CERTIFICATE

Certified that the Project Report with the title ‘Retail Shop ability: The
Impact of Store Atmospherics & Store Layout on Consumer Buying
Patterns’, undertaken by Swayam Prajna Pattanaik, was conducted
under my guidance and supervision. He has designed the research,
collected the data, analyse d the results, interpreted the findings and
observations and prepared the report.

Asst Prof. Manas Ranjan Pati

Faculty Guide
 CERTIFICATE

Certified that the Project Report with the title ‘Retail Shop ability: The
Impact of Store Atmospherics & Store Layout on Consumer Buying
Patterns’, undertaken by Swayam Prajna Pattanaik was conducted
under my guidance and supervision. He has designed the research,
collected the data, analysed the results, interpreted the findings and
observations and prepared the report.

Mr. Keshab Kumar Nayak

Corporate Guide
 DECLARATION

I hereby declare that the project report with the title ‘Retail Shop
ability: The Impact of Store Atmospherics & Store Layout on
Consumer Buying Patterns’, being submitted to Gandhi Business
School in partial fulfilment of the requirements for award of the Master
of Business Admiration, is an original piece of research work carried out
by me. It has not been published/awarded elsewhere, nor has it been
submitted in full or part for any other degree or diploma.

Swayam Prajna Pattanaik

Date
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I express my sincere gratitude to my industry guide Mr.Keshab Kumar Nayak Logistics

manager for his able guidance, continuing support and corporation throughout my
project, without which the present work would not have been possible.

I would like to thank the entire team of Future Lifestyle Fashion Ltd. Bhubaneswar,
f o r t h e constant support and help in the successful completion of my project.

Also, I am thankful to my faculty guide. Asst Prof. Manas Ranjan Pati for his
continued guidance and invaluable encouragement. Finally I would like to thank all those
who contribution in whatever way, to the successful completion of the project

 (Student’s Signature) 
Swayam Prajna Pattanaik
CONTENTS
 INTRODUCTION

 COMPANY PROFILE

 LITERATURE REVIEW

 ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS

 SUGGESTIONS AND CONCLUSIONS

 BIBLIOGRAPHY

 ANNEXURE; SAMPLE QUESTIONNAIRE

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION
Impact of store layout on consumer purchase behaviour

Retail industry is a kind of business with high level of competition. The success of retail business
is influenced by its fast response and its ability in understanding consumers’ behaviours. Retail
business must focus to its consumer preferences and factors influence a customer’s purchase
decision. Store atmospheric attributes (including colour, lighting, sales personnel, music and so
on) form the overall context within which shoppers make decisions of store selection and
patronage. Past research on retail environment suggests that such attributes affect the image of
the store. Retailers realize the importance of such attributes and systematically try to avail of an
ambience, including appropriate colours, music and so on that will attract their target customers.
Further, purchase decision-making has become complex due to inseparability of product and
services offered in retail outlets.

Retail store layout planning is a complex task. The fundamental objective is to maximize sales
with customer satisfaction and minimize overall costs. Many factors affect the store layout
planning like the arrival pattern of customers, building design, desired service level,
merchandise-mix, adjacency requirements and many more. Store layout can affect consumer’s
perceptions of a retail environment and thus there is a likelihood of approaching or avoiding the
product or store. Creating superior customer experience seems to be one of the central objectives
in today’s retailing environments. The customer experience encompasses the total experience
including the search, purchase, consumption, and after-sales phases of the experiences. All these
are closely related to the store layout planning and have significant impact on the customer
experience management strategy of a retail firm.
SCOPE OF THE STUDY
The study aims to understand the Impact of store layout on consumer purchase Behaviour in
BHUBANESWAR CENTRAL. The scope is to understand the impact of different factors related
to consumer purchase behaviour in a retail setting. The study is conducted at Bhubaneswar
central covering 155 customers and data was collected using structured questionnaire.

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

1. To measure the impact of different store atmospherics on consumer’s attention, perceived
value and purchase intention
2. To measure the impact of different visual communications used on consumer’s attention,
perceived value and purchase intention.
3. How environmental stimuli influence shopping behavior.
4. To identify the influence made by the Lighting and design layout on consumer’s store
choice decisions.
5. To find out the influence made by Product Display to encourage customer’s buying
decisions
2 CHAPTERS

COMPANY PROFILE
INDUSTRY BACKGROUND
Retail markets and shops have a very ancient history, dating back to antiquity. Retailing involves
the process of selling consumer goods or services to customers through multiple channels of
distribution to earn a profit. Retailers satisfy demand identified through a supply chain. Some of
the earliest retailers were itinerant peddlers.Modern retailers typically make a variety of strategic
level decisions including the type of store, the market to be served, the
optimal product assortment, customer service, supporting services and the store's overall market
positioning. Once the strategic retail plan is in place, retailers devise the retail mix which
includes product, price, place, promotion, personnel and presentation. In the digital age, an
increasing number of retailers are seeking to reach broader markets by selling through multiple
channels, including both bricks and mortar and online retailing. Digital technologies are also
changing the way that consumers pay for goods and services. Retailing support services may also
include the provision of credit, delivery services, advisory services, stylist services and a range
of other supporting services.

RETAILING IN INDIA
The origins for retail business in India can be traced with the emergence of Kirana stores and
mom-and pop stores. These stores used to cater local people. Gradually the government started
supporting the rural retail and many indigenous franchise stores came up with the help of Khadi
and Village Industry commission and now
Indian retail industry has emerged as one of the most dynamic and fast-paced industries due to
the entry of several new players. It accounts for over 10 per cent of the country’s Gross Domestic
Product (GDP) and around 8 per cent of the employment.
Retail industry in India is expected to grow to US$ 1.3 trillion by 2020, registering a Compound
Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 16.7 per cent over 2015-20.
India is the fifth largest preferred retail destination globally. The country is among the highest in
the world in terms of per capita retail store availability. India’s retail sector is experiencing
exponential growth, with retail development taking place not just in major cities and metros, but
also in Tier-II and Tier-III cities. Healthy economic growth, changing demographic profile,
increasing disposable incomes, urbanisation, changing consumer tastes and preferences are the
other factors driving growth in the organised retail market in India.
India’s population is taking to online retail in a big way. The online retail market is expected to
grow from US$ 6 billion to US$ 70 billion during FY15-FY20.
Increasing participation from foreign and private players has given a boost to Indian retail
industry. India’s price competitiveness attracts large retail players to use it as a sourcing base.
Global retailers such as Walmart, GAP, Tesco and JC Penney are increasing their sourcingfrom
India and are moving from third-party buying offices to establishing their own wholly-
owned/wholly-managed sourcing and buying offices.
The retail market is expected to reach a whooping Rs 47 lakh crore by 2016-17, as it expands at
a compounded annual growth rate of 15 per cent, accordingly to the ‘Yes Bank - Assoc ham’
study.
The retail market, (including organised and unorganised retail), was at Rs. 23 lakh crore in 2011-
12. According to the study, organised retail, that comprised just seven per cent of the overall
retail market in 2011-12, is expected to grow at a CAGR of 24 per cent and attain 10.2 per cent
share of the total retail sector by 2016-17.
There are many modern retail format and mall companies in India. Some examples are in the
following table.

Indian Retail
Market Reach in 2011 and Notes
Group

Pantaloon 65 stores and 21 factory outlets in 35

Retail cities, 2 million square feet space

51 stores in 23 cities, 3.2 million

Shoppers Stop
square feet space

Spencer’s 200 stores in 45 cities, 1 million

Retail square feet space

Reliance 708 mart and supermarkets, 20

Retail wholesale stores in 15 cities, 508
 fashion and lifestyle
₹1,206 crore (US$190 million) per
month sales in 2013

74 Easyday stores, plans to add 10

Bharti Retail
million square feet by 2017

Birla More 575 stores nationwide

59 Westside mall stores, 13

Tata Trent
hypermarkets

Lifestyle
15 lifestyle stores, 8 home centers
Retail

193 stores in 3 cities, one of three

largest supermarkets retailer in India
Future Group by sales
₹916 crore (US$140 million) per
month sales in 2013

Type Private
Industry retailing, insurance, logistics, media
Founder Kishore Biyani (CEO)
Headquarters Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
Products Integrated foods and other FMCGs
Services Supermarkets, hypermarkets, discount stores,
insurance, logistics, media
Net income ₹200.6018 billion (US$3.1 billion) as of March
 2013
Number of 35,070
employees
Divisions Future Retail Ltd.(BSE: 523574,NSE: FRL), Future
Lifestyle Fashion Ltd., Future Consumer Enterprise
Ltd., Future University Ltd., Future Supply Chains Ltd.,
Future Brands Ltd., Future Capital Holdings Ltd.

Website www.futuregroup.inwww.futurebazaar.com

Future Group is an Indian private conglomerate, headquartered in Mumbai. The company is

known for having a significant prominence in Indian retail and fashion sectors, with popular
supermarket chains like Big Bazaar and Food Bazaar, lifestyle stores like Brand Factory, Central,
Planet sports etc. and also for having notable presence in integrated foods and FMCG
manufacturing sectors. Future Retail (initially Pantaloons Retail India Ltd (PRIL)) and Future
Lifestyle Fashions, two operating companies of Future Group, are among the top retail
companies listed in BSE with respect to assets, and in NSE with respect to Market
Capitalization.

Kishore Biyani is the managing director of the company and the group chief executive officer of
the future group. Considered a pioneer of modern retail in India, Kishore’s leadership has led
future retail’s emergence as India’s leading retailer operating multiple retail formats that cater to
the entire basket of Indian consumers.

Future Group is a Corporate group and nearly all of its businesses are managed through its
various operating companies based on the target sectors For e.g., retail supermarket/hypermarket
chains Big Bazaar, FBB, Food Bazaar, Food Hall, Hometown etc. are operated through its retail
hand, Future Retail Ltd,while its fashion outlets Brand Factory, Central and Planet Sports etc. are
operated via another of its subsidiaries, Future Lifestyle Fashions. With these many fashion
outlets and supermarket, the group also promotes respectively its fashion brands like Indigo
Nation, Spalding, Lombard, Bare etc., and FMCGs like Tasty Treat, Fresh & Pure, Clean Mate,
 Ektaa, Premium Harvest, Sachetc.It also has operating companies to cater specifically to internal
financial matters and consulting within its group of companies.

Winning the Hearts of Indian Consumers

Future Group was conceived as a force to drive domestic consumption and capture every
addressable need of Indian consumers.

Future Group makes every effort to delight its customers, tailoring store formats to changing
Indian lifestyles and adapting products and services to their desires.
The group is credited with creating some of India’s most popular retail chains. The hypermarket
chain, Big Bazaar is ranked amongst the top 3 service brands in the country by The Nielsen
Company. Other retail chains include, department store chain, central, outlet stores chain, Brand
Factory, sportswear chain, Planet Sports, home improvement and consumer durables chain,
Hometown and Ezone, supermarket chain, Food Bazaar, convenience stores chain, KB’s
Conveniently Yours and a growing rural distribution network through Aadhaar.
As modern retail drives fresh demand and consumption in new categories, our strategy is based
on a deep understanding of Indian consumers, the products they want, and making these products
available in every city, in every store format. Future Group offers innovative offerings at
affordable prices tailored to the needs of every Indian household.

 Pioneers in the India’s retail space, our formats are household names in more than 240
cities across the country
 Our stores cover around 17 million square feet of retail space and attract around 300
million customers each year
 Future Retail Limited focuses on the hypermarket & supermarket business led by
formats like Big Bazaar, Easyday, Food Bazaar, KB’s Conveniently Yours, fbb, Foodhall,
HomeTown&Ezone.
 Future Lifestyle fashion focuses on the fashion businesses with brands & retail formats
like Central, Brand Factory, Planet Sports, I Am in and ALL.
 Future Consumer Enterprise Ltd is group's integrated food company with Food &
FMCG brands & retail formats like &Aadhar. It also has interest in Food Parks.
 Future Enterprises Limited leads the infrastructure and backend services end of the
Group

Central
Type Public company
Industry Retailing
CEO Bishnu Prasad
Founded 2001
Headquarters Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
Products Hypermarket
Revenue ₹ 1400 crores (in 2010)
Number of employees ~ 25000 people
Parent Future Group
Divisions ~ 214
Tag Line Brand. New
BRAND: Central Mall

Owned by: FLF (FUTURE LIFESTYLE FASHIONS)

Design Brief: central is designed as playful public space, where people congregate, in the heart
of the town. The logo is based on a simple game- Rolling Ball maze game- that every human
being knows. The beads are people, heading for the centre of town and playful enjoying
themselves.

Red is the simple public colour. The typography is based on Jigsaw Font. It looks modern and
timeless. The font is stencil zed to make it look fresh and public

Logo release – Circa 2004

FUTURE GROUP

THE ORANGE BIRD IS NOT ORANGE!!

The orange bird is actually “Golden” in colour. The bird is a part of the logo of Future Group
who owns Central.

Central was launched in May 2004 in Bangalore. It is a showcase, seamless mall and the first
of its kind in India. It offers everything for the urban inspirational shopper to shop, eat and
celebrate. Located in the heart of the city, Central believes its customers should not have to travel
long distances to reach us; instead we must be present where customers frequently visit. Central
houses over 300 brands across categories, such as apparel, footwear and accessories for women,
men, children and infants, apart from a whole range of Music, Books, Coffee Shops, Food
Courts, Super Markets (Food Bazaar), Fine Dining Restaurants, Pubs and Discotheques.

It is now in the race of becoming the top brands in the world. It is India's fastest growing
premium lifestyle company. With innovative designs, concepts and products, the company brings
the latest trends in fashion and clothing styles to the apparel market.

It offers to its customers multiple accessories and clothing brands across a spectrum of categories
for men, women and kids. The company provides an incredible and complete one-stop shopping
experience to its buyers through its vast collection of more than 300 prestigious brands for the
discerning fashionista. Therefore, Central displays a range of classy and trendy merchandise that
truly lives up to its maxim of ‘fresh fashion’.

Here, the collection includes ready-to-wear western and ethnic apparel for men, women and kids,
complemented by an exhaustive range of accessories India

Central houses over 1000 fashion brands under one roof, becomes a one stop destination for
every fashonista. So be it the raging Elephant Prints this season by Anita Dongre’s Global Desi
or comfortably stylish corporate wear by Chemistry or The hip colours by I Am In!

The company flagship retail format, Central is a chain of department stores locate in Central
areas of large Indian metropolises and cities. Central stores located in large cities like Mumbai,
Bangalore, Hyderabad, Pune, Ahmedabad and Gurgaon as well as smaller cities like Baroda,
Indore, Vizag and Surat. These are large format stores measuring anywhere between 60000 sq.
feet to 230000 sq. feet and offering over 500 Domestic and International brands across every
category including men’s wear, casual wear, ethnic-wear, women’s wear, kids wear, foot wear,
accessories, home products, health and beauty.These stores, often located in standalone locations
also have food courts, restaurants, supermarkets, and electronic super stores built within. The
company operates around 2.4 million square feet of retail space under this brand.

CENTRAL MALL BHUBANESWAR

Bhubaneswar first central mall opens at Saheed Nagar, near Pantaloons on April 9, with branded
shops; it has a lot of offers residents of Bhubaneswar. Some the big brands like W, Levi’s,
Aurelia, Crocs, Louis Phillip, VOI, UCB, Being Human, UMM, Lee cooper, James sports, Pepe
Jeans, Bare Denim, Allen solly has already set up their shops. There is adequate car parking
inside the mall premises.

There are various types of discounts offers and schemes available for the customers. Hoardings,
pamphlets and radio mirchi are there for promoting the central mall premium products. Central
mall provides premium products to the customers.

It provides more and more information about the products as to make easier for the customer to
deal with the products.

Since people are more brand conscious now a days and to help them out central mall provide
brand products to these people.

People have been come across brands like Allensolly, jack and jones, UCB, Flying machine etc.

Central offers discerning shoppers the latest in fashion and accessories from over 500 brands.
The categories retail in central are apparel, cosmetics, fragrances, eyewear, watches, footwear,
jewellery and more. It provides payback card system to premium customers.

CENTRAL SERVICES:

ATMS

It provides ATM facilities located on the upper level.

TELEPHONES

A public phone is conveniently located on the lower level near the amenities.

FREE WIFI

Central mall offers free Wi-Fi throughout all areas of the centre.

CENTRE MANAGEMENT

Central mall provide high level of customer services. From giving direction to loss property,
central mall staffs are there to make customers shopping easier.

CSD (CUSTOMER SERVICE DEVELOPMENT)

If any customers have any issues related to their products they try to solve their problems.

PRODUCT POSITIONING:
It increases brand value with premium product.

Those customers who are loyal to the brand central mall provides premium product to them.

As Bhubaneswar is going to be a smart city people will definitely get attracted towards the
central mall which will help in the economic growth of the city and Bhubaneswar will become
smarter.

FEATURES OF BHUBANESWAR CENTRAL MALL:

• It is a fashion retail outlet which offers more than 300 brands to its customers.

• Its exclusive brand bouquet includes Morpankh, Navras, All, Hey, Pink & Blue, Rig etc.

• It has a strong leadership team provides strategic direction to Bhubaneswar Central.

• It gives superior value to its customers, shareholders, employees and society at large.
 • Integrity, commitment, passion, seamlessness and pace can be found as the core values in
this organisation.

3C REPORT OF CENTRAL MALL

COMPANY PROFILE:

Central is retail Departmental retail chain operated by Future Retail Limited, the operating
company of Future Group which also runs another popular hypermarket chain, Big Bazaar. It is a
retail industry which is a public company. It was founded in 2001. Headquarter of this company
is in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. In 2010 the revenue was ₹1400 crores. The number of
employees is approximately 27000. There are approximately 217 divisions. The slogan of this
company is specified for youth only.

Future Group is an Indian private conglomerate, headquartered in Mumbai. The company is

known for having a significant prominence in Indian retail and fashion sectors, with popular
supermarket chains like Big and Food Bazaar, lifestyle stores like Brand Factory, Central etc.
and also for having notable presence in integrated foods and FMCG manufacturing sectors.
Future Retail (initially Pantaloons Retail India Ltd (PRIL)) and Future Lifestyle Fashions, two
operating companies of Future Group, are among the top retail companies listed in BSE with
respect to assets, and in NSE with respect to market capitalization.
Businesses

Future Group is a corporate group and nearly all of its businesses are managed through its
various operating companies based on the target sectors. For e.g., retail supermarket/hypermarket
chains Big Bazaar, FBB, Food Bazaar, Food Hall, Hometown etc. are operated through its retail
hand, Future Retail Ltd, while its fashion outlets Brand Factory, Central, Planet Sports etc. With
these many fashion outlets and supermarket, the group also promotes respectively, its fashion
brands like Indigo Nation, Spalding, Lombard, Bare etc., and FMCGs like Tasty Treat, Fresh &
Pure, Clean Mate, Ektaa, Premium Harvest, Sach etc. It also has operating companies to cater
specifically to internal financial matters and consulting within its group of companies.

JP Builders and Developers is one of the experienced enterprises in the field of Construction. It
was established in the year 2010, with the sole mission of creating value and business
opportunity for everyone. With highly experienced personnel at the helm of its affairs, it is one
of the sought after business enterprise in the field of Construction Engineering. Central Mall is
one of the ambitious projects of JP Builders and Developers.

 JP Builders is tie of with the four company they are :

 Utkal height, Utkalvatika, Utkalkanika Galleria, Utkal villa

MISSION OF THE ORGANISATION:

CENTRAL aims to create a globally recognized fashion organization here in India by bringing
alive the Indian idiom of fashion. It strives to:

• Be the most preferred fashion destination of India

• Create the most preferred portfolio of fashion brands

• Be as the most innovative, efficient, and profitable retailer

• Be the preferred employer in the fashion space

• Be the trendsetter in Indian fashion through superior understanding of the culture, style
code, passion and aspirations of Indian consumers.
VISION OF THE ORGANISATION:

To be the leading lifestyle fashion company in India by creating exceptional brands and shopping
experiences that will bring alive the Indian idiom of fashion.

To provide business oriented hubs which create real value for your investments.

To build residential properties at appropriate locations having cool, calm and peaceful
environment.

MANAGEMENT HIERARCHY IN BHUBANESWAR CENTRAL

 STORE MANAGER
 ASST. STORE MANAGER
 DEPARTMENT MANAGER
 ASST. DEPT MANAGER
 FASHION CONSULTANT
 TEAM MEMBER
 TEAM MEMBER TRAINEE

OUTLET

Central is retail departmental retail chain operated by Future Retail Limited the operating
company of Future Group which also runs another popular hypermarket chain, Big Bazaar

Central has outlets in Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Bhubaneswar, Cochin, Hyderabad, Pune, Nashik,
Mangalore, Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, New Delhi, Vadodara, Gurgaon, Indore, Nagpur, Patna,
Jaipur, Surat, and Visakhapatnam. It has a clothes and food chain with 3 Amigos, Slam bay, and
Baskin Robbins among many others and has three main restaurants like Bombay Blues and
Copper Chimney. Bangalore Central is a shopping mall, situated in Bangalore, India. Spread
over 120,000 sq ft. it is situated on Residency road, off M G Road. Another Bangalore Central
mall was started in 9th Block, Jayanagar. Another Bangalore Central mall (Soul Space Spirit)
was started at Bellandur Junction which was opened on 24 March 2011, Bellandur. Mangalore
Central, situated in Forum Fiza Mall is spread over 75,000 sq ft (7,000 m2).
THE CUSTOMERS

Customers of Central are normally categorised as middle class, upper middle class and lower
middle class. Again, we can also segment those on the basis of

Age Age group under 6,6-12,12-20,20-30,30-45,45-55,above 55 yrs

Gender Male, Female

Marital status Married, Unmarried

Income Annual income below 1lakh, 1 lakh-2lakh, 2 lakh-3lakh, Above 3lakh

Social class Top-Uppers, Bottom-Uppers, Top-Middles, Bottom- Middles, Top-

Lowers, Bottom- Lowers
Family life Young, Young unmarried, Young married with children, older married
cycle having children outside
Family size 1-2,3-4,5+
Occupation Manager, Engineer, Doctor, Farmer, Retired, Students

COMPETITOR

 Pantaloons

 Reliance Trends

 Shopper Stop

 Lifestyle

BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
Business environment is quite competitive in India and need continuous innovation to
survive in Industry. SWOT analysis is mentioned in below representation.
 1.Strength: 2.Weakness:

 Wide presence in India covering almost  Depend heavily on India, and is

all major cities and towns. susceptible to foreign players.
 Quality services.  Stiff competition from global players
 High Brand equity in evolving market. means market share growth is
 Variety of products under single limited.
window increasing the chances of  Extremly popular means heavily
customer time and choices. crowded during festive/discount
 Has an employee base of over 35,000. seasons.

3.Opportunities: 4.Threats:

 Evolving customer preference in recent  Global players trying to enter into

year. Indian market.
 Organized retail is minutes in India.  Government policies are not well
 Global expansion and tie-up with defined in country like India.
international brands.
CHAPTER 3

LITERATURE REVIEW
LITERATURE REVIEW
The significant role played by store appearance within food retailing is unquestionable and many
authors have long advocated that a desirable store appearance, facilitated by an effective
positioning strategy, can be considered a core element of the retail mix and can be integral in
influencing store choice. Consumer loyalty will be more likely when the consumer perceives the
appearance of a store to be desirable. A wide belief exists that consumers perceive store
appearance to be desirable when the store image is congruent with their self-image or the image
to which they aspire (Devlin et al., 2003: 653).

Estefani and Bergstein (2006: 169) are also of the same opinion that consumers typically form an
overall impression of a retail store through various information processing mechanisms, such as
advertising, word-of-mouth, or personal experience. The resulting store appearance helps create
consumer expectations that may subsequently influence a consumer's assessment of the
behaviours and actions of the retailer in future transactions. As a result, consumer assessment of
critical retailer characteristics, such as value perceptions, evaluations of employee behaviour, and
satisfaction judgments may be influenced by the appearance associated with the store. Store
appearance provides the consumer with a series of standards by which they can evaluate the
retailer. The determinants of a good store layout are scare because they mainly rely on delivering
of services and the quality of services being provided. However, there are six major dimensions
that should be considered when determining a good store appearance, namely: personal
interaction, policy, physical appearance, premises, problem solving and the convenience of a
store. The findings reveal that the impact of physical appearance and convenience are the most
basic marketing tool for retailers to create competitive advantages and to enhance customers‟
shopping experience. The physical appearance of a store has the greatest impact on the overall
service quality, higher customer retention and higher future consumption, respectively (Siu
andvCheung, 2001: 88).
Memories al. (2005: 399) note that store appearance is acquired through experience and thus
learnt, and found retail store appearance to be the total conceptualised or 12 expected
reinforcement that a person associates with shopping at a particular store. While many different
approaches have been used by researchers to measure the construct of store appearance and
establish how it is placed in consumers' minds, most have focused on parts of the image, rather
than the whole appearance of a store. Such retail image factors are intrinsic to store and product
choice decisions, and, therefore, need to be explored in conjunction with other store layout
factors.

Vrechopoulo set al. (2004: 13) found that store layout is an important factor affecting consumer
behaviour and a critical determinant towards the creation of store image. Well-designed layouts
are extremely important because they strongly influence in-store traffic patterns, shopping
atmosphere, shopping behaviour, and operational efficiency. Most important for customer
satisfaction is the store as a brand. Retailers must be good at retailing. Customers are satisfied
when the store is neat and pleasant and when they feel that the store understands their needs.
Only certain customer segments are interested in store brands. Satisfied customers are loyal.
Several studies demonstrate that store appearance affects consumer product judgments and
responses. Strong store appearance offers recognition, familiarity, confidence, and other
associations that make it easier for consumers to make shopping decisions (Mortenson, 2007:
544).

Memory et al. (2005: 399) note that store appearance is acquired through experience and thus
learnt, and found retail store appearance to be the total conceptualised or 12 expected
reinforcement that a person associates with shopping at a particular store. While many different
approaches have been used by researchers to measure the construct of store appearance and
establish how it is placed in consumers' minds, most have focused on parts of the image, rather
than the whole appearance of a store. Such retail image factors are intrinsic to store and product
choice decisions, and, therefore, need to be explored in conjunction with other store layout
factors.
Vrechopoulo set al. (2004: 13) found that store layout is an important factor affecting consumer
behaviour and a critical determinant towards the creation of store image. Well-designed layouts
are extremely important because they strongly influence in-store traffic patterns, shopping
atmosphere, shopping behaviour, and operational efficiency. Most important for customer
satisfaction is the store as a brand. Retailers must be good at retailing. Customers are satisfied
when the store is neat and pleasant and when they feel that the store understands their needs.
Only certain customer segments are interested in store brands. Satisfied customers are loyal.
Several studies demonstrate that store appearance affects consumer product judgments and
responses. Strong store appearance offers recognition, familiarity, confidence, and other
associations that make it easier for consumers to make shopping decisions (Mortenson, 2007:
544).

The tested framework demonstrates that the basic drivers of store loyalty (an antecedent of store
choice) can be categorised into three broad groups – utilitarian dimensions also termed as “Risk
Reducers”, “Choice Enhancers” and “Shopping Experience Enhancers”. It shows how store
loyalty can be achieved through these three main drivers (Sinha and Banerjee, 2004: 482).

Kerfootet al. (2003: 143) maintain that initial findings in suggest that liking of display does not
totally determine purchase, but does make it four times more likely. Visual stimulation and
communication have also been considered important aspects of retailing by practitioners.
Merchandise display is, therefore, concerned with both how the product and/or brand is visually
communicated to the customer. The themes that linked most strongly to purchase intention are:
merchandise colours, presentation style, awareness of fixtures, path finding, sensory qualities of
materials and lighting. The importance of attaining appropriate merchandise display has meant
that within the retail environment, numerous methods have been used to display merchandise and
communicate product and retailer brand. This diversity in merchandise display methods has also
stemmed from the vast array of goods and services that are sold by retailers.

Levy and Weitz (2007: 530) note that good lighting in a store involves more than simply
illuminating space. Lighting can highlight merchandise, sculpt space, and capture a mood or
feeling that enhances the store‟s image. Having the appropriate lighting has been shown to
positively influence customer shopping behaviour. A good lighting system helps create a sense
of excitement in the store. These authors further note that, like colour and lighting, music can
either add or detract from a retailer’s total atmospheric package. Unlike other atmospheric
elements, however, music can be easily changed. Retailers also can use music to affect consumer
behaviour. Music can control the pace of store traffic, create an image, and attract or direct
consumers‟ attention. In general though, slow music is good. A mix of classical or otherwise
soothing music encourages shoppers to slow down, relax, and take a good look at the
merchandise.Retail shoppers themselves have also acknowledged the importance of music as an
Atmospheric variable. Atmospherics, including music and lighting, have received considerable
attention in the retail/services literature since used in the designing of space in store
environments to create certain effects on buyers. Positively valence (happy) music should lead to
positive moods which should encourage positive Evaluations and behaviours. The music element
does influence consumers‟ retail patronage intentions. Retail managers need to make informed
music and lighting choices involving their store types and target markets. It is important that
retail managers know the music that their target market likes and play happy selections in that
genre or by those liked artists (Broekemieret al., 2008: 59).

Krishnan et al. (2002: 54) comment that the availability of consumers' most preferred
Merchandise in an assortment positively influences consumers‟ perceptions of
Assortment size. This finding points to the impact of a hitherto unexplored retail strategic
dimension and commitment to assortment consistency. What is meant by consistency in
assortment is the tacit promise made by a retailer to carry a given set of brands, sizes, flavours
and colours from one period to the next, so that a consumer, who looks for his/her preferred
brand, will be able to find that brand at that retail store. While it is obvious that the mere
existence of the consumer segment that looks for consistent assortments will drive some retailers
to adopt such commitments to consistent assortments, what is less obvious is that this strategy is
affected (negatively) by supply side factors such as the availability of trade deals. It is important
to note that although consumers may seek particular brands, their final choice of a retailer is also
affected by merchandise display and location of the retailers. Thus, it is not clear how a retailer
would react in a competitive environment even if a sizable segment of the market seeks
consistent merchandise assortment.
Azuma and Fernie (2001: 282) propose that in order to meet the adamant needs of the consumers
and respond to the sudden changes in trends and consumption patterns, retailers need to have the
“leanest” and the most “agile” ways to get the right product in the right place at the right time in
smaller consignment sizes with increasing frequency. Good merchandise display leads to the
delight of customers and remain profitable simultaneously. As a result, retailers with efficient
merchandise displays achieve higher levels of distribution.

Effective merchandising strategies can reap big rewards in today's marketplace.

Effective category management is essential for retailing. It is critical that stores improve their
service by providing customers with the products they want, in a position that is sensible and
simple to find. Taking a more strategic approach to merchandising can reap big rewards by
boosting sales, increasing footfall and ultimately increasing turnover (Clark, 2003: 42).

Levy and Weitz (2007: 512) found that a good merchandise assortment should entice customers
to move around the store to purchase more merchandise than they may have planned originally.
One method is to expose customers to a layout that facilitates a specific traffic pattern. Another
method of helping customers move through the store is to provide variety; the store should be
filled with little nooks and crannies that entice shoppers to wander around. A good layout should
provide a balance between giving customers adequate space in which to shop. The breadth and
depth of the assortment in a merchandise category can affect the retailer’s brand image. In
general, retailers need to display their merchandise effectively in order to satisfy the customer’s
need and 26 maintain their brand image with respect to merchandise category. There is a belief
thatcustomers actually buy more if there are improvements in assortment. Findings reveal that
consumers‟ perceptions of the assortment range stems from the combination of few indicators,
mainly the number of stock-keeping units proposed and the availability of the favourite brands.
Findings further demonstrate that consumers‟evaluation of the overall store assortment draws on
the perceived choice within the product categories where they are highly sensitive to the
assortment range. For convenience stores to reach their prime goal of building an efficient
assortment, retailers need, beside increasing the outlet’s cost-efficiency, to evaluate shoppers‟
assortment perceptions so that what the store actually offers can be tailored to meet customers’
“needs and expectations (Amine and Cadena, 2003: 486).

Boatwright and Nunes (2001: 50) contend that most retailers realize that consumers often prefer
stores that carry large assortments of products for several reasons. For one, the larger the
selection, the more likely consumers are to find a product that matches their exact specifications.
In addition, more products mean more flexibility, which is important if the consumer has
uncertain preferences. Moreover, recent research suggests that consumer choice is affected by
the perception of variety among a selection which depends on more than just the number of
distinct products on the shelves. The consumer's perception of variety can be influenced by the
space devoted to the category, the presence or absence of the consumer's favourite item, the
arrangement of an assortment and the repetition of items, and the number of acceptable
alternatives. Therefore, many observers in industry and academia believe that, if retailers plan
merchandise assortment properly, consumers can make a sizeable contribution to the overall
retail sales.

Floor space shows how store design and in-store communications can make shopping trips easier
and more fun for both parents and children. The core requirements are enough space to move
around the store, ease of access from outside the store and clear navigation and displays. Stores
can also improve the communication of their values by memorable window displays, strong
departments using better point of sale (POS), personal touches to encourage customer loyalty,
graphics, highlighting prices and age ranges in busy areas (Cowles, 2002: 41).

Micron et al. (2008: 456) further substantiate that the environmental psychology theory suggests
that floor space should influence shoppers' mood and behavioural intentions. The theory rests on
suggestions that a well-designed floor space is a desire to sat longer, explore the premises, and
affiliate with other shoppers and/or sales associates. Shopping value involves an interaction
between a consumer and a product or service that pertains not only to the object itself, but also to
the consumption experience. It involves the intrinsic and extrinsic values of the object. Shopping
goes way beyond functional utility and task orientation, and provides other experiential benefits
and gratifications. Well-designed floor space was found to have a positive impact on perceived
shopping value, which, in turn, positively influences a consumer's consistent repeat purchase
behaviour.

Consumers' substantial desire for shopping pleasure expresses their pursuit of socialand
experiential value provided by retail environments and store employees. In particular, the
motivational pattern referring to shopping pleasure centres around the desired fun to shop,
feeling comfortable inside stores, and human contact. Consumers anticipate that space inside a
store leads to experience of shopping pleasure, as shown in Figure 2.7 (Wagner, 2007: 569).

Mehrabian and Russell’s (1974) S-O-R model

Retail store layout planning is a complex task. The fundamental objective is to maximize sales with
customer satisfaction and minimize overall costs. Many factors affect the store layout planning like the
arrival pattern of customers, building design, desired service level, merchandise-mix, adjacency
requirements and many more. Store layout can affect consumer’s perceptions of a retail environment
and thus there is a likelihood of approaching or avoiding the product or store. Creating superior
customer experience seems to be one of the central objectives in today’s retailing environments. The
customer experience encompasses the total experience including the search, purchase, consumption,
and after-sales phases of the experiences. All these are closely related to the store layout planning and
have significant
impact on the
customer experience

management strategy of a retail firm.

Theoretical Framework

Fig 2: Velitchka D. Kaltcheva is an assistant professor, Marketing Department, College of Business

Administration, University of Miami these two variables (Russell 1978; Russell and Pratt 1980).
Recognizing the significant impact of store environment on consumer behavior, retailers devote
considerable resources to store design and merchandise presentation activities. This study explores the
effect of merchandise display modes and colored display shelf atmosphere on consumer’s purchase
behavior in retail store. The consumer’s purchase decision-making processes focus on the level of
attention, perceived value and the intention of purchase. Although considerable research has examined
the impact of various store environment elements on shopping behavior, the existing research does not
provide an explanation for the differential effectiveness of atmospherics in store or managerially
relevant guidelines for selecting the appropriate atmospherics & layout for a specific store environment.
The objective of this article is to present and provide empirical support for a theoretical framework that
outlines the impact of arousal-inducing features in a store environment on 3.1 Retail Shoppability and
Customer perception

Raymond R. Burke and Alex Leykin ( 2007) well explained the retail shoppability as the ability of the
retail environment to translate consumer demand into purchase with the various determinants for it as
store layout , navigation, product profilation and presentation, defining the shopping attitude i.e
intentions for store entry and purchase but retailers (often mistakenly) believe stocking more products
means selling more products. This has led to an explosion in the number of products available in many
retail channels. Clarifying aforesaid Wysocki (1979) ; Stevens (1980) stated retailer have claimed that
they have influenced customer’s buying behavior by manipulating store atmospheric via layout, color,
lighting and music. Store Environment : Postrel (2003 ) mentioned that shopping malls are pursuing
aesthetic to attract consumer who seek an entertaining experience. Store environments is viewed as
fantasy environment providing a range of entertainment: musical , visual and theatrical for today’s
consumer. Donovan, Rossiter, Marcoolyn and Nesdale (1994) found that pleasant environments
encouraged consumer to stay longer in the selling environment and to make unplanned purchase. Store
atmospheric attributes such as color, lighting, interior decoration or music form the overall context
within which shoppers make store selection and patronage decisions, and are likely to have a significant
impact on store image. Selection of a specifi c retail outlet involves a comparison of the available
alternative outlets on the evaluative criteria of a consumer. Literature suggests a range of such criteria,
which makes it a challenging task from the retailers ’ point of view and makes store choice a matter of
concern to retailers. According to Lindquist (1974) , store image consists of a combination of tangible (or
functional) and intangible (or psychological) factors that consumers perceive to be found in retail stores.
Consumers use store image as an evaluative criterion in the decision-making process of selecting a retail
outlet ( Varley, 2005 ). Store attributes refer to the underlying components of a store image dimension
(like merchandise, physical facilities, services, atmospherics and so on). Research on store image has
yielded a large number of attributes (Martineau, 1958; James et al , 1976 ; Peter and Olson, 1990 ). Store
image has been found to be linked to store loyalty and patronage decisions ( Assael, 1992 ; Wong and
Yu, 2003 ). Store Atmospheric as an important part of the overall merchandising strategy (Kotler 1973;
Markin, et ale 1976).Kotler defines atmospheric as “the effort to design buying environment to produce
specific emotional effect in the buyer that enhance his purchase probability” Kotler ( 1973) suggest using
atmospheric as a competitive tool in an attract and maintain a specific target market especially where
product and price differences are nominal. n the environment.
4. METHODS AND PROCEDURES

4.1 Research hypotheses

From the foregoing discussions on literature review, inference and research structure, this study intends
to explore the relationship among every variable in practical context, so as to acknowledge the
relationship among shopping environment of retail store, customers cognitive valuation, customer
emotional response and customer behavioral response.

4.2 Questionnaire design and sampling survey

In the questionnaire design, all parts except basic personal data applied Likert’s five-point scale, with a
closed form of structured questionnaire. The contents included five parts: The first part was
demographic data, including customer’s gender, age, educational level, job category, monthly visits to
hypermarkets and monthly income etc.; the second part was the store atmosphere measurement of
chain store hypermarket.
5. EMPIRICAL ANALYSES

5.1 Demographic analysis

A total 200 retail customers were surveyed taking twenty-five samples from each store format of
randomly selected 08 retail stores. Only 185 customers were responded and returned the survey
instrument. This is a ninety two percent response rate. Out of this, only 162 were usable, as rests were
rendered unusable because of incomplete data. All respondents were adult male and female food &
grocery retail customers consisted of 92 female (56.7 percent) and 70 male (43.3 percent) with an
average age of 32 years (range 20-62), modal age group 30-40 years and median age was 35 years. The
majority of the respondents (85.0 percent) were married and remaining 15.0 percent were un-married.
The major chunk of the respondents (58.5 percent) had graduation as their educational qualification and
least 18.9 percent had SSC as their minimum qualification and the remaining 22.6 percent had PG as
their academic qualification. The aggregated mean monthly household income was Rs. 18,000 with 50.2
percent respondents had paid employment as their occupation. The average family size of the
respondents was 5.2. A major chunk (94 percent) of the respondents lived within 4 km from different
retail store formats and about 64 percent had travelled up to 3 km for shopping food and grocery
products. The majority of the respondents (53.8 percent) had owned two wheeler vehicles and 18.7
percent had owned four wheeler vehicles. The majority of the respondents (72.0 percent) had used their
own vehicle (two wheeler/four wheeler) for shopping food and grocery products. The results of
respondent's demographic, socio-economic and geographic variables were summarized in Table 1.
5.2 Respondents shopping behaviour

Most of the respondents (61.53 percent) revealed that they had always shopped food and grocery
products from various retail formats for their household consumption. 26.93 percent revealed that they
had frequently shopped and the rest of 11.54 percent occasionally shopped food and grocery products
from different retail formats. The findings implied that respondents have preferred retail stores for
shopping food and grocery products. The respondents shopping behaviour for food and grocery
products were presented in the Table 2.

6. RESULT AND
ANALYSIS

6.1 FACTOR ANALYSIS

This study made use of the sampling adequacy of Kaiser-Meyer- Olkin (KMO) and Bartlett's test of
sphericity to measure and examine whether constructs of this study were fit for factor analysis. If KMO
sampling adequacy value is bigger than 0.7 and the p-value of Bartlett test of sphericity is close to 0,
factor analysis can be performed.

6.2 RELIBILITY ANALYSIS:

There were totally twenty-five questions in the questionnaire and seven factor dimensions were
extracted after factor analysis. The attribute values of every factor dimension were all bigger than 1,
with a cumulative total variance explained ratio of 62.763%. 6.3 VALIDITY ANALYSIS In terms of validity
analysis, it is usually explored in two aspects: Content validity and construct validity. In content validity,
the scale of this study was formulated by archiving literature contents and research results of many
experts and scholars. Therefore, the scale could cover the requirements of the research theme
adequately, that is, to have corresponding adequacy to the representativeness of scale content or to the
process of the content formation. In construct validity, this study adopted Kerlinger’s (1986)
measurement on construct validity, by examining the coefficient value of item to total. So long as the
coefficient value is above 0.5, composite reliability (0.9 to 0.95) > 0.7, extraction variance (0.74 to 0.82) >
0.5, it can be a high validity. Therefore after factor analyses, this study showed that all items had high
construct validity in general.
6.4 KMO AND BARTLETT’S TEST

Table 3 : KMO and Bartlett’s Test

To test the sampling adequacy, Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin measure of sampling adequacy is computed, which
is found to be 0.648. It is indicated that the sample is good enough for sampling

The overall significance of correlation matrix is tested with Bartlett test of sphericity for choice of mobile
phone (approx. chi square = 812.530 significant at 0.000) as well as support for the validity of the factor
analysis of the data set.

Hence all these standards indicate that the data is suitable for factor analysis. For extracting factors we
have employed principal components analysis and latent root criterion. Rotation methods, orthogonal
rotation with Varimax were also applied. As per the latent root criterion, only the factors having latent
roots or Eigen values greater than 1 are considered significant; and all the factors with latent roots less
than 1 are considered insignificant & disregarded.

6.5 Factor Affecting retail shoppability

There are only seven factors each having Eigen values exceeding one for Consumer Buying pattern. The
index for the present solution accounts for 62.763% of the total variations for the customer satisfaction.
It is pretty good extraction because we are able to economize the number of choice factors. (i.e. from 25
statements to 7 underlying factor). The percentage of variation explained by factor one is 16.915% &
that of 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 are 10.188%, 9.706%, 7.782%, 7.342%, 5.842%, 4.987% respectively.
Table 4: Total Variance Explained
This table has extracted from spss output. 7 dominant factors has extracted from 25 attributes.
Equipment & Fixture, Public Areas, Physical Facilities, Shopping Assisting Material, Ambient Factors,
Window Display and Impulse Counters named as “STORE ATMOSPHERICS”. Factor 2 includes Planned
Planogram, Aisle, Convenient Cash Counters and this renamed as “STORE LAYOUT/STORE DESIGN”.
Factor 3 includes Employee Knowledge, Prompt Service, Individual Attention, Courteous on Telephone,
Interactive Suggestive Selling and this renamed as “CUSTOMER SERVICE”. Factor 4 includes POS & POP,
Digital Signage, Category Navigation and this renamed as “VISUAL COMMUNICATION”. Factor 5 includes
Discounts, Price Point, Brand and this renamed as.
7. FINDINGS

7.1 Factor Discussion

1. STORE ATMOSPHERICS: This factor has emerged as a most important determinant of research with a
total variance of 16.915. Major element of this factor includes window display (.711), equipment &
fixture (.673) etc.

2. STORE LAYOUT/STORE DESIGN: This factor has emerged as the second most important determinant
of research with a total variance of 10.188. Major element of this factor includes planned planogram
(.862).

3. CUSTOMER SERVICE: This factor emerged as the important determinants of research with a variance
of 9.706. Major elements consisting this factor include employee knowledge about the product (.678),
prompt service (.772) and individual attention (.587). This study shows that prompt service & employee
knowledge affects the customer’s buying pattern.

4. VISUAL COMMUNICATION: This factor has emerged as the effective determinants of research with a
variance of 7.782. The elements consisting this factor include point of sale & point of purchase (.734)
and category navigation (.618). This study reveals that proper signages on respective gondola and on
merchandise category help customers as silent sales assistants.

5. PROMOTIONS/ VALUE FOR MONEY: This factor has emerged as a relevant factor of research with a
total variance of 7.342. Major elements of this factor includes brand (.781), price point (.646).

6. PROBLEM SOLVING/ POLICY: This factor has also emerged as the effective factor of research with a
total variance of 5.842. The elements consist in this factor such as returns & exchange(.843) and
grievance handling (.846).

7. RELIABILITY: This factor has also emerged as an important finding of research with a total variance of
4.987. Element of this factor is to provide service at the time promises (.703). It affects the purchase
decision.

7.2 RETAILER PRESPECTIVE:

Analyzing the retailer’s perspective on consumer buying behavior targeting various attributes of Retail
Shoppability .Retailers opinion showed a blend ,giving equal weightage to Attributes as Ambience (19%)
and Designing out the store , second attributes were positions as Merchandising (as product portfolio
with 18%) and Visual Display (18%).

 Walking pattern considers as the movement of shoppers in the store termed as Circulation and
Frequency of change of design pattern holds lower importance (13% )
 Considerable attention is paid by retailer on the store Atmospheric components targeting
eight component but highlighting major attributes as Lighting, Item Presentation, and
Fixture.
 Least focus was shown towards aroma and sound or music attributes.
8. CONCLUSION

The findings from the study indicate:

(1) All store atmospheric factors, have significant impact on customer approach behaviors. Ordering
from high to low according to the extent of impact, the factors are design factors, intangible factors,
image of service personnel, visual stimulus and image of other customers. This reveals that the design
factor of a store is the biggest environment factor that impacts customer approach behaviors; its power
of influence and interpretation are significantly higher than other

factors.

(2) Customers pay special attention to the designing in a store, including whether the layout and overall
structure is reasonable, how is the interior decoration, whether the signs and marks are clear, whether
the display of commodities in corridor space, commodity information and classification is complete and
convenient.

(3) Intangible factors and image of service personnel, that is, music, noise, room temperature, clothing
and attitude of service personnel etc. are also considered by customers as critical factors that will
influence their behaviors. All the aforementioned factors have significantly positive correlation with
customer approach behaviors, indicating that customer behaviors in hypermarkets are mainly affected
by the environment factors that have biggest relevance with commodity. Finally, this study proposes
specific suggestions and measures of how to create a pleasant store atmosphere and convenient store
layout in retail store to promote retail shoppability according to results of empirical analyses.

9 MANAGERIAL IMPLICATION

According to analytical conclusions, this study proposes the following suggestions that can be taken as
references when enterprises in the industry make market strategies. This research has actually set out
to validate the Retail Shoppability in the Indian retail stores, predominantly in the context of
hypermarket stores. The findings obtained from the confirmatory factor analysis and reliability tests
indicated that all the seven dimensions of store atmospherics, store layout & design, customer service,
visual communication, promotion or value for money, problem solving & policy and reliability are highly
suited for measuring retail shoppability. Retail store atmospherics & design is also highly associated with
future consumption behaviour in terms of the customers’ intention to visit, purchase and recommend
the store to family and friends. All the underlying dimensions of retail shoppability play a role in
stimulating repeated store patronage and the spread of good word-of-mouth. Being proven valid and
reliable, the Retail Shoppability Scale presents many uses to both practitioners and academicians
intending to examine retail shoppability seriously at a deeper level. The instrument is useful in collecting
data that can be used for benchmarking current levels of retail atmospherics & layout as well as in
carrying out periodic inspections to measure service performance and improvement. Using the
instrument to analyse data at different levels (i.e. overall level and dimension level) allows the retailer to
detect problematic areas of store ambient factors within the stores that are in need of attention. With
this, the retailer is able to focus its resources on improving the particularly weak aspects of its layout &
decor. Store atmospherics & layout should go with the brand image. Another crucial success factor for
retailers is maintaining low employee turnover. Despite being goods retailers in their very essence,
retailers still need to offer services that facilitate their sale of merchandise. This is achieved through
their sales personnel who are responsible in assisting the customers in their shopping. Care should be
taken to ensure that there are always adequate salespeople around in the store who have been
thoroughly trained and are professional enough in their dealings with customers. Satisfying customer
needs through excellent service quality provided by customer-oriented salespeople will increase the
likelihood of customers returning to shop and eventually recommending the stores to others, thus
allowing the retailer to compete effectively in the marketplace.

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