EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This project is undertaken to know the customer satisfaction for Croma situated at Ishaniya Mall in Shastri Nagar Pune. Also to understand the level of awareness of Croma products and quality of services. There were some limitations while doing the project. The data was collected by personally interviewing the respondents. It was very difficult to take appointment of respondents. The type of Research is descriptive in nature. The nature of research was quantitative. The types of questions were standard with limited probing and the type of questionnaire was structured. A sample size of 100 was chosen to carry out the survey. The scope of the study confined to the north eastern region of Pune city. This study will help Croma to know the most popular way by which they are providing services and quality to the customers and to know various Customers Perceptions. From the survey, Researcher found that, the customers were highly satisfied with the products and service of Croma, but there were some complaints regarding after sales service and staff of Croma. It was found that Croma is having a good brand image in the market. Most of the respondents considered Croma one of the best place to shop for electronic products.

The present is the era of customers. Customers are more knowledgeable than ever before and because the customer is more knowledgeable, companies must be faster, more agile and more creative than few years ago. So companies should strive to enhance
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customer satisfaction through knowing their expectations regarding products. Croma should improve on their after sales support, and have knowledgeable support staff.

Chapter I
INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY A. Introduction B. Objective C. Scope D. Limitation

A. Introduction:
The Project was for two months (June-July 2008). It consists of brief history of Croma The Electronic Mega store, class room exercise and market research of customer satisfaction. The project comprised of field studies and collection of primary data from the customers of Croma. Before going to collect the data from the field I had attended Training program by IMRB Pune to give us insight regarding Croma products, its functions, skill evaluations of individuals and feedback by experts. The questionnaire given by IMRB Pune for customer satisfaction research purpose included all fundamental questions.

The fundamental selling skills were also taught by experts. The real exhaustive work started from third week of June, by calling different customers, taking an appointment, visiting their residence and getting their feedback about Croma overall experience. This project deals with the Market Research of customer satisfaction. It includes the research, methodologies used for collecting the data, heading towards analysis and interpretation I

designed the sample tabulations, they are variable with graphical presentations for better understanding the data. The abstract of the findings, their interpretations and limitations are also explained. In the concluding part, several suggestions are written which are directly dictated from the clients. The primary data collected through the questions asked by the clients are also mentioned.

B. OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

To study the customers perception about Croma.

To know what attracts customers to Croma.

To know the overall Quality of products at Croma.

To study the overall working of the billing section.

To understand what the customers think about the Sales personnel. Club this point as to evaluate the day to day operations of croma wrt billing and sales personnel To know the Product Offerings at Croma.

To study the Product Aspects at Croma.

To understand customers perception about the advertisement of Croma.

To know the customers perception about After Sales of Croma.

 To know how likely are the customers to visit the store in the future.

To know if the customers will recommend the store to their friends and colleagues.

B. SCOPE
The scope of study is wide and expanding. It was aimed at Customer satisfaction level and their feedback, which would be beneficial to Croma. This study is confined to the north eastern areas of Pune city. In this study 130 respondents were interviewed. The interviewees were the customers who purchased any products above Rs 1000/- from Croma.

C. LIMITATION STUDY:

OF

THE

1) It was very difficult to take appointment of the respondents. 2) The study was confined to Pune city only. 3) The time duration was restricted to 2months only. 4) Some customers were not ready to give their contact number. 5) Only those customers were suppose to be interviewed who had purchased goods above Rs 1000/-

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Chapter II COMPANY PROFILE

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Introduction About IMRB- Pune

IMRB international was established in 1971. Since then it has been the pioneer in market research. IMRB is involved in almost all the sectors of market research ranging from Customers Satisfaction to Information technology, from the brands like Hidalgo to Indian Express group, the list is endless and so are there achievements.

Sectors of Research
Alcohol Household care Automotive IT, Internet and Telecom Agriculture and Agro-products Industry and business Buildings and Construction Media and Entertainment Consumer Durable
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 Social and Rural

In India, IMRB International is an autonomous division of Hidustan Thompson Associates Limited (HTA), HTAs divisions include JWT (advertising), Fortune (advertising), Thompson Connect (Direct Marketing), IPAN (public relations).

Service offered by IMRB

The depth and breadth of services that IMRB provides is extensive and includes research and advisory services in the following areas: Advertising, promotion and media research B2B and Industrial Research Brand Research Customer Satisfaction Research Corporate and Employee Research Channel and Retail Research Product and Packaging Research Pricing Research Strategic Market Research Mystery Shopper Insights (MSI)
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Footprints of IMRB

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Press Release
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CLIENTS PROFILE

Croma is Indias first national, large format, retail chain for consumer electronic and durables. Croma simply believes in the philosophy We help you buy.

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At Croma, well-trained store advisors, who have an in-depth knowledge of the products, guide, and advice and help their customers, choose a product that's just right. The Aim of Croma is to ensure that their shoppers make informed purchases. Croma stores are large (15,000-20,000 sq ft), well-planned and designed to make shopping a pleasure. The world class in-store experience is backed by robust after-sales service. Croma is owned and run by Infiniti Retail Limited, a 100% subsidiary of Tata Sons. Woolworths Ltd, the Australian retail giant, provides technical support and strategic sourcing facilities from its global network. Croma's first store opened on October 9, 2006 at Juhu in Mumbai, and it's rolling out many more stores across India. So, no matter where you are, if you want high-quality products, backed by advice you can trust, head for the nearest Croma store.

Products Overview
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Technology simplifies life. Croma simplifies technology. It offers shoppers one of widest ranges of products and brands in consumer electronics and durables and a shopping experience that's truly world-class. One can choose from over 6000 products across eight categories. Cromas trained and knowledgeable advisors help one arrive at an informed decision with their personalized advice. Whether you want to increase your productivity with the latest notebook, tune into your favorite music on the go, keep your cool in steamy weather with an AC, talk nineteen to the dozen on your mobile phone or do your laundry in a jiffy with a fully-automatic washing machine, Croma can help one make the right choice.

Products Offered

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1. Appliances 2. Imaging

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3. Music and D V D s 4. C o mmutations

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5. Gaming

6. Home Entertainment

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7. Computers

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Croma in Pune
Croma, the retail chain of large format consumer electronics and durables mega stores, owned by one of the Tata Group retail arms Infiniti Retail, launched two of its mega stores in Pune on 30th August, 2007. The Pune stores are located at Ishanya mall (off Airport Road) and Krome mall (Solapar Road). Eventually, Croma has planned to set up eight stores in the city.

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Croma at Ishanya Mall (Pune)

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(From L-R) Mr. I. S. Narula, CEO & President, ISHNYA, Mr. Kishore Chauker, MD Tata Industries, Mr S. C. Mehta,Vice-Chairman & MD, Deepak Fertilisers &

Petrochemicals Corporation Ltd. and Mr Ajit Joshi, MD & CEO, Infiniti Retail at the Croma store opening

Press Release
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Chapter III THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

IT IS NO LONGER ENOUGH TO SATISFY CUSTOMERS.YOU MUST DELIGHT THEM. MEASURING SATISFACTION.

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P.KOTLER. Although the customer centered firm seeks to create high customer satisfaction that is not its main goal. If the company increases customer satisfaction, by lowering its price increasing its services, the results may be lower profit. When customers rate their satisfaction with an element of companies performance-say, delivery-the need to recognize that customers vary in how they define goods delivery. It could mean early delivery, on-time delivery, order completeness, and so on. Yet if the company had to spell out every element in detail, customers would face a huge survey questionnaire. The company must also that two customers can report being highly satisfied for different reasons. One may be easily satisfied most of the time and other might be hard to please but was pleased on this occasion. Companies need to be specially concerned today with their customer satisfaction level because today technology provides a tool for consumers to spread bad word of mouth as well as good word of mouth to the rest of the word.

MEASURING CUSTOMER SATISFACTION

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Todays companies are facing their toughest competition ever. The companies can outperform the competition if they can move from one product and sales philosophy to a marketing philosophy.

Customer Satisfaction

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DEFINING CUSTOMER VALUE AND SATISFACTION

Over 38 years ago, Peter Drucker observed that a companys first task is to create customers. However, customers face a vast array of product and brand choices, prices, and suppliers. How do they make their choices? We believe that customers estimate which offer will deliver the most value. Customers are the value maximizers, within the bounds of search, cost and limited knowledge, mobility and income. They form an expectation of value and act upon it. Whether or not the offer lives up to the value expectation, affects both satisfaction and repurchase probability.

MARKET POTENTIAL
The principles of determining market share and market potential are the same for all geographical areas. First determine a customer profile (who) and the geographic size of the market (how many). This is the general market potential. Knowing the number and strength of your competitors (and then estimating the share of business you will take from them) will give you the market potential specific to your enterprise.

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Market potential data measures the likely demand for the product or the service. The data base projects the expected number of customers and provides market potential indexes [MPI]. An MPI compares a demand for the specific product or service in a trade area to the national demand for that product or service nationally. The index is tabulated to represent a value of 100 as the average demand. A value of more than 100 represents high demand, and a value of less than 100 represents low demand. Determining what potential exists for a product or service is a vital component to a strategic plan.

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Chapter IV RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

A.

Research Design
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Research design means adopting that type technique of research which is most suited for the research and study of the problem. For the study and the research of the problem proper material has to be selected and collected for the investigation. A research design is the arrangement of conditions for collection and analysis of data in a manner that aims to combine relevance to the research purpose with economy in procedure. Jahoda, deutish. Cook.

In order to know about market potential of Croma it was necessary to interact with the customer. The sample taken comprised of respondents from Pune city. A questionnaire had to be designed to collect valuable information from the different customer groups. The questionnaire which was provided by the company was designed suitably to meet the objective of research work.

NATURE OF RESEARCH
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In this project report I have undertaken quantitative type of study.

TYPE OF QUESTIONS
The questions in the questionnaire asked to the customers of Majestic Furniture Mart are Straight Forward and Limited Probing.

TYPE OF QUESTIONNAIRE
The questionnaire in this project report is straight forward and formalized.

TYPE OF ANALYSIS
The analysis done in this particular project report is statistical.

B.

Sources of Data
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Primary data:
The Primary data are those data which are collected fresh and for the first time and thus happen to be original in character. The primary data that was collected through interview conducted in Pune city. The primary data sources include copies of questionnaire.

Secondary data:
The secondary data are those which have already been collected by someone else and which have been passed through the statistical process. Secondary data was collected through company websites. Some of the web sites IMRBinternational.com/.org,

www.cromaretail.com and some catalogs (i.e. management research review).

C. Primary Data Collection

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RESEARCH TECHNIQUE
The researcher adopted survey method as a research technique for this particular project report.

CONTACT METHOD
The researcher interviewed the respondents by personal interview.

SAMPLING PLAN
Population
The population covered in this project report refers to the customers of Majestic Furniture Mart, who have purchased the product in the last two years.

Sample Size
The sample size undertaken by the researcher for this particular project report is 50 respondents.

Sample Element
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The respondents contacted in this project report are all the owners of furniture brought from Majestic Furniture Mart.

Sample Extent
The researcher conducted the survey for customers in Pune city only.

Sample Duration
The survey undertaken from the month of June to July, 2007 i.e. two months.

D. Research Instrument
Questionnaires containing both open ended and close ended questions were used as a research instrument in this particular project report.

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Chapter v DATA ANALYSIS & INTERPRETATION

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1.

Before purchasing the product

did u compare it with some other stores?

31% Yes 69% No

Respondents Number of respondents

YES 90

NO 40

Interpretation:
The above pie chart represents that about 69% of the respondents said yes that they compared their products before purchasing and 31% said no. Most of the customers compare products / various brands before making a purchase decision.

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2.

Compared to what other stores charge for similar merchandise, how would you rate the price you paid for?

5% 0% 43% 52%

Low Priced Moderately Priced High Priced Very High Priced

Respondents Number of respondents

Low Priced 42

Moderate Priced 48

High Priced 4

Very High Priced 0

Interpretation:
42 respondents said it was low priced & 48 customers said the price was moderately priced & 4 customers said they were highly priced.

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3. Can you tell us what is the main reason why you bought this product at Croma and not at the other stores?

Proximity to home/office

9% 1%

13% 16%
30%

Price

31%

Range / Variety of products Reputation of the store brand

Previous Experience

After Sales
Response Proximity Price to home/office Range/ Reputation Previous After Variety of the store Experience Sales of products 21 17 12 1

No. of customers 40 39

Interpretation:
31% i.e. 40 respondents said they purchased the products because the Mall was near either to their home or office, 39 customers said because of Price, 21 customers said because of the range of products,17 customers said because of the reputation of the store,12 customers said their previous experience was good, & 1 customers said Croma had a good After sales.
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4.

How would you rate the overall Product Offering? By Product offering we mean, the range, availability etc.

1%

31%

24%
44%

Excellent Good Fair Poor

Respondents Number of respondents

Excellent 32

Good 57

Fair 40

Poor 1

Interpretation:
The above graph represents that about 24% i.e. 32 respondents said Excellent about Product offerings, 57 respondents said good, 40 customers said Fair & a single respondent said poor.
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5. How would you rate the Physical Aspects of the Store in terms of its design, layout, space and ambience excluding the product offering?

Respondents Number of respondents

Excellent 65

Good 54

Fair 11

Poor 0

Interpretation:
About 65 respondents said excellent about the Physical Aspect of the store, 54 respondents said good, 11 respondents said Fair.

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6.

How would you rate the Overall Quality of the shopping experience at Croma?

Respondents Number of respondents

Excellent 5

Good 92

Fair 33

Poor 0

Interpretation:
4% i.e. 5 customers out of 130 said excellent, 71% i.e. 92 customers said good, and 33 customers said the overall quality was Fair.

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7.

Based on all your experiences you had through all your visits to the store, how would you rate the Sales Personnel (in terms of overall appearance, courtesy, helpfulness etc)?

Respondents Number of respondents

Excellent 46

Good 41

Fair 34

Poor 9

Interpretation:
36% i.e. 46 respondents said the Sales personnel were poor, 26% i.e. 34 respondents said Fair, 29 respondents said good & 21 of them said it was excellent.

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8.

Based on the experience, how would you rate the overall Billing section (in terms of Efficiency of the cashier, accuracy of the bill, waiting time at the queue etc)?

Respondents Number of respondents

Excellent 46

Good 41

Fair 34

Poor 9

Interpretation:
Out of 130 respondents 46 said the Billing section was excellent, 41 of them said it was good, 34 respondents said fair & 9 said it was poor.
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9. Based on your experiences, how would you rate the overall quality of Advertising of Croma?

Respondents Number of respondents

Excellent 13

Good 43

Fair 50

Poor 24

Interpretation:
Out of 130 respondents 13 of them said the advertisement of Croma was excellent, 43 respondents said good, 50 respondents said fair & 24 of them said poor.

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10.

Have you taken any After Sales Support from Croma (By after Sales Service Support, we mean Delivery, Installation, Demo etc)?

Respondents Number of respondents

YES 60

NO 70

Interpretation:
46% of the total i.e. 60 respondents said they took After Sales Support from & 54% i.e. 70 respondents said no.

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11. Based on the experience, how would you rate the overall After
Sales Support of Croma?

Respondents Number of respondents

Excellent 9

Good 11

Fair 16

Poor 24

Interpretation:
Out of 60 respondents 9 said After Sales Support was excellent, 11 said it was good 16 said it was fair and 24 said poor.

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12.

What is the likelihood that you will make your next Consumer Electronic/ durable Purchase at Croma?

Respondents Number of respondents

Extremely Likely 31

Very Likely 52

Somewhat Likely 40

Not at all Likely 7

Interpretation:
24% of respondents said their visit would be extremely likely 40% i.e. 52 respondents said Very likely 40 customers said somewhat likely & 7 customers said that they wont make any visit again to the store.

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13.

If a friend or colleague were to ask you to Recommend a shopping store for Consumer Electronics & Durables, what is the likelihood that you would recommend Croma?

Respondents Number of respondents

Extremely Likely 42

Very Likely 39

Somewhat Likely 45

Not at all Likely 4

Interpretation:
42 customers said that they are extremely likely to recommend the store to their friends or colleague, 39 customers said very likely, 45 said somewhat likely & 4 customers not at all likely.
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14. Do u believe that Croma helps you buy?

Respondents Number of respondents

YES 87

NO 43

Interpretation:
67% out of 130 respondents said that they believe Croma helps you buy and the remaining 33% said no.

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Chapter VI FINDINGS SUGGESTIONS CONCLUSIONS

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A. Findings
From the survey done with the help of questionnaire, the following findings were analyzed: From the research conducted, before purchasing the products from the store few of the customers compared the price from other stores.

From the survey conducted most of the customers, (i.e. 48 out 90 customers) thought that Croma is moderately priced.

31% of the total respondents said they purchased the products from Croma because it was either close by to their house or office. And 30% said because of the price structure of Croma.

More than 50% of total respondent said they liked the overall shopping experience at Croma.

From the survey 31 customers said that they are extremely likely to make their next purchase from Croma, and 52 of the total said they are very likely to make their next purchase.
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 From the survey done it is found that majority of the customers i.e. 35% said that they were somewhat likely to recommend the store to their friends or colleague, 32% said they are extremely likely and 30% said they were very likely to recommend the store.

Majority of the respondents i.e. 57 said that the Product offering at croma was good, and 32 respondents said it was excellent.

Amongst the customers surveyed 50% said that the physical aspect of the store was excellent and 42% said it was good.

Majority of the customers gave a negative reply about the advertisement of Croma, 50 respondents said it was fair and 24 said it was Poor. Specify reason for not liking.

From the survey conducted 48% i.e. 62 respondents said that the Sales Personnel were poor, and 20 of the total said they were fair.

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 Amongst the respondents surveyed 35% said that the billing section was excellent and 32% said it was good.

Out of the 130 respondents 60 respondents said that they had taken after sales support and the remaining 70 had not taken.

And out of the 60 respondents who had taken After sales support 40% said that the after sales was poor and 27% said it was fair.

From the survey conducted 67% respondents said they believe croma helps you buy and the remaining thought the other way.

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B. Conclusion
From the survey we can conclude that:
Most of the customers before purchasing compared the products with some other stores.

Croma is the store where customers believe that the price of the product is moderate.

Proximity to house or office is the major reason why people prefer croma which is situated off the Air Port road Yerwada, and the other reason is that the price of the products is moderate as compared with other store.

Overall quality of croma is good. But there is scope to improve it more. Most of the customers are likely to visit the store in future if they have a requirement; however, there are customers who will definitely not visit the store if they have a requirement.

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 Majority of the customers are somewhat likely to recommend the store to their friends or colleagues.

The Product offering according to the customers was good.

The customers of croma said that the physical aspect of croma was excellent. They liked the layout the spacing of the store and the ambience.

Most of the customers were not aware of any advertisement of croma. Majority of the customers were unhappy with the sales personnel. Because they do not provide adequate knowledge about the product.

The billing section was quick enough. If there were any problem regarding the bill the concerned person would help them.

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 Majority of the customers said that the after sales were poor and need to be improved.

Most of the customers agree to the tag line of croma Croma Helps You Buy.

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c. Suggestions
After conducting the study, it was found that Tatas croma has a good reputation in the market; at the same time it is maintain a good brand image. Most of the customers are satisfied with the products of Croma. Following are the suggestions: There is a scope to improve the overall quality of products. By overall quality I mean the product offerings, ambience, product display etc.

The display of the new products werent visible to the customers.

The sales personnel should update their knowledge about the products. Proper training should be given to them.

The quality of the product needs improvement as in some complaints the customers complained regarding the quality not meeting their expectations.

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 Croma should improve on its after sales support. Its concerned person should go to the customers residence on the given time.

There are very few schemes and promotion activities at croma as compared to its competitors.

The store should seek a constant feedback from the customers so as to understand the customers feelings regarding the product and services and also to incorporate changes if any. The store should have a data base of customers birthdays and anniversaries, etc. and apart from sending cards in the festive season; they should also send cards on these special occasions.

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Chapter VII APPENDICLES

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QUESTIONNAIRE
I'm from Customer Satisfaction Management and Measurement (CSMM), a specialist unit of the Indian Market Research Bureau (IMRB), a leading market research agency in India. We are conducting a survey on behalf of Croma as they are interested in finding the customer experience so that they could improve their offerings.
NAME: ADDRESS: CONTACT NO.

1. Before purchasing the product did u compare it with some other stores? (a) Yes (b) No

2. Compared to what other stores charge for similar merchandise, how would you rate the price you paid for? (a) Low Priced (b) Moderate Priced (c) High Priced (d) Very High Priced

3. Can you tell us what is the main reason why you bought this product at Croma and not at the other stores? (a) Proximity to home/office (b) Price (c) Range variety of products (d) Reputation of the store (e) Previous experience (f) After Sales

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4. How would you rate the overall Product Offering? By Product offering we mean, the range, availability etc. (a) Excellent (b) Good (c) Fair (d) Poor

5. How would you rate the Physical Aspects of the Store in terms of its design, layout, space and ambience excluding the product offering? (a) Excellent (b) Good (c) Fair (d) Poor

6. How would you rate the Overall Quality of the shopping experience at Croma? (a) Excellent (b) Good (c) Fair (d) Poor

7. Based on all your experiences you had through all your visits to the store, how would you rate the Sales Personnel (in terms of overall appearance, courtesy, helpfulness etc)? (a) Excellent (b) Good (c) Fair (d) Poor

8. Based on the experience, how would you rate the overall Billing section (in terms of Efficiency of the cashier, accuracy of the bill, waiting time at the queue etc)? (a) Excellent (b) Good (c) Fair (d) Poor

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9. Based on your experiences, how would you rate the overall Advertising of Croma? (a) Excellent (b) Good (c) Fair (d) Poor

quality of

10. Have you taken any After Sales Support from Croma (By after Sales Service Support, we mean Delivery, Installation, Demo etc)? (a) Excellent (b) Good (c) Fair (d) Poor

11. Based on the experience, how would you rate the overall After Sales Support of Croma? (a) Excellent (b) Good (c) Fair (d) Poor

12. What is the likelihood that you will make your next Consumer Electronic/ durable Purchase at Croma? (a) Extremely likely (b) Very likely (c) Somewhat likely (d) Not at all likely

13. If a friend or colleague were to ask you to Recommend a shopping store for Consumer Electronics & Durables, what is the likelihood that you would recommend Croma? (a) Extremely likely (b) Very likely (c) Somewhat likely (d) Not at all likely

14. Do u believe that Croma helps you buy? (a) Yes (e) No 68

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Books
a)

Author
Philip Kotler September 1999 S.L Gupta 2003

Marketing Management 10th Edition

b) Marketing Research

First Edition B/G. C. Beri

Websites: -

www.imrbint.com www.cromaretail.com

www.google.com

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