Retail study Tour to 'Reliance Mart' and 'Big Bazaar'

It was a learning experience visiting two of the most emerging Retail chains of India.Our first stop was at Reliance Mart,Kanke Road,Ranchi.Now before that we all knew that It is making loss for quite a some time.We also visited Big Bazaar and explored some of the valuable findings.I observed that the two stores should be differentiated on the parameters of Place :While Reliance Mart was situated far away from the market area,Big Bazaar was right in the middle of market area .The perception of Indian customer is different from their western counterparts.In Western countries big Departmental stores are away from the city.So there are plenty of space available for the retailer to make artificial garden ,lake,park to attract the customer for picnic,refreshment along with the shopping.But in Indian context people love to visit the store frequently and near to the market area. Taking note of this concept,we found less customers in Reliance Mart than Big Bazaar.Parking Place:As discussed above Reliance Mart had the more area for parking facilities.As Big Bazaar was on the side of the main road,the huge traffic make the customer irritate. Merchandising:It was interesting to note that both the brand had put all the effort to increase the sale of their own private label brand by placing their own merchandise near to the customers.Big Bazaar's 'Tasty Treat' is very successful in private label for the Indian consumers.