A

SUMMER TRAINING REPORT

ON

Customer perception towards Choosing Mattress.

Submitted In partial fulfillment for Master of Business Administration
(MBA)

Session-(2016-2018)

SUBMITTED TO: SUBMITTED BY:

M.D.U. Swati sharma
ROHTAK M.B.A. 3 RD
Roll No.:- 16013

KEADARNATH AGGARWAL INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT,

CH.DADRI
(AFFILIATED TO M.D.U., ROHTAK)
DECLARATION
I hereby declare that this Project Report entitled “A STUDY ON CUSTOMER PREFERENCES
IN CHOOSING MATTRESS at Kurlon Mattresses Express Store is a bonafied work done by me
for the award of degree of Master of Business Administration submitted to kaim. The results
embodied in this thesis have not been submitted to any other University or Institution for the
award of any Degree/Diploma Certificate or Published any time before.

Swati Sharma
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I am thankful to MRS Supriya Dhillion for being my project guide.

My profound thanks to MRS Supriya Dhillion , Director, Kedarnath Aggarwal Institutes’ of

Management, Charkhi Dadri who was patient in giving direction to my project in his capacity.

I express my sincere gratitude to Kurlon Regional Manager (MP&CG) Mr Ashwani Sharma and
other personnel staff for guiding and encouraging me to the completion of project on time.

I am grateful to my parents for their continuous support right from the beginning of my project to
the submission of this report.

SWATI SHARMA
 CONTENTS

Chapter 1

 Introduction to industry
 Introduction to mattress
 Introduction to company
 Introduction to topic
Chapter 2
 Introduction to topic
 Literature review
 Objective of the study

Chapter 3

 Research Methodology
 Analysis

Chapter 4

 Findings
 Limitation
 Suggestion
 Conclusion
 Questionnaire
 Conceptualization
Conceptualization means to focus on the concept on which research is carried out by which we
can clear the main thing if report on which topic we are preparing report what is main concept in
this report because with help of this conceptualization part we can go through the detail of topic
as well as the detail of industry and company profile.

In this conceptualization part I have mentioned following 3 things:

1. Introduction of Industry
2. Introduction of company
3. Introduction of topic
INTRODUCTION TO INDUSTRY
(1)General definition In this Act,
"industrial matters" means matters or things affecting or relating to work done or to be done in
any industry, or the privileges, rights, duties or obligations of employers or employees in
any industry.

(2) Examples Examples of industrial matters are as follows:

(a) the employment of persons in any industry (including the employment of minors, trainees,
apprentices and other classes of employees),

(b) the remuneration (including rates of pay, rates for piece-work and allowances)
for employees in any industry,

(c) the conditions of employment in any industry (including hours of employment, qualifications
of employees, manner of work and quantity of work to be done),

(d) part-time or casual employment (including part-time work agreements),

(e) the termination of employment of (or the refusal to employ) any person or class of persons in
any industry,

(f) discrimination in employment in any industry(including in remuneration or other conditions

of employment) on a ground to which theAnti-Discrimination Act 1977 applies,

(g) procedures for the resolution of industrial disputes,

(h) the established customs in any industry,

(i) the authorised remittance by employers of membership fees of industrial organisations

of employees,

(j) the surveillance of employees in the workplace,

(k) the mode, terms and conditions under which work is given out, whether directly or indirectly,
to be performed by outworkers in the clothing trades.
 Historically, mattresses have been filled with a variety of natural materials, including straw
andfeathers. Modern mattresses usually contain either an inner spring core or material such as
latex, or other polyurethantype foams.Mattresses may also be filled with air or water or a variety
of natural fibers,such as in futons. In past decades, people of India used to ma!e"buy
mattresswhich are made up of cotton or coir. Then the time brought up a diversion withthe
rubber and latex. #nd this made a way to the industriali$ation of sleepingmattress. In its
expedition, mattress observed many ups and downs in itsmar!et% still it continued to flow
forward, slowly but consistently.

It displayed ama!eover in all aspects of its si$e, shape, texture, fillings etc. &rom the materialof
essentiality today it became a symbol of luxury.&rom a handful of manufacturers, during early
'0s this product got some mar!etrecognition in early (0s. In the next ) decades over one hundred
manufacturershave entered rubberi$ed coir field. Today rubberi$ed coir products are
increasingly used in many industries notably in transport industry li!e railwaysand buses,
theatres and
auditorium. The basic raw material for - industry is the brown coir fiber and the natural latex
rubber. The lastdecade, the brown coir sector has registered a tremendous growth.

Key competitiors :
Sleepwell

Coirfom

Peps

Century
INTRODUCTION ABOUT THE MATTRESS

Indian consumers usually have a habit of going to store and feel the mattress by touching or
sitting on it. This is how they decide the comfort level of mattress and take their decision which
makes the offline mode of distribution more popular. Branded mattresses are broadly sold to two
end users viz. residential and institutional. Growing housing demand has been increasing the
sales of mattresses in the residential market all over the country. Whereas institutional demand is
thriving owing to an increase in construction, real estate, and tourism & hospitality sector that
requires hundreds of beds and mattresses. Hence, both residential and institutional demand is
growing in India with the rising awareness regarding mattress types and brands. Among various
sizes available, King size mattresses are the most preferred one and comfort is the important
factor.

Key Product Type

 Coir Mattress
 PU Foam Mattress
 Spring Mattress
 Others

The study starts with reviewing the earlier works in this area, the objective of the study and the
research methodology used is then delineated.
COMPANY PROFILE
Kurlon’s journey is a fine lesson in entrepreneurship. During a visit to Germany, Ramesh Pai
discovered that high-end motor car seats used rubberized coconut-coir fibre manufactured from
Sri Lankan base material. He knew that India was one of the largest producers of coconut in the
world and so, he rightly assumed, there was a new business to be pioneered. Charged with this
thought, he returned home to start his journey of discovering how best he could take advantage
of the coir husk India produced. He found that coconut coir was being used only by the cottage
industry to manufacture retted fabric. From here his idea took shape and become the predecessor
to Kurlon – Karnataka Consumer Products Limited – was formed in 1962.

He brought in Austrian technology to extract fibre from the husk and curl it into ropes. A slew of
opportunities opened up upon this craft. Rather than restrict himself to mattresses he also
developed an ancillary range of products such as cushions and mats. In 2004 it ventured beyond
providing just a better sleep experience and extended its product range into the home comfort
segment.

Kurlon Today
The company has evolved and now manufactures mattresses in 126 different configurations.
Pan-India they have partnered with a dealer network comprising more than 7000 dealers, 70
branch and stock points and 9 strategically located manufacturing facilities across Karnataka,
Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Uttaranchal and Gujarat. With state-of-the-art technology, these factors
will continue to improve the level of standards in the mattress industry and serve the growing
Indian population.

Awards
Behind the triumphs at Kurlon over the years, there has been a series of awards, accolades and
recognition the brand has received. These awards include the acknowledgment of its stellar role
from institutions like the Coir Board, Reader’s Digest, the National Safety Council and several
other distinctions. For the past sixteen years Kurlon has won the Coir Board of India’s awards
for Outstanding Performance in Export of Rubberized Coir Products, the Development of the
Domestic Market for Rubberized Coir and the award for being consistently the country’s largest
manufacturer. In 2014, the company bagged the ShreshthaSuraksha Puraskar award from the
National Safety Council of India in recognition of developing and implementing highly effective
management systems and procedures and achieving o utstanding performance in occupational
health and safety.
Kurlon Limited is a Public incorporated on 09 February 1962. It is classified as Non-govt
company and is registered at Registrar of Companies, Bangalore. Its authorized share capital is
Rs. 350,000,000 and its paid up capital is Rs. 148,826,048.It is inolved in Manufacture of other
textiles

Kurlon Limited's Annual General Meeting (AGM) was last held on 29 September 2016 and as
per records from Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA), its balance sheet was last filed on 31
March 2016.

Directors of Kurlon Limited are S Ananthanarayanan, Jaya S Pai, Nitin Gajanan Rao Khot,
Jamsheed Minocher Panday, Thonse Deepa Pai, Tonse Sudhakar Pai, Kumble Taranath Bhagath,
Jyothi Ashish Pradhan, Narendra Kudva and .

Kurlon Limited's Corporate Identification Number is (CIN) U17214KA1962PLC001443 and its

registration number is 1443.Its Email address is secretary@kurlon.org and its registered address
is N-301, III FLOOR, NORTH BLOCK, FRONT WING, MANIPAL CENTRE, 47
DICKENSON ROAD BANGALORE KA 560042 IN

Kurlon Limited develops and manufactures mattresses. The company offers spring, foam,
rubberized coir, and therapeutic mattresses; and home accessories, such as sofas, living room
products, pillows, and bed sheets. It provides its products through a network of dealers. The
company was formerly known as Karnataka Consumer Products Limited and changed its name
to Kurlon Limited in 1995. Kurlon Limited was founded in 1962 and is based in Bengaluru,
India. It has manufacturing facilities in Karnataka, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Uttaranchal, and
Gujarat.
LITERATURE REVIEW

Christophe r (1989) studied the shopping habits of consumers to form an idea of whether or not
the store concepts, product ranges and strategies of the companies are appropriate towards
consumer requirements. He believed that consumer behaviours are unpredictable and changing
continuously changing; while trying to under try to understand how individual or group make
their decision to spend their available resources on consumption-related items. These are factors
that influence the consumer before, during, and after a purchase (Schiffiman and Kanuk, 1997),
for example, feedback, from other customers, packing, advertising, product appearance, and
price (Peter & colsonet, 2005).

The essence of this approach is critical for organizational success, so that they can have a better
understanding of their customer behaviours (Solomon et al., 2006). The physical action or
behaviour of consumer and their buying decision every day can be measured directly by
marketers (Papanastassiu and Rouhani, 2006). For that reason many organisations these days
are spending lot of their resources to research how consumer makes their buying decision, what
they buy, how much they buy, when they buy, and where they buy (Kotler, Amstrong,
2001). To get a well coherent result, organizations normally looked at these behaviour base their
analysis on difference conceptions; whether customers buying behaviour were measured from
different perspectives, such as product quality and better service, lower price structured etc
(Papanastassiu and Rouhani, 2006)

Different theories and researchers have claimed that when organization fully meet all aspects of
its customer needs, the result enhances their profitability (Chaudhuri, 2006), and also enable
them to develop a better tackling strategies for consumer (Asseal, 1998). Possibly, the most
challenging concept in marketing deals with the understanding why buyers do what they do and
what method or philosophy are they using to evaluate the product after the transactions and what
might be the effect on future transaction (Schiffman, 2004). The reason why marketer chooses to
learning about consumers” buying behaviour is, from a business perspective; to be able to be
more effectively reach consumers and increase the chances for success (Sargeant & West,
2001). Therefore the field of consumer behaviour has taken a tremendous turn in the commercial
world and became the fundamental concepts of achieving company goal (Schiffman and
Kanuk, 2007).

Five-Stage Model of the buying process:

(Kotler 1993, p. 182)

RESEARCH DESIGN
A research design is the arrangement of condition for collection and analysis of the data in a
manner that aims to combine relevance to the research purpose with the economy in procedure.
In fact the research design is the conceptual structure with in which research is conducted, it
constitutes the blueprint for the collection, measurement and analysis of data.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM:

The study is being conducted for the Kurlon Mattress Express store based in INDORE city, to
find out the customer preferences in choosing Mattress. It is required to find out the preferences
based on certain aspects (price, Income, levels selection of products satisfaction level of
customers).

OBJECTIVES

 To study the customer preferences in choosing Mattress.

 To study the factors that is affecting the choice of customers in choosing a retail store.
 To study the factors that retain the customers who visit Kurlon Mattress Express Store.

NEED OF THE PROJECT

Now day’s retail stores facing more competition in retailing business. Good brand increase the
visiting of more customers in to the store and increase the francisee goodwill, and price also
plays major factor to use the customer giving preference and selection of the Matress. And as
industry research has shown, there is much need to know the customer expectations, customer
preferences and their Mattress choice’s(features) and we will find out solutions for
manufacturing good Mattress which will getting more customers and getting more profits.

SCOPE OF THE STUDY

The research is applicable in the area of customer decision making process for purchasing of
Mattress at Kurlon Mattress Express. The scope of research also helps in understanding the
preferences of the customers.

TYPE OF STUDY: Descriptive cum exploratory research

This research is completely based on the description of the factors that lead to the customer
decision making process. It is basically valued on the various parameters which include personal
details of customers, their income –level, satisfaction level Here the need is to find which factor
describes the consumer decision making process most effectively.

SOURCES OF DATA COLLECTION:

The sources of data include both Primary and Secondary data. Primary data is collected with
specific objective, especially to address the research problem. The data is gathered by fill
questionnaire to the customers who visit at stores and through personal interview of store Sales
mans.

Secondary data includes books, journals, magazines, news letters of the Company, and internet.

SAMPLING SIZE: The sample size taken for the study at 6 Kurlon Store is 20.

SAMPLING PROCEDURE: To obtain the representative sample, a non probability sample can
be drawn. In this study the method of selecting samples is random.

TOOLS: The tools used for analyzing data are rating method; graphs, pie charts etc.

Questionnaire is distributed to the individual respondents and special care has been taken to
make him/her feel comfortable so that, he/she could answer all the questions. This method is
followed to get unbiased answers.

TECHNIQUES OF ANALYSIS:

The data collected from the customer are transcript to the worksheet in the form of tally bars and
analyzed by statistical tools by drawing tables and graphs, inferences were drawn on a marke ting
concept and conversation. Based on the marketing concepts findings of the research were driven
and recommendations are made.
CHAPTER-
IV DATA ANALYSIS & INTERPREATION
Sex
Sex Respondents Percentage
Male 8 40
Female 12 60
Total 20 100

100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
Percentage
50%
Respondents
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Male Female Total

INTERPRETATION:

Above table shows that 40% % of the customers are male, and 60 % of the respondents are female.
Age
Age Respondents Percentage
25-35 6 20
35-45 7 40
45-55 5 25
55 &
above 2 15

45

40

35

30

25
Respondents
20
Percentage
15

10

0
25-35 35-45 45-55 55& abpove

INTERPRETATION:

Above table shows that 20% of the respondents fall under the age group of below under 25. 40% of the
respondents fall under the age group of 35-45 years, 25% of the respondents fall under the age group of
45-55 years of age, 15 %of the respondents are 55 and above years of age group.
Occupation

Occupation Respondents Percentage

Professionals 4 20
Service 5 25
Self Employed 2 10
House Wife 9 45

100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40% Percentage
30% Respondents
20%
10%
0%

INTERPRETATION:

Above table shows that 45 % of the respondents are students, 25% of the customers are
professional, 45 % of the respondents are house-wife, 10 % of the customers are selfemployed
and, 5 % of the customers are service employees.
INCOME LEVEL

Age Group Respondents Percentage

Below - 10000 4 20
10000-20000 6 30
20000-40000 7 35
40000 & above 3 15

100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40% Percentage
30% Respondents
20%
10%
0%

INTERPRETATION: Above table shows that 60% of the respondents fall under the income
group of below 10000 Rs. 15% of the customers fall under the income group of Rs.10000-20000,
12.5% percent of respondents fall under income group of Rs.20000-40000 and 12.5% of the
respondents fall under income group of 40000 and above.
Why do you make purchase of products from Kurlon Mattress Express Store ?

Response Respondents Percentage

Better Quality 4 20
After Sales
Service 5 25
Low Price 2 10
Customizatation 9 45

Customizatation

Low Price
Percentage
Respondents
After Sales Service

Better Quality

0 10 20 30 40 50

INTERPRETATION: Above table shows that 40% of the customers approached Kurlon Mattress
Express Store due to BETTER-QUALITY, 37.5% of the customers approached due to LOW-
PRICE of products 15% of the customers approached due to VARIETY OF PRODUCTS, 7.5%
of the customers.
 1. Which source made you to buy products from Kurlon Mattress Express Store ?

Advertisement Respondents Percentage

FM Radio 4 20
Tele Vision 5 25
News Paper 6 30
Friends/Other 5 25

Respondents

FM Radio
Tele Vision
News Paper
Friends/Other

INTERPRETATION:

Above table shows that 60 %of the customers are buy products by source of newspapers, 25% of
the customers are buy products by source (influenced by) of Friends & others, 12.5%of the
customers are buy products by source of Televisions. 2.5% of the customers are buy products by
source of F.M radio.
 7. How do you feel (SATISFIED) afte r SHOOPING AT Kurlon Mattress Express
Store?

Response Respondents Percentage

Satisfied 12 60
Feel very Satisfied 8 40
Not Satisfied 0 0

Respondents

Satisfied
Feel very Satisfied
Not Satisfied

INTERPRETATION:

Above table shows that the 78.75%of the customers are respond they can feel verysatisfied after
shopping at Kurlon Mattress Express Store. 21.25% of the customers are respond they can feel
satisfied after shopping at Kurlon Mattress Express Store.. None of the customers cant respond
they can feel notsatisfied after shopping at Kurlon Mattress Express Store
CHAPTER-V FINDING, SUGGESTIONS &
CONCLUSION
FINDINGS:

 60% of female feel that the quality of products at Kurlon Mattress Express Store is better
than at other stores.
 20% of age group (35-40) custotresmers are satisfied for shopping at Kurlon Mattress
Express Store.
 45% of housewife who visit Kurlon Mattress Express Store.
 45% of customiziation prefer Kurlon Mattress Express Store for purchasing mattres.
 30% of newspaper were aware of kurlon matters store through advertisement.
 35% of customers purchase more mattres whose income level is 20,000-40,000.
 60% of customers are satisified with kurlon mattress.
LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY:
It is not possible for any market study to make it accurate due to many hurdles in
the collection and computation of data.
Some limitations of the study are listed below : The sampling frame to conduct the
study has been restricted to Kurlon Mattress Express Store.

 Findings of the study are based on the assumption that respondents have
disclosed in

 Respondents show reluctance towards giving correct information.

 The sample was limited to only customers who have made a purchase at Kurlon
Mattress Express Store.

 Time was a major constraint.

 The questionnaire.
 SUGGESTIONS

 To attract more customers, Kurlon Mattress Express Store needs to focus on the 55 and
above age group.
 Advertising through television and F.M radio needs to be improved.
 To attracts more the focus on the self employed group people.
 The company focus on the low price strategy to increase the sales.
 To attract more Fe male customers , company need to do some more BTL activity.
 The company focus on the income level of the customes whose income between the
40,000 and above.
 In the kurlon mattres express stores there is no one customer which is not satisfied.
 CONCLUSION:
The study concludes that majority of the customers prefer shopping at Kurlon Mattress Express
Store, because of product variety, quality, service facility, reasonable prices which make the
customers feel more comfortable in visiting the store again & again. Customers shop more in the
food bazaar and the men’s wear department in Kurlon Mattress Express Store. Customers feel
that Kurlon Mattress Express Store has variety of products available in various departments
Considering the fact that there are a lot middle class families in India, Kurlon Mattress Express
Store has had a huge impact on the middle class section of India, the prices, quality and sales
strategy has helped in getting the middle income groups getting attracted towards Kurlon
Mattress Express Store. Kurlon Mattress Express Store has been known for its great sale and
great offers& discounts. Kurlon Mattress Express Store has had long lines of people waiting to
get into the store for the sale. Therefore, the sales that Kurlon Mattress Express Store has had
increased in a huge way due to offers & discounts, thus this has been one of the main advantages
of Kurlon Mattress Express Store.
QUESTIONNAIRE
Personal details Name:
1. Age:

[ ] under 25 [ ] 25-35 [ ] 35-45 [ ] 45 & above

2. Sex:

[ ] Male [ ] Female.

3. Occupation:

[ ] Student [ ] Self-employed [ ] Professional [ ] Service [

] Housewife.

4. Monthly income:

[ ] Below 10000 [ ] Rs 10000-20000 [ ] Rs 20000-40000 [ ]

Rs40000 & above

5. Which source made you to buy product from Kurlon Mattress Express
Store?

[ ] News paper [ ] F.M radio [ ] News paper [ ]

Friends/others

6. Why do you make purchase of products from Kurlon Mattress Express

Store?
 [ ] Low price [ ] Better Quality [ ] Variety of products [
] Various Brands [ ] others (specify)

7. How do you feel (satisfied) after shopping at Kurlon Mattress Express

Store?

[ ] feel very satisfied [ ] satisfied [ ] not satisfied

BIBILOGRAPHY
BOOKS:
1). PHILIP KOTLER, “The principles of marketing”, Tata Mc Grew-Hill Publishing

. 2). Willian.D.perreault, Jr. “Basic Marketing” E.J.erom.e.mccarthy

. 3).sass A.SIVAKUMAR “Retail Marketing” Excel book’s publication.

4). C.R.KOTHARI, “Research Methodology” New age international publication, 2nd revised edition.

websites
 www.kurlon .com

 google search

 Wiki pedia.com