Consumer Behavior in Super Malls v/s Local Shops
INTRODUCTION
Consumers of this era have been different from the ones that used to be 20 years ago. The consumers today are more demanding and at the same time service oriented. They would seem to be in hurry to shop so that they can utilize the time that they saved somewhere else. Many consumers prefer to not even go outside for shopping instead they would order over phone or internet. These changes have changed the way marketers have been marketing their products traditionally. To be able to meet the ever growing demands of the consumers, marketers need to accept the changes that have happened to the consumers’ behavior and apply those concepts to sell more of their products.
This topic of the term paper was coined while visiting Pune Central on a weekend and Laxmi Road Market on the other. Pune Central is a well-known retail shop for all varieties of branded clothing, shoes, cosmetics, etc. On the other hand, Laxmi Road is the oldest local market of Pune and it has all local players of everything that is available in the retail shop. There are also few wholesale/factory outlets of Adidas, Fastrack, etc. One of the noted behaviors that were identified is that when in such local shops, shoppers tend to be in defensive mode and start bargaining even though the prices are less. However, this kind of behavior is not exhibited in retail shops or malls where the prices are exorbitantly higher as compared to the local market. For example, Global Desi is an outlet is most of the malls in Pune. It sells clothing for women that are a blend of traditional and western cultures. The average beginning price of a normal clothing in Global Desi starts at Rs1000 whereas the same kind of clothing is being sold at Rs600 in the local market. The shoppers are willing to pay Rs1000 while buying the clothes from Global Desi but seem to hesitate to pay Rs600 while buying from Laxmi Road. In fact, the shoppers tend to bargain with the shopkeepers to lower the price to Rs450 before
Consumers of this era have been different from the ones that used to be 20 years ago. The consumers today are more demanding and at the same time service oriented. They would seem to be in hurry to shop so that they can utilize the time that they saved somewhere else. Many consumers prefer to not even go outside for shopping instead they would order over phone or internet. These changes have changed the way marketers have been marketing their products traditionally. To be able to meet the ever growing demands of the consumers, marketers need to accept the changes that have happened to the consumers’ behavior and apply those concepts to sell more of their products.
This topic of the term paper was coined while visiting Pune Central on a weekend and Laxmi Road Market on the other. Pune Central is a well-known retail shop for all varieties of branded clothing, shoes, cosmetics, etc. On the other hand, Laxmi Road is the oldest local market of Pune and it has all local players of everything that is available in the retail shop. There are also few wholesale/factory outlets of Adidas, Fastrack, etc. One of the noted behaviors that were identified is that when in such local shops, shoppers tend to be in defensive mode and start bargaining even though the prices are less. However, this kind of behavior is not exhibited in retail shops or malls where the prices are exorbitantly higher as compared to the local market. For example, Global Desi is an outlet is most of the malls in Pune. It sells clothing for women that are a blend of traditional and western cultures. The average beginning price of a normal clothing in Global Desi starts at Rs1000 whereas the same kind of clothing is being sold at Rs600 in the local market. The shoppers are willing to pay Rs1000 while buying the clothes from Global Desi but seem to hesitate to pay Rs600 while buying from Laxmi Road. In fact, the shoppers tend to bargain with the shopkeepers to lower the price to Rs450 before