“A PROJECT REPORT ON FOREIGN BRAND PENETRATION

AMONG THE INDIAN CONSUMERS OF PRODUCTS AT

DECATHLON’’
BY

Dilu Balachandran
1NH15MBA48

Submitted to

DEPARTMENT OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES

NEW HORIZON COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING,
OUTER RING ROAD, MARATHALLI,
BANGALORE

In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of the degree of

MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

Under the guidance of

INTERNAL GUIDE EXTERNAL GUIDE

Dr. Sheelan Misra Abishake. K
Prof.&HOD-MBA,NHCE Queshua Dept Manager
Decathlon India Ltd
(2015-17)
 CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that DILU BALACHANDRAN bearing USN 1NH15MBA48, is

a bonafide student of Master of Business Administration course of the new horizon
college of engineering (2015-17), autonomous program, affiliated to Visvesvaraya
Technological University, Belgaum. Project report on “A STUDY ON FOREIGN
BRAND PENETRATION AMONG THE INDIAN CONSUMER OF
PRODUCTS AT DECATHLON’’is prepared by him under the guidance of Dr.
Sheelan Misra , in partial fulfillment of requirements for the award of the degree
of Master of Business Administration of Visvesvaraya Technological University,
Belgaum Karnataka.

Signature of Internal Guide Signature of HOD Signature of Principal

 DECLARATION
I, DILU BALACHANDRAN , hereby declare that the Internship report entitled
“A STUDY ON FOREIGN BRAND PENETRATION AMONG THE INDIAN
CONSUMER OF PRODUCT AT DECATHLON” prepared by me under the
guidance of Dr. Sheelan Misra Prof.& HOD MBA, New Horizon College of
Engineering .

I also declare that this project work is towards the partial fulfillment of the
university regulations for the award of the degree of Master of Business
Administration by Visvesvaraya Technological University, Belgaum.

I have undergone a project for a period of fifteen weeks. I further declare that this
project is based on the original study undertaken by me and has not been submitted
for the award of a degree/diploma from any other University / Institution.

Signature of Student
Place:
Date
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I wish to place on record my deep sense of appreciation to all those who made this project come
into existence and guide me from the start to finish. I express my sincere gratitude to the
institution of New Horizon College of Engineering, Bangalore.

I would like to thank Dr. Manjunatha, Princple of New Horizon College of Engineering,
Bangalore for giving me the opportunity to prove my caliber by submitting this project report.

I am grateful to Dr. Sheelan Misra, Head of Department of Management Studies, New Horizon
College of Engineering , Bangalore for her support in the completion of this project.

I sincerely express heartfelt thanks to my guide Dr. Sheelan Misra Head of Department of
Management Studies NHCE. Who has provided me guidance with great patience towards
preparing the project.

Finally, I would like to thank all the special people in my life, my family members, my friends
and my classmates who are my constructive critics and my genuine motivators.

DILU BALACHANDRAN

1NH15MBA48
 CONTENTS

CHAPTER TITLE PAGE No

1 INTRODUCTION 1

2 INDUSTRY 9
PROFILE&COMPANY
PROFILE
23
THEORETICAL
3 CONCEPT

39
DATA ANLYSIS &
4 INTERPRETATION
FINDING,SUGGESTIONS 55
&
5 CONCLUSIONS

BIBLOGRAPHY 59
ANEXURE 61
 LIST OF TABLES
TABLE NO TITLE PAGE NO
4.1 Do u know 40
Decathlon
4.2 Do you practice 41
any sports
4.3 Experience of 42
shopping through
online
4.4 Do you go for 45
Hiking
4.5 If yes to Que 3, 46
which are they
4.6 With whom you 47
use to
4.7 How much you like 48
to spend on
Apparels &
Equipments.
4.8 Which brand do u 49
use
4.9 Why do you use 50
these brands
4.10 Are you aware of 51
this brands
 LIST OF GRAPH

GRAPH NO TITLE PAGE NO

4.1 Do u know 40
Decathlon
4.2 Do you practice 41
any sports
4.3 Experience of 42
shopping through
online
4.4 Do you go for 45
Hiking
4.5 If yes to Que 3, 46
which are they
4.6 With whom you 47
use to
4.7 How much you like 48
to spend on
Apparels &
Equipments.
4.8 Which brand do u 49
use
4.9 Why do you use 50
these brands
4.10 Are you aware of 51
this brands
 CHAPTER-1

INTRODUCTION

1
1.1INTRODUCTION
Indian consumers towards the international brands has become pertinent. After
liberalization, as the economy opened up to the international market, imported goods gradually
gained traction among Indian buyers. The repercussion is, today the market is almost flooded
with goods from international market. Together with foreign origin brands, Indian brands ran
through significant improvement becoming successful to pose a stiff competition against their
foreign counterparts.

In terms of quality, technology, performance and efficacy, both Indian and foreign brands
are catching up the market lately. Foreign brands like decathlon on the other hand, are becoming
more popular amongst Indian buyers gradually turning as cofactors to mould their preferences,
buying habits and thereby lifestyle. Sport consumer lifestyle in India has been through a massive
transformation. Leaving aside the cost factor, the drive of spending among Indian consumers is
on high tides.

The growth of Indian economy and markets has given birth to a new range of Customers
who is inclined towards the purchase of braded and quality products. Specially the apparels as
the youth of the country is now exposed to various Business and professional situations .The
working class people segment has grown since the economic growth and it has benefited middle
class and upper middle class people

It was found that the quality of foreign brands was perceived to be generally higher and
superior to local brands. Most consumers also associated greater accessibility of foreign brands
in the Indian market with better quality at lower prices. Despite high levels of nationalism and
preference for indigenous manufacture, as evidenced in high factor ratings on an ethnocentrism
scale, which might indicate a positive bias towards local brands, Indian consumers were not
prejudiced against foreign brand names. In fact, they evaluated them higher on technology,
quality, status and esteem than Indian brands, and attributed higher credibility to those
countries‐of‐origin.

2
1.2 NEED OF THE STUDY

This study will help to find out the customers need, the study will help us to know what
the users are looking for and as we know the decathlon is providing the online service and many
of them are not satisfied with the service because they don’t have the delivery of all the product.

1.3 OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

 To understand the concept of curiosity quotient.

 To study the awareness level of the consumers towards the foreign brands of decathlon.
 To examine the factors affecting the curiosity quotient of the consumers.
 To study the attitude of customers towards brand of decathlon.

1.4METHODOLOGY USED IN THE STUDY

1.4.1Sources of Data

Data collection is one of the important tasks in research of the basis of collected data
analysis is done upon which take effective decision. Data can be collected in two ways, primary
data and secondary data.

Primary Data:-To obtain primary data through descriptive research which is also called survey
method .i.e. to carry out sample survey of existing and prospective customers/clients.

Secondary Data:-It is the data that have been collected by someone else for some other purpose
but being utilized by the investigator for another purpose. The secondary data method includes
Search Engine Optimization(SEO),Search Engine Marketing(SEM).

Here both primary data and secondary data had collected. Both data are useful
in the research. Primary data is being collected by using personal interview, mail interview,
questionnaire etc and secondary data is collected from magazines, journals etc.

3
1.4.2 Sampling

Sampling design:The sampling technique adopted for the study is simple random sampling.

Sampling size: For the purpose of the study 2000 samples were selected from the population.

Sampling tool: Tool used for the study is percentage analysis, chi-square etc.

1.5 REVIEW OF LITERATURE

1. Bryan Clay 2008: I fascinated to see what sort of analytics could be applied to this
sport, which even admits does not get much respect. I decided to do my best to rectify the
problem by doing my own analysis on the skill of decathletes.

2. Lebrun, 2006: Decathlon Group is different from its main competitors such as Intersport
and Go Sport which have not chosen to design and manufacture their own innovative and
strong sub-brands. The latter has many own brands, but they are not built on characteristics
related to technical performance or innovation

3. Michel &Salha, 2005: Decathlon Group follows the strategy of a big company willing
to increase its market share by seeking to enter high margin segments although it was rather
forced to do so. Indeed, the solution of sports specialized superstores – invented by
Decathlon and successful either in France or in Europe - is a failure in countries where
consumer patterns are different. Not to mention that, on some markets, particularly in the
United States, there are situations of quasi-monopoly on behalf of local retailers (barrier at
the entry) which cancel any thought of expansion of a newcomer, even a big one.

4. According to the prospects of Akrich, Callon&Latour (1988) to make progress in the

art of managing innovations: understanding the mechanisms by which innovations succeed or
fail to develop principles that serve as guide to action. To a great extent, the success of the
Decathlon Group innovations and “passion-brands” depends, first of all, on an excellent

4
understanding and coordination between the various components of the company involved,
but also on an atypical innovative projects management system.

5. Irwin Wouts: According to the him, innovation of the Decathlon Group “passion-
brands”, method, not very directive, seemed more adapted to an executive officer unfamiliar
with more sophisticated techniques.

6. Métais, 1997 : The concept of resources or strategic assets derives from the desire to
accurately describe the full potential of a company. It allows us to identify the basic entities
which make up the innovative potential of a firm

7. Achrol (1991):focusing on the effect of increasing environmental turbulence on

marketing organization, argues that a higher level of organizational flexibility is needed and
suggests two ideal forms that he refers to as the marketing exchange company and the
marketing coalition company.

8. Webster (1992): discusses changes in marketing’s role within the firm and argues that
“managing strategic partnerships and positioning the firm between vendors and customers in
the value chain” (p. 1) will become the focus of marketing

9. Zarnowski,2001 :In decathlon,even before seeking to perform during each event ,the very
first aim is to complete all 10 events consequently, decathletes have to face their own ability
to perform and score points at each event.

10. Kadrovik since 2007: Until recently, the system was used for HR records and documents
management, organizational prototyping and time track, and the payroll was carried out by
an outsourcing company in its own program. Exchange of data between the two systems for
payroll purposes had a number of significant drawbacks

11. According to Lucintel:the market is forecast to reach an estimated $266 billion in 2017
with a CAGR of 4%over the next six years (2012–2017).
5
12. Leibniz (17th century) and Diderot (18th century) were already complaining about
information overload. The “horrible mass of books” they referred to may have represented
only a tiny portion of what we know today, but much of what we know today will be equally
insignificant to future generations.

13. Tomas Chommaro 2009: CQ are generally more tolerant of ambiguity. This nuanced,
sophisticated, subtle thinking style defines the very essence of complexity. Second, CQ leads
to higher levels of intellectual investment and knowledge acquisition over time, especially in
formal domains of education, such as science and art (note: this is of course different from
IQ’s measurement of raw intellectual horsepower). Knowledge and expertise, much like
experience, translate complex situations into familiar ones, so CQ is the ultimate tool to
produce simple solutions for complex problems.

14. Prezumic 1989: argues that CQ is just as important when managing complexity in two
major ways: increased tolerance for ambiguity and a higher investment over time in
knowledge and expertise acquisition which leads to a nuanced, sophisticated way of thinking
over time.

15. Cari E. Guittard: CQ is the ultimate tool,” he argues, “to produce simple solutions for
complex problems.” And as Thomas Friedman noted in his article from last year It’sthe skill
required for every decent job is rising as is the necessity of lifelong learning... those with
more P.Q. (passion quotient) and C.Q. (curiosity quotient) to leverage all the new digital
tools to not just find a job, but to invent one or reinvent one, and to not just learn but to
relearn for a lifetime.”

16. Thomas L. Friedman 2003: as part of an illustrative formula to explain how individuals
can be powerfully motivated to learn about a personally interesting subject, whether or not
they possess a particularly high intelligence quotient (IQ). The non-mathematical and
fictitious formula is [[CQ + PQ > IQ]]; where CQ is "curiosity quotient" and PQ is "passion
quotient." Thomas Friedman states that when curiosity is paired with passion in the
exploration of a subject of interest, an individual may be able to acquire an amount of

6
knowledge comparable that of a person who is exceptionally intelligent, because of the vast
amount of information resources available through the Internet.

17. JOSEPH E. STIGLITZ, 2000: “how to be a political activist and social entrepreneur in
a flat world; and on the more troubling question of how to manage our reputations and
privacy in a world where we are all becoming publishers and public figures. CQ is an
essential update on globalization, its opportunities for individual empowerment, its
achievements at lifting millions out of poverty, and its drawbacks–environmental, social, and
political.

18. Charles Sull 2006: Curiosity is, “the desire to learn or know more about something or
someone.” It is the starting point to every great idea, invention and new business. It is what
makes some businesses wildly successful while others are just average and it’s the real
reason why some leaders and their teams succeed, while others fail. The same happens in
business every day. Leaders fail time and time again to understand the situations, people or
customers they are engaging with because they simply aren’t curious about them and feel
more comfortable not leaving their comfort zones to find out.

19. Micha Kaufman 2014: suggests CQ is just as important when it comes to managing
complexity. First, individuals with higher CQ are generally more tolerant of ambiguity. This
nuanced, sophisticated, subtle thinking style defines the very essence of complexity. Second,
CQ leads to higher levels of intellectual investment and knowledge acquisition over time.
Knowledge and expertise, much like experience, translate complex situations into familiar
ones, so CQ is the ultimate tool for leaders and their teams to devise simple solutions for
complex problems.

20. Rebecca Homkes 2005: argue that organizations fail at execution because they don’t
adapt quickly enough to changing market conditions and that most leaders solve problems by
trying to reduce them to single dimensions. And while that’s true, what they really lack is
more fundamental. They lack Business Curiosity. Thriving in a complex and volatile
business environment requires leaders who approach every day, every problem and every

7
 opportunity with an inquisitive spirit. It’s this curiosity that drives leaders to learn their
companies inside and out and to never stop looking for ideas to improve.

21. Paula Roy 2002: curiosity is very evident throughout early childhood and into the first
few years of elementary school. Depending on the practices of local school systems, that
curiosity may be encouraged with “discovery learning” methods where children are exposed
to information, puzzles, and challenges and are taught the tools to uncover more information
or find solutions.

22. Wiggins 1998: Curiosity is a personal quality of being open to observe and the to
explore, analyze and learn. This is the combination that the customer look forward to as our
customer universe is a more challenging place today from what we saw in past decade.
Studies attribute this to VUCA- environment due to which they look out for higher potential
even in high performing vendors. Curious minds score high points on potential.

1.6 LIMITATIONS OF STUDY

The major limitations that were faced by us in the course of carrying out this study are delay in
getting data from the various respondents. Most respondent may reluctant in filling questionnaire
administered to them due to their busy schedules and the nature of their work. The researcher
found it difficult to collect responses from the various respondents, and this almost hampered the
success of this study, and another problem is that to complete the study within the given time
bound.

8
 CHAPTER -2
Industry profile and company profile

9
2.1 Industry profile
Sport industry is a market in which people, activities, business, and organizations
involved in producing, facilitating, promoting, or organizing any activity, experience, or business
enterprise focused on sports. It is the market in which the businesses are products offered to its
buyers are sports related and may be goods, services, people, places, or ideas

The sporting and athletic goods manufacturing industry comprises of establishments

primarily engaged in manufacturing sporting and athletic goods, except clothing and footwear.

The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for this industry is
33992—Sporting and Athletic Goods Manufacturing. The industry includes the following
products and activities.

• Sports equipment (baseball, basketball, billiards, fishing, football, golf, gymnastics,

hockey, pool, and racquet sports), manufacturing

• Specific equipment (sailboards, skates (ice and roller), exercise machines, snowshoes,
skis, swimming pools, and playground equipment), manufacturing

Economic overview

The sporting and athletic goods manufacturing industry exhibited sound growth in
shipments, fuelled by increased domestic and export demand. Shipments increased at an average
annual rate of 7.3% since 2011, to a total of $1.1 billion in 2015. In the same period, total exports
and apparent domestic market increased at average annual rates of 5.8% and 8.3% respectively.
Imports grew at annual average rate of 8.2% between 2011 and 2015, exceeding change in
exports and resulting in an increasing negative trade balance of $1.4 billion in 2015. Between
2010 and 2014, the total number of establishments contracted by approximately 9% or 27
establishments.

Trends in the industry

This industry includes companies that manufacture a diverse array of products for fitness
and exercise, camping, fishing, winter sports such as hockey, shooting, playground structures,
and aquatic equipment such as pools. Companies in the industry range from small, specialized

10
companies to diversified corporations. What these firms share, however, is the recognition that
brand loyalty plays an important role in their success. Canada is also home to R&D capacity of
major hockey equipment manufacturers.

Several socio-economic criteria influence the market demand in this industry. First,
sporting and athletic goods are leisure products, and leisure is primarily a matter of individual
preferences, thus market demand is subject to changing tastes and popular trends. Furthermore,
the industry must compete against dissimilar industries that also produce leisure products, such
as music, books, and video games. Finally, economic conditions, demographics, weather
conditions, and the pricing of substitute and complementary goods also affect market demand.

Sport:

Sport (British English) or sports (American English), are all usually forms of competitive
physical activity or games which, through casual or organised participation, aim to use, maintain
or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants, and in some
cases, entertainment for spectators. Usually the contest or game is between two sides, each
attempting to exceed the other. Some sports allow a tie game; others provide tie-breaking
methods, to ensure one winner and one loser. A number of such two-sided contests may be
arranged in a tournament producing a champion. Many sports leagues make an annual champion
by arranging games in a regular sports season, followed in some cases by playoffs. Hundreds of
sports exist, from those between single contestants, through to those with hundreds of
simultaneous participants, either in teams or competing as individuals. In certain sports such as
racing, many contestants may compete, each against each other, with one winner.

Sport is generally recognised as system of activities which are based in physical

athleticism or physical dexterity, with the largest major competitions such as the Olympic Games
admitting only sports meeting this definition, and other organisations such as the Council of
Europe using definitions precluding activities without a physical element from classification as
sports. However, a number of competitive, but non-physical, activities claim recognition as mind
sports. The International Olympic Committee (through ARISF) recognizes both chess and bridge
as bona fide sports, and Sport Accord, the international sports federation association, recognises

11
five non-physical sports: bridge, chess, draughts (checkers), Go and xiangqi, and limits the
number of mind games which can be admitted as sports.

Sports are usually governed by a set of rules or customs, which serve to ensure fair
competition, and allow consistent adjudication of the winner. Winning can be determined by
physical events such as scoring goals or crossing a line first. It can also be determined by judges
who are scoring elements of the sporting performance, including objective or subjective
measures such as technical performance or artistic impression.

Records of performance are often kept, and for popular sports, this information may be
widely announced or reported in sport news. Sport is also a major source of entertainment for
non-participants, with spectator sport drawing large crowds to sport venues, and reaching wider
audiences through broadcasting. Sports betting are in some cases severely regulated, and in some
cases are central to the sport.

According to A.T. Kearney, a consultancy, the global sporting industry is worth up to

$620 billion as of 2013. The world's most accessible and practiced sport is running, while
association football is the most popular spectator sport.

Statistics and facts on the Sporting Goods Industry

The market for sporting goods in the United States has a projected value of almost 65
billion U.S. dollars in 2015. This figure takes into account the consumer purchases of many
different product types such as athletic footwear, exercise equipment, licensed sports
merchandise athletic apparel but does not include recreational transportation items such as
bicycles, pleasure boats, RVs and snowmobiles. The recreational transport and the equipment
category accounts for 25 to 30 billion U.S. dollars in consumer purchases.

Around one quarter of sporting goods equipment sales in the U.S. is handled by sporting
goods stores like Dick’s Sporting Goods, Bass Pro Shop, Cabela’s or The Sports Authority. In
total, sporting goods stores sales in the U.S. exceeded 44.6 billion U.S. dollars in 2014. One of
the most popular sporting goods retailers is Dick's Sporting Goods as almost 45 percent of
respondents in a recent Statista survey said that they purchase sports apparel, sports shoes and
sports equipment or gear there.

12
 The biggest sporting goods retailer in terms of revenue, however, is Walmart, with 9.6
billion U.S. dollars in revenue from sporting goods sales in 2014. About 14 percent of sporting
goods equipment is sold through online channels / over the internet; the distribution channel with
the highest growth in market share. Despite the growth in online sales, around 105 million
people shopped for sporting goods at a sporting goods store in 2015 according to Scarborough
Research.

Scarborough also reports that in 2015, almost 93 million people in the U.S. bought
athletic shoes. About 20 percent of the total footwear sales in the U.S., which amounted to an
estimated total of 21 billion U.S. dollars in 2015, are attributable to sporting goods stores.
Running and jogging shoes, for example, sold for an average amount of 68 U.S. dollars at the
retail level. The leading companies in the footwear segment are Nike and Adidas with revenues
of 18.3 and 9.1 billion U.S. dollars respectively in 2015.

Nike and Adidas are also the market leaders amongst sporting goods manufacturers with
about 30.6 and 18.5 billion U.S. dollars in worldwide revenue respectively. Other major sporting
goods manufacturers with at least 1.5 billion U.S. dollars in revenue are VF Corp., Puma, Asics,
Jarden, New Balance, Amer Sports and Under Armour.

The sports market in North America was worth $60.5 billion in 2014. It is expected to
reach $73.5 billion by 2019. The biggest reason for such growth is projected increases in revenue
derived from media rights deals, which is predicted to surpass gate revenues as the sports
industry's largest segment.

Sports media rights are projected to go from $14.6 billion in 2014 to $20.6 billion by
2019, accounting for a compound annual rate increase of 7.2%. Over 35% of current local
television rights deals with the National Basketball Association, National Hockey League and
Major League Baseball are set to expire by 2019, which will contribute to the overall growth in
the sector based on assumed lucrative new deals, but national rights deals truly drive the growth
in this area.

13
2.1.1 COMPETITORS OF DECATHLON
1. Kitbag
2. Early winters
3. JD SPORTS

1. KITBAG RETAIL SPORT INDUSTRY

Kitbag Ltd. is a United Kingdom sports retailer. The company was purchased by Fanatics
Inc from Findel PLC in February 2016 for £11.5M, previously the company was purchased
by Findel PLC in October 2006 from European Home Retail plc. Kitbag Limited has the
exclusive rights to operate the official online stores of Manchester United, Chelsea, Real Madrid,
Everton, Celtic, Manchester City, Borussia Dortmund, British Lions (rugby), RFU (rugby), Le
Tour, Wimbledon, Roland Garros, NBA, NFL, NHL, McLaren Motorsports, Formula 1 Store,
Official TeamGB Olympic Store, Solheim Cup, Open Tour and European Golf Store. Kitbag
runs several retail stores in cities across the UK and UAE.

In addition to these online and retail stores, Kitbag runs the online and offline direct
mailings/catalogues, call centre operations, and pick pack and dispatch parcel distribution and
warehousing for sports companies.

It has also had experience in running the official internet retail sites for other partners, such
as Nike, Reebok, Umbro, FIFA and UEFA through merchandise agreements.

Kitbag Ltd runs its own online sports store, with over 10,000 sports products. The site is a
licensed reseller of football shirts, football boots and other sports apparel and equipment.

2. EARLY WINTERS
Early Winters, Ltd. of Seattle, Washington, United States was founded in 1972 by William S.
Nicolai, who formed the company after creating a tent called the Omnipotent.[1] Early Winters
was the first company to create and sell a consumer product made with Gore-Tex laminates
produced by W. L. Gore & Associates in Elkton, Maryland. The first product made with Gore-
Tex fabric debuted in 1976 and was a streamlined, two-person tent called The Light
Dimension.[2] The tent was created by Nicolai and William H. Edwards and was marketed by
Ron Zimmerman.

14
 In 1975, Gore salesman Joe Tanner introduced Early Winters to the fabric product, which at
that time was still without a name. Over a two-year period, Tanner had made numerous sales
calls and had been turned down by companies such as REI, Eddie Bauer, and The North Face.
Early Winters was the first company to realize the significance of Gore-Tex fabrics for outdoor
applications. In fact, the timing of Tanner's visit was fortuitous since Early Winters had a
lightweight, single-walled tent design for which they were seeking a waterproof and breathable
fabric solution.When Tanner showed Early Winters the product sample, the Early Winters staff
tried it out by using a rubber band to secure a sample of the fabric over a coffee cup filled with
boiling water. This allowed visible steam to pass through the Gore-Tex fabric, but when the cup
was turned over, no liquid was claimed to come through. This consumer demonstration became
known at W.L. Gore & Associates as the "Z Square" test, named after Zimmerman. This "coffee
cup" demonstration has become well known in the outdoor industry because it is an effective
way to convey the concept of fabric that is waterproof, yet breathable.

o After learning about the product, Nicolai, Edwards, and Zimmerman requested sample
material for experimentation, and in Winter 1975, they produced a prototype tent that they
subjected to testing in extreme outdoor conditions. After success with the prototype tent,
Early Winters became the first commercial company to place an order for Gore-Tex fabric.
Early Winters introduced The Light Dimension tent in May 1976. This tent, along with
other items made with GORE-TEX fabric, debuted in the first official Early Winters
catalogue.
o Early Winters approached $20 million (USD) in annual sales, mostly through catalogs,
before being sold to the Orvis company in 1984. It was later purchased by the Norm
Thompson group in Portland, Oregon. In 2004 Norm Thompson renamed the company
[Sahalie] who still sells Early Winters branded clothing.
3. JD SPORTS

JD Sports Fashion plc, more commonly known as just JD (stylized as jD[2]), is a sports-fashion
retail company based in Bury, Greater Manchester, England with shops throughout the United
Kingdom, and now has 25 stores in Ireland, after taking over Irish sports retailer Champion
Sports, in January 2011.

15
Since October 1996, it has been listed on the London Stock Exchange, and is a constituent of the
FTSE 250 Index. JD Sports Fashion Plc is also a subsidiary of the Pentland Group.

 Type: - Public limited company

 Traded as: - LSE: JD.
 Industry: - Retail
 Founded: - 1981
 Headquarters: - Bury, Greater Manchester
 Key people: - Peter Cowgill Chairman)PeterCowgill (CEO)
 Products: - Clothing,Sportswear Accessories
 Revenue: - £1,821.7 million (2016)
 Operating income: - £133.4 million (2016)
 Net income: - £100.6 million (2016)[1]
 Owner: - 1. Pentland Group (58%)
2. Sports Direct (6%)
3. Aberforth Partners (10%)
4. Fidelity Management (5%)
5. Peter Cowgill (CEO) (1%)
6. Other Minor Shareholders (20%)

16
2.2 COMPANY PROFILE

2.2.1 Decathlon
Decathlon (French pronunciation: [dekatlɔ]̃ ) is one of the world's largest sporting goods
retailers. Decathlon started with a store in Lille, France in 1976, founded by Michel Leclercq. It
started to expand abroad a decade later, to Germany in 1986, Spain in 1992, Italy in 1998,
Portugal, the United Kingdom in 1999, India in 2003, India in 2009 and Southeast Asia in 2012.
Today, there are more than 850 stores in 22 countries. The company employs more than 60,000
staff from 80 different nationalities.

The retailer stocks a wide range of sporting goods, from tennis rackets to advanced scuba
diving equipment, usually in large superstores which are sized at an average of
4,000m².Decathlon Group also owns 20 brands, with research and development facilities all over
France to develop the latest innovative designs, registering up to 40 patents per year. Each brand
represents a different sport or group of sports, with a dedicated product development and design
team.

VISION & MISSION

As a non-profit organization, we aim to inspire students of all achievement levels to work

together to learn more than they ever thought possible.

Our mission is to promote learning and academic excellence among students of varying
achievement levels by developing and providing multidisciplinary academic competitions using
AcademicDecathlon curricula.

Our vision is to provide all students the opportunity to excel academically through team
competition.

17
Our core values include:

 The academic growth of students

 Challenging multidisciplinary learning
 Teamwork as a means to achieve self-knowledge and life skills
 Providing equal opportunities for students of different achievement levels
 The importance of inclusivity and diversity to learning and the human experience
 High standards of honesty and integrity
 Transparency in our relations and interactions with all of our stakeholders
 Excellence in our programs, services and activities
 Respect for diverse points of view.

Product ranges

The retailer develops and sells its own brands. Each sport or group of sports has a separate brand
name:

• Aptonia - Nutrition and Healthcare

• Artengo - Racket Sports

• B'Twin - Cycling

• Caperlan - Fishing

• Domyos - Fitness, Gym, Yoga, Dance, [12]

• Fouganza - Horse Riding

• Geologic - Target Sports such as Archery, Darts and Pétanque

• Geonaute - Sports Electronics

• Inesis - Golf

• Kalenji - Running

• Kipsta - Team Sports

18
• Nabaiji - Swimming

• Newfeel - Walking and Urban Wear

• Orao - Eyewear and Optical Accessories

• Outshock - Martial Sports

• Oxelo - Rollersports, Skating and Scooters

• Quechua - Hiking, Camping and Outdoor Gear

• Simond - Mountaineering

• Solognac - Hunting

• Tribord - Watersports

• Wed'Ze - Skiing and Snowboarding

Brands providing technical support for the products of its passion brands:

• EQUAREA - Clothing designed for the active removal of sweat

• ESSENSOLE - Shoe soles and insoles

• NOVADRY - Waterproof and breathable clothes

• STRATERMIC - Warm and light clothes

• STRENFIT - Light and Robust Synthetic fabrics (non garment)

• SUPPORTIV - Support and compression

Decathlon, a network of innovative retail chain and brands providing enjoyment for all
sports people.

At Decathlon, 70,000 of us live our common Purpose on a daily basis: “to make the
pleasure and benefits of sport accessible to all”. In every country where we are present, we share
a strong and unique company culture, reinforced by our two values: Vitality and Responsibility.

19
 At Decathlon, we place innovation at the heart of our activities: from research to retail,
including design, production and logistics. Our twenty Passion Brand teams channel all their
energy in to developing technical, good-looking and simple products, always at the lowest
possible prices.

These products are aimed at all sports enthusiasts, from beginners to experts, and are sold
exclusively at Decathlon.

Decathlon is located in different country that is:-

France,India,Spain,Italy,Russia,IndiaPoland,GermanyPortuga,Belgium,UnitedKingdom,
Brazil,Hungary,,Turkey,Romania,Czech,Republic,Netherlands,Thailand,Morocco,Bulgaria,Croat
ia,Slovakia,Mexico,Singapore,Sweden,Ivory Coast, Malaysia, Slovenia

Total globally decathlon have 1176 store So by these figure they become the one of the biggest
retailer in the world who make sports available to all.

Two binding values of the company

All over the world, we share a strong and unique company culture, reinforced by our two values:

o Vitality

Vitality is Life, intense activity, energy, drive and vigour. Our employees are full of vitality
as they have, first and foremost, a positive mindset and are bursting with energy. They are
enthusiastic, they love creating and innovating, and relentlessly strive to improve and make
things around them change.

o Responsibility

Being responsible is about making decisions and making sure they are acted upon. Our
employees are fully responsible for their decisions, both in terms of their team and their
customers. Responsibility is also about anticipating the challenges facing society and orienting
our actions towards sustainable development. And it is also our responsibility to guarantee the
safety of our customers and employees all over the world.

20
2.2.2 SWOT ANALYSIS

SWOT analysis is a study undertaken by an organization to identify its internal strengths

and weaknesses, as well as its external opportunities and threats.

 Strengths: characteristics of the business or project that give it an advantage over others
 Weaknesses: characteristics that place the business or project at a disadvantage relative to
others
 Opportunities: elements that the business or project could exploit to its advantage
 Threats: elements in the environment that could cause trouble for the business or project

Strength

 Targeted toward athletes(global)

 Product is different than the other companies(i,e our specialization in the market of
triathlons and bikes)
 We have a clear strategic direction.
 More than 800 retailers all over the world
 Wide variety of products
 Affordable prices

Weakness

 Not diversified enough

 Currently make athletic footwear only
 Current image rating is less than competitors
 Wholesale area and lost revenue
 Increasing productivity
 Being more efficient
 Less focus on customer satisfaction.
 Decathlon focuses on retail sales
 Only 7 branches in the Netherlands.

21
Opportunity

 Untapped international regions

 Target an event/field (Triathlons/cycle)
 Market a shoe specifically for an event
 Making gear for all areas of exercise(i,e.Athletic wear)
 The market has so many dimensions,inamericans,Europe and asia
 Open more stores in the Netherlands.
 Focus on the demand of online retailing.
 Creating high brand awareness by exploring advertising media tactically.

Threats

 Competitive markets-alternative brands (EIRA has a growing market

 Consumers looking for deals
 Limited market
 Currency differences in different countries/market fluctuations and volatility(i,e. currency
or political)
 High competition from global and domestic players.
 High inflation
 Being unable to anticipate to changing market conditions

Future growth

As we known the growth rate of the decathlon is almost near to 25%. If we look in this
financial year in Bangalore itself there been opened 2 new stores. And till now the main focus of
the decathlon was Bangalore but for coming financial year they will be focusing on the Chennai.
Presently decathlons have 3 stores in the Chennai which will be increased by 7 to 9 in coming
financial year

22
 CHAPTER-3
THEORETICAL CONCEPT

23
3.1 Marketing management

Marketing is total system of business activities designed to plan, price,

promote, and distribute want-satisfying products to target markets in order to achieve
organizational objectives. This is defined have two significant implications: i. Focus: the entire
system of business activities should be customer oriented customer’s wants must be recognized
and satisfied. ii. Duration: marketing should start with the idea about the want satisfying product
and should not end until customer wants are completely satisfied, which may be sometime after
the exchange is made.

■ DEFINITION BY PHILIP KOTLER – Social and managerial process by which individuals

and groups obtain what they need and want through creating and exchanging products and value
with others

■ DEFINITION BY AMA – Marketing is an organizational function and a set of processes for

creating, communicating, and delivering value to customers and for managing relationships in
ways that benefit the organization and its stakeholders.

Concepts under marketing activities

There are 5 competing concepts under which organizations conduct marketing activities they are

i. Production concept

ii. Product concept

iii. Selling concept

iv. Marketing concept

v. Societal concept

1. Production concept: This concept holds the view that consumers will prefer, produce that are
widely available and inexpensive. Those managers working in production oriented business will
concentrate on achieving high production. Low cost and mass distribution.

24
2. Product concept: This concept holds the view that customers will favor those products that
offers the most quality, performance .manager in these organization make efforts to improve
quality overtime. They assume that the customers admire well made product. The problem or
drawback of this concept is that manager’s gets bug down with the product instead of realizing
“what markets need”. The companies which is product oriented will have very little input from
the customers. They will not brother to study the competitor’s product. They believe that
engineering division can produce an exceptional product.

3. Selling concept: This concept assumes that customers if left alone will ordinarily not buy
enough of organization products. The organization must, therefore undertake aggressive selling
and promotion efforts. This concept assumes that consumers that consumers typically show
resistance to buy and therefore must be coaxed into buying. It also assumes that the company has
a battery of effective selling tools to stimulate more buying.

4. Marketing concept: This concept assumes that, the key to achieve organizational goal consists
of the company being more effective than competitors in creating, delivering and
communicating, customer value to its chosen target markets. The marketing concepts can be
expressed in many ways:

Marketing Orientations

How does a company choose their sales and marketing philosophy? A

company will select their philosophy by deciding on how to harness their internal strengths to
reach their consumers. What part of their arsenal will they use? Companies adopt one of four
philosophies when deciding on how to create an organizational marketing process. The four
philosophies are production, sales, product, marketing, societal marketing orientations and
holistic marketing orientations.

Production Orientation

The first philosophy we will discuss is production orientation. An easy way

to understand this term is to reference Henry Ford, the original manufacturer of American cars.
Production orientation is a philosophy that focuses on the internal capabilities of the firm rather
than on the desires and needs of the marketplace. Ford created one type of car and stated that the

25
consumer could have it in any color as long as it was black! Firms that use this philosophy
believe that they are utilizing their firm's strengths in the best way. They look internally and
decide on how to proceed depending upon their own capabilities. The one problem with this type
of philosophy is that it does not take into consideration whether their product or service actually
meets the needs of the consumer and market.

Marketing Orientation

Marketing orientation is the third philosophy and the first one that takes into
account the importance of the customer's needs. Marketing orientation is the philosophy that a
firm exists to satisfy consumer's wants and needs and also provides shareholder and corporate
benefit. Marketing orientation also incorporates the belief of long term customer relationship
building, the process of a combined business effort to satisfy customers and really researching
customer needs and wants. Businesses that are known for following this philosophy are Apple,
Disney, and Coca-Cola. They keep their eye on their consumer at all times.

Functions of Marketing Management

1. Functions of Exchange:
 Buying Function: A manufacturer is required to buy raw material for production
purposes similarly a wholesaler has to buy good from manufacturer for selling it to
retailer. A retailer sells the goods to the customer. The function of buying has to be
done at various levels. Buying involves transfer of ownership from seller to buyer.
 Assembly function: Goods purchased from various sources and assembled at one
place, to suit the requirement of the buyer.
 Selling functions: Selling function involves, sale of goods from seller to buyer. Selling
function is very important to all organization due to the fact the selling has to be done
against severe competition.

2. Function of Physical Distribution:

 Transportation: This includes mode of transport, selection of transporter or carrier,
freight coincide ratio like freight paid or to pay.
26
  Inventory management: These include short term fore casting, product, size and
location of warehouse, just in time and push or pull strategy adopted.
 Warehousing: The following functions are included like space requirement, suitability
of location, layout design and physical arrangement.
 Material handling: This includes equipment selection, equipment replacement,
storage methods and receipts and issues.

Marketing evolution

Marketing has changed over the centuries, decades and years. The production centered
system systematically changed into relationship era of today and over the period; the
specializations have emerged such as sales versus marketing and advertising versus retailing.
The overall evolution of marketing has given rise to the concept of business development.
Marketing has taken the modern shape after going through various stages since last the end of
19th century. The Production oriented practice of marketing prior to the twentieth century was
conservative and hidebound by rules-of-thumb and lack of information. Science & technology
developments and specially the development of information technology have now changed the
way people live, the way people do business and the way people sell and purchase.

Marketing in the 21st Century

Marketing in the 21st century is very different from its early beginnings. Today's
marketers have more choices in terms of support, media opportunities, and communications.
They also have more competition from varied sources, especially as the Internet has made it
possible for companies around the globe to compete virtually.

 More Communication Choices- The 21st century offers many choices for marketing
communications. Companies still have access to traditional tools, such as newspapers,
radio, and television, but also have a wide range of online tools, including social media.
More choices are a good thing; they present opportunities to connect with more people in
different ways than ever before. More choices also represent challenges, however.
Staying on top of the many options available can be time-consuming and sometimes
costly.

27
  More Creative Options- Technology has offered not only more options for sharing
marketing messages, but more selections for creating these messages as well. Today's
marketing personnel can use a range of tools to enhance communications through
graphics, sound, and movement. Inexpensive video cameras mean marketers can create
do-it-yourself media that saves both time and money. Be careful, as the quality of created
materials needs to be consistent with the desired brand image.
 More Consumer Choices- More consumers choices in the 21st century means more
competition for businesses from many sources. The Internet, in particular, now allows
even the smallest organization to establish a regional, national, or even international
presence. Competition now comes not only from the business across the street, but also
from across the world.
 Social Media Streamlines Word-of-Mouth- Word-of-mouth has always been an important
factor in successful marketing efforts, but social media makes this method even more of a
factor. Consumers have the ability to interact with millions of people in the 21st century,
in sharp contrast to the days when information was shared over the backyard fence.
 Tried and True Marketing Techniques Still Work- Despite the many new opportunities
available to marketers in the 21st century, tried and true marketing techniques still work.
Ultimately, successful marketing is about identifying a target market, understanding its
needs, and communicating the business' compelling messages through multiple channels.
These marketing messages all convey how consumer needs can be met by the business'
products and services.

Factors affecting marketing

Before you begin developing a new marketing plan, consider how each of these external
forces influences your choice of marketing direction and media.

i. Demographics: How will the composition of your market change and what opportunities
or hurdles will this create? How will population and housing demand evolve?
ii. Current and projected economic conditions: How will inflation, employment, taxes,
and other economic factors affect supply, demand, and pricing?
iii. Size, growth potential, and prosperity of the market: Will the size of your market
continue to support current business and/or allow the opportunity for business growth?
28
 What are the growth options for housing availability in your market? Is there vacant land
available? Are there geographic limitations on growth (a mountain range) Are there
zoning, use fees, and other restrictions that might fuel or limit growth?
iv. Market potential: Strengths and weakness of major competitors. How can you capitalize
on a competitor’s weakness?
v. Market share: What percentage of current transactions in your market are handled by
your company and what factors could change that percentage either positively or
negatively.
vi. Present customer composition: How do factors such education, buying frequency, age,
income level, occupations and hobbies affect the level of future demand among existing
customers.

Customer orientation

The consumer orientation is modern marketing philosophy that guides the practicing
managers to carry out marketing efforts in a manner that result into maximum consumer
satisfaction. The consumer orientation emphasizes on understanding consumers’ real needs, and
satisfying them better than any competitor. It requires the company to define the consumer needs
from consumer’s point of view. Company must do everything possible to meet expectations of
the target consumers.

Managerial Actions:

Consumer orientation is not just a concept. It carries many important managerial

implications. Maximum consumer satisfaction requires systematic marketing efforts. Consumer
orientation involves designing entire marketing programme (4 P’s) in such a way that maximum
consumer satisfaction can be achieved.

Marketing efforts are directed to satisfy consumers. Every decision is aimed at satisfying
needs and wants of the target consumers. Due to competition, the marketer tries to satisfy
customers more effectively and efficiently than the competitors.

Benefits of Consumer Orientation:

29
 Note that consumer orientation is not a marketing philosophy only, but it is a dominant
business philosophy and it deserves many practical implications for better managing. Company
can achieve its goals effectively by practicing consumer orientation philosophy. Consumer
orientation leads to consumer satisfaction. Consumer satisfaction offers several benefits to
company.

Company can have following benefits if it satisfies its consumers:

 Satisfied consumer buys more quantity of company’s products.

 Satisfied consumer buys the company’s products more frequently.
 Satisfied consumer talks favorably about the company and its products.
 Satisfied consumer is not easily impressed or attracted by competitors.
 Satisfied consumer tries and buys new products as and when the company introduces
them.
 Satisfied consumer extends necessary support during bad (adverse) time. He
compromises with the company’s offer and continues buying the product even at a little
loss.
 Satisfied consumer remains loyal to the company, gives valuable suggestions, and
protects company’s interest in all possible ways.
 Satisfied consumer extends all possible support to the company to carry out its operations
effectively.

Customer relationship management:

Customer relationship management (CRM) is not just the application of technology, but
is a strategy to learn more about customers needs and behaviours in order to develop stronger
relationships with them. As such it is more of a business philosophy than a technical solution to
assist in dealing with customers effectively and efficiently. Nevertheless, successful CRM relies
on the use of technology.

This guide outlines the business benefits and the potential drawbacks of implementing
CRM. It also offers help on the types of solution you could choose and how to implement them.

30
  What is CRM?

In the commercial world the importance of retaining existing customers and expanding
business is paramount. The costs associated with finding new customers mean that every existing
customer could be important. Customer relationship management (CRM) helps businesses to
gain an insight into the behaviour of their customers and modify their business operations to
ensure that customers are served in the best possible way. In essence, CRM helps a business to
recognise the value of its customers and to capitalise on improved customer relations. The better
you understand your customers, the more responsive you can be to their needs.

 CRM can be achieved by:

Finding out about your customers purchasing habits, opinions and preferences

Changing the way you operate to improve customer service and marketing

Benefiting from CRM is not just a question of buying the right software. You must also adapt
your business to the needs of your customers.

 Business benefits of CRM

Implementing a customer relationship management (CRM) solution might involve

considerable time and expense. However, there are many potential benefits.

Ultimately this could lead to:

enhanced customer satisfaction and retention, ensuring that your good reputation in the
marketplace continues to grow

increased value from your existing customers and reduced cost associated with supporting and
servicing them, increasing your overall efficiency and reducing total cost of sales

improved profitability by focusing on the most profitable customers and dealing with the
unprofitable in more cost effective ways

31
  How to implement CRM

The implementation of a customer relationship management (CRM) solution is best

treated as a six-stage process, moving from collecting information about your customers and
processing it to using that information to improve your marketing and the customer experience.

Stage 1 - Collecting information

The priority should be to capture the information you need to identify your customers and
categorise their behaviour. Those businesses with a website and online customer service have an
advantage as customers can enter and maintain their own details when they buy.

Stage 2 - Storing information

The most effective way to store and manage your customer information is in a relational
database - a centralised customer database that will allow you to run all your systems from the
same source, ensuring that everyone uses up-to-date information.

Stage 3 - Accessing information

With information collected and stored centrally, the next stage is to make this information
available to staff in the most useful format.

Stage 4 - Analysing customer behaviour

Using data mining tools in spreadsheet programs, which analyse data to identify patterns or
relationships, you can begin to profile customers and develop sales strategies.

Stage 5 - Marketing more effectively

Many businesses find that a small percentage of their customers generate a high percentage of
their profits. Using CRM to gain a better understanding of your customers' needs, desires and
self-perception, you can reward and target your most valuable customers.

32
Stage 6 - Enhancing the customer experience

Just as a small group of customers are the most profitable, a small number of complaining
customers often take up a disproportionate amount of staff time. If their problems can be
identified and resolved quickly, your staff will have more time for other customers.

POTENTIAL DRAWBACKS OF CRM

There are several reasons why implementing a customer relationship management (CRM)
solution might not have the desired results.

There could be a lack of commitment from people within the company to the
implementation of a CRM solution. Adapting to a customer-focused approach may require a
cultural change. There is a danger that relationships with customers will break down somewhere
along the line, unless everyone in the business is committed to viewing their operations from the
customers' perspective. The result is customer dissatisfaction and eventual loss of revenue.

Poor communication can prevent buy-in. In order to make CRM work, all the relevant
people in your business must know what information you need and how to use it.

Weak leadership could cause problems for any CRM implementation plan. The onus is
on management to lead by example and push for a customer focus on every project. If a proposed
plan isn't right for your customers, don't do it. Send your teams back to the drawing board to
come up with a solution that will work.

Trying to implement CRM as a complete solution in one go is a tempting but risky

strategy. It is better to break your CRM project down into manageable pieces by setting up pilot
programs and short-term milestones. Consider starting with a pilot project that incorporates all
the necessary departments and groups but is small and flexible enough to allow adjustments
along the way.

Don't underestimate how much data you will require, and make sure that you can expand
your systems if necessary. You need to carefully consider what data is collected and stored to
ensure that only useful data is kept.

33
Advantages

The main advantages of CRM are:

 The business learns what the needs of its customers are and can organise their operations
accordingly. The goal is to provide the products/services they expect and maximise
effectiveness and efficiency of the operations
 It allows organizations to see how customers’ needs evolve overtime and adjust their
operations accordingly
 CRM can increase customer retention, favor repeated purchases, increase profit and
improve the quality of the products/services provided
 It supports planning and control activities, since they are a way of reconciling supply and
demand (Ibid.). In this respect, CRM can be used to analyze current trends, forecast
future trends and monitor the evolution of the demand overtime.
 CRM can help creating unique and exclusive relationships with single customers or group
of customers. This have a positive, psychological effect on customers who feel
considered and listened to.

Disadvantages of CRM

 It seems to be mainly focused on retention of existing customers rather than on the

acquisition of new ones
 Legal aspects (e.g.: privacy) and ethical issues should be considered during its
implementation
 It may lead organizations to discriminate group of customers. More profitable customers
may enjoy better treatments and conditions than occasional customers. This may damage
the image of the company.
 First, a mistaken tool choice may make CRM more complicated. This is why you need to
consider in advance what kind of tools would be appropriate to your structure in order to
follow its relationship with its customers and prospects.
 CRM is not easy to put in place, attention must be given to the choice of tools, but also to
the effective implementation of CRM process that will be undertaken by the company.

34
CONCEPT OF THE STUDY

The Indian Retail Industry is the fifth biggest on the planet. Involving sorted out and
disorderly segments, Indian retail industry are one of the quickest developing businesses in India,
particularly throughout the most recent couple of years. In spite of the fact that at first the retail
business in India was for the most part chaotic, however with the change of taste and inclinations
of buyers, the Industry is getting more mainstream nowadays and getting sorted out too. The
Indian Retail Industry is relied upon to develop from US$330 billion in 2007 to US$640 billion
by 2015.

In These we can easily assume that hoe much of the people are aware of the foreign
brands and that will help the foreign company to promote themselves .But here in the case of
decathlon we have seen that they do not spent much money on any kind of the promotion. They
just use to promote the product inside the three store only. But the best part is the they have the
best team for each sport to explain to the users. And that is only the main concept which they are
following.

Indian consumerism is developing quickly. The country’s consumers have moved

from price consideration to a desire for design and quality. That is, they now have a willingness
to experiment with mainstream fashion (Biswas, 2006). This growth of consumerism is leading
to a demand for luxury goods, cosmopolitan fashions, and international brands. The growing
income and demand of Indian consumers is also leading to an increase in consumer
consumption. India’s urban population will reach 85 million over the next 10 years, becoming
second only to china.

Indian Retail Industry

India's Retailing Boom has gained further energy, dynamism and liveliness with
worldwide players testing in the Indian business sector and the nation's current mammoths
finding a way to charm the purchaser. In the meantime, the early contestants are rethinking their
systems to stay focused and suit the new market scene. It was found that the quality of foreign
brands was perceived to be generally higher and superior to local brands. Most consumers also
associated greater accessibility of foreign brands in the Indian market with better quality at lower
prices. Despite high levels of nationalism and preference for indigenous manufacture, as

35
evidenced in high factor ratings on an ethnocentrism scale, which might indicate a positive bias
towards local brands, Indian consumers were not prejudiced against foreign brand names. In fact,
they evaluated them higher on technology, quality, status and esteem than Indian brands, and
attributed higher credibility to those countries‐of‐origin.

Awareness of the brand

If we see in India now a days the people are getting knowledge of decathlon and there
brands. If we see in other hand the brands of decathlon product are very renewable and good in
term of quality and that it is very much affective in term of other foreign brands. Because here
we a getting better product in a low price and the company itself provide the guide line for that
product so that we can be aware of the usage of the product

The best part of these company is the customer relation and the service that are been
provided to the customer is awesome. If we see that the user satisfaction of the last year in 89%
which is pretty good as compare to the famous brand of the same sector.

The Four Ps Model

 Product – The first of the Four Ps of marketing is product. A product can be either a tangible
good or an intangible service that fulfills a need or want of consumers. Whether you sell
custom pallets and wood products or provide luxury accommodations, it’s imperative that
you have a clear grasp of exactly what your product is and what makes it unique before you
can successfully market it.
 Price – Once a concrete understanding of the product offering is established we can start
making some pricing decisions. Price determinations will impact profit margins, supply,
demand and marketing strategy. Similar (in concept) products and brands may need to be
positioned differently based on varying price points, while price elasticity considerations may
influence our next two Ps.
 Promotion – We’ve got a product and a price now it’s time to promote it. Promotion looks at
the many ways marketing agencies disseminate relevant product information to consumers
and differentiate a particular product or service. Promotion includes elements like:
advertising, public relations, social media marketing, email marketing, search engine

36
 marketing, video marketing and more. Each touch point must be supported by a well
positioned brand to truly maximize return on investment.
 Place – Often you will hear marketers saying that marketing is about putting the right
product, at the right price, at the right place, at the right time. It’s critical then, to evaluate
what the ideal locations are to convert potential clients into actual clients. Today, even in
situations where the actual transaction doesn’t happen on the web, the initial place potential
clients are engaged and converted is online.

The five stages framework remains a good way to evaluate the customer’s buying process

1. Problem/need recognition
This is often identified as the first and most important step in the customer’s
decision process. A purchase cannot take place without the recognition of the need. The need
may have been triggered by internal stimuli (such as hunger or thirst) or external stimuli (such
as advertising or word of mouth)

2. Information search
Having recognised a problem or need, the next step a customer may take is the
information search stage, in order to find out what they feel is the best solution. This is the
buyer’s effort to search internal and external business environments, in order to identify and
evaluate information sources related to the central buying decision. Your customer may rely on
print, visual, online media or word of mouth for obtaining information.

3. Evaluation of alternatives
As you might expect, individuals will evaluate different products or brands at this stage
on the basis of alternative product attributes – those which have the ability to deliver the
benefits the customer is seeking. A factor that heavily influences this stage is the customer’s
attitude. Involvement is another factor that influences the evaluation process. For example, if
the customer’s attitude is positive and involvement is high, then they will evaluate a number of
companies or brands; but if it is low, only one company or brand will be evaluated.

37
4. Purchase decision
The penultimate stage is where the purchase takes place. Philip Kotler (2009) states that
the final purchase decision may be ‘disrupted’ by two factors: negative feedback from other
customers and the level of motivation to accept the feedback. For example, having gone
through the previous three stages, a customer chooses to buy a new telescope. However,
because his very good friend, a keen astronomer, gives him negative feedback, he will then be
bound to change his preference. Furthermore, the decision may be disrupted due to unforeseen
situations such as a sudden job loss or relocation.

5. Post-purchase behavior
In brief, customers will compare products with their previous expectations and will be
either satisfied or dissatisfied. Therefore, these stages are critical in retaining customers. This can
greatly affect the decision process for similar purchases from the same company in the future,
having a knock-on effect at the information search stage and evaluation of alternatives stage. If
your customer is satisfied, this will result in brand loyalty, and the Information search and
Evaluation of alternative stages will often be fast-tracked or skipped altogether.

38
 CHAPTER-4
DATA ANLYSIS & INTERPRETATION

39
Data Analysis and interpretation

4.1. Table showing does customer know Decathlon?

No Of Respondents Percentage
YES 1470 73.5

NO 530 26.5
TOTAL 2000 100
4.1 Figure showing does customer know Decathlon?

NO

YES

Interpretation: The above figure showing the data collected from the responds shows that
73.5% of them know the decathlon and 26.5% of them don’t know the decathlon.

40
 4.2. Table showing does customer practice any sports?

SPORTS Respondents Percentage

Hiking 70 3.5
Football 370 18.5
Cricket 430 21.5
Basketball. 210 10.5
Swimming 190 9.5
Badminton. 280 14
Cycling. 130 6.5
Fitness 80 4
Running. 110 5.5
Horse Riding 20 1
Other. 110 5.5
Total 2000 100
4.2 The graph showing customer practice any sports?
50
Cricket, 43
45
40 Football, 37
35
Badminton, 28
30
25 Basketball. , 21
Swimming, 19
20
Cycling. , 13 Running., 11
15
Fitness, 8
10 Hiking ,7
5 Horse Riding, 2
0

Interpretation: The figure is showing that 70 of them are hikers, 370 of them like to play
football, 430 of them likes to play cricket, 210 of them likes to play basketball, 190 of them
likes to swim, 280 of them likes to play badminton, 130 of them likes to ride cycle, 800 of them
love to go to gym, 110 of them use to go to for running, 20 of them like to do house riding and
110 of them like other sports.

41
 4.3. Table showing how is customer experience of shopping through online?

No of respondents Percentage
Highly Satisfied 1137 56.85
Satisfied 436 21.8
Moderate 217 10.85
Dis-Satisfied 123 6.15
Highly Dis-satisfied 87 4.35
Total 2000 100
4.3. Chart showing how is customer experience of shopping through online??

1200

1000

800

600

400

200

0
Highly Satisfied Satisfied Moderate Dis-satisfied Highly Dis-satisfied

Interpretation: The figure shows that 56.85% of them are highly satisfied,21.8% of them
satisfied,10.85% of them moderate satisfied,6.15% of them are Dis-satisfied,4.35% of them are
Highly Dis-satisfied of experience through online.

42
CHI SQUARE TEST

NULL HYPOTHESIS:

. H0: The customer are not satisfied with online service.

ALTERNATIVE HYPOTHESIS:

H1: The customer are satisfied with online service

Observed Expected
Particulars Frequency Frequency (O - E) (O – E)2 (O – E)2
(O) (E) E

Highly 1137 400 737 543169 1357.9

Satisfied

Satisfied 436 400 36 1296 3.24

Moderate 217 400 -183 33489 83.72
Dis-Satisfied 123 400 -277 76729 191.82
Highly Dis- 87 400 -316 99856 249.64
satisfied

TOTAL 2000 2000 1886.32

Expected Frequency:

E =Number of respondent/Number of options = 2000/5 = 400

Degree of Freedom: =5-1=4

Level of Significance: = 5%

Table Value: = 9.488

43
Calculated value = 1886.32

Note: If the calculated price is greater than chart price accepts Alternative Hypothesis (H1) as accepted

If the calculated price is less than table price accept Null Hypothesis (H0) and reject Alternative
Hypothesis (H1)

Since the calculated value of X2 = 1886.32 is greater than tabulated value 9.488, it is significant
and Alternative hypothesis is accepted and Null hypothesis has been rejected at 5% levels of
significance. Hence it is concluded that the promotional offers have attracted customers.

Inference: It is very clearly identified that customers are satisfied with online service.

4.4. Table showing does customer go for Hiking?

44
 Respondents No Of Respondents Percentage

YES 70 3.5

NO 1930 96.5

TOTAL 2000 100

4.4. Chart showing does customer go for Hiking?

NO
NO, 1930

YES YES, 7

0 50 100 150 200 250

Interpretation: The figure shows that out of total only 70 of the use to go for
hiking/trekking rest of them are interested in some other sports.

4.5 Table showing If yes to Question no 3, which are they?

45
 Places Respondents Percentage
Himalayan base camp 10 14.29
Annapurna Base Camp Trek 10 14.29
Around Bangalore 20 28.57
Chadar Trek 10 14.29
other 20 28.57
TOTAL 70 100
4.5 Table showing If yes to Question no 3, which are they?

25

20

15

Around Bangalore,
10 Other, 20
20

Himalayan base Annapurna Base

5 Chadar Trek, 10
camp, 10 Camp Trek, 10

0
Himalayan base Annapurna Base Around Bangalore Chadar Trek Other
camp Camp Trek

Interpretation: The following analysis shows that 14.29% of respondents visit to

Himalayam base camp. And same 14.29% visits Annapurna Base camp trek,
28.57% visits around Bangalore, 14.29% goes to Chadar Trek and balance 28.57%
visits other places.

4.6. Table showing with whom customer use to go for Hike?

46
 With Whom No of respondents Percentage
Family 10 14.29
Friends 30 42.85
Club 10 14.29
Organizer 20 28.57
Total 70 100
4.6. Chart showing with whom customer use to go for Hike?

3.5

2.5

1.5

0.5

0
Family Friends Club Organizer

Interpretation: The figure shows that 14.29% of them use to go with the family, 42.85%
use to go with the friends, 14.29% of them use to go with the help of the club, 28.57% of them
use to go with the organizer

4.7. Table showing how much customer likes to spend on Apparels &Equipments?

47
 Amount No Of Respondents Percentage
0-4000 16 22.85
4000-8000 21 30
8000-12000 17 24.27
12000-16000 9 12.85
16000-above 7 10
Total 70 100
4.7. Table showing how much customer likes to spend on Apparels &Equipments?

25
4000-8000, 21
20 0-4000, 16
8000-12000, 17
15
10
5 12000-16000, 9

0 16000-20000, 7

Interpretation: The analysis shows that 22.85% of the total use to spend 4000,
30% of them use to spend 4000-8000, 24.27% of the total use to spend 8000-
12000, 12.85% of them use to spend 12000-16000 and only 10% of the total use to
spend more than 16000.

4.8. Table showing which brand do customer use?

48
 Brand Users Percentage
Puma 08 11.42
Wed’ze 07 10
Queshua 13 18.57
Domoys 09 12.85
Reebok 12 17.14
Kipsta 03 4.28
B-twin 02 2.85
Adidas 07 10
Wildcraft 09 12.85
Total 70 100
4.8. Figure showing which brand do customer use?

14 Queshua, 13
Reebok, 12
12
10 Domoys, 9 Wildcraft, 9
Puma, 8
8 Wed'ze, 7 Adidas, 7
6
4 Kipsta, 3
B-Twin, 2
2
0
Puma Wed'ze Queshua Domoys Reebok Kipsta B-Twin Adidas Wildcraft

Interpretation: The figure shows that 11.4% of the total users uses the puma,
Wedze is been used by 10% of them, 18.57% of them uses the queshua, 12.85% of
them uses the domyos, 17.14% of them uses the rebook which is the highest of all,
4.28% of them uses the kipsta product, 2.85% of them uses the B-Twin Product,
10% of them uses the Adidas product, 12.85% of them uses the wildcraft product.

49
 4.9 Table showing customers satisfaction level towards foreign brands .

Reason No Of Respondents Percentage

Very good 19 27.15
Good 14 20
Neutral 11 15.72
Bad 17 24.28
Very bad 09 12.86
Total 70 100
4.9 Chart showing customers satisfaction level towards foreign brands .

20

18

16

14

12

10

0
Very good Good Neutral Bad Very bad

Interpretation: In these study we observed that under 19 of them uses a particular

product because of low price, 14 of them uses the product because of the Better
Quality, 11 of them use the product because of the warranty,17 of them uses
because for them they believe in the after sales services, 9 of them prefer because
of the product availability.

50
CHI SQUARE TEST

NULL HYPOTHESIS:

Ho: The customers are not satisfied with foreign brands

ALTERNATIVE HYPOTHESIS:

H1: The customers are satisfied with foreign brands

Particulars Observed Expected

Frequency Frequency O–E (O - E)2 (O - E)2
(O) (E) E

Very good 19 14 5 25 1.786

Good 14 14 0 0 0
Neutral 11 14 -3 9 5.653
Bad 17 14 3 9 1.643
Very bad 09 14 -5 25 1.786
Total 70 10.878

Expected Frequency: E =Number of respondent/Number of options = 100/5 = 20 Degree of

Freedom: =5-1=4

Level of Significance: = 5%

Table Value: = 9.488

Calculated value = 10.878

51
Note: If the calculated price is greater than chart price accepts Alternative Hypothesis (H1) as
accepted If the calculated price is less than table price accept Null Hypothesis (H0) and reject
Alternative Hypothesis (H1) Since the calculated value of X2 = 10.878is smaller than tabulated
value 9.488, it is significant and Alternative hypothesis is accepted and Null hypothesis has been
accepted at 5% levels of significance. Hence it is concluded that the customer are satisfied with
foreign brands

Inference: It is very clearly identified that that the customer are satisfied with foreign brands.

52
 4.10. Table showing are customers aware of this brands?

Brands No of respondents Percentage

Quechua 762 38.1
Tribord 113 5.65
Domyos 928 46.4
B'Twin 522 26.1
Kipsta 688 34.4
Nabaiji 722 36.1
Wed'ze 97 4.85
Simond 18 0.9
Kalenji 255 12.75
Newfeel 654 32.7
Artengo 545 27.25
Inesis 124 6.2
Geologic 66 3.3
Caperlan 27 1.35
Solognac 115 5.75
Fouganza 13 0.65
Oxelo 325 16.25
Aptonia 212 10.6
Orao 198 9.9

53
 4.10. Table showing are customers aware of this brands?

1000
900
800
700
600
500
400
300
200
100
0

Interpretation: By the following analysis we can see our users not stick to one brand they are
for a single sport they are buying product from different brand that may be non-
availability of the products. In this analysis the domoys is the most famous brands of all
which consumer knows. Simond is the brand which is least known by the respondents.

54
 Chapter-5

Finding, Suggestions and conclusions.

55
 5.1Finding

 The analysis showing the data collected from the responds shows that 73.5% of them know the
decathlon and 26.5% of them don’t know the decathlon.
 The analysis is showing that 70 of them are hikers, 370 of them like to play football, 430 of them
likes to play cricket, 210 of them likes to play basketball, 190 of them likes to swim, 280 of them
likes to play badminton, 130 of them likes to ride cycle, 800 of them love to go to gym, 110 of them
use to go to for running, 20 of them like to do house riding and 110 of them like other sports.
 The analysis shows that out of total only 70 of the use to go for hiking/trekking rest of them are
interested in some other sports.
 The analysis showing the from were people prefer to purchase its shows that 31% of the people prefer
to purchase from big bazaar, 26% of the people prefer to purchase from reliance fresh, 18%of the
people prefer to purchase from sainach, 31% of the people prefer to purchase from big bazaar, 10% of
the people prefer to purchase from d mart, 15%of the people prefer to purchase from other.
 The analysis shows that 14.29% of them use to go with the family, 42.85% use to go with the friends,
14.29% of them use to go with the help of the club, 28.57% of them use to go with the organizer.
 The analysis shows that 22.85% of the total use to spent 4000, 30% of them use to spend 4000-8000,
24.27% of the total use to spend 8000-12000, 12.85% of them use to spend 12000-16000 and only
10% of the total use to spend more than 16000
 The analysis shows that 8 of the total users uses the puma, Wedze is been used by 7 of them, 13 of
them uses the queshua, 9 of them uses the domyos, 12 of them uses the rebook which is the highest of
all, 3 of them uses the kipsta product, 2 of them uses the B-Twin Product, 7 of them uses the Adidas
product, 9 of them uses the wildcraft product.
 In these study we observed that under 19 of them uses a particular product because of low price,14 of
them uses the product because of the Better Quality, 11 of them use the product because of the
warranty,17 of them uses because for them they believe in the after sales services, 9 of them prefer
because of the product availability.
 By the following analysis we can see our users not stick to one brand they are for single sports they
are buying product from different brand that may be non-availability of the products. In this analysis
the domoys is the most famous brands of all which consumer knows. Simond is the brand which is
least aware by the users.

56
 5.2 Suggestions

After doing this survey or the study we have observed that got many suggestion and
feedback from our users and we have observed that many of the consumer are aware of the
decathlon. But they are not aware of the brands which the company have So the company has to
take steps towards the brand awareness of the product they have.

• The online site should be designed properly.

• They should have home delivery facility

• Some special discount should be given to the regular users.

• There should be proper contact between the stores within the city.

57
 5.3 Conclusions.

We can easily assume that how much of the people are aware of the foreign brands and
that will help the foreign company to promote themselves .But here in the case of decathlon we
have seen that they do not spent much money on any kind of the promotion. They just use to
promote the product inside their store only. But the best part is the they have the best team for
each sport to explain to the users.

If we see in India now a days the people are getting knowledge of decathlon and there
brands. If we see in other hand the brands of decathlon product are very renewable and good in
term of quality and that it is very much affective in term of other foreign brands. Because here
we a getting better product in a low price and the company itself provide the guide line for that
product so that we can be aware of the usage of the product

The best part of these company is the customer relation and the service that are been
provided to the customer is awesome. But in other hand we have seen that they are not talking
steps to promote their brands but they are coming with some new concept which is highly
confidential.

58
Bibliography
 Sinha, P. K. and Banerjee, A. (2004).Store choice behaviour in an evolving market.
International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management
 Inside store (2009).Unplanned Buying at Traditional Retail in India. A Research Report
Insight in store, Research report USA
 Terblanche, N. S. and Boshoff, C. (2006).The relationship between a satisfactory in-store
shopping experience and retailer loyalty.
 Goswami, P. (2008). Would Kiranas in Urban India Survive the Modern Trade
Onslaught? Insight from Efficiency Perspective..
 Jim Armstrong (1999); the Syndicated Loan Market: Developments in the North
American Context.
 Benjamin E. Hermalin, Nancy E. Wallace (2006); Firm performance and executive
compensation in the savings and loan industry.
 Charles A Goldman, Nicole C Hopper, Julie G Osborn (2012); Review of US ESCO
industry market trends: an empirical analysis of project data.
 Robert R. PrechterJr (2004); Unconscious Herding Behavior as the Psychological Basis
of Financial Market Trends and Patterns.
 Robert M. Wiseman and CatanachCatanachJr (2003); A Longitudinal Disaggregation of
Operational Risk under Changing Regulations: Evidence From the Savings and Loan
Industry.
 Benjamin C. Esty (2006); Organizational form and risk taking in the savings and loan
industry..
 Anderson, J.C. and Gerbing, D.W. (1988); “Structural Equation Modeling In Practice: A
Review And Recommended Two-Step Approach.
 Johnson, M. D. and Fornell, C. (1991); “A Framework for Comparing Customer
Satisfaction across Individuals and Product Categories.

59
 Annexure

Questionnaire
Ref #-
Name - Area/Pincode –
Age&Sex .- Income-

1. Do u know Decathlon?

a) Yes b) No

2. Do you practice any sports?

a)Hiking. b)Football. c)Cricket. d)basketball. e)Swimming.

f)Badminton. g)Cycling. h)Fitness. i) Horse Riding. j) Running.

3. How the customer experience of shopping through online?

a)Highly Satisfied b)Satisfied c)Moderate

d)Dis-Satisfied e)Highly Dis-satisfied

4. Do you go for Hiking?

a) Yes b)No

5. If yes to Que 3, which are they?

………………………….

6.With whom you use to?

a)Family. b)Friends. c)Club. d) Organizer.

60
7. How much you like to spend on Apparels &Equipments..?

a)0-4000 b)4000-8000 c)8000-12000

d)12000-16000 e)16000-20000

8. Which brand do you use?

a)Puma b)Wed’ze c)Quechua d)Domoys e)Reebook

f)kipsta g)b-twin h)Adidas i)Wildcraft j)…………

9. Customer satisfaction level towards the foreign brands?

a) Very good b) Good c) Neutral d) Bad e) Very bad

10Are you aware of this brands

a)Quechua b)Tribord, c)Domyos

d) B'Twin e) Kipsta f)Nabaiji
g) Wed'ze h)Simond i) Kalenji
j)Newfeel k)Artengo l)Inesis,
m)Geologic n)Caperlan o)Solognac
p)Fouganza q) Oxelo r)Aptonia
s)Geonaute t)Orao

11.Would you like to say any suggestion to decathlon…?

………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………

61