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Consumer Buying Behaviour of D-mart

D-Mart is a one-stop supermarket chain that aims to offer customers a wide range of
basic home and personal products under one roof. Each D-Mart store stocks home
utility products - including food, toiletries, beauty products, garments, kitchenware,
bed and bath linen, home appliances and more - available at competitive prices that
our customers appreciate. Our core objective is to offer customers good products at
great value. From the launch of its first store in Powai in 2002, DMart today has a
well-established presence in 206 locations across Maharashtra, Gujarat, Andhra
Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Telangana, Chhattisgarh, NCR, Tamil Nadu,
Punjab and Rajasthan. The supermarket chain of D-Mart stores is owned and
operated by Avenue Supermarts Ltd. (ASL). The company has its headquarters in
Mumbai.

The main purpose of this report is to study the quality, variety/range and availability of
the products offered by D-Mart along with the discounts offered and how customers
are treated in their shop and are the products delivered to the customers on time. In
this research I have tried to add every aspect I could think of which has to consider
while determining the buying behaviour of the consumers. Through Convenience
sampling 35 consumers of D-Mart were selected in my locality to fill the
questionnaire.

questionnaire.

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Introduction of Consumer Behaviour

Consumer buying behaviour is the sum totalofa consumer’s attitudes,

preferences, intentions, and decisions regarding the consumer’s behaviour in the
marketplace when purchasing a product or service. The study of consumer
behaviour draws upon social science disciplines of

anthropology, psychology, sociology, and economics.


THE BUYING DECISION PROCESS: THE FIVE STAGES MODEL

The consumer typically passes through five stages before he purchases: problem
recognition, information search, evaluation of alternatives, purchase decision, and post
purchase behaviour. Consumers may skip or reverse some of these steps. These steps may
differ between first time buyers and regular or repetitive purchases.

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Problem Recognition

The buying process starts once the consumer recognizes a problem or need
triggered by internal or external stimuli. A consumer’s buying behaviour is influenced
by cultural, social, and personal factors such as reference groups, family, and
social roles and statuses. Reference groups have a direct or indirect influence
onconsumers’attitudes and behaviour.

Information Search

Search through social networking sites is on rise as consumers are

turning to social media channels for their information search phase during
decision making process. Influencers within the social media channels can
have a significant impact on consumer behaviour without even having any direct
contact with the online visitor.

Evaluation of alternatives

Marketers, on behalf of their firms, generate content on social

media to engage consumers actively. Researchers have concluded that
engagement in social media brand communities leads to a positive increase in

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purchase expenditures. Moreover, a large number of alternatives options are
constantly evaluated every minute by consumers. Due to the engagement of
consumers and marketers through social media, consumers purchase decisions
.

Purchasing decision

The purchase of products and services via the Internet could be

considered by consumers as risky alternative due to the absence of personal
contact, the inability to have physical product evaluation, and in some cases the
lack of secure transactions. The efforts towards increasing the fundamental factor
of trust in consumer behaviour could be supported with the use of social media
channels, such as Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and corporate blogs as they
enhance the feeling of social presence. In addition, consumers could use
social media as a communication tool which will help them decide what to buy.

TYPES OF CONSUMER BUYING BEHAVIOUR-

1. Complex buying behaviour

Consumers go through complex buying behaviour when they are highly

involved in a purchase and aware of significant differences among brands.
Consumers are highly involved when the product is expensive, bought infrequently,
risky and highly self-expressive. Typically the consumer does not know much about
the product category and has much to learn.This buyer will pass through a learning
process characterized by first developing beliefs about the product, then attitudes,
and then making a thoughtful purchase choice.
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2. Dissonance- Reducing buying behavior

Sometimes the consumer is highly, involved in a purchase but sees little

difference in the brands. In this case, the buyer will shop around to learn what is,
available but will buy fairly quickly because brand differences are not pronounced.
The consumer will be alert to information that might justify his or her decision. The
consumer will first act, then acquire new beliefs and end up with a set of attitudes.
Here marketing communications should aim to supply beliefs and evaluations
that help the consumer feel good about his or her brand choice.

3. Habitual Buying Behaviour:

A typical consumer’s involvement in the buying process is low because

the consumer doesn’t see muchdifference betweenavailable brands in habitual
buying behaviour. The purchase of a food commodity such as a sack of flour or sugar
is a good example.

4. Variety-Seeking Buying Behaviour:

Some buying situations are characterized by low consumer

involvement but significant brand differences. Here consumers are often observed to
do a lot of brand’ switching. An example occurs in purchasing cookies. The
consumer has some beliefs, chooses a brand of cookies without much
evaluation, and evaluates it during consumption.

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OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

 To scan the customer buying behaviour.

 To know availability of varieties of products.

 To know about affordable pricing for everyone.

 To know the customer satisfaction level.

 To study of availability of offers and services.

 To study of quality of products.

 To find out customers response towards D-Mart.

SCOPE OF THE STUDY

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 Since the study is on D-Mart shopping the detail study of the D-
Mart is been conducted about its customers and buying behaviour of customers of
D-Mart in Pune district. This research is based on primary data and secondary data.

Based on the topic objectives were set and to arrive at the opinion on
objectives a set of 35 questionnaires were designed of 15 questions and
response is collected from the customers who are visiting the D-Mart. For data
collection Random Sampling Method was adopt.

8
INTRODUCTION TO RESEARCH
METHODOLOGY

In today's world, research has become an important activity in overall social life.
Research methodology provides a framework to conduct a research. Research in
common parlance refers to a search of knowledge. Research is a scientific and
systematic search for pertinent information on a specific topic. Hence, research
methodology is a science of research & study of research methodology provides a
way and guiding principles for research.

Research is known as the provider of the specific knowledge needed to succeed in

researching and utilizing the best and most appropriate data for decision making. It
is collection of information on certain ideas or theories to gain better knowledge on
something. Research can be done through reading source-material or performing
experiments. It will also provide the skills needed to effectively communicate
research results to a specific audience for maximum impact and effective decision
making.

Meaning of Research:

Research is a systematic structure of investigation undertaken in order to discover

new facts. It provides a structure for decision-making. Research is an inseparable
part of human knowledge. It is a process that takes the assistance of the scientific
method in solving problems. Research is a way of thinking.
9
Characteristics of Good Research:The characteristics of a good research are as
follows: Systematic

Logical Empirical
Replicable
Analytical
Methodical

Objectives of Research

The following objectives which encompass most of the researches are listed.
However, these are not comprehensive and some may be even overlapping:

1) Development of Knowledge:

Business studies include the studies of business transactions or business

phenomenon. Business research aims at collecting a systematised body of
knowledge about the business problem.

2) Scientific Study of Business

Life:

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Research is an attempt to acquire scientific knowledge about the business world and
problems. The researcher makes study of collective processes, changes, business
structure and business processes, etc.

3) Clarification of Facts:

Generally, the purpose of carrying out research is to either confirm the existing fact
or improving the existing one or creating something new. The rationale behind
every research is to suggest the possible solution to issue concerned with current or
future period.

4) Improvement in Quality of Business Life:

One of the most practical objectives of business research relates to improvement of

quality of business life in several ways. Its findings can provide decision makers
with proper guidelines for policy making.

5) Business Control and Prediction:

Through business research, we make study of business problems, events and the
factors that govern and guide them. Apart from these, we also present an analysis
of business situations in the scientific manner. We study business relations and their
dynamics.

6) Appearance and Presentation of Novel Situation:

11
In the business field, new problem crop up before us every day. These situations
and problems demand solution. The business researcher has to take the research
in order to know the causes of these problems and novel situation and find out their
solution.

7) Investigation and Verification:

The business research does not confine ourselves only to finding out the facts and
solutions but also try to investigate and verify the facts that have come to
knowledge.

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Concept of Sampling

Sampling is a fundamental aspect of statistics, but unlike the other methods of data
collection, sampling involves choosing a method of sampling which further influences
the data that will result with. There are two major categories in sampling: Probability
and non-probability sampling.

Meaning:

Sampling is the process of electing units (e.g., people, organisations) from a

population of interest so that by studying the sample may fairly generalise our results
back to the population from which they were chosen. Let's begin by covering some of
the key terms in sampling like "population" and "sampling frame." A Sampling is a
part of the total population. It can be an individual element or a group of elements
selected from the population.

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Definitions:

1) Sampling may be defined as “the selection of a part of a group or an aggregate

with a view to obtaining information about the whole. A sampling procedure is a
technique of selecting a sample from a given population.”

2) Sampling may be defined as "the act, process, or technique of selecting a

representative part of a population for the purpose of determining the characteristics
of the whole population.”

Concept of Data Collection

Data collection is one of the most important stage in conducting a research. One can
have the best research design in the world but if they cannot collect the required
data they will be not be able to complete their project. Data collection is a very
demanding job which needs thorough planning, hard work, patience, perseverance
and more to be able to complete the task successfully. Data collection starts with
determining what kind of data required followed by the selection of a sample from a
certain population. After that, one needs to use a certain instrument to collect the
data from the selected sample.

Concept of Primary Data:

The task of data collection begins after a research problem has been defined and
research design / plan chalked out. While deciding about the method of data
collection to be used for the study, the researcher should keep in mind two types of

14
data viz., primary and secondary. The primary data are those which are collected
afresh and for the first time, and thus happen to be original in character.

Data collected by the investigator for his own purpose, for the first time, from
beginning to end, is called primary data. It is collected from the source of origin. In
the words of Weasel "Data originally collected in the process investigation are known
as primary data. Primary data are original. The concerned investigator is the first
person to collect this information. The primary data are therefore, first-hand
information.

Secondary Data

Secondary data is data collected by other person except the researcher. Common
sources of secondary data for social science include censuses, organizational
records, and data collected through qualitative methodologies or qualitative
research. The investigator conducting the research, by contrast, collects primary
data. Secondary data analysis saves time that would otherwise be spent collecting
data and, particularly in the case of quantitative data, provides larger and higher-
quality databases that would be unfeasible for any individual researcher to collect on
their own. In addition, analysts of social and economic change consider secondary
data essential.

Concept of Secondary Data-

Secondary data means data that are already available i.e., they refer to the data
which have already been collected and analysed by someone else. When the
researcher utilises secondary data, then he has to look into various sources from

15
where he can obtain them. In this case he is certainly not confronted with the
problems that are usually associated with the collection of original data Secondary
data may either be published data or unpublished data.

Concept of Data Analysis

Data analysis (DA) is the science of examining raw data with the purpose of drawing
conclusions about that information. Data analysis is used in many industries to allow
companies and organization to make better business decisions and in the sciences
to verify or disprove existing models or theories. Data analysis is distinguished from
data mining by the scope, purpose and focus of the analysis.

Meaning:

Analysis of data is a process of inspecting, cleaning, transforming and modeling data

with the goal of discovering useful information, suggesting conclusions, and
supporting decision-making. Data analysis has multiple facets and approaches,
encompassing diverse techniques under a variety of names, in different business,
science, and social science domain.

Concept of Hypothesis
A hypothesis is a proposition, which the researcher wants to verify. It may be
mentioned that while a hypothesis is useful, it is not always necessary. Many a time,
the researcher is interested in collecting and analysing data, indicating the main
characteristics without a hypothesis excepting the one which he may suggest

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17
COMPANY PROFILE

Particulars Details

Type of Organization Public

Type of Industry Retailing

Founded 15th May, 2002

Founder Radhakishan Damani

Parent company Avenue Supermarts Ltd. (ASL)

Number of Stores 206

Headquarter Mumbai, India

Revenue 19.916 cr

Net Profit 936 cr

HISTORY OF THE ORGANISATION

D-Mart is a chain of hypermarket and supermarket in India started by Radhakishan

Damani in Powai in the year of 2002 and head office is located in Mumbai, Maharashtra. As of

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2017, it has 140 stores spread across Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Gujarat, Madhya
Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, National Capital Region, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Daman
and Diu and Punjab. The company shows a good pace in advancing towards expanding across
India.

The retailer has 29 stores in 2016 in Maharashtra and Gujarat, and

is likely to double that number in the next two years. An executive said, on condition
of anonymity, D-Mart will add 10-15 large format stores of 30,000- 40,000 sq. ft every
year for the next two years.

The supermarket chain of D-Mart stores is owned and operated by

Avenue Supermarts Ltd. (ASL). The brands D-Mart, D-Mart Minimax, D-Mart Premia,
D Homes, Dutch Harbour, etc are brands owned by ASL.

D-Mart time to time gives offers to their consumers and discount in

all major brands. Company operates and manages all its stores. Company also
operate distribution centre’s and packing centre’s which form the backbone of the
supply chain to support its retail store network. Company has 21 distribution centers
and six packing centre’s in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Telangana and Karnataka.

Company is among the largest and the most profitable F&G (Food
& Grocery) retailer in India. Company offers a wide range of products with a focus on
the Foods, Non-Foods (FMCG) and General Merchandise & Apparel product
categories. D-Mart is planning to grow their business in more places or cities.

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 Industry observers said D-Mart enjoys an edge due to its
combination of large stores and a value platform. D-Mart is a one-stop supermarket
chain that aims to offer customers a wide range of home and personal products under
one roof. Each D-Mart store stocks home utility products – including food, toiletries,
beauty products, garments, kitchenware, bed and bath linen, home appliances and
more – available at competitive prices that our customers appreciate. Our core
objective is to offer customers good products at great value.

After the IPO listing (as Avenue Supermarts Ltd.), it made a record opening on the
market on the National Stock Exchange. After the close of the stock on 22 March 2017,
its market value rose to ₹39,988 crore. This pegged it as the 65th most valuable
Indian firm, ahead of Britannia Industries, Marico and Bank of Baroda As of 21
November 2019, the market capitalization of DMart is close to ₹114,000crore. This is
33rd rank for all listed companies in Bombay Stock Exchange.

According to Forbes' Real-Time Billionaires Index, the promoters of D Mart have

been named as 2nd richest Indian as on February 15, 2020 with a net worth a $17.8
billion

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PROJECT DESIGN

Methods used for data collection

Questionnaire Form was circulated to collect the feedback from the respondents
who are regular customers of D-Mart. It is a descriptive type of research.

Sample size is of 35 consumers of D-Mart

Sampling technique is Convenience

sampling Sampling Area consisted of Pune

Tools Used – Google Form.

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ANALYSIS OF THE DATA AND FINDINGS

Q1) What do you prefer the most?

Answer Frequency Percentage
D-Mart 19 54.3
Grocery Stores 5 14.3
Big Bazaar 10 28.6
Reliance Trends 1 2.8

Interpretation:

As per the survey report I found that out of 35 people 54.3% people prefer to D-Mart, 28.6% prefer Big
Bazaar, 14.3% people prefer Grocery stores and only 2.8% people prefer Reliance trends. We can interpret
that D-Mart is more powerful to attract with the purchasing as compare to any other superstore or small store.

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Q2) How frequently do you visit D-Mart?

Answer Frequency Percentage

Daily 4 11.4
Weekly 6 17.1
Monthly 18 51.4
Quarterly 7 20

TABLE 2

Interpretation:
Here, we have asked this question to know how frequently they are visit D-Mart. In response, we
got that out of 35 customers only 11.4% consumer’s visit daily, 17.1% consumers visit weekly,

51.4% consumers visit monthly and 20% consumers visit quarterly. It means majority of
consumers like D-Mart for monthly shopping purpose.

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Q3) How much do you spend on an average when you visit D-Mart?

Answer Frequency Percentage

Below 1000 6 17.1
1000-3000 7 20
3000-5000 12 34.3
More than 5000 10 28.6
TABLE 3

Interpretation:

As per the above information we interpret that, 17.1% of consumer’s level of shopping from D - Mart is below
Rs.1000 while 20% customer’s level of shopping from D-Mart is between Rs.1000 and Rs.3000, 34.3% of
consumer’s level of shopping is between Rs.3000 and Rs.5000 and 28.6% of consumer’s level of shopping
from D-Mart is more than Rs.5000. So from this analysis it is observe that D-Mart is affordable for every
income group.

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Q4) Distance between your house & D-Mart?

Answer Frequency Percentage

Below 2 km 6 17.5
2-5 km 16 45.7
5-10 km 8 22.9
More than 10 km 5 14.3

TABLE 4

Interpretation:

As per the above pie chart, we can interpret that the distance between the customers home to D- Mart is less
than 2 km for 17.1% of the consumers, whereas the distance for the same is between 2-

5 km for 45.7% of the consumers, the distance is 5-10 km for 22.9% of the consumers and only

14.3% of the consumers have to travel for more than 10 km. This shows that the stores of D-mart are
located very near to most of the consumers and which is convenient for most of them.

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Q5) What type of products do you prefer to purchase?

Answer Frequency Percentage

Grocery 22 62.9

Clothes 1 2.9
Household 7 20

Fooditems 5 14.3
TABLE 5

Interpretation:

From the above data, we can interpret that 62.9% of the consumers prefer to buy grocery products form D-
Mart, 14.3% prefer food items, 20% prefer household items and only 2.9% of the consumers prefer to
buy clothes from D-Mart. As we all know D-Mart mainly deals with FMCG products and it is exactly how it
is perceived by its consumers.

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Q6) Reason behind purchasing from D-Mart?

Answer Frequency Percentage

Fashion 2 5.7

Quailty 4 11.4

Price 21 60

Offers 8 22.9

TABLE 6

Interpretation:

Here, we have asked on what basis people purchase from D-Mart. From the above information we found that
21 numbers of consumers give a response to the offers of D-Mart i.e. 60% because the price of the products
in D-Mart, 8 numbers of consumers give a response to the offers provided by D-Mart i.e. 22.9%. Mostly
respondents like prices and offers of D-Mart and 4 and 2 customers are attracted to purchase from D-Mart by
quality and fashion.

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Q7) How are the discounts offered by D-Mart as compared to other stores?

Answer Frequency Percentage

Better 20 57.1

Similar 14 40

Worse 1 2.9

TABLE 7

Interpretation:

Here, we asked this question to know that offers given by D-Mart as compare to others are better or not.
From the survey, we found that 57.1% of the respondents feel that D-Mart has better offers than others, 40%
of the respondents feel that D-Mart has similar offers, and remaining only 2.9% of the respondents feel that
the offers are not up to the mark. This shows that D-Mart has better offers in the minds of consumers and
they are happy with the offers.

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Q8) How much time do you spend on an average when you visit D-mart?

Answer Frequency Percentage

Less than 30 minutes 6 17.1

30-60 minutes 15 42.9

60-90 minutes 11 31.4

More than 90 minutes 3 8.6

TABLE 8

Interpretation:

Here, we asked this close ended question to check how much time they spend into D-Mart. In
response we found that majority of the respondents i.e. 15 customers out of 35 spend between 30-60 minutes
in D-Mart, 11 customers spend between 60-90 minutes, 6 customers spend less than 30 minutes and 3
customers spend more than 90 minutes.

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Q9) Which time of the day do you mostly prefer to visit D-Mart?

Answer Frequency Percentage

10 am - 1 pm 8 22.9

1 pm - 4 pm 9 25.7

4 pm - 7 pm 7 20

7 pm - 10 pm 11 31.4

TABLE 9

Interpretation:

Here, we asked this close ended question to know which time of the day mostly customers prefer to visit D-
Mart. As per the survey of 35 responded we got that 31.4% customers prefer between 7 pm to 11 pm, 25%
customers visit between 1 pm to 4 pm, 22.9% customers visit between 10 am to

1 pm and 20% customers visit between 4 pm to 7 pm. By this data, it can be noticed that different groups of
people visit D-Mart at their own convenient time which is a good sign for any retail company.

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Q10) How would rate the returns policy of D-mart?

Answer Frequency Percentage

Excellent 10 28.6

Good 11 31.4

Satisfactory 13 37.1

Not-Satisfactory 1 2.9

TABLE 10

Interpretation:

Here we asked this question about the return policy of D-Mart. 37.1% of the respondents feel that the return
policy offered by D-Mart is satisfactory, 31.4% feel that the return policy is good, 28.6% of the respondents
feel that the return policy is excellent and only 2.9% i.e. 1 respondent feels that the return policy of D-Mart
is not good and they are not satisfied with it. Overall most of the consumers are satisfied with the
return policy of D-Mart.

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RECOMMENDATIONS

After analyzing the data and successfully testing the methods the researcher would
like to make following suggestion in context of Consumer buying behaviuor of D-Mart
in Pune city.

 D-Mart should include more of branded products its product category as

compare to stores.So as to attract the brand choosy people to come in to D-Mart.
Some of the member of the staff is not well trained to handle customers
belonging to different backgrounds and attitudes, so better selection and
training programs should be initiated.

 D-Mart doesn’t have its websites, so they should create its new website, which is
updated on a regular basis.

 Company must provide schemes and offers on various festivals because

here people are attracted much by offers and schemes.

 The number of competitors in the market is more so company should adopt &
implement new marketing strategies to face competition.

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CONCLUSION

Every industry initially steps ahead in the corporate world. It always keeps in
the mind with amazement motive. The motive of the company is known as
“Identified needs and expectations ofthe customers, as wellas provide the
appreciable service.”

Now-a-days D-Mart is having a competent mall in the present market.

It provides incredible facilities and services to its customers. Here, I have done
research project entitled with consumers buying behaviuor.

LIMITATIONS OF THE PROJECT

 The study is only limited to the consumers of D-Mart.

 The responses of the individuals may not be reliable.

 The sample size is too less of 35 only.

 Generalizing all the consumers only on these 35 responses is not possible.

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