SUMMER INTERNSHIP PROJECT

“A STUDY ON CUSTOMER SERVICE AND CUSTOMER APPROACH AT

PANTALOONS, PATIA BHUBANESWAR”

SUBMITTED FOR THE PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR

SUMMER INTERNSHIP REPORT

BY SUDARSHAN DAS

PREPARED FOR PANTALOONS, PATIA, BHUBANESWAR, ODISHA

GUIDED BY :-

INTERNAL :- SUBRAT SWAIN

EXTERNAL :- TARINI KUMAR BEHERA

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TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Project Title……………………………………………
Table of Contents…………………………………….
Declaration…………………………………………….
Acknowledgement…………………………………….
Preface…………………………………………………
Company’s Profile…………………………………….
Store Profile……………………………………………
Executive Summary………………………………….
Chapters:
Introduction…………………………………..
Important factors………………………….....
Research Methodology………………………
Research Tools……………………………….
Objectives……………………………………...
Need of Study………………………………....
Data Description……………………………...
Customer Survey Data……………………....
Questionnaire………………………………....
Conclusion………………………………….....
Recommendation…………………………..…
Learning………………………………………..
Suggestions…………………………………...
Bibliography…………………………………....

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 DECLARTION
I Sudarshan Das, student of BCCM did 3 months training with Aditya
Birla Fashion & Retail Ltd, Pantaloons, Patia, Bhubaneswar. I covered
the various aspects of customer management level in my three
month’s training. This material provided in this report is original and
has not been submitted anywhere for any other diploma or degree.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I take this opportunity to thank the management of Pantaloons, Patia,
Bhubaneswar, for allowing me to be associated with the organization
and hence exposing me to its unique culture which has helped
immensely in enriching our knowledge and gaining a valuable insight
into the practical aspects of customer services and Customer
Satisfaction.
This project would not have been possible without the kind support and
help of many individuals and the organization . I would like to extend
my sincere gratitude to all of them.
This project would not have been accomplished without the attention
of our guides and mentors.

Last but not least we also extent our heartiest thanks to the customers
of Bhubaneswar who spent their precious time in filling our
questionnaire.

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 PREFACE
I am Sudarshan das , doing post graduate diploma in management
(PGDM), student of ALL India council technical education (AICTE)
studies undergone training program in Aditya Birla Fashion & Retail Ltd,
Pantaloons, Patia. I have been assigned a task as a project related to
customer services. The project title is
“customer Services in pantaloons” Bhubaneswar. The project duration
was Three months.
I feel great and pleasure in presenting this research project which
is essential in partial fulfilment of our Retail management program.
Research Project is an integral part of curriculum and its purpose is to
provide the student with practical exposure of market in today’s
changing scenario. It helps in development of practical scales and
analytical thinking process. It also makes students aware of about the
perception and taste of consumers. Thus it helps in molding the
students according to the requirement of the market.
After globalization there has been vast change in Indian retail
market. Global players have entered the fray which has forced the
Indian retailers to change there strategies and culture. There is cut
throat competition and have realized the value of customers.
Consumers buying preferences, taste, choice has changed and have
become more quality conscious. It leads to boom in consumer market
and people were on the spending speed.

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 So in such a competitive retail market where every retailer is
trying to capture maximum no. of consumer market. So this research
project studies the current situation of customer service level prevailing
in Indian retail industry and how does it impact retail outlets. And
through the survey taken with the Customers we can understand the
psyche of Indian consumers and very well analysis that what they want
and desire. This survey helps Retailers to satisfy the customers and
delighting them with such unique goods which other competitors
cannot think of.

COMPANY’S PROFILE

The Aditya Birla Group: A Premium Global Corporation

The Aditya Birla Group is an Indian multinational conglomerate, headquartered
in Worli, Mumbai, India. It operates in 35 countries with more than 120,000
employees worldwide. The group was founded by Seth Shiv Narayan Birla in
1857. The group has interests in sectors such as viscose staple fiber, metals,
cement (largest in India), viscose filament yarn, branded apparel, carbon black,
chemicals, fertilizers, insulators, financial services, telecom, BPO and IT services.

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The group had a revenue of approximately US$44.3 billion in year 2018. It is the
third-largest Indian private sector conglomerate behind Tata Group with
revenue of just over US$100 billion and RIL with revenue of US$74 billion.
Globally, the Aditya Birla Group is:

 A metals powerhouse, among the world's most cost-efficient aluminium

and copper producers. Hindalco-Novelis is the largest aluminium rolling
company. It is one of the three biggest producers of primary aluminium
in Asia, with the largest single location copper smelter

 No.1 in viscose staple fibre

 No.1 in carbon black

 The fourth-largest producer of insulators

 The fifth-largest producer of acrylic fibre

 Among the top 5 cement producers globally

 Among the best energy-efficient fertiliser plants

 The largest Indian MNC with manufacturing operations in the USA,

wherein 95 per cent of the workforce comprises of Americans

Aditya Birla Group – The Indian Scenario

 A top fashion (branded apparel) and lifestyle player

 The second-largest player in viscose filament yarn

 The largest producer in the chlor-alkali sector

 Among the top three mobile telephony companies

 A leading player in life insurance and asset management

 Among the top two supermarket chains in the retail business

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Aditya Birla Group – Beyond Business

 Reaches out annually to 7.5 million people through the Aditya Birla
Centre for Community Initiatives and Rural Development, spearheaded
by Mrs. Rajashree Birla.

 Works in 5,000 villages globally.

 Focuses on: health-care, education, the girl child, sustainable livelihood,

women empowerment projects, infrastructure and espousing social
reform.

 Runs 42 schools which provide quality education to 45,000 children.

Of these 18,000 students belong to the underprivileged segment.
Merit Scholarships are given to 24,000 children from the interiors.

 Its 18 hospitals tend to more than a million villagers.

 Ongoing education, healthcare and sustainable livelihood projects in

Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, Egypt, Korea and Brazil, lift thousands
of people out of poverty.

 Set up the Aditya Birla India Centre at the London Business School.

The Aditya Birla Group transcends conventional barriers of business because we

care. We believe it is our duty to facilitate inclusive growth as well.

ADITYA BIRLA FASHION AND RETAIL LTD.(ABFRL)

Fashion is perhaps the very first expression of success of a free nation. Fashion is
a celebration and a joy. It is an expression that can manifest itself in different
ways for different people and these ways are forever evolving.

Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Ltd. (ABFRL) emerged after the consolidation of
the branded apparel businesses of Aditya Birla Group comprising ABNL'S Madura
Fashion division and ABNL's subsidiaries Pantaloons Fashion and Retail (PFRL)
and Madura Fashion & Lifestyle (MFL) in May 2015. Post the consolidation, PFRL
was renamed Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Ltd.

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"This consolidation will create India's largest pure play Fashion and Lifestyle
Company with a strong bouquet of leading fashion brands and retail formats.
This move brings India's #1 branded menswear and womenswear players
together." - Kumar Mangalam Birla, Chairman, Aditya Birla Group.

ABFRL has been founded in the belief that the first sign of success of a modern
nation lies in the ability of its citizens to celebrate. India's young working
population and robust economic performance has led to rising incomes which,
combined with increasing global exposure, are empowering many latent wants to
morph into demands. With retail expanding independently through brick and
mortar as well as e-commerce, the Indian fashion consumer now deserves
futuristic and comprehensive omni-channel options. The time for ABFRL to arrive
was ripe.

ABFRL aims to the business of fashion through superior infrastructure and

experiences, towards a new future.

ABFRL brings together the learnings and businesses of two renowned Indian
fashion icons, Madura Fashion & Lifestyle and Pantaloons Fashion and Retail. This
will create a synergistic core that will act as the nucleus of the future fashion
businesses of the Aditya Birla Group.

ABFRL is India's No 1. Fashion Lifestyle entity with a combined revenue of INR

6,633 crore for FY'17, growing at a rate of 10 percent and EBITDA of INR 476
crore for FY'17 that has grown at 18 percent over the last year.

The ABFRL umbrella includes:

Madura Fashion & Lifestyle

The custodian of several icons, including the top four fashion brands of India -
Louis Philippe , Van Heusen, Allen Solly and Peter England — each of which
clocked MRP sales in the vicinity of INR 1,000 crore. It also includes India's first
fast-fashion youth brand, People; India's largest fully integrated fashion multi-
brand outlet chain, Planet Fashion; India's largest premium international
brand

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retailer, The Collective and the British fashion icon, Hackett London's mono-
brand retail in India.

ABFRL has acquired exclusive online and offline rights to market the global brand
– ‘Forever 21’ and its existing store network, in the fast-fashion segment in India.

To expand its international portfolio, ABFRL entered into exclusive partnerships

with two of UK’s most successful fashion brands, ‘Simon Carter’ and `Ted Baker’.

Pantaloons
Voted as 'India's Most Trusted Apparel Retail Brand,' (Brand Equity Survey
2014/2015), Pantaloons, a division of ABFRL has always been one of the most
loved large format fashion retailers in India.

Post-acquisition by the Aditya Birla Group, significant investments were made

focused on store upgradation, expansion, deeper pan-India penetration, portfolio
enrichment, brand building and organisation processes to lay the foundation for
its future growth. The brand is now present in 78 Indian cities / towns.

Pantaloons offers a wide range of brand offerings across apparel and non-apparel
categories and across varied price points.

It operates across categories of casual wear, ethnic wear, formal wear, party wear
and active wear for men, women and kids. Women’s wear is the lead category

9
contributing to half of total apparel sales. Non-apparel products include footwear,
handbags, cosmetics, perfumes, fashion jewellery and watches.

Post-acquisition by the Aditya Birla Group, significant investments were made

focused on store upgradation, expansion, deeper pan-India penetration, portfolio
enrichment, brand building and organisation processes to lay the foundation for
its future growth. The brand is now present in 78 Indian cities / towns.

Pantaloons began in 1997 as a Future Group company in the quest to equip the
emerging Indian middle-class with an indigenous fashion retail format. Consistent
with the times, the model was of a discount fashion retailer.

Leading brands at Pantaloons

Pantaloons today retails over 200 licensed and international brands, including 24
exclusive brands.

The Pantaloons exclusive brand bouquet includes Rangmanch, Ajile, Honey,

Akkriti, Annabelle, Alto Moda, Poppers, Chirpie Pie; besides, it also features
brands on a long- term basis: Bare, Rig, SF Jeans, Byford, JM Sports, Lombard
and Candie’s New York.

The company launched six new brands in FY'15, including Alto Moda, SF Jeans,
Candie's New York, Byford, Poppers and Chirpie Pie.

Pantaloons also hosts Madura F&L's brands such as Louis Philippe, Van Heusen,
Allen Solly, Peter England and People in menswear; Van Heusen and Allen Solly in
women’s wear, and Allen Solly Junior.

It also retails partner brands such as John Miller, Celio, Spykar, Levis and Lee
Cooper in menswear; Jealous 21, 109*F, AND, Chemistry and KRAUS in women's
western wear; BIBA, Global Desi, and W in women's ethnic wear; Barbie and
Ginny&Jony in kids wear.

Pantaloons is available on all leading e-commerce portals.

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Pantaloons enjoys a loyal customer base of 8.0 million (as of 30 June'17), which
is one of the largest among apparel retailers in the country. It runs its own four-
tier loyalty programme called "Green card".

PFRL's comprehensive marketing strategy is a mix of traditional and new-age

communication. It also exploits digital media to reach out to the Internet
community. Additionally, it runs varied store and brand launch events and
promotions, besides corporate tie-ups to enhance brand visibility and recall.

COMPANY’S VISION,MISSION AND VALUES

Our Vision

To be a premium global conglomerate, with a clear focus on each of the

businesses.

Our Mission

To deliver superior value to our customers, shareholders, employees and society

at large.

Our Values

 Integrity: Acting and taking decisions in a manner that is fair and

honest. Following the highest standards of professionalism and being
recognised for doing so. Integrity for us means not only financial and
intellectual integrity, but encompasses all other forms as are generally
understood.

 Commitment: On the foundation of Integrity, doing all that is needed to

deliver value to all stakeholders. In the process, being accountable for
our own actions and decisions, those of our team and those in the part of
the organisation for which we are responsible.

 Passion: An energetic, intuitive zeal that arises from emotional

engagement with the organisation that makes work joyful and inspires
each one to give his or her best. A voluntary, spontaneous and relentless
pursuit of goals and objectives with the highest level of energy and

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enthusiasm.

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  Seamlessness: Thinking and working together across functional groups,
hierarchies, businesses and geographies. Leveraging diverse
competencies and perspectives to garner the benefits of synergy while
promoting organisational unity through sharing and collaborative efforts.

 Speed: Responding to internal and external customers with a sense of

urgency. Continuously striving to finish before deadlines and choosing
the best rhythm to optimise organisational efficiencies.

Worlds
We breathe fashion inside and out.

It should come as no surprise that we're bringing you in-house lines that celebrate
style with our cutting edge designs.

WOMEN’S ETHNIC

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WOMEN’S WESTERN

MEN

KIDS

ACCESSORIES

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Pantaloons ever popular exclusive brands, designed by their own Design Studio,
are the key reason the customers keep coming back for more. With a sharp focus
on presenting the latest trends at affordable prices, the Design Studio combines
its prowess in design and aesthetics to offer the best in current fashion. The
styles cover an enviable range of ethnic and western wear for women, kids and
men as well as a wide range of handbags, footwear, perfumes, cosmetics and
fashion accessories making it a one stop destination for all fashion needs.
Perfumes, cosmetics and fashion accessories making it a one stop destination for
all fashion needs.

MANAGEMENT HIERARCHY IN THE

RETAIL OUTLET

Store manager
Asst. Store Manager
Department Manager
Asst. Department Manager
Team Leader
Team member
Team member trainee

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Main competitors
TRENDS
GLOBUS
LIFESTYLE
SHOPPERS'STOP
WESTSIDE

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The legendary Indian, Mahatma Gandhi expressed the importance of the
customer by stating:
“Customer is the most important visitor to our premises. He is not dependent on
us. We are dependent on him. He is not an interruption on our work. He is the
purpose of it. He is not an outsider on our Business. He is part of it. We are not
doing him a favour by serving him. He is doing us a favour by giving us an
opportunity to do so. To understand this quote and to adhere to its wisdom can
increase success by obtaining, retaining and satisfying customers.”
Satisfying our customers is an essential element to staying in business in this
modern world of global competition. We must satisfy and even delight our
customers with the value of our products and services to gain their loyalty and
repeat business. Customer satisfaction is therefore a primary goal of process
improvement programs. So how satisfied are our customers? One of the best
ways to find out is to ask them using Customer Satisfaction Surveys. These
surveys can provide management with the information they need to determine
their customer's level of satisfaction with their products and with the services
associated with those products. Employees and the management of the store can
use the survey information to identify opportunities for ongoing process
improvements and to monitor the impact of those improvements. This paper
includes details on designing your own customer satisfaction questionnaire,
tracking survey results and example reports that turn survey data into useful
information.

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A dissatisfied customer will tell seven to 20 people about their
Negative experience. A satisfied customer will only tell three to five people about
their positive experience. So, a retailer should always think in that way to satisfy
their customer and delighting them with the services which competitors never
think of.
CONSUMER SATISFACTION PROCESS
The paramount goal of marketing is to understand the consumer and to
influence buying behaviour. One of the main perspectives of the consume r
behaviour research analyses buying behaviour from the so-called “information
processing perspective" (Holbrook and Hirschman1982). According to the model,
customer decision-making process comprises a need satisfying Behaviour and a
wide range of motivating and influencing factors. The process can be depicted in
the following steps:
 Need recognition – realisation of the difference between desired situation
and the current situation that serves as a trigger for the entire consumption
process.
 Search for information - search for data relevant for the purchasing
decision, both from internal sources (one's memory) and/or external sources.
 Pre-purchase alternative evaluation - assessment of available choices that
can fulfil the realised need by evaluating benefits they may deliver and reduction
of the number of options to the one (or several) preferred.
 Purchase - acquirement of the chosen option of product or service.
 Consumption - utilisation of the procured option.
 Post-purchase alternative re-evaluation - assessment of whether or not and
to what degree the consumption of the alternative produced satisfaction.
Besides the information processing perspective, marketing analyses consumer
behaviour by employing a psychologically grounded concept of attitudes. It is
consumer attitudes that are usually named as the major factor in shaping
consumer behaviour and a wealth of studies is available on the topic of how
attitudes can predict behaviour.
INTER-DISCIPLINARITY OF CONSUMER RESEARCH
Different research disciplines diverge in their presuppositions about human
nature, factors influencing consumer behaviour, market response, etc. Therefore,
they naturally employ different research approaches. However, despite that
seemingly insurmountable abyss between disciplines, we see that many research

17
topics and methods overlap, and that there is 5 no clear-cut line between
different domains of consumer research.
Many consumption-related issues are being increasingly addressed from
interdisciplinary or multidisciplinary perspectives. Today consumer behaviour is
increasingly dynamic as the choice of alternatives increases with the growth of
global markets. The complexity of the decision-making process and a large
number of influencing factors suggest that changing consumer behaviour
towards more sustainable consumption is a challenging process, which requires
coordination at individual and societal level.
The retail business is booming in India and there has been remarkable shift in the
buying behaviour of the people from traditional stores to these departmental
stores. It becomes important for the marketers to understand these relationships
for successful design and execution of retail strategies. It would also enable the
researcher to understand the organized retail formats and consumers buying
attitude towards these stores. The data was collected by getting the
questionnaire filled by the respondents who were loyalty card holders to find out
that what makes them loyal towards pantaloon stores and makes them visit
pantaloon again and motivates them to purchase more from here.
Many stores have come up with exquisite interiors, state of the art infrastructure
and the best possible brands to the customer which has led to the growth of mall
culture in India. The stores try and attract customers by providing them with such
services and plethora of options in brands in different categories so that they can
retail customers for long and make them loyal towards their retail stores.

STORE PROFILE
The store where I have worked for 3 month in Pantaloons, Bhubaneswar. The
location of the store is located at Saheed Nagar, Bhubaneswar. Total floor
capacity of the store is approx 21000Sq. Feet out of which business area is 20936
Sq.feet.

The store is divided into six business areas ant they are as follows:

BRANDS AVAILABLE IN PANTALOONS FORUM GALLERIA

 IN-HOUSE BRANDS
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  Byford
 Urban ranger
 People
 Ajile
 Indusroute
 Bare denim
 Honey
 Annabelle
 Dream Z
 SF
 Forever Glam
 Rangmanch
 Akriti

 NON-HOUSE BRAND
 Turtle
 Peter England
 Louis Phillippe
 Allen Solly
 Kraus
 Spykar
 Pepe jeans
 Lee
 Aurelia
 W
 Global Desi
 Biba

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  Triumph
 Lovable
 Dream
 Sugar
 Chambor
 Lakme
 Colorbar
Idee/Irus
 Timax
 Titan
 Fastrack
 Noise
 Giva

INTRODUCTION:
In India, organized retailing, is contributing 10% of total retail sector and is still
evolving. However, it is expected to increase to 23%, by 2030. Retail sector
forms 10-11% of GDP. It is alluring in terms of investment, employment
opportunity, and usage of technology.
Retailing is in a rapid state of change due to speedy technological developments,
changing competitive positions, varying consumer behaviour as well as their
expectations and liberalized regulatory environment. In such a scenario,
information is crucial to plan and control profitable retail businesses and it can be
an important source of competitive advantage so long as it is affordable and
readily available.
The survey was distributed to all customers of the Store. The objective of this
research is to identify the variability of customer satisfaction and the shopping
experience in PANTALOONS. In addition, the survey can be used in the future for

20
evaluation of customer satisfaction at the distribution company. It was concluded
that the customers were generally satisfied & their shopping experience with
pantaloons was good.
A customer is defined as an establishment that receives merchandise from the
store. The customer also receives services.
A service, as defined by the proposed research could be aid in stocking,
promotions for the establishment, the delivery itself, other assistance or goods
provided by sales representatives and/or delivery personnel to the customer.
Another form of service is the assistance the customer receives while at the
distribution company. This can be in form of support by the staff, timeliness of
response to needs and questions and many other forms that will be addressed. In
the retail outlet various type of good and service are provide to the customer but
all the goods and services are generally homogenous in nature through all the
other retail outlets. Product and services of every company are available in every
retail outlet. It is also find that many customer only used to shopping in own
decided outlet rather from every outlets even there is homogenous among the
product and service offer by the every retail outlet. So This put the question in the
mind of the every retailer that is there is any gap between what customer
expected from retailers and what retailer provides to customer during shopping.
No two customers have the identical likes and preferences. Delivery value and
narrowing down the zone of tolerance is a tightrope walk for marketer in
organized retail sector. Especially in market like India the challenges is formidable
because organizations need to cater to a wide and diverse group of customers.
Thus building equity and generating volumes in such complex market tapers
down to the function of managing customer expectation.
Customers take their time to first sketch their needs and then arrive at a specific
decision. At the end of the day the question is what does the customer expect?
How to fulfill the glaring gap between need and expectations? The answers to this
question are “by delivering the value “
But in many case retailers are not aware of what their customer expect. Hence
they are unable to deliver the right value to the right customer and satisfy them.
Especially in this competitive scenario where the customer are well informed,
commanding and demanding at the same time it has become imperative for the

21
organization to be updated on the “WHAT”, “WHY” and “HOW” of each and
everycustomer. This calls for empathizing with the customer by indulging into
their priorities and decision making.
Even in the case of a product as simple as beauty soap, customer have versatile
expectations like, good packaging fragrance, herbal or medical benefit, glowing
skin etc. and all this at an affordable price. A daunting task but companies have no
option but to offer the expected value, that too by keeping the operating costs
low.
Following general expectations of a typical customer;
-Value of Money
-Availability and location
-Service expectations
-Quality in Product
-Need based solution

So in other to deliver the value, Retail outlets in addition to providing products

and services, need to cater for a wide range of motives. The various
determinants of retail outlet preference include cleanliness, well-stocked
shelves, and range of products, helpful staff, disabled access, wide aisles, car
parking, multiple billing points and environmentally friendly goods. These
differing motives arise as retailers cater to different types of shoppers who
include economic consumers (concern with value), personalized consumers
(concern with relationships), recreational shoppers (shopping as a leisure
activity) and apathetic consumers (who dislike shopping). Retailers have to satisfy
budding customers, older consumers as well as time crunched individuals whose
motives all tend to be conflicting as well as different. Retailers need to establish a
good image to prevent customers from shopping around. They must cater to
shoppers need for pleasure and practicality.
If expressed as a calculation, customer satisfaction might look something like this:
Customer expectations = Companies Performance/ Companies Satisfaction
Satisfaction is a consumer’s post-purchase evaluation of the overall service
experience. It is an affective reaction (Menon and Dubé, 2000) in which the
consumer’s needs, desires and expectations during the course of the service
experience have been met or exceeded (Lovelock, 2001). Satisfaction in this sense

22
could mean that a supermarket has just barely met the customer’s
expectations, not exceeded nor disappointed those expectations. The benefits of
taking the customer’s response beyond satisfaction at this level by exceeding
expectations, is a competitive strategy many retailers aspire to achieve. There is a
recurrent struggle for existence and survival in the wake of deep competition,
drastically changing customer attitudes and expectation levels. The study would
enable us to understand the impact of various factors that influence a consumer’s
shopping behaviour in a departmental store. It would also help in knowing the
magnitude and direction of movement of these factors amongst each other.
These factors have been divided into three heads- Store, Situation and Shopper
factors.
Kind of Customer:
Before moving on to customer services and satisfaction, it becomes important for
a retailer to know what his target market is. Which Segment he is catering. And
then to understand its customer type. The customers are defined by different
terms and types.
1. Tired consumer:
These are non-productive. Such consumers are usually just bored. They are hit by
work fatigue and find solace in visiting malls for “a change’’. The idea is to get
away from the drudgery.
2. Attired consumer:
These are the productive type. They come to malls purposefully with the
intention of buying their own attire. Be it jeans, shirts, salwar kameez, a watch, a
belt or shoes—the attired consumer will buy it all. They do not think twice before
spending and would occasionally even go to the extent of buying jewellery. Malls
are said to be reacting pretty strongly to this clan.
3. Retired consumer:
This set of consumers as highly productive, but claims that they are not taken
seriously by malls that gun for the younger crowd. “Sales persons at malls are not
seen to be paying too much attention to these consumers. But the fact is, they
have both time and money. As far as children are concerned, their responsibilities
are over. They have the buying power. All they want is respect. If they don’t get it
at malls, they would be very happy to go back to their old, neighbourhood
departmental store. Though the retired consumer can be productive, malls are

23
not taking advantage of this kind of consumer.

4. Admired consumer:
These are basically window shoppers. They would window shop from outside
a shop or inside a shop. But they rarely make purchases. Therefore, they are
the non-productive types. Malls are hopeful that the admired consumer would
transform into the attired consumer. But only time will tell.
5. Aspired consumer:
They are highly productive. They come with the deliberate intention to buy
quality products. They aspire to upgrade each time they come to a mall, be it in
foods, information technology or fashionable attire. “The aspired consumer
always wants to know what’s new.
6. Desired consumer:
These are not productive, but could become so in time to come. They have an
ardent desire to buy things at a mall, but do not have the buying power. They
would go from mall to mall to look around and treat their eyes, but would finally
end up at the food court. Malls see a future in these desired consumers.
7. Fired consumer:
They are the fighter-cocks who indulge in occasional tiffs with sales persons. Their
favourite line is “call the manager’’. Such consumers usually disrupt that
atmosphere and, maybe, the mood of serious shoppers as well.
8. Hired consumer:
Ever since malls have come up, market research has gained importance. It is
important to understand what consumers like in a mall, why they are there, what
is it that they would like changed? The hired consumers—the market research
people—throng malls in search for consumer insights. They are not there to
make purchases, and thus, they are the unproductive types.
Customer service
Customer service is the provision of service to customers before, during and after
purchase.
According to Turban et al. (2002) “Customer service is a series of activities
designed to enhance the level of customer satisfaction – that is, the feeling that a
product or service has met the customer expectation."
Its importance varies by product, industry and customer; defective or broken

24
merchandise can be exchanged, often only with a receipt and within a specified
time frame. Retail stores will often have a desk or counter devoted to dealing
with returns, exchanges and complaints, or will perform related functions at the
point of sale. Customer service may be provided by a person (e.g., sales and
service representative), or by automated means called self-service. Examples of
self-service are Internet sites. The experience a customer has of a product also
affect the total service experience, but this is more of a product direct feature
than what is included in the definition of customer service. Customer service is
normally an integral part of a company’s customer value proposition. From the
point of view of an overall engineering effort, customer service plays an
important role in an organization's ability to generate income and revenue.
From that perspective, customer service should be included as part of an overall
approach to systematic improvement.
Some have argued that the quality and level of customer service has decreased in
recent years, and that this can be attributed to a lack of support or understanding
at the executive and middle management levels of a corporation and/or a
customer service policy. Customer service is an organization's ability to supply
their customers' wants and needs. excellent customer service (is) the ability of an
organization to constantly and consistently exceed the customer's expectations."
It Consists of all those activities by the retailer that influence
(1) the ease with which a potential customer can shop or learn about the
store’s offering.
(2) the ease with which a transaction can be completed once the
customer attempts to make a
purchase, and,
(3) the customer’s satisfaction with the transaction.

Activities undertaken by a retailer in conjunction with the basic goods and

services it sells;
-Store hours
-Parking
-Shopper-friendliness
-Credit acceptance
-Salespeople

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-In store announcement
-Gift Wrapping and packaging
-Personal Selling
-Merchandise Availability
-Complaint handling
-Merchandise returns
-Servicing and repair
-Deliveries
-Alteration

OBJECTIVES OF THE PROJECT

 To update the mass upload in the system
 To update Staff wise tracker from the GC enrolment.
 Updating the alteration quantity delivered in the system.
 Allotment of gift vouchers during EOSS period. Updating the phone
numbers of the existing customers from the Capillary module in the
system.
 To analysis the GC Enrolment Dashboard tracker week wise.
 Taking feedback from the customers regarding the shopping experience
in terms of the MISSION HAPPINESS.

METHODOLOGY
Methodology means that methods we intend to use to collect the data and
analyze them to reach a meaningful answer to our work. Basically methodology
is a series of various steps which helps to find out the results of the work.

In this project major things help me to find out the results as follows:

GREENCARD DASHBOARD
Dashboard represents the parameters on which store gets points, weekly basis.
Parameters are as follows;

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  Enrolment –Eligible bills, Bills Converted, Conversion into green card.
 Repeat sale -% target, % achieved, repeat sale achieved%
 KYC-Total enrolments, email, mobile number, gender, first
name, surname, DOB, pin code and based on this points are
allocated

WEEK POINTS

38 24

39 24

40 26

41 23

DASHBOARD POINTS
27
26
25
24
DASHBOARD POINTS
23
22

21
WEEK 38 WEEK 39 WEEK 40 WEEK 41

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 DATA COLLECTION
Primary Data –It is collected directly from the respondents using data collection
methods like survey, interview, questionnaire, observations.

Secondary Data-These are the data that already exist and are collected by some
other persons or organization. Sources of secondary data include websites
journals etc.

In my project work I use both.

Here primary data are:

 Holding discussions with some internal sources.

 Filling questionnaires by customers.
 Observations.

Here secondary data are:

 Alteration quantity delivered maintenance.

 Defective merchandise tracker.
 Gift voucher register.
 Qwikcilver (software) for checking points.
 Capillary (software) for checking customer details.

DATA ANALYSIS BASED ON OBSERVATIONS AND SURVEY (AMONG

100 PEOPLE):

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1. How did you find our variety, quality and range of products?

1
70%
15%

Outstanding Good Satisfactory Average Poor

2. What do you think of our prices of the product?

12%

20% 60%

Outstanding Good Satisfactory Average Poor

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3. How was your service experience with our store associates?
Outstanding Good Satisfactory Average Poor

9%

10%

23% 58%

4. How was your billing experience?

10% 0%
15%

20%

55%

Outstanding Good

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5. How did you find the ambience and cleanliness in the store?

10% 0%
25% Outstanding

20% Good
Satisfactory
Average
Poor

45%

6. Were you comfortable navigating the store?

Outstanding Good Satisfactory Average Poor

5%0%
15%

55%
25%

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7. How is your experience about loyalty like exchange, alter from
our stuff?
Average Poor
Satisfactory 5% 3%
12%

Outstanding
55%
Good
25%

8. How was your overall experience?

Poor
Average
5% 0%
Satisfactory
14%

Outstanding
Good 57%
24%

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9. Will you shop at our store again?

Certainly Maybe Not very likely

11%

25%

64%

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INTRODUCTION OF THE CSD DEPARTMENT AND ITS
OBJECTIVES

A CUSTOMER SERVICE DESK is a resource intended to provide the customer or

end user with the information, support and benefits they are being asked to
provide. The purpose of this desk is usually to troubleshoot the problems or
provide the guidance asked by the end user whether it is related to apparels,
non- apparels, transaction related issue or any other sort of customer related
problems. Company usually provide customer service desk support to their
customers through various channels such as toll-free number, websites, websites,
instant messaging and email. There is also in-house customer service desks
designed to provide assistance to the customers.

OBJECTIVES OF CUSTOMER SERVICE DESK

 Attract potential customers by answering product and service
questions, suggesting information about other products and services.
 Maintain customer records by updating some of their personal information.
 Resolves product and service problem by clarifying the customers’
complaints, determining the cause of problem, selecting and explaining
the best way to solve the problem, explaining the correction or
adjustment, following up to ensure the resolution.
 CSD also helps in competition analysis of company by Mall
Branding Activity.
 CSD also detects the defective the merchandise, keep track records
on them and then handover to the WAREHOUSE TEAM.

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 LEARNING
GUEST Module
G – Greet the customer with “Namaste” & Hand over the shopping bag

U – Ask the customer “What are they looking”

E – Explain the offer to the customer

S – Suggest the customer for trial room

T – Thank the customer with a smile

Type of Fixture
1. Two Way Browser

2. I- Browser

3. Waterfall

4. Step Arm

5. T-Arm

6. Two Tire Table

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Colour Wheel:

Why SDM required?

 We currently have an ever increasing large chain of fashion stores. SDM
helps in faster changeover of multiple stores season after season at
same time.
A Shop able store is one where customer gets new fashion ideas and can
easily find product at the price they are looking for.
To maintain uniformity throughout our stores we have a ready and easy to
use guide- STORE DISPLAY MANUAL (SDM).

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Handling Customer Quarries:

Billing:
Billing is one of the most important part of customer service. Pantaloons done
their billing through POS system. This is a software by which we can easily
done billing of many products within few minutes.

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MISSION HAPPINESS

The above picture belongs to the feedback board for the customers. At the
time of billing, cashier asks the customer to give the rating from 1 to 10
according to the shopping experience and give the reason for rating that score.

SCORE CUSTOMER

1 to 6 Detractor

7 and 8 Passive

9 and 10 Promoter

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Promoters are those customers who will influence others to come for Pantaloons
for shopping and these customers will tend to visit the Pantaloons. Passive are
those customers who are neither too much satisfied nor dissatisfied, they will
neither influence any customer nor give any sort of negative review about
Pantaloons. Detractors are those customers who are not satisfied with shopping
experience of Pantaloons.

Happiness Index is the first part of the customer feedback, where customer rates
the score board from 1 to 10. Hygiene Hat-trick is the third part of the customer
feedback, where customer gives the rating for greeting the customer, explanation
for the features of the product and encourage them for the trail of the product.

PROGRAMMES/ACTIVITIES THROUGH CSD:

EXCHANGE POLICY:
PANTALOONS understand that customers wish to exchange the merchandise
purchased. Here’s how PANTALOONS make it effortless for the customers.

 30 days, in case customer changes their full mind:

Pantaloons accept exchanges across all stores within 30 days of purchase

anytime during business hours; provided the merchandise is unused along with
the product tag and invoice.

 90 days relaxed exchange policy for green card members:

Our green card members enjoy a 90 days relaxed exchange policy. There is no
need to present the invoice as long as the mobile number was shared at billing.

 In case of defects, you have Pantaloons word:

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Customers’ may however, exchange unused fashion accessories, footwear,
handbags and home ware in case of manufacturing defects.

 Just a few exclusions:

Altered merchandise, accessories, cosmetics and fragrances, toiletries, watches,

sunglasses, jewellery, handbags, undergarments, lingerie and socks cannot be
exchanged for hygiene.

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GIFT VOUCHERS AND GIFT CARD
Customers can purchase the gift vouchers as well as the gift cards. There is
difference in gift vouchers and gift cards. Customer can partially redeem the value
of amount from the gift card as well as the customer can refill the gift card with
the value of money, but in gift vouchers customer needs to redeem the whole
amount at the time of purchase. E.g.; if the gift vouchers worth Rs.500 then the
customer needs to redeem the whole amount of voucher at the time of purchase.

ALTERATION
Alteration is done free of cost and generally it is being provided within a day.
Alteration of length, tapering of waistline etc. In case there is no system
generated slip then we provide a manual slip. Garment must be collected within
15 days from the time of delivery; otherwise the management is not responsible
for the loss/damage of that particular product. Customer can alter the garment
from any stores of Pantaloons.

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GIFT WRAPPING
Free of cost gift wrapping is done for the customers.

GREENCARD
 Discounts every time you shop as reward points.
 Free enrolment
 No questions asked during exchange policy, valid for 90 days, bills
not required.
 Instant redemption on next bill at cash counter.
 Convenient mobile based programmes.
 Exclusive billing counters for 3/5/7 * members.
 Reimbursement of paper carry bags. (As reward points) for
3/5/7* members.

-To redeem the reward points customer can CALL 09223011111

-To know reward points balance customer can TYPE MYGC and send to 575758.

-GC points can be redeemed throughout the year.

GC points can be earned throughout the year except the sale period.

GREENCARD MEMBERSHIP SLAB

 In a whole year if a customer enrols for the first time for the
greencard membership then the reward points will be added if the
amount of purchase is more than Rs.2000 ,if it is less than Rs 2000
then there will not be any addition of points (for the time of first
enrolment).
 The slab for 3* members: Customer needs to purchase for 8000 in
a whole year of membership.
The slab for 5* members: Customer needs to purchase for 20000 in a
whole year of membership.

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 The slab for 7* members: Customer needs to purchase for 40000 in a
whole year of membership.
 The points allocation is done in this following way:

1* member -Per Rs.100, 2 points which cost .50 paisa.

3* member -Per Rs.100. 12 points which cost Rs.3
5* members -Per Rs. 100, 20 points which cost Rs. 5.
7* members - Per Rs. 100, 28 points which cost Rs.7.

More Loyalty process for customers

INSIGNIA

CASHBACK

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43
44
Customer Relationship Management
Rich customer relationships that generate loyalty and revenue are critical to
sustained business performance. Now more than ever, organizations must be able
to flexibly adapt to the unique needs of individual customers. To meet this
challenge, companies of all sizes are deploying Customer Relationship
Management (CRM) applications and strategies across their organizations. They
are coordinating multiple channels: including the web, email, call centres, direct
mail and face to face? To interact with customers and meet their needs.
Profitable customer relationships begin with sound planning. Actionable
strategies for collecting customer data, mining it for valuable insight and cost
effectively building these relationships are required to drive results. Firms must
identify their Most Valuable Customers, interact with them across all channels
and meet their needs. Over time, customer loyalty, satisfaction and share-of
customer revenue increase, while costs decrease.

Customer experience management (CEM) describes the processes and methods

used to design and manage a customer's entire experience with a product or a
store.
Services recovery plays a very important role in C E M.
 Listen to the customer.
 Provide a fair solution.
 Resolve problems quickly.
 Objective is to understand that good customer experience is giving customers
a little more than what they expect.
Services like convenient shopping hours, information aids, credit, gift wrapping
and packaging, complaint handling, merchandise returns, servicing.

SUGGESTIONS
It is suggested that in order to function a store smoothly, the above
recommendations may be followed, which in my consideration if its followed
may

45
feel an inner urge to step into automatically, but if the same is not followed they
may feel that the store does not give the importance to them and they turn back
to our competitors.

Employees: There attitude towards Customers as with the colleagues are not up
to the mark.

Cashiers at billing counters: Long Queues on Cash tills.

There should be proper measure for the above problems, so that we can be
efficient, Customer centric can get our customer satisfied, Delight them with all
the services and quality. If we will be able to make one loyal customers, it means
we have earned our profit.

However I am very lucky to get a chance for training in Pantaloons Saheed Nagar
Bhubaneswar. All stuffs are very cooperative and friendly. I learn many things
about retail sector from them.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
 http://www.abfrl.com/
• http://www.abfrl.com/pantaloons

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