INTRODUCTION

Amongst the various retail formats, hypermarkets have

been the most successful format in India. The total
organised retail grew by 17.4 per cent in 2005-2006,
while the Indian hypermarket segment grew at a much
faster pace of 37.2 per cent during the same period
(Cygnus Business Consulting & Research, 2007).
it is imperative for retailers to know what drives Indian
consumers to hypermarkets. Many studies have
developed taxonomies of shoppers based on shopping
motivation in different retail formats. Most of these
studies have been conducted in the western context.
In India 79 per cent of category planning occurs before
entering the store.
These findings suggest that consumers’ needs and
shopping patterns are different in different countries.
The strategies that have been successful in other
countries may not be successful in India because of the
diversity in the preferences of the Indian customers.
To be successful in India, retailers need to understand
the underlying shopping motivation of Indian
consumers.
AIM OF THE STUDY
The case study examines the underlying Indian
shopper motivation to shop at hypermarkets, and to
delineate segments based on shopping motivation.
Further insight into the identified segments is obtained
through profiles based on demographic variables and
shopping outcomes.
The study also draws a parallel between consumers’
motivation to shop at hypermarkets with that of
traditional stores.
METHOD
Given the purpose of this research, an initial pool of 17
items on motives for shopping at the hypermarket was
generated based on the review of literature.
The respondents were asked to talk about the reasons
for shopping at hypermarket versus traditional store.
They were also asked to recall their last visit to a
hypermarket and a traditional store and the researcher
probed on their motive for visit, activities undertaken
and shopping experience.
All the responses were measured on a seven-point Likert scale (1 ¼ strongly
disagree, 7 ¼ strongly agree). Shoppers’ demographic characteristics were also
recorded. The questionnaires based on the scales were pretested, and refined to
provide better clarity and understanding.
DATA COLLECTION
On-site data collection was undertaken since it is
easier for respondents to answer questions about their
reasons for visiting the store while they are still at the
store.
The hypermarket sample- The store intercept survey
was carried out at a hypermarket in a northern city of
India. The store is a part of India’s largest chain of
hypermarkets. It has several sections carrying apparel,
electronic goods, stationery, grocery, cosmetics, music
and household items, to name a few. Shoppers were
requested to fill out the questionnaire when they had
completed majority of their shopping.
The traditional store sample- Shoppers were
approached as they exited the store. A total of 116
responses were obtained from 20 grocery stores
located in different parts of the city. The traditional
store respondents were matched with the hypermarket
respondents on demographic variables to ensure
sample equivalence.
RESULT OF THE STUDY
The results reveal that hypermarket shopping in India
is driven by functional, recreational and social
motivation. The hypermarkets provide not only
functional benefits such as a large variety of products
and good bargains, but are also seen as a get-away
destination for fun by the Indian shoppers.
The study reveals that Indian consumers prefer to shop
at small traditional stores for convenience and
relationship established with the retailer.
The hypermarkets and the traditional stores meet different
shopping needs. This finding corroborates the conclusions
drawn in several studies that both organised and unorganised
retail can co-exist and grow substantially in size.
Based on the three motivations identified for shopping at
hypermarkets, four types of hypermarket shoppers can be
distinguished –
1. utilitarians (high on functional motivation),
2. maximisers (high on functional and recreational motivation),
3. browsers (high on social motivation)
4. enthusiasts (high on all dimensions of shopping motivation).
The maximisers form the largest group of shoppers (33
per cent of the total sample), indicating that majority
of Indian shoppers go to hypermarkets with a
combination of product and entertainment motives.
The browsers, who are driven by motives such as
enjoying the crowd and watching others, form the
second largest group (30 per cent) of shoppers.
Another interesting finding is that no apathetic shopper
group (low on all dimensions of shopping motivation)
was detected, which is otherwise very common in
studies on shopping motivation.
This indicates that Indians are, by and large, motivated
shoppers. The non-existence of apathetic shopper
group can be explained in the light that since organised
retail is in an emerging phase in India, consumers are
enjoying one or the other aspect of shopping at
hypermarket.
The results indicate a high percentage of females versus
males in the utilitarian segment. Thus, Indian females appear
to be more task-oriented.
It is likely that the older generation, being more used to
buying at traditional small retail stores, seeks purchase
related benefits as compared to experiential benefits at the
organised hypermarket.
The browsers constituted the youngest group spend more
time in the store than intended as compared to other groups
of shoppers. This indicates that a significant number of
young males visit the hypermarket to socialise and spend
time.
CONCLUSION
This study provides a building block towards
understanding the shopping motivation of Indian
shoppers and developing their typologies.
Since the Indian retail market is continuously
evolving, a natural possible extension is to determine
shopping motivation and typologies of shoppers in a
much more matured environment as a future research.