Title: Evaluating retail store image - an empirical study in India

Authors: Santosh Kumar Biswal; Sreekumar; Arun Kumar Panda

Addresses: Assistant Professor Rourkela Institute of Management Studies, Rourkela-7690015, INDIA E-mail: biswalsantosh@rediffmail.com ' Rourkela Institute of Management Studies, Rourkela – 7690015, India ' Department of Business Administration, Berhampur University Odisha – 760007, India

Abstract: Retail industry in India is pivotal for its economy contributing around 20% to the country's gross domestic product. The competition is retaining and attracting new customers to the store. There are many tangible and intangible factors influencing the success of a store. Store image, which is formed by the stake holders encompassing all the components of retail mix play an important role in store success. The research is carried out in seven major cities in the eastern part of India. A structured questionnaire containing 32 items was developed based on literature review. A total of 552 usable responses were collected across different demographic profile for the study. The paper identifies eight factors influencing the store image viz. store reputation, physical characteristics, customer service, convenience, product reliability, supporting facilities, services, and pricing policy. It is found in the study, supporting facility has more influence on overall image of the store, followed by product reliability and services. It is also observed that pricing policy of the store has least impact on store image. In the emerging economic scenario Indian retailers shall be more scientific in their approach and give right importance to the parameters influencing their bottom line.

Keywords: store image; retail stores; emerging economies; influence; retailing; store reputation; physical characteristics; customer service; convenience; product reliability; supporting facilities; services; pricing policy.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBEX.2016.073376

International Journal of Business Excellence, 2016 Vol.9 No.1, pp.68 - 91

Received: 12 Dec 2013
Accepted: 01 May 2014

Published online: 01 Dec 2015 *

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