A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE IN CAF COFFEE DAY VS BARISTA

International Journal of Advanced Research in Management (IJARM), ISSN 0976 – 6324
(Print), ISSN 0976 – 6332 (Online), Volume 3, Issue 2, July-December (2012)
40
A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE IN CAFÉ
COFFEE DAY VS BARISTA
Vijay.R.Kulkarni M.Com, MBA
Assistant Professor
Sinhagad Institute of Management
and Computer Applications
Pune, Maharashtra, India
Email: Vijaykulkarni_r@rediffmail.com
ABSTRACT
The study is about customer perceptions about customer experience practices of Barista vs. Cafe
Coffee Day. The study was conducted in the city of Pune (India) during 01.06.2012 to
15.07.2012.For the purpose of this study Exploratory Research Design is used. Convenience
sampling method is adopted for the study. Survey method is used for collecting the data. The
data is collected through interviews with respondents from different professions, age,
occupations & also intercepts at Barista and CCD. The sample for the study is 146 respondents.
Nominal scale is used for all the variables except age, income, family size, no of children
wherein ratio scale is used. SPSS 17 versions is used. Various statistical tools like Cronbach’s
Alpha for Scale Reliability, Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy and z test are
used for data analysis. The findings of the study reveal that of the twenty five variables
considered in the study customer’s perception is found to be unfavorable in case of four variables
viz. 1) Exterior (facade) of the restaurant 2) Enough space in the isles to move comfortably in the
restaurant 3) Scent & Perfume in the Restaurant 4) Delivery time taken for serving the products
& 5) Taste and quality of Products.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ADVANCED RESEARCH
IN MANAGEMENT (IJARM)
ISSN 0976 - 6324 (Print)
ISSN 0976 - 6332 (Online)
Volume 3, Issue 2, July-December (2012), pp. 40-49
© IAEME: www.iaeme.com/ijarm.asp
Journal Impact Factor (2012): 2.8021 (Calculated by GISI)
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41
Key Words: Comparative Analysis, Customer Perceptions, Coffee Cafes, Taste & Quality of
food
1. INTRODUCTION
Drinking coffee and tea is an inseparable part of Indian culture with south dominated by coffee
drinking. Offering tea or coffee to guests in any house hold is the minimum courtesy shown by
Indians to the guests. Discussion over a cup of tea or coffee with friends during college days has
been a common feature amongst all Indians.
In the pre-independence era Coffee houses belonging to Indian Coffee Board were the meeting
places for the intellectuals, freedom fighters, politicians’ and social activists etc. to discuss issues
over a cup of coffee in the informal atmosphere of the coffee house. The tradition still continued
albeit the existing restaurants available around.
Due to liberalization; the television penetration, internet and phenomenal growth in mobile usage
has resulted in information explosion around the Indian consumer that has turned the passive
consumer to a knowledgeable and vibrant consumer has given the Indian urbanites a better
comprehension of lifestyles around the globe, particularly the western culture, resulting in Indian
Urban young emulating the western life style. The lateral movement of the populace from rural
to urban areas in search of jobs and education, movement of people from one state to another has
changed the face of Indian society to cosmopolitan one. Today’s consumer no longer consumes
products and services in the traditional sense but looks at the value derived through experience
one undergoes in the process. Among other things one of the fall outs of Globalization is the
birth of Modern retail format across products and services including fast food restaurants
encompassing coffee cafes like Barista and Café Coffee Day. Over a period of time coffee
drinking has travelled from the traditional coffee houses to coffee cafes.
The changing lifestyle of young, unworldly mobile middle-class revolutionalized the café culture
with the young group of college girls and boys executives holding meeting with their customers
on lap tops. Entrepreneurs across the professions with the constraint of not having official space
use the cafes as a meeting place. Hobby groups, Journalists, writers, Women’s club’s opt coffee
cafes to spend time leisurely get-together. For the people visiting coffee cafes besides coffee and
eatables may be incidental but what matters to them is the space and privacy, pleasing ambience

42
and atmospherics, relaxed atmosphere where they can unwind move on to a different level and
enjoy the blissful experience.
Barista and Café Coffee Day are the only two major players in the Indian coffee café industry in
India and the customers look at them as interchangeable brands. Therefore these two coffee café
chains have been selected to study the customer’s perception of customer experience practices
followed by these chains.
Following is the brief comparative profile of Barista and Café Coffee Day
Table 1 Barista Café Coffee Day
Year of
establishment
1999 1996
No. of stores-
Restaurants
317 1319 outlets
Products Vivacious Spicy Coffee, Vintage Butter Rum
Coffee, Haute Hazelnut Coffee, Bespoke
Coffee Chai, Polish Irish Coffee, Dazzling
Cinnamon Honey Coffee, Cold/Hot
coffee/Tea, Banana Smoothie, Breakfasts,
sandwiches, Chicken, Calzone, Pasta, Cakes
& Deserts to mention a few
Cappuccino, Coffee Latte, Espresso, Coffee
Mocha, Irish Coffee, Ice Coffee, Darjeeling
Tea, Veggie Samosa, Masala sandwich, tikka
sandwich, Chocó Doughnut, Chocó Brownie,
Spicy Chicken Salzone, All American
Muffin, Mirch Masala Chatka, Cookies etc to
mention a few
Price Differential Pricing Strategy Differential Pricing Strategy
Place
Strategically located outlets, at High Street/
Family Entertainment Centers, in and around
Malls, Cinemas
Strategically located outlets, at High Street/
Family Entertainment Centers, in and around
Malls, Cinemas, gas stations, near Colleges
etc
Promotion Sponsorships, collaborations, sales
promotion: Barista Coffee Card
Sponsorships, collaborations, sales
promotion: Cafe Coffee Day Card
People Groomed, Trained, Courteous
Pleasant, Polite and Positive
Groomed, Trained, Courteous. Pleasant,
Polite and Positive
Process Self service basis Self service basis
Atmospherics Business Sign, Aesthetically designed
restaurants & menus, posters, pamphlets &
Magazines, Hygiene, AC, Music, TV,
Illumination
Business Sign, Aesthetically designed
restaurants & menus, , posters, pamphlets &
Magazines, Hygiene, AC, Music, TV,
Illumination
Training &
Development
14 days rigorous training procedure for each
employee: Induction & Refresher
12 days rigorous training procedure for each
employee: Induction & Refresher
Other Merchandize Coffee Maker, Coffee Mugs, Magic Cups,
Business Card Holders, Dolls, Gift
Vouchers, Barista House Premium Plunger,
Coffee Makers, Coffee Mugs, Coffee
Powders, Cookies, Men/Women T Shirts,
Quick bites, Bags, Combo offers etc.

43
2. LITERATURE SURVEY
‘The customer experience is a blend of a company’s physical performance and emotions evoked,
institutively measured against customer expectations.’ “A customer experience can go into such
details as what colour your shoes see, what your briefcase looks like, your first opening line or
your haircut, even what a customer thinks of your stature and image. That immediate contact
builds a perception about the person and therefore the company and that’s part of the customer
experience (Peter Scott, Customer Service Director, T-Mobile).” It’s the total experience of
going into a shop. It would be every aspect of what the customer sees, feels very kind of
dimension. Functional elements as well as emotional elements (Beverly Hudson Managing
Director, W.H. Smith UK Retail).1”
Experiences are the fourth economic offering, as distinct
from services as services are from goods, but one that has until now gone largely unrecognized.
Experiences have always been around, but consumers, businesses, and economists lumped them
into service sector along with such uneventful activities as dry cleaning, auto repair, wholesale
distribution, and telephone access. When a person buys a service, he purchases a set of
intangible activities carried out on his behalf. But when he buys a experience, he pays to spend
more time enjoying series of memorable events that a company stages-as in a theatrical play-to
engage him in an inherently personal way.” Experiences have necessarily emerged to create new
value. Such experience offerings’ occur whenever a company intentionally uses services as the
stage and goods as props to engage an individual. Whereas commodities are fungible, goods
tangible, and services intangible, experiences are memorable. Buyers of experiences-we’ll
follow Disney’s lead and call them guests-value being engaged by what the company reveals
over a duration of time. Just as people have cut back on goods to spend more money on services,
now they also scrutinize the time and money they spend on services to make them more
memorable-and more highly valued-experiences.”2
Today’s customer is not just influenced by
price and quality. There are many other factors that drive him towards the store. The retailers
have to pay attention to these factors i.e. formulating the right marketing strategies in order to tap
more customer base and become successful in this competitive environment.3
Companies of all
kinds claim to recognize that their customers are important. But what kind of experience are they
providing for customers with their products, their services, their communications, and their
interactions? How are customers really being treated? The answer is often “badly,” despite all

44
the protestations to the contrary. Think of waiting in lines in supermarkets or on the phone.
Think of products that are perfect for someone else’s lifestyle or work environment, but never
yours. Think of unusable web sites, uninspiring ad campaigns, or unresponsive customer service.
But not all companies provide poor experiences for their customers. Some companies deliver a
great experience, and that gives them a great competitive advantage. These companies have a
real understanding of the customer perspective and use that to provide service, products, and
communications that are relevant to the customer’s lifestyle and deliver a consistent experience.4
“Experience” is a term that has spread throughout the business world with increasingly
frequency over the course of the past decade—somewhat to the detriment of the concept. Phrases
like “experience marketing,” “experience branding,” “experience design,” “experience
economy,” and “360 degree branding” (a form of experience design) have proliferated, reflecting
a recognition that customers relate to products and services in ways that go beyond their
perception of the functional value of those offerings. Some of companies are well recognized for
the success of their total customer experience—Disney and Apple, for example—and in fact
acknowledge the power and value of this approach. Others are less obvious, such as John Deere,
General Motors, and Procter & Gamble, yet they all identify experience as a significant factor
affecting their financial performance. For all the interest in the concept of the customer
experience, however, there’s been little concrete discussion of how it’s achieved. Even some of
the companies that have succeeded at it seem to have gotten there by accident or, in rare
instances, been led to their successes by the leadership of a marketing genius, such as Steve
Jobs.”5
A store’s environment can be defined as external to the person being studied which can
be measured independently of the person (Russel and Mehrabian 1976). That environment is
never natural, but includes cues, messages, and suggestions to consumers (Bitner1992; Markin,
Lillis and Narayan 1976)6
. In sum, based on Lewin's field theory we derived the following
predictions which are consistent with Maister's propositions: (1) Pre-process and post process
delays will be perceived as more inconvenient, frustrating and inappropriate than in-process
delays; moreover, the quality of the service will be rated lower and the consumer will be less
likely to return to the restaurant for another visit. (2) Under conditions of high uncertainty about
the length of the delay, the delay will be perceived as more negative than under conditions of low
uncertainty. (3) Individuals will perceive a delay as more negative if they are in a high need state
(very hungry) than in a low need state.7

45
3. RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
To compare customer perceptions on various customer experience elements between
Barista and Café Coffee Day.
4. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
For the purpose of the study Exploratory Research Design is used. Convenience
sampling method is adopted for the study. Survey method is used for collecting the data.
The data is collected through interviews with respondents from different professions, age,
occupations & also intercepts at Barista and CCD. A well structured questionnaire is
designed for the study and due care is taken to avoid any kind of ambiguity. The sample
for the study is 146 respondents. Nominal scale is used for all the variables except age,
income, family size, no of children wherein ratio scale is used. The study was conducted
in Pune city. The study was conducted during the period 01.06.2012 to 15.07.2012.
Table No.2. KMO and Bartlett's Test
Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy. .831
Bartlett's Test of
Sphericity
Approx. Chi-Square 1680.929
Df 325
Sig. .000
Table No.3. Reliability Statistics
Cronbach's Alpha N of Items
.916 24
5. DATA ANALYSIS TOOLS
For the purpose of this study the following statistical tools were used
• SPSS- Scale Reliability Cronbach’s Alpha,
• SPSS-Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy,
• Z Test
• Tables

46
6. RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS
Ho: There are no significant differences in customer perceptions for all the parameters
H1: There are significant differences in customer perceptions for all the parameters
7. Data Analysis
Table No. 4
Customer Experience Factors Café Coffee Day Barista
z
Ho:
Accepted
/Rejected
N Mean
.
SD N
Mea
n S D
The exterior (facade) of the restaurant is
appealing
73 3.70 1.210 73 4.23 .890 -2.21 Rejected
The Illumination in the Restaurant is pleasing
to the eyes
73 4.26 1.270 73 4.11 1.048 .56 Accepted
The Beauty and Aesthetics of the Restaurant is
eye catching
73 4.25 1.188 73 4.08 1.115 .63 Accepted
There was enough space in the isles to move
comfortably in the restaurant
73 3.86 1.627 73 4.58 1.235 -2.12 Rejected
Scent & Perfume in the Restaurant 73 3.52 1.547 73 4.21 1.118 -2.23 Rejected
Quality of Air Conditioning in the Restaurant
made my stay in the restaurant comfortable
73 3.97 1.518 73 4.26 1.118 -.94 Accepted
Seating arrangement in the restaurant 73 4.53 1.555 73 4.32 1.129 .68 Accepted
Music in the Restaurant was soothing 73 4.00 1.546 73 3.86 1.407 .41 Accepted
Price of the Products 73 3.81 1.587 73 4.12 1.333 -.89 Accepted
Order taking Process 73 3.75 1.623 73 4.18 1.284 -1.26 Accepted
Delivery time taken for serving the products 73 3.85 1.689 73 4.47 .914 -2.0 Rejected
Availability of the Restaurants Parking 73 3.64 1.874 73 3.66 1.685 -.09 Accepted
Cleanliness and Hygiene of the Wash Rooms 73 4.38 1.459 73 4.05 1.499 .94 Accepted
In-Restaurant displays were impressive 73 3.97 1.527 73 4.19 1.023 -.73 Accepted
When I entered the sales associates greeted me 73 3.71 1.889 73 3.82 1.531 -.27 Accepted
Taste and quality of Products 73 3.75 1.460 73 4.48 1.119 -2.43 Rejected
Presence of well groomed & Trained Staff
added charm to the Restaurant environment
73 4.03 1.554 73 3.92 1.402 .32 Accepted
The quality of fellow diners added to the
overall satisfying restaurant environment
73 4.11 1.370 73 4.30 1.244 -.61 Accepted
I derived value for money and time spent in the
restaurant
73 4.12 1.615 73 4.45 1.014 -.74 Accepted
I will definitely talk good about the Restaurant
to my friends
73 4.14 1.557 73 4.52 1.260 -1.15 Accepted
I am happy and delighted to have wonderful
experience in the Restaurant
73 4.30 1.713 73 4.71 1.275 -1.28 Accepted

47
8. DISCUSSION
1. Appeal of the store from outside
A good-looking façade is important as it helps stimulate desire to visit the store. Store facade
attracts attention and provides consumers an out-of-the-world shopping experience, convenience
and satisfaction.store. Store entrance makes a statement to your buyers. It sets the tone for
retailer’s products and services and also creates visual appeal to attract clients to enter in the
stores. Each store needs to constantly invest in re-inventing itself, whether in terms of display,
façade, interiors or products. The elements of store façade include height of the building,
color scheme, business sign, parking areas, the neighborhood, window displays,
illumination of the frontage, approach & the entry door of the store, to mention a few.
The CCD and Barista outlets are located on High Streets with high traffic density and
flanked by large and attractive stores selling high end branded products with eye catching
facades. The Coffee Cafes have to compete with the other stores to gain the attention of
the shoppers. Therefore it is all the more essential on the part of coffee cafes to keep the
façade more and more different, attractive, eye catching and appealing to the customers.
2. There was enough space in the isles to move comfortably in the restaurant
Isle is the place between two racks. If the space between two racks is too narrow in the
isles then it is not possible to move freely between the isles. The customers often shop
with their social groups and need personal space. Personal space is an issue when
trespassed causes customers to feel uncomfortable and frustrated. Personal space in a
retail stores viewed from the perspective of retail environment suggests that when a
shopper is bumped or jostled while looking at merchandise, may become uncomfortable,
get annoyed, lose interest, and leave the area.
Therefore provision of enough spaces for the customers to maneuver makes the
customers comfortable and results in customers spending more time in the store thereby
increasing the possibility of spending more &translating into enhanced profitability for

48
the stores. Since Aisles are part of the store design the same may be incorporated in the
store design stage itself anticipating future footfalls in the store.
3. Scent & Perfume in the Restaurant
Our sense of small works continuously and therefore it evokes immediate and emotional
response and as such it can be effectively used as strategic element in the store atmospherics.
Ambient scents are the general odors that do not emanate from a product but are present as part
of the retail environment. We as human beings like pleasant fragrances/odors and their presence
in our vicinity make us happy and have a positive impact on our behavior and result in a
motivated state of mind, more purchases and strengthening of bond with the store.
The intention of the customers who visit coffee cafes is to unwind, relax and spend memorable
time in the café. Therefore odors which are pleasing to sense of smell can transport the customer
altogether to a different level, motivate, spend more time in the café thereby increasing the
probability of spending more & generate referrals. The coffee cafes therefore need to take
cognizance of the impact of odors ‘on consumer buying behavior and factor it in as an important
element in the store atmospherics.
4. Delivery time taken for serving the products
Though Customers visit coffee cafes for spending time in a relaxed & leisurely manner still it is
relative to the time at their disposal. Therefore any delay in service delivery process will have a
negative impact on the customer. Customers will be satisfied if their perceived delivery-times are
shorter than their expectations. It is a common experience that uncertain waits and unexplained waits
seem longer. In a restaurant setting delays are likely to take place due to inefficiencies in the service
delivery process or circumstantial reasons like peak hours, unpredictable flow of customers,
crowding etc.
Therefore it calls on the part of the restaurant managers to remove the flaws in the delivery process in
the first place and understand the circumstantial factors that influence the customer’s reactions to
delay in service delivery and taking corrective actions can lead to customer satisfaction
5. Taste and quality of Products
We consume food to keep ourselves energized and healthy. When we look at the Indian culture,
in addition to keep us going, enjoyment-taste and quality- is one of the most important aspect of
consuming food. Given the diversity of cultures coupled with diversity in food habits from the
region to region, state to state and within the state it is evident that customers look at the quality
and taste of a given product from different perspectives. The increasing urbanization and lateral
movement of the people is making the cities and town more and more cosmopolitan.
Given the scenario it therefore calls on the part of the restaurants to have deeper understanding of
the changing tastes of the diverse customers. It is observed that other than the base product,
coffee, the coffee cafes are outsourcing other products. It is therefore calls on the part of the
coffee cafes to keep a keen eye on the taste and quality of the products leading to customer
satisfaction.

49
9. REFERENCES
1. Colin Shaw & John Evans. Building Great Customer Experiences PP6. New York. 2002.
2. B.Joseph Pine II & James H. Gilmore. The Experience Economy. Boston. Harvard Business
School Press.
3. Ruchi Malik. To Build A Model For The Determination Of Factors That Result In The
Success Of The Organized Retail Sector In India And Analyzing Its Relative Importance (With
Reference To Fast Food Chains And Grocery And Vegetable Outlets. Indian Journal of
Marketing. Volume 42, Number 2, 2012.
http://www.indianjournalofmarketing.com/archives/2012/feb2012.html.
4. Bernd Schmitt. Competitive Advantage through The Customer Experience. The ex group
Customer Experience Consultants.
http://www.exgroup.com/thought_leadership/articles/competitive_advantage_cem.pdf.
5. Steve Diller, Nathan Shedroff & Darrel Rhea. Making Meaning: How Successful Businesses’
Deliver Meaningful Customer Experiences. Excerpts. http://www.makingmeaning.org/
6. Referred from Shaked Gilboa and Anat Rafaeli: Store Environment, Emotions and Approach
Behavior: Applying Environmental Aesthetics to Retailing
http://iew3technion.ac.il/Home/Users/anatr/COMPLE-FINAL-20-11-02.pdf
7. Laurette Dube-Rioux, BerndH.Schmitt, France Leclerc, Consumers' Reactions to Waiting:
When Delays Affect the Perception of Service Quality. Advances in Consumer Research
Volume 16, 1989 Pages 59-63. http://www.acrwebsite.org/search/view-conference-
proceedings.aspx?Id=6881
8. Greg W.Marshall, Mark W. Johnston. Marketing Management. New York. 2010. McGraw-
Hill Irwin
9. Michael Levy, Barton A Weitz and Ajay Pandit. Retailing Management, Sixth Edition.
Chapter 18, New Delhi. Tata McGraw-Hill Publishing Company Limited.
10. C.R.Kothari, Research Methodology, Methods & Techniques by, Second revised edition,
2010, New Age International (P) Ltd, New Delhi, India.
11. Schiff man & Kanuk, Consumer Behaviour, 9th Edition, Pearson.
12. Anantnarayan & Jayashree Nimagadda. A Hand Book of Research Process - 2009 edition,
Macmillan Publishers India Limited, New Delhi, India.
13. S.C.Gupta, Fundamentals of Statistics, sixth revised and enlarged edition, 2010, Himalaya
Publishing House, Mumbai, India

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