Marketing Strategy of Big Bazaar India

In this assignment, I have described its marketing strategies and promotional activities.
The assignment is based on’ the effective marketing strategy which influences customer to purchase a product of Big Bazaar’ helps to understand the effect of marketing strategy which is responsible for attracting customer towards big bazaar.
The research was carried out as per the steps of Marketing Research. The well supportive objectives were set for the study. To meet the objectives primary research was undertaken. The data collection approach adopted was experimental research.
Big Bazaar is the fastest growing and most successful Retail chain in India. Big bazaar is the first retail chain to be started in India and is the largest until now. In the later part of the assignment I have applied 4P’s marketing strategy to show that how Big Bazaar has reached from introduction stage to growth stage and observed via some points that this company is right now in growth stage of Product Life Cycle model. I have also analyzed the SWOT showing how this company made its brand more effective. I have also described some suggestions to improve its brand image towards customers.

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INTRODUCTION:
BIG BAZAAR is a name renowned in Retail. It is now a brand image in private retail sector. Wal-Mart is the retail stores of USA and is known all over the world for its fashionable and affordable materials and is known as one of the best in its field, big bazaar can be said as the Wal-Mart of India running a chain of more than 100 retail stores in India.
People around the country thinks that big bazaar is inspired from Wal-Mart and it is quite obvious to think as Wal-Mart is world leading chain of retail shopping but actually the idea of big bazaar came to the CEO Kishore Biyanifrom a 25 years old store “Saravana” which was owned by a family and worked on the philosophy of “low margin high turnover”.
Following its slogan of “isse sasta or achha kahin nahi”(Meaning cannot find cheaper and better than this anywhere) it provides the consumer with the best of the materials at a rate less than rest of the market.
Big bazaar is the subsidiary of Future Group, Pantaloons Retail India ltd.
The brain behind big bazaar is the CEO of Future Group Mr. Kishore Biyani
Future group is has various brands like Pantaloons, F123, Copper Chimney, Etam, Staples, One Mobile, Urbana, Brand Factory, LootMart, HomeTown and Central. Big bazaar covers all parts of India including the metro cities Kolkata, Delhi, Chennai, and Mumbai.
Big bazaar started with its first store in Kolkata, west Bengal in 2001 and now owns more than 100 stores all over India making itself the fastest growing retail chain in India and leaving all its competitors behind.
WHY BIG BAZAAR?
Indian retail sector is witnessing one of the most hectic Marketing activities of all times. The companies are fighting to win the hearts of customer. There is always a ‘first mover advantage’ in an upcoming sector. This advantage goes to “BIG BAZAAR” in India. It has brought about many changes in the buying behavior of people as Big Bazaar provides all items in one roof at low rates.
The consumer’s preferences are changing & they are moving from shops stores to Modern Retail outlet. It’s the main challenge to the Modern retail outlets to attract the customers towards them from that of competitors. To attract more customers companies have to carry out the promotional activities in unique way. BIG BAZAAR has maintained that uniqueness & has succeeded in attracting customers.
The promotional activity of the company, which famous as Less Price than others as it says’Nobody Sells Cheaper and Better!’is made its place in minds of customer. As the competition is becoming stiff in the market the activities conducted by the company are unique, that have brought fruitful result to the company. Among them sales Promotions is one of the leading activity or unique among all other activities & has high influence on the customer walk-in.
OBJECTIVES:

To know the effective marketing strategy which influence customer to purchase a product of Big Bazaar.
To know the marketing and promotional strategy of big bazaar.
How Big Bazaar Establish and maintain its position in retailing through promotion.

LITERATURE REVIEW:
RELATED CASE STUDY:
A lot of case studies have been done before on this topic and its different aspects as my focus is on leading towards success through the low cost strategy which is followed by big bazaar, one of them is described below:
Building brand through challenge:
In 2001, PRIL opened its first ‘Big Bazaar,’ a 30,000 square feet store in Kolkata. The major USP of the ‘Big Bazaar,’ store was low pricing. These stores offered the best price proposition to customers.
As part of this, the stores focused less on branded items and more on unbranded products with the same quality as branded ones, at a much cheaper rate. Commenting on this, Biyani said, “We are not in the business of selling ambience, but in the business of giving the best possible deals to our consumers.”…
The first Food Bazaar was set up in Lower Parel in suburban Mumbai in 2001. Food Bazaars represent PRIL’s foray into yet another value retailing business, focusing on food and grocery products. These stores were designed based on PRIL’s understanding of the emotional and rational needs of Indian housewives…
The tremendous success of the ‘Pantaloons,’ ‘Big Bazaar’ and ‘Food Bazaar’ retailing formats, easily made PRIL, the #1 retailer in India by the early 2004, in terms of turnover and retail area occupied by its outlets.
In the fiscal year ended June 30, 2003, PRIL increased its retail area by 66% to 586,000 sq. ft and reported revenues of Rs 4.45 billion, a 56% increase over fiscal 2002. Its net profits rose by 63% to Rs. 114.1 million in fiscal 2002-03, over the previous year.
Big Bazaar has positioned itself as a ‘value for money proposition for Indian family’ retail store. They wanted to promote Big Bazaar as a retail store which gives its customers maximum advantage over other retail stores by catering to all their needs budget wise and income level wise.
‘Sabse Saste 3 Din'(the cheapest 3 days) brain child ofMr. Sadashiv Nayak, President Big Bazaar and Rajan Malhotra, President – Strategy and Convergence, Big Bazaar, believe that ‘Consumers are always looking for best value for their money. Big Bazaar’s Sabse Saste 3 Din is a great opportunity for them to save money and gets best products at the best possible prices. These three days have come to truly signify freedom from high prices for consumers in the country.’
‘Maha Bachat’ ( save money) was introduced five years back ( in the year 2006 ) and it is still running very successfully. It is known as one of India’s mega shopping campaign.
Continuing its efforts to provide the best shopping deals and savings to Indian consumers, Big Bazaar is always set to make Republic Day and Independence Day’s shopping, truly memorable, with rock bottom prices, best possible discounts and mega offers.
Apart from the flagship Big Bazaar and Food Bazaar stores, other future group retail formats like Furniture Bazaar, Electronic Bazaar, Depot, and Home Bazaar stores are also a part of this mega campaign. From daily household needs of food and grocery to apparels,
RETAIL INDUSTRY IN INDIA:
India has one of the largest numbers of retail outlets in the world. Of the 12 million retail outlets present in the country, nearly 5 million sell food and related products. Thought the market has been dominated by unorganized players, the entry of domestic and international organized players is set to change the scenario. Organized retail segment has been growing at a blistering pace, exceeding all previous estimates. According to a study by Deloitte Haskins and Sells, organized retail has increased its share from 5 % of total retail sales in 2006 to 8 % in 2007. The fastest growing segments have been the wholesale cash and carry stores (150%) followed by supermarkets (100%) and hypermarkets (75-80%). Further, it estimates the organized segment to account for 25 per cent ofthe total sales by 2011. 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 life styles, and favorable demographic patterns. It is expected that by 2016 modern retail industry in India will be worth US$ 175 -200 billion. India retail industry is one of the fastest growing industries with revenue expected in 2007 to amount US$320 billion and is increasing at a rate of 5% yearly. A further increase of 7-8% is expected in the industry of retail in India by growth in consumerism in urban areas, rising incomes, and a steep rise in rural consumption. It has further been predicted that the retailing industry in India will amount to US$21.5 billion by 2010 from the current size of US$ 7.5 billion. Shopping in India has witnessed a revolution with the change in the consumer buying behavior and the whole format of shopping also altering. Industry of retail in India which has become modern can be seen from the fact that there are multi- stored malls, huge shopping centers, and sprawling complexes which offer food, shopping, and entertainment all under the same roof.
India retail industry is progressingwell and for this to continue retailers as well as the Indian government will have to make a combined effort.
4P’S OF MARKETING:
“Marketing” is the promotion of products, especially advertising & branding. Marketing practice tends to be seen as a creative industry, which includes advertising, distribution and selling.
Marketing mix is a deciding factor in formulating marketing techniques for the success of a particular brand, commodity or company. The components of marketing mix are:

Product
Price
Place
Promotion

http://marketingroi.robinsonmaites.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/4ps.gif
Source: http://notesdesk.com/notes/marketing/the-marketing-mix-4-ps-of-marketing/
PRODUCT:
Big Bazaar offers the maximum variety for every category of product. The product is the same in every store in the city but the brand options are more in Big Bazaar and the quantity for each product is not limited to large packs only. The commodities sold by the retail chain includes its “own products” which get a ready distribution network. The own products of Big Bazaar include My World fashion magazine which is not available anywhere else. So costs are very low for such products.
PRICE:
Price is the critical point in a competitive industry. Big Bazaar works on a low cost model. It considers its discounted price as its USP. There is an average discount of 6-8% on all items in respect to their MRP. Prices of products are low because it is able to secure stock directly from the manufacturer. There are huge synergies in terms of bulk purchasing, transportation and central warehousing. These all factors are very helpful for the retailers to keep low prices.
PLACE:
Place means the location of the business. Big Bazaar has always worked on cheap locations. It targets semi-urban population with its placement. Its strategy is to find a low-cost location and it never goes for hot spots in the city. It relied on promotional activities to make up for unattractive locations. Another strategy used by Big Bazaar to overcome location disadvantage is use of internet. It has launched a merchandise retailing website www.futurebazaar.com which targets high-end customers ready to use credit cards. The promotion of this website is done through advertisement on Google. The website is put as sponsored link.
PROMOTION:
Big Bazaar has huge promotion budgets. The biggest idea behind all advertisements is to make people do bulk shopping. There are 2 types of promotional strategies of big bazaar. One is the advertisement which promotes the brand and creates awareness towards people. It is not targeted at promoting each store but only creates an image of Big Bazaar as low-cost shopping option. The store has advertised through TV, road shows and also started reality show-typed promotional campaign “The Big Bazaar Challenge.” Promotions like “Sabse Sasta Din”(Cheapest Day) are a very successful strategy to get good results. In this products across categories such as furniture, electronics, utensils, apparels and food products at the lowest possible prices, coupled with attractive promotional schemes. Some of the most attractive offers being a 20-litre branded microwave oven with grill for Rs 2,399, jeans and trousers for Rs 199 and HCL laptops for Rs 22,800.
Buy 2 Get 1 Free types of promotions are very common. Original prices are cut down and new prices are shown, of which customer takes quick notice. There are loyalty schemes which reward regular clients.
CURRENT POSITIONING STRATEGY OF BIG BAZAAR:
Big Bazaar is holding a strong position in the market and is growing very fast. It captures the maximum Indian market and with a strong financial background and it has to go a long way through.
The low price strategy it is successfully running its business all over India and is still growing bigger and bigger. The following graph shows the Product Life Cycle of Big Bazaar which is currently at the growth stage.
Source: http://www.coolavenues.com/know/mktg/ravi-big-bazaar-14.php
Looking at the product life cycle of big bazaar it can be seen that it is in the growth stage at this point of time and still have a lot scope to grow.
It is said that:

“Cheap prices are a luxury for the rich but a necessity or a need for the poor.”

So Big bazaar has understood the need of a vast population of the upper middle class and middle class people of the country and in fact no matter how rich a person is wherever he/she can get good brands at a cheaper rates they will be attracted towards it whether an average or a rich person.
RETENTION STRATEGY:
Big Bazaar strive to foster a feeling of well-being in their employees through care and respect, Big Bazaar have several structured processes including employee mentoring and grievance management programmers which are intended to facilitate a friendly and cohesive organization culture. Off -site activities are encouraged to improve interpersonal relationship. Big Bazaar also acknowledge the efforts exerted by their employees by organization an annual celebration called ‘Pantaloon Day’ where Big Bazaar recognize employees who have shown exceptional talent, sincerity and dedication. Big Bazaar have implemented an employee suggestion programme called ‘Prerna’ wherein the employee can give their suggestions. Every quarter the best suggestion received per zone per format is awarded prize called ‘Golden Cap’.
BIG BAZAAR’S NEW MARKETING STRATEGY:
Big Bazaar has launched new marketing strategy which is based on Guerrilla Marketing. Guerrilla marketing warfare strategies are a type of marketing warfare strategy designed to wear-down the enemy by a long series of minor attacks, using principles of surprise and hit-and-run tactics. Attack, retreat, hide, then do it again and again, until the competitor moves on to other markets. Guerrilla force is divided into small groups that selectively attack the target at its weak points. In the world of cut throat competition, corporate use extension of the same strategy in marketing. Corporate like Pepsi, Coke etc have been using the same for quite some time now and the latest entrant is our very own ‘Future Group’- Big Bazaar, Future Bazaar, Pantaloons, e Zone are all part of this group and they are taking on the biggies like Shoppers Stop, Lifestyle, and Tata’s Westside. In order to do the same, Future Group have come up with 3 catchy and cheeky ad campaigns which surely do catch our eyes and surely one can’t resist appreciating the same.
ADVERTISING: THE ESSENTIAL OF BRAND BUILDING PROCESS-
Advertising is an essential component of brand building. The advertisement and brand building is done through various ways, the techniques used are:
Tag-line: Big Bazaar tag-lines are the key components of advertising. These tag-lines are modified according to demographic profile of customers. These catch-phrases appeared on hoardings and newspapers in every city where Big Bazaar was launched.
Print Ads: Big Bazaar newspaper advertisements are present just before launch of any new scheme.
TV Ads: Kishore Biyani spends a lot of money in brand building exercise. Big Bazaar commercials are shown on various channels in India. Presently, Fashion at Big Bazaar commercial is aired.
Road-side Advertisements: Big Bazaar bill-boards are displayed on prime locations in various cities as a brand building exercise. They display the catch-phrases now-a-days.
Radio Ads: This technique is used in cities like Sangli (Tier 1 / Tier 2 cities).Now-a-days, it is replaced by advertisements on FM channels. This informs customers about all new happenings at Big Bazaar.
For example:
The departmental store chain Big Bazaar has launched a commercial sometime back to promote ‘The Great Exchange Offer’. The commercial portrays how customers can exchange any old and broken items (junk) and get new products at a discounted price from Big Bazaar.
Customer can get the amazing prices for junk. The month of January and February is generally a low-key affair in terms of customer footfalls and revenue generation. Innovative, out of the box promotions is one of the effective ways to draw customer attention and shore up the revenue. Historically Exchange schemes have been used to induce better sales; it also has a strong appeal with the Indian mindset of getting value even for their junk, states an official release from Big Bazaar.
SWOT ANALYSIS:
Strengths:
Maximum number of varieties: People prefer those places where they can get the maximum products they need and Big Bazaar provides vast range of products under one roof helping in attracting customer and their family to shop together and enjoy the experience.
High brand equity: Big Bazaar has created high brand equity through its promotions and marketing it has created a different image for its products as the cheap and best.
Largest chain of retail marketing in India: Big Bazaar is the first retail chain to be started in India and is the largest and successful until now.
High capacity investment: Big Bazaar offers 1,70,000 products and owns more than 100 retail stores all over India and has the strong financial background as being the subsidiary of future groups which owns the pantaloons which is one of the biggest the industries in men’s wear in India and have its work is spread all over India. Future group is one of the leading groups in India.
Everyday new promotions and schemes of low prices and discounts: Big Bazaar always offers new schemes of low prices and gives discounts in products like Big Bazaar offers the sabse saste 3 din ( the cheapest 3 days) in which it offers the lowest of prices than other days.
Facilities like online booking and delivery of goods: It is not just a chain of retail shopping but also provides online shopping facility to the consumers.
Weaknesses:
Overcrowded: During offers, promotions and even on weekends the place is overcrowded with people and sometime even there is the situation of closing the store due to it.
Checkout can be extremely slow: There can be seen a long queue on the billing counters making the consumer wait for hours due to the slow service and the crowd.
Perception of low price=low quality: Generally people think that if any product has low price then the quality of the product will be low as they think quality comes with price.
Targets at the middle class and upper middle class only: It targets at the middle and upper middle class due to which it ignores the upper and elite class people as they are the cream of the society who are ready to pay any price for the quality and product they need.
Opportunities:
Big Bazaar can enter into production of various products due to its in depth understanding of customers’ tastes andpreferences.
Nowadays people prefer going to one big store and buy everything instead of visiting different places for different items and waste time. So Big Bazaar can expand the business in smaller cities as there is a lot of opportunity.
Lot of potential inthe rural market.
Threats:
High business risk involved: Big Bazaar investment is very large so it is obvious that there is high business risk involved.
Lot of competitors: There are a lot of countries which are planning to enter the Indian market like Wal-Mart, Carrefour and Tesco which is a big threat to Big Bazaar.
Less Parking Space: Customers are not satisfied with the parking space availability provided by Big Bazaar. Hence it’s a threat of Big Bazaar as it may loose its customers because of less parking space availability. In holidays it will be very difficult for customers to park their vehicle in Big Bazaar.
Unorganized retailing: Unorganized retail stores are a threat to the business of big bazaar as now also people prefer to go to the local stores which are convenient enough for them.
COMPARITIVE ANALYSIS:
BIG BAZAAR V/S VISHAL MEGA MART
Vishal Mega Mart ( FOR DETAILS REFER APPENDIX)
Fields
Big bazaar
Vishal mega mart
Price
Big Bazaar prices are very low because its adopt the low price marketing strategy.
Vishal Mega Mart prices are not low because they give whatever is market price.
Service
Big Bazaar services are not quite good as billing problem due to crowd and less parking space.
Vishal Mega Mart does not face these kind of problems as its not overcrowded.
Ambience
Product variety
Big Bazaar has lots of variety in every category of products. In Big Bazaar people can find almost everything.
Vishal Mega Mart don’t have so much varieties as it is smaller than Big Bazaar.
Convenience
Big Bazaar has always worked in cheap location so that it is very convenient for the people to go to the Big Bazaar rather than going outer of the city.
Vishal Mega Mart also works in low cost loacation but it is not so much popular in comparison of Big Bazaar as showrooms of Vishal Mega Mart are less than Big Bazaar.
Shopping experience
In Big Bazaar people can buy the maximum variety of products of every category under one roof helping in attracting customer and their family to shop together and enjoy the shopping experience.
Vishal Mega Mart also provides the products under one roof but there is not so much varieties so that customers don’t attract so they can not enjoy their shoppings
Product quality
The product quality is good in Big Bazaar because people can find cheap and best things in Big Bazaar.
The product quality is also good in Vishal Mega Mart but the prices are very high.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
Big bazaar should keep offers in regular intervals so that there should not be a long term gap, because offer is the most influencing factor which is responsible for customer purchase decision.
Big bazaar should start emphasizing more on internet shopping along with the formal retail shopping because a large population of the country likes to shop online in order to save time.
Along with the different discounts and offers it should pay attention towards the students and provide some offers for them also because half of the Indian population is of youths and students.
It should work on its billing counters and customer service in order to solve the problem of long queues and waiting customers.
CONCLUSION:
Big Bazaar is undoubtedly the number one retailer in India. It has built a very emotional and cordial relationship with its customers. It is also very intending to built long-term relationship with all its stakeholders, which is very essential for a successful business venture. It is observed that the organization hierarchy is professional as all the departmental Managers directly report to the store manager who in turn reports to the Zonal Head. Big Bazaar, with 25 years of experience in the field of weaving fabrics, is the leading Apparels and fashion design fabric company.
There exist a healthy and positive relationship between employees and managers. The employees accept their responsibilities wholeheartedly, accept that it is their responsibilities to carry out a part of the activities of the company and they will be held accountable for the quality of their work. It is found that more than 60% of employees are of the age group of 20-35. Fromthis it reveals thatcompany is having young and energetic workforce who are very creative, enthusiastic and also very determined to grow in their career and in turn helping the company to grow. Working environmentis good and also the various facilities provided helps in motivating the employees. The company is reaching out to all the sections of the society as it is creating a hypermarket where not only the rich people shop but also the middle and the lower class customers come to enjoy the whole shopping experience.
Moreover the customer friendly ambiance and the organized retailing of products also make Big Bazaar one of the successful retail industries in India.
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