‘‘A STUDY ON CUSTOMER PERCEPTION TOWARDS LUXURY BRANDS WITH SPECIAL

REFERENCE TO HOMETOWN RETAIL LIMITED’’

1.1 INTRODUCTION TO THE TOPIC

Customer Perception
Customer perception is a marketing concept that encompasses a
customer’s impression, awareness and or consciousness about a company or
its offerings. Customer perception is typically affected by advertising, public
relations, social medias, personnel experiences and other channels.

Perception
Perception is defined as the process by which an individual select,
organizes and interprets stimuli in to meaningful picture of the world.

Perception is determined by both physiological and psychological

factors. This is because of perception is developed based on previous
experiences (learning), feeling and motives. Whereas, sensation only
activates organs of the body. Simply states, activation of the ears to hear
what other person is saying is sensation and the inference of what is heard is
perception.

Factors deciding customer perception

Customer perception decides how much a product sells and how a
company is perceived. Major factors deciding customer perception are:

 Consistency of performance - How has the brand performed in the past

and how it is performed currently.
 Emotional connect – Superb brand known that emotional connection
with the customers is critical to brand development.
 Marketing communications – how the brand communicates with the

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customers using the various media vehicles.

 Holistic marketing – A brand cannot be excellent if it has good sales
staff but pathetic support staff. A brand has to be a good all-rounder and
satisfy customers from all its touch points.

Factors affecting customer perception

Although a customer’s perception of a product or service is at least

partially base on his actual experience with the good, a significant amount of
market research suggests that a customer’s view of a product is also
conditioned by a variety of other factors. From very concrete factors of price
and quality to less tangible factors such a customer’s view of the
manufacturer’s reputation, experience with service and the quality of
packaging and branding, a number of complex and interrelated
psychological factors determine a customer’s perception of goods and
services.

 Price
Price has a complex effect on customer perception. On the other
hand, customers appreciate a bargain and are often likely to favor an
economically-priced item. On the other, customers often perceive very
inexpensive items as cheap and discardable, ultimately damaging a
customer’s view of a product remains the same and the customers is
benefited from a price reduction. Especially sophisticated or skeptical
consumers are even prone to distrust a product that is considerably cheaper
than the alternatives. As a result, price should be a part of a comprehensive
marketing plan, where even inexpensive products are depicted as favorable
alternatives with similar levels of quality to competition, with a price is
somewhat lower but still comparable with other possibilities.
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 Quality

Of course, the actual quality of a product is a vital part of a customer’s

perception of a goods or service. Quality can describe any attribute in a set
of characteristics that satisfy or disappoint a customer, including usability,
reliability and durability. Marketing can influence a customer’s perception
of quality, but, in the end, and particularly with non-durable goods, a
customer’s actual experience with a product will determines his perception
of quality. Outside the realm of mass communication, word of mouth
regarding quality also travels very quickly.

 Service quality
Even in the case of goods that exhibit numerous flaws, excellent
service quality can often overshadow a negative experience with the product
itself. If a customer feels that he receives exceptional attention when
encountering a problem with a product, that customer is someone what more
likely to trust the brand or product knowing that the manufacturer or retailer
provides a prompt and effective response to problems. Humans are social
animals and their customer behavior is often determined by the social
relationships that surround a product, including interactions with customer’s
service representatives.

 Packaging and Branding

Packaging and branding has a huge effect on customer perceptions,
particularly at the point of purchase. Especially when a customers are
purchasing a type of product for the first time, the way the product is
presented can wholly determine their perception of the item. Packaging and
branding, of course, cover everything from the attractiveness and display

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quality of an item to the attributes of a product the manufacturer chooses to

highlight. Depending on the type of products and market, different branding
messages from tough and reliable to find and luxurious can be appropriate
and effective.

 Reputation

A product’s reputation is built over time and is usually a combination

of actual experience with the product, word-of-mouth recommendations and
marketing campaigns that attempt to establish a status or shared view of the
product or brand. A customer’s perception of a product’s reputation,
moreover, is not only determined by the product’s brand identity and
manufacturer but by the whole chain of distribution Even if a customer trusts
a product’s manufacturer, for example the product upon seeing it available
in a retailer. He associates with cheap, defective products.

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1.2 INTRODUCTION TO THE INDUSTRY

RETAIL INDUSTRY

Retail is the process of selling consumer goods or services to customers

through multiple channels of distribution to earn a profit. Retailers satisfy
demand identified through a supply chain. The term "retailer" is typically
applied where a service provider fills the small orders of a large number of
individuals, who are end-users, rather than large orders of a small number of
wholesale, corporate or government clientele. Shopping generally refers to
the act of buying products. Sometimes this is done to obtain final goods,
including necessities such as food and clothing; sometimes it takes place as a
recreational activity. Recreational shopping often involves window shopping
and browsing: it does not always result in a purchase.

Retail markets and shops have a very ancient history, dating back to
antiquity. Some of the earliest retailers were itinerant peddlers. Over the
centuries, retail shops were transformed from little more than "rude booths"
to the sophisticated shopping malls of the modern era.

Most modern retailers typically make a variety of strategic level

decisions including the type of store, the market to be served, the optimal
product assortment, customer service, supporting services and the store's
overall market positioning. Once the strategic retail plan is in place, retailers
devise the retail mix which includes product, price, place, promotion,
personnel and presentation. In the digital age, an increasing number of
retailers are seeking to reach broader markets by selling through multiple

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channels, including both bricks and mortar and online retailing. Digital
technologies are also changing the way that consumers pay for goods and
services. Retailing support services may also include the provision of credit,
delivery services, advisory services, stylist services and a range of other
supporting services.

Retail shops occur in a diverse range of types and in many different

contexts – from strip shopping centers in residential streets through to large,
indoor shopping malls. Shopping streets may restrict traffic to pedestrians
only. Sometimes a shopping street has a partial or full roof to create a more
comfortable shopping environment – protecting customers from various
types of weather conditions such as extreme temperatures, winds or
precipitation. Forms of non-shop retailing include online retailing (a type of
electronic-commerce used for business-to-consumer (B2C) transactions) and
mail order.

Formats of retail in India

The concept of retail as entertainment came to India with the advent of

Shopping malls. Shopping malls emerged in the urban areas giving a world-
class experience to the customers. Eventually hypermarkets and
supermarkets emerged. The evolution of the sector includes the continuous
improvement in the supply chain management, distribution channels,
technology, back-end operations, etc. this would finally lead to more of
consolidation, mergers and acquisitions and huge investments.

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ORGANIZED V/S UNORGANIZED RETAILING

Unorganized retailing/traditional retailing

According to the National Accounts statistics of India ‘the

unorganized sector includes units whose activity is not regulated by any
statue or legal provision, and/or those, which do not maintain regular
accounts. In the context of retail sector, it could therefore be said to cover
those forms of trade which sell an assortment of products and services
ranging from fruits and vegetables to shoe repair. These products or services
may be sold or offered out of a fixed or mobile location and the number of
people employed could range between 10-20 people. Thus, the traditional
formats of low-cost retailing, for example, the neighborhood baniya, the
local kirana shop, owner manned general stores, provision stores, flea
(Thadi) markets, hand cart and pavement vendors, the vegetable, fruit
vendor, Momand Pop Stores, local sabjimandi, weekly haats, general
readymade garment shop or a footwear shop, general electronic shop etc.
the, the paanwala, the cobbler, etc. would be termed as the unorganized
sector.

Organized or modern retailing

Organized retailing refers to trading activities undertaken by

licensed retailers, that is, those who are registered for sales tax, income tax,
etc. These include the corporate-backed hypermarkets and retail chains,
departmental store, discount stores, drug stores, factory outlets, and also the
privately owned large retail businesses. The organized retail stores are
characterized by professionally managed stores or large chain of stores,
providing goods and services that appeal to customers, in an ambience that

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is

encouraging for shopping and agreeable to customers.

For example: Vishal Mega Mart, Big Bazaar, Wills Lifestyle, Shoppers
Stop, Reliance Trends, Spencers, Reebok, Nike, Catmos, Lilliput,
McDonald’s, Pizza Hut, Barista, Cafe Coffee Day, Koutons, Cotton County,
Peter England, Titan, Raymond’s, Sony, Samsung, Next, LG, Apollo
Pharmacy, etc.

BUSINESS MODELS IN RETAIL

India is a country dominated by local and traditional retailers and

business models specific to Indian context are bound to emerge. This section
discusses some of the retail business models that have emerged and which
are peculiar to the Indian landscape. These are as:

1. STORE BASED RETAILERS

These operate at fixed point of sale locations. Their stores are located and
designed to attract a high volume of walk-in customers. In general, store
based retailers offer a wide variety of merchandise and use mass media
advertising to attract customers. These can be further classified on the basis
of various parameters like:

a) Ownership
b) Strategy-mix
c) Service vs. Goods retail mix.
a) Ownership based Retailers

Depending on the ownership pattern, stores can be divided into six

categories as:

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1. Independent Stores

i. Owned by a single retailer. Low entry barriers

iii. Low initial investments

iv. Simple licensing procedures

v. Owner holds the right to decision

2. Chain stores

i. Have two or more retail outlets

ii. Common ownership & control

iii. Centralized purchase & merchandising.

iv. Sell similar lines of merchandise

v. Bulk purchaser, high bargaining power

vi. E.g.: Bata, Liberty, Kodak, Archie’s, Titan, Raymond’s, LG,

McDonald’s, Barista etc.

3. Franchise stores

i. Store based on contractual agreement between a Franchiser

(manufacturer) & a Franchisee, which allows the franchisee to
conduct a given form of Business under an established name &
according to a given pattern of Business.

ii. Franchisee gets well known brands.

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iii. Exclusive rights to sell.

iv. Benefit of the nationwide promotional activities.

v. Exposure to standard operating procedures.

vi. E.g.- Aptech, McDonald’s, Monte Carlo, Koutons, Pizza-Hut, etc.

4. Leased Departmental store

i. A department in a retail store that is rented to an outside party.

ii. The lessee is accountable for all activities of the leased department.

iii. Adds variety to the merchandise offered by the store.

iv. No cannibalizing of sales of existing product lines of the stores.

v. Reduced cost of establishment.

vi. Increased customer traffic.

5. Vertical Marketing system

i. A distribution system in which the producers, wholesalers, & retailers

act. In a unified manner to facilitate the smooth flow of goods &
services to the end-user.

ii. One channel member owns the other or has contracts with them.

6. Consumer Cooperatives

i. Retail operations owned & managed by its customer members.

ii. A group of customers invest in the retail operations in return of stock

Certificates, which entitle them to a share in the profits of the retail

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store.

II. Strategy-mix based Retailers –

Depending on the strategic mix retailers adopt, they can be classified into
two groups:

A. Food oriented Retailers

1. Convenience stores.

 Small stores located near residential areas.

 Open long hours, seven days a week, & carry a variety of products
with limited assortment of merchandise.
 Operate in 3000-8000 sq.ft. Area.

2. Conventional super markets

 Similar to departmental stores.

 Focus on food & household maintenance products.
 Self-service operations
 Variety of merchandise with deep assortments.

3. Food-based super market.

 Larger & more diversified than a conventional supermarket.

 Operates in 25,000-50,000 sq.ft. Area.
 Range includes- grocery items, garden supplies, flowers, & small
household appliances.

4. Combination Stores

 A Blend of a supermarket & general merchandise (>40%) store.

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 Maintain identity of both food store & drug store

 One stops shopping experience.

 Operate in 30,000-100,000 sq.ft. Area.

5. Box (Limited-line) store

 Food based discount store that concentrates on a small selection of

goods.
 Limited- shopping hours, service & stocks.
 Refrigerated perishable goods are not available.
 Prices are displayed on the shelf/overhead signs. Priced 20-30%
below market price.
 Self-service.

6. Warehouse stores

 Discount food retailers, offer low price deals.

 Average size of 100,000 sq. ft.
 Merchandise is displayed in cut boxes or shipping pallets &
services are limited.
 Lack consistency of products available as they warehouse
retailers buy goods only when a manufacturer or a wholesaler

offer

B. General Merchandise retailers

1.Variety store

 Offer deep assortment of inexpensive & popular goods like

stationary, gift items, woman's accessories, house wares etc.

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 Also called as 5 and 10-cent stores.

2. Department store

 Large retail units offering wide variety and a deep assortment of

goods Services.
 Separate depts. for separate types of merchandise
 One-stop shopping experience.
 Offers clothing, shoes, cosmetics, gifts, luggage, jewelry & other
Household items.

According to U.S. Bureau of Census, a store should specify the following

four criteria to be considered as department store:

1) A department store should employ a minimum of fifty people.

2) The store should generate at least 20 percent of its total revenue from
the Sale of apparel and soft goods.

3) The store should have the following product lines: furniture and home
furnishings; appliances, radio and T.V. sets; a general line of apparel
for the family’ household products and dry goods.

4) The annual sales of the department store should be under $10 million,
where no single product line should contribute more than 80 percent
of the total sales.

3. Off-price Retailer

 Offer an inconsistent assortment of branded fashion-oriented soft

goods at low prices.
 Purchase goods from manufacturers who have excess invent
 Purchase in bulk & sell at off-prices.

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4. Membership club

 Customer has to pay annual fee to become the members of the club.
 Membership allows them to purchase goods at low price.
 Purchases directly from manufacturers.

5. Flea Market (Outdoor Bazaar)

 An outdoor or indoor facility that rent out space to vendors who offer
 Merchandise, services & other goods.
 Many retail vendors offering a variety of products at discount prices at
places
 where there is high concentration of people.

III. SERVICES Vs GOODS RETAIL MIX BASED

Service Retailing

The retail entities primarily selling services rather than products are in
retailing of services. Services also play a significance role in the retail
merchandise mix of the retail organization selling merchandise as a core
product. The main differences between retailing of products and retailing of
services are on account of the intangibility, simultaneous production and
consumption, perish ability and inconsistency.

i. Sale or rental of an intangible activity, which usually cannot be stored or

transported, but satisfies the needs of the user.
ii. Service can be along with goods or pure service.

iii. E.g. - Hospitals, banks, beauty salons, entertainment firms etc.

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NON-STORE RETAILERS

A. Traditional

1. Direct Marketing

i. Customer is informed about the product through non personal Medias

like TV, radio, magazine, newspaper, internet etc.

ii. The customer places an order through mail or phone.

iii. Less investment as compared to store based retailing.

iv. Wide geographic area is covered.

2. Direct selling

i. Door-to-door selling

ii. Person-to-person selling (Eureka Forbes)

iii. Multilevel (network) marketing (Amway, Japan Life)

3. Vending machines

i. Involves coin or card operated dispensing of goods & services.

ii. Round the clock sales

iii. Machines are placed at the most convenient places for the customers

iv. Soft drinks vending machines, ATMs, coffee vending machines etc.

4. Catalog marketing

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i. Sales made through catalogs mailed to a select list of customers or made

available in a store.

ii. Delivery or order can be through mail, express service, and parcel post.

5. Tele-Marketing

i. Telephone as a media for sales.

ii. Informing customers about new merchandise & upcoming sales events.

6. TV home shopping

i. Shop – by- TV, demonstration of the product, its features, benefits etc
(Asian sky shop, tele-shopping etc.)

B. Non-traditional

1. e-tailing or World Wide Web

i. Internet as a medium for promoting their products.

ii. People access information about products using the web address of
the retailer’s homepage.
iii. Retailers’ website allows customers to order with a click of mouse.

2. Video kiosk freestanding interactive computer terminal that displays

product & related information on a video screen, are often touch screen.
3. Video catalog retail catalog on a CD-ROM disk, to be viewed on a
computer monitor.
Some other types of Retail business models
Mom-and-pop stores:

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These are generally family-owned businesses catering to small sections of

society. They are small, individually run and handled retail outlets.Category
Specialists / killers: These are big box discount stores that offer a narrow but

deep assortment of merchandise. These retailers are basically discount

specialty stores. By offering a complete assortment at low prices, category
specialists can “kill” a category of merchandise for other retailers and thus
are frequently called category killers.

For example, Office Depot, electronics (Best Buy) and sporting goods
(Sport Authority), the Home Store, Landmark, Music World etc. are some of
the category specialists.

Malls: These are the largest form of retail formats. They provide an
ideal shopping experience by providing a mix of all kinds of products and
services, food and entertainment under one roof. Examples are Sahara Mall,
TDI Mall, MGF Metropolitan, and Great India Place, Pacific Mall, Galaxy
Mall, Shipra Mall etc. In Delhi and NCR regions.

Specialty Stores
The retail chains, which deal in specific categories and provide deep
assortment in them, are specialty stores. Examples are RPG's Music World,
Mumbai's bookstore Crossword, etc.

Discount stores: These are the stores or factory outlets that provide
discount on the MRP items. They focus on mass selling and reaching
economies of scale or selling the stock left after the season is over.

Supermarkets: A predominantly self-service format offering a full line

of groceries, meat, and produce with limited sales of non-food items, such as

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health and beauty aids and general merchandise. Perishables like meat and
produce account for 44 percent of supermarket sales and typically have
higher margins that packaged goods. It operates between 5,000 to 30,000
square feet of total selling area. These stores typically carry approximately

30,000 SKUs. The largest supermarket chains of US are Kroger,

Albertson’s, Safeway, A hold USA, and Publix. Although, there is no
standardization on the parameters of what makes a supermarket in India, it is
one of the fastest growing business formats in the country. Nigeria’s, Food
world, Subhiksha, Food Bazaar and Vitan are some of the Supermarkets in
India.

Supercenters
The fastest growing retail category, are large stores (150,000-220,000
Sq.ft.) that combine a supermarket with a full-line discount store. By
offering broad assortments of grocery and general merchandise products
under one roof, supercenters provide a one-stop shopping experience.
Supercenters offer larger percentage of non-food items and focus more on
dry groceries such as breakfast cereal and canned goods, instead of fresh
items. Wal-Mart, Meijer, Kmart, Fred Meyer (a division of Kroger) etc. are
some of the major supercenters of the world.

Hypermarkets:
A very large retail unit that offers products at a low price. It is a
combination of a general merchandise store and the supermarket. These are
characterized by large store size, low operating costs and margins, low
prices and comprehensive range of merchandise. Hypermarket operates in
over 50,000 sq. ft. area and offers over 50,000 different items for sale.

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Hypermarkets carry a larger proportion of food items than supercenters with

a greater emphasis on perishables-produce, meat, fish and bakery. They offer
an expanded selection of non-food items, including health and beauty
products and general merchandise at low prices. Typically between a third to
two-thirds of the mix in a hypermarket is from “food”.

Self-service outlets, offering a variety of categories with deep assortments.

Hypermarkets generally, own spacious parking facility exclusively for their
customers and employees. Some popular hypermarkets in Indian market
include Pantaloons Big Bazaar, Spencer’s, Food World, Vishal Mega Mart
etc. Full-Line Discount Stores: these are retailers that offer a broad variety of
merchandise, limited service and low prices. Discount stores offer both
private labels and national brands, but these brands are typically less fashion
oriented than the brands in the department stores. The big three full-line
discount store chains are Wal-Mart, Kmart, and Target, which account for
84 percent of the sales in this retail format.

Drug stores:

These are specialty stores that concentrate on health and personal

grooming merchandise. Pharmaceuticals often represent over 50 percent of
drugstore sales and even greater percentage of their profits. The largest
drugstore chains in the United States are Walgreen, CVS, Rite Aid and
Albertson’s.

Extreme Value Retailers

These are small, full-line discount stores that offer a limited merchandise
assortment at very low prices. The largest extreme value retailers are Dollar
General and Family Dollar Stores.

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1.3 INTRODUCTION TO THE COMPANY

Hometown

Hometown always promise to make homemaking an enjoyable and

hassle-free experience with their wide array of products and services. Their
offerings include a slew of living room furniture, dining, bedroom furniture
and furniture essentials, mattresses, modular kitchens, home furnishing,
décor, households and bath luxury. Home Town offers customers a unique,
personalized shopping experience, and has grown to be India’s biggest store
in homemaking, renovation and décor.

From classy sofas, tasteful décor items, elegant beds, dining sets to
kitchen essentials and artifacts, it houses everything to build and beautify
homes. It was first opened in and currently operates 35 stores in 17 cities and
has also developed partnerships with online retailers.

Kishore Biyani-led Future Retail Ltd said on Thursday it will merge

its home furnishing brand Hometown with its online furniture store
FabFurnish.com to sharpen focus on its core food and apparel retail
businesses.

Hometown and FabFurnish will be merged into a separate company

called Praxis Home Retail Pvt. Ltd, which will be publicly listed, Future
Retail said in a stock-exchange filing.

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“The decision will spin off specialty retail business and ensure greater
visibility on the performance of the home retail business and e-commerce
home retail unit,” the company said.

Hometown offers an array of products such as furniture,

mattresses, modular kitchens as well as other household items. It posted
revenue of Rs 477 crore for the year through March 2016. That’s a small
part of Future Retail’s total revenue of Rs 6,716 crore for 2015-16.

The Biyani-led group had acquiredFabFurnish.com in an all-cash

deal last year from Germany’s Rocket Internet.

FabFurnish, operated by Gurgaon-based Blue rock Services Pvt.

Ltd, posted revenue of Rs 78.93 crore for 2014-15 compared with Rs 47.22
crore the year before. Its latest financials could not be ascertained.

Future Retail gets bulk of its revenue from the Big Bazaar chain of
hypermarkets and Easy Day supermarkets as well as fashion stores under the
fbb brand and food retail chain Food hall.

Earlier this year, Biyani had hinted the at the group was likely to
sell Hometown, shut sportswear arm Planet Sports and merge electronics
chain Ezone with Big Bazaar. The move was aimed at expanding the apparel
and food segments. The retail major hopes these segments will be its main
growth drivers and help it quadruple revenue by 2021.

As part of a larger strategy, the Future Group earlier this year

reshuffled the portfolios of some top executives and hired a new marketing
head to boost revenue growth at its consumer, supply chain and retail
businesses.

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1.4 SCOPE OF THE STUDY

A study on customer perception towards luxury brands with special
reference to Home Town Retail Limited. The study helps the researcher to
understand the perception of customers towards luxury brands. The study
also helps the company to know the perception of customers and thereby
make changes in their existing promotional tools. The sample size selected
for the study is 100 and the data needed for the study is collected through a
well structured questionnaire.

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1.5 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

 To analyze customer perception towards luxury brands.

 To find out the factors influencing customer perception

 To analyze service and support of luxury brand

 Effectiveness of brand loyalty in decision making

 To identify the promotional activities of luxury brand.

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2.1 RESEARCH METHEDOLOGY

Research methodology is a way to systematically solve the
research problem. It may be understood as a science of studying how
research is done. This include study of various steps that are generally
adopted by a research in studying his research problem along with logic
behind them.

2.2 Research Design

Research design is the arrangement of conditions for
collection and analysis of data in the manner that aims to combine relevance
to the research purpose with economy in procedure. In fact, the research
design is the conceptual structure within which research is conducted. It
constitutes the blue print for the collection, measurement and analysis of
data. The research design used in the study is descriptive design. It aims at
gaining the overall knowledge of the organization.
Descriptive Design
In this project descriptive design is used. It is concerned with the detailed
description of certain functional variables and characteristics of problem
situation. This research includes surveys and fact finding enquiries of
different kinds. The major purpose of this research is describe the state of
affairs exists at presents. The main characteristic of this method is that the
researcher has no control over variables; he only report what has happened
and what is happening.

2.3 Sources of Data

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The data used for the analysis and interpretation is collected from primary
source and secondary source.

Primary Data:
It is the first hand data which is original in character that an
investigator himself collects from the respondents.
Secondary Data:
Secondary data means data that are already available that is, they
refer to the data which have already been collected and analyzed by
someone else. Secondary data for this research were collected from books,
internet, newspaper etc…

2.4 Sampling Design

A sample design is a definite plan for obtaining sample from a
given population. It refers to the technique or the procedure the research
would adopt in selecting items for the sample. The sample design may also
lay dawn the size of the sample.
Sampling unit:
The sampling unit taken for this study is the users of different
telecom company.
Sampling Size:
For this purpose of study 100 samples are taken. The sample size
was selected based upon convenience sampling.
Sampling Technique:
In this project, random sampling technique is used for selecting the
respondents, in this method the researcher chooses the sample unit on the
basis of convenience or accessibility.

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Convenience Sampling:
Convenience sampling is one of the main types of non- probability
sampling method, for convenient sample is made up of people who are easy

to reach. The researchers choose a sampling unit according to his

convenience.

2.5 Data Analysis Tools and Techniques

Data collection instruments used in this research are as follows:
 Questionnaire:
Questionnaire is used as the common Instrument in collecting
data. A questionnaire consists of a sets of questions presented to the
respondents to get their answers.
 Personal Interview:
There is a face to face contact between the investigator and the informants.
Investigator asks them questions pertaining to the survey and collects the
desired information.
The information provided by the respondent were suitably classified,
tabulated analysis with the help of the following methods.
 Percentage Method:
Percentage refers to the special kind of ratio. Percentages are used in
making comparison between 2 or more series of data. Percentage can also be
used to compare the relative terms, the distribution of 2 or more series of
data. The percentage analysis is conducted by dividing number of
respondents with total population of the sample.

No of respondents
Percentage of Respondents = Total no . ofrespondents
× 100

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2.6 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

 The study is restricted to a period of one month. Due to time restraints,
it is not possible to study in depth in get knowledge.
 The chances of errors are more, because the respondents are busy in
their Work.
 Reluctant to give data from respondents.
 Possibility of errors by the analyst is decrease the accuracy of the data.

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TABLE NO: 1

Number of Respondents Purchase Luxury Brand

Response No of respondents Percentage

Yes 100 100

No 0 0

Total 100 10

INTERPRETATION

100% of the respondents are luxury brand purchasers.

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GRAPH NO: 1

Number of Respondents Purchase Luxury Brand

120

100
100

80

60

40

20

0
0
Yes No

``

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TABLE NO: 2

Motive for choosing a luxury brand

Response No Of Respondents Percentage

Brand name 10 10

Brand value 2 2

Brand quality 83 83

Pricing 5 5

total 100 100

INTERPRETATION

The above table shows that 83% response that brand quality is the motive
for choosing luxury brand.

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GRAPH NO: 2

Motive for Choosing a Luxury Brand

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TABLE NO: 3

Familiarity with the Luxury Brand

Response No of respondents Percentage

Very familiar 50 50

Not so familiar 12 12

No idea 4 4

Average 34 34

Total 100 100

INTERPRETATION

The table inferred that 50% respondents are very familiar, while 34% have
an average idea.12% have an average idea and 4% have no idea about
brands.

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GRAPH NO: 3

Familiarity with the Luxury Brand

50
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
very familiar not so familiar no idea average

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TABLE NO: 4

Number of Respondents Buying Only Luxury Brand

Response No of respondents Percentage

Yes 78 78

No 22 22

Total 100 100

INTERPRETATION

From the above table it is informed that 78% responses buy only luxury
brand and remaining 22% are not selective in buying luxury brand.

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GRAPH NO: 4

Respondents Buying Only Luxury Brand

22

78

Yes No

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TABLE NO: 5

Believes in Brand Loyalty

Response No of respondents Percentage

Yes 90 90

No 10 10

Total 100 100

INTERPRETATION

From the study it is clear that 90% respondents believe in brand loyalty and
other 10% does not believe in brand loyalty.

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GRAPH NO: 5

Believes in Brand Loyalty

100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
yes no

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TABLE NO: 6

Purchase Luxury Brand in Spite of High Price

Response No of respondents Percentage

Yes 80 80

No 20 20

Total 100 10

INTERPRETATION

The above table shows that 80% of respondents purchases luxury brand in
spite of high price and other 20% are not purchasing of luxury brand in
spite of high price.

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GRAPH NO: 6

Purchase Luxury Brand in Spite of High Price

20 yes no
%

80
%

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TABLE NO: 7

Factors Affecting Customer Perception

Response No of respondents Percentage

Brand name 3 3

Quality 76 76

Price 1 1

Service 20 20

Total 100 100

INTERPRETATION

From the above study shows that 76% respondents are affected by quality,
other 20% by service, 3% by brand name and 1% by price.

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GRAPH NO: 7

Factors Affecting Customer Perception

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TABLE NO: 8

Income Level of a Person Affects Choice of Luxury Brand

Response No of respondents Percentage

Yes 98 98

No 2 2

Total 100 100

INTERPRETATION

From the above study 98% of the response that income level of a person
affects choosing luxury brand.

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GRAPH NO: 8

Income Level of a Person Affects Choice of Luxury Brand

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TABLE NO: 9

Influencing the Family in Purchasing Decisions

Response No of respondents Percentage

Yes 88 88

No 12 12

Total 100 100

INTERPRETATION

The above table shows that 88% of the respondents are influenced by family
decision in purchasing 12% does not affects in making a decision.

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GRAPH NO: 9

Influencing The Family in Purchasing Decisions

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TABLE NO: 10

Age A Factor in Purchasing a Luxury Brand

Response No of respondents Percentage

Yes 85 85

No 15 15

Total 100 100

INTERPRETATION

From the above study it is clear that 85% respond that age is a factor in
purchasing a luxury brand and 15% responded that age is not a factor in
purchasing luxury brand.

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GRAPH NO: 10

Age A Factor in Purchasing a Luxury Brand

yes no

15
%

85
%

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TABLE NO: 11

The Ways Through Which They Know About the Product

Response No of respondents Percentage

Internet 25 25

Advertisement 27 27

Friends and family 33 33

Other 15 15

Total 100 100

INTERPRETATION

From the above study 33% of respondents came to know about the product
through friends and family, 25% through internet, 27 % through
advertisement and 15% through others.

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GRAPH NO: 11

The Ways Through Which They Know About the Product

33

27

25

15

internet advertisment friends and family other

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TABLE NO: 12

Expect The Best Service and Support from A Luxury Brand

Response No of respondents Percentage

Yes 95 95

No 5 5

Total 100 100

INTERPRETATION

From the above study it is clear that 95% response that they expect best
service and support form luxury brands and 5% do not expect support from
luxury brands.

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GRAPH NO: 12

Expect The Best Service and Support from a Luxury Brand

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TABLE NO: 13

Services Expected from Hometown a Luxury Brand

Response No of respondents Percentage

Guarantee 20 20

Warranty 30 30

Insurance 25 25

Replace 25 25

Total 100 100

INTERPRETATION

From the above study 20% of the customers expect guarantee, 30%
warranty, 25% insurance and 25 % replace.

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GRAPH NO: 13

Services Expected from Hometown a Luxury Brand

Guarantee warranty insurance replace

25% 20%

30%
25%

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TABLE NO: 14

Service and Support Affect the Decision Making

Response No of respondents Percentage

Yes 80 80

No 20 20

Total 100 100

INTERPRETATION

From the above study 80% response that service and support affect decision
making and 20% response that service and support don’t affects decision
making.

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GRAPH NO: 14

Service and Support Affect the Decision Making

no
20
%

ye
s
80
%

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TABLE NO: 15

Pay an Extra Amount for Warranty

Response No of respondents Percentage

Yes 54 54

No 46 46

Total 100 100

INTERPRETATION

From the above study 54% of the respondents are ready to pay an extra
amount for warranty and 46% are not ready to pay extra.

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GRAPH NO: 15

Pay an Extra Amount for Warranty

54

46

YES NO

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TABLE NO: 16

Brand Value Affects Your Decision Making

Response No of respondents Percentage

Yes 38 38

No 62 62

Total 100 100

INTERPRETATION

From the above study 62 % of the response that brand value does not affect
their decision making and 38% response that brand value affects decision
making.

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GRAPH NO: 16

Brand Value Affects Your Decision Making

70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
YES NO

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TABLE NO: 17

Brand Logo Affects Your Decision Making

Response No of respondents Percentage

Yes 20 20

No 80 80

Total 100 100

INTERPRETATION

From the above study 80 % response that brand logo does not affect their
decision making where 20% response that brand logo affects decision
making.

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GRAPH NO: 17

Brand Logo Affects Your Decision Making

YES NO

20%

80%

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TABLE NO: 18

Attributes and Emotions Preferred

Response No of respondents Percentage

Brand value 8 8

Brand quality 60 60

Brand price 10 10

Brand desire 22 22

Total 100 100

INTERPRETATION

From the above study 60% response that attribute preferred is brand quality
then comes brand desire, 22% response brand desire .10% is brand price
and 8 % brand value.

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GRAPH NO: 18

Attributes and Emotions Preferred

60

22

8 10

Brand Value Brand Quality Brand Price Brand Desire

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TABLE NO: 19

Chance to Switch to another Brand became of the Brand Value

Response No of respondents Percentage

Yes 76 76

No 24 24

Total 100 100

INTERPRETATION

The survey says that 76% of respondents would switch to another brand of
brand value where 24% respondents will not switch to another brand value.

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GRAPH NO: 19

Chance to Switch to Another Brand became of The Brand Value

76

24

YES NO

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TABLE NO: 20

Promotional Activity of the Product Affect Decision Making

Response No of respondents Percentage

Yes 65 65

No 35 35

Total 100 100

INTERPRETATION

From the above study 65% of the respondents says that promotional activities
affect the decision making where 35% said promotional activities don’t affect
decision making.

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GRAPH NO: 20

Promotional Activity of the Product Affect Decision Making

NO
35
%

YE
S
65
%

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TABLE NO: 21

Promotional Activity You Prefer

Response No of respondents Percentage

Discount 30 30

Extra offer 20 20

1 + 1 offer 10 10

Display 20 20

Total 100 100

INTERPRETATION

From the above study 30% of the respondents prefer discounts, 20% extra
offer and 20% display. 10% prefers 1+1 offers.

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GRAPH NO: 21

Promotional Activity You Prefer

DISCOUNT EXTRA OFFER

1+1 OFFER DISPLAY

25%

38%

13%

25%

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TABLE NO: 22

Display Attract the Customer

Response No of respondents Percentage

Yes 77 77

No 23 23

Total 100 100

INTERPRETATION

According to the study 77% of the respondents are attracted by the display
and 23% of respondents are not attracted to displays.

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GRAPH NO: 22

Display Attract the Customer

YES NO

23
%

77
%

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4.1 FINDINGS
 The study found that 100% of the people who came to the shop are luxury
brand purchases

 Respondents would choose a luxury brand because of product quality

 People expect best support and service from a luxury brand

 They are ready to spend huge amount of money for luxury brand

 Customer employee relationship plays a vital role in purchase decision

 Availability of product in the online market such as amazon, improve the

selling of product

 Marketing and promotional activities attract more customers to home

town retails

 The chance of people switching to another brand because of the brand

value.

 The study found that most of the respondents are attracted by displays of
the shop.
 Most of the respondents are attracted by discount offer of the shop.

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4,2 SUGGESTION

 A decrease in price can attract more customers

 The range of home delivery can be improved

 Refilling ware house can reduce the shortage of the product

 Relaxation in the company policies of selling displayed product can

increase their profit

 More number of employee recruitment can reduce the work load.

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