A study on Implementation of location strategy for expansion of THE CHENNAI MOBILES in Coimbatore

B. Mohamed Ikramul Hasan

Need for the study

The company is in the fast paced expansion mode within and outside the city and is in need to identify the strategic location for its stores that will give them long term strategic advantage over the competitors in the evolving market scenario. This study focuses on factors affecting the optimal location decision and understanding this to arrive at a suitable location.

Company profile
Organised retail of mobiles
The chennai mobiles is a chain of retail mobile store, based in Coimbatore. It has over 25 outlets spread across 8 cities/towns Third largest retailer in Tamil Nadu. Second largest in Coimbatore Competitiors
Univercell and Poorvika.

Industry focus
The industry is focussed on expansion into tier 2 and 3 cities. The urban market is experiencing high rivalry between the competitors. Competing with each other for market space.

Objectives
PRIMARY OBJECTIVE To identify an optimal retail store location

SECONDARY OBJECTIVES To reduce expansion risk To study the factors Affecting location decision

Location Strategies for retail

Location is the most important factor for any business that relies on customers. Location decision can be complex cost can be quite high. There is little flexibility once a location has been chosen.

Importance
Location is a major revenue factor in retail business because it Affects the amount of customer traffic Affects the volume of business Location is a major cost factor because it Involves large capital investment Affects transportation costs Affects human resource cost

Review of literature
Ghosh, A., and McLafferty, S., Location Strategies for Retail and Service Firms, Lexington,Mass Lextinton Books, 1987 Retail Location Analysis in Practice Retail Site Analysis is Much More Than Location, Location, LocationDavid S. Rogers Oxford Universitys Institute of Management Location, Location, Location: The Strategy of Place Juan Alcacer ,associate professor in the Strategy at Harvard Business School

Location Decisions and its Determining Factors

Selection of a city Selection of an area or type of location within a city Identification of a specific site

Methodology
Primary data: Questionnaire,Direct

Secondary data Internal data source from company Research design: Descriptive Sampling technique: simple random sampling Sample size: 150 respondents

Statistical tools
Percentage Analysis Central place theory Retail Gravitation Factor Analysis Statistical tools such as Chi-Square test, ANOVA, Parametric Test and Non Parametric Test