GURU NANAK DEV UNIVERSITY, AMRITSARSESSION 2012-2014

Submitted by: Sarabpreet SinghMBA (hons) MRMRoll no. 2012MMB1021

Submitted to:Dr Amarjit Singh Sidhu

Increase in Customer penetration & Customer Base in Metro Cash & Carry Amritsar

(Through sale promotional tools used by metro cash and carry)

Metro Group

METRO Group is a German global diversified retail and wholesale group based in Düsseldorf, Germany.

It is Founded 1964 It is the fourth largest retailer in the world

measured by revenues (after Wal-Mart, Carrefour and Tesco).

Over 280,000 employees from 180 nations are working at over 2,200 outlets in 32 countries in Europe, Africa and Asia.

It has the largest market share in its home market, and is one of the most globalised retail and wholesale corporations.

Metro Group Companies

METRO GROUP comprises METRO Cash & Carry, the world's market

leader in cash & carry wholesale business Real hypermarkets deal in food retailing Media Market and Saturn, Europe' s leader in

consumer electronic retailing Galeria Kaufhof, the system leader in the

department store business Metro Properties METRO GROUP Advertising

METRO Cash & Carry

Metro Cash and Carry is an international self-service wholesale retailer

METRO Cash & Carry is different from B2C retail chains (such as Wal-Mart, Carrefour or Tesco)

its business concept is targeted towards professional customers rather than end consumers.

The cash-and-carry concept is based around self-service and bulk buying. METRO Cash & Carry serves to registered customers only

METRO Cash & Carry is the largest sales division of the METRO Group with € 67.3 Billion of revenue

Business Concept

Manufacturers

Metro Cash & Carry

Business Customers

Consumers

INTODUCTOIN TO TOPIC

Customer Penetration is defined as the number of people who buy a specific brand or a category of goods at least once in a given period, divided by the size of the relevant market population.

Sales promotion is one of the seven aspects of the promotional mix. It is used to increase customer demandExamples include contests, coupons, prizes, product samples, and rebates etc

The customer base is the group of customers who repeatedly purchase the goods or services of a business.

Need of Study

The research involves understanding the promotional tools used by Metro Cash and Carry and to identify the existing problems and to give appropriate recommendations and solutions.

This will help the company to identify the weak promotion areas in the stores and will help them realise the actual places to be focused upon.

Objective of the study

Understanding the Cash & Carry format To study the Promotional tools used by

Metro Cash and Carry To study the awareness of such

promotional Tools among customers To give adequate recommendations and

solutions to increase the sales by employing effective promotions

Research Methodology

The consumers were asked about their awareness about the promotional tools and proper knowledge of the store’s advertisements. The results were compiled in the form of a pie charts and bar charts through which the percentage of Consumers aware about the Promotional Tools was calculated.

Data source

Primary sources.

Secondary. Sample Design

The sample size taken was 100.The questionnaires were given to the customers to be filled. The survey was conducted at Metro Cash and Carry AMRITSAR.

Sampling methodIn this marketing research project, we are using Non Random sampling (convenience sampling) method.

Limitation of the Study All the observation and recommendation will be made on the feedback obtained from survey.

SALES PROMOTIONAL TOOLS USED BY METRO CASH AND CARRY

Advertisements Loyalty Programs In store promotions Events Magazines and Newsletters Discounts and offers

MGA METRO GROUP Advertising is an internationally operating service company of METRO GROUP. It takes over central tasks concerning the preparation, procurement and management of advertising activities and projects for its clients

LOYALTY PROGRAMS Metro Cash and Carry offers 2 types of loyalty programs in India. These loyalty programs differ with respect to the benefits and privileges offered to the customers. The three loyalty programs are listed below:

Gold Loyalty Program @ 2.5% Silver Loyalty Program

Gold Loyalty Program @2.5%

Benefits and Privileges offered under this loyalty program:

Monthly bonus of up to 2.5% your total purchases Privileges Outside Metro world Exciting gifts & surprises Dedicated Billing counters Dedicated Relationship Managers Bandhan Helpline:1860-266-2010 (between

10am to 7pm)

Silver Loyalty Program

This loyalty does not provide any direct monetary benefits it only offers

Exciting Gifts & Pleasant Surprises Assured Rewards

IN STORE PROMOTIONS

The most basic and extensively used in store promotions are:

Hoardings

Drop down banners

Short Drop down banners

Pallet Wraps

Bay Talkers

End Caps

EVENTSAn event is an occurring of a social occasion or activity which is being held for a specific purpose. Metro Cash and Carry realized and seized this opportunity to spread the word of mouth and to bring its customers closer to the company. The marketing department regularly plans events and activities for customers.

MAGAZINES AND NEWSLETTERS Metro Cash and Carry prints out 3 types of Magazines and Newsletters:

Metro POSTBandhan NewsletterCorporate BrochureMetro Mail

DISCOUNTS AND OFFERS

Metro Cash and Carry advertises itself as a wholesale company, so as to give a feeling of reduced prices and plenty of offer and schemes. New discount schemes and offers are implemented and highlighted in the store every day

DATA ANALYSIS

Question Asked:

Age:

20-35

35-50

50 and above

20-35 years62%

35-50 years 33%

50 and above5%

DATA ANALYSIS

Question asked:

To which customer category you belong?

HORECA

Small business

End consumer (Household purpose)

Others

HORECA12%

Small Business26%

End Consumers52%

Others10%

DATA ANALYSIS

Question asked:

How often do you shop at Metro Cash and carry?

Once a monthOnce in 2-3 months

Once in 6 months

Once a month57%

Once in 2-3

months38%

Once in 6 months

5%

DATA ANALYSIS

Question asked:

Are you aware of seasonal promotions and offers?

Yes

No

Yes55%

No45%

DATA ANALYSIS

Question asked:

Metro is currently running “Mango Mela”, are you aware of the activity?

Yes

No

Yes54%

No46%

DATA ANALYSIS

Question asked:

By what means do you come to know about the promotional activities of Metro?

Newspaper advertisements Emails Radio FM Word of mouth (Friends/Relatives) By visiting metro Others

Newspaper Ads22%

Emails15%

Radio FM6%Word of Mouth

13%

By visiting Metro34%

Others11%

DATA ANALYSIS

Question asked:

What makes you shop in Metro? Good quality Prices offers

Good quality48%

Prices40%

offers12%

DATA ANALYSIS

Question asked:

Which product category do you prefer buying from Metro?

Household Grocery Electronics Others

houshold47%

grocery38%

elec-tronic

9%

other7%

DATA ANALYSIS

Question asked:

Do you find the promotional schemes attractive? Yes No

Yes74%

No26%

DATA ANALYSIS

Question asked:

Do you get proper assistance while shopping with Metro?

Yes No

Yes76%

No24%

FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS

The survey affirmed that most of the customers are aware of the various promotional schemes

However, certain issues were determined during the course of the analysis which has been listed as follows:

As mentioned earlier, Metro Cash and Carry is actually based on a B2B (Business to business selling) format, still more than half of the customers are end consumers.

Only half of the customers are aware of the promotional offers and other schemes.

About one-third of the customers come to know about the promotions after visiting the store. This implies that there is a need to spread mass awareness in order to attract the customers towards Metro.

Another aspect was that those customers who were aware of the promotional schemes were not exactly satisfied with them

OTHER PERLONAL FINDINGS

The store has only 2 forklifts; as a result the associates are not able to lift the pallets on the bays. This reduces the space for customer movement.

The MRP mentioned on the rail card is sometimes different from the original listed MRP of a certain article. This creates confusion amongst the customers.

RECOMMENDATIONS

To increase the awareness, Metro needs to adopt a new marketing strategy. Mobile billboard advertising, street advertising could be used to make the customers aware of the latest happenings in Metro Cash and Carry.

A survey could be done every quarter and accordingly, customer friendly promotion scheme could be developed.

Metro is still in its growing stage and therefore needs to adopt more channels to communicate its name to the potential customers.

The frequency of ads in newspapers, radio FM should be increased.

The company should also plan to increase the number of forklifts. Most of the operations are being performed with the help of a forklift. It is important for the smooth working of the departments.

MANAGERIAL IMPLICATION

The study is helpful in understanding that there is a need of using new marketing strategy such as mobile billboards, FM radio, e mails etc.

It is also specifying the need of using marketing tools more frequently

Ongoing promotional offers are needed to be revised to make them more useful for the customers