An Empirical Study of Organized Retailers and their Impact on Consumer's Buying Behavior

Estimated to be worth more than US$ 500 billion, the Indian retail industry is considered as one of the world's top five retail markets in terms of economic value. The industry is experiencing exponential growth, with retail development taking place not just in major cities and metros, but also in Tier-II and Tier-III cities. India's strong growth fundamentals along with increased urbanisation and consumerism have opened up immense scope for retail expansion. Further, easy availability of Debit/Credit cards has contributed significantly to a strong and growing online consumer culture in India. With the online medium of retail gaining more and more acceptance, there is a tremendous growth opportunity for retail companies, both domestic and international. Currently, the online retail penetration in India stands at around 60 per cent, according to a report by an industrial body. "India has a young, well-educated and professional population, core customers. It has a very good market. We chose to be in India before China," as per Mr Jonathan D Caplan, President and Chief Executive, Genesco Inc.

Objective of the research study:

• To study organized retail industry in India.

• To study organized retailer and services provided by them.

• To examine the impact of services provided by organize retailers an its impact on consumer buying behavour.

Research Methodology

Two stage sampling plan has been used for collecting data from the retailers. In the first stage four big cities and four small cities of Madhya Pradesh have been selected on the basis of convenience sampling. The cities have been divided into urban and sub urban category. In the urban cities I have selected Bhopal, Indore, Gwalior and Jabalpur. In sub urban city I have selected Rewa, Sidhi, Shahdol and Ujjain. In the second stage 10 samples from each city are taken on the basis of convenience random sampling.