planetm - project

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PROJECT REPORT ON - PlanetM

“Identifying and analyzing the factors which attract the customers towards “Planet M” Retail Outlets”

Submitted to:

Centurion Institute of Professional Studies, Sector-18, Kumbha marg, Pratap Nagar, Jaipur.

12th January 2010 ACADEMIC SESSION 2009-11

Under the supervision of: Submitted by: - Dr. Raghuvir Singh Ajit Singh Saini (Director, CIPS) (PGDM-1st Sem.)

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DECLARATION

To Whom so Ever it may Concern

I hereby declare that the information presented here is true to the best

of my knowledge. Also, the project has not

been published anywhere else.

Ajit Singh Saini

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PREFACE

The MBA curriculum is designed in such a way that student can grasp maximum knowledge

and can get practical exposure to the corporate world in minimum possible time. Business

schools of today realize the importance of practical knowledge over the theoretical base. The

research report is necessary for the partial fulfillment of MBA curriculum and it provides an

opportunity to the researcher in understanding the industry with special emphasis on the

development of skills in analyzing and interpreting practical problems through the application of

management theories and techniques. It is a new platform of learning through practical

experience, which incorporates survey and comparative analysis. It gives the learner an

opportunity to relate the theory with the practice, to test the validity and applicability of his

classroom learning against real life business situations.

The researcher has conducted a research on:-

“Identify and analysing the factors which attract the customers towards “Planet M” Retail Outlets.”

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

An understanding study like this is never an outcome of the efforts of a single person; we would

like to express a word of thanks to all those who gave me their sincere advice and information

which made my training period an educative and informative one.

My heartfelt gratitude goes to Mrs. Babita Jha (Faculty Member, CIPS), who is always willing to

take time off her busy schedule for guidance and discussions.

Finally, special thanks to our family & friends who are our source of encouragement and

inspiration.

Ajit Singh Saini,

1st semester CIPS,

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This Project is totally focused on Marketing of PlanetM Retail Outlet.

This project is made on the topic of Identify and analysing the factors which attract the

customers towards “Planet M” Retail Outlets. This project is totally focused on consumer’s

opinion about the determinants of image of PlanetM Products. For defining the research

problem clearly firstly I decided to conduct research in the Music Retail Industry.

For sampling I use Non-Probability sampling technique in which I use Convenience Sampling

Method as I did not have sufficient time, money and could not have put lot of efforts sample

consist who often purchase PlanetM product in Jaipur city. Sample is of size of 100.

Interrogation through personal interview has been use as a data collection technique and

questionnaire is data collection instrument, which is close-ended, after getting these filled form

respondents.

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CONTENT

CHAPTER NO. DESCRIPTION PAGE NO.

1 INTRODUCTION 8

2 OVERVEIW OF RETAIL INDUSTRY 9

3 OUTLINE OF PLANETM 14

4 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 24

5 DATA TABULATION & DATA ANALYSIS 26

6 CONCLUSION 36

BIBLOGRAPHY 37

ANNEXURE-1 38

ANNEXURE-2 40

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ABSTRACT

This project is aimed at understanding the Indian music retail industry with the special stress is

given on one of the major players in the industry; Planet M. in this project we have tried to

analyze the market position of planetM, its product line and the services that are provided to the

customers at the retail shops. Finally we have tried to understand the marketing strategies and

the future expansion plans of the group in the growing Indian music market.

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Chapter – 1 INTRODUCTION

Music retail industry

The music industry in the world is one of the fastest growing segments of the world economy. The total revenue from the music and movies and the related products have crossed the $350 billion in the year 2008 with a very impressive growth. With such a vast and fast growing industry all the major player likes the apple with iTunes, Amazon, HMV have entered the retail music industry. In India the organized music industry began to flourish in the mid 90s with the entry of many big business houses. In fact in the last couple of years the industry has seen an impressive growth in the terms of the revenue and the customer base. In India prior to the entry of the organized music retailers, the music and the related products were sold through the unorganized small shops and the distribution channels of the production houses. But the scene has change drastically with the entry of these new players into the market. The music industry across the globe can broadly be divided into three segments: creation, marketing and distribution. Music artists create music, which is marketed and distributed by a network of record labels, distributors, retailers, broadcasters and DJs/clubs. Labels (record companies) play an important role in all three stages by providing capital and the marketing know-how to create, promote and distribute music. Music marketing takes place through branding, community building and information dissemination. Music is sold in 'containers' like compact discs (CDs) and audio cassettes through distribution channels. Another form of music distribution is conducting public and private music shows. The business of music involves many intermediaries between artists (creators) and customers (end users). Each intermediary adds to the final cost of the product. Therefore, some record companies like Bertelsmann combine the roles of multiple intermediaries to reduce overall costs by selling music directly to their club members at low prices. Another way to reduce the cost of promotion and distribution was to sell music in the form of albums containing many solos. Companies such as EMI, Warner and BMG have been doing this for a long time in the international market. In the domestic market the emergence of many organized music retailers like Music World, Planet M, Crossword, Odyssey and the online retailers have increased the competition in fast growing the Indian market with a host of products and services.

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Chapter – 2 RETAIL SECTOR

BEGINNINGS OF RETAIL TRADE When man started to cultivate and harvest the land, he would occasionally find himself with a surplus of goods. Once the needs of his family and local community were met, he would attempt to trade his goods .Thus markets were formed. When a producer who had a surplus could not find another producer with suitable products, he may have allowed others to owe him goods. RETAILING Retailing is the last link in the chain of production which begins at the extractive stages, moves through manufacturing, and ends in the distribution of goods and services to the final consumer. Retailing is the business which considers every individual as a customer and accounts for less than 10% of the world wide labor force but is still the single largest industry in most nations. The distribution of the consumer products begins with the producer and ends at the ultimate consumer. Between the producer and the consumer there is a middle-man the retailer, who links the producers and the ultimate consumers. Retailing is defined as a conclusive set of activities or steps used to sell a product or a service to consumers for their personal or family use. It is responsible for matching individual demand of the consumer which supplies of all the manufactures. The word retail is derived from the French word “retailer”, meaning to cut a piece off or to break bulk. A retailer is a person, agent, agency, company or organization which is instrumental in merchandise or services to the ultimate consumer. The share was 62.7% in 2001, worth approximately Rs. 7039.2 billion, while non food sales were worth Rs 4189.5 billion. The retail business in India is expected to reach Rs.19069.3 billion by the end of 2007.

HOW RETAIL DEVELOPED

Peddlers and Producers The Retail Trade is rooted in two groups, the peddlers and producers. Peddlers tended to be opportunistic in their choice of stock and customer. They would purchase any goods that they thought they could sell for a profit. Producers were interested in selling goods that they had produced.

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This division continues to this day with some shops specializing in specific areas, reflecting their origins as outlets for producers (such as Pacific Concord of Hong Kong), and others providing a broad mix, known as General Store (such as Casey's in the Midwest of the U.S.A.).

DEFINITION OF RETAIL Retail here is defined as sales of goods between two distant parties where the deliverer has no direct interest in the transaction, the earliest instances of distance retailing probably coincided with the first regular delivery or postal services Origins of Retail Chains It is likely that, as markets became more permanent fixtures they evolved into shops. Although advantageous in many respects, this removed the mobility that a peddler or traveling merchant may still have enjoyed. For some shopkeepers, it made sense to obtain extra stock and open up another shop, most probably operated by another family member. This would recover business from peddlers, create new business and the greater volume would allow the shopkeeper to strike a better deal with suppliers. Thus the Retail Chain would have started. Producer: Producers are the makers of goods that are retailed. They may be factories or farms. Importer: Importers can supply any part of the supply chain: they may supply parts to producers or even supply them with finished goods to supplement their range. They will also supply wholesalers and large retailers. Packaging suppliers: Packaging suppliers would generally sell their packaging to the goods producers. The involvement of packaging suppliers can range from simply taking orders for packaging items to having detailed involvement with the logistics, marketing, specification, cost and legal aspects of the packaging. Wholesaler: Wholesaler’s purchase and store large volumes of goods, usually from producers, but occasionally from other types of business, including other wholesalers Retailer: Retailers purchase goods from a variety of sources. Smaller general stores will typically buy from a local wholesaler. Larger outlets will often buy fast selling goods directly from producers but still purchase slower selling and specialist lines from wholesalers and importers.

RETAIL MARKETING In its simplest form, the retail trade sells goods to end users of those goods. In order to maximize sales and profits retailers will usually enhance the way they present their goods, their retail outlets and their company.

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INDIAN RETAIL INDUSTRY Introduction In India, organized retailing, is contributing 3% of total retail sector and is still evolving.

However, it is expected to increase to 5%, by 2010. Retail sector forms 10-11% of GDP1. 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 behavior as well as their expectations and liberalized regulatory environment. Industry overview Indian organized retail industry was to the tune of Rs. 13,000 crore for the year 2000. Organized retail industry was expected to grow by 30 per cent in the next five years and was expected to touch Rs. 45,000 crore in 2005; by 2010.Indian retailing is clearly at a tipping point. The retail sector in India is witnessing a huge revamping exercise as traditional markets make way for new formats such as departmental stores, hyper markets, supermarkets and specialty stores. Western style malls have begun appearing in metros and second rung cities alike introducing the Indian consumer to a shopping experience like never before. Rated the fifth most attractive merging retail market, India is being seen as a potential goldmine. It has been ranked 2nd in a global Retail Development Index of 30 developing countries drawn up by A.T. Kearney. The list was developed as a response to requests from retail chains facing saturated demand in most western markets. India’s vast middle class and its almost untapped retail industry are key attractions for global retail giants wanting to enter newer markets. India is witnessing a significant change in age and profiles of its 1 billion + population, which are likely to lead to, accelerated the consumption over the next few years. India has a median age of 24 years for its population against 36 years of the USA and 30 years for China. A younger population tends to have higher aspirations and will spend more as it enters the earning phase. Further increase in consumers spends would be driven by nuclearisation of families, increasing number of working women and new job opportunities in emerging service sector such as IT enabled services. With declining interest rates an average Indian is not averse to taking loans. Not only the demographic factors become more favorable but also growing media penetration is leading to a convergence of aspirations of various classes of consumers. A large number of household are getting added to consuming class with growth in income levels. The number of household with income of Rs. 45000 per annum is expected to grow from 58 mn in 1999-2000 to 71 mn in 2006-2007. Of this 56% (48 mn households) is expected to concentrate in urban India. This large base of household with growing disposable income is expected to drive demand for organized retail in India.

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The changes in demographics are driving changes in consumption pattern in the country. Central Statistical Organization (CSO) estimates private final consumption of consumers in India at about Rs. 15000 bn, of the total private consumption, retail sector accounts for approximately 60% at Rs. 8570 bn. Of this, food and beverages, apparels and consumer durables are the top three categories of consumer spend and form 87% of the total retail sales in India. Growth in Organized Retail In sharp contrast to the global retail sector, retailing in India though large in terms of size is highly fragmented and unorganized. With close to 12 million retail outlets India has the largest retail density in the world. However, unorganized retailers suffer due to inability to offer a wide range of products. This is worsened by their inability to create economies of scale in sourcing. Therefore, artificially inflated cost structure due to their inefficiency in the supply chain presents a possible opportunity for organized retailers to draw on this large market. Lack of consumer culture and low purchasing power has, in the past, restricted the development of modern retail formats. Migration from unorganized to organized retail has been visible with economic development, in most economies. The Indian retail industry is evolving in the line of changing customer aspirations across product groups, with modern formats of retailing emerging. This is in line with what has been observed in other developed markets. Share of organized retail in the total retail sector in India was less than 2% in 2002, and is expected to increase in line with the experiences of other developing nations such as China and Poland. Organized retail derives its advantages in generating operational efficiencies, while simultaneously to rising customer aspirations. Size drives economies on procurement, and lower logistics and marketing cost while delivering better value to the customer in terms of lower price, better quality, greater selection, improved service and in- store ambience. A.T. Kearney has estimated India’s total retail market at $202.6 billion which is expected to grow at a compounded 30% over the next five years. In 2003-04, organized retailing, which has an annual growth rate of 8.5%, swept past the

Rs. 200 bn mark ($4.5 bn), a figure that appears quite small if one were to compare the extent of the total market

Organized retail, at present comprises merely 2% of the total market in India. This means that the untapped segment amounts to a whopping Rs. 9800 billion.

The share of modern retail is likely to grow from its current 2% to 15% over the next decade, analysts feel.

No wonder a heavyweight like the reliance group is planning to do a Wal-Mart in India.

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In the next couple of years, India will see at two Indian businesses attaining the magic figure of Rs1000 cr. ($218 mn) in sales. Several others are expected to attain a critical mass as growth in the industry picks up momentum. This will be driven by two key factors: Availability of quality real estate and mall management practices Consumer preference for shopping in new environment

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Chapter – 3 Planet M

Planet M is an Indian music retail store originally founded by The Times Group (BCCL). It was sold to Videocon group in Nov 2007. It is present in many cities (265 -plus locations) all over India. The Planet M stores are mainly known for selling music and movies and related accessories. They also sell gaming consoles like PlayStation Portable, PS2, PS3 and Xbox360. Planet M is also a new entrant for the Mobile retail, offering a wide range of mobile handsets with lucrative schemes. Planet M, which was launched in 1999, has over 5.5 million annual walk-ins across its stores spanning 42 cities. The retail chain has a conversion rate of close to 40% and has been experiencing a compounded annual growth rate of 33% over the past four years, a release said. Planet M has 265 outlets across the country with 124 own stores and 131 satellite outlets. Planet M, a wing of Videocon Industries Ltd, is planning to set up 500 outlets, 75 of them in the metros, by the end of this financial year. The new stores will encompass three formats- Megastores covering more than 3000 sq ft including a theme cafeteria, Superstores that will cover about 1200 to 1500 sq ft and the neighborhood Planet M stores of between 300 and 500 sq ft. Besides music, these stores will retail mobiles, Play Station gaming consoles, iPods, MP3 players, garments, slippers, stress balls and in-house brands such as T-shirts, Curtis, bags, caps, deodorants, sunglasses and more. Currently, Planet M has 250 stores across India, of which 50 are flagship stores (over 2,000 sq ft each), 25 are `super stores’ (1,000 to 1,500 sq ft each) and the remaining neighborhood stores (400 to 500 sq ft each).

LOCATIONS

Planet M is present in following cities an d has the future plans to expand the business into more small cities and towns: Pune, Bangalore, Mangalore, Mysore, Hyderabad, Vijaywada, Vishakhapatnam, Chennai, Tirupati, Mumbai, Thane, Vashi, Nerul, Nagpur, Nashik, Indore, Aurangabad, Ahmedabad, New Delhi, Ghaziabad, Noida, Faridabad, Gurgaon, Lucknow, Allahabad, Varanasi, Agra, Dehradun, Kanpur, Jaipur, Jamshedpur, Chandigarh, Mohali, Patiala, Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Jammu, Kolkata, Tinsukia, Shillong, Bhubaneswar, Guwahati, Mussourie, Patna, Kochi, Barrackpore, Barasat, Thiruvananthapuram.

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PRODUCT LINE OF Planet M

The retail chain planet m is basically engaged in four type of product line of different type. Their core business was basically the music retailing as an organized player but with the new opportunities coming out, they have diversified into other product lines which are of four types:-

· Music retailing · Mobile and accessories retailing. · Gaming and gaming products and accessories · Gift, greeting items and apparels Music retailing

PlanetM product portfolio comprises audio CDs and cassettes, VCDs and DVDs, CD-ROMs and other music accessories. The company is an important player in the home video market. PlanetM has successfully forayed into high end ‘personal audio’ gadgets like Apple iPods, Neo Pods and MP3 players. The company also offers home theatre systems, speakers and headphones. The company provides World Space receivers and subscription packs, and is now also offering the Tata Sky consoles and subscriptions. The core business of the planet m was basically the music retailing. In that segment they offer a host of options to the customers. With a large collection of music files of different type they offer the customers with music type of both the national as well as the international levels and artists. The segments of products available in the retail outlets of planet m are

SEGMENTS The major products and services covered in the outlets are:

· CD albums · Music Video/DVD · CD singles · DVD Album · Vinyl · Cassettes · Online music and video contents

In addition to the Hindi and English songs that are offered at the outlets the retail chain also offers songs in 17 other regional languages in India depending upon the location of the retail shop. The retail chain has a collection of 4.5 million songs in different formats of different artist.

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In fact it holds a music library of 20000 albums of different genera. In the Hindi or regional language music the library is arranged according to the years and the genera of the music. The customer can find the preferred music on the specific locations of the outlet. The English language or the foreign language music is arranged according to the genera like pop, jazz, Latino, county, disco, party, folk and so on. The retail shop also provides the customization of the music to the customers. Now the customers can select the songs of different artist or of different genera and upload the preferred songs into a CD or a DVD. The customers are also given the choice of the quality of the songs. So they can select the bits rate of the songs and they are charged accordingly the songs selected or the quality of the songs. These outlets also offer the video songs and DVD and CDs of the movies of different language and era. I fact some of the stores have a collection of more than 5000 movies. So the customers are provided with a large pool of movies to choose from. In addition to the physical store across India, planet M has also launched online music stores under the brand. The customers can download the preferred songs by paying the amount through the online transaction process.

Mobile and accessories retailing The Indian telecom sector is the fastest growing telecom sector in the world. The annual mobile sales in India are highest in the world. India has passed the Chinese market as the biggest mobile handset market in the world in terms of the volume. Last year about 150 million mobile handsets were sold in India with 10000 handsets are being sold every hour. With such a huge and fast growing market, the planet has also ventured into the mobile retailing segment in India. Currently its product offering in mobile includes all the major brands like Nokia, Motorola, Samsung, Sony Erickson, LG, Spice, Apple etc. in case of the mobile phones its product line is divide into basically the following segments-

· Low end cheap mobiles · Low end multimedia phones · Multimedia phones with audio and video capacity · High end multimedia phones · Smart phones · Mp3 music players · FM radio · Gaming device · Accessories like head phone, battery, mobile contents etc · Storage device · DVD players

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· Cordless phone Gaming and gaming products

The planet m retail shops are also engaged in the sale of the gaming and gaming products. In their retail outlets they have a wide variety of the gaming consoles to offer. They have a vast collection of different popular game consoles in their gallery. In addition to the premium games in their retail outlets, they also offer the customers with the online games. The customers have the option of downloading the selected games at the sites of planet. Even in the games they are divided into different types like action games, puzzles, board games, racing games, shooting games etc. The retail outlets also sell the other gaming products like the gaming device and the gaming CDs. In the outlets many popular gaming device are on offer like the

· Sony play stations · Nintendo gaming console · IPod touch · Microsoft Xbox

The company site also provide with the online real time gaming facilities to the customers. For that the customers have to log into the site and pay a specific amount to use these facilities.

Gift items and apparels The planetM stores also stocks and sells other gift items like cards, statues, dolls and all the ranges of the gift items. There are also apparels products and life style products available in the planet stores. The stores also have a range of products like the t-shirts, all sorts of men wear and women wears and other body accessories. They have also launched products like eye gears, wrest watches etc.

THE OPERATION OF THE RETAIL CHAIN The planet m is founded by the times group as a music retail outlet. The chain was a wholly owned entity of the times group. It is basically engaged in the music retailing and movies retailing in the physical stores. After the takeover of the company by another retail chain Next in the year 2007, the company is still maintained as an independent entity sticking to the core business of music retailing. Over the years, the retail chain has enlarged the span of its operation and now it has also ventured in to the other retail sectors like the mobile phone, games and the other gift and apparel item retailers. In addition to the physical shops in all the metros and the tier ii cities, they have also launched the online retail shop under the same brand name. The customers can download music, games, movies or they can purchase the products on display through the e-payment system.

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The planet m is basically a multi brand retail chain displaying products of different brands. In the music segment it offers music from all the leading music producing houses in India as well as the western music companies. They also offer movies of all the leading producing houses in India and the western producing houses. The mobile phone retail business is another important part of the retailing business of the planetM brand. In this segment all the major mobile phone brands are sold in the retail outlets. More over the other mobile accessories and the gaming devices are also available in the retail shops. The other part of their business is the gift items and apparels. In this case they source the products from the contract manufacturers and sell them under their brand name. in case of the games or the mobile contents that are available in the online stores and the retail outlets, these are mostly third party applications and planet M is basically engaged in the marketing of these applications. Planet M is a wholly owned company of the Videocon groups. It is positioned as a retail chain to leverage the gap between the groups other electronic retail shop Next and other appliance retail brands. It is planned to introduce the electronic items in the product line of the planet m outlets also. For that Videocon has an agreement with the Japanese electronics giants Hitachi for supplies and outlet setting and layouts. It also plans to introduce more brands under their retail outlets. Planet m has a very good presence in all the metros and the important cities through their retail chains. It operates both the wholly owned retail shops as well as the franchises in the market. In the big cities and the metros they have their wholly owned retail outlets called as the planetM music stores with the floor area of 1500-2000 sq feet. These are manned by the employees of the planetM. But in other tier II and tier III cities, they have franchises outlets. These are called the music outlets of the planetM. The product range depends upon the location as well as the demand of the products in particular outlets.

MAJOR COMPETITORS OF PALNET-M

Planet M major competitors are retail biggies like Crossword, Landmark, Music World and Odyssey. The category consists of retailers of music, gifts, books, toys, etc against each other, evaluating them on parameters such as setting benchmarks in leisure retailing, and expanding the market and consumer base.

• Crossword • Landmark • Music World

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• Odyssey • futurebazaar.com • ebay.in

Crossword

Crossword Bookstores is a chain of largest bookstores in India. Shoppers Stop acquired 100 per cent stake in bookstore chain Crossword. Crossword is positioned as a lifestyle bookstore with their spacious, well laid out stores which encourage customers ease in browsing through the merchandise. The name Crossword was selected to reflect the dual fun and learning experience of a visit to Crossword similar to playing the puzzle. Crossword brand has 50 stores across the country. Recently Crossword launched its youngest store at a newly-inaugurated mall at the GVK One mall in Banjara Hills, Hyderabad. Spread over 1,500 square feet, the store featured reader staples, clubbed under fiction, non-fiction, classics, children's books, management and IT among other categories. Crossword also addresses a wider audience than existing stores with its unique product mix. There is of course, the widest range of books for the young and old alike, along with magazines, CD-ROMs, music, stationery and toys. With its large children's section and its focus on making the store a friendly, safe, fun-filled place, Crossword attracts many families who normally don't think of visiting bookstores. Services like Dial-a-book, Fax-a-book and Email-a-book enable customers to shop from their homes; and when they come to the store, the unobtrusively helpful staffs assist them in finding the right book, the right CD or the right gift for the right occasion. Facilities like the Crossword Gift Vouchers, the friendly 'Return, Exchange & Refunds' policy, the Cafes within the stores and the unique store experience make it easy and enjoyable for customers to shop at Crossword. Over 100,000 loyal customers are rewarded through the Crossword Book Rewards Program with points, discounts, promotional offers and more. 'eWords', a monthly e-newsletter with reviews of new books, news about in store events and bestseller lists, is currently mailed to these Members.

Landmark

Landmark commenced its operations in 1987 with its first store in Chennai with a floor space of 5500 sq. ft. Landmark is the first large format book retailer in India. Landmark currently has 10 stores, ranging in size from 12,000 sq. ft. to 45,000 sq. ft., 3 in Chennai, 1 in Bangalore, 1 in Mumbai, 1 in Vadodara, 1 in Gurgaon, 1 in Pune, 1 in Lucknow and 1 in Ahmedabad. Until 1996, Landmark was focused on books, stationery and greeting cards and then added music to its product portfolio and also started the trend of stocking curios, toys, music, CDs and other gift items. Category killers in all focus categories- Landmark's USP is the range and depth of its stocks. Landmark currently deals with the following product lines that cater to the needs of all age groups-

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Books, Music, Stationery, Magazines, Home Store, Gifts, and Toys. Landmark sponsors a number of programs related to products and services within the periphery of Landmark's business. A number of book launch events and music performance events are organized and hosted by Landmark.

Music World Music World India is a major source of digital music entertainment and provides a music platform to all music lovers. It offers a vast collection of songs where one can search songs of any genre. Music World India is an mp3 search engine for music audio files. Their website crawler searches through the internet indexes and provides new brand or popular songs with fast search services. Music World India offers songs of world class bands, genres, artists to download. They also provide all genres and grooves of cutting edge music and innovative independent labels. Music World is India’s largest chain of music stores retailing the widest range of international and Indian music. Music World operates different store formats to service different consumer groups. Music World's product portfolio comprises audio CDs and cassettes, VCDs and DVDs, CD-ROMs and other music accessories. The company is an important player in the home video market. Music World has successfully forayed into high end ‘personal audio’ gadgets like Apple iPods, Neo Pods and MP3 players. The company also offers home theatre systems, speakers and headphones. The company provides World Space receivers and subscription packs, and is now also offering the Tata Sky consoles and subscriptions.

Odyssey

Odyssey is a 100% subsidiary of Deccan Chronicle Holdings Limited, publishers of newspapers, Deccan Chronicle and Financial Chronicle. In 1995, Odyssey opened its flagship store in the southern suburbs of Chennai in Adyar. The idea was to make people lose themselves doing the good things in life, in a world that would make the experience as rich as their varied interests – and forget the time. Today Odyssey operates through 40 stores in 13 cities with about 2.60 lakhs sq.ft of retail space under its operations. Recognized predominantly as a book store, Odyssey has genres ranging from popular fiction, non-fiction, computing, self-help, health, management, food and drink, travel, art and architecture, children's books and so on, giving its customers a relatively wide range to choose from. Apart from books, the store has a wide range of music, movies, multimedia, stationery, toys and gifts. Odyssey maintains a good mix of products to suit customer's requirements and endeavors to keep abreast with the market dynamics and latest trends. The chain receives over 4 million walk-ins every year.

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Odyssey India Ltd recently forayed into the optical eyewear category with the launch of The Eyewear Store a hi-fashion destination for international designer sunglasses & prescription frames.

futurebazaar.com FutureBazaar.com is owned and operated by Future Bazaar India Ltd. (FBIL). FBIL is a part of the Future Group, India’s largest retail conglomerate. FBIL is the e-commerce arm of the Future Group. The company was incorporated in 2006 and began business in 2007. In FY09, Future Bazaar sold Rs 122 crore worth of goods, 1.5 per cent of total sales of the Future group. What makes them different from others!! ➢ A choice of more than 20,000 products ➢ Delivery across more than 1500 cities and towns in India covering around 16,000 pin codes ➢ Fast deliveries – tie ups with world leaders in logistics & transportation services ➢ A dedicated Customer Care helpline for any queries ➢ Always offering Manufacturer’s guarantee as opposed to Seller’s guarantee, which most of the other online shopping sites offer ➢ Aggressive Pricing strategy ➢ Guaranteed Delivery ➢ Their simple 15-Day Return Policy

ebay.in Founded in September 1995, eBay is a global online marketplace where practically anyone can trade practically anything. eBay is a platform for the sale of goods and services by a diverse community of individuals and businesses. Today, the eBay community includes more than 222 million registered members from all around the world. At any given time, there are approximately 100 million listings on eBay worldwide, and approximately 6.6 million listings are added per day. The users can trade in more than 50,000 categories including collectibles, antiques, sports memorabilia, computers, IT and office, art, antiques, toys, dolls, stamps, comics, magazines, music, pottery, glass, photography, electronics, jewellery and gemstones. eBay India (formerly Baazee.com) was launched in India in 2000 & has become one of India's leading online shopping destinations. eBay India has a community of over 2 million registered users across over 670 towns in India. Approximately 12,800 sellers use eBay India as a primary or secondary source of income. (Source: A C Nielsen International Research, June 2006) Although eBay is a global company, eBay.in offers a trading platform tailored to the unique needs of Indians. The eBay community consists of passionate Indians as well as International buyers and sellers trading in a variety of goods.

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MARKETING STRATEGIES OF PLANETM

In terms of the marketing products and the services the brand planetM is very successful in the Indian context. As pert the latest data concern, the company registered an annual footfall of more than 8.5 million people in their retail stores across India with a conversion rate of more that 40%. In fact it is one of the highest in the Indian retail sector. For the expansion of the retail market India and the growth of the market share of the company, they have adopted many marketing strategies which can be highlighted as-

o Celebrity endorsement is one of the focuses in the planetM retail shops. The retail brands hosts many celebrities in the media campaign. Music releases of many of the newly released movies are organized at the selective planetM retail shops. Shahid kapoor, Hrithik Roshan, Abheshak Bacchan are the regular visitors at the retail outlets of planetM. By this type of marketing, the company is also gaining the media focus and the market exposure.

o The locations of the stores are in such places where there are more crowds of the young people and the teenagers. By this way planetM is able to attract more and more customers to its stores. In fact the customer base has increased by almost 35% in the last three years.

o The ambience and the interior of the retail shops are also organized in such a manner to attract the youth and the teens. The stores display the product in a very organized way. More over there are music playing ports where the customers can listen to the music prior to the purchase. They are offering a host of products of different brands under the same roof to the customers resulting into better conversion rate.

o Another very popular marketing strategy adopted by planetM in all the retail shops is the discounts and sales. They offer discounts and sales in their product to attract the customers. Moreover there are always surprise gifts and goodies with the purchase to encourage the customers.

o The wide range of the product offerings available in the retail outlets of another factor of attracting more and more customers. For example, in the music segment they have a collection of more than 4.5 million songs of different language and 20000 albums. They provide options to the customers in 17 different Indian languages to cater to all cultures of the Indian society.

o Most of the products at the retail shops are focused at the youth population of the population. For that they offer products ranging from the music, mobile and accessories, games and other apparels like the eye gears and t-shirts. Thus offering the youth with a complete shopping experience.

o The pricing of the products in the planetM retail shops are very competitive compare to the others. Along with the discounts and the value added services, this combination offers the customer a very good shopping option.

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Business strategy and future expansion plan With the fast growing retail sector in India, the music and mobile retailing sector is witnessing an explosive growth. To keep up with the expanding market the consumer base, planetM has also taken some future expansion plans and future strategies for growth:-

o It aims to introduce more than 500 retail stores in India by the end of this year. This was announced by Venugopal Dhoot in March’09. In addition to the present stores the company plans to increase the total number of its planetM retail stores to 1500 in the coming three years.

o An investment of Rs 1800 crore is planned to be infused into the retail business of the Videocon group.

o The company has tied up with many of the film producing houses in Bollywood as well as the western music houses to market their products. The company also plans to gain the exclusive marketing rights of many upcoming Hindi movies in the coming years.

o The company has also tied up with the Japanese electronic major Hitachi for the marketing of its products under the retail chain. In addition to that, the company has also moved into an agreement with mobile phone major Nokia for the marketing of the mobile phones along with the other major players like Motorola, Samsung, LG, Sony etc.

o There are announcement from the company to introduce more product lines under the brand name. For that they are in talks with the other retail chains of the Videocon group.

o The company also plans to introduce itself to the in the small cities with market opportunity. For that it has identified about 100 new tier II and tier III cities to set up the retail outlets.

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Chapter – 4 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Title of the Study: The title of the study is “Brand Image of PlanetM.” According to the title the research problem is, “Identify factors which attract the customer towards “Planet-M” Retail Outlets” Objective of the Study:

o To know about the customer perception. o To know about the potential market of Planet M. o To know the impact of variable on customer purchase decision.

Significance of the Study: To the Researcher:

It gave a chance to use the conceptual knowledge in actual environment and prepares the researcher to use the knowledge for better in his future endeavors.

It helped in the assessing the factors, which influenced the buying customer and defining the customer itself in terms of customer satisfaction level.

The study is essential for the researcher in partial fulfillment of MBA curriculum. The study gave the researcher the experiences to conduct survey.

To the Company: Retail companies and outlets are facing a great competition nowadays. Customers are very much aware and curious about services, brands and other upcoming companies. This study provides an insight to the company that what kind of strategies must be adopted in order to select the target market and also satisfying them. To the Others: The study gave an insight into various aspects of the Retail companies, discussed in this study. One can easily come to know about what is happening in retail outlets in the current environment. How they make attraction of consumer mind.

Scope of the Study: The study was confined to the PlanetM.

Research Methodology: The research design is the arrangement of conditions and analysis of data in a manner that aims to combine relevance to the research purpose with economy in procedure. Once the project title

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was finalized, the researcher identified various information needs and their respective sources. (a) Type of Research: Research is Descriptive in nature. (b) Universe: People who visit to the PlanetM Retail Outlet. (c) Sampling Technique: Convenience Sampling. (d) Sample Size: 100 Respondents. (e) Data Type: Primary Data (Nominal). (f) Instrument of Data Collection: Questionnaire.

LIMITATIONS OF THE RESEARCH:

The study was restricted to Jaipur city only, so it was difficult to generalize the interpretations would be make out of the findings.

Limited knowledge of the researcher in the field of research may lead to interpretation errors.

The research was based on primary collection of data through Structured Schedule, so there may be chances of human error and biasness.

The research was dependant on the information provided by the respondents who were very reluctant in providing right information and often provides carelessly and results are drawn out by only these information. So, sometimes all effort might fail to find the right result.

As associated with every project, time and money were the major limitations with project. The conclusions arrived at, are based on a very less experience of the researcher in this field.

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Chapter – 5 DATA TABULATION, ANALYSIS

Customer of different Age Group Age Group

Total Customer 15-20 21-25 25-30 31 &above 100 3 60 20 17

From here we find that young people between age group of (21-25) are the main customer of this retail outlet the total percentage of this is 50%. From option (a) only 17% customer are the age group of (15-20) and getting third position in this question. From option (c) only 30% customer are the age group of (25-30) and getting second position in this question. From option (d) only 03% customer are the age group of (More than 30) old age person are not interested or not pay attention to the shopping mall they are the traditional buyer and they want their known seller .

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Gender

Gender Male Female Total 83 17

From these data the researcher find that male customer are the main customer of this retail outlet with 83% male and the female customer are less interested according to male so her % is 17 . Educational Qualification

Education Under- Graduate Graduate Post Graduate Professional Degree

Total 3 48 31 18

From these data the researcher find that the main customer of the Retail Outlet are the Graduate students with 48% and then the Post Graduate whose percentage 31%.

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Marital status Marital Status

Total Customer Married Single

Total 21 79

There is much variance in marital status the difference is 58% between the married & single. Occupation of Customer

Occupation Business Govt. Job Private Job Student

Total 14 9 14 63

From these data the researcher find that the main customers are students with the highest 63%, they cover the major part.

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Annual Income of the customers who’s buying PlaneM product?

Annually Income Below 1 Lac. 1 Lac. To 2 Lac. 2 Lac. To 3 Lac. Above 3 Lac.

Below 1 Lac. 63 3 7 27

From option (a) 63 customer (63%) are come to buy here and getting first rank (Below 1,00,000) in this question. From option (d) 27 customer (27%) are the income group of (<3, 00,000) and getting second position. From option (c) 7 customers (7%) are the income group of (2, 00,000- 3, 00,000) and getting third position. From option (b) 3 customer (3%) are the highest buyer from this retail outlet getting fourth position(1,00,000 – 2,00,000) they thing the quality of product at cheap rate available here so they want to here . From option (c) 7 customers (7%) are the income group of (2, 00,000- 3, 00,000) and getting third position. Finding of this question is that the income group of (<100000) are the main customer of this retail outlet.

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Ques. From where did you come to know about Planet-M. (a) TV Commercial [29]

(b) News Paper [03] [c] FM Radio [37] [d] Internet [07] [e]Any Other [24]

Interpretation:- Most of the people came to know about PlanetM from FM Radio (37%) and they get least information from the News Paper in the form Ads.

Ques. How often do you visit PlanetM?

(a) Sometimes [12] (b) Occasionally [24] [c] Frequently [20] [d] Very Often [44]

Interpretation:-In this major part of the people visit PlanetM Very Often (44%) and one-fourth of the total respondent are visiting PlanetM Occasionally.

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Ques. Rate the following for Planet-M according to your preferences.

Rate 5 - Most

Influential 4 - Very

Influential 3

Influential 2 - Less

Influential 1 - Least

Influential

Price 13 16 12 47 12

Sales Promotion Activity

7 2 23 29 39

Advertisements 1 2 7 12 78

Availability of Product 43 21 16 12 8

Variety of Collections 64 18 9 6 3

Brand Image 80 12 6 1 1

Location 40 16 12 11 21

Behavior of staff 9 14 35 19 23

Ambiance 21 16 23 18 22

5 - Most Influential, 4 - Very Influential, 3 – Influential, 2 - Less Influential, 1 - Least Influential

Price Rate

5 - Most Influential

4 - Very Influential

3 Influential

2 - Less Influential

1 - Least Influential

Price 13 16 12 47 12

Interpretation:- In this researcher found out that Price (47%) doesn’t Influence much to the Respondent.

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Sales Promotion Activity Rate



3 Influential




7 2 23 29 39

Interpretation:-From these data researcher came to know that sales promotion activity 39% doesn’t Influence the people and 7% thinks the it Influence the Most.

Advertisements Rate 5 - Most


Influential 3



Influential Advertisemen

ts 34 13 15 9 29

Interpretation:- From these data researcher came to know that advertising Influence (78%) the Respondent and only 1% are influenced by the Advertising.

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Availability of Product

Rate 5 - Most


Influential 3



Influential Availability of

Product 43 21 16 12 8

Interpretation:- From these data researcher found out that Availability of product Influence the Most to the Respondent.

Variety of Collections Rate



3 Influential



Variety of Collections

64 18 9 6 3

Interpretation:- It is clear to the Researcher that 64% if the respondent feels Verity of Product plays an important Factor to attract them towards PlanetM.

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Brand Image

Rate 5 - Most


Influential 3



Influential

Brand Image 80 12 6 1 1

Interpretation:- From the above data its clear to the researcher that Brand Image is the Most Influence (80%) to the Respondent.

Location

Rate 5 - Most


Influential 3



Influential

Location 40 16 12 11 21

Interpretation:- From the above data researcher found out that Location Influence the most (40%) to the respondent.

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Behavior of staff Rate



3 Influential



Behavior of staff 9 14 35 19 23

Interpretation:- From the above data 35% of the respondent feels that Behavior of the Staff is Influancive to the PlanetM.

Ambiance Rate 5 - Most


Influential 3



Influential

Ambiance 21 16 23 18 22

Interpretation:- From the data researcher got average response from the respondent about the Ambiance.

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Chapter - 6 CONCLUSION

The PlanetM holds a very strong ground in the organized music retailing. But with the changing market situation and competition, it has to come up with new and innovative product offerings to attract the customers and to retain the market leader position. The most important factor that planetM should consider that is price, sale promotion activities, advertisements, availability of products, variety of collections, brand image, location & ambiance. Finally the conclusion which is generalized after the data analysis and data tabulation is that:-

• The sales of Planet M increases due to the availability of products, variety of collections, brand image and location. These are the main thing which influences the sale volume of the Planet M.

• It means, it is hardly require that their price, sales promotion activity and advertisement of Planet M. The customer can demand automatically due to the quality and availability of Product and brand image.

• And finally the factor which may affect the sale of PlanetM product, that is Staff Behavior and Ambiance.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

• www.planetm.com

• www.musicworld.com

• www.marketresearch.com

• www.imrb.com

• Retail management, ICMR

• www.financialtimes.com

• www.scribd.com

• www.wikipedia.org

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ANNEXURE - 1

FRAME WORK Research Problem:- Identify the factors which attract the customer towards “Planet M” Retail Outlets. Research Objectives:-

- To know about the customer perception. - To know about the potential market of Planet M. - To Study the effect of given variables on customers.

Broad Interest Area:- Marketing Interest area:- Retail Outlet (Planet-M) Variables:-

• Price • Sale Promotion Activities • Advertisements • Availability of Products • Variety of Collections • Brand Image • Location • Behavior of Staff • Ambiance

Research design:- Descriptive

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Sample design:- Non Probability with convenience Sample size: - 100 Data collection method:- Interrogation through Personal Interview Data collection instrument:- Questionnaire

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ANNEXURE - 2 Questionnaire “Identify the factors which attract the customer towards “Planet M” Retail Outlets” PERSONAL INFORMATION Dear sir/ Madam, I Ajit Singh Saini student of Centurion Institute of Professional Studies, Jaipur conducting a survey on ““Identifying and analysing the factors which attract the customers towards “PlanetM” Retail Outlets” This survey is a part of my partial fulfillment of PGDM course. Please provide relevant information by filling this questionnaire to make my survey more comprehensive. All details from your part will be kept confidential. Respondent name : -________________ Place : -________________ Date : -________________

Gender Male

Female

Age group 15-20

21-25

26-30

31 &above

Marital status Married

Unmarried

Education Under graduate

Graduate

Post graduate

Professional degree

Occupation Business

Govt. job

Private job

Student

Annually income

Below 1,00,000

1,00,001-2,00,000

2,00,001-3,00,000

3,00,001 & above

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Ques: - From where did you come to know about Planet-M. [a] TV Commercial [ ] [b] News Paper [ ] [c] FM Radio [ ] [d] Internet [ ] [e]Any Other [ ] Ques: - How often do you visit Shopper’s Stop?

[a] Sometimes [ ] [b] Occasionally [ ] [c] Frequently [ ] [d] Very Often [ ]

Ques: - Ranking the following for Planet-M according to your preferences.

Ranking 5 4 3 2 1

Price


Advertisements

Availability of Product

Variety of Collections

Brand Image

Location

Behavior of staff

Ambiance

[5 – Most Influential, 4 – very Influential, 3 - Influential, 2 - less Influential and 1 - least Influential]

planetm - project

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