AREA COVERED FOR STUDY

The study was conducted with 100 retailers in Chennai and covered 5 places
mentioned below.

Table 4.1

Areas covered

S.No Area No of Shops

1 Nungambakkam 33

2 T-nagar 24

3 Vadapalani 22

4 Velacherry 9

5 Royapetta 12

Total 100

Source: generated from questionnaire

15
The retailers are segmented according the monthly activation rate. The
activation range of each retailer is found:

Table 4.2
Percentage of retailers in different activation range

Retailers activation range No of retailers

Below 50 38%

Between 50-100 45%

Above 100 17%

Source: generated from questionnaire

Source: generated from table

Fig: 4.1

Percentage of retailers in different activation range

16
The inferences are:

 38% of retailers falls under segment1”monthly activation below50”

 45% of retailers falls under segment 2”monthly activation between 50-
100”.
 17% of retailers falls under segment 3”monthly activation above 100

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 SALES RATING ON PREPAID SERVICE PROVIDERS

Retailers have ranked the 8 service providers with respect to the sales volume
in their shop. The following inference has been obtained.

Table 4.3
Sales rating on prepaid service providers

Column1 rank 1 rank2 rank3 rank4 rank5 rank6 rank 7 rank8

Airtel 75 21 4 - - - - -
Vodafone 5 41 38 16 - - - -
Aircel 20 35 33 8 3 1 - -
Docomo - 3 18 39 21 17 2 -
Bsnl - - 7 8 18 25 29 13
Reliance - - - 29 38 18 15 -
Idea - - - 2 14 37 37 14
Tata
Indicom - - - - 4 - 14 73
Source: generated from questionnaire

18
 Source: generated from table

Fig:4.2
Sales rating on prepaid mobile service providers

From the above graph it can be analysed that

 Airtel is the most sold new prepaid connection.

 Aircel is ranked between 1st and 6th rank.

 Reliance is ranked between4th and 7th rank.

 Docomo is ranked between 2nd and 7th rank.

 Bsnl is ranked between 3rd and 8th rank.

 Idea is ranked between 4th and 8th rank.

 Tata indicom is ranked between 5th and 8th rank.

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RATING GSM SERVICE PROVIDERS ON VARIOUS FACTORS

The retailers have rated the service providers on following factors (8 point
scale):

NETWORK:

The retailers have ranked all service providers based on the quality of network
experienced by the retailer and their valuable customers.

Table 4.4
Rating GSM service providers in quality of network

Service providers Rating on quality of

network
Airtel 8
Aircel 7
Vodafone 6
Docomo 5
Reliance 3.33

Bsnl 3
Idea 2.9
Tata indicom 1
Source: generated from questionnaire

20
 Source: generated from table

Fig:4.3

Rating service providers on quaity of network

From the above graph it can be analysed that

 Airtel is given highest rating in network.

 Reliance is in 5th position compared to other prepaid service

providers. The rating of reliance is 3.33 which are not satisfactory.
Retailers’ feels that reliance is poor in network and this is one of
the reasons that its sales are affected negatively.

21
OFFERS:

The retailers have ranked the service providers on basis of offers provided by
them to customers:

Table 4.5
Rating GSM service providers on offers
Service providers Rating on offers
Airtel 7.01
Aircel 6.76
Vodafone 5.73
Docomo 5..54
Reliance 4.03

Idea 3.44
BSNL 2.35
Tata indicom 1.4
Source: generated from questionnaire

Source: generated from table

Fig:4.4

Rating service providers on offers

22
From the above graph it can be analysed that

 Airtel is rated highest in providing customer offers.

 Reliance is in 4th position in comparison with other service providers.

The offer given by reliance communication is satisfactory. But to
increase the customer base the company can give more attractive offers.

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RECHARGE AVAILABILITY

Recharge availability means the availability of paper recharge and easy

recharge for a retailer so as to cater the consumer needs.it defines the efficiency
of the distributors. The retailers have ranked each service providers on this
factor.

Table 4.6
Rating GSM service providers on offers

Service providers Rating on recharge

availability
Airtel 7.8
Aircel 6.7
Docomo 6.02
Idea 5.9
Bsnl 5.05

Vodafone 3.8
Reliance 3.7
Tata indicom 1.2
Source: generated from questionnaire

24
 Source: generated from table

Fig:4.5
Rating service providers on recharge availability

From the above graph it can be analysed Airtel’s distribution network is

maintained well and shows highest rating in recharge availability.

Reliance is rated low because the refilling of paper recharges are not done
periodically and thus it is not available in all places. This will affect the
company’s sales of new prepaid connection because the existing customers are
not satisfied with the service and the retailer distributor relationship is also
inversely affected.

25
INTERNET SERVICES:

Consumers are expecting more from the service providers. Their need of
having internet facility in their handset is very much considered by service
providers. Retailers are asked to rank the service providers in the quality of
internet.

Table 4.7
Rating GSM service providers on internet services
Service providers Rating on recharge
availability
Airtel 7.81
Aircel 6.74
Vodafone 5.7
Docomo 5.1
Reliance 3.8

Idea 3.5
Bsnl 2.8
Tata indicom 1.7
Source: generated from questionnaire

26
 Source: generated from table

Fig:4.6
Rating service providers on internet services

From the above graph it can be analysed that

 Airtel is rated highest in providing offers.

 Reliance is rated 3.8 which is average compared to others.

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BEST RECHARGE SERVICES:

It includes

 Periodic refilling of paper recharges.

 On-counter account clearance.
 Avoiding the chances of stock outs in easy recharges and new prepaid
connections.
The retailers were asked to specify the most preferred service providers
which have the best recharge service offering by the distributor.

Table 4.8
Best service providers on recharge service offered by distributors

Service providers No of retailers preferring the provider in

recharge service
Airtel 57
Aircel 21
Vodafone 15
Docomo 8
Source: generated from questionnaire

28
 Source: generated from table

Fig:4.7
Best service providers on recharge service offered by distributors

INFERENCE
 57 retailers say that Airtel is offering best recharge services.
 21 retailers say that Aircel is offering best recharge services.
 15 retailers say that Vodafone is offering best recharge services.
 8 retailers say that Docomo is offering best recharge services.
 None of them suggested Reliance.

29
MERCHANDISING MATERIAL;

Advertisements has a direct impact on sales of the product.so merchandising

material should be displayed in shops to gain customer attraction. The retailers
have ranked the service providers in terms of availability or the distribution of
merchandising materials in their store.

Table 4.9
Best service providers on merchandising materials

Service providers No of retailers preferring the provider in

merchandising materials
Docomo 50
Vodafone 28
Airtel 12
Aircel 10

Source: generated from questionnaire

Source: generated from table

Fig:4.8

Best service providers on merchandising material

30
It is found that

 50% of retailers say DoCoMo is providing most of merchandising

materials.
 28% of retailers say Vodafone is providing most of merchandising
materials.
 12% of retailers say Airtel is providing most of merchandising
materials.
 10% of retailers say Aircel is providing most of merchandising
materials.

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PREFERENCES OF ALTERNATE PREPAID CONNECTION

Customers currently are using two connections (one as alternate connection).so

it can be found that to which connection they are shifting to. The retailer with
his knowledge on his loyal customer’s alternate connection answered the
question.

Table 4.10
Preferences of alternate prepaid connection by customers

Service providers Customers proffering the service providers

according to retailer in alternate prepaid
service
Docomo 50
Vodafone 28
Airtel 12
Aircel 10

Source: generated from table

Fig:4.9
Preferences of alternate prepaid connection by customers

32
From above figure it can be analysed that

 43% retailers say current trend in using alternate

connection is favoring DoCoMo
 37% retailers say current trend in using alternate
connection is favoring Vodafone
 1% retailers say current trend in using alternate
connection is favoring Reliance and Airtel.

33
RATING ON FACTORS AFFECTING CONSUMER PURCHASE
DECISION

Source: generated from questionnaire

Fig:4.10

From the above graph it can be analysed that consumer purchase decision is
mainly due to the network offered by servicer providers and the offers
Provided to the customers.

34
Customers purchase decision is backed by many factors in retailers’ perception.
To understand which factors are more important ranking was conducted with
factors like network availability, tariff plans, offers and internet services. The
central tendency was analysed to get a generalised view of ranking done that
led to purchase decision on retailer’s perspective. Mode and median is taken as
the measure of central tendency. The results of that analysis are tabulated
below:

FACTORS Median Mode

Network 1 1

Offers 1 1

Availability 2 2

Internet services 3 3

Tariff plans 1 1

From the above analysis the ranking of various factors can be summarized:

Factors Rank

Network 1

Offers 1

Availability 2

Internet services 3

Tariff plans 1

35
Network and offers are ranked as the important factors that influence customer
decision on getting new prepaid connection .so it’s important for service
providers to manage all network problem and avoid traffics in network and
attractive offers should also be provided.

36
 Source: generated from questionnaire

Fig:4.11
Reliance expectation from prepaid mobile service

 21%Retailers expect more value added services

 20% retailers expect free call facility from the
company.
 Retailers are not much concerned of the profit.

37
RATING ON INCENTIVE EARNED BY THE RETAILERS FROM
SERVICE PROVIDERS

Source: generated from questionnaire

Fig:4.12

Incentives earned by retailers from prepaid mobile service providers

Airtel is providing the retailers with highest incentive.it can be analysed that

Sales and the Incentive provided are showing a correlation. Hence if retailer’s

Margin is increased they sales will increase.

38
OVERALL PERFORMANCE OF RELIANCE

The retailers’ are asked to rate the overall performance of reliance.

Source: generated from questionnaire

Fig:4.10
Overall performance of reliance

It is found that 48% of retailers feel reliance is poor in its performance

and 41% of retailers feel the performance of reliance is satisfactory.

39