www.elkjournals.com MARKETING STRATEGIES AND PREFERENCE CRITERIA OF THE SELECTED TEXTILE SHOWROOMS A PRELUDE Saraswathi. V Department Of Commerce, Assistant Professor, Apollo Arts And Science College, Madras University, India, saismk.niranjana@gmail.com ABSTRACT Clothing has been one of the primary needs of mankind. It has been the second in the triumvirate of man s fundamental necessities. Today majority of the people have got used to purchase their clothing through a wide variety of retail textile showrooms as the retail outlets exist in every nook and corner of the country. They make shopping convenient to the customers. With the increase in competition in retail showrooms, the manager has to make various marketing plans to attain his objectives. Thus it has been necessary for all the showroom owners to adopt marketing strategy to succeed in their business. All the businesses including the retail showrooms have started considering customer as the sovereign. The research study has been conducted to understanding how the textile showrooms have developed superior customer value in markets, characterized by dynamic exchange relationships. The focus has been on understanding the drives of customer values and how the textile showrooms have to deal with the customers in order to achieve superior performance. This paper has also highlighted the potential impact of marketing strategy adopted by selected textile showrooms in Chennai city. Keywords: Clothing, Marketing strategy, Retailer, Textile showroom 1. INTRODUCTION TO TEXILE INDUSTRY AND CLOTHING Since ancient times Indian Textile Industry has been well known for textile goods. During the colonial regime the traditional textile industry of India was virtually decayed. However, in the early nineteenth century the modern textile industry took birth in India when the first textile mill was established at Fort Gloster near Culcutta in 1818. Next to Agriculture, India mainly has been into the Textile Sector. Indian Textile Industry has been one of the India s oldest industries and has a formidable presence in
the national economy as it contribute to about 14% of manufacturing value-addition, accounts for around one-third of gross export earnings and provides gainful employment to millions of people. Thus the industry has played an important role and has been one of the key growth engines of the economy. Primarily, clothing has satisfied the desire for warmth and for protection against the elements. Secondarily, it has given psychical satisfaction, and a sense of social achievement. They have been a symbol of social status, of distinction, accomplishment or occupation. Clothing has been one of the most common ways by which the desire of distinction and recognition of accomplishment has been expressed. 2. IMPORTANT OF RETAIL MARKETING AND MARKETING STRATEGY Any business that directs its marketing efforts towards satisfying the final consumer is based upon the organization of selling goods and services as a means of distribution Retail Marketing in India. Retailing has included all the activities involved in selling the goods or services directly to the final consumers for their personal or business use. Convenience stores, departmental stores, supermarkets, chain stores, shopping mall/centers, textile showrooms etc. have all been in retail trade. The Indian retail sector has been highly fragmented with more than 90 per cent of its business being carried out by traditional family run small stores. Textile showrooms in Chennai have wanted to remain successful despite the economic depression and other problems. Marketing Strategy has focused on the drivers of customer value that has enabled the organizations to create a sustainable competitive advantage in the marketplace. As markets have been are increasingly characterised by a high degree of dynamics, strategic marketing has become more and more important to an increasing variety of organizations. Marketing strategy has been the complete and the unbeatable plan designed specifically for attaining the marketing objectives of the firm. The research study has been framed to understanding how the textile showrooms have developed superior customer value in the market. This paper has also highlighted the potential impact of marketing strategy adopted by selected textile showrooms in
Chennai city. The five popular textile showrooms have been selected for the study. There are following below: 1. Pothys 2. RMKV 3. The Chennai Silk 4. Jayachandran 5. Saravana store 3. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM All the businesses including the retail textile showrooms have started considering customer as the sovereign. Today, the market place has been flooded with many new players including a host of Today the majority of the people have got used to purchase their clothing s through a wide variety of retail textile showrooms. In the entry stage of textile showrooms, they enter with a new price appeal, limiting product offerings, & limited services. The monopoly power over the others has a price advantage, which can offer products at low prices to get a competitive edge over its competitors. Now a days, retail textile showrooms have been increasing rapidly in Chennai city. It has been necessary for all the showroom owners to adopt marketing strategy to succeed in their business. With the increase in competition in retail textile showrooms, the manager has to make various marketing plans to attain his objectives. It has been important to create a good image and by earning more profits, a company has to device a good strategy that can be affect all aspects of business. The research has been conducted to analyse the marketing strategy provided by the selected five textile showrooms in Chennai city and the customers preference criteria for choosing a showroom. 4. SCOPE OF THE STUDY: The present study has been carried out to find out the preference criteria of the customers in selecting a showroom and the marketing strategies adopted by the textile showrooms. The study has provided suggestions to the owners of the textile showrooms, to help them retain their customers in the market. 5. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY The entire work has been planned to cover the following objectives: To decipher the opinion of the existing and the prospective customers with
respect to the marketing strategies adopted by the showrooms To gather information about the cause-effect relationship of the marketing strategies with the customers To ascertain the opinion of the customers with respect to the best marketing practices that can be adopted by the sellers 6. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 6.1 Study Area: The area selected for the study has been Chennai city. The secondary data, as an integral part of any research study has provided information on key variables, which have played a major part in the actual research. The source of secondary data collected includes have been from: The internet and The various thesis, journals, magazines and newspapers 6.2 Sample Size Since there have been a lot of textile showrooms in Chennai city, it was considered desirable that a limited textile showrooms be selected for the purpose of the study. Therefore, to study the purchase behavior of the consumers, Thiyagaraya Nagar in Chennai was selected for convenience. Through random sampling method a sample size of 250 respondents has been selected from five selected textile showrooms. 6.3 Tools Used Statistical tools used Percentage analysis Rank analysis Kendall s co efficient of concordance 7. LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY Through there have been many retail textile showrooms at Chennai, only 5 have been taken for the study. The results and findings have been based on the opinion of the respondents of Chennai city only. The respondent s views and opinions may hold good for the time being and may vary in future. The respondents then ranked the five showrooms based on the attributes of each outlet and the promotional
strategies followed by them. Kendall s coefficient of concordance has been applied to confirm the similarities of opinion expressed for the satisfaction and preferences expressed by the respondents. 8. Respondents reasons for preferring the shop : Respondents have various reasons to choose a shop, Table No.1 has given an idea about the respondents reasons for preferring a shop.(refer Table 1) 82.4% of the respondents have preferred RMKV for high quality of products. 45.2% have chosen Pothys for their high quality products and 23.8% of the respondents.the respondents have been quite satisfied with respect to The Chennai Silks, both with respect to quality and reasonable pricing (51.2% and 46.5% respectively). 37.3% of the respondents have preferred Saravana Stores for their low pricing of dresses. While 40.6% of the respondents have considered Jeyachandran s products as reasonably priced. The respondents have preferred first Pothys, followed by Saravana Stores, RMKV, The Chennai Silks and Jeyachandran. The respondent s preferences of the shops and the promotional strategies followed by the shops have been ranked and analysed in following Tables, using Kendall s W 9. Respondents favorite Shop The lowest mean value assigned has been the most preferred shop by the respondents. Out of the five selected textile showrooms in Chennai, the majority of the respondents have selected Pothys first followed by RMKV, The Chennai Silks, Jayachandran and the Saravana Stores.(Refer Table 2) Kendall s Coefficient of Concordance has been used to find whether the ranks assigned by the respondents have the same order in ranking or have any similarities. The Kendall s (W) vary between 0 and 1. Higher the value of W higher has been the similarity among the respondents in assigning ranks. Kendall s coefficient of concordance N 250 Kendall's W.118 The Kendall s (W) has been found to be 0.118, which has indicated that there has
been a very low similarity among the respondents in assigning ranks for their preferred shop. Depending on the perception of the respondents, the ranking preference has also been changing over the period. Hence the respondents views about the shops have been varying. 10. Satisfaction of the respondents on strategies adopted by shops: The lowest mean value has been taken to be the most preferred strategy as expressed by the respondents. Reasonable price has been the first preference of the respondents. Kendall s coefficient of concordance Kendall's W.141 The Kendall s (W) has revealed a very low similarity among the respondents ( 0.141) in assigning ranks for their preferred strategy and hence the opinion of the respondents have varied preferences. 11. Marketing strategies preferred by the respondents. (Refer table 4) The respondents have chosen Pricing strategies as the first choice among the given strategies. Kendall s coefficient of concordance Kendall's W.500 The Kendall s coefficient of concordance has revealed a good similarity among the respondents in assigning ranks for preferred strategies. This has established that the respondents have a rational approach to shop for their products and have shown a uniform inclination towards cutting down costs by the showrooms, to enjoy the benefit of price cuts on good & services. 12. Benefits preferred by the respondents. (Refer table 5) Reasonable price without any discount has been the primary expectation of the respondents while selecting products in their showrooms. The above ranking has revealed that the customers always have given importance to reasonable and competitive pricing, as compared to gift articles and gift vouchers. Kendall s coefficient of concordance
Kendall's W.391 Kendall s coefficient of concordance has revealed a moderate low similarity among respondents in assigning ranks for their choice of various benefits required in future. Inspite of the differences in opinion, the respondents have preferred cash benefits to gift. 13. Findings The respondents satisfaction levels for all the products in Pothys,RMKV and The Chennai Silk have been Excellent. The respondents satisfaction levels for all the products in Pothys,RMKV and The Chennai Silk been only Good. The respondents preferred reasonably priced products, first and then have insisted on the good quality of the products even though when price high. Jayachandran has been chosen as the first by the respondents and Highly satisfied for providing discount offers in the market, followed by Saravana Stores. 76% of respondents have received special offers from the showrooms. 98% of respondents have been regular visitors of the showrooms. 14. Suggestions The study has revealed a price-conscious customer in the market. Hence, the textile showrooms should adopt a reasonable pricing policy to satisfy the customers. The textile showrooms have to introduce the latest designs and styles with huge collection to cater to the needs of their customers. Pricing and advertising strategies are plays an important role on attracting the customers. So the showroom owners should also concentrate the both and plan right marketing plans to succeed. 15. Conclusion Since today s market is a buyer s market, it become necessary to study the customer taste, preference, idea etc,. As a large number of products are available in the market, the competition become severe. Pothys has studied all the types of customer behavior, preferences and has adopted various marketing strategies to increase the sales volume of their products. Marketing strategies oriented with customers changing needs, tastes, fashion, affordability and exquisite collection should be the sine qua non of the customer-seller relationship. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Nordas, Textile and Clothing, European journal of marketing, 2004 Vol 38, pp.125-126. Rashid khan. M.D, A Study of customer perception on the marketing strategies followed by PANTALOON for brand building MBA Dissertation, Hydrabad, 2005. Harbem, Beth; Kim, Soyoung. International Journal of Consumer Studies, Jan2008, Vol.32 Issue 1, pp88 98. Gupta.S.L. and Pal Sunitra, Consumer Behaviour, An Indian Perceptive, text cases, Sultan Chand & Sons of IT & Management www.ebsco.co.in www.marketingindia.copm swww.indianmarketing.com
List of Tables Table 1: Respondents preference of a shop as the first Choice. Reason for preference TOTAL High quality Huge collections Low price High discount offers Reasonable price No. % No. % No. % No. % No. % No. % Pothys 38 45.2 24 28.6 2 2.4 20 23.8 84 34.43 RMKV 28 82.4 6 17.6 34 13.93 Shop preferred The Chennai Silks Saravana Stores 22 51.2 1 2.3 20 46.5 43 17.62 2 3.9 7 13.7 19 37.3 15 29.4 8 15.7 51 20.90 Jayachandran 5 15.6 4 12.5 10 31.3 13 40.6 32 13.11 TOTAL 90 36.9 43 17.6 25 10.2 25 10.2 61 25.0 244 Table 2: Shop preferred by the respondents Shops preferred Mean Rank Pothys 2.19 RMKV 2.90 The Chennai 2.99
Silks Jayachandran 3.25 Saravana Stores 3.68 Table 3 : Strategies preferred by the respondents Strategies preferred by the respondents Mean Rank Reasonable price 3.35 Discount sales 3.49 Festival offers 3.60 Year end offer 4.41 Buy 1 get 1 offers 5.02 Gift articles/vouchers 5.18 Special discount for regular customer 5.22 Media advertisement 5.73 Table 4. Marketing strategies preferred by the respondents. Marketing Strategies preferred Mean Rank Pricing strategies 1.57 Customer service strategies 1.97
Advertising strategies 2.84 Interior design strategies 3.62 Table No. 5: Preferred benefits Benefits preferred and expected Mean Rank Reasonable price without discount 1.85 Competitive pricing 2.31 Year end real sales & offers 2.84 Valuable gift articles 3.78 Gift voucher 4.22