Executive Summary:

Retailing is a business activity that adds value to products and services sold to consumers for their personal/ family use. Retailer is a business entity that sells a product/service or both, to consumers. Retailing satisfies customer needs by having the right merchandise, at right price, at the right place, when the consumer wants it. INDIA The Indian Retail Industry is the largest among all the industries in India. The Retail Industry in India has come forth as one of the most dynamic and fast paced industries with several players entering the market but all of them have not yet tasted success because of the heavy initial investments that are required to break even with other companies and compete with them. The Indian Retail Industry is gradually inching its way towards becoming the next boom industry. WHY KUWAIT? Kuwait Retail Industry with respect to hypermarket was established much before India. Kuwait does not produce anything besides oil and has to import most on its domestic needs from abroad. Kuwait has the second largest Indian immigrants who are the fabric of the Kuwait economy. Most of these hypermarkets cater to the needs of the Indian immigrants Same brands of goods are sold in these hypermarkets as would be found in India for the simple reason that most of these goods are imported from India.

The Kuwait Retail Industry is flourishing with the advent of top hypermarket brands like Carrefour, GANT and Lulu Hypermarket. The demand in the market keeps on increasing with increase in products and services offered by companies/ brands. Since the disposable income of residents of Kuwait is high, people are willing to spend more money and time and expect to be entertained. The Kuwait Retail Industry is a well developed industry that has immense scope and opportunities of growth and a vast customer base comprising of people from different nations having different needs. The retailing for grocery and consumer durables are covered by a chain which starts from a BAKALA ( grocery shop), Mini Market, Supermarkets, Cooperatives to Hypermarkets such as LULU,CARREFOUR, GANT ETC. This kind of environment will provide immense learning and experience to me as a student and to understand how it can be distinguished with the Indian Retain Industry. At CITY CENTRE KUWAIT, I took up the challenge:

 To identify as to what drives the customer to purchase products in a hypermarket like city centre. What are the features, a customer looks for in a product, outlet itself and the service (sales persons). To learn and understand promotion strategies adopted by City centres Management and whether promotion has an impact on the customer or not and how can it be bettered. Learn where the company stands in comparison with competitors like The Sultan Centre, Gant and global companies like Carrefour. CITY CENTRE is venturing into other markets and their customer base is widening with the increase in immigrant population comprising of Indians, Filipinos, Egyptians, and Pakistanis and so on. The management wanted to analyse their customer tastes and satisfaction levels before they expand further. The Promotion Strategies implemented by the company were not making an impact on the frequency of purchases made by the customers. Therefore a study on customer satisfaction and promotion analysis was taken up. Methodology: 1. 2. 3. 4. Findings: After taking into consideration the feedback from various customers and the sales staff, following are some issues that need to be tackled quickly The price of products need to be reduced Product assortment needs to be improved Sales staffs need to be trained and well aware of their duties. Arrangement of products needs to be systematic Better fresh food items need to be introduced Readymade cooked food must be made available The trolleys are too old, need to be replaced Staff need to be available all the time Questionnaires Past records Interviews with management Interviews with sales persons

After a thorough study and analysis of the firm and its customers I have put forward the following suggestions: Provide better customer service than its competitors: o More sales staff in number o Well trained staff o Punctuality at work by staff Increase the variety of merchandise with deep assortment: o Fresh food items o Shoes o Household items like furniture o Readymade food segment in the store Advertisement o Through email, SMS, and TV o Sales and discounts o Internal promotions through free samples etc.

This study helped me a lot for analyzing the market, understanding retail business and how to respond in critical situations. Findings and suggestions/recommendation of this report might be helpful for the company to improve its performance and business.