LNCT 3

Major Project Report On Consumer Behaviour In Certain Established Brands Of Readymade Garments- Koutons And Pantaloon Submitted as a compulsory
Paper for MBA (full time) 4th Semester DAVV Examination 2011 Submitted By, Durga Prasad Vishwakarma MBA -4th Semester(2009-11) Supervisor: Mrs. Shilpi Kulshrestha Lakshmi Narain College of Technology Management Education and Research Sanwer Road Indore,(M.P.)-4533
Consumer Behaviour in Certain Established Brands Of Readymade Garments-Koutons And Pantaloons LNCT-MER-INDORE Page 1
CONTENTS:
CHAPTER 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
DESCRIPTION INTRODUCTION,OBJECTIVES COMPANY PROFILE LITERATURE REVIEW RESEARCH METHODOLOGY TOOLS FOR DATA COLLECTION DATA ANALYSIS INTERPRETATION AND CONCEPTUAL
OPERATIONAL OR PRACTICAL PROBLEMS
8 9 10
PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS FUTURE PROSPECTS CONCLUSION,FINDINGS &OBSERVATION
CHAPTER-1 INTRODUCTION TO THE INDIAN TEXTILE RETAIL INDUSRY

The Indian retail industry is the fifth largest in the world. Comprising of organized and unorganized sectors, India retail industry is one of the fastest growing industries in India, especially over the last few years. Though initially, the retail industry in India was mostly unorganized, however with the change of tastes and preferences of the consumers, the industry is getting more popular these days and getting organized as well. With growing market demand, the industry is expected to grow at a pace of 25-30% annually. The India retail industry is expected to grow from Rs. 35,000 crore in 2004-05 to Rs. 109,000 crore by the year 2010.Retailing is the interface between the producer and the individual consumer buying for personal consumption. This excludes direct interface between the manufacturer and institutional buyers such as the government and other bulk customers .A retailer is one who stocks the producers goods and is involved in the act of selling it to the individual consumer, at a margin of profit. As such, retailing is the last link that connects the individual consumer with the manufacturing and distribution chainThe retail industry in India is of late often being hailed as one of the sunrise sectors in the economy. AT Kearney, the well-known international management consultancy, recently identified India as the first most attractive retail destination globally from among thirty emergent markets. It has made India the cause of a good deal of excitement and the cynosure of many foreign and domestic eyes. The entry of foreign and Indian retail giants like Wal-Mart, Metro, Reliance, Birla, Tata etc. made Indian market more competitive which is at cut throat level. So how retailers can reach to their end customers, to win the mind share and increase the basket size of each shopping trip .India retail industry is the largest industry in India, with an employment of around 8% and contributing to over 10% of the country's GDP. Retail industry in India is expected to rise 25% yearly being driven by strong income growth, changing lifestyles ,And favourable demographic patterns. industry is one of the fastest growing industries with revenue expected in 2007 to amount US$ 320 retail in India by growth in consumerism in urban areas, rising incomes, and a steep rise in rural consumption .The growth of scope in the Indian retail market is mainly due to the change in the consumers
behaviour. For the new generation have preference towards luxury commodities which have been due to the strong increase in income, changing lifestyle, and demographic patterns which are favourable .As the twentieth century has come to and we have moved in to third millennium , we can see many development and changes taking place around us with all the industries and firms within each industry trying to keep pace with all the industries and firm within each industries trying to keep pace with the changes and diverse need of people . Marketer have regarded customer as the king and evolved all activities to satisfy him or her, this concept gaining more momentum and importance today.The main objective of the project is to understand the recruitment and selection of Sales Executive more effectively and efficiently, because Sales Service Executive play most important role in business of Retail. Market in Indore city was targeted. Various areas in city were selected. The data gave knowledge about customer satisfaction, loyalty & their feel about the Retail. Despite substantial growth, comparing to the international readymade garment market of nearly 183mn USD, the Indian readymade garment market is still in a budding phase. Due to the higher the introduction cost of brand in India for the foreign players, domestic players have no fear of any outside competition. The main obstacle to the organized players is the huge unorganized scenario of the market. In a move to compete, the organized players have rolled out their own strategy of standardizing the goods. The brands introduced by these major textile players hold much intrinsic power and high on quality and pricing factors. They present the inheritance and constancy in the garment piece. Siyaram's is venturing into readymade garment to grip the continuously changing fashion trends. It is becoming a prominent designer of men's readymade garments and accessories from fabric manufacturer. The two major unique selling points of the recently launched Siyaram's brand, Monday to Sunday Dressing would be the widespread 30,000 retail outlets, where it is selling fabrics and second, the fabric quality that Siyaram's has, which guarantees that the buyer gets the high quality at a cheaper price
INTRODUCTION TO THE ORGANIZATION (Koutons Retail India Ltd.) Vision

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To emerge as the most profitable retailer in India by being the most efficient To provide contemporary fashion at affordable prices. To cut away all areas of distribution and value chain that do not benefit the consumer
Mission
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We aim to lead through innovation & improve through introspection to serve our customers and stakeholders equally and become an efficient and low cost operator with a commitment to quality. We aim to be world leader yet remain firmly rooted to our local markets
G.S. Sawhney (Deputy Managing Director)The youngest of the company, he looks after the Warehouse ,Logistics ,Production and Personnel. He is instrumental in making the growth of the company possible
Koutons Retail India Ltd. is the leading retailer of readymade and fashion wear brand in the country today. With more than 1400 outlets across India, it has a wide range of apparel designs suited for all segments including corporate, formal and casual dressings. Koutons aptly creates the conducive environment for a family outing, making family shopping the best experience at an affordable price - all at one place .Koutons was born in 1991 as Charlie Creations and are now Koutons Retail India Ltd. Koutons started primarily as a denim brand but are today manufacturing and selling complete men, women and kids wardrobe under the brand name Koutons, Les Femme and Koutons Junior respectively. Another brand from the stable of Koutons is Charlie Outlaw, which caters to the teens of the country with apparels including jeans, T- shirts, jackets etc. Koutons Brand icatering to the Upper & Upper Middle Class of Society with a vast target age group between 18-60 years."Value for Money and High on Fashion" being their USP, Koutons has given the brand an extension delving into specific consumer segments. Their brand Koutons has contributed to the success of our business. Sales from their brand Koutons has increased from Rs. 516.32 million for fiscal 2005 to Rs. 3,726.91 million for fiscal 2007 and has contributed 99.11% and 92.34% of their total income in fiscal 2006 and 2007, respectively. They have positioned the kouton brand in the middle to high fashion segment, offering a complete range of a mans wardrobe (in the age group of 22 to 45 years) ranging from formal to casual and party wear. brand is a casual brand targeted at fashion conscious youngsters in the age group of 14 to 25 years and is positioned as a fashionable and contemporary, value for money brand
Management
Mr. D.P.S Kohli, Chairman, Koutons Retail is one of the founding pillar of Koutons. He heads Marketing, Finance, Information Technology, Administration and Human Resource.
Mr. Kohli had a vision of providing fashion at an affordable price. This vision has taken Koutons from a relatively small beginning to a dominant player in the menswear branded garments. He is a remarkable leader who can visualize an opportunity and implement it efficiently which has resulted in the success of the brand. Prior to the birth of Koutons, Mr. Kohli was involved with the family business of retailing bicycles, electrical and electronic goods in Orissa. In 1982 he shifted to the electronics industry and started manufacturing his own television under the brand name "Apollo". He lost everything in Sikh riots in 1984, but he never gave up and later on teamed up with his brother in law Mr. B.S Sawhney and launched Charlie Creations. The focus was on providing fashion and quality at an affordable price. In 1997, Mr. Kohli launched Koutons with a focus on complete mens wardrobe. Understanding the consumer behaviour, he decided to create his own brand outlets. He desgined a franchisee model that turns small business men into entrepreneurs. He realized the potential of the domestic market and worked hard for a win-win relation between the company and his franchisees. Mr. DPS Kohli graduated in 1980 as a Mechanical Engineer with a B.Tech. Degree from Sambalpur University in Orissa. Mr. Kohli is a man of thinking considers himself a servant of God. He believes that God has made him in charge of a business which he has to run to the best of his ability. In return, he has given him a good life and a good family. He has also given him the opportunity to help others, which he will continue doing to the best of his ability.
B.S. Sawhney (Managing Director)The other founding promoter of the company, he looks after Sampling, Merchandsing, Sourcing and Sales. He is instrumental in company's growth.
Koutons
Koutons Retail India is a Gurgaon based apparel manufacturing company which forward integrated into retail under the Koutons' and Charlie Outlaw' brands through a network of 1147 exclusive brand outlets. The company started as an apparel manufacturing unit in 1993 and started retailing through their exclusive stores only in 2002. "Value for Money and High on Fashion &quota; being their USP, Koutons has given the brand an extension delving into specific consumer segments. The company has created the conducive environment for a family shopping by making fashion available at affordable prices. Economies of scale: Koutons is the largest discount retailer of readymade apparels for men, women and children in India with its own manufacturing facilities in North India. It manufactures semi-formal and casual wear under the brands Koutons, Charlie Outlaw, Les Femme and Koutons Kids. Each of these brands operates in a separate segment, ranging from the premium to value segment. Fully-integrated business model: The company's manufacturing-led retail model eliminates intermediaries cost (which can range about 25-40% of MRP) at multiple stages; this allows the company to give such hefty discounts. Despite huge discounts offered by the company, it manages to earn handsome profits, mainly on account of economies of scale and no intermediaries cost. the corporate brand and an individual brand . The company has a range of readymades with the brand name Koutons. Along with it , the company also has other brands of Brand : Koutons Koutons is a brand story which has gone sour. This 1000 crore corporate brand is now facing the worst period of its existence- facing mounting debt and bad press regarding the financial position and the stock price moving southward. Koutons , the brand owned by Koutons Retail India Ltd was born in 1991. The original name of the company was Charlie Creations which was later rechristened as Koutons. Koutons is both clothings like Charlie Outlaw, Le Femme etc. The current post focuses more on the individual brand.Koutons Retail is a classic entrepreneurial story. The company was founded by Mr. DPS Kohli. Mr Kohli and his family owned a television manufacturing business which was destroyed during a riot. Mr. Kohli had to suffer huge financial losses from that even and had to work as an insurance surveyor for long . Later he ventured into the retail textile business .Koutons grew really fast. The company became India's largest retail apparel chain in a span of 10 years . In 2009, the company had around 1400 Exclusive Brand Outlets (EBO) making it the largest apparel chain. The company had a turnover of around Rs 1000 crore in 2008-2009.Koutons was a brand built on a very unique strategy - deep discounting. Deep discounting is a pricing strategy where the brand offers huge ( often mind-blowing) discounts on an unusually high MRP ( Maximum Retail Price) . So the consumers are attracted towards the product seeing the huge discounts which are actually not a discount ( in pure sense). Koutons has a popular discount scheme known as 50% + 40 % off. So there is a 50% off on the MRP and then another discounted price. So the consumers obviously are delighted to get a shirt with an MRP of Rs 1500 for as low as Rs 450. Another very successful offer was " Buy 4 garments for the price of
One ". Seeing this unbelievable offers , consumers flock into the showrooms and buy what ever that is available .Along with the deep discounting strategy, the brand also invested some money in the brand building.Koutons has the tagline " The way ahead, always " . It had campaigns featuring foreign models and usually the showrooms are located in upmarket malls thus giving the impression that Koutons are a premium brand. But frankly no one really knows whether Koutons really sells a shirt for Rs 1500. But nobody was complaining because consumers got a feeling to getting a good bargain and that is what matters. So this model worked well for the firm for more that 20 years. As usual, 20 years is pretty long time for consumers to learn the discounting model. The sales started drying up and the cost and inventory started building up. More discounts followed and revenues started sliding. The company landed itself into a financial trouble.The brand really was able to tap the " value for money " psyche of the Indian consumer. Indian consumers like a good bargain and for long years, the firm was able to capture profit out of it. But the popularity of other discount outlets of established brands and the quality issues of Koutons paved the way for the downside for the brand. According to some newsreports, the company faced the issue of inventory mis-estimates and huge debts. I also have bought the brand believing that I got a good bargain later found that I was a victim of a very clever marketing strategy. Often some students ask me whether Koutons will lose its brand equity if it gives discounts like that, assuming that they sell the product at MRP atleast in some outlets. In the case of Koutons, they sell by these discounts. In the deep discounting model, the brand is secondary. What matters is the attractiveness of discounts and high media spents announcing the discounts. It is not the brand that pulls the customers but the perceived bargain. Of course the consumers should feel that the brand is aspirational . So it is a kind of a very risky , clever strategy. Project aspirational image and use discounts to pull the consumer in .Koutons as a company is in financial trouble and the fate of the brand depends on how the company survives the crisis. The deep discounting model will work in a market like India as long as the firm is able to project the aspirational image. It lacks the glamour of brand-building but may work for short-term. In the long term such deep discounting will eventually kill the brand.
Koutons Launches a brand new Family store at Kankurgachi

Kolkata, 13th Aug 2009 Koutons Retail India Ltd., the leading manufacturer of readymade fashion wear brand in the country, providing a wide range of apparels in men, women and children wear along with stylish range of fashion accessories inaugurated a new Family store in Kankurgachi spread over a 4000 sq.ft. area. Renowned TV actors Rishi Kaushik and Aparajita Ghosh Das showcased the collections and Pallavi Gogoi was the host for the evening. Mr. Dinesh Sancheti, Director, Eastern Region, Koutons Retail India Ltd.; Mr Manik Sharma,Deputy GM,
Koutons Retail India Ltd. and Mr Alok Barmecha, Operations Head, Eastern India Koutons Retail India Ltd. addressed the media at the launch. The all new Koutons store is located at P-44/1 CIT Road, Scheme V11M, Kolkata.Koutons Family store offers a blend of distinctive ambience and a wide range of contemporary designs for mens wear along the all new collections Les Femme and Koutons Junior exclusively for ladies and kids. It is a one stop shopping destination for a family looking for fashionable apparels at affordable prices. The customer has a wide variety of choices available at the store to select. Thus the garments are available at introductory offer of Flat 80% off .Koutons latest collection of FeelMe shirts reaches out to the fashion conscious clientele of the gen-next group. Made out of super soft fabric these shirts are wrinkle resistant with better dimensional stability. The lustrous fabric quality gives it a lasting effect and a rich look. The product range and the designs vary from chic casual wear to sophisticated formal and corporate wear suited for special occasions. These ammonia treated fabric shirts remains fresh even after frequent washes. The fabric is developed using cutting edge state of the art technology where all cotton fabrics are modified at molecular level.Priced between Rs.2299/- to Rs.2499/- is available at Flat Rs 899/- and Rs 1199/- at an introductory offer. Feel Me collection gives a very elite look without compromising on the comfort level. The styling of the shirts has been done with designs of basics, stripes and checks keeping in mind the corporate look. Koutons in-house designers have played very well with colors, textures and sleeves to give the shirts a unique formal styling. There is a wide variety of colors which include hues of black, blue, brown, red, green and multi color stripes of purple on white base. Charlie Outlaw, the youth brand of the label caters to the trendy youngsters of Gen-next. The label has the most happening collection which is a rage with the college-goers and young professionals. The wide range of T-shirts, Jeans, Shirts, jackets available in vibrant hues are quite popular with the trendy section of the youth who have a fashion quotient.Les Femme and Koutons Junior offers a wide range of formal and casual wear for women and children. Koutons Junior caters to young boys and girls in the age group of 2-14 yrs. The range of apparels in the collection includes t-shirts, shirts, night wear, capris, cargos, denims, dangris, denim skirts, A line dresses, halters and accessories which is available from Rs.399/- to Rs.499/-. Les femme on the other hand caters to young women in the age group of 14-30 yrs. of age group and includes apparels like t-shirts, party wear, lycra, semi formal shirts, denims, capris etc in the price range of Rs.499/- to Rs.2999/-. Koutons collection catering to men which includes the working professionals has a wide range of denim and non denim trousers, shirts, T shirts, cargos at an affordable price range of Rs.599/- to Rs2499/-. Koutons Retail India Ltd. reported an operationally good financial year with a Sale in FY09 of Rs. 1046.68 crore, registered a growth of 31.91%. Profit after tax registered a growth of 14.49% to Rs.
79.56 crore. EPS for FY09 was at Rs. 26.04.Koutons Retail is the leading manufacturer of readymade and stylish fashion wear brand in the country today. Having 1400 outlets across India, a wide range of apparels in men, women and children wear Koutons Retail is a clear leader in the Indian retail segment. Making a humble beginning 18 years ago, Koutons is the pioneer in making fashion a household name by bringing in modern and fashionable wear within the reach of all segments of society. Today, Koutons garments are available in both large and small cities and the product range is comprehensive to meet the fashion needs of all.Koutons was born with the forward visionary thought of providing affordable mens wear for masses. Today, better known as Koutons Retail India Ltd., it has two brands Koutons & Charlie Outlaw. Company moved up the value chain from a garment manufacturer to a retailer by launching its first own stores in 2002.Koutons Retail has extended its brand with the introduction of Les Femme (women wear) and Koutons Junior (kids wear). The collection offers a wide range of formal and casual wear for women and children. Koutons Junior caters to young boys and girls in the age group of 2-14yrs. Les Femme on the other hand caters to young women in the age group of 14-34 yrs of age .Koutons will continue to focus on maintaining and reinforcing the image of its existing exclusive brand outlets and also introduce its apparel to new geographical areas and assessing fashion trends, making fashion forecasts and offering products to match the global fashion movements will keep
CONSUMER BUYING BEHAVIOR

Understanding the buying behavior of the target market is these sential task of marketing management under marketing concept. The consumer market consists of all the individuals and households who buy or acquire good and services for personal consumptions. The buying behavior tries to find out the answers for the questions, who buys? How do they buy? Where do they buy? Do they buy? There are four major factors that influence the buying behavior suchas cultural factors, social factors, personal factors, koutons mens wear The well known apparel house, Koutons Retail India Ltd. has unveiled their latest collection of menswear. This collection offers a wide range of formal and informal clothing for men for the age group of 18 years and above. Known for their comfort and durability the brand has become synonymous with 'fashion and quality' at affordable price'. The collection caters to men which includes the working professionals. The collection includes the shirts, T-shirts, pull overs, sweat shirts ,denim and non-denim trousers, cargo and shorts for men in trendy yet formal shades the collection also offers a variety of fabrics to choose from. The basic formal shirts are available in linen and cotton fabrics. The range is also available in blended fabrics. The special product range wrinkle resistant flaunts ten to twelve colors to choose from. Using wrinkle-resistanttechnology the company has sought to introduce a new breed of weaved hundred percent cotton fabric and blended cotton.The latest collection of
Koutons menswear is a range created for today's generation of men who wear what they like and firmly believe in themselves. The collection is for those who like to blend comfort with style
Products offering brand under Koutons mens wear

The well known apparel house, Kouton s Retail India Ltd. has unveiled their latest collection of menswear. This collection offers a wide range of formal and informal clothing for men for the age group of 18 years and above. Known for their comfort and durability the brand has become synonymous with 'fashion and quality' at affordable price'. The collection caters toss men which includes the working professionals. Koutons Les Femme Kouton s Retail India Ltd. has unveiled its women wear collection named "Les Femme". Les Femme collection offers a wide range of formal and casual wear for women. The collection Les femme caters to young women in the age group of 16-34 yrs of age and includes apparels like t-shirts, party wear, lycra, semi formal shirts, denims, Capri s , tunics, cargos denims. The collection makes a fashion statement with Knits T-Shirt, shirts for formal and casual attire available in full, half and 3/4th sleeves etc. Koutons junior collection All set to redefine the kids wear market in the country, Koutons Retail India Ltd. has unveiled the Koutons Junior collection exclusively meant for the fashion conscious kids of 21st century. The collection offers a wide range of trendy and playful apparels for kids. Known for their comfort and durability, the brand has become synonymous with 'fashion and quality at affordable prices'. Koutons Junior offers a wide range of apparels t-shirts, shirts, night wear, capris, cargos,denims, dangris to denim skirts for boys and girls in the age group of 14-34
Branded/Unbranded
Within the readymade segment we have branded and unbranded players. A branded store is wherein a manufacturer or marketer makes conscious efforts to promote his brand, such as Koutons Retail India Limited, Madura Garments Peter England, Arvind Brands Newport, ITCs Wills Classic, and Raymonds Park Avenue There are several foreign brands that have successfully established their presence in the country. These players may have come in via a tie-up with domestic concerns: (like Benetton), or via the licensee route (like Allen Solly, Arrow). Some brands like Metro come in with Cash and Carry wholesale trading route, while Tommy Hilfiger, Marks and Spencers, Speedo, Umbro etc retail through franchisee channels.
Globally private labels contribute to 17% of retail sales and are growing at 5% pa. Private Labels provide higher margin to the retailers simultaneously offering lower price to the consumers. This is a strategy adopted globally and now is extensively used by Indian retailers. There are certain private label brands which have done exceedingly well like John Miller, Bare, Stop, Splash. With the implementation of the uniform tax structure across the country, quite a few of these labels are likely to aspire to achieve a brand status. A survey carried by AC Nielsen has identified that 56% of their survey respondents in India consider private labels to be good alternatives to manufacturer brands. This exponential growth can be seen in the areas of groceries, home care, clothing and apparel. (Source: Images Yearbook Volume III)
Brand position of koutons

If the year 2003 witnessed the birth of a lot of private labels, 2004 is seeing these very labels giving the brands a run for their money. these labels are the key drivers behind growth and market penetration across retail categories like apparels, groceries, etc .further, prl has also focused on enhancing sales of its private label products, which in turn are expected to improve margins, prl has also used the acquisition route for expansion, in businesses such as branded garments, and India's marks & spencer's franchisee .the company has launched apparel categories under pantaloon umbrella. this includes shirts, shorts under the premium brand. it plans to launch 26 more products such as women apparel under the premium brand .umbrella brands for other products are also on the anvil. they already sell belts, briefs, socks, ties under pantaloons .the company's in-house brands have garnered a market share in the range of 25-40 percent in its existing stores. they can earn whopping margins of around 55per cent to 60 per cent on private labels. in women's wear, it is between 48 per cent to 50 per cent compared to around 35 percent in branded gear .the officials say that they can differentiate through private labels. they also believe that private labels give them more control over their shelves. they grouse that the big companies often squeeze supplies during peak seasons and festival time. as they compete head-on with brand manufacturers, private labels offer retailers better negotiation power with suppliers. another reason for building up private labels is to induce store loyalty. in other words, with private labels not available anywhere else, if it clicks, then consumers return to the store.so pantaloon is also looking at creating individual in-store brands within its existing stores for its various product segments. for instance, it has decided it spin off its watches and sunglasses under a separate store section branded as blue sky. another in-store section is likely to get created for kids' products under
the brand `playground' .in-store section brands within its stores are also planned for product categories such as cosmetics ,fragrances and sportswear. all this time, pantaloon has always been perceived as an apparel-centric store. now, they want to create separate identities for the other mix of products existing at its stores. in fact, there are plans to introduce both shop-in-shop brands and also individual stores for most of these categories. in view of space constraints, pantaloon intends to spin off these in-store brands as independent stores later as the business expands. for this they need a minimum of 400 sq ft to create a visual identity for each of these brands to make it appealing to consumers .in the case of the blue sky brand, pantaloon is already stocking international watch labels such as espritand fossil. but it hopes to get exclusive licenses to sell brands such as morgan, sioruci and montana inretail major pantaloon today announced launching of a series of value stores--brand factory across the country offering fashion brands at factory prices s.the first of the four shops would come up in bangalore shortly with the others being planned in hyderabad and ahmedabad, mr vishnu prasad, president south and Ceo central and brand factory told newsmen here today. by 2010 around 55 outlets would be operational in 40 cities across the country he added .brand factory brought to consumers the best brands that India
Awards and Achivements

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2009Koutons received the Award of "Emerging Corporate" at the Corp Excel Award 2008 for National mSME Excellence on 30th Dec, 2009, organized by Corporation Bank. Koutons received "The Value Retailer of the Year" Award of Star Retailer on 27th November, 2009 organized by Franchise India. Koutons received the "Best Clothing Company of the Year" of CMAI? Apex Awards on 21st December, 2009. Koutons was also nominated for the Best Advertising Campaign of the Year" and "Brand of the Year" for CMAI's Apex Award. Mr. D.P.S Kohli was awarded for "Retail Excellence" award by Asia Retail Congress in January, 2009 2008Mr. D.P.S. Kohli, Chairman, Koutons Retail India Ltd. was awarded the title of Most Admired Fashion Face at Images Fashion Awards 08 Mumbai Koutons Retail India Ltd was award Most Admired Fashion Group at Images Fashion Awards 08 Mumbai. Mr. DPS Kohli was awarded the title of 2008 Top Marketing Man Award by IMM, Delhi Awarded the Brand of the Year Casual (SME) : Charlie Outlaw by CMAI.
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Award of Best Display at India International Garment Fair Koutons Retail India Ltd has won the prestigious Brand of the Year Mens Casual Wear (Large) Award at the National Awards for the excellence in Apparel business organized by CMAI. Franchise Award for Excellence in Franchising & Business Development- Retail. Nominated for the Clothing Company of the Year- Domestic by CMAI. Nominated for the Best Advertising Campaign of the Year Retail by CMAI. Koutons was nominated in Textile & Apparel Category in Emerging India Awards by ICICI. 2007Mr. DPS Kohli was awarded the title of UDYOG VIBHUSHAN for Excellence in Industrial Performance by the Institute of Trade and Industrial Development in 2007. Koutons Retail India Ltd has won the prestigious Chain Store of the Year Award at the National Awards for the excellence in Apparel business organized by CMAI. Koutons is also credited with another award of Brand Entrepreneur of the Year Award at the APEX AWARDS 2007 organized by CMAI. Nominated for the Best Advertising Campaign of the Year- Retail by CMAI 2006-
Awarded the Most Dynamic Brand of the Year by Lycra Images Fashion Awards Awarded the title of Value Retailer of the Year by Star Retailer- The Consumer Way. Koutons a leading manufacture of ready made and stylish wear is a discount retail store. Merchandise available at the store are always on discount. In 1999, Koutons was born with the forward visionary thought of providing affordable men wear for masses. Today, known as Koutons Retail India Ltd., it has two brands Koutons & Charlie Outlaw. Company moved up the value chain from a garment manufacturer to a retailer by launching its first stores in 2002Started under the brand name Charlie outlaw in 1991, as garment manufacturing and export house, today koutons is know for large format family store selling mens , ladies and children wear also. Koutons focus on value for money, as mantra for them also. Company has created the conducive environment for a family shopping by making fashion available at affordable prices .According to one study, Indian consumer tends to buy more during sale period, there by Koutons strategy of ffering discount throughout the year attracts customers to their stores, which increase their sales too. If a customers goes to buy one shirt he ends up buying 2-3 more by seeing such lucrative discount offers run at the Koutons store. Today Koutons garments are a name to reckon with in both large and small cities with wile presence in the malls and at high streets.Koutons is able to sell merchandise at a affordable price to consumer by selecting fabric and getting stitched merchandise at their own unit thereby .
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( PANTALOON RETAIL INDIA LTD.) VISION:

y Future Group shall deliver Everything, Everywhere, Every time for Every Indian Consumer in the most profitable manner
MISSION:
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We shall be efficient, cost- conscious and committed to quality in whatever we do.
Pantaloon Retail (India) Limited is India's leading retailer that operates multiple retail formats in both the value and lifestyle segment. Pantaloon has ushered a retail revolution in India and its founder Kishore Biyani is known as India's "King of Retail". Pantaloon's headquarter is in Mumbai. The company currently operates over 5 million square feet of retail space and has plans to increase it to 30 million sq. ft by 2011. Pantaloon has plans to open over 3000 new stores by 2010. Pantaloon's origin can be traced to 1987 when the company was incorporated as Manz Wear Private Limited. The company launched Pantaloons trouser, India's first formal trouser brand. In 1992, Pantaloon launched its IPO. In 1994, The Pantaloon Shoppe - exclusive menswear store in franchisee format was launched across the country. Pantaloon started distribution of distribution of branded garments through multi-brand retail outlets across the nation. In 2001, Big Bazaar, India's first hypermarket chain was launched. In 2002, Food Bazaar, the supermarket chain was launched. In 2006, Future Capital Holdings, the company's financial arm launched real estate funds, "Kshitij" and "Horizon" and private equity fund "Indivision". The company is also planning forays into insurance and consumer credit. The Pantaloon group ,a leading retailing group in India. In March 2006, the group renamed itself as the 'Future Group' and was further divided into six verticals - Future Retail, Future Brands, Future Space, Future Capital, Future Media, and Future Logistics. Headquartered in Mumbai (Bombay), the company operates over 7 million square feet of retail space, has over 1000 stores across 53 cities in India and employs over 25,000 people.
PLACING OF PRODUCTS IN THE OUTLET The Pantaloon outlet in Saket has two floors ground and first floor. The ground floor has women and kids wear. It also contains women and kids accessories. The women wear is in the front of the ground floor, while the kids wear is in the back of the shop. The middle portion of the shop in the ground floor has the women and kids accessories.The first floor has men wear and accessories. The men wear is in the front and accessories at the back of the floor. The keeping of the products of the women and kids in the ground floor is only for convenience and also due to the fact that women are more prone to shopping. Kids come to shop with their mother, and so they can be attracted more by keeping the kids wear and accessories in the ground floor. PRODUCTS OFFERINGS UNDER PANTALOON Pantaloon is positioned as an entire family store and it deals in mens wear, ladies wear and kids wear. It mainly focuses on its Private label programme because the share of private label has increased over the previous year and stands at nearly 75%. Below are some of the companys private labels:
y MENS WEAR
y y y y y y y y John Miller JM Sports Bare Denim Rig Ajile Lombard T-2000 Bare Leisure
y LADIES WEAR
y y y y y y y y y Honey Akkriti Annabelle Mix & Match Ajile Rig KIDS WEAR Chalk Bare 7214
AWARDS AND ACHIVEMENTS

2007 National Retail Federation Awards International Retailer for the Year 2007 Pantaloon Retail (India) Ltd World Retail Congress Awards Emerging Market Retailer of the Year 2007 Pantaloon Retail (India) Ltd Hewitt Best Employers 2007 Best Employers in India (Rank 14th) Pantaloon Retail (India) Ltd PC World Indian Website Awards Best Indian Website In The Shopping Category - Futurebazaar.com Readers Digest Trusted Brands Platinum Awards Trusted Brands Platinum Award (Supermarket Category) Big Bazaar 2006 Retail Asia Pacific Top 500 Awards Asia Pacific Best of the Best Retailers Pantaloon Retail (India) Ltd
Best Retailer in India Pantaloon Retail (India) Ltd Asiamoney Awards Best Managed Company in India (Mid-cap) Pantaloon retail (India) Ltd. Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year (Services) Kishore Biyani CNBC Indian Business Leaders Awards The First Generation Entrepreneur of the Year Kishore Biyani Images Retail Awards Best Value Retail Store Big Bazaar Best Retail Destination Big Bazaar Best Food & Grocery Store Food Bazaar Retail Face of the Year Kishore Biyani Readers Digest Awards Platinum Trusted Brand Award - Big Bazaar CNBC Awaaz Consumer Awards Most Preferred Large Food & Grocery Supermarket Big Bazaar Reid & Taylor Awards for Retail Excellence Retail Entrepreneur of the Year Kishore Biyani
PROMOTIONAL STRATEGIES OF PANTALOONS

1. Green Card is passport to a whole new world of exclusive benefits and privileges. Instant discounts for every time you shop at Pantaloons. Exclusive shopping days to get hold of latest merchandise. Regular updates on collections and promos via catalogues, sms and email. 2. Pantaloon continued to be the title sponsor for femina miss India 07 pageant.
PRICING STRATEGY OF PANTALOONS They propose to provide branded products at 10% less than the Mrp and 20% off on the local brands, which is similar to what has been carried out in Big bazaar. Keeping costs down is clearly the cornerstone of policy at both chains. Pantaloon chief Biyani ensures cheaper prices by keeping watch at every step. Says Biyani: "We do three things -- buy directly from the manufacturers so that the middle man is eliminated. We buy in cash and get a cash discount, and manage our stocks turns so that we don't have money stuck up. The benefits are passed on to the customers.
POSITIONING STRATEGY OF PANTALOONS Initially positioned as a family store, it finally veered towards becoming a fashion store with and emphasis on youths and clear focus on FRESH FASHION. They are targeting youth and even women, since they are the ones defining most purchasing decisions.
Building customer loyalty

The key to a successful business is a steady customer base. After all, successful businesses typically see 80 percent of their business come from 20 percent of their customers. Too many businesses neglect this loyal customer base in pursuit of new customers. However, since the cost to attract new customers is significantly more than to maintain your relationship with existing ones, your efforts toward building customer loyalty will certainly payoff. Here are ways that Pantaloons follow to build customer loyalty: 1. Communicate: Whether it is an email newsletter, monthly flier, a reminder card for a tune up, or a holiday greeting card, reach out to your steady customers i.e. they offer green cards on purchasing of Rs. 5000 or onwards with many discount schemes and inform the costumer about a special or extra discounts through emails. 2. Employee Loyalty: Loyalty works from the top down. If you are loyal to your employees, they will feel positively about their jobs and pass that loyalty along to your customers.
3. Employee Training: Train employees in the manner that you want them to interact with customers. Empower employees to make decisions that benefit the customer i.e. they provide one month training to their employees and give knowledge about fabrics in apparels and related products. 4. Customer Incentives: They give customers a reason to return to their business. For instance, because children outgrow shoes quickly, so they offer a card that makes the tenth pair of shoes half price. Likewise, a dentist may give a free cleaning to anyone who has seen him regularly for five years. 5. Be Flexible: They try to solve customer problems or complaints to the best of their ability. According them excuses such as "That's our policy" ? will lose more customers then setting the store on fire. Point-of-purchase Displays: They use POP displays by creating effective combination of attractive store layout and displays to make the impulse purchase of costumers. In apparel segment they put the clothes in display from dark color to light color in winters and vice versa in summers to attract customers or to increase their salesgarment retailers strike today Garment retailers across the country will observe a day-long strike on Monday to protest against the 10% excise duty on readymade garments proposed in the Union budget. Retail giants, including Shoppers Stop, Pantaloon, Westside, Globus and Arvind Brands, are keeping their stores shut to protest against excise imposed on branded apparel."Excise duty on readymade garments is uncalled for. With the government planning to introduce GST next year, we have to switch to a new tax regime. There is no logic in introducing excise on readymade garments now. The government should understand that the industry is reeling under high input costs. Any further increase will make things worse," said Rahul Mehta, president of Clothing Manufacturers Association of India (CMAI).Kishore Biyani, CEO of Future Group, said it was "a double whammy" for the industry. "Imposing excise duty has come at a time when retailers are grappling with high raw material costs. Why should we burden the customer with additional costs especially in a high-inflation environment?" he asked.Suresh J, MD of Arvind Brands & Retail, said the company would be shutting down 400 stores, including those for Flying Machine, Arrow, US Polo, Mega mart, Izod, Energie and GANT, across India to support the strike .Cotton prices continue to head north due to a tight supply situation. Global markets are feeling the squeeze as floods destroyed a majority of crops in Pakistan and Australia. "In 2009, cotton prices were hovering around Rs 23,000 per candy (356 kg) . This has shot up to Rs 60,000 now. Manufacturers are already facing a tough time in sourcing raw material and are not position to absorb the duty," said Sajjan Raj Mehta, the former president of Karnataka Hosiery and Garments Association.
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The main objective of this study is to find :1 .Consumer awareness towards readymade garments. 2. Factor affecting the buying behavior of customer for branded garments. 3. To measure the satisfaction level of overall shopping experience from branded garments
Chapter -2 Company profile KOUTON

Koutons Retail India Limited (KRIL) is in the business of designing, manufacturing and retail of readymade garments in India.KRIL has establish two strong retail brands in readymade garments segment, "Koutons" & "Charlie Outlaw" and owns a network of 674 exclusive brand outlets."Koutons" offers a complete range of a mans wardrobe (in the age group of 22 to 45 years) ranging from semi formal to casual and party wear .KRIL has around 26 facilities utilized by the Company as in-house manufacturing units and warehouses which are spread across various locations in and around Gurgaon, Haryana. KRILs total income and profit after taxes in Fiscal 2006 were Rs. 1,583.85 million and Rs. 132.28 million, respectively. For the 10 months ended January 31, 2007, KRILs total income and profit after taxes were Rs. 2,652.14 million and Rs. 239.60 million, respectively When it comes to making a purchase, most consumers work within thresholds. If the price of an item rises above the threshold, the consumer will not buy, perhaps choosing a substitute product (Srinivasan, 2010). Keeping this in mind, companies often hope that consumers will consider their brands when making a purchase decision. Unfortunately, consumers only take into account a limited number of brands, included in their consideration set. Most brands are excluded from consumers' consideration set and are categorized in their hold or reject sets (Tulin Erdem, 2004). Therefore, companies are faced with the challenge of attracting consumer attention, and altering brand attitudes and purchase intentions towards their brands in order to move the brands from consumers' hold or reject sets to their consideration set. Marketers often use sales promotions to enhance or improve consumers' perceptions regarding the value of their products, which will, in turn, increase sales volume (LATTIN & BUCKLIN, August, 1989). Consumers, on the other hand, are familiar with the brands in the consideration set and carefully process all salient brand attributes. Consumers generally hold positive attitudes and purchase intentions toward these brands and only consider these brands when making a purchase decision. Whereas, the hold set includes the brands which consumers do not consider when making a purchase decision but still hold either a negative, neutral or positive attitude or purchase intention towards these brands. The question in the marketers' interest is whether the discounts can influence consumers' attitudes and purchase intentions, in turn, move a brand from the hold set to the consideration set Consumers
generally hold positive attitudes and purchase intentions toward these brands and only consider these brands when making a purchase decision. Whereas, the hold set includes the brands which consumers do not consider when making a purchase decision but still hold either a negative, neutral or positive attitude or purchase intention towards these brands. The question in the marketers' interest is whether the discounts can influence consumers' attitudes and purchase intentions, in turn, move a brand from the hold set to the consideration set? suggest that price discounts may work by enhancing customers' perceptions of savings and value, and by improving attitudes towards the brand relative to competitors' brands. Although price discounts are efficient in terms of influencing consumers' attitudes and purchase intentions, they are very costly and may have detrimental effects, such as reducing consumers' reference prices and reducing company profitability.Sometimes, consumers may be fond of certain characteristics of the brand, such as its quality, but may be less fond of other characteristics, such as its price being outside of their purchasing range. Applying a price discount offers a solution to this problem, by allowing the brand to be more available to a broader consumer base. This moves the brand from the hold set to the consideration set. Price discounts remove financial barriers, which may prevent consumers from purchasing a certain product based on pecuniary factors, and allow them to make a purchase based on quality and other services (Teng, 2009). The brand's movement from the hold set to the consideration set also indicates that consumers are price sensitive. In spite of the fact that price discounts increase consumers' motivation to purchase a brand, marketers must improve the quality of their offering while promoting their brand (Teng, 2009).There are studies that indicate that "the influence of price discounts on a brand's perceived quality was minimal" (Dhruv Grewal, 1998), whereas it is cited in some literature that quot;customers believe that high price is often associated with high quality &quota; (Chetan Bajaj, 2005). Hence it cannot be stated with accuracy depending on the available literature whether consumers do or do not associate price discounts with low quality products. Three important components that appear to be a key to store patronage decisions are the retailer's store image, quality of the merchandise sold and price/promotions. Consumers use certain cues as signals for these components; store name, brand name and price discounts. Clearly, store image is an important input in the consumer decision-making process as it encompasses characteristics such as the physical environment of the store, service levels, and merchandise quality (Baker, 1994). Price and special promotions have been used to attract consumers to a retail store (i.e., providing greater value via the discount) and generate an increased level of store traffic. Additionally, while price discounting may generate traffic in a retail store, such discounting may have negative effects on the brand's quality and internal reference prices. Price discounting may even hurt a store's overall image. The need to simultaneously examine
the effects of store name, brand name, and discount is supported by congruity theory. Congruity theory states that consumers try to bring disparate information together and make sense of it (Dhruv Grewal, 1998).Consumers may use price as an indicator of product quality because they believe that market prices are determined by the forces of competitive supply and demand. These forces would result in an ordering of competing
Pantaloons
Pantaloon Retail (India) Limited, is Indias leading retailer that operates multiple retail formats in both the value and lifestyle segment of the Indian consumer market. Headquartered in Mumbai (Bombay), the company operates over 16 million square feet of retail space, has over 1000 stores across 73 cities in India and employs over 30,000 people.The companys leading formats include Pantaloons, a chain of fashion outlets, Big Bazaar, a uniquely Indian hypermarket chain, Food Bazaar, a supermarket chain, blends the look, touch and feel of Indian with aspects of modern retail like choice, convenience and quality and Central, a chain of seamless destination malls. Some of its other formats include Brand Factory, Blue Sky, aLL, Top 10 and Star and Sitara. The company also operates an online Future Value Retail Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of Pantaloon Retail (India) Limited. This entity has been created keeping in mind the growth and the current size of the companys value retail business, led by its format divisions, BigBazaar The company operates 148 Big Bazaar stores, 169 Food Bazaar stores, among other formats, in over 70 cities across the country, covering an operational retail space of over 6 million square feet. As a focussed entity driving the growth of the group's value retail business, Future Value Retail Limited will continue to deliver more value to its customers, supply partners, stakeholders and communities across the country and shape the growth of modern A subsidiary company, Home Solutions Retail (India) Limited, operates Home Town, a largeformat home solutions store, Collection i, selling home Pantaloon Retail is the flagship company of Future Group, a business group catering to the entire Indian Pantaloon is one of the biggest retailers in India with more than 450 stores across the country. Headquartered in Mumbai, it has more than 5 million sq. ft retail space located across the country. It's growing at an enviable pace and is expected to reach 30 million sq. ft by the year 2010. In 2001, Pantaloon launched country's first hypermarket Big Bazaar. It has the following retail segments:
y y y
Food & Grocery: Big Bazaar, Food Bazaar Home Solutions: Hometown, Furniture Bazaar, Collection-i Consumer Electronics: e-zone
y
y y y
Shoes: Shoe Factory Books, Music & Gifts: Depot Health & Beauty Care: Star, Sitara E-tailing: Futurebazaar.com Entertainment: Bowling Co.
Tata Group Tata group is another major player in Indian retail industry with its subsidiary Trent, which operates Westside and Star India Bazaar. Established in 1998, it also acquired the largest book and music retailer in India Landmark in 2005. Trent owns over 4 lakh sq. ft retail space across the country. RPG Group RPG Group is one of the earlier entrants in the Indian retail market, when it came into food & grocery retailing in 1996 with its retail Food world stores. Later it also opened the pharmacy and beauty care outlets Health & Glow. Reliance Reliance is one of the biggest players in Indian retail industry
Chapter-3 Review of Literature

Literature survey is the documentation of a comprehensive review of the published and unpublished work from secondary sources data in the areas of specific interest to the researcher. The library is a rich storage base for secondary data and we used to spend many days and going through books, journals, newspapers, magazines, conference proceedings, doctoral dissertations, masters theses, government publications and financial reports to find information on their research topic. With computerized databases now readily available and accessible the literature search is much speedier and easier and can be done without entering the portals of a library building. We had used internet to a great extent in finding out different research topics related to the topic. We started the literature survey even as the information from the unstructured and structured questionnaire is being gathered. Reviewing the literature on the topic area at this time helped us to focus further more meaningfully on certain aspects found to be important is the published studies even if these had not surfaced during the earlier questioning. So the literature survey is important for gathering the secondary data for the research which might be proved very helpful in the research. Past studies have investigated the relationships between actual price and quality. Price and brand name have been shown to have a moderately significant effect on buyers' perceptions of quality while store name had minimal effect (Rao, September, 1988).The adaptation-level for judging the price of an item is called the internal reference price and can be considered the average market price, or a range of average prices for a product class. Adaptation-level theory predicts that the price discount (and the advertised reference price in the price promotion or comparative price advertisements) shifts consumers' internal reference prices. The results of many research also showed that the negative effects of price discounts maybe counter-balanced by the positive effects of brand name and a brand's perceived quality. This may suggest that the adverse effects of price discounting on consumer evaluation found by other researchers may not hold for high quality products, at least in the short term. However, many researchers believe that carefully managed price discounts will positively influence perceived value without any adverse effect on brand's perceived quality, thus enabling retailers and manufacturers to successfully deliver high value.
The price parameter influences directly and strongly profit margin as well as market share. It has been shown that modifying the price by 1% results in the change of at least 10% in everyday consumption (Alexandre Dolgui, Feb 2010). In luxury industry, high price is more of a selling point than drawback. The success of a low price strategy depends on the number of clients attracted by the product since the low margin should be compensated by a higher number of items sold .Consumers generally hold positive attitudes and purchase intentions toward these brands and only consider these brands when making a purchase decision. Whereas, the hold set includes the brands which consumers do not consider when making a purchase decision but still hold either a negative, neutral or positive attitude or purchase intention towards these brands. The question in the marketers' interest is whether the discounts can influence consumers' attitudes and purchase intentions, in turn, move a brand from the hold set to the consideration set?(K Fraccastoro, 1993) suggest that price discounts may work by enhancing customers' perceptions of savings and value, and by improving attitudes towards the brand relative to competitors' brands. Although price discounts are efficient in terms of influencing consumers' attitudes and purchase intentions, they are very costly and may have detrimental effects, such as reducing consumers' reference prices and reducing company profitability .Sometimes, consumers may be fond of certain characteristics of the brand, such as its quality, but may be less fond of other characteristics, such as its price being outside of their purchasing range. Applying a price discount offers a solution to this problem, by allowing the brand to be more available to a broader consumer base. This moves the brand from the hold set to the consideration set. Price discounts remove financial barriers, which may prevent consumers from purchasing a certain product based on pecuniary factors, and allow them to make a purchase based on quality and other services (Teng, 2009). The brand's movement from the hold set to the consideration set also indicates that consumers are price sensitive. In spite of the fact that price discounts increase consumers' motivation to purchase a brand, marketers must improve the quality of their offering while promoting their brand (Teng , 2009).There are studies that indicate that &quot a;the influence of price discounts on a brand's perceived quality was minimal &quota; (Dhruv Grewal, 1998), whereas it is cited in some literature that &Quot a; customers believe that high price is often associated with high quality &quota; (Chetan Bajaj, 2005). Hence it cannot be stated with accuracy depending on the available literature whether consumers do or do not associate price discounts with low quality products. Three important components that appear to be a key to store patronage decisions are the retailer's store image, quality of the merchandise sold and price/promotions. Consumers use certain cues as signals for these components; store name, brand name and price discounts. Clearly, store image is an important input in the consumer decision-making process as it encompasses characteristics
such as the physical environment of the store, service levels, and merchandise quality (Baker, 1994). Price and special promotions have been used to attract consumers to a retail store (i.e., providing greater value via the discount) and generate an increased level of store traffic. Additionally, while price discounting may generate traffic in a retail store, such discounting may have negative effects on the brand's quality and internal reference prices. Price discounting may even hurt a store's overall image. The need to simultaneously examine the effects of store name, brand name, and discount is supported by congruity theory. Congruity theory states that consumers try to bring disparate information together and make sense of it (Dhruv Grewal, 1998). Manufacturing, distribution and marketing issues that enable a more robust analysis of the sector are investigated. A review of business models used by companies in the fashion industry is conducted to gain insights into the way that fashion firms manage demand. An extensive review of the literature reveals that the fashion industry is market orientated and characterised by short life cycle products and low demand predictability. Lead time reduction enables the development of flexible manufacturing and logistics systems. Short lead times enable reduction of forecast errors and improvement of supply chain responsiveness towards volatile market conditions. The main supply chain solutions in the fashion industry are based on quick response, fast fashion, agile, lean and leagile concepts. Use of information technology, automated manufacturing systems, production and distribution planning based on real-time demand and transparency of information across the whole supply chain are some of the primary characteristics of the fashion supply chains. In.. The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between the variance of two brand images and dimensions of brand equity after , especially when the acquirer-dominant is affiliated to a weak brand image and the acquired one has a stronger brand image. In total, 409 responses were collected through random sampling from an internet survey platform in Taiwan (weak image differences were gathered from 209 respondents and strong image differences were gathered from 200 respondents). This study uses an experimental design to discuss how the variance of two brand images (this study uses two kinds of M&A: a company with an inferior brand image acquires one with a superior or average brand image) affects the acquirer's brand equity (perceived quality, brand association, and brand loyalty). This study also examines how brand equity of an acquired brand changes after . Results from the MANOVA and paired-sample t-test methods show that the greater the perceived differences between acquirers and acquired brands, the more the brand equity of the acquirer will increase.In addition, all the dimensions of brand equity for the brand with a superior image decrease significantly. Few studies have evaluated the brand image effect of an M&A from a marketing perspective. The contribution is to help managers understand whether the acquirer should preserve the obtained brand and focus on
increasing brand equity of the acq Counterfeiting has become a significant economic phenomenon. Increased demand for counterfeit branded products (CBPs) makes the study of determinants of consumers CBPs purchase behaviour more worthwhile than ever before. Existing studies have largely neglected brand influence on consumer purchase behaviour of CBPs. This research seeks to examine the impact of perceived brand image, direct and indirect effects (mediator and moderator effects) of product involvement and product knowledge on consumer purchase intention of counterfeits in the context of non-deceptive counterfeiting. The current study tests the conceptual model and hypotheses developed based on the existing literature. Four focus groups (ranging from six to eight participants in each group) are used to construct the research instrument. The conceptual model and hypothesis are tested using hierarchical regression analyses with survey data This research is the first in the literature on counterfeits to establish that perceived brand personality plays a more dominant role in explaining consumers' purchase intention of CBP than other influential factors (e.g. benefit and product attribute). Involvement/knowledge has no significant influence on counterfeit purchase intention. Evidence of involvement as a moderator does not exist. Brand image is not a mediator of the effects of involvement/knowledge on purchase intention.India has approximately 30,000 readymade garment manufacturing units and around three million people are working in the industry. A gamut of attires and outfits are created by these apparel and fashion manufacturers India which are later on circulated and sold in different corners of the country by apparel and fashion distributors in India. There has been significant increase in customer spending in this segment, reflecting the changing consumer behavior. Per capita GDP spending on apparel increased to 5.8% in 2006 from 4.9% in 2003.Indian Apparel Industry constitutes both branded and unbranded garments. Branded ready to wear clothing presently have a 24% share in the garment market in India, while unbranded market have around 50% market share. The remaining is catered by tailor made garments.Also of the total market size 46% belongs to mens, 37% to womens and remaining 17% to childrens apparel. The mens apparel industry is expected to increase at a CAGR of 14.86 % during the period from 2008-2010.Segment wise mens apparel Industry classification includes: Formal wear, casual wear, night wear woolens and others.The major players in branded mens apparel includes Madura Garments, Provogue India Ltd., Raymond Apparel Ltd., Pantaloon Retail (India) Ltd., Levi Strauss & Co. etc The branded apparel Industry for men is increasing at a CAGR of 24% and is expected to cross 25000 crore by 2010 as per a research by just style. In 2007, mens apparel industry was mainly dominated by shirts (in value terms) accounting for 36.5% of total mens segment
Chapter-4 Research methodology

Questionnaire was developed using the information gathered during the focus group discussion about brand Koutons and past experience of shopping at various brands' discount sales. After developing the questionnaire, a pre-test of the same was conducted by randomly selecting 8 people from Hall 10 Indore city. They were asked to fill the survey online and provide a detailed feedback about the length of the questionnaire, clarity in the directions for the questions, relevance of the questions, ordering of the questions and other general aspects like look and feel of the survey. The feedback was used to edit the language and directions of 3 questions and options of 2 questions .Convenience sampling technique was used to obtain a sample of convenient elements in the exploratory research stage. Residents of Hall-10 who were available at that time were selected for focus group interview that lasted for 20-30 minutes .However, quota sampling technique was used for obtaining a sample for surveying. In the first stage, a quota sample of around 50respondents was selected on the basis of their age. Then, the survey was e-mailed/shared online to 50 students and professionals from various backgrounds and belonging to different geographical regions. Variables and parameters used: Primary data: Primary data are those, which are collected for a specific purpose directly from the field of enquiry and thus original in nature. The authorities themselves publish such data such as government; civil bodies, trade associations etc. and they are also responsible for their collection. Individuals such as economists and institutions like banks etc. can collect primary data fore a specific purpose directly form the field of enquiry by engaging trained investigators. A data which is collected very first time to a specific purpose not have been use for any other purpose is called primary data. METHODS OF COLLECTING PRIMARY DATA y QUESTIONNAIRES y SAMPLE y PERSONAL INTERVIEW
Secondary data : Secondary data are such numerical information, which have been for already collected by some agency for a specific purpose and are subsequently compiled form that source for application indifferent connection. METHODS OF COLLECTING SECONDRY DATA y INTERNET y MAGAZINE y ANY PRIOR REPORT OF THE COMPANY y NEWSPAPERS SAMPLE DESIGN y y y y y y DATA : Primary data
RESERCH DESIGN : Exploratory research design FORMAT OF DESIGN : Questionnaires SAMPLE SIZE : 50 Employees OF Pantaloon and 50 Employees of Koutons AREA : Indore DATA COLLECTION METHOD : Through questionnaires
Chapter- 5 DATA ANALYSIS
Question-1
Respondents Yes 87 No 13 Total 100 Percent 87.0 13.0 100.0
Question-1
13%
Yes No
87%
Data interpretation: We went for convenience sampling & from the above table we can see that most of the consumer were brand conscious and were preferring of buying branded clothes i.e 87%.
Question-2
Regularly Special occasion Some times Never Total Respondents 17 35 39 9 100 Percent 17.0 35.0 39.0 9.0 100.0
Question-2
9% 17%
Reguraly Special occasion Some times 39% Never 35%
Data interpretation: We went for convenience sampling & from the above table we can see that though most of them prefer buying branded clothes nut they are not regular buyers of it as only 17%. Whereas sample suggests that people wear branded clothes on special occations(35%) and sometimes(39%). Boosting fact was that only 9% people dont prefer wearing branded clothes.
QuestionRespondents Pantaloons 42 Koutons 34 Others 24 Total 100 Percent 42.0 34.0 24.0 100.0
Sales
24% 42% pantaloons koutons others 34%
Data interpretation: We went for convenience sampling & From the above table we can see that pantaloons(42%) with its high cost and low cost range and brand image is more appreciated and accepted as a brand compare to koutons (34%) and other brands(24%).
Question-4
Respondents 38 39 8 15 100 Percentage 38.0 39.0 8.0 15.0 100.0
Formal Casuals Night cloths Sports wear Total
Question-4
40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 Formal Casuals Night cloths Sports wear 38 39 Series1
15
Data interpretation: We went for convenience sampling & From the above table we can see that people prefer to buy mostly branded formals(38%) and branded casuals (39%) whereas they are not so keen in spending more in night dresses hence dont prefer buying branded stuff frequently. Though they prefer for going for some of the branded sportswear.
Question-5
Yes No Respondents Percent 79 79.0 21 21.0 100.0
Total 100
Question-5
21%
Yes No
79%
Data interpretation: We went for convenience sampling & from the above table we can see that most of them (79%) feel confident while wearing branded clothes whereas 21% doesnt feel so.
Question-6
Respondents Valid Yes 72 No 28 Total 100 Percent 72.0 28.0 100.0
Question-6
28%
Yes No 72%
Data interpretation: We went for convenience sampling & From the above table we can see that as they feel it to be a status symbol most of them (72%) feel that they are more appreciated by their peers when they are wearing branded clothes. Whereas 28% dont.
Question-7
Strongly Disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Agree Total
Respondents Percent 10 10.0 35 21 20 14 100 35.0 21.0 20.0 14.0 100.0
Ouestion-7
Strongly Disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Agree
14% 20%
10%
35% 21%
Data interpretation: We went for convenience sampling & From the above table we can see that people have a very mixed opinion on effect of store ambience on their buying decision and perception towards a brand as 35% disagree, 10% strongly disagree with this fact, whereas 21% have a neutral opinion that they were not very sure, 20% agree and 14% strongly agree with this fact that store ambience affect their perception towards a brand.
Brand image Quality 12 Pricing 11 Availability 7 Variety Sizes Total
Respondents Percent 31 31.0 12.0 11.0 7.0 14.0 25.0 100.0
14 25 100
Chart Title
Brand image Quality Pricing Availability Variety Sizes
Data interpretation: We went for convenience sampling & From the above table we can see that they go for brand image and first then for variety, quality, pricing, and availability.
QUESTION-9
Column1 Brand image Quality Pricing Avalibility Variety Sizes pantaloons 2 2 1 2 2 1 Koutons 1 1 2 1 1 2
2 1.8 1.6 1.4 1.2 1 0.8 0.6 0.4 0.2 0 Brand image Quality Pricing Avalibility Variety Sizes
Data interpretation- from the above chart we can see that consumer perception towards both the brands are varied, they prefer koutons above pantaloons in terms of pricing and sizes where as levis had an edge over koutons in terms of brand image, quality, availability, and variety.
QUESTION- 10
Pantaloons store 2 1 2 Koutons Store 1 2 1
Retail outlet Product Assortment Pricing Store design and ambience
2 1.5 1 0.5 0 Product Assortment pricing Store design & ambience Column3 Column2 Column1
Data interpretation- From the above data and chart it is clear that consumer had a vivid perception for the two brand stores and they rate pantaloons above koutons in terms of store ambience and product assortment where as in terms of pricing koutons had an upper edge
Chapter- 6 Practical problems

Limitations are extent to which the process should not Exceed. Limitations of this project are:y y y y The project was constrained by time limit of two months. Mind set of people vary depending upon their age, gender, income etc. People mind set about the survey was an obstacle in acquiring complete information & positive interaction. Respondents were very busy in their schedule. So it was very time consuming for them to answer all the questions properly.
Chapter-7 Suggestion
The product quality must be improved Company must reform its marketing strategies. Company may go for reposition its brand image. In research we found that all the costumer are accepting the repositioning of kouton and pantaloons to family store All above company must increase its range of products All company should put effort in creating brand image by stopping the offer like buy 1 and get 4 All company must change its image from discounted good to superior goods Company must makes strategies for rural market. y Though urban market for the branded clothes is very much good and growing companies need to focus their business to other untapped market of small towns and create brand consciousness. a y Both brands like levis and koutons need to diversify their product range. Levis like premium brands need to came up with some low cost brand to capture market of local low cost brand ranging price between 400 to 800. Whereas koutons like medium low cost need to tap high class public and international market with a really good international quality premier product They need to came up with more innovative and eye catching offers and advertising concept to capture the clothing market in changing fashion scenario of Indian fashion industry.
CHAPTER-8 FUTURE PROSPECTS

In January this year, Pantaloon Retail had announced its intentions of skim off four of its business entities - which also include Big Bazaar and Food Bazaar - into sovereign ancillaries, thereby keeping open their future prospects of being listed in dependently. According to a Pantaloon Retail a regulatory filing to the stock exchanges last week, the agenda of the proposed board meeting was to deliberate upon the restructuring of its business, "by realigning the business lines as per verticals and considering to create separate legal entities for the same."The filing also added that, at the meeting, the board of the company would also reflect on the issuance of securities - including issuing shares or warrants, on preferential basis to potential promoters or investors -along with thinking about "changing the name of the company in view of its new structure."
PANTALOON RETAIL'S PROFTABILITY
PROSPECTS
SALES
GROWTH
Rising consumption, reflected in higher same store sales, focus on core retail operations and attractive valuations should help the stock deliver 30 % over 18 months, say analysts. While Pantaloon Retail's stock delivered negative returns in 2010 (down 13.6 %) as compared to the Sensex's 17 %, this trend should change soon for the better. Analysts believe the current restructuring exercise to focus on retail, streamlining of operations and strong growth should help the stock generate about 30 %returns over the next 18 months. India's largest listed retailer, Pantaloon, is expected to record a sales growth of 20-25 % over the next two years on the back of aggressive expansion as well as a robust same store sales growth.The company is also planning to team up with Carrefour, the world's second largest retailer after Walmart, to set up the latter's branded stores in India.The tie-up would assume importance when foreign direct investment (FDI) in multi brand retail is allowed as it will give the company an opportunity to divest a part of its stake in the retail business in favour of a foreign playerThe company which currently operates about 16 million square feet of space is expected to add about 1.5 million to 2 million square feet of retailing space annually over the next two years. On the back of capacity addition as well as strong same store sales growth across formats (value, lifestyle and home), the company expects to grow its sales by 25-30 % in2010-11. Good growth, especially in the lifestyle brands which have EBITDA margins of 12-13 % as compared to value brands which command half of that, higher private label (own brands) sales as well as benefits of scale should keep margins stable going ahead even as the company invests in expanding its reach. are bigger things Since the inception of the company it has been known to create ripples in the industry. When most Brands thought that
'Discount' was a tool meant to clear stocks Koutons came out and offered 'Discount' on complete range of stocks including the Fresh Collection of the Season. Breaking old concepts Koutons led the way---amazing one and all. Then came a time when every Tom ,Dick & Harry started using 'Discount' to achieve sales but not realized that Quality and designing is a matter of expertise. Koutons with its International experience and know how of latest Fashion Trends continued its growth unfazed and unperturbed by its surroundings. With a successful IPO under the belt Koutons started spreading its wings throughout the length and the breadth of the country and soon had network of over 1000 retail outlets with ever increasing numbers. By 07-08 brand started opening Family Stores at key locations in top markets of the country with shop size in range of 3000 to 7000 Sqr. ft. Not only had the Brand transformed its image from a Mens apparel Brand to a Family Brand it left its competitors way behind. Since then Koutons has continued to strengthen its position as a Family Brand and setting up high standards in overall Shopping Experience.
The Future
The retail industry in India is currently growing at a great pace and is expected to go up to US$ 833 billion by the year 2013. It is further expected to reach US$ 1.3 trillion by the year 2018 at a CAGR of 10%. As the country has got a high growth rates, the consumer spending has also gone up and is also expected to go up further in the future. In the last four year, the consumer spending in India climbed up to 75%. As a result, the India retail industry is expected to grow further in the future days. By the year 2013, the organized sector is also expected to grow at a CAGR of 40%.The retail industry is one of the fastest growing industry in the world and so as well in India, the tremendous rate of growth and attractive outlook has resulted in large number of players in Indian market as well, although Indian retail market is still at nascent stage and the scope of growth is immense it is yet a protected market as govt.of Indian has strict guidelines and a number of restrictions for foreign and multinational giants in retail who are yet to enter into market in full swing, the situation is dynamic and it is going through a constant change as the govt. is liberalizing the stringent norms year after another, the Indian retail industry is expected to see a sea change the govt. would allow 100% foreign direct investment in retail sector, the market will turn more Comptitive and Darwins survival of the fittest theory will hold good in a market which is already competitive enough.The study was carried out for Reliance Industries Ltd, indore.The focus of the project is on the Retail business of RIL which is better known as Reliance Fresh. Reliance Fresh is one of the largest retail chains in Indore having 12 stores well dispersed across the city,still reliance industries retail format i.e. Reliance Fresh is not the leader and it faces a lot of problem as well, the purpose of the report was to pool in information about all the retail formats operating in the city ,draw up their strengths and weakness and compare it with Relince Fresh. The first problem was to select the stores which were to be considered as competitors ,the task was
comlicated because of the presence of unorganized retail stores owned by private individuals ,although the number of such stores were huge and it was beyond the scope to include all such stores in our study so decided upon few who had a sizable consumer base and was popular shopping
destination of the people of Indore, apart from them we included all the players in organized retail format under the preview of our studies. So finally the following names were decided for the Analysis:
1. Big Bazar /Food Bazaar 2. Easy Day 3. Hyper City 4. More 5. National Handloom Corporation 6. Six Ten 7. Vishal Mega Mart
The research is more of a exploratory research as we use a lot of secondary data to compare the different retail formats, the study was carried out with the help of some primary data as well which helped to find out where competitors lie on a perceptual map.The study required to rate different retail formats on different papameters decided which were indicative of a retail stores performance on aspects such as: 1 .About store like location, ambience, hygiene and parking facility 2 .Product availability 3 .Product quality/freshness of vegatables, staples, processed food, dairy products and Non food s fast moving consumer goods. 4 .Promotion measures 5. Staff behavior or response 6. Billing facilities The project also tried its best to analyze from a customer point of view the shopping benefits he get, for this a hypothetical bucket of goods was taken into consideration and the entire bucket price of different stores were compared .The study also scrutinizes the promotion measures adopted by different retail company.
Chapter-9 Conclusion
In defining the target segments, what we have done is to cover the medium to high potential consumers that international and national brands can target in the Indian context. We have parallel mapped these segment values with those of some brands that have seen success in the Indian market. We also took a step forward and scanned the international market for brands that could possibly find footing in India. In doing so,we able to validate our value findings with potential fashion brands. The trends that we have aligned with the segments are the strongest that stood out in the Indian fashion multiplicity. And our research in other areas like retail and shopper behaviour, help in gaining further insight into the consumers mind. Fashion in India is at the threshold of a new era. People are becoming mere brand conscious with the increase in income level. Brands and individuals would do well to understand the finer aspects of the scenario, and venture out to capitalize on the opportunities Company is planning to enter womens and kids wear segment soon. In an attempt to strengthen its margins, Koutons Retail India has planned to take up this initiative all across India very soon. Koutons India Retails Ltd will expand its product line and launch its own brand of shoes by end 2010. The company, which had recently set a record of opening 100 stores in a single day, is aiming to break its own record by opening 200 stores across the country. The company has entered into fabrication agreement with various manufacturers to which it outsource stitching of apparels through the design and fabric provided by it. We are positive on the business model of the company. The customers benefit due to availability of quality products with affordable prices. The franchisees do not suffer due to the minimum guarantee given and the interest paid on security deposit .Koutons Retail India Ltd. is the leading retailer of readymade and stylish fashion wear brand in the country today. With a wide range of apparel designs suited for all segments including corporate, formal and casual dressings for men, women and children, Koutons aptly creates the conducive environment for a family outing, making the family shopping the very best experience at the affordable prices - all at one place .Koutons has its retail logistics in place appropriately to suit the market needs and track the key areas which are future business opportunities. Pantaloon Retail (India) Limited is a company where it strives for lifestyle and value through its products and services. Through the study, it is observed that Pantaloon can be said to be an organization where the Ps of marketing is taken seriously for the maximum profitability, through growing number of outlets, large range of products targeting basically the whole population ,distinctive pricing for the large range of products, promotional activities for the company through newspapers
magazines ,internet, banners and posters and a solid sales organization monitoring that the Ps takes .
FINDING
y y y y y y y y y y It was found that most of consumer prefer formal wear than casual wear Koutons and pantaloons Consumer feel Koutons product express their style It was found that most of the consumer express their dissatisfaction toward the quality of the product Consumer expressed their that Koutons and pantaloon product are affordable Repositioning of Koutons to family is accepted by most of the consumer who participated in the survey In survey it was found that most of consumer feel the product as discounted good and inferior quality product It was found the place of stores are not in even
Observation
The value of observation in the assessment of a child is very important because that is how you get to know a child better. While observing how a child interacts with their peers, adults, and how they behave in different settings, you are getting to know the child without speaking to them. It also provides us with information by helping us to determine where a child stands in his or her development. This information can be used to put together activities that can help the childs progress. It also helps educators see what things are right or wrong. When collecting the data we can pick their strongest strengths and help them to continue develop them and branch out to new activities that will help them with any issues they might have and improve in the future. We can learn through observation by writing important details that cannot be notice ona standardized test. Observation is a tool to help us learn about each child, our environment, and our work in caring for children. Also it helps the teacher to identifying the source of a problem (not just the individual child but also his or her environment and the children associated with him/her). Other means of assessments are done once a year. While observing a child you can repeat observations over a period of time can show how a child's development is progressing.
Bibiliography
1.Cardozo R.N. (1965) An experimental study of customer effort expectation andSatisfaction 2.Howard J.A. and seth J.N (1965) The Theory of Buying Behavior John Wiley and Sons 3.Consumer Behavior Satish K Batra & S H H Kazmi 4. Milestones, an ORG-MARG publication. 5.Philip Kotler, An Outlook for Retailing in India http://www.fibre2fashion.com/news/company-news/pantaloon-retail-india www.google.com www.answer.com www.scribd.com www.a2z.com www.amzen.com www.bhaskar.com www.pentaloon.com www.kouton.com www.moneycontrol.com www.pantaloonretail.com
Questionnaire:
(1)Name:. (2)Address:. (3)qualification.. (4)occupation.
(5)Income (a)Upto 1.Lac
Date..
(b)1.Lac-3.Lac
(c)3Lac-5.Lac
(d)Above 5 .Lac
(6)Age
(a)20-30
(b)30-40
(c)40-50
(d) Avove 50
(7)mobile no 1.Do you prefer buying branded clothes? a) Yes b) no 2.How often you prefer shopping for branded clothes? a)Regularly b) Special occasions c) Some times d) Never 3.Which brand you prefer to buy? a)pantaloons b) Koutons c) Others Please specify 4.Which type of clothes you prefer to buy from a branded outlet?
a)Formals b)Casuals c) Night clothes d) Sports wear 5.Do you feel more confident after wearing branded clothes? a) Yes b) No 6.Does your peers appreciate brand you wear? a) Yes B) No 7.Does store ambience and merchandising affect your perception towards brand? a) strongly Agree b)Agree c)Neutral d)Disagree e)Strongly disagree 8.Rate your preferences while choosing a particular brand of clothing Please give your ratings on the scale of 1 to 6 (6 to the most preferred? a)Brand Image b)Quality c)Pricing d)Avilability
e)Variety f)Size
9..Rate pantaloons brand compared to Koutons based on given parameter Please give your ratings on the scale of 1 and 2 (2 for most preferred) Pantaloons Koutons
Brand image Quality Pricing Availability Variety Sizes 10.Rank your preference of retail store based on the following parameters: Please give your ratings on the scale of 1 and 2 (2 for most preferred) Retail Outlet Product assortment Prices national brand merchandise Overall quality the lowest prices overall Offer and schemes Store design & Modern looking equipment ambience and fixtures, store layout for shopping Store location Convenient parking area Easily accessible pantaloons Store Koutons Store
Consumer Behaviour in certain established brands of Readymade garments-Koutons and Pantaloons-LNCT-MER- MRP Page 54

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Major Project Report On Consumer Behaviour In Certain Established Brands Of Readymade Garments- Koutons And Pantaloon Submitted as a compulsory

OPERATIONAL OR PRACTICAL PROBLEMS

PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS FUTURE PROSPECTS CONCLUSION,FINDINGS &OBSERVATION

CHAPTER-1 INTRODUCTION TO THE INDIAN TEXTILE RETAIL INDUSRY

INTRODUCTION TO THE ORGANIZATION (Koutons Retail India Ltd.) Vision

Koutons Launches a brand new Family store at Kankurgachi

CONSUMER BUYING BEHAVIOR

Products offering brand under Koutons mens wear

Brand position of koutons

Awards and Achivements

( PANTALOON RETAIL INDIA LTD.) VISION:

We shall be efficient, cost- conscious and committed to quality in whatever we do.

AWARDS AND ACHIVEMENTS

PROMOTIONAL STRATEGIES OF PANTALOONS

Building customer loyalty

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

Chapter -2 Company profile KOUTON

Chapter-3 Review of Literature

Chapter-4 Research methodology

Chapter- 5 DATA ANALYSIS

Reguraly Special occasion Some times 39% Never 35%

24% 42% pantaloons koutons others 34%

Formal Casuals Night cloths Sports wear Total

Strongly Disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Agree Total

Respondents Percent 10 10.0 35 21 20 14 100 35.0 21.0 20.0 14.0 100.0

Brand image Quality 12 Pricing 11 Availability 7 Variety Sizes Total

Respondents Percent 31 31.0 12.0 11.0 7.0 14.0 25.0 100.0

Retail outlet Product Assortment Pricing Store design and ambience

Chapter- 6 Practical problems

CHAPTER-8 FUTURE PROSPECTS

PANTALOON RETAIL'S PROFTABILITY

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