Introduction

The Retail Industry in India

India's vast middle class and its almost untapped retail industry are key attractions for global
retail giants wanting to enter newer markets. Driven by changing lifestyles, strong income
growth and favorable demographic patterns, Indian retail is expected to grow 25 per cent
annually.

Modern retail in India could be worth US$ 175-200 billion by 2016. With the economy booming,
competition in the marketplace is fierce. According to 'Retail in India Getting Organized to Drive
Growth', a report by AT Kearney and the Confederation of Indian Industry, retail is one of
India's fastest growing industries with a 5 per cent compounded annual growth rate and expected
revenues of US$ 320 billion in 2007. Rising incomes, increasing consumerism in urban areas and
an upswing in rural consumption will fuel this growth to around 7-8 per cent. KSA-Technopak, a
retail consulting and research agency, predicts that by 2011, organized retailing in India will
cross the US$ 21.5-billion mark from the current size of US$ 7.5 billion.

Retail space

Retailers in India are the most aggressive in Asia in expanding their businesses, thus creating a
huge demand for real estate. Their preferred means of expansion is to increase the number of
their outlets in a city, and also expand to other regions, revealed the Jones Lang LaSalle third
annual Retailer Sentiment Survey-Asia.

Deutsche Bank's research report on 'Building up India' says India's burgeoning middle class will
drive up nominal retail sales through 2010 by 10 per cent per annum.
Food retail

Food dominates the shopping basket in India. The US$ 6.1 billion Indian foods industry, which
forms 44 per cent of the entire FMCG sales, is growing at 9 per cent and has set the growth
agenda for modern trade formats. Since nearly 60 per cent of the average Indian grocery basket
comprises non-branded items, the branded food industry is homing in on converting Indian
consumers to branded food.

Future Group

Pantaloon Retail is the flagship enterprise of the Future Group, which is positioned to cater to the
entire Indian consumption space. The Future Group operates through six verticals: Future Retail
(encompassing all retail businesses), Future Capital (financial products and services), and Future
Brands (management of all brands owned or managed by group companies), Future Space
(management of retail real estate), Future Logistics (management of supply chain and
distribution) and Future Media (development and management of retail media). Future Capital
Holdings, the group's financial arm, focuses on asset management and consumer finance. It
manages two real estate investment funds (Horizon and Kshitij) and consumer-related private
equity fund, In division. It also plans to get into insurance, consumer credit and other consumer-
related financial products and services in the near future. Future Group's vision is to, "Deliver
Everything, Everywhere, Every time to Every Indian Consumer in the most profitable manner."
One of the core values at Future Group is, 'Indianess' and its corporate credo are - Rewrite rules,
Retain values

Future Group Manifesto

“Future” – the word which signifies optimism, growth, achievement, strength, beauty, rewards
and perfection. Future encourages us to explore areas yet unexplored, write rules yet unwritten;
create new opportunities and new successes. To strive for a glorious future brings to us our
strength, our ability to learn, unlearn and re-learn our ability to evolve.
We, in Future Group, will not wait for the Future to unfold itself but create future scenarios in
the consumer space and facilitate consumption because consumption is development. Thereby,
we will effect socio-economic development for our customers, employees, shareholders,
associates and partners.

Our customers will not just get what they need,

But also get them where, how and when they need.

We will not just post satisfactory results, we will write success stories.

We will not just operate efficiently in the Indian economy, we will evolve it.

We will not just spot trends; we will set trends by marrying our understanding
of the Indian consumer to their needs of tomorrow.

It is this understanding that has helped us succeed. And it is this that will help us succeed in the
Future. We shall keep relearning. And in this process, do just one thing.

Rewrite Rules. Retain Values.

Group Vision
Future Group shall deliver Everything, Everywhere, Every time for Every Indian
Consumer in the most profitable manner.

Group Mission
Future Group shares the vision and belief that its customers and stakeholders shall be
served only by creating and executing future scenarios in the consumption space leading to
economic development.

It will be the trendsetters in evolving delivery formats, creating retail realty, making
consumption affordable for all customer segments – for classes and for masses.

It shall infuse Indian brands with confidence and renewed ambition.

It shall be efficient, cost- conscious and committed to quality in whatever it does.

It shall ensure that its positive attitude, sincerity, humility and united determination shall
be the driving force to make it successful.

Core Values
Indian ness: confidence in itself.

Leadership: to be a leader, both in thought and business.

Respect & Humility: to respect every individual and be humble in its conduct.

Introspection: leading to purposeful thinking.

Openness: to be open and receptive to new ideas, knowledge and information.

Valuing and Nurturing Relationships: to build long term relationships.

Simplicity & Positivity: Simplicity and positivity in our thought, business and action.

Adaptability: to be flexible and adaptable, to meet challenges.

Flow: to respect and understand the universal laws of nature.

Big Bazaar - Isse sasta aur accha kahin nahi

Big Bazaar, one of the biggest retail format of Pantaloon Retail (India) Limited, has
democratized shopping in India and is much more than a hypermarket. Here, one finds over
170,000 products under one roof that cater to every need of a family, making Big Bazaar India’s
favorite shopping destination. Where Big Bazaar scores over other stores is its value for money
proposition for the Indian customers. Spread across 45000 sq.ft. With the ever increasing array
of private labels, it has opened the doors into the world of fashion and general merchandise
including home furnishings, utensils, crockery, cutlery, sports goods and much more at
surprisingly low prices. In recent years, Big Bazaar has adopted value pricing in which they win
loyal customers by charging a fairly low price for a high – quality offering. However, consistent
low price for the products is not only the universally desired characteristic; it is also a surrogate
for different offers provided by these stores at different intervals of time.

The variety of product range in Big Bazaar :

This large format store comprises of almost everything required by people from different income
groups. It varies from clothing and accessories for all genders like men, women and children,
playthings, stationary and toys, footwear, plastics, home utility products, cosmetics, crockery,
home textiles, luggage gift items, other novelties, and also food products and grocery. The added
advantage for the customers shopping in Big Bazaar is that there are all time discounts and
promotional offers going on in the Big Bazaar on its salable products.

The significant features of Big Bazaar:

Shopping in the Big Bazaar is a great experience as one can find almost everything under the
same roof. It has different features which caters all the needs of the shoppers. Some of the
significant features of Big Bazaar are:

• The Food Bazaar or the grocery store with the department selling fruits and vegetables
• There is a zone specially meant for the amusement of the kids
• Furniture Bazaar or a large section dealing with furniture
• Electronics Bazaar or the section concerned with electronic goods and cellular phones
• FutureBazaar.com or the online shopping portal which makes shopping easier as one
can shop many products of Big Bazaar at the same price from home
Wednesday Bazaar – Hafte ka sabse sasta din

In January 2007, Big Bazaar introduced a Wednesday Bazaar concept called “Hafte Ka Sabse
Sasta Din” with the aim to give homemakers the power to save the most on this day of the week.
Wednesday Bazaar offers clothes, accessories and fashion jewellery and personal care products
on greater discounts. In the hypermarkets or supermarkets business, it is noted that the highest
footfalls generated by these stores are mostly on the weekends or on national holidays.
Therefore, it becomes very important for the retailer to plan certain offers in such a manner that
it can attract people on the weekdays too. For the customers, Wednesday Bazaar is the “Hafte Ka
Sabse Sasta Din” which the customers leverage on and for Big Bazaar; Wednesday Bazaar is an
opportunity to maintain footfalls to its standards on weekdays too.

For Big Bazaar, Wednesday Bazaar is a concept, which it intends to run on a long-term basis.
For which the aim is to inculcate in the minds of customers that every Wednesday is a day of
greater savings at Big Bazaar. It is therefore, incumbent on the brand to have the offer grow and
create deep impact on the minds of the customers. It has tried to do this in the following ways:

Below the line activities for Wednesday Bazaar involves:

• Visual merchandizing promoting the offer with the help of danglers, signages, standees, etc.

• Frequent announcements made by the staff inside the store on a regular basis.

Above the line activities for Wednesday Bazaar involves:

• TVC on popular entertainment channels like Sony, Star Plus, Set Max, Star One.

• Newspaper ads on Wednesday in the local dailies, Sakal and Times of India.

• Hoardings at Swargate and Pune-Solapur Highway.

Promotion

Promotion can be loosely classified as "above the line" and "below the line" promotion. The
promotional activities carried out through mass media like television, radio, newspaper etc. is
above the line promotion.

The terms 'below-the-line' promotion or communications refers to forms of non-media

communication, even non-media advertising. Below-the-line promotions are becoming
increasingly important within the communications mix of many companies, not only those
involved in FMCG products, but also for industrial goods.
Some of the ways by which companies do BTL (below the line) promotions are by exhibitions,
sponsorship activities, public relations and sales promotions like giving freebies with goods,
trade discounts given to dealers and customers, reduced price offers on products, giving coupons
which can be redeemed later etc.

BELOW THE LINE SALES PROMOTION

Below the line sales promotions are short-term incentives, largely aimed at consumers. With the
increasing pressure on the marketing team to achieve communication objectives more efficiently
in a limited budget, there has been a need to find out more effective and cost efficient ways to
communicate with the target markets. This has led to a shift from the regular media based
advertising.

A definition of below-the-line sales promotion given by Hugh Davidson:

'An immediate or delayed incentive to purchase, expressed in cash or in kind, and having only a
short term or temporary duration'.

Methods of below the line sales promotion

1. Price promotions

Price promotions are also commonly known as" price discounting". These can be done in two
ways:

• A discount to the normal selling price of a product, or

• More of the product at the normal price.
Price promotions however can also have a negative effect by spoiling the brand reputation or just
a temporary sales boost (during the discounts) followed by a lull when the discount would be
called off.

2. Coupons
Coupons are another, very versatile, way of offering a discount. Consider the following examples
of the use of coupons:

-On a pack to encourage repeat purchase

- In coupon books sent out in newspapers allowing customers to redeem the coupon at a retailer

- A cut-out coupon as part of an advert

- On the back of till receipts

The key objective with a coupon promotion is to maximize the redemption rate – this is the
proportion of customers actually using the coupon.

It must be ensured when a company uses coupons that the retailers must hold sufficient stock to
avoid customer disappointment.

Use of coupon promotions is often best for new products or perhaps to encourage sales of
existing products that are slowing down.

3. Gift with purchase

The "gift with purchase" is a very common promotional technique. In this scheme, the customer
gets something extra along with the normal good purchased. It works best for

- Subscription-based products (e.g. magazines)

- Consumer luxuries (e.g. perfumes)

4. Competitions and prizes

This is an important tool to increase brand awareness amongst the target consumer. It can be
used to boost up sales for temporary period and ensure usage amongst first time users.

5. Money refunds

Here, a customer receives a money refund after submitting a proof of purchase to the
manufacturer.

Customers often view these schemes with some suspicion – particularly if the method of
obtaining a refund looks unusual or onerous.

6. Frequent user / loyalty incentives

Repeat purchases may be stimulated by frequent user incentives. Perhaps the best examples of
this are the many frequent flyer or user schemes used by airlines, train companies, car hire
companies etc.

7. Point-of-sale displays

Shopping habits are changing for the people living in metropolitan cities. People prefer big retail
outlets like Big Bazaar to local kirana stores. Most of the decisions of buying are taken by the
virtue of point-of-sale displays in these retail outlets.

SOME INTERSTING EXAMPLES OF BTL PROMOTION

Most of the big brands are following the suit of BTL promotion because of rising prices of media
based promotion, advertising clutter and increased impulse purchasing.
Some of the interesting examples are:

Most of the educational institutes like career launcher, Time and PT are holding informative
workshops and free tests for students which give a direct interaction of these institutes with the
target customer and hence a suitable platform to sell themselves.

Ring tones and music videos on cell phones are helping the entertainment industry to promote
for a music video or a movie for dirt-cheap rate as compared to media promotion.

Various companies sponsor sport events to promote their brand, but nowadays media companies
like Hindustan Times are holding weekly events throughout the country in which companies can
put up their stalls, display banners and posters and arrange for some fun activities. These events
give the companies a platform at very low price to promote their brand and increase visibility
among target consumer. These companies also give discount coupons to winners in the games,
which in turn boost the sales of the products and ensure that first time users try these products as
well.

Pepsi organized an inter school cricket event for 425 schools across 14 cities which did wonders
for the company by promoting the brand amongst the right target customer for almost no cost.

Most of the pharmacy companies do BTL promotion by getting shelf space through doctors to
display their products or by giving away free calcium tablets again through doctors, knowing that
for a patient a personal advice from a doctor would hold more value as compared to a
commercial advertisement.

Another interesting BTL promotion was by NIKE, an athlete dressed up in Nike sportswear
could be seen jogging on an elevated treadmill for the whole day on National Highway 8, Delhi.

BTL promotions are gaining popularity among all big companies nowadays considering their
effectiveness because of the "individual customer promotion" at a price, which is much lesser
than the normal media promotions.

• Low prices on Wednesday

• Promotional offers

School Jao Khushi Khushi

Khushi Ki Barsaat

Happy Father’s Day