weighted Scores for Household products
CO
H7 258 132 0 -32 0.75
1
H8 216 136 0 -63 -72 0.59
-0.29
6.3.2 PRICE:
With only a few brands available and a narrow range of products made available,
Pantaloons’ outlets are not a preferred choice for electronic and household appliances.
Respondents preferred Big Bazaar for kitchenware and appreciated the outlet for an
entire range available in this section. However, they rated the outlet negative (-0.78)
on price dimension for household products.
6.3.3 DISPLAY:
Respondents wanted a better assortment and display of kitchenware products. They
preferred widening of aisles and broader shelves and arrangement of products
category wise. Respondents rated the outlet marginally negative (-0.84) because of
the positive perception of kitchenware products.
6.3.4 OFFERS:
Respondents were of the opinion that better offers, discounts, product bundling and so
on should be extended to kitchen and household products. Overall rating of offers in
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6.3.5 LOCATION OF THE SECTION:
Respondents complained of congested spaces, inadequate walking space and lighting
for household products. Respondents rated Big Bazaar negative (-0.84) on location
dimension for this section.
6.3.6 GUARANTEE:
Product durability respondents felt was an important ingredient into purchase
decisions involving household products. Some products and a few brands carried a
guarantee on purchase of household products. Respondents wanted brands that
carried ISI or ISO mark to be displayed that ensured a psychological guarantee. They
rated the outlet positive (0.62) on this dimension.
Percentage 10 90
10%
■ YES
■ NO
©0%
Majority of respondents (90%) opined that latest models were not being displayed for
electronic and kitchen appliances. They wanted well-known and popular brands to be
displayed.
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Table 6.3d: AVAILABILITY OF STOCK:
YES NO
Percentage 6 94
Majority of the respondents (94%) opined that the latest models were not available at
the outlet. Only few respondents (6%) were satisfied on this factor.
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