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Understanding Shopper Behavior and Evaluation of Customer Experience at

Selected Stores of Reliance Retail

Article  in  International Journal of Research · August 2018

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International Journal of Research ISSN NO : 2236-6124

Understanding Shopper Behavior and Evaluation of

Customer Experience at Selected Stores of Reliance Retail
Ankita Jangde, Bhuvanesh Kumar Sharma
*Student, PGDM, Balaji Institute of Modern Management, Pune
**Assistant Professor, Balaji Institute of Modern Management, Pune
. E-mail: sharma.bhuvanesh86@gmail.com

Abstract
The purpose of this research paper is to understand shopper behavior and evaluate customer
experience with reference to Reliance Retail. This research also helps to determine factors that
influence customers’ perception towards Reliance Retail. It also tests association between
customers’ first visit and their overall shopping experience, also to know the overall satisfaction
of the customers with the store. The research is descriptive in nature. The primary data has been
collected through a structured self-designed questionnaire and filled by the customers. Total 62
customers have been selected as a sample using non probability convenience sampling. The data
analysis has been done using regression analysis and chi square test with the help of SPSS and
advanced excel. The study found that satisfaction is derived majorly from product quality. The
study also investigated that there is a significant association between customers’ first visit and
their overall shopping experience.

Keywords: Shopper behavior, Customer experience, Regression, Chi-square

CONTEXTUAL BACKGROUND
Introduction:
The Indian retail industry has developed as a standout amongst the most powerful and quick
paced businesses because of the passage of a few new players. It represents more than 10 for
each penny of the nation's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and around 8 for each penny of the
business. India is the world's fifth-biggest worldwide goal in the retail space. "Ideal
socioeconomics, expanding urbanization, nuclearisation of families, rising riches in the midst of
buyers, developing inclination for marked items and higher desires are different elements which
will drive retail utilization in India," said DS Rawat, Assocham Secretary General.

Retail classification:
Retail industry can be broadly classified into two categories namely- organized and unorganized
retail.
1. Organized retail - Organized traders/retailers, who are licensed for trading activities and
registered to pay taxes to the government.
2. Unorganized retail – It consists of unauthorized small shops - conventional Kirana shops,
general stores, corner shops among various other small retail outlets - but remain as the radiating
force of Indian retail industry.

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Market Size:
India’s retail market is expected to grow to US$ 1.1 trillion by 2020 from US$ 672 billion in
2017, driven by income growth, urbanization and attitudinal shifts. While the overall retail
market is expected to grow at 12 per cent per annum, modern trade would expand twice as fast at
20 per cent per annum and traditional trade at 10 per cent. India’s Business to Business (B2B) e-
commerce market is expected to reach US$ 700 billion by 2020.Online retail is expected to be at
par with the physical stores in the next five years. India is expected to become the world’s fastest
growing e-commerce market, driven by robust investment in the sector and rapid increase in the
number of internet users. Various agencies have high expectations about growth of Indian e-
commerce markets. Indian e-commerce sales are expected to reach US$ 120 billion! by 2020
from US$ 30 billion in FY2016.Further, India's e-commerce market is expected to reach US$
220 billion in terms of gross merchandise value (GMV) and 530 million shoppers by 2025, led
by faster speeds on reliable telecom networks, faster adoption of online services and better
variety as well as convenience. India’s direct selling industry is expected to reach a size of Rs
23,654 crore (US$ 3.54 billion) by FY2019-20, as per a joint report by India Direct Selling
Association (IDSA) and PHD. Indian exports of locally made retail and lifestyle products grew
at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10 per cent from 2013 to 2016. The size of
modern retail in India is expected to double to Rs 171,800 crore (US$ 25.7 billion) from Rs
87,100 crore (US$ 13 billion) in three years driven by omni-channel retail. The size of modern
retail in India is expected to double to Rs 171,800 crore (US$ 25.12 billion) from Rs 87,100
crore (US$ 13 billion) in three years driven by omni-channel retail.

Investment Scenario:
The Indian retail trading has received Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) equity inflows totaling
US$ 1.14 billion during April 2000–December 2017, according to the Department of Industrial
Policies and Promotion (DIPP). With the rising need for consumer goods in different sectors
including consumer electronics and home appliances, many companies have invested in the
Indian retail space in the past few months.

•Reliance Retail is entering wholesaling of fashion and lifestyle products through both offline
and online channels.
•With 2017 being a successful year for herbal-ayurvedic brands, new Indian organic labels in
hair care, cosmetics, food and apparel are belting up to carve an organic niche in the growing
herbal segment.
•India’s retail sector attracted Rs 9.5 billion (US$ 147.40 million) investments in FY18, at a
growth rate of 35 per cent year-on-year from Rs 7 billion (US$ 104.34 million) in FY17.

Government Initiatives:
The Government of India has taken various initiatives to improve the retail industry in India.
Some of them are listed below:

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•Government of India has allowed 100 per cent Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in online retail
of goods and services through the automatic route, thereby providing clarity on the existing
businesses of e-commerce companies operating in India.

Market Scenario
While organized retail, primarily brick & mortar, has been in India for more than two decades
now, its contribution to total retail is still low at 9% (US$60 billion) as of 2017, a modest
increase from around 7% in 2012.

Category-wise penetration in organized retail:

Footwear has the highest share in terms of penetration achieved by organized retail at 40%,
followed by Jewellery with a penetration of 27%. CDIT reflects a penetration of 25%. Apparel &
accessories reflects a penetration of 22%. Food and grocery is the least penetrated category with
organized share of 3%.
F&G and general merchandise category, currently at 3% penetration, is projected to drive the
growth of the share of organized retail within the total retail market over the next few years.
Modern convenience stores comprise nearly half of the organized B&M market with
hypermarkets taking 9% and supermarkets the rest of the 44% in terms of store count. With
growing consumption in Tier I & Tier II cities and easy availability of retail space in these cities,
the growth of organized formats will be focused around these clusters. The availability of retail
area, growing consumption and format rationalization will be instrumental in the growth of
hypermarkets and supermarkets. It is projected that the share of these formats will rise from 47%
in 2016 to 51% by 2020.

Market studied
The market of Raipur, Chhattisgarh is fast evolving with the growth dynamics. It has following
number of stores of Reliance Retail:

Reliance Digital: Digital format has four departments namely Productivity, Entertainment,
Home appliance and Enhancement. Out of all these, Productivity(laptops, wireless phones)
generates 75% of store’s revenue. Reliance offers product along with resQ. resQ is the service
arm of Reliance Digital / Digital Xpress and Digital Xpress mini stores, which caters to
customers for after sales service. resQ is India's first Multi product, Multi brand, Multi-location
service facility which offers service 365 days a year. Currently, there are 2 stores in Raipur.

Reliance Trends: Trends has three departments namely men’s wear, Women’s wear and kids
wear. On weekdays, it averages footfalls of 600-700 with conversion rate of 24-25%. On the
contrary, on weekends, although the footfalls are as high as 1000-2000 but the conversion rate is
only around 19%. There are various customer touch points such as entry, trial rooms, cash
counters, Customer Service Desk(CSD). `The store is currently of Regular format and soon it is
going to be upgraded to Fitch format. The store’s performance is measured through various Key

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Performance Indicators (KPI) namely sales, conversion, Average Ticket Size(ATS), Item Per
Cash Memo(IPCM) etc.

Reliance Footprints: Footprints has three departments namely men’s wear, Women’s wear and
kids wear. Apart from this, it also has bags, belts, handbags etc. It has average footfalls of 200 on
weekdays as compared to 500-600 footfalls on weekends. Footfalls are affected majorly due to
the presence of competitors like Mochi, Skechers. The conversion rate averages between 15 to
16%. Average monthly sale is of Rs. 25 Lacs. Sales are comparatively less on weekdays (Rs.
60,000-Rs. 65,000) as compared to on weekends (Rs. 3 Lacs).

Jio stores: There are 6 Jio stores in Raipur, Chhattisgarh. Jio stores exhibits a unique trend,
unlike other formats. The footfalls on weekends (40-50) are quite less a compared to
weekdays(200-250). The average monthly sale of the store is Rs.8, 00,000. There are two types
of sim categorized by color:
a) Red sim: For MP-CG circle
b) Green sim: For Other circles

RESEARCH PROBLEM
With fast changing economics and increase in disposable income, a shift in the perception of
customers is observed. They prefer to spend on branded and luxury items. Besides, with the
presence of competitors in the market, the footfalls and conversion are affected. This Project is
aimed at understanding various parameters pertaining to customer experience and the service
offered across Reliance Retail formats and to define a holistic Reliance Retail customer
experience. Understanding this parameters and implementing on it would lead to increase in
satisfaction of the customers and it will ultimately lead to boost in the sales.

OBJECTIVE(S):
Primary objective:
To understand shopper behavior and customer experience (at Reliance Trends in Raipur city).
Secondary objectives:
1) To determine factors that influence customers’ perception towards Reliance Trends.
2) To test association between customers’ first visit and their overall shopping experience.
3) To determine overall satisfaction of customers with the store.

LITERATURE REVIEW

Parikh (2006) said that as the retailing in India evolves, service quality of retail stores in India
needs appreciably improvement in order to compete successfully in the global marketplace. It is,
therefore indispensable to know how customers appraise service quality and how it can be
measured and improved.

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Kumar, R., & Vetrivel, T. (2016) concluded that “The customer perception of retail service
quality is an important segment to the emerging and the existing retailers in the market as the
study reveals that perception of service quality influenced by the various nature with various
customers even some of the general factors like Personal interaction, physical aspects are the
dimensions on the customer perception remains constant and common to all the customer on a
majority basis so the retail outlets have to frame their own strategies In order to attract the
customers on a longer basis”.

Kumar.R & Barani (2012) said that “service quality has long been accepted as the most basic
Marketing tool for retailers to differentiate their retail offers, create competitive advantage and to
enhance the customers‟ shopping experience. Nonetheless, maintaining excellent service quality
within the stores is no simple task”

Hekman David R., Aquino Karl, Owens Bradley P., Mitchell Terence R. & Leavitt Pauline
Schilpzand Keith (2010), “In this research, researcher have found the result that, customer
satisfaction surveys have become a common source of performance feedback for employees and
organizations. Researchers had given some new aspects that customer satisfaction was primary
factor for the companies this time for strategic decision making and to find some factors for
compensation of employees. Customer satisfaction in most of cases were gender biased they had
found because this mainly attach with the behavior of people and performance which is always
related to gender wise”.

(Puccinelli et al., 2009), “they have found the survival of fittest & fastest is the mantra of today’s
business game. To compete successfully in this business era, the retailer must focus on the
customer’s buying experience. To manage a customer’s experience, retailers should understand
what “customer experience” actually means. Finally; in conclusion there are some fundamental
points: Customer Experience Management is not simply an old idea in a new wrapper. The result
was that there are now more services and products available than at any time in the past, yet
customer satisfaction are on a downward slide”.

On the basis of literature review, following hypothesis have formulated:

HYPOTHESIS: 1
Ho1: There is no significant impact of factors influencing customer buying behavior on their
satisfaction with respect to Reliance Trends.
HA1: There is significant impact of factors influencing customer buying behavior on their
satisfaction with respect to Reliance Trends.

H02: There is no association between customer’s first visit at the store and basis their overall
experience they will shop again at this store.

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HA2: There is an association between customer’s first visit at the store and basis their overall
experience they will shop again at this store.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY/DESIGN

Research type:Descriptive Research

Descriptive research is to describe something- usually market characteristics such as consumers,
sales people, and organization or market areas.

Sample size:62

Sampling method:Convenience Sampling

A non-probability sampling technique that attempts to obtain a sample of convenient elements.
The selection of sampling units is left primarily to the interviewer.

Data collection method:Survey

A structured questionnaire given to a population sample and designed to elicit specific
information from respondents.

Primary data: The primary or the first hand data was collected with the help of handing out the
questionnaire to the customers as well interviewing the customers.

Secondary data: The major source of secondary or supporting data wasinternet, library, books
and journals. These were the sources ofinformation.

DATA ANALYSIS

Percentage
Male 45%
Gender
Female 55%
16 - 25 years 16%
Age Group 26 - 35 years 22%
Classification 36 - 45 years 13%
46 - 60 years 5%
Once a week 2%
Once in 1 - 2 weeks 5%
Once a month 12%
Frequency of visit Once every 1 - 2
months 30%
Once every 3 months 33%
Once every 6 months 19%

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1.To determine factors that influence customers’ perception towards Reliance Trends.
Regression Analysis
Ho: There is no significant impact of factors influencing customer buying behaviour on their
satisfaction with respect to Reliance Trends.
H1: There is significant impact of factors influencing customer buying behaviour on their
satisfaction with respect to Reliance Trends.

Model Summaryb
Model R R Adjusted R Std. Error of Change Statistics
Square Square the Estimate R Square F df1 df2 Sig. F
Change Change Change
1 .580a .336 .190 .57509 .336 2.304 11 50 .023

Interpretation:
From the above table, we observe that R square value is 0.336 i.e. 33.6% of variance in the
independent variable i.e. overall satisfaction of the respondents is explained by the dependent
variable.

ANOVA
Model Sum of Df Mean Square F Sig.
Squares
Regression 8.383 11 .762 2.304 .023
1 Residual 16.537 50 .331
Total 24.919 61
a. Dependent Variable: Satisfaction

Interpretation:
From the above table, significance value is 0.023 i.e. less than 0.05. Therefore, we reject the null
hypothesis and accept the alternate hypothesis i.e. there is significant impact of factors
influencing customer buying behaviour on their satisfaction with respect to Reliance Trends.

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Coefficients
Model Unstandardized Standardized t Sig.
Coefficients Coefficients
B Std. Error Beta
(Constant) 5.735 4.645 1.235 .223
Availabilit
y of -.224 .407 -.096 -.551 .584
products
Variety
and range .212 .225 .132 .944 .350
of products
Prices of
.309 .155 .268 1.991 .052
products
Store staff
-.040 .205 -.032 -.195 .846
interaction
Time taken
.016 .101 .022 .158 .875
for billing
Space for
movement
-.973 .941 -.193 -1.034 .306
inside the
store
1 Promotion
s, offers
and .044 .099 .057 .443 .660
discount
schemes
Product
.655 .227 .393 2.888 .006
quality
Availabilit
y of latest
trends/fash -.734 .654 -.342 -1.123 .267
ion
products
Availabilit
y of size .314 .247 .260 1.273 .209
options
Availabilit
y of
.251 .569 .151 .441 .661
popular
brands
a. Dependent Variable: Satisfaction

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Interpretation:
From the above table, we observe that the significance value of the attribute “Product quality” is
0.006 i.e. less than 0.05 followed by the attribute “Prices of the product” with a significance
value of 0.052. The significance value of all other attributes is more than 0.05. Therefore, we can
say that the overall satisfaction of respondents is derived majorly from the attribute “Product
quality”.

2. To test the association between customers’ first visit and their overall shopping
experience.
H0: There is no association between customer’s first visit at the store and basis their overall
experience they will shop again at this store.
H1: There is an association between customer’s first visit at the store and basis their overall
experience they will shop again at this store.

Cross Tabulation
Case Processing Summary
Cases
Valid Missing Total
N Percent N Percent N Percent
Store_visit *
62 100.0% 0 0.0% 62 100.0%
Expe

Symmetric Measures
Value Asymp. Std. Approx. Approx.
Errora Tb Sig.
Nominal by Phi -.275 .031
Nominal Cramer's V .275 .031

N of Valid Cases 62

Interpretation:
From the above table, we observe that significance value is 0.031 i.e. less than 0.05, we
reject the null hypothesis. Hence, we conclude that there is enough evidence to suggest
an association between customers’ first visit at the store and on the basis of their overall
experience they will shop again at this store.

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Store_visit * Expe Crosstabulation

Expe Total
Yes May be
Count 17 2 19
Yes Expected
18.4 .6 19.0
Store_visi Count
t Count 43 0 43
No Expected
41.6 1.4 43.0
Count
Count 60 2 62
Total Expected
60.0 2.0 62.0
Count

Interpretation:
From the above table, we can say that 17 out of 19 i.e. 89.47%respondents who are visiting the
store for the first time and 100% respondents who have shopped before have good shopping
experience and would come to store again.

3. To determine overall satisfaction of customers with the store.

Customer Satisfaction Index

45 42
40
35
30
Frequency

25
20
15
15
10
5
0
Somewhat satisfied Very satisfied
Frequency 15 42

CSAT (Customer Satisfaction Score):

Total number of satis ied customers
CSAT = × 100
Total Responses

CSAT = × 100

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International Journal of Research ISSN NO : 2236-6124

CSAT = 91.93%
Interpretation:
CSAT score is 91.93% i.e. 91.93% respondents are satisfied with the store..

4. To determine the awareness about the RelianceOne loyalty programme

Awareness about loyalty
programme

23%
Yes
77% No

Interpretation:
From the above chart, we can see that only 23% of the respondents are aware about the
Reliance’s loyalty programme and 77% are unaware about it.

FINDINGS
1)From
From the demographic profile of the respondents, it is observed that 55% of the respondents
identified themselves as female and 45% as male. 60% of the respondents entering the store
belonged to the age group 16 – 25 years. Majority of the respondents i.e. 33% visit the store once
in every 3 months.
2) Only 235 of the respondents are aware about the Reliance’s loyalty programme.
3) Based on Regression Analysis results, respondents indicated that they perceive product quality
(α = 0.006) as the most influential
influential factor followed by prices of the products (α( = 0.052). The
least influential factor was time taken for billing (α = 0.875).
4) Based on cross-tabulation,
tabulation, it is clear that 89.47% respondents who are visiting the store for the
first time and 100% of respondents
ondents who have shopped before have good shopping experience
and store again.
5) Based on CSAT score, 91.93% respondents were overall satisfied with the store.
6) From observation, it was evident that there was no seating arrangement for the customers and
the announcements were also not very clear.

RECOMMENDATIONS
1) The store staff could be trained through “Rconnect” about the loyalty programme.
2) Results also suggest
uggest that the store staff interaction needs more attention. The store staff should
be given training on how to interact with the customers and assist them in choosing the right
products for them.

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3) Shopping sometimes may take time. Proper seating arrangements should be made for the
customers so that people who accompany the shopper do not have to suffer standing for long.
Benches could be installed in each section.
4) The announcements could be made more clearly so that customers could hear it properly.

LIMITATIONS
1).The survey was limited to few regions in Raipur due to limitation of the time.
2).Mood of the respondents that was experienced during study that would have influenced their
responses. Normally all customers seemed to be in a hurry because of their busy schedule and
questionnaire also would have influenced their response.
3). Due to limited sample size, findings may not be realistic.

FUTURE SCOPE OF THE STUDY

The scope of the Indian retail market is immense for this sector is poised for growth in the
coming years and hence is highly desirable for conducting the research. With changing consumer
behavior, their preference for luxury commodities and changing lifestyle, this sector poses an
immense scope for further research. Identifying customer satisfaction and customer perception
are very important to develop this sector pan India. Further research should be carried out in
order to enhance the understanding of customer perception and customer satisfaction. Moreover
a similar study could be conducted with a larger sample size so that results could be
comprehensive to a large population to measure the levels of customer perception.

CONCLUSIONS
This study concludes that product quality is the most important factor that influences the
perception of the customers towards Reliance Trends. So, the store should maintain that quality
and look for ways to improve it further.
There is less awareness among the customers about the RelianceOne loyalty programme. So, the
store staff could be trained through “Rconnect” about this programme so that they could educate
the customers about it.
Store staff interaction can greatly affect the overall shopping experience of the customers. The
store should provide training to the store staff so that the customers have better shopping
experience at the store.

REFERENCES
1. Parikh, D. (2006). Measuring Retail Service Quality: An Empirical Assessment of the
Instrument. Vikalpa: The Journal For Decision Makers, 32(2).
2. Kumar, R., & Vetrivel, T. (2016). Retail Service Quality of Big Bazaar Retail Store
Thiruvananthapuram: An Empirical Study. Asian Journal Of Research In Social Sciences
And Humanities, 6(7), 1487. doi: 10.5958/2249-7315.2016.00524.4

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3. Kumar.R & Dr. G. Barani (2012), Appraisal Relationship between Service Quality and
Customer Satisfaction in Organized Retailing at Bangalore City, India. Industrial
Engineering Letters (ISSN 2224-6096) Vol 2, No.2, 2012 pp 61-70 [6].
4. Kumar.R & Dr. G. Barani (2012), Examination of Organized Retailing Service Quality In
Attire Specialty Stores In Bangalore City, India. International Journal of Computing and
Business Research (ISSN: 2229-6166) Vol 3 Issue 1 Jan 2012 pp 1-15
5. Puccinelli, N., Goodstein, R., Grewal, D., Price, R., Raghubir, P., & Stewart, D. (2009).
Customer Experience Management in Retailing: Understanding the Buying
Process. Journal of Retailing, 85(1), 15-30. doi: 10.1016/j.jretai.2008.11.003
6. Hekman, David R., Aquino, Karl, Owens, Bradley P., Mitchell, Terence R., Schilpzend,
Pauline, Leavitt, Keith (2010). An examination whether and how racial and gender biases
influence customer satisfaction. Academy of Management Journal, Apr, Vol. 53 Issue 2,
27p, 3 Diagrams, 6 Charts ISSN No. 0001-4273, 238-264.
7. Malhotra, N. (2017). Marketing Research. Pearson Education Limited.

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