Understanding Retail Consumer Shopping Behaviour Using Rough Set Approach

Understanding Retail Consumer Shopping Behaviour Using Rough Set Approach

Senthilnathan CR
Copyright: © 2016 |Pages: 13
DOI: 10.4018/IJRSDA.2016070103
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Abstract

India's market is consumer driven market The Indian consumer segment is broadly segregated into urban and rural markets, and is attracting marketers from across the world. India has a young demographic and a middle class with rising disposable income. India is a multi-culture country with high uncertain consumer behaviour. This study is an attempt to understand the complex Indian consumer's retail shopping behaviour in grocery segment. A total of 621 respondents of Chennai were collected in a well-structured questionnaire. Three level model is developed to analyse the consumer behaviour. Rough Set Theory, a new mathematical decision making tool is used to analyse the shopping behaviour. The behavioural traits are generated as rules. In general, Retailers need different formats for different towns and need to invest more resources to modify the departmental store appeal by offering quality service and money value to customer.
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Introduction

Retailing, one of the largest sectors in the Indian economy and is going through a transition phase in India and has undergone a significant transformation during the last two decades. However, in the past decade there has been development in organized retailing, which has encouraged large private players to invest in this sector. Indian retailing reflects and determines Indian culture, as consumer goods are the focus of the labour force, its economy, and collective lifestyle. Today’s consumers now have the ability to choose from a large variety of retail formats in India. Success mantra in today’s competitive retail environment is all about getting the right product to the right place at the right time; at the lowest cost possible Thiruvenkadam, (2011). Along with the rapid growth, retailing scenario has also been characterised by increasing competition and the emergence of 'Hybrid Western' format typologies such as convenience stores, discount stores, super markets, specialty stores and hyper markets tailored as per the Indian context, Jayasankaraprasad, (2010). Another emerging store format in India is E-tailing. Though e-tailing has a considerable market share in the sectors like electronics, textile, and books but its market share in groceries is very meagre compared to other formats. Indian conservative consumers are reluctant to move grocery purchases to virtual stores. So it is important to realize that management cannot be effective unless it has clear understanding of the way retail consumers make decisions and act in relation to the consumption of retail products. For a long time, the corner grocery store was the only choice available to the consumer, especially in the urban areas. This is slowly changing and giving way to international formats of retailing. The traditional food and grocery segment in India has seen the emergence of hybrid supermarkets/grocery chains known as departmental stores, convenience stores and fast-food chains. The traditional grocers, by introducing self-service formats as well as value-added services such as credit and home delivery, have tried to redefine themselves to suit the customer needs. However, the boom in retailing has been confined primarily to the urban markets in the country. Even there, peripheral areas are yet to feel the impact of organized retailing. To be successful in food retailing in India essentially means to draw away shoppers from the roadside hawkers and kirana stores (a small neighbourhood grocery store) and attract to supermarkets/departmental stores. This transition can be achieved to some extent through pricing and quality service. So, the success of a retailer depends on how best he understands consumer needs and satisfies the consumer.

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