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This research deals with the ITC (Indian Tobacco Company) for rural retailing and consumer
behavior towards it. It is a new concept firstly adopted by ITC Company with the name as under
Choupal Sagar which means small retail mall for the rural peoples.

The 1st chapter deals on the objectives of the study. In that various objectives are studied during
the research. In that importance of study& limitations is also studied. For collection of data what
is sample size, sample area and sampling technique is studied.

The 2nd chapter deals on the company profile and various products available in the ITC Choupal
Sagar.

The 3rd chapter deals on the meaning of the rural retailing. In that the definition and concept is
studied. In that what is the meaning of rural marketing and there services is studied.

The 4th chapter deals on the meaning and definition of consumer behavior is studied. In that
consumer profile is studied in through data available.

The 5th chapter deals on the strategies adopted by the rural retailing to developing in that area.
In that the research had studied what are strategies adopted by Choupal Sagar in rural retailing.

The 6th chapter deals on the literature review on which the study is already carried out. In that
study various different companies involve in rural retailing and the demographic features on
rural retailing and its consumer.

The 7th chapter deals on the analysis on the collected data. The interpretation and the each
question are analyzed with the help diagrammatic presentation like charts and pie diagram.

The 8th chapter deals on the findings of the study. In that quantitative and qualitative suggestions
are drawn on study is carried out. On the study the conclusion is also done from every point of
view in the study.

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A study on rural retiling and consumer behavior towards it with special reference to ITC
Choupal Sagar in Washim District. This study shows important fact & figure. This report will
help to ITC Choupal Sagar to understand the behavior of the consumer towards it.´ This report
also helps to understand the actual meaning of the rural retailing and their strategies adopted by
it.

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c To study the Rural Retailing.

c To study the consumer behavior towards rural retailing.

c To study the Rural Retailing in Choupal Sagar.

c To study the different strategies adopted by Choupal Sagar.

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c To find what is mean Choupal Sagar.

c To known what Choupal Sagar plays a role on rural people.

c To known whether it is useful for rural people or not.

 ! c

c
cccccccccMethod is the way of doing something. Methodology means studying something from the
particular subject.
Sample Size: 100.
Sample Method: Random Sampling.

PRIMARY DATA:

It is collected from the 100 respondents through questionnaire method

new in Washim.

SECONDARY DATA:

It is collected from the following method

c Internet
c Journals
c Articles
c Books.
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ITC has continued to build new infrastructure by supplementing the farm gate presence of
Choupal with new physical infrastructure rural retailing hubs called Choupal Sagars, positioned
within tractor able distance of 30 Choupal-sagar centers and their user communities. The
Choupal Sagar hub and spoke combination is first-time grassroots click and mortar infrastructure
transporting rural local economies to a new level of productivity and consumption. The ITC
Company wants to say that is ³LET INDIA PUT FIRST´.Choupal-Sagar offer a combination of
services to rural India. Made-to-design agri-business hubs, they function as:

1.c ITC is a agri-sourcing centers providing farmers a transparent best price sales window,
2.c Shopping centers bringing a range of products comparable to urban levels of choice, and
3.c Facilitation centers delivering a host of farm-related services ± training, soil testing,
product quality certification, medical and clinical services, and cafeteria and fuel station.
It works on mainly 4R¶s

c Right Time,
c Right Place,
c Right Price &
c Right Quantity

The pioneering effort towards the establishment of rural malls came from the tobacco major, ITC
Ltd.As a logical extension of its highly lauded e- Chaupal project, the company launched rural
malls under the banner ³Choupal Saagar´ came up at a cost of Rs.4 cr on an eight acre plot in
Rafiqganj, about 4 k.m. from Sehore in Madhya Pradesh.The idea was that farmer could drive in
with his family on his tractor laden with harvest, get it weighed on a digital weighing machine &
offload the same at a huge go down at the back of the mall for a fair price. In meantime, the lady
of the house could look around the mall & pick items from the racks bursting with packaged
foods, spices, cereals, clothes ( trousers at Rs.166 a pair) , shoes sewing machines , watches,
grinders, TVs , DVD players, pressure cookers, room heaters. The children would have swings &
videogames to engage themselves, while their mothers went about their shopping. These apart,
the houses a soil testing laboratory, doctor, pharmacy, pathology lab ( in Madhya Pradesh &
Uttar Pradesh, the choupal saagars have tied up with the Apollo Group & with Care Foundation
to extend medical services to the customers), a diesel pump , a training center for farmers & a
cafeteria. Moreover, there is enough space to display new models of tractors, threshers,
motorbikes etc.ITC welcomed companies like Marico, Eicher,TVS, LG Philps, Usha, Prestige,
Hawkins & Everyday, among others to display their products in the mall, apart from its own. The
company plans to synergize its rural distribution network through one choupal saagar for every
40 e- Choupals. The ultimate objective is to set up around 1,000 such rural malls in India.


c 

Retailing can be defined ³as the set of activities that markets products or services to final
consumers for their own personal or house hold use.´ This is done by organizing the availability
of goods and then supplying them to consumer on a relatively small scale.

The mix of variables including price, location, communications, wholesaler, physical attributes,
services and personnel form the retail mix and these components form the over all strategic
marketing components of retailing.

Retailing is for the rural markets are virgin markets. It is the pillars of Indian economy. It is
having high transportation, traveling cost low maintenance cost. Accuracy is maintained through
intermediaries. It is handled by local kirana stores. Retailing the first phase of the distribution
channel and available for the distribution that grows in rural of Indian markets. Hence, it will
undergo in greater organization and maturity level in rural markets. New ideas in retail models
are the way for getting good satisfaction level from the customer. Distribution of Mall Spaces
across zones: Northzone-39%, Westzone-33%, Southzone-18% and Eastzone-10%. Haats are
usually weekly that serve groups of10 to 50 villages and sell day -to- day necessities. Melas are
larger in size and provide more variety in terms of goods, such as T.V. sets etc.

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³je can believe that we know where the world should go. But unless we¶re in touch with our
customers, our model of the world can diverge from reality. There¶s no substitute for innovation,
but innovation is no substitute for being in touch, either´.

-Steve Ballmer, CEO, Microsoft Corporation

In this era of competition, understanding the consumer is necessity for marketers.

Consumer needs & preferences are continuously changing, given the changes in factors like
demographic& lifestyles. These changes can become great business opportunities for alert
marketers & threats for marketers who fail to adapt. Consumers acquire, consume & dispose off
the products & services created by organizations. They go through several cognitive &
behavioral processes while making their purchase & consumption decisions. The knowledge of
how they decide on one brand instead of another and what factors influence their decision-
making is crucial for marketers not only to cater to the existing needs of their consumers but also
to prepare for their future needs. This knowledge is also essential to make various business
decisions related to product development, packaging, pricing, distribution promotions
communications, etc. Consumer Behavior helps to understand the internal variables like
motivation, perception, learning & attitude & external variables like reference groups, family,
social class & culture their influence on consumer decision-making process. It also discusses the
consumers¶ acceptance of innovation & their purchase & post-purchase behavior & the need for
its regulation. Consumer Behavior can be defined as a, ³the acquisition, consumption &
disposition of products, services, time & ideas by decision - making units.´ In other words, it is
the body of knowledge which studies various aspects of purchase & consumpt ion of products &
services by individuals wit h various social & psycho logical variables at play.

The Need to Study Consumer Behavior:

The field of consumer behavior is interdisciplinary, i.e. it uses concepts from a large variety of
fields like anthropology, sociology, and marketing, psychology etc.The belief that consumer
behavior could be predicated and consumers influenced gave an added impetus to study of
consumer behavior. There are thus, four underlying principles on which the field of consumer
behavior is based:

c Sovereignty of the consumers.

c Consumer research facilities an in-depth understanding of the consumers.

c It is possible to influence consumers.

c It is socially acceptable to influence consumers.

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c Discounted price:
It is given the discount means it is given at reasonable prices.
c Functional in nature:
It is diversified in various functions like minimum prices, good quality etc.
c Designed to encourage impulse purchase ± By farmers ± By influencers:
It is influenced by various peoples like references, peoples etc.
c Blocks competitor¶s entry:
There are various competitors¶ in market
c Keeps everything a farmer may need. :
In that mall all things are available which are used by farmers
c Additional support services:
It provides good quality of product to increase their value.

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ITC has diversified status originates from its corporate strategy aimed at creating multiple
drivers of growth anchored on its time-tested core competencies:

c Unmatched distribution reach,:

It reaches to its customers by various distribution channels

c Superior brand-building capabilities:

It provides good quality of brands of products.

c Effective supply chain management:

The supply chain of Choupal Sagar is very good & updates it inventory daily.

c Acknowledged service skills:

The skills in that adopted are very attractive.

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INDIA is on the threshold of retail revolution in the rural areas. According to McKinsey and
Co.a global consulting firm India¶s rural market will touch $ bn by2020.Nearly 70%Indians, who
constitute 12%of the world¶s consumers reside in 5, 70,000 plus villages. Merger and erratic
levels of income and lack of infrastructure have so far kept away many marketers from this
domain. However, a slew of measures to augment the income of the rural mass as well as to
improve substantially the rural infrastructure together with stagnation in urban markets, have
shifted the spotlight to the rural markets.

Rise in the purchasing power and overall literacy exposure to urban influence & electronic
media have tremendous influence on the rural psyche. The rural people are now willing to spend
on branded products_ whether regional, national or international ± thereby throwing up
tremendous opportunities for corporate sector, to push their retail trade. Responding to this
emerging trend, the first rural mall under the banner ³Choupal Sagar´was established by the
tobacco major,ITC.This was followed by Tata¶s(Tata Kisan Sansar), Mahindra &
Mahindra(Mahindra Sulbhlabh & Mahindra Krishi Vihar) &DCM Shriram Consolidated
Ltd.(Hariyali Kisan Bazaars), to name few. The soaring the popularity of these retail formats can
be attributed to a plethora of reasons. The retail formats have attracted commitments and
investments from companies which were not originally associated with consumer goods. It does
not therefore come as a surprise that according to a Technopak study, $12bn is likely to be
invested in India in organized retail over the next 5 years.

Side by side, the local kirana stores with their intimate the knowledge of the customer and
extension of credit have kept the fire burning in many villages homes. The weekly or monthly
haats and occasional melas continue to deliver the simple luxuries and provide entertainment to
its visitors. Again these are being increasingly leveraged by companies to popularize their
brands. The population in India is unevenly distributed between cities &villages(table:1).In the
urban areas high population density, good transportation connectivity and enlightened consumers
among other factors have traditionally attracted marketers who remained satisfied catering to this
vast consumer class which yielded large margins with relatively less marketing effort. In contrast
rural India is the home for more than 70%of the country¶s location but is besieged with
marketing bottlenecks in one form or another. This region is, therefore, generally ignored or at
best sidelined by many marketers.

When India opened its market to the world, pot-liberalization in 1991, MNCs lined up their
goodies for urban consumers. While manufactures of high- end product targeted the µglobal
Indians¶, the µaspiring Indians¶ were the key demand drivers for companies catering to the
popular segment. Not to be left behind, the Indian companies too went full throttle to retain their
market share across various categories of products & services.
 All India Population distribution

Distribution Population Percentage

Rural 741,660,293 72.22

Urban 285,354,954 27.78

Total 1,027,015,247 100.00

Source: National Council for Applied Economic Research (NCEAER)2002

Consequently the urban consumers in India were bombarded with a vide variety of choices of
every needs of theirs, big or small. As the battle between competing products & brands
intensified, the urban market began to reach its saturation level. Companies ± both national &
international- were forced to seek greener pastures. The untapped rural market , comprising
about 12% of the world¶s consumers & being twice as large as the entire population of the US &
Russia, provided tremendous opportunities for these companies.

Current Retailing Landscape in Rural India

Since long, the local kirana stores satisfied the frugal needs of rural customers. The kirana stores
(covering approximately 50 sq. ft. in area) are small family- owned businesses where all
household members chip in to run the shop. Their intimate knowledge of the customers helped
them to sell on credit, & endeared them further to cash ± strapped village folks. The haats &
melas added a little color to the serene pace of rural life. However, shopping for occasions or
providing for the occasional luxury invariably necessitated a trip to the nearby town. The
competitors for this are:

Hindustan Unilever- Project Shakti.

Tata- Tata Kisan Sansar.

Mahindra & Mahindra- Mahindra Shubhlabh & Mahindra Krishi Vihar.

Godrej- Aadhar & Manthan.

DCM- Hariyali Kisan Bazaars.

Triveni Engineering- Triveni Khushali Bazaars.


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From where do you purchase your grocery?

Purchase of Grocery No. of Respondents %

Nearby Grocery
Shop 24 24%

Anywhere 23 23%

Fixed Grocery Shop 30 30%

ITC Choupal Sagar 23 23%

Total 100 100%



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From here we can analysis that:24% people purchase their grocery from the nearby grocery
shop,23% people purchase their grocery from anywhere, 30% people purchase their grocery
from the fixed grocery shop & 23% people purchase their grocery from the ITC Choupal
Sagar.It means people are more interested towards their fixed grocery shop.

What is the frequency to purchase your grocery?

 Frequency of %
purchasing grocery No. of Respondents

Daily 7 7%

Weekly 13 13%

Fortnightly 35 35%

Monthly 45 45%

Total 100 100%

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From here we can analysis that:7%people purchase grocery daily.13% people purchase grocery
weekly,35% people purchase grocery fortnightly & 45% people purchase grocery monthly.

Are you using any agricultural product?

Use of Agricultural %
Product No. of Respondents

Yes 35 35%

No 65 65%

Total 100 100%

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From above analysis we can say that: 65% are not using the agricultural product &35 % are
using it.

What you prefer most while purchasing grocery/electronic item/agri products?

Use of electronic %
Item No. of Respondents

Product Quality 44 44%

Price 29 29%

Service 16 16%

Convince 11 11%

Total 100 100%


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From above analysis we can say that:44% people see the product quality while purchasing the
grocery/electronic item/agri products,29% price,16%service & only 11% see for the convince for
them.

If all these services if you will get under one roof do you will purchase from there?

Under one roof No. of Respondents %

Yes 85 85%

No 15 15%

Total 100 100%

 






From above analysis we can say that: 85% are people are willing to buy less than one roof &15%
are not interested at all.

Are you aware of Choupal Sagar in Washim ?

Awareness No. of Respondents %

Yes 78 78%

No 22 22%

Total 100 100%

  



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From above analysis we can say that: 78%are aware of Choupal sagar in washim &22% are not
aware about it.

Whether it is costly or cheaper than any other retailer?

Costly or cheaper No. of Respondents %

Yes 42 42%

No 10 10%

To some Extent 15 15%

Nothing to say 33 33%

Total 100 100%

 





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From above analysis we can say that: 42% people say that it is very cheaper than others, 10% say
that more costly than any other, 15% say that it is almost same to some extent & 33% cannot
judge it properly.

Give the rating to Choupal Sagar on the basis of the following :( Between 01 to 05)
Sr No. LOW GOOD SERVICE HELPFUL CONVIENCE
PRICE QUALITY NATURE

1 55 12 08 08 17
2 14 31 26 16 12
3 11 25 25 23 18
4 11 24 25 23 15
5 07 08 16 30 38

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From above analysis we can say that: 55% rank to low price first, 14% rank second, 11% rank
third, 11% rank fourth & 7% rank five.12% rank to good quality first,31% rank as second,25%
as third,24% rank as a fourth & 8% as a fifth.8% rank as first service 26% as a second,25% as a
third, 25% as a fourth & 16% as a fifth.8% rank to helpful nature as a first, 16% as a second,
23% as a third, 23% as a fourth,30% as a fifth.17% as a first to convince,12% as a second,18%
as a third,15% as a fourth & 38% as a fifth.

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Quantitative

From here we can analysis that:24% people purchase their grocery from the nearby grocery
shop,23% people purchase their grocery from anywhere, 30% people purchase their grocery
from the fixed grocery shop & 23% people purchase their grocery from the ITC Choupal
Sagar.It means people are more interested towards their fixed grocery shop.

From here we can analysis that:7%people purchase grocery daily.13% people purchase grocery
weekly,35% people purchase grocery fortnightly & 45% people purchase grocery monthly.

From above analysis we can say that: 65% are not using the agricultural product & 35 % are
using it.

From above analysis we can say that:44% people see the product quality while purchasing the
grocery/electronic item/agri products,29% price,16%service & only 11% see for the convince for
them.

From above analysis we can say that: 85% are people are willing to buy less than one roof &15%
are not interested at all.

From above analysis we can say that: 78%are aware of Choupal sagar in washim &22% are not
aware about it.

From above analysis we can say that: 42% people say that it is very cheaper than others, 10% say
that more costly than any other, 15% say that it is almost same to some extent & 33% cannot
judge it properly.

From above analysis we can say that: 55% rank to low price first, 14% rank second, 11% rank
third, 11% rank fourth & 7% rank five.12% rank to good quality first,31% rank as second,25%
as third,24% rank as a fourth & 8% as a fifth.8% rank as first service 26% as a second,25% as a
third, 25% as a fourth & 16% as a fifth.8% rank to helpful nature as a first, 16% as a second,
23% as a third, 23% as a fourth,30% as a fifth.17% as a first to convince,12% as a second,18%
as a third,15% as a fourth & 38% as a fifth.
 Qualitative

c Some people are less aware about the Choupal sagar.

c Some people say they are having high price than others grocery shop.

c Some people say that it is good concept for the farmer to satisfy their need in the mall.

c Some people say it is far away from the city.

c Some people say it is having helping nature & people who work there they guide us to
the people what are good things& what is beneficial for them.

c
c From the research the researcher concludes that:
c Retailing can be defined ³as the set of activities that markets products or services to final
consumers for their own personal or house hold use.´ This is done by organizing the
availability of goods and then supplying them to consumer on a relatively small scale.
The mix of variables including price, location, communications, wholesaler, physical
attributes, services and personnel form the retail mix and these components form the over
all strategic marketing components of retailing. In rural retailing there are 6 players:
c Hindustan Unilever- Project Shakti.
c Tata- Tata Kisan Sansar.
c Mahindra & Mahindra- Mahindra Shubhlabh & Mahindra Krishi Vihar.
c Godrej- Aadhar & Manthan.
c DCM- Hariyali Kisan Bazaars.
c Triveni Engineering- Triveni Khushali Bazaars.
c Some people are aware about retailing concept but not for the rural retailing. There are
some strategies adopted by the ITC choupal sagar to satisfy the customer needs. They are
unmatched distribution channels, good quality of products available there, effective
supply chain management & servicing skills.
c Some people visited with their family, individually, friends& relatives. Some purchase
grocery daily needs, electronic items& agricultural products. After analyzing the primary
data some respondents given rates to the choupal sagar are in that they are given the
lowest rate to the convince only.
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c Consumer Behavior: ICFAI Publication of Semester 3rd

c Kaberi Bhattacharrya Article on ³A Journey to the Interiors Prospects for Rural Retailing
in India´ Marketing Mastermind: ³Magic Mirror Trial Room of the Future´ Rural
Retailing April 2009.

c Mr.Prafulla Ghodchar,
Choupal Sagar Incharge,Washim.
c http://www.google.com/rural retailing/ITC/LETINDIA PUT FIRST.html
c http://www.itcportal.com/e-choupal sagar .html
c http://www.slideshare.net//rural retailing ITC Choupal Sagar.html