A Project Report on

SERVIQUAL- Service quality Gap analysis at

Big bazaar, Hyderabad

Hyderabad

By

Palak Marodia

PGDM-IB (1104029)

1 | P a g e

Abstract

Competitiveness and search for profits have called more attention towards customers satisfaction and

increased researcher’s interest on the topic of service quality .In this context, the present studies

applies SERVQUAL for accessing service quality in Retail industry. The main objective of this study

is to assess quality service dimensions that are delivered through perspectives of the customers.This

work was performed in a shopping mall with more than 200 shops located nearby.A questionnaire

was developed on the basis of Service quality dimensions and asked to the customers for gathering

data from which results was analyzed. The results of this study shows the 5 different quality

dimensions and characteristics that call customer attention.

2 | P a g e

Declaration

I, Palak Marodia, hereby declare that the project entitled “SERVQUAL –Service Quality gap analysis

at Big Bazaar , Hyderabad.” Has been personally done by me under the guidance of Mr. M Karthik ,

Assistant Professor, PGDM-IB in partial fulfillment during academic year 2 .All the data represented

in the project is true and correct to the best of my knowledge and belief .This work has not been

submitted for any other degree /diploma course elsewhere.

Place: Hyderabad

Palak Marodia

3 | P a g e

Acknowledgement

A Project usually falls short of its expectation unless guided by the right person at the right time. Success of a project

is an outcome of sincere efforts, channeled in the right direction, efficient supervision and the most

valuable professional guidance.

This project would not have been completed without the direct and indirect help and guidance of such luminaries. They provide me with the necessary recourses and atmosphere conductive for healthy learning and training.

At the outset I would like to take this opportunity to gratefully acknowledge the very kind and patient guidance I have received from my internal project guide Mr. M Karthik, Without her critical evaluation and suggestion at every stage of the project, this report could not have reached its present form. In addition I would like to extent my sincere gratitude towards my external guide Mr. Rahul B , Manager HR ,Bigbazaar ,Hyderabad for their kind cooperation throughout my Internship .

I am also thankful to Mr. Berny S , Store Manager and Mr.Murali Assistant Store Manager ,Big bazaar Hyderabad

I would like to give special thanks to all employees in the big bazaar for all help and supports.

Last but not least I extend my heartfelt thanks to all my family members and friends for their support and encouragement, without which the internship would not have taken the present shape.

Thank You

4 | P a g e

5 | P a g e

Contents

Chapter I

o Introduction

o Industry Overview

o Need for Study

o Objective of the study

o Review of literature

o Methodology

o Limitations of the study

Chapter II

o Profile of the Industry

Chapter III

o Profile of the Company

Chapter IV

o Theoretical Framework of Study

Chapter V

o Analysis of the Study

Chapter VI

o Summary

o Analysis & Conclusion

Annexure

6 | P a g e

Bibliography

Chapter I

7 | P a g e

Introduction

Managers in the Retail sector are under increasing pressure to demonstrate that their services are

customer-focused and that continuous performance improvement is being delivered. Given the

financial and resource constraints under which service organisations must manage it is essential that

customer expectations are properly understood and measured and that, from the customers ’

perspective, any gaps in service quality are identified. This information then assists a manager in

identifying cost-effective ways of closing service quality gaps and of prioritizing which gaps to focus

on – a critical decision given scarce resources

While there have been efforts to study service quality, there has been no general agreement on the

measurement of the concept. The majority of the work to date has attempted to use the SERVQUAL

(Parasuraman et al. , 1985; 1988) methodology in an effort to measure service quality

One of the aims of this study involves the use of SERVQUAL instrument in order to ascertain any

actual or perceived gaps between customer expectations and perceptions of the service offered.

Another aim of this paper is to point out how management of service improvement can become more

logical and integrated with respect to the prioritized service quality dimensions and their affections on

increasing/decreasing service quality gaps. In the following a brief review about service quality

concept is given .

Service Quality

Service quality is a concept that has aroused considerable interest and debate in the research literature

because of the difficulties in both defining it and measuring it. There are a number of different

"definitions" as to what is meant by service quality. One that is commonly used defines service

quality as the extent to which a service meets customers’ needs or expectations (Lewis and Mitchell,

1990; Dotchin and Oakland, 1994a; Asubonteng et al ., 1996; Wisniewski and Donnelly, 1996).

Service quality can thus be defined as the difference between customer expectations of service and

perceived service. If expectations are greater than performance, then perceived quality is less than

satisfactory and hence customer dissatisfaction occurs (Parasuraman et al ., 1985; Lewis and

Mitchell, 1990). This aim may be achieved by understanding and improving operational processes;

identifying problems quickly and systematically; establishing valid and reliable service performance

measures and measuring customer satisfaction and other performance outcomes. The SERVQUAL

approach, which isthe most common method for measuring service quality.

8 | P a g e

Customer Gap : the difference between customer expectation and perceptions

Gap 1 : The listening Gap – Not Knowing what customers expect

Gap 2 : The Design and Standard Gap- Not having the right service design and standards

Gap 3 : The Service Performance Gap- Not delivering to Service Standards

Gap 4 : The Communication Gap – Not matching performance to promises

The central focus of gaps model is the customer gap, the difference between customer expectations

and perceptions. Expectations are the reference points customers have coming into a service

experience; perceptions reflect the service as actually received. The idea is that the firms will have to

9 | P a g e

close this gap- between what is expected and what is received-to satisfy their customers and build

long term relationships with them.

A primary cause in many firms for not meeting customers’ expectations is that the firm lacks accurate

understanding of exactly what those expectations are. A gap exists (gap 1) between company

perceptions of customers expectations and what customer actually expects. Even the firm does clearly

understand its customers’ expectations , there still may be problem if the understanding is not

translated into customer driven service esign and standards (gap 2 )

Once service design and standards are in place . it would seem the firm is well on its way to

delivering high quality services. This is true but still not enough.there must be systems , processes,

and people in place to ensure that service delivery actually matches the design and standards in place

(gap 3 )

Finally with everything in place to effectively meet or exceed customer expectations, the firm must

ensure that what is promised to customers matches with what is delivered(gap 4)

According to Brown and Bond (1995), "the gap model is one of the best received and most

heuristically valuable contributions to the services literature". The model identifies main key

discrepancies or gaps relating to managerial perceptions of service quality, and tasks associated with

service delivery to customers.

10 | P a g e

OVERVIEW OF INDIAN RETAIL INDUSTRY

The retail industry is becoming one of the most competitive in India, with supermarket chains

and malls mushrooming all over. People are making a beeline for shopping experience at Food

World, Fabmall, Family mart, Big Bazaar, Forum, Shoppers’ stop and the like, who are

competing to woo them. Retailing includes all the activities involved in selling goods or services

directly to the final consumer for personal or non business use. Retailing is the final stage in the

distribution process. With the popularity of the internet, retailing is becoming popular using the

website adn a new form of e-tailing is also developing. Retailing is not restricted to tangible

products. It covers services also. Airline travel, dry-cleaning, training programmes etc. In other

words, retailing is the sale of goods and services to the ultimate consumer, personal ,family or

Household use. Thus retailing involves more than selling tangible products. It includes every sale

of goods and services to the final consumer. Thus purchase of a service such as reservation of

railway ticket, consultancy of a physician, maintenance services of a plumber,carpenter,hair cut

etc..

India is a land where we love to shop. No, we aren’t the branded shoppers, who stock up on

groceries for the rest of week. Instead, we choose to buy on an everyday fresh and buy on an

everyday basis. Yet, with travel expanding horizons, customers have escalating expectations.

Leading retailers are trying to adapt to new retail concepts and new business ideas. Research by

the Aditya Birla Group claims “India is a trillion-dollar economy. Of this, retail accounts for

about 40%. Of that, 60% is spending on food and groceries. Of that, about 60% is rural and 40%

is urban.

Organized Vs. Unorganized Sectors

The Indian retail industry is divided into organized and unorganized sectors. The Indian retail sector is

highly fragmented, with a major share of its business is being run by unorganized retailers like the

traditional family run stores and corner stores. The organized retail however is at a very nascent stage,

though attempts are being made to increase its proportion bringing in a huge opportunity for

prospective new players.

Unorganized Retail Sector

Indian retail is dominated by a large number of small retailers consisting of the local kirana shops,

owner-manned general stores, chemists, footwear shops, apparel shops, paan and beedi (local betel

11 | P a g e

leaf and tobacco) shops, hand-cart hawkers, pavement vendors, etc. which together make up the so-

called "unorganized retail" or traditional retail. The last few years have witnessed the entry of a

number of organized retailers opening stores in various modern formats in metros and other important

cities.

Unorganized retailers normally do not pay taxes and most of them are not even registered for sales

tax, VAT, or income tax.

Organized Retail Sector

Organized retailing refers to trading activities undertaken by licensed retailers, that is, those who are

registered for sales tax, income tax, etc. These include the corporate-backed hypermarkets and retail

chains, and also the privately owned large retail businesses.

According to AT Kearney report for the year 2011,Organised retail accounts for 6 to 7 per cent of

India's roughly US$ 435 billion retail market and is expected to reach 20 per cent by 2020.Food

accounts for 70 per cent of Indian retail, but it remains under-penetrated by organized retail.Organised

retail has a 31 per cent share in clothing and apparel and continues to see growth in this sector.The

home segment shows promise ,growing 20 to 30 per cent per year. India’s more urban consumer

mindset means this sector is poised for growth

12 | P a g e

Need For the Study

Today globalization and liberalization are affecting economies of not only developing but also

developed countries. The focus areas for organizations are also changing from profit maximization to

maximizing profits through increased customer satisfaction. The pressures of competition are forcing

the organizations to not only look on the processes but also on the way they are delivered. During past

two decades business scenario has changed drastically. In a retail Industry customers’ perception and

expectation is essential to provide service quality. So finding out the gap and fixing the gap in the

service quality will result in customer satisfaction which is the basis of the successful running of a

store

13 | P a g e

Objectives of the Study

To discover Customer requirements or expectations for service To monitor and track service performance To assess the gap between customer expectation and perceptions To forecast future expectations of the customers To assess a company’s Service quality along each of the five SERVQUAL dimensions.

14 | P a g e

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Review of literature is the most useful and simple method of formulating the research problem.The

researches done by previous researchers is reviewed and their usefulness is evaluated to

serve as basis for further research. Thus researcher reviews and builds upon the work of others.The

reviews that are collected by the researcher should give an insight into the field under study.The

reviews must explain the need and scope of the study under consideration

Parasuraman Zeithamal and Berry (1985) emphatically pointed out that the concept of quality

prevalent in the goods sector is not extendable to the service sector. Being inherently and essentially

intangible, heterogeneous, perishable, and entailing simultaneity and inseparability of production and

consumption, services require a distinct framework for quality explication and measurement.

One major contribution of Parasuraman Zeithamal and Berry (1988)was to provide a terse definition

of service quality. They defined service quality as ‘a global judgment, or attitude, relating to the

superiority of the service, and explicated it as involving evaluations of the outcome (i.e. what the

consumer actually receives from the service) and process of service act (i.e. the manner in which

services is delivered) In line with the propositions put forward by Gronroos(1982) and Smith and

Houston (1982), Parasuraman Zeithamal and Berry (1985,1988) posited and operationalized service

quality as a difference between consumer expectations of ‘what they wand ‘ and consumer perception

of ‘what they get’. Based on this conceptualization and operationalization, they proposed service

quality measurement called ‘SERVQUAL’ . The SERVQUAL scale constitutes an important

landmark in the service quality literature and has been extensively applied in different service

settings.

Zeithaml et al. (1993) explored the gap between expectations and perceptions to better understand

expectations as they pertain to customer assessment of service quality and to extend the theoretical

work that exists in the customer satisfaction literature. Based on their study, the gap between customer

expectations and perceptions as proposed by Parasuraman et al. (1985)can be conceptualized to reflect

two comparison standards: desired service which reflects what customers want, and adequate service

which indicates the standard that customers are willing to accept. The comparison between desired

service and perceived service or the level of service customers believe is likely to occur, called

perceived service quality (PSQ) is the perceived service superiority gap. The comparison between

15 | P a g e

adequate service and perceived service, called PSQ Gap 5 is the perceived service quality adequacy

gap.The smaller the gap between desired service and perceived service, the higher the perceived

superiority of the firm. The smaller the gap between adequate service and perceived service, the

higher the perceived adequacy of the service

Jain and Gupta (2004) have done a comparative analysis of two major service quality measurement

scales: SERVQUAL and SERVPERF. An ideal service quality scale is one that is not only

psychometrically sound but is also diagnostically robust enough to provide insights to the managers

for corrective actions in the event of quality shortfalls. This study assesses the diagnostic power of the

two service quality scales. Using data collected through a survey of consumers of fast food restaurants

in Delhi, the study finds the SERVPERF scale to be providing a more convergent and discriminated

valid explanation of service quality construct. However, the scale is found deficient in its diagnostic

power. It is the SERVQUAL scale which outperforms the SERVPERF scale by virtue of possessing

higher diagnostic power to pinpoint areas for managerial interventions in the event of service quality

shortfalls. SERVPERF scale should be used for assessing overall service quality of a firm because of

its psychometric soundness and greater instrument parsimoniousness. One should employ the

SERVPERF scale should also be the preferred research instrument when one is interested in

undertaking service quality comparisons across service industries.

Saravan and Rao (2007) have highlighted that in service firms the practitioners are interested to

know the customer perceptions of service quality for identifying shortfalls and improving serviced

livery. This study has analyzed the discrimination among the three groups (customer oriented,

employee oriented and technology oriented) of overall service quality from the customers’

perspective. The results indicate that both the technological factors and the people-oriented factors

appear to contribute more in discriminating the three groups of overall service quality. Further, the

service quality indices in the Indian automobile service sector as a whole indicate a satisfactory

performance.

Swaid and Wigand (2007) in their study have found that to satisfy and retain customers the

organization has to offer a superior service quality. The study indicates that the key dimensions of

ecommerce service quality are website usability, information quality, reliability, responsiveness,

assurance and personalization. Secondly customer satisfaction is influenced mostly with the

16 | P a g e

perception of reliability, while customer loyalty is affected by the perception of assurance and

customer retention is predicted by the customer satisfaction index.

Rajagopal (2008) has analyzed the impact of market orientation strategies and performance of

customer services on customer acquisition, retention and sales of automobiles which reveals overall

performance of automobile dealers in Mexico. The study comprehends understanding on customer-

dealer relationship in the automobile market segment referring to key factors which establishes

service quality encompassing tangibility, responsiveness, trust, accuracy and empathy. It was found

that the customers perceive better quality of relationship in a given frame of functions that are

performed effectively by the dealer lowering the extent of conflicts thereof. High conformance quality

services of dealers and value added customer relationship to offer high customer satisfaction develop

life time customer value and strengthen the customer-dealer relationship

17 | P a g e

Methodology

Clearly, from a Best Value perspective the measurement of service quality in the service sector should

take into account customer expectations of service as well as perceptions of service. However, as

Robinson (1999) concludes: "It is apparent that there is little consensus of opinion and much

disagreement about how to measure service quality". One service quality measurement model that has

been extensively applied is the SERVQUAL model developed by Parasuraman et al . (1985, 1986,

1988, 1991, 1993, 1994; Zeithaml et al. , 1990).

SERVQUAL as the most often used approach for

measuring service quality has been to compare customers' expectations before a service encounter and

their perceptions of the actual service delivered. The SERVQUAL instrument has been the

predominant method used to measure consumers’ perceptions of service quality. It has five generic

dimensions or factors and are stated as follows

(1) Tangibles . Physical facilities, equipment and appearance of personnel.

(2) Reliability. Ability to perform the promised service dependably and accurately.

(3) Responsiveness . Willingness to help customers and provide prompt service.

(4) Assurance (including competence, courtesy, credibility and security). Knowledge and courtesy of

employees and their ability to inspire trust and confidence.

(5) Empathy (including access, communication, understanding the customer). Caring and

individualized attention that the firm provides to its customers.

In the SERVQUAL instrument, 19 statements (Appendix I) measure the performance across these

five dimensions, using a seven point likert scale measuring both customer expectations and

Perceptions. A set of questionnaire were prepared on that basis and collected information from very

regular customers , who visits the store , purchased items even from electronic or furniture bazaar .

18 | P a g e

Limitations of the Study

Customer expectations and Customer Perceptions are subjective and are in a state of constant

flux and change. The findings therefore can be generalized to a given period, a pre-defined

market, and economic scenarios. The study also is confined to the Indian scenario and with

Hyderabad as the focal point. Geo-demographic could have a great deal of influence on the

customer expectations and perceptions. It is also not amiss to mention here that the zone of

tolerance could vary from one customer to another. This variation has not been assessed in

the current study. The expectation of the customers is taken as 6 because it’s a value product

based retail format and done a trend analysis on the expectation score, providing the average

result as six.

19 | P a g e

Chapter II

20 | P a g e

Profile of the IndustryGROWTH OF RETAILING IN INDIA:

Retailing has been growing at a fast pace in India. Of late, indian retailing is also gaining

sophistication, almost at par with international standards. The Government of India’s Pubilc

Distribution System was the starting point of organised retailing in the country, which continues as

‘fair price shops’ or ‘ration shops’, especially for essential goods like sugar, rice, wheat. The

domestic retailers have placed two demands to be met by the Government of India before throwing

hte sector open to global players fully. The first is their demand for according the ‘industry status’ to

the retail sector and the second is a five-year time span to be able to build economies of scale so as to

withstand the foreign competition. Indian retailers also fear that the entry of foreign retail firms like

Wal-Mart will destroy the small domestic retail/wholesale networks and render millions they employ.

In February 2006, the government of India announced its policy for FDI in retail sector.

According to the announcement, FDI up to 51 per cent in retail trade would be subject to the

following conditions.

1. Products to be sold should be of a single brand only

2. Products should be sold under the same brand internationally

3. Single brand product retailing would cover only products which are branded during

manufacturing.

4. FDI would be allowed only with prior approval of the Government , conforming to

prescribed norms and conditions

5. Processing will be done by the dept. Of industrial policy and promotion for government

Approval.

21 | P a g e

Retailing formats in India

1. Malls

2. Specialty Stores

3. Discount Stores

4. Department Stores

5. Hyper marts / Supermarkets

6. Convenience Store

7. MBO’s

8. E-trailer

Malls:

Mall is largest form of organized retailing today. Located mainly in metro cities, in proximity to

urban outskirts they range from 60,000 sq ft to 7, 00,000 sq ft and above. They lend an ideal

shopping experience with an amalgamation of product, service and entertainment, all under a

common roof. Examples include Shoppers Stop, Pyramid, and Pantaloon.

Specialty Stores:

Focusing on specific market segments and have established themselves strongly in their sectors.

Chains such as the Bangalore based Kids Kemp, the Mumbai books retailer Crossword, RPG's

Music World and the Times Group's music chain Planet M are a couple of examples.

Discount Stores:

As the name suggests, discount stores or factory outlets, offer discounts on the MRP through

22 | P a g e

selling in bulk reaching economies of scale or excess stock left over at the season. The product

category can range from a variety of perishable/ non perishable goods. Discount Circuit is one

such example.

Department Stores:

Large stores ranging from 20000-50000 sq. ft, catering to a variety of consumer needs. Further

they are classified into localized departments such as clothing, toys, home, groceries, etc.

Hyper marts/Supermarkets:

Large self service outlets, catering to varied shopper needs are termed as Supermarkets. These

are located in or near residential high streets. These stores today contribute to 30% of all food &

grocery organized retail sales. Super Markets can further be classified into mini supermarkets

typically 1,000 sq ft to 2,000 sq ft and large supermarkets ranging from of 3,500 sq ft to 5,000 sq

ft. having a strong focus on food & grocery and personal sales.

Convenience Stores:

These are relatively small stores 400-2,000 sq. feet located near residential areas. They stock a

limited range of high-turnover convenience products and are usually open for extended periods

during the day, seven days a week. Prices are slightly higher due to the convenience premium.

MBO’s:

Multi Brand outlets, also known as Category Killers, offer several brands across a single product

category. These usually do well in busy market places and Metros.

E-trailers:

Retailers providing online buying and selling of products and services

Major Players In

Retail Industry

Ownership

Brand Name Outlet type Location

RPG Spencers Supermarkets ,

Hypermarkets

Across all major cities

DFL Food World Supermarkets Chennai, Bangalore and

Hyderabad

23 | P a g e

Pantaloon Big Bazaar Hypermarket Across all major cities

Nilgiri’s Franchisee Pvt.

Ltd

Nilgiri’s Supermarkets Chennai, Bangalore,

Pondicherry and tier two

towns in Tamil Nadu

Fabmall India Pvt Ltd Fabmall Supermarkets Bangalore and Chennai

Food Express India Ltd Monday to

Sunday, Jumbo

Supermarkets

Hypermarkets

Bangalore

Home Stores Pvt. Ltd. Sabka Bazaar Discount stores Delhi and adjoining areas

Pyramid Retail Ltd. Trumart Supermarkets Maharashtra- Mumbai

Trent (Tata Group) Star India

Bazaar

Hypermarkets Ahmedabad, Mumbai

Spar- India Ltd. Spar Supermarkets Mumbai,Hyderabad

INDUSTRY ANALYSIS OF THE INDIAN RETAIL SECTOR

Modern retailing has entered India in form of malls and huge complexes offering shopping,

entertainment, leisure to the consumer as the retailers experiment with a variety of formats, from

discount stores to supermarkets to hypermarkets to specialty chains. However, kiranas still

continue to score over modern formats mostly due to the convenience factor i.e. near to their

house.This organized segment typically comprises of a large number of retailers, greater

enforcement of taxation mechanisms and better labour law monitoring system. It's no longer

about just stocking and selling but about efficient supply chain management, developing vendor

relationship quality customer service, efficient merchandising and even the labour class is also in

the working process timely promotional campaigns.

24 | P a g e

The modern retail formats are encouraging development of well-established and efficient supply

chains in each segment ensuring efficient movement of goods from farms to kitchens, which will

result in huge savings for the farmers as well as for the nation. The government also stands to gain

through more efficient collection of tax revenues. Network marketing has been growing quite fast

and has a few large players today. Gas stations are seeing action in the form of convenience stores,

ATMs, food courts and

pharmacies appearing in many outlets. In the coming years it can be said that the hypermarket

route will emerge as the most preferred format for international retailers stepping into the country.

Estimates indicate that this sector will have the potential to absorb many more hypermarkets in the

next four to five years.

Traditionally, the kirana retailing has been one of the easiest ways to generate self-employment,

as it required minimum investment in terms of land, labour and capital. These store are not

affected by the modern format of retailing. In order to keep pace with the modern formats,

kiranas have now started providing more value-added services like stocking ready to cook

vegetables and other fresh produce. They also provide services like credit, phone service, home

delivery etc.The organized retailing has helped in promoting several niche categories such as

packaged fruit juices, hair creams, fabric bleaches, shower gels, depilatory products and

convenience and health foods, which are generally not found in the local kirana stores.

Looking at the vast opportunity in this sector, big players like Reliance has announced its plans to

become the country's largest modern retainers by establishing a chain of stores across all major

cities. Apart from metro cities, several small towns like Nagpur, Nasik, Ahmedabad, Aurangabad,

25 | P a g e

Sholapur, Kolhapur and Amravati has seen the expansion of modern retails. Small towns in

Maharashtra are emerging as retail hubs for large chain stores like Pantaloon Retail because

many small cities like Nagpur have a student population, lower real estate costs, fewer power

cuts and lower levels of attrition. However, retailers need to adjust their product mix for smaller

cities, as they tend to be more conservative than the metros. In order for the market to grow in

modern retail, it is necessary that steps are taken for rewriting laws, restructuring the tax regime,

accessing and developing new skills and investing significantly in India.

OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE ORGANIZED RETAIL SECTOR IN INDIA

1. India’s booming economy is a major source of opportunity. It is the third largest in the world

in terms of purchasing power. India is the second fastest growing major economy in the

world.

2. India's huge population has a per capita income of Rs 44,345.

3. The proportionate increase in spending with earnings is another source of opportunity

4. With the Indian economy now expected to grow at over 8% and with average salary hikes of

about 15%, manufacturers and retailers of consumer goods and services can expect a major

boost in consumption.

5. The Demography Dynamics are also favourable as approximately 60 per cent of Indian

population is below the age of 30.

6. Increasing instances of Double Incomes in most families coupled with the rise in spending

power.

7. Increasing use of plastic money for categories relating to Apparel, Consumer Durable Goods,

Food and Grocery etc.

8. Increased urbanization has led to higher customer density areas thus enabling retailers to use

lesser number of stores to target the same number of customers. Aggregation of demand that

occurs due to urbanization helps a retailer in reaping the economies of scale.

9. With increased automobile penetration and an overall improvement in the transportation

infrastructure, covering distances has become easier than before. Now a customer can travel

miles to reach a particular shop, if he or she sees value in shopping from a particular location.

26 | P a g e

MAJOR RETAILERS IN INDIA

Aditya Birla Retail Limited

Aditya Birla Retail Limited is the retail arm of Aditya Birla Group, a USD 28 billion

Corporation. The Company ventured into food and grocery retail sector in 2007 with the

acquisition of a south based supermarket chain “Trinethra”. Subsequently Aditya Birla Retail

Ltd. expanded its presence across the country under the brand "More" with 2 formats

Supermarket & Hypermarket. Supermarket More for you - Conveniently located in

neighborhoods, More supermarkets cater to the daily, weekly and monthly shopping needs of

consumers. The product offerings include a wide range of fresh fruits & vegetables, groceries,

personal care, home care, general merchandise & a basic range of apparels. Currently, there

are over 640 More supermarkets across the country. The Hypermarket More MEGASTORE -

is a one stop shopping destination for the entire family. Besides a large range of products

across fruits & vegetables, groceries and FMCG products, More MEGASTORE also has a

strong emphasis on general merchandise, apparels & CDIT. Currently, eight hypermarkets

operate under the brand More .MEGASTORE in Mysore, Vadodara, Aurangabad, Indore,

Bengaluru, Mumbai, New Delhi and Hyderabad. Aditya Birla Retail Limited currently has an

employee strength of over 11,000. More. has more than 1.6 million members as part of its

loyalty program.

Aditya Birla Retail Ltd provides customers a wide choice of products under its own labels like

Feasters, Kitchen's Promise, Enriche, Germex and Best of India. The objective is to provide

quality products at attractive price points to customers. Aditya Birla Retail was presented the

‘Retail Best Employer of the Year’ award at the Reid and Taylor Awards for Retail Excellence,

by the global jury of the Asia Retail Congress 2009. Aditya Birla Retail was also recognised for

impactful retail and visual merchandising at the same forum. The company bagged the ‘Most

Admired Retailer of the Year Award’ in the Smart Strategy category at the prestigious Images

Retail Awards 2009, during the India Retail Forum at Mumbai.

27 | P a g e

Bharti Retail Ltd.

Bharti Retail Ltd. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Bharti Enterprises. Bharti Retail operates a

chain of multiple format stores. The company’s neighborhood format stores operate under the

"Easyday" brand and the compact hypermarket format under the “Easyday market” brand.

Recently the company has become more involved in the food economic sectors, with a joint

partnership in the agriculture company FieldFresh . FieldFresh Foods Pvt. Ltd. is a joint venture

between Bharti Enterprises and DMPL India Ltd. (a subsidiary of Del Monte Pacific Ltd.). The

company offers fresh fruits & vegetables and processed foods & beverages in the domestic as

well as international markets. The company currently operates 70 small-sized neighborhood

stores under the Easyday brand and Six mid-sized compact hypermarket stores under the

"Easyday Market"

Bharti Enterprises has tie-up with Walmart Stores Inc for wholesale, business-to-business and

cash-and-carry and back-end supply chain management operations in India to serve small

retailers, manufacturers and farmers. The JV launched its first B2B Best Price Modern

Wholesale cash-and-carry store in Amritsar in May 2009. A typical cash-and-carry store stand

between 50,000 and 100,000 square feet and sells a wide range of fresh, frozen and chilled foods,

fruits and vegetables, dry groceries, personal and home care, hotel and restaurant supplies,

clothing, office supplies and other general merchandise items. Which are available at competitive

wholesale prices, allowing retailers and business owners to lower their cost of operations. The JV

is expected to open 10 to 15 wholesale cash-and-carry facilities and employ approximately 6,000

– 7,000 people over the next three years. Currently, Best Price Modern Wholesale stores are

present in Amritsar, Zirakpur, Jalandhar and Kota.

Reliance Retail Limited

Reliance Retail Limited (RRL), is a subsidiary of RIL. Since its inception in 2006, Reliance

Retail Limited (RRL) has grown into an organisation that caters to millions of customers,

thousands of farmers and vendors. Based on its core growth strategy of backward integration,

RRL has made rapid progress towards building an entire value chain starting from the farmers to

the end consumers. More than 3 years into operation, RRL has now expanded its presence in

more than 85 cities across 14 states in India. RRL forged ahead with its expansion plans and

rolled out stores across the country. RRL’s footprint now spans a network of more than 1,000

stores. RRL operates several ‘value’ & ‘specialty’ formats. The ‘value’ formats that RRL

operates are: ‘Reliance Fresh’, a neighborhood concept, ‘Reliance Mart’, an all under one roof

supermarket concept & ‘Reliance Super’, a mini-mart concept. The ‘value’ formats offer a wide

28 | P a g e

range and assortment of products required for daily household needs. The ‘specialty’ formats are:

‘Reliance Digital’, a consumer durables & information technology concept,’ Reliance Trends’

an apparel & accessories concept, ‘Reliance Wellness’, a health, wellness & beauty concept,

‘iStore by Reliance Digital’, an exclusive Apple products concept, ‘Reliance Footprint’, a

footwear concept, ‘Reliance Jewels’, a jewellery concept, ‘Reliance TimeOut’, a books, music &

entertainment concept,’ Reliance AutoZone’, an automotive products & services concept and

‘Reliance Living’, a home ware, furniture, modular kitchens, furnishings concept. RRL rapidly

expanded the stores network and it operates through strategic partnerships with world-class

companies such as Marks & Spencer and Pearl Europe. RRL also entered into an exclusive

distribution arrangement with Asics Corporation Japan to market Asics brands of shoes and

accessories in India. RRL has recently opened its flagship store under its franchise agreement

with Hamleys and plans to expand the store network in the coming year. RRL has also expanded

its presence in business-to business office supplies through its joint venture with Office Depot.

Pantaloon Retail

Pantaloon Retail is the flagship company of Future Group. Pantaloon Retail (India) Limited, is

India’s leading retailer that operates multiple retail formats in both the value and lifestyle

segment of the Indian consumer market. Headquartered in Mumbai, the company operates over

16 million square feet of retail space, has over 1000 stores across 73 cities and 65 rural locations

across India and employs over 30,000 people. The company’s leading retail formats are:

Food & Grocery: Big Bazaar, Food Bazaar

Home Solutions: Hometown, Furniture Bazaar, Collection-i

Consumer Electronics: e-zone

Rural Retail chain : Aadhaar

Shoes: Shoe Factory

Books, Music & Gifts: Depot

Health & Beauty Care: Star, Sitara

E-tailing: Futurebazaar.com

Entertainment: Bowling Co.

Future Value Retail Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of Pantaloon Retail (India) Limited.

This entity has been created keeping in mind the growth and the current size of the company’s

value retail business, led by its format divisions, Big Bazaar and Food Bazaar. The company

operates 214 Big Bazaar stores, 170 Food Bazaar stores, among other formats, in over 90 cities.

Vishal Retail Ltd

Vishal Retail Ltd. is Flagship Company of Vishal Group which is engaged in Hyper market

29 | P a g e

stores with an average area of 25,000 to 30,000 sq. ft. through an impressive chain of 172 fully

integrated stores spread over the area of more than 24,00,000 sq. ft. in around 110 cities across

India in 24 states. Vishal is one of fastest growing retailing groups in India. Its outlets cater to

almost all price ranges. The showrooms have over 7000 products range which fulfills all

household needs, and can be catered under one roof. Maintaining the highest standards in quality

and design, these stores have come to offer the finest fashion garments at down-to-earth price

structure. A fact that is better visible in the constant flow of shoppers all through the year. Under

the title of Vishal Mega Mart these stores have emerged as the regular haunts for the bargainhunters

and fashion enthusiasts alike. The turnover of the company for 09-10 was 1105 Crore.

Tata Group

Tata group is another major player in Indian retail industry with its subsidiary Trent, which

operates Westside and Star India Bazaar. Established in 1998, it also acquired the largest book

and music retailer in India ‘Landmark’ in 2005. Trent owns over 4 lakh sq. ft retail space across

the country.

Spencer's Retail Limited

Spencer's Retail Limited is a Flagship Company of RPG Enterprises. Spencer's Retail Limited is

one of India's largest and fastest growing multi-format retailer with footage of approximately 1

million square feet, 220 stores, including 30 large format stores across 35 cities in India.

Spencer's focuses on verticals like fresh fruit and vegetables, food and grocery, personal care,

garments and fashion accessories, home and office essentials, electrical and electronics Established in

1996, Spencer's has become a popular destination for shoppers in India with

hypermarkets and convenient stores catering to various shopping needs of its large consumer

base. The Spencer's Hyper stores are destination stores, of more than 15,000 sq. ft in size. They

offer everything under one roof. The merchandise ranges from fruits & vegetables, process ed

foods, groceries, meat, chicken, fish, bakery, chilled and frozen foods, garments and fashion

accessories, consumer electronics & electrical products, home decor and needs, office

stationeries, soft toys. On an average, a Spencer's hyper stocks 70,000 SKUs across 35,000

items. The Spencer's stores are neighborhood stores ranging from 1500 sq. ft. to 15000 sq. ft.

These stores stock the necessary range and assortment in fruit and vegetables, FMCG food and

non-food, staples and frozen foods and cater to the daily and weekly top-up shopping needs of

the consumer.

Music World is India's largest chain of music stores retailing the widest range of music & home

video products (International and Indian). Music World's product portfolio comprises of audio

CDs, DVDs and VCDs, CD-ROMs, gaming consoles & software of all the leading brands, and

other music accessories. The company is an important player in the home video market. Music

World has successfully forayed into high end 'personal audio' gadgets of several top brands. The

30 | P a g e

company also offers DVD players, home theatre systems, speakers and headphones.

Piramal Group

Piramyd Retail is part of the Piramal Group. The promoters launched the apparel business in

1999 under Piramyd Retail and Merchandising Pvt. Ltd. (PRMPL) while its food; home &

personal care businesses (FHPC) were housed under Crossroads Shoppertainment Pvt. Ltd

(CSPL). As the apparel and food businesses individually reached a critical mass, the management

merged the two companies into Piramyd Retail Ltd. Pyramid also has a smaller format of stores

called TruMart that caters to Food and Personal Care products. Piramyd Retail currently has 5 Mega

stores and 8 TruMart stores mainly in Maharashtra. The company plans to increase these numbers to

17 Mega stores and 69 TruMarts by 2008.

K Raheja Group

Shoppers’ Stop, promoted by the real estate group K Raheja, was one of the first movers to have

set up a large retail outlet in New Delhi with international ambience. Shopper’s Stop Ltd now

has a considerable presence all over the country with over 7 lakh square feet of retail space and stocks

over 200 brands of garments and accessories. The stores are spread all over India with

presence in Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Pune , Kolkata, Gurgaon, Chennai &

Ghaziabad.

31 | P a g e

SWOT Analysis of Retail Industry of India

32 | P a g e

Challenges faced by Organized Retail Sector in India

Although the Organized Retail market does offer a vast untapped potential, it should also be

recognized that it is not that easy to operate in Retail market because of several problems.

Retailers need to address the challenges to become successful on long term.

1. The organized retail sector in India is still at a developmental stage, characterized by a very

small number of players trying to create a new paradigm. To become a flourishing industry,

the Indian retail sector has to attract leading Indian and foreign players to make substantial

investments.

2. Technology is one of the major challenges faced by organized retailers for efficient

management.

3. Shortage of skilled workforce in retail sector.

4. Retail shrinkage is also one of the major challenges. Retail shrinkage is the difference in the

value of stock as per the books and the actual stock available in the shop. The causes of

retail shrinkage are mainly employee theft, shoplifting, administrative errors and vendor

fraud. Effective online monitoring system need to be implemented.

5. Understanding customers in terms of customer behavior and loyalty is a difficult job.

Retailers need to implement effective customer relation management and loyalty program.

6. Distribution is an integral part of any retail organization. Delivering the right goods to the

right place at the right time is main task of distribution. Retail majors are under serious

pressure to improve their supply chain systems and distribution channels and reach the

levels of quality and service desired by customers. The lack of proper infrastructure and

distribution channels in the country results in inefficient processes

7. Organized retail outlets use very large volumes of electricity for a variety of applications

from lighting, air conditioning, escalators, cold storing, billing systems, lifts etc. As a result

of insufficient and inefficient power supply, a huge amount of private investment goes into

ensuring power backups. This makes it very difficult for organized retail to grow.

33 | P a g e

8. The retailers in India are paying very high cost for real estate. This increases the

maintenance cost and reduce profit margins.

9. Competition from unorganized sector is another challenge facing the organized retail

industry in India.

10. As more and more organized retail outlets are dotting the Indian topography, competition is

no more restricted between organized and unorganized retailing. It is now quite evident

between organized retailers as well. Efficient and effective Loyalty programs, home delivery

of goods, customer retention strategies, offers, discounts etc are the order of the day.

CONCLUSION

India is being seen as a potential goldmine. It has been ranked 2nd

in Global Retail Development Index of 30 developing countries drawn up by A.T.Kearney.

Government of India has also opened the door for the retailing giants to enter into the markets. Many

foreign investors are also showing keen interest to enter into the Indian market. If FDI in retail sector

sees the light of the

day it will see many changes in the coming years. As more and more organized retail outlets are

dotting the Indian topography, competition is no more restricted between organized and unorganized

retailing, it is now quite evident between organized retailers as well.

34 | P a g e

Chapter III

35 | P a g e

Company Profile

Big Bazaar , the flagship retail chain of the Future Group is a chain of hypermarket in India. As of

June 2, 2012 there are 214 stores across 90 cities and towns in India covering around 16 million sq.ft.

of retail space. Big Bazaar is designed as an agglomeration of bazaars or Indian markets with clusters

offering a wide range of merchandise including fashion and apparels, food products, general

merchandise, furniture, electronics, books, fast food and leisure and entertainment sections.

Big Bazaar s journey began in October 2001, when the young, first generation entrepreneur Kishore

Biyani opened the country’s first hypermarket retail outlet in Kolkatta (then Calcutta). In the same

month, two more stores were added one each in Hyderabad and Mumbai, thus starting on a successful

sojourn which began the chapter of organized retailing in India.

Though Big Bazaar was launched purely as a fashion format including apparel, cosmetics, accessory

and general merchandise, over the years Big Bazaar has included a wide range of products and service

offerings under their retail chain. The current formats include Big Bazaar, Food Bazaar, Electronic

Bazaar and Furniture Bazaar.

Most Big Bazaar stores are multi-level and are located in stand-alone buildings in city centers as well

as within shopping malls. Food Bazaar, a supermarket format was incorporated within Big Bazaar in

2002 and is now present within every Big Bazaar as well as in independent locations. A typical Big

Bazaar is spread across around 50,000 square feet (4,600 m2) of retail space. While the larger

metropolises have Big Bazaar Family centres measuring between 75,000 square feet (7,000 m2) and

160,000 square feet (15,000 m2), Big Bazaar Express stores in smaller towns measure around 30,000

square feet (2,800 m2).Big Bazaar has the facility to purchase products online through its official web

page, and offers free shipping on some of their products

Target Audience:

Higher and middle class family

large and growing young working population is preferred customer segment

Big Bazaar specially targets working women and home makers who are primarily

decision makers

Group Vision:

36 | P a g e

Future Group shall deliver Everything, Everywhere, Every time for Every Indian Consumer in the

most profitable manner.

Group Mission:

It shares the vision and belief that its customers and stakeholders shall be served only bycreating 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 will infuse Indian brands with confidence and renewed ambition.

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

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

The tagline of Future Group is “Rewrite Rules, Retain Values” 

On successful completion of ten years in Indian retail industry, in 2011, Big Bazaar has come up a

new logo with a new tag line: ‘Naye India Ka Bazaar’, replacing the earlier one: 'Isse Sasta Aur

Accha Kahin Nahin'.

37 | P a g e

Chapter IV

38 | P a g e

Theoretical Framework of the study

Service quality can be defined as the discrepancy between customer expectations and perceptions (Parasuraman et al. 1985:42; Parasuraman, Zeithaml & Berry 1988:16-17). A service quality model was developed by Parasuraman et al. (1985:47), categorizing the ten dimensions that customers use in evaluating the quality of a service. These ten dimensions are tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, competence, access, courtesy, communication, credibility, security, and understanding/knowing the customer. These dimensions enable the measurement of the gap between the service quality expected by the customer and that of the customer’s perception of the service delivered (Parasuraman et al. 1985:44). These dimensions were further refined down to the five critical dimensions (SERVQUAL) of tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, empathy and assurance (Parasuraman et al. 1988:20).

Customer Gap : the difference between customer expectation and perceptions

Gap 1 : The listening Gap – Not Knowing what customers expect

Gap 2 : The Design and Standard Gap- Not having the right service design and standards

Gap 3 : The Service Performance Gap- Not delivering to Service Standards

39 | P a g e

Gap 4 : The Communication Gap – Not matching performance to promises

The central focus of gaps model is the customer gap, the difference between customer expectations

and perceptions. Expectations are the reference points customers have coming into a service

experience; perceptions reflect the service as actually received. The idea is that the firms will have to

close this gap- between what is expected and what is received-to satisfy their customers and build

long term relationships with them.

40 | P a g e

Chapter V

41 | P a g e

Analysis of the study

Serviqual Score is prepared on the basis of Data collected from 75 samples , in which 53.3 percent

are males and 46.7 female. Among that major portion are 29.3 percent is of age group 25-34 years ,

22.7 percent is same for age groups 18-24 and 35-44 years.

GENDER

Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative

Percent

Valid

MALE 40 53.3 53.3 53.3

FEMALE 35 46.7 46.7 100.0

Total 75 100.0 100.0

AGEGROUP

Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative

Percent

Valid

BELOW 18yrs 4 5.3 5.3 5.3

18yrs - 24yrs 17 22.7 22.7 28.0

25yrs-34yrs 22 29.3 29.3 57.3

35yrs-44yrs 17 22.7 22.7 80.0

45yrs-54yrs 12 16.0 16.0 96.0

55 & above 3 4.0 4.0 100.0

Total 75 100.0 100.0

42 | P a g e

Reliability Dimension – Perception of Customers

GENDER PROMISE PROBLEMSOL

VE

PERFORMENC

E

CUTOMERINF

ORMATION

MALE

Mean 4.82 4.90 4.85 4.83

N 40 40 40 40

Std. Deviation 1.196 1.105 1.210 1.083

FEMALE

Mean 5.17 5.34 4.89 4.77

N 35 35 35 35

Std. Deviation 1.043 1.162 1.105 1.140

Total

Mean 4.99 5.11 4.87 4.80

N 75 75 75 75

Std. Deviation 1.133 1.146 1.155 1.103

The average score for perception of customers in reliability dimension is 4.94

43 | P a g e

Responsiveness Dimension

GENDER PROMPTSERVI

CE

EMPLOYEEWIL

LINGNESS

NEVRBUSYMP

LOYEE

MALE

Mean 4.88 4.90 4.65

N 40 40 40

Std. Deviation 1.285 1.236 1.167

FEMALE

Mean 4.63 5.06 4.66

N 35 35 35

Std. Deviation 1.190 1.327 1.305

Total

Mean 4.76 4.97 4.65

N 75 75 75

Std. Deviation 1.239 1.273 1.225

The average score for perception of customers in Responsiveness dimension is 4.79

Assurance Dimension

GENDER CONFIDENCE SAFETRANSA

CTIONS

CONSISTENCY

COURTEOUS

EMPLOYEEKN

OWLEDGE

MALE

Mean 4.25 5.50 4.65 4.53

N 40 40 40 40

Std. Deviation 1.316 1.414 1.331 1.281

FEMALE Mean 4.63 5.77 4.97 4.69

N 35 35 35 35

Std. Deviation 1.330 .942 1.150 1.157

Total

Mean 4.43 5.63 4.80 4.60

N 75 75 75 75

Std. Deviation 1.327 1.217 1.252 1.219

The average score for perception of customers in Assurance dimension is 4.86

44 | P a g e

Empathy Dimension

GENDER INDIVIDUALAT

TENTION

BIGBAZAARINT

EREST

UNDERSTANDI

NGNEEDS

MALE

Mean 4.47 4.30 4.38

N 40 40 40

Std. Deviation 1.358 1.114 .979

FEMALE

Mean 4.63 4.31 3.97

N 35 35 35

Std. Deviation 1.190 1.022 1.224

Total Mean 4.55 4.31 4.19

N 75 75 75

Std. Deviation 1.277 1.065 1.111

The average score for perception of customers in Empathy dimension is 4.35

Tangibles Dimension

GENDER FACILITIES FACILITIESVIS

UALAPPEAL

MPLOYEENEAT

NESS

SERVICEMATE

RIALAPPEAL

CONVINIENTTI

ME

MALE

Mean 4.63 5.03 5.13 5.50 6.08

N 40 40 40 40 40

Std. Deviation 1.254 .920 1.159 .877 1.185

FEMALE

Mean 5.06 5.37 5.09 5.40 6.37

N 35 35 35 35 35

Std. Deviation 1.187 1.031 1.011 .881 .646

Total Mean 4.83 5.19 5.11 5.45 6.21

N 75 75 75 75 75

Std. Deviation 1.234 .982 1.085 .874 .977

The average score for perception of customers in Tangibles dimension is 5.35

45 | P a g e

SERVQUAL score for Service Quality at Big bazaar, Hyderabad

Dimension Perception Score Expectation Score Gap

Reliability 4.94 6 -1.06

Responsiveness 4.79 6 -1.21

Assurance 4.86 6 -1.14

Empathy 4.35 6 -1.65

Tangibles 5.35 6 -0.65

The Customer Gap is the centerpiece of the Gaps Model. It represents the difference between

customer expectations and perceptions of service performance.

The model suggests that closing this gap by matching or exceeding customer expectations will result

in the achievement of service quality from the customer’s perspective.

Relative importance on the basis of Gap score

1. Empathy dimension -1.65

2. Responsiveness dimension -1.21

3. Assurance dimension -1.14

4. Reliability dimension -1.06

5. Tangibles dimension -0.65

46 | P a g e

1.Empathy dimension

From the above table we can understand that the empathy dimensions gap score is maximum.

Empathy is defined as caring, individual attention the firms provides its customers .The essence of

empathy is conveying, through personalized or customized services, that customers are unique and

special. Customers want to feel understood by and important to firms that provide service to them.

Questionnaire Perception Expectation Gap

Big bazaar has Employees who gives you Individual attention

4.55 6 -1.45

Big bazaar has your Best interest

at heart.

4.31 6 -1.69

Employees of Big bazaar understand Your specific needs.

4.19 6 -1.81

The overall gap in Empathy dimension is -1.65 , that consist of above 3 questions.

Among that , the main gap is with Employees understanding specific needs of customers (-1.81) .

We can train the employee to understand better the need of customer.

Counsel the employees once a week (5 to 10 minutes) regarding customer relationship.

Educate employee according to specific sections specially part timers ( product knowledge)

47 | P a g e

2.Responsiveness Dimension

Questionnaire Perception Expectation Gap

Employees in the Big Bazaar give you Prompt service.

4.76 6 -1.24

Employees in the Big Bazaar are alwayswilling to help you.

4.97 6 -1.03

Employees in the Big Bazaar are never too busy to help to respond

to your request

4.65 6 -1.35

The overall Gap in the Responsiveness dimension is -1.21, that consist of above 3 questions .

Among that , the main gap is with third question (-1.35). The employees are too busy especially

during the peak hours. This dimension emphasizes attentiveness and promptness in dealing with the

customer requests, questions, complaints and problems

To excel on the dimensions of responsiveness, organization need well-staffed customer services

departments as well as responsive front-line people in all contact positions and more staff during the

peak hours .

48 | P a g e

3.Assurance Dimensions

Questionnaire Perception Expectation Gap

The behavior of the employees in the Big bazaar Instills confidence in you

4.43 6 -1.67

You feel safe in your transactions- with Big Bazaar..

5.63 6 -.37

Employees in Big bazaar are consistently Courteous with you.

4.80 6 -1.20

Employees in Bigbazaar have the Knowledge to answer your questions.

4.60 6 -1.40

The overall Gap in the Responsiveness dimension is -1.14 , that consist of above 4 questions.

Assurance: Inspiring trust and confidence. Assurance is defined as employees knowledge and

courtesy and the ability of the firm and its employees to inspire trust and confidence.

Among those four questions , the main gap is with the behavior of the employees in the Big bazaar

Instilling confidence in customers (-1.67)

This gap can be filled by

Training an educating the employees according to their departmental product specification

Motivating them by having ‘employee of the day’ concept

49 | P a g e

4.Reliability dimension

Questionnaire Perception Expectation Gap

When Big bazaar Promises to do something By a certain time, It does so .

4.99 6 -1.01

When you have a problem Big bazaar shows a sincere interest in solving it.

5.11 6 -.89

Big bazaar performs the service right the First time.

4.87 6 -1.13

Big bazaar keep customers informed about When services will be performed

4.80 6 -1.20

The overall Gap in the Responsiveness dimension is -1.06, that consist of above 4 questions.

Reliability means that the company delivers on its promises-promises about delivery, service

provision, problem resolution, and pricing. Customers will be satisfied with organizations that keep

their promises about the service outcomes and core service attributes.

50 | P a g e

5.Tangibles Dimension

Questionnaire Perception Expectation Gap

Big Bazaar has modern looking Equipments and facilities

4.83 6 -1.17

Big bazaar’s physical facilities areVisually appealing

5.19 6 -0.81

Big bazaar’s Employees

appear neat

5.11 6 -0.89

Materials associated with the-Service (such as pamphlets or statements) Are visually appealing

5.45 6 -0.55

Big Bazaar has convenient

business hours

6.21 6 .21

The overall Gap in the Tangibles dimension is -.65, that consist of above 5 questions.

Tangibles are defined as the appearance of physical facilities, equipment, personnel, and

communication materials. All of these provide physical representations or images of the service that

customers, particularly new customers, will use to evaluate quality. According to the data collected,

the area need to take care in the tangibles dimension is about big bazaar’s modern looking equipments

and facilities. The gap score is -1.17. All modern equipment should be working at the time they are

needed.

51 | P a g e

Chapter VI

52 | P a g e

SummaryFinding out what customers perception and expectation is essential to provide service quality .By

analyzing the collected data we can monitor and track service performance in the store , asses the

gap between customer expectations and perceptions .The dimensions Reliability, Responsiveness,

Assurance, Empathy and Tangibles represents how consumers organize information about service

quality in their minds. Analyzing these dimensions will help to monitor changing customer

expectations in an industry and helps to forecast future expectations of the consumers.

53 | P a g e

Conclusion In this report, service quality and its model of gaps were reviewed. SERVQUAL methodology as an

Analytical approach for evaluating the difference between customers' expectations and perceptions of

quality was also studied. The results of the current study illustrate that organizations can at least

assess five dimensions of service quality to ascertain the level of services provided, and to determine

which dimensions need improvement. In future we can work on these dimensions to minimize the gap

and meeting customers’ expectations so as to increase customer satisfaction.

SuggestionsIn order to improve service quality, it is necessary to contact employees regularly and assess their

service experiences on each dimension and managers could identify the weakness in order to make

improvements.

For closing overall 5 dimension gaps

Train the employee to understand better the need of customer.

Counsel the employees once a week (5 to 10 minutes) regarding customer relationship.

Educate employee according to specific sections specially part timers ( product knowledge).

front-line people in all contact positions.

More staff during the peak hours.

Motivating employee by having ‘Employee of the day’ concept.

All modern equipment should be working at the time they are needed especially escalator.

Annexure

54 | P a g e

Questionnaire

SERVQUAL : A Multidimensional Scale to Capture Customer Perceptions and Expectations of Service Quality

Dear Customer,

My name is Palak Marodia. I am an MBA Student at the Institute Of Public Enterprise, Hyderabad. Currently I’m doing a research as part of my Internship, on the topic: Servqual Gap analysis on Customer perceptions and service quality at Big bazaar, Hyderabad

I hope that you can spare a few minutes to complete the following questions for the data which will be used for the analysis.

Thanking you for your Co-operation

Name : …………………………………………………………….

Gender : Male / Female

Age : Below 18

18-24

25-34

35-44

45-54

55 and above

Marital Status : Single / Married

Contact No : …………………………………………………………………

55 | P a g e

Instructions : Please select a Number (from 1-7) that suites your opinion. Please do remember that the data collected will only be used for research purposes.

A: Reliability Dimension

Strongly Disagree Strongly agree

1. When Big bazaar Promises to do something

By a certain time, It does so . 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

2. When you have a problem Big bazaar shows

a sincere interest in solving it. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

3. Big bazaar performs the service right the

first time. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

4. Big bazaar keep customers informed about

When services will be performed. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

B:Responsiveness Dimension

5. Employees in the Big Bazaar give you

Prompt service. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

6. Employees in the Big Bazaar are always

willing to help you . 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

7. Employees in the Big Bazaar are never too

busy to help to respond to your request.

56 | P a g e

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

C: Assurance Dimension

8. The behavior of the employees in the Big bazaar

Instills confidence in you. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

9. You feel safe in your transactions-

with Big Bazaar. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

10. Employees in Big bazaar are consistently

Courteous with you. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

11. Employees in Big bazaar have the

Knowledge to answer your questions.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

D: Empathy Dimension

12. Big bazaar has Employees who gives you

Individual attention 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

13 Big bazaar has your Best interest at heart

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

14.Emloyees of Big bazaar understands

Your specific needs. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

57 | P a g e

E:Tangibles Dimension

15. Big Bazaar has modern looking

Equipments and facilities 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

16.Big bazaar’s physical facilities are

Visually appealing 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

17. Big bazaar’s Employees appear neat

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

18.Materials associated with the-

Service (such as pamphlets or statements)

Are visually appealing 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

19. Big Bazaar has convenient business hours

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

20. Suggestions : ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Thank you

Bibliography Valarie A. Zeithmal & Mary Jo Bitner (2003) Service Marketing-Integrating customer focus across the firm ,TATA McGrawn Hill edition

58 | P a g e

Multiple Item Scale for Measuring consumer perceptions of Service quality, Volume 64, number1 ,spring 1988 –A Parasuraman , Valarie A. Zeithmal ,Leonard .L. Berry,Journel of Retailing

Parasuraman, A., Zeithaml, V.A. and Berry, L.L. (1985), "A conceptual model of service quality andits implication", Journal of Marketing , Vol. 49, Fall, pp. 41-50.

Zeithaml, V.A., Parasuraman, A. and Berry, L.L. (1990), Delivering quality service; Balancingcustomer perceptions and expectations , The Free Press, New York, NY.

European Journal of Social Sciences – Volume 16, Number 2 (2010) Service Quality (Servqual) and its Effect on Customer Satisfaction in Retailing by C.N. Krishna Naik, Swapna Bhargavi Gantasala, Gantasala V. Prabhakar

Mehta et al. (2000), “A service quality model based on ideal value standard”, International Journal of Service Industry Management, Vol. 3 No. 3, pp. 18-33.

59 | P a g e

60 | P a g e