The document provides a report on consumer behavior related to the book "It Happened in India" by Kishore Biyani. It acknowledges the help received from professors and parents in preparing the report. The report contains 5 key consumer insights from the book: 1) Indian consumers have a strategic approach to shopping; 2) Indians seek savings and value; 3) Impulsive buying is common in India; 4) Gujarati consumers buy staples in bulk and demand discounts; 5) Indian women are very cost sensitive and negotiate well.

1. IT HAPPENED IN INDIA 2009
CONUMER BEHAVIOUR REPORT
ON
“IT HAPPENED IN INDIA”
Submitted by:
Ankit Gupta (03)
Jatin Dhingra(16)
Rohit Gaur(41)
Jinesh Jain(17)
Chitresh Girdhar(08)
Section FH-2
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2. IT HAPPENED IN INDIA 2009
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The fact that we have been able to prepare this report is due to help and support of
many sources. We could not have achieved anything without those sources.
First of all we would like to express our enormous gratitude to our Consumer Behavior
professor Mrs. Simran Gulati for her continuous encouragement and guidance
throughout the project. Her way of thinking and converting ideas into something
concrete helped us a lot. She was always there to encourage us, whenever we were down
and looking for some support. She helped us to think in right direction and gave us her
precious time in spite of having very busy schedule. We thank him for her timely
guidance and the pains she took to make us complete this project report.
We are also thankful to our parents who were a constant source of inspiration to us.
Thankyou
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Contents
Acknowledgement
Abstract
5 Consumer Insights
• Strategic Approach
• Value Preposition
• Impulsive Buying
• Fifth Anna in the Rupiaya
• Rural Insight
Conclusion
Abstract
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It Happened In India - around, and was interested in finding out more about
it. The book is about Kishore Biyani - the man who created the retail
revolution in India with Big Bazaar, Pantaloons et al.
We interpreted after reading this book that book has two faces, on one side
it depicts the blending of ideas of a third generation entrepreneur on
building a business to the consumer, by the consumer & for the
Consumer and Secondly, a new way how to build a successful business
by organizing the unorganized existing market. It also helped in creating
new markets and describes how to carter to different segments.
The central objective for earlier businesses was to bring in stability and
consolidation. They were built to enforce order. However, in the new era
where nothing remains constant, the dominant theme for businesses needs
to be speed and imagination.
The new macro-differentiator is design. Design is helping companies to sell
differentiated experiences and solutions that connect with the consumer’s
emotions. It’s no longer about selling products and services alone. Nor is it
just about completing transactions. Every time a customer walks in, it is an
opportunity to build a relationship and invite the customer to become a part
of the transformational scenario.
1st Consumer Insight
(Strategic Approach)
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“It was Thursday evening that started like no other. The tore was supposed
to open at 8 I decided to check the situation first hand, but before I could
get started, similar calls from Bangalore, Gurgaon and Kolkata informed
me of long queues of customers waiting outside big bazaar stores at those
places as well.
At the Store level 26th January experience gave all of us a lot of confidence.
Going by the no of customers who visited our stores, it was evident that
given the right environment and a correct emotional connect with our
customers, anything was possible. After this, no one in our organization
thinks any sales target is impossible to achieve.
There are couples of emotions that determine shopping behavior. The
most fundamental of them are greed, altruism, fear and envy.”
Well book describes the above behavior as greed and envy but we would
like to give a different aspect in our view it is a planned approach of an
Indian consumer, he/she always purchase seeking future requirements
and if you are getting an advantage today why not to utilize it to the
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maximum. So we feel it is an intelligent and strategic approach of an Indian
consumer.
2nd Consumer Insight
(Value Preposition)
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“It was during this period that we first started to study market very closely.
India historically has been a savings-led society. Not Woman in India are
trained from their childhood to preserve everything. This holds true for
apparels as well. The average Indian wears the same shirt or trouser for
years, when its colors have faded or the buttons have come off. In every
Indian city there are Indian women who trade new steel utensils for old
clothes that are then sold in a second hand Market.
Today exchange programs are common across all categories, be it
apparels, cars or televisions. Customers are encouraged to bring anything
and everything that they don’t use any longer. You may notice drove of
customers lining up outside Big Bazaar and unloading old clothes, utensils,
newspapers, bottles from cars and autos.”
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Well when we read these lines what immediately came our mind was what
Dhirubhai Ambani said to Mukesh Ambani while discussing on launching of
telecom services. He asked Mukesh Ambani that have you ever noticed a
mother chopping off vegetables, Mukesh Ambani said yes she was
chopping to cook. For this Dhirubhai Ambani replied that she is not just
Chopping it to cook but she is also minimizing Waste”
So, these lines actually depicts that an Indian consumer always seeks on
savings, for both present as well as future. As India is a demand driven
Economy it has a huge potential but with this demand, the consumption
expenditure is low because of lower standard of living, poor salaries and
wages. A low education level and a lower level of awareness are also
prominent causes for such consumer behavior. Sometimes consumer don’t
know
when the sale will be again there in the same store so they always buy
during the sale period so that they can increase on there savings.
There are other customers also who know that the sale will be there at the
end of the season. So, they always try to buy at that point of time to get the
best deals. They always try to buy as much so that they can have till next
sale will come.
And this is not the behavior which is restricted to India only or found among
Indian Consumers. This low cost retail strategy works all over the globe, a
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clear example is of the Wal-mart. “EVERYDAY LOW PRICES” Similar is
with Big Bazaar “IS SE SAASTA AUR AACHA AUR KAHAN”.
3rd Consumer Insight
(Impulsive Buying)
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“Later in the evening we sat out to take a look at this new concept called
big bazaar when we entered the ground floor, it took barely three minutes
for us to decide that this is the retailing model we had to own. The reason
was simply the environment which greeted us to decide that this is the
retailing model we had to owe. The reason was simply the environment
which greeted us ------ an environment of chaos where people were literally
freaking out. In our quest for the right retail company to invest in, we had
visited several stores, but they all were focused only on lifestyle retailing.
India needed a value retailing model to revolutionize the Indian retail
scene. Big Bazaar fitted the bill since here we found a customer who had
driven in on a Mercedes, shop as excitedly as folks who had come on foot
and the store was packed on a weekday evening.”
Well we say this is “India one” from the three described by Kishore Biyani in
this book from the given India One, India Two and India Three.
So,” India One” customer have a different insight. They observe very
keenly that what is best for them. If they found that there is something
which is good for them to adopt impulsive buying behavior as decided by
shivanand mankekar in the above statements. So, impulsive buying is
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another characteristic of Indian consumer. It is because of this that you
might find in retail chains that quick pick items are always displayed near
the cash
counters. The time for which customer stands at the cash counter queue
they are involved in impulsive buying behavior.
4th Consumer Insight
(Fifth anna in the Rupaiya)
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“What we discovered on launching our store there was that a customer in
Gujarat is not only value-conscious, he or she has habits that are peculiar
to the state and are hardly seen anywhere else in the country. When it
comes to staples, the Gujarati customer prefers to buy the entire year’s
requirements at one go. Staples are stored in the loft, a common feature in
most homes in Gujarat. Since she buys it in bulk, she also demands a
heavy discount, expects it to be delivered at her home and wants to pay
back on credit.”
This actually depicts the static behavior towards the good quality product
and his/her bargaining power. Along with value, the customer always looks
for the benefits. Indian women is very cost sensitive and always look for
best value preposition. Her negotiation skills are matchless. She is the one
who can be best described as the finance minister of the home.
5th Consumer Insight
(Rural Insights)
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Mohan Jadhav is one such sugarcane farmer who lives in walwa,
another forty kilometers from sangli. Fifty-five Years old Jadhav lives
in a joint Family that has 127 members. He also happens to be our
greatest customer till date. On a sunny Tuesday morning 2006, he
drove down to Sangli in his Bajaj Trax picked up van along with his
wife, Sister-in-law ad nephews. The six of them visited our Big
Bazaar outlet in the town and indulged in some frenzied shopping
activity ------ buying grocery
About three quarters of the Indian population are in the rural areas
and with the growing middle class, especially in the Indian cities, the
spillover effect of the growing urban middle class is also felt in the
rural areas.
The Indian rural market has been growing at 3-4% per annum, adding
more than 1 million new consumers every year and now accounts for
close to 50% of the volume consumption of fast-moving consumer
goods (FMCG) in India. The market size of the fast moving consumer
goods sector is projected to more than double to US$ 23.25 billion by
2010 from the present US$ 11.16 billion. As a result, it is becoming
an important market place for fast moving consumer goods as well as
consumer durables.
Conclusion
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India is a multi-cultural society which is today at
a very dynamic stage where consumer insights
differ everyday. So the success of any brand
depends on the behavior of the customer and on
quickness by which the producer can actually
innovate itself according to the consumer
perception, consumer needs and consumer
behavior.
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