Title: Profiling Indian shoppers: an exploratory study of organised retail

Authors: Vibhuti Tripathi, Piyali Ghosh, Smit Saini, Swati Agrawal

Addresses: School of Management Studies, Motilal Nehru National Institute of Technology, Deemed University, Allahabad, India. ' School of Management Studies, Motilal Nehru National Institute of Technology, Deemed University, Allahabad, India. ' NEI Industries, Khatipura Road, Jaipur 302 006, Rajasthan, India. ' GLA Institute of Technology and Management, 17th KM Stone, National Highway No. 2, Mathura Delhi Road, Ajhai Mathura, India

Abstract: Driven by real estate costs, relative purchasing power and demand-supply gap in Tier II and III cities in India, organised retailers are looking at a fair share of adjustments to their retail strategies to make their presence felt in these markets. The primary objective of this study is to profile Indian shoppers in Tier II cities and analyse their shopping orientation by a survey of consumers across two such cities. Thirteen variables were identified and were treated with factor analysis; store selection, amount and time spent within store, and number of items purchased on each shopping trip have also been tracked in order to understand purchase patterns. Four shopping orientations emerged, namely Value, Purpose, Convenience and Consultation. Retailers in Tier II cities may identify such shopping orientations and increase customer traffic and sales by emphasising on well targeted strategies.

Keywords: behavioural patterns; shopping orientation; Tier II cities; Tier III cities; organised retail; retailing; Indian shoppers; shopping trips; real estate; costs; relative purchasing power; demand-supply gaps; retailers; retail strategies; consumers; factor analysis; store selection; time; purchase patterns; value; purpose; convenience; consultation; customer traffic; sales; shop visits; India; Indian culture; business management.

DOI: 10.1504/IJICBM.2010.035671

International Journal of Indian Culture and Business Management, 2010 Vol.3 No.6, pp.669 - 683

Published online: 02 Oct 2010 *

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