study on store choice behavior of consumers
AMITY UNIVERSITY UTTAR PRADESH
Introduction
Store choice is a decision that a shopper is fairly involved in. It is important for a store to understand this behavior for developing marketing strategies to attract and keep its clientele. It is found that shoppers choose the store based on many aspects that could be classified as primary and image based. It is also found that the importance of each of these aspects changes with the kind of store the shopper wants to visit. In the Indian context where the shopper does not have much variety in store format, the type of store is recognized by the kind of product the store deals in it or the location of store from the residence of consumer or many other factors. The study is an attempt to understand this behavior of the shopper. The shoppers are explored for the primary reasons for choosing a store. Store choice and patronage has been widely studied across the world. This phenomenon has gained significance in Indian markets with the introduction of larger and diverse retail formats by organized players. They are providing new experiences and options for shoppers. Both retailers and shoppers are currently in the evaluation phase with no clear verdict as to what may drive the choice of stores to shop in. Unfortunately, this has led to very high footfalls into stores but low conversions in terms of actual purchase, resulting in high cost of service and hence lower profitability for retailers. The hallmark of Indian retailing — the small shop with a high level of service — is holding shoppers back to traditional ways of shopping. To a large section of customers, the new formats are not perceived to add enough value, except for novelty. Even successful chains like Food World and Shopper 's Stop are holding back new expansions. The present paper is an attempt to understand store choice behavior of shopper. The primary motivation behind this study is to identify major drivers behind choice of stores for various shopping
Introduction
Store choice is a decision that a shopper is fairly involved in. It is important for a store to understand this behavior for developing marketing strategies to attract and keep its clientele. It is found that shoppers choose the store based on many aspects that could be classified as primary and image based. It is also found that the importance of each of these aspects changes with the kind of store the shopper wants to visit. In the Indian context where the shopper does not have much variety in store format, the type of store is recognized by the kind of product the store deals in it or the location of store from the residence of consumer or many other factors. The study is an attempt to understand this behavior of the shopper. The shoppers are explored for the primary reasons for choosing a store. Store choice and patronage has been widely studied across the world. This phenomenon has gained significance in Indian markets with the introduction of larger and diverse retail formats by organized players. They are providing new experiences and options for shoppers. Both retailers and shoppers are currently in the evaluation phase with no clear verdict as to what may drive the choice of stores to shop in. Unfortunately, this has led to very high footfalls into stores but low conversions in terms of actual purchase, resulting in high cost of service and hence lower profitability for retailers. The hallmark of Indian retailing — the small shop with a high level of service — is holding shoppers back to traditional ways of shopping. To a large section of customers, the new formats are not perceived to add enough value, except for novelty. Even successful chains like Food World and Shopper 's Stop are holding back new expansions. The present paper is an attempt to understand store choice behavior of shopper. The primary motivation behind this study is to identify major drivers behind choice of stores for various shopping
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