Abstract

The retail store is the place where the customers take a decision on
the purchase of the products offered by the retailer. The store also
influences the perception that customers form in their minds about
the store, the products, services and staff. From the managements
point of view, operations of the store and a major element of the
cost. As a consequence, the store itself becomes a critical asset of
the retail business and it is imperative that the operations are
managed well to achieve and sustain customer satisfaction and be
cost effective. Managing store operations for a small retail business
of any size or complexity from the neighborhood grocer to the
national retail chain is a challenging task

Introduction:
Retailing consists of the sale of goods or merchandise from a fixed
location, such as a department store, boutique or kiosk, or by post, in
small or individual lots for direct consumption by the purchaser.
Retailing may include subordinated services, such as delivery.
Purchasers may be individuals or businesses. A "retailer" buys goods
or products in large quantities from manufacturers or importers,
either directly or through a wholesaler, and then sells smaller
quantities to the end-users / consumers. Retail establishments are
often called shops or stores. Retailers are at the end of the supply
chain. Manufacturing marketers see the process of retailing as a
necessary part of their overall distribution strategy. The term
"retailer" is also applied where a service provider services the needs
of a large number of individuals, such as a public utility, like electric
power.

Online retailing, a type of electronic commerce used for business-to-

consumer (B2C) transactions and mail-order, are forms of non-shop
retailing.
Shopping generally refers to the act of buying products. Sometimes
this is done to obtain necessities such as food and clothing;
sometimes it is done as a recreational activity. Recreational
shopping often involves window shopping (just looking, not buying)
and browsing and does not always result in a purchase.

History of Nesto

Nesto, a respected name today in the retail industry. Nesto has

become a pioneer by having more than 40 Outlets in UAE, KSA,
Bahrain and Kuwait. Being focused on convenience, accessibility and
providing quality of products at competitive prices to its customers
as to their door steps as a result of mobility. Over the past few years
Nesto is able to win hundreds of thousands of hearts, and became
the preferred choice for consumers all around the GCC. As it offers
an experience for its customers to cherish and make them come
back again and again.

Nesto Hypermarket is founded by Mr. K P Basheer, Chairman of

Western International Group in 2004 and led by directors Mr.
Siddique Pallolathil &Mr.JamalKp, Nesto has been one of the fastest
growing retail chains in the Gulf Cooperation Council
(GCC) locations.As of 2016, UAE itself has 18
hypermarkets, Kuwait has 7, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has
8, Bahrain has 10 and Oman has 1 branch of Nestos hypermarket

Nesto itself is a part of Western International Group which owns

remarkable brands like Geepas, Younglife, Royalford, Olsen mark,
Clarkford, Parajohn, Baby plus, Brandzone, Shoe Point and G-Square.
Being backed up by a strong group like Western International Group,
gives Nesto a tremendous scope of expansion and growth which will

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help Nesto to set new records and create history in the retail
industry.

VALUES

.Nimble Able to think and understand quickly

.Ethical always morally correct

.Sturdy Confident & Determined

Trustworthy Truthful and Reliable

Optimistic Hopeful and Positive

Objectives of the study:

The main objective of the project is to study the retail store operations in
Nesto hypermarket.
To identify the factors that can explain the different techniques to save the
store.
To calculate the average amount of purchasing/day of the customers and to
measure the number of customers visiting NESTO.
To analyze the growth and development trends of retail store.
To identify key areas and shortcomings to focus in order to improve the
performance of organized retail store Nesto.

NEED FOR STUDY

Many companies are aiming for high satisfaction because customers
who are just satisfied still find it easy to switch when a better offer
come. But those who are highly satisfied are less to switch over.
High satisfaction or delight creates an emotional bond with the
brand not just a rational preference. It is imperative to investigate
and suggest ways and means to improve the customer satisfaction.

2
SCOPE OF THE STUDY
Oman is a developing country consumers spend a larger share of
their income on food. Food and Grocery is the second-largest
segment of the retail industry in Oman. This retail segment is
expected to accurately reflect the performance of organized retail
and hence the scope of study is limited to organized retail formats
with Food and Grocery as the major product category. Many factors
contribute to a retailers overall performance. Literature indicates
that retail performance should be judged on multiple dimensions:
based on customer perception, based on operational efficiency, and
based on financial performance (Stem Neill and Gregory M. Rose,
2004; Michael and Barton, 2004). The present research study is
limited to performance evaluation of organized retail formats on
customer based parameters.

LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

The sample size is only 30.

The period of study is limited to one month under the study and
only literate people included.
The result of analysis made in the study depends fully on accuracy,
reliability of information given by the respondents.

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 REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Review of literature is the effective evaluation of selected literature

on a research topic. It is an essential part of the research process. It
provides a background to the study being proposed. Review of
literature describes, compares, contrasts and evaluates the major
theories, arguments, themes, methodologies, and approaches in the
scholarly literature on a research subject.

It also connects compares and contrasts these arguments, themes

and methodologies etc., with the concerns of a proposed piece of
research. The literature review is not an annotated bibliography or a
summary of the sources listed one by one or just a descriptive
summary of the historical background to the research subject.

1. According to Carlos Perstana Barros (2006) 31 in his study

entitled Efficiency Measurement among Hypermarkets and

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 Supermarkets and the Identification of the efficiency Drivers
surveyed that supermarket and hyper-market retail markets
had higher efficiency as compared to other retail formats.

2. Paswan, Pineda and Ramirez (2010) in a study conducted in

Mexico investigated whether influx of large stores is
inevitable, by focusing on consumers' motivation for selecting
a retail store, and the association between these motivation
dimensions and the shopping patronage. The results indicated
that consumer's preference for small stores is positively
motivated by functional benefits and familiarity with small
stores; and negatively associated with the functional benefits
offered by large stores. These motivational dimensions were
also found to be positively associated with the share of wallet
spent at small stores. It was found that gender exhibited
mixed effect on preference for small stores and the share of
wallet. The study revealed that women feel that large stores
provide better functional benefits and support for the local
economy.

3. Mehmet Arda (2006)32 stated that the importance of

supermarkets in the world food economy has radically
increased since the early 1990s. Supermarkets are now major
sellers and buyers of food items not only in developed but also
in developing countries. Urbanization and liberalization of the
services sector have been important facilitators of this
process.
4. Anu Singh and Kaur Tripat (2006) 34 explained the strategies
adopted by retailers to keep pace with the changing moods of
the shoppers. In the past few years, there has been a shift in
India from individual retail outlets owned separately and
managed distinctively to professionally managed retail stores.
The retail formats commonly analyzed are stores located in
the malls. The study addressed how factors within and outside
the stores affect store-level shopping decisions. The six main

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 indicators on the basis of which retailers decide to go for a
specific type of retail format are: Price, Sales Personnel,
Quality of Merchandise, Assortment of Merchandise,
Advertising, Services and other Convenience Services.

5. Piyush Kumar Sinha and Sanjay Kumar Kar (2007) 35, Indias
retail development is inevitable. Most of the organized
retailers in India are harping on quality, service, convenience,
satisfaction and benefits to lure shoppers into the store.
Retailers should create value for the consumer and must
decide suitable vehicle to deliver desired consumer value. No
doubt, that retail format is one of the vehicles to deliver value
proposition and it helps to position the store in the mind of
target shoppers. Retailers certainly need to be innovative in
designing the value proposition and deciding the format to
deliver that to the consumer. It is not all about deciding the
format but all about serving the consumer better, faster and
at less cost. Retailers can use their store as an indicator of
what they stand for and what value they offer. Retailers have
to out think consumer in providing service and value. Now,
most of the retailers are concerned about growth in number of
stores rather than creating value for consumer.

6. Horst Raff and Nicolas Schmitt (2009) 56 , investigated the

implications for international markets of the existence of
retailers/wholesalers with market power. Two main results
were shown. First, in the presence of buyer power, trade
liberalization may lead to retail market concentration. Due to
this concentration, retail prices may be higher and welfare
may be lower in free trade than in autarky, thus reversing the
standard effects of trade liberalization. Second, the
procompetitive effects of trade liberalization are weaker under
buyer power than under seller power.

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7. Alexander Chemev and Ryan Hamilton (2009) 57, in their
research paper majorly focused on the important decision that
retailers always involves in selecting the number of items
constituting their assortments. A key issue in making these
decisions is the role of assortment size in determining
consumers choice of a retailer. The authors address this issue
by investigating how consumer choice among retailers
offering various-sized assortments is influenced by the
attractiveness of the options constituting these assortments.
The data show that consumer preference for retailers offering
larger assortments tends to decrease as the attractiveness of
the options in their assortments increases and can even lead
to a reversal of preferences in favour of retailers offering
smaller assortments. This research further presents evidence
that the relationship between assortment size and option
attractiveness is concave, like the marginal impact of
assortment size on choice decreases as the attractiveness of
the options increases. Data from eight empirical studies.

8. AbishekParekth (2002) 11 in his article titled, Enter the

hyper markets says that the retail boom is rapidly gaining
ground. Companies such as Pantaloon fashions and S Kumars
are framing up plans to set up hypermarkets in various
locations. The calculated stores have begun trusted as
Indias answer to Wal-Mart and carre-four where consumers
can get top quality products at rock-bottom prices in a
world-class environment. Hyderabad already hosts Giant,
Indias first international standard hypermarket, belonging to
the RPG group, which opened its door. Hypermarket usually
competes on price and a wider product range, but they
normally, lack product department depth and service
components.

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9. Piquet (2002) 12 in his study titled, Retail Marketing in
Emerging Countries highlights that, with the second largest
retail market, ($202.6 billion) among emerging countries, next
only to China ($388.6 billion), India is an attractive destination
for global retails. However, India has been ranked only sixth in
a global retail development index (recently developed by AT
Kearney, Slovak Republic, Hungary, The Russian Federation,
Morocco) and of course, China has been rated as more
attractive than India. Ten years ago, the top 20 global retailers
had operations in 11 countries. Today they are present in 82
countries. India is not on that list yet. However, with once
promising South America now losing their original appeal due
to market saturation and economic risk, India is a serious
coretender for FDI (Foreign Direct Investment). But that will
depend on whether policy-makers will heed the Chinese
success and allow FDI.

10. Vidya Srinivasan (2002) 13 in her article titled What is

in store has highlighted the impact of Liberalization which
puts products of various styles and quality on shop shelves,
giving consumers new choices, but it has left the seller to live
in a protected environment, department stores that form the
basis of the organized retail industry have no role models to
follow except those set by Macys Bloomingdales and Marks
and Spencers in the west, but none of which has adequately
fit into the Indian Scenario.

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 THEORITICAL ASPECTS ON REATIL STORE
OPERATIONS

Retailing is a set of activities that markets products or services to

final consumers for their own personal and household use. It does
this by organizing their availability on a relatively large scale and
supplying them to consumers on relatively small scale. Any business
that directs its marketing efforts towards satisfying the final
consumer based upon, the organization of selling goods and
services as a means of distribution.

The term 'retail' is derived from the French word retailer which
means 'to cut a piece off or to break bulk'. In simple terms, it implies
a first-hand transaction with the customer.

Retailing can be defined as the buying and selling of goods and

services. It can also be defined as the timely delivery of goods and
services demanded by consumers at prices that are competitive and
affordable.

David Gilbert has defined retail as any business that directs it

marketing efforts towards satisfying the final consumer based upon
the organization of selling goods and services as a means of
distribution

As per the above definition the final consumer is a key concept

within the distribution chain, especially since the retailers are at the
end of the chain and directly interact with the customer. Moreover,

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the final consumer is presumed to be the final user of a 45 purchase
unlike a customer who may have bought the goods for their own
use, as a present or as part of their own business activity.

The vast majority of retailing occurs in stores throughout the world,

other venues for retail vending machines, door-to-door sales, cyber
sales (or e-tailing) and sales point of consumption sales. Retailers
are often referred to as intermediaries, middlemen, or because of
the positions they hold in the marketing process. A marketing
intermediary (middleman) links producers to other middlemen or to
ultimate consumers through contractual arrangements or through
and reselling of products.

The retailing concept covers four broad areas and is an essential

part of the retailing strategy.

Customer Orientation: The retailer makes a careful study of

the needs of the customer and attempts to satisfy those
needs.
Goal Orientation: The retailer has clear cut goals and devises
strategies to achieve those goals.
Value Driven Approach: The retailer offers good value to the
consumer with merchandise having the price and quality
appropriate for the target market.
Coordinated Effort: Every activity of the firm is aligned to the
goal and is designed to maximize its efficiency and deliver
value to the consumer

Functions of Retailing
Retailers perform various functions like sorting, breaking bulk,
holding stock, as a channel of communication, advertising, storage
and certain additional services such as:

Sorting: Manufacturers usually make one or a variety of products

and would like to sell their entire inventory to a few buyers to
reduce costs. Final consumers in contrast prefer a large variety of
goods and services to choose from and usually buy them in small

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quantities. Retailers are able to balance the demands of both sides,
by collecting an assortment of goods from different sources, buying
them in sufficiently large quantities, and selling them to 46
consumers in small units.

Breaking Bulk: Breaking bulk is another function performed by

retailing. The word retailing is derived from the French word
retaillier, meaning to cut a piece off. To reduce transportation costs,
manufacturers and wholesalers typically ship large cartons of the
produce which are then tailored by the retailers into smaller
quantities to meet individual consumption needs.

Holding Stock: Retailers also offer the service of holding stock for
the manufacturers. Retailers maintain an inventory that allows for
instant availability of the product to the consumers. It helps to keep
prices stable and enables the manufacturer to regulate production.
Consumers can keep a small stock of products at home as they
know that this can be replenished by the retailer and can save on
inventory carrying costs.

Additional Services: Retailers case the change in ownership of

merchandise by providing services that make it convenient to buy
and use products. Providing product guarantee, after-sales service,
and dealing with consumer complaints are some of the services that
add value to the actual product at the retailers end. Retailers also
offer credit and hire purchase facilities to the customers to enable
them to buy a product now and pay for it later. Retailers fill orders,
promptly process, deliver and install products. Salespeople are also
employed by retailers to answer queries and provide additional
information about the displayed products. The display itself allows
the consumer to see and test products before actual purchase.
Retail essentially completes transactions with customers.

Channel of Communication: Retailers also act as the channel of

communication and information between the wholesalers or
suppliers and the consumers. From advertisements, salespeople,

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and display, shoppers learn about the characteristics and features of
a product or services offered. Manufacturers, in their turn, learn of
sales forecasts, delivery delays, and customer complaints. The
manufacturer can then modify defective or unsatisfactory
merchandise and services.

Transport and Advertising Functions: Small manufacturers can

use retailers to provide assistance with transport, storage,
advertising, and prepayment of merchandise. This also works the
other way round in case the number of retailers is small. The
number of functions performed by a particular retailer has a direct
relation to the percentage and volume of sales needed to cover both
their costs and profits.

Theories of Retail development

Retail development can be looked at from the theoretical

perspective. No single theory can be universally applicable or
acceptable. The application of each theory varies from market to
market, depending on the level of maturity and the socio-economic
conditions in that market.

The theories developed to explain the process of retail development

revolve around the importance of competitive pressure, the
investments in organizational capabilities and the creation of a
sustainable competitive advantage .this requires the
implementation of strategic planning by retail organizations. Growth
in retail is a result of understanding market signals and responding
to the opportunities that arise in a dynamic manner.

Theories of retail of retail development can broadly be classified as:

1) Environmental where a change in retail is attributed to the

change in the environment in which the retailers operate.

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2) Cyclical where change follows a pattern ad phases can have
definite identifiable attributes associated with them.

3) Conflictual the competition or conflict between two opposite

type of retailers leads to a new format being developed.

Environmental Theory:

Darwins theory of natural selection has been popularized by the

phrase survival of the fittest. Retail institutions are economic
entities and retailers confront an environment, which is made up of
customers, competitors and changing technology. This environment
can alter the profitability of a single retail store as well as of clusters
and centers. The environment that a retailer competes in is
sufficiently robust to squash any retail form that does not adjust.

Thus, the birth, success or decline of different forms of retail

enterprise is many a time attributed to the business environment.
For example the decline of department stores in the western
markets is attributed to the general inability of those retailers to
react quickly and positively to environmental change. Those retail
institutions which are keenly aware of their operating environment
and which react without delay, again from the changes.

Thus, following the Darwinian approach of survival of the fittest,

those retailers that successfully adapt technological, economic,
demographic and legal changes are the ones that are most likely to
grow and prosper. The ability to adapt to change, successfully, is at
the core of this theory.

Cyclical Theory

The most well-known theory of retail evolution is The Wheel of

Retailing theory. This theory, described by McNair II, helps us
understand retail changes. This theory suggests that retail
innovators often first appear as low-price operators with a low-cost

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structure and low profit-margin requirements, offering some real
advantages, such as specific merchandise, which enables them to
take customers away from more established competitors.

As they prosper, they develop their businesses, offering a greater

range or acquiring more expensive facilities, but this can mean that
they lose the focus that was so important when they entered the
market. Such 'trading up' occurs as the retailer becomes established
in his own right.

The wheel of retailing:

The theory suggests that new forms of retailing appear as price

cutting, low cost and narrow profit margin operations. Eventually the
retailer trades up by improving displays and location, providing
credit, delivery and by raising advertising expenditure.

Thus, retailers mature as high cost, high price, conservative

operators, making the mselves vulnerable to new, lower priced
entrants. A low price retailer should avoid incurring extra costs on
the existing format and instead should open another store with
better service levels and premium brands catering to the upmarket
segment. These two stores should be distinct in their brand name,
offerings and operations.

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 Conflict
Theory

Conflict
always exists
between
operators
of similar
formats or
within broad retail categories. It is believed that retail innovation
does not necessarily reduce the number of formats available to the
consumer; instead, it leads to the development of more formats.
Retailing thus evolves through a dialectic process, i.e., the blending
of two opposites to create a new format.

This can be applied to Developments in retailing as follows: --

A. Thesis- Individual retailers as corner shops all across the country

B. Antithesis- A position opposed to the thesis develops over a

period of time. These are the department stores. The antithesis is a
"challenge" to the thesis.

C. Synthesis- There is a blending of the thesis and antithesis. The

result is position between the "thesis" and "antithesis". Super
markets andhypermarkets thrive. This "synthesis" becomes the
"thesis" for the next round of evolution.

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 RESESARCH METHODOLOGY

Research Design: As my project focused majorly on the retail Store

Operations of Nesto and not the customer taste and preferences so I
took help of DESCRIPTIVE RESEARCH STUDIES. Descriptive Research
involves the description of the characteristics of the variable,
description of the extent of association between variables and it
allows the researcher to infer about the variables. Like in this case,
the variables were analyzing Footfall, Catchment Area and the
Average Ticket Size of the customers.

I took the base of DESCRIPTIVE RESEARCH because I worked on the

data provided by the store i.e. it was secondary data (total sales,
total no. of customers etc.) for three weeks and I knew which
parameters to work upon. Also I interviewed the customers and
observed their buying behavior towards Store. As Descriptive
research design are used when the researcher has a substantial
data about the problem and of the variables that are to be
measured. In this case I knew which all areas need to be covered up
and analyzed thoroughly.

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Primary Data Collection: Primary data was collected with the help
of a structured questionnaire. The questionnaire was administered
to the selected 50 respondents.

Technique of data collection: The two type techniques which were

used are:
Communication Based Technique- In this technique data
was collected by asking a set of question and receiving a
response. Two people are necessarily involved. Like
Questionnaire.

Observation Based Technique- In this technique data was

collected by studying the objects of interest likewise my object
of interest were thecustomers and their buying pattern and
what they perceive about the store. I observed them on a
daily basis for approx. 30-35 mins.

Area of study: The study on retail store operations has been

limited to consumers in Muscat region. The period of the study
covers 1 month. Theprojects data collection was through
Primary and Secondary sources. The primary source is
collected from the sample respondents in the study area.
Simple random sampling method was used in selecting the
respondents.

Sample size:I took one month data from the Nesto Store It
included Total Footfall, Total Customers, Total Sales, Average
Sales per Customers, No. of items sold and Conversion Ratio.
For the questionnaire filling I took a sample of 30 people from
the nearby locations (Muscat region). I also interviewed those
who visited the store regarding the Store Ambiance,
Assortments of products and the Services provided.

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 Sampling techniques: For the purpose of determining
population characteristics instead of enumerating entire
population, the individual in the sample are only observed.
Then the sample characteristics are utilized to approximately
to determine the population. The type of Sampling Procedure
which I have chosen is Convenience Sampling. Convenience
sampling is a generic term that covers wide variety of Adhoc
procedures for selecting respondents. Convenience Sampling
means that the sampling units are Accessible, Convenient,
easy to measure, co-operative and articulate. Considering the
accessibility factor I selected Muscat area for the study .I
interviewed the customers and analyzed the given data
through my own convenience and expertise.

Age Group

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18 25 years 4

25-35 years 6

35-60 years 18

60 and above 2

60 and above; 7% 18-25 years; 13%

25-35 years; 20%

35-60 years; 60%

Interpretation:
From the above chart it can be interpreted that majority of the
respondent (60%) are in the group of 35-60 years, followed by 25-
35 years (20%) ,18 25 years (13%) and 60 and above with (7%).

Gender:

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Male 14
Female 16

male; 34%

female; 66%

Interpretation:
From the above chart it can be interpreted that majority of the
customers are females (66%) and the rest are male (34%).

Occupation

Employee 14

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Business person 5
others 11

Others; 37%

Employee; 47%

Business Person; 17%

Interpretation:
It was found that (46%) of the respondents are Employees, (17%)
are business person and the others constitutes (37%) as customers.

1. How often you purchase from Nesto Hypermarket?

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 Weekly 1
5
Monthly Twice. 7
Monthly once 8
Daily 0

Monthly once; 32%

Weekly; 40%

Monthly twice; 28%

Interpretation:
The chart depicts that (40%) of the respondents purchase weekly,
(32%) of the respondents visit Monthly once and monthly twice
constitutes to (28 %.)

2. What segment of product do you buy/prefer buying from Nesto

Hypermarket?

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Groceries and Fresh 14
food
Home Ware 6
Health Care 5
Fashion Accessories 2
Consumer Electronics 3

Fashion Accessories; 6% Consumer Electronics; 13%

Groceries and Fresh Food; 45%

Healthcare; 16%

Homeware; 19%

Interpretation:
The chart depicts that (45%) of the respondents purchase Groceries
and Fresh Food, (19%) of the respondents purchase Homeware ,
(16%) purchase Healthcare ,(13%) purchase consumer electronics
and Fashion Accessories constitutes to (7 %.)

2. While Shopping at Nesto hypermarket how frequently do the

customer service associates interact with you?

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 Frequently 3
Rarely 16
Never 4
On requirement 7

Frequently; 7%

On requirement; 44%
rarely; 39%

Never; 10%

Interpretation:
The chart depicts that (39%) of the respondent says Customer
service interacts rarely, (44%) of the respondents says customer
services interacts on requirement, (10%) says Customer service
never interacts and (7%) says Customer service frequently.

4. As compared to other stores, what do you think of the pricing

of the products of Nesto Hypermarket?

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 Very low 0
Low 12
Almost 13
Same
High 5
Very high 0

High; 12%
Low; 29%

Almost same; 60%

Interpretation:
The chart depicts that (59%) of the respondent says price of the
products are Almost same, (29%) of the respondents says price of
the products are Low, (12%) says price of the products are High and
no one says the price is very high and very low.

5. How long is the time taken for the billing?

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 Less than 2 mints 0
2 5 mints 4
6 10 mints. 8
More than 10 18
mints.

2-5 mins; 11%

6-10 mins; 22%

more than 10 mins; 68%

Interpretation:
The chart depicts that (67%) of the respondent says billing time
takes more than 10 mins, (22%) of the respondents says billing
time takes 6-10 mins, (11%) says billing time takes 2-5 mins and no
one says less than 2 mins.

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 6. Which is the best part of the Nesto Hypermarket?

Availability of Products and 4

Services
Environment of the Store. 2
Packaging of Products and 0
services
Quality of the products 8
Discount and Incentives on the 16
products

Availability of products and service; 10%

Environment of the store; 5%

Quality of the products; 19%

Discount and incentives; 67%

Interpretation:
The chart depicts that (67%) of the respondent says Discounts are
the best in Nesto, (19%) of the respondents say about Quality of
the products is best ,(9%) says availability of products and (5%)
says the environment of the store.

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7. Which in your opinion needs improvement in NestoHypermarket?

Availability of Products and 4

Services
Environment of the Store. 16
Packaging of Products and 3
services
Quality of the products 5
Discount and Incentives on the 2
products

Discount and incentives of product; 7% Availability of products and service; 13%

Quality of the product; 17%

packaging of the product; 10%

Environment of the store; 53%

Interpretation:
The chart depicts that (49%) of the respondent saysEnvironment of
the store to be improved in Nesto, (17%) of the respondents
saysQuality of the products to be improved, (10%) says packaging
of products to be improved, (7%) says the discount and (13%) says
the availability of the products.

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 8. Which offer do you like the most?

Buy 1 get 1 free 17

Gift voucher 6
Reward 3
Points(5%discount)
Others 4

others; 13%

Reward Points; 10%

Buy1 get 1 free; 57%

Gift voucher; 20%

Interpretation:
The chart depicts that (50%) of the respondent says buy 1 get 1
free, (18%) of the respondents saysgift voucher is best,(23%) says
others and (9%) says the Reward Points is the most.

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9. How much distance do you have the store?

0-5 Km 15
5-10 km 7
10- 15 Km 5
More than 15 Km. 3

more than 15Km; 9%

0-5 Km; 43%

10-15 Km; 29%

5-10 km; 20%

Interpretation:
The chart depicts that (43%) of the respondent comes from 0-5 Km,
(29%) of the respondents comes from 5-10 km , (18%) comes
from10- 15kmand (8%) come from more than 15 km.

30
 11. Would you recommend Nesto hypermarket Store to your
neighbors?

Yes 17
No 4
Not sure. 9

not sure; 43%

yes; 46%

no; 11%

Interpretation:
The chart depicts that (46%) of the respondent says they will
recommend Nesto to their neighbours, (43%) of the respondents
says that not sure and (11%) of the respondents says they will not
recommend Nesto to their neighbours.

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 FINDINGS

The major findings are:

Visibility of the products should be increased.

There must be more sales promotion and advertising activities.
There is an imminent need of betterment of Customer Support
Services of Nesto Store.
Close link should be established with customers through customer
relations programs and try to meet their requirement regarding
product and services and to make them aware about both
product and promotions.
Promote the peculiar areas where Nesto stores, have an upper
hand like correct weight and measures, values packs of goods,
quality service and ambience.
Rightsizing is desired in certain stores. A large area is occupied by
categories like apparels which have very limited sales but rent
has to be paid for the area.
Long queues too often discourage people to shop in Nesto store
especially the customers who purchase smaller quantities of
goods.
Innovativeness is the mantra for success. Brainstorming sessions
must be conducted for generation of new innovative ideas.

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 CONCLUSION

Finally analyzing all the factors responsible for increasing sales and
the number of customers in NESTO hypermarket, through various
data analysis like correlation and regression analysis, I came to a
conclusion that Nesto should give emphasis on the measures taken
to increase the Footfall , Ticket Size and Catchment area. Nesto does
not provide any Advertisement about its products and Services
whereas its main competitor LULU does. So, the company should
focus on the tools present to analysis its customer and various other
factors.

Also the group has a major focus on achieving customer needs and
their satisfaction level and not to those who made it possible. There
are multitudinous programs and events taking place to attract a
large amount of crowd from the respective locations. But the
industry should also keep in mind the integrated efforts made by the
team i.e. the CSAs, Store Supervisors, Store Manager and the
people involved in store activities for the enhancement customers
attraction by the store and finally maximization of revenue.
Because, ultimately it is the sales personnel of any background
upon whom the future of the organization depends
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 Suggestions

The following are the suggestions offered to increase the promotion

of the product Nesto hypermarket in better way.

Visibility of the products should be increased.

Since not much promotional activity is undertaken by the
Company, product and brand awareness is very low among
the masses. There are no promotional advertisements on
television. Promotional activity should be undertaken in order
to enhance the visibility of the product.

As per the customers feedback, many of the people were not

satisfied with the environment of the store of NESTO
hypermarket. This was one of the few reasons, why people
were reluctant to buy NESTO product.
A few respondents are dissatisfied about the Customer
service interacts rarely in NESTO hypermarket.

34
 Most of the respondents purchase Groceries and Fresh Food
and it would be better to improve the other segments like
consumer Electronics and Fashion accessories.

Vocational Training center SEEB

QUESTIONAIRE
A study on Retail store operations on
Nesto Hypermarket.
Please answer the questions below:

35
 Name :

Age Group : 18-25 years 25- 35

years

35-60 years 60 and above

Gender : MaleFemale

Occupation : Employee Business person Others

Please read the following statement by making tick

mark () in the appropriate box that represents
your point of view:
Q1.How often you purchase from Nesto Hypermarket?

a) Weekly
b) Monthly Twice
c) Monthly once.
d) Daily

Q2. What segment of product do you buy/prefer buying from Nesto

Hypermarket?

a) Groceries and Fresh food

b) Home Ware
c) Health Care
d) Fashion Accessories
e) Consumer Electronics

Q3. While Shopping at Nesto hypermarket how frequently do the

customer service associates interact with you?

36
 a) Frequently.
b) Rarely.
c) Never.
d) On requirement.
Q4.As compared to other stores, what do you think of the pricingof
the products of Nesto hypermarket?

a) Very low.
b) Low
c) Almost Same.
d) High.
e) Very high.

Q5. In your experience, how long is the time taken for the billing?

a) Less than2 mins

b) 2 5 mins
c) 6 10 mins.
d) More than 10 mins.

Q6. Which is/are the best part of the Nesto Hypermarket?

Q7. And which in your opinion needs improvement?

a) Availability of Products and Services ( ) (

)
b) Environment of the Store . ( )
( )
c) Packaging of Products and services ( )
( )
d) Quality of the products available ( )
( )

37
 e) Discount and Incentives on the products ( )
( )

Q8. Which offer do you like the most in Nesto Hypermarket?

a) Buy 1 get 1 free

b) Gift voucher
c) Future card(5%discount)
d) Others _____________

Q 9.How much distance do you have the store?

a) 0-5 Km
b) 5-10 km
c) 10- 15 Km
d) More than 15 Km.

Q10. Would you recommend Nesto hypermarket Store to

yourneighbours?

a) Yes
b) No
c) Not sure.

Q 11. Any suggestions.

_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
___________________________

REFERENCES

38
1. Gupta, S.P & Gupta, M.P, Measures of Central Tendency,
Business Statistics, 14th edition.
2. Sharma, J.K Analysis of Variance, Business Statistics, 2nd
edition.
3. Sharma, J..K, (2208), Correlation analysis, Business Statistics,
2nd edition.
4. Sharma, J.K, (2008), Regression analysis, Business Statistics,
2nd edition,
5. Sharma, J.K, Hypothesis testing, Business Statistics, 2nd
edition,
6. Hawkins, Del I. &Tull, .Donald S, Marketing Research in
Practice, Marketing Research-

39