It was my internship project that was done Reliance Retail

1. Summer Internship Project Report
On
“A study on various marketing strategies with the help of Below
the line advertising for Reliance SMART ”
At
Submitted in partial fulfilment of the degree of MBA
Programme of Amity University (U.P)
Submitted to: Submitted by:
Dr. Anu Antony Mr. Arjun Jaideep
Faculty guide A31101916093
MBA Class of 2017
Amity Global Business School, Kochi
MBA Batch 2016-2018

2. DECLARATION
Title of Project Report:
‘A Study on various marketing strategies with the help of Below the line
advertising for Reliance Smart’
I declare
(a)That the work presented for assessment in this Summer Internship Report is my own, that it
has not previously been presented for another assessment and that my debts (for words, data,
arguments and ideas) have been appropriately acknowledged
(b)That the work conforms to the guidelines for presentation and style set out in the relevant
documentation.
Date: Mr. Arjun Jaideep
A31101916093
MBA class of 2017

3. CERTIFICATE FROM FACULTY GUIDE
I Dr. Anu Antony hereby certify that Mr. Arjun Jaideep student of Master of Business
Administration at Amity Global Business School, Kochi, of Amity University Uttar Pradesh
has completed the Project Report on ― ‘A Study on various marketing strategies with
the help of below the line advertising for Reliance SMART .’
Dr. AnuAntony
Faculty in charge
AGBS, Kochi

4. CERTIFICATE FROM INDUSTRY

5. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
An undertaking of work life - this is never an outcome of a single person; rather it bears the
imprints of a number of people who directly or indirectly helped me in completing the present
study. I would be failing in my duties if I don't say a word of thanks to all those who made my
training period educative and pleasurable one. I am thankful to Reliance Retail for giving me
an opportunity to do summer training in the company.
First of all, I am extremely grateful to Mr.Sreejith Damodaran (Marketing Manager) for his
guidance, encouragement and tutelage during the course of the internship despite his extremely
busy schedule. My very special thanks to him for giving me the opportunity to do this project
and for his support throughout as a mentor.
I must also thank my faculty guide Dr. Anu Antony (Faculty, Amity Global Business School)
for her continuous support, mellow criticism and able directional guidance during the project.
I sincerely thank Mr. Shan Hussain (Store Manager Reliance SMART Oberon Mall ) for
helping me to choose a relevant project topic for my internship and her valuable suggestions
and recommendations in my study.
I would also like to thank all the respondents for giving their precious time and relevant
information and experience, I required, without which the Project would have been incomplete.
I would also like to thank all the respondents for giving their precious time and relevant
information and experience, I required, without which the Project would have been incomplete.
Finally I would like to thank all lecturers, friends, co-intern guys and my family for their kind
support and to all who have directly or indirectly helped me in preparing this project report.
And at last I am thankful to all divine light and my parents, who kept my motivation and zest
for knowledge always high through the tides of time.

6. TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter 1: Introduction to company
Chapter 2: Literature Review
Chapter 3: Research Methodology
Chapter 4: Analysis and Interpretations
Chapter 5: Findings and conclusion
References

7. CHAPTER 1

8. INTRODUCTION :
OVERVIEW OF RETAIL INDUSTRY :
The sale of goods or commodities in small quantities directly to consumers is known as
retailing. A "retailer" buys goods or products in large quantities from manufacturers or
importers either directly or through a wholeseller and then sells smaller quantities to the end
user.
Retail is India’s largest industry, accounting for over 10 percent of the country’s GDP and
around eight percent of employment. Retail in India is at the crossroads. It has emerged as
one of the most dynamic and fast paced industries with several players entering the market.
That said, the heavy initial investments required make break even hard to achieve and many
players have not tasted success to date. However, the future is promising; the market is
growing, government policies are becoming more favourable and emerging technologies are
facilitating operations.
The Indian retail industry in valued at about $300 billion and is expected to grow to $427
billion in 2010 and $637 billion in 2017. Only three percent of Indian retail is organised.
Retailers of multiple brands can operate through a franchise or a cash-and-carry wholesale
model.
Retailing in India is gradually inching its way to becoming the next boom industry. The
whole concept of shopping has altered in terms of format and consumer buying behavior,
ushering in a revolution in shopping. Modern retail has entered India as seen in sprawling
shopping centres, multi-storeyed malls and huge complexes offer shopping, entertainment
and food all under one roof.

9. The Indian retailing sector is at an inflexion point where the growth of organised retail and
growth in the consumption by Indians is going to adopt a higher growth trajectory. The
Indian population is witnessing a significant change in its demographics. A large young
working population with median age of 24 years, nuclear families in urban areas, along with
increasing working-women population and emerging opportunities in the services sector are
going to be the key growth drivers of the organised retail sector.
Organized Retail Market Size in 2017-2018

10. “A Study on various marketing strategies with the help of Below
the line advertising for Reliance Smart.”
Reliance Retail, Ltd. operates retail outlets in India. Its retail outlets offer foods, groceries,
apparel and footwear, lifestyle and home improvement products, electronic goods, and farm
implements and inputs. The company’s outlets also provide vegetables, fruits, and flowers. It
focuses on consumer goods, consumer durables, travel services, energy, entertainment and
leisure, and health and well-being products, as well as on educational products and services.
The company was founded in 2006 and is based in Mumbai, India. Reliance Retail, Ltd.
operates as a subsidiary of Reliance Industries, Ltd.
The project work includes collecting data as management trainee at Reliance Value
Chain.Trainees were assigned two store each.We have to be present at one store everyday.We
have to interact with atleast 8/10 customers document the feedback in prescribed
format.Include an open ended question at the end,asking them if they have any additional
comments or suggestions to make.
INTRODUCTION TO THE COMPANY :
Reliance SMART is the convenience store format which forms part of the retail business of
Reliance Industries of India which is headed by Mukesh Ambani. Reliance plans to invest in
excess of Rs 25000 crores in the next 4 years in their retail division. The company already
has in excess of 560 reliance fresh outlets across the country. These stores sell fresh fruits and
vegetables, staples, groceries, fresh juice bars and dairy products.
A typical Reliance Fresh store is approximately 3000-4000 square. feet and caters to a
catchment area of 1-2 km
HISTORY :
Post launch, in a dramatic shift in its positioning and mainly due to the circumstances
prevaling in UP, West Bengal and Orissa, it was mentioned recently in news Dailies that,

11. Reliance Retail is moving out of stocking fruits and vegetables. Reliance Retail has decided
to minimise its exposure in the fruit and vegetable business and position Reliance Fresh as a
pure play super market focusing on categories like food, FMCG, home, consumer durables,
IT and wellness , with food accounting for the bulk of the business.
The company may not stock fruit and vegetables in some states. Though Reliance Fresh is not
exiting the fruit and vegetable business altogether, it has decided not to compete with local
vendors partly due to political reasons, and partly due to its inability to create a robust supply
chain. This is quite different from what the firm had originally planned.
When the first Reliance Fresh store opened in Hyderabad last October, not only did the
company said the store’s main focus would be fresh produce like fruits and vegetables at a
much lower price, but also spoke at length about its “farm-to-fork’’ theory. The idea the
company spoke about was to source from farmers and sell directly to the consumer removing
middlemen out of the way.
Reliance Fresh, Reliance Mart, Reliance Digital, Reliance Trendz, Reliance Footprint,
Reliance Wellness, Reliance Jewels, Reliance Timeout and Reliance Super are various
formats that Reliance has rolled out.
In addition, Reliance Retail has entered into an alliance with Apple for setting up a chain of
Apple Specialty Stores branded as iStore, starting with Bangalore.

12. Growth through Value Creation
With a vision to generate inclusive growth and prosperity for farmers, vendor partners, small
shopkeepers and consumers, Reliance Retail Limited (RRL), a subsidiary of RIL, was set up
to lead Reliance Group’s foray into organized retail.
With a 27% share of world GDP, retail is a significant contributor to overall economic
activity across the world. Of this, organized retailing contributes between 20% to 55% in
various developing markets. The Indian retail industry is pegged at $ 300 billion and growing
at over 13% per year. Of this, presently, organized retailing is about 5%. This is expected to
grow to 10% by 2011. RRL has embarked upon an implementation plan to build state-of-the-
art retail infrastructure in India, which includes a multi-format store strategy of opening
neighbourhood convenience stores, hypermarkets, specialty and wholesale stores across
India.

13. RRL launched its first store in November 2006 through its convenience store format
‘Reliance Fresh’. Since then RRL has rapidly grown to operate 590 stores across 13 states at
the end of FY 2017-18. RRL launched its first ‘Reliance Digital’ store in April 2007 and its
first and India’s largest hypermarket ‘Reliance Mart’ in Ahmedabad in August 2007. This
year, RRL has also launched its first few specialty stores for apparel (Reliance Trends),
footwear (Reliance Footprints), jewellery (Reliance Jewels), books, music and other lifestyle
products (Reliance Timeout), auto accessories and service format (Reliance Autozone) and
also an initiative in the health and wellness business through ‘Reliance Wellness’. In each of
these store formats, RRL is offering a unique set of products and services at a value price
point that has not been available so far to the Indian consumer. Overall, RRL is well
positioned to rapidly expand its existing network of 590 stores which operate in 57 cities.
During the year, RRL also focused on building strong relationships in the agri-business value
chain and has commenced marketing fruits, vegetables and staples that the company sources
directly to wholesalers and institutional customers. RRL provides its customers with high
quality produce that has better shelf life and more consistent quality than was available
earlier. RRL has made significant progress in establishing state-of-the-art staples processing
centres and expects to make them operational by May 2017.
Through the year, RRL also expanded its supply chain infrastructure. The Company is fully
geared to meet the requirements of its rapidly growing store network in an efficient manner.
Recognizing that strategic alliances are going to be a key driver to its retail business, in FY
2001-18, RRL established key joint ventures with international partners in apparel, optical
and office products businesses. Further, RRL will continue to seek synergistic opportunities
with other international players as well. This year, RRL will continue its focus on rapid
expansion of the existing and other new formats across India Reliance Retail, Ltd. operates
retail outlets in India. Its retail outlets offer foods, groceries, apparel and footwear, lifestyle
and home improvement products, electronic goods, and farm implements and inputs. The
company’s outlets also provide vegetables, fruits, and flowers. It focuses on consumer goods,
consumer durables, travel services, energy, entertainment and leisure, and health and well-

14. being products, as well as on educational products and services. The company was founded in
2006 and is based in Mumbai, India. Reliance Retail, Ltd. operates as a subsidiary of
Reliance Industries, Ltd.
Headquarters : Bombay Area, India
Industry : Retail
Type : Public Company
Status : Operating Subsidiary
Company Size: 10,001 or more employees
Founded : 2006
Subsidiaries and Divisions
There are over 45 Subsidiaries & divisions of Reliance Retail. Following is the list of major
divisions:
1. Reliance Fresh: Retail outlets of fruits, vegetables & groceries.
2. Reliance Digital: Consumer Electronics retail stores. It had 689 stores in October
2014.
3. Reliance LYF: 4G mobile handset manufacturer based in Mumbai, founded in 2015.
4. Reliance Jewels: Jewelry retail; it had revenues of approx. Rs. 8 billion in financial
year 2012-13.
5. Reliance Time Out: Lifestyle store of Books, Music, Movies, Toys, Gaming,
Fragrances, Stationery.
6. Reliance Trends, Reliance Footprint and Reliance Living: Apparel and Clothing. It
had revenues of approx. Rs. 16 billion in financial year 2012-13 with a store count of
28
7. Reliance Market, Reliance market - Wholesale cash n Carry: It had revenues of
approx. Rs. 1.6 billion in financial year 2012-13.

15. Organizational structure of Reliance Smart:
ZONAL
MANAGER
CLUSTER MANAGER
AREA MANAGER
STORE MANAGER
ASSISTANT STORE
MANAGER
SUPERVISOR
COMMERCIAL ASSOCIATE
CUSTOMER SERVICE
ASSOCIATE

16. PRODUCT MIX AT RELIANCE SMART :
PRODUCT MIX OF RELIANCE FRESH
PRODUCT MIX OF RELIANCE SMART
FRUITS &VEGETABLES
STAPLE
STAPLE
STAPLES
PF, BEVERAGE, F&V
NON-FOOD FMCG

17. Food Retail Chain at Reliance SMART:

18. COMPETITORS OF RELIANCE SMART :
1. LULU HYPERMART
2. MORE
3. BIG BAZAR
4. PRIYOM MART
5. BISMI HYPERMART

19. Future Plans :
The company's flagship chain Reliance Fresh sells staples and food items under Reliance
Select
Nearly 30 months ago, Reliance Industries announced an ambitious plans to invest Rs 25,000
crore (Rs 250 billion) to expand its stores in the country to take the advantage of organised
retail in the country.
Initially, the company was planning to open 2,000 stores by 2008, and 5,000 stores by 2010,
but due to a delay in delivery of properties, economic downturn and demand slump the
company had to scale back its expansion plans.
Reliance Retail runs over 850 stores, which include stores for food and grocery, consumer
durables, beauty and wellness, jewellery, footwear, among others.
Its formats such as apparel chain Reliance Trends, beauty and wellness format Reliance
Wellness, consumer durable chain Reliance Digital have private labels or are in the process
of launching private labels.
"The whole idea of private labels is based on pricing and retailers get enough volumes on
their shelf at marginal costing. Retailers have an opportunity to sell their private labels to
kirana stores.
But it depends on their strategy on pricing and marketing right products," said Naimish Dave,
a director with OC & C Strategy Consultants.

20. Retailing formats in India
 Malls:
The largest form of organized retailing today. Located mainly in metro cities, in
proximity to urban outskirts. Ranges from 60,000 sq ft to 7,00,000 sq ft and above. They lend
an ideal shopping experience with an amalgamation of product, service and entertainment; all
under a common roof. Examples include Shoppers Stop, Piramyd, Pantaloon..
 Specialty Stores:
Chains such as the Bangalore based Kids Kemp, the Mumbai books retailer Crossword,
RPG's Music World and the Times Group's music chain Planet M, are focusing on specific
market segments and have established themselves strongly in their sectors.
 Discount Stores:
As the name suggests, discount stores or factory outlets, offer discounts on the MRP
through selling in bulk reaching economies of scale or excess stock left over at the season. The
product category can range from a variety of perishable/Non-perishable goods
 Department Stores:
Large stores ranging from 20000-50000 sq. ft, catering to a variety of consumer needs.
Further classified into localized departments such as clothing, toys, home, groceries, etc.
 Hypermarts/Supermarkets:

21. Large self service outlets, catering to varied shopper needs are termed as Supermarkets.
These are located in or near residential high streets. These stores today contribute to 30% of all
food & grocery organized retail sales. Super Markets can further be classified in to mini
supermarkets typically 1,000 sq ft to 2,000 sq ft and large supermarkets ranging from of 3,500
sq ft to 5,000 sq ft. having a strong focus on food & grocery and personal sales.examples Big
Bazar, Reliance hypermart.
 Convenience Stores:
These are relatively small stores 400-2,000 sq. feet located near residential areas. They
stock a limited range of high-turnover convenience products and are usually open for extended
periods during the day, seven days a week. Prices are slightly higher due to the convenience
premium.
 MBO’s :
Multi Brand outlets, also known as Category Killers, offer several brands across a single
product
Challenges facing the Indian Organized Retail sector :
The challenges facing the Indian organized retail sector are various and these are stopping the
Indian retail industry from reaching its full potential.
I) Changing Consumer Purchasing Patterns:
The behaviour pattern of the Indian consumer have undergone a major change. This has
happened for the Indian consumer is earning more now, western influences, women working
force is increasing, desire for luxury items and better quality. He now wants to eat, shop, and
get entertained under the same roof. All these have lead the Indian organized retail sector to

22. give more in order to satisfy the Indian customer.
II) Lack of Retail Space:
With real estate prices escalating due to increase in demand from the Indian organized retail
sector, it is posing a challenge to its growth. With Indian retailers having to shell out more for
retail space it is effecting there overall profitability in retail.
III) Shortage of Trained Man Power:
The Indian retailers have difficultly in finding trained person and also have to pay more in
order to retain them. This again brings down the Indian retailers profit levels.
IV) Poor Supply Chain
It is the supply chain that ensures to the customer in all the various offerings that a company
decide for its customers, be it cost, service, or the quickness in responding to ever changing
tastes of the customer.
The infrastructure in India in terms of road, rail, and air links are not sufficient. This make a
poor supply chain and companies have to depend upon warehousing.

23. Objectives :
1 To understand various marketing strategies that can be adopted
2 To understand pricing strategies which is adopted by Reliance Smart

24. Various Marketing Strategies that can be adopted
Mass Marketing
Major corporations need to drive large numbers of purchasing of their products in
order to survive and grow. While mass marketing may seem like a shotgun approach
to marketing this is far from the truth. Big businesses spend big money in
understanding big data–thats a lot of bigs!) This gives them an insight to where to
place media for their potential national customers who buy their products and
services. Walmart is an example of an effective mass market retailer. As the number
one retailer in the world, they are very smart about their mass marketing efforts, often
giving their customers a feeling of locality and warmth.
Benefits of Mass Marketing
Since the target audience is broad, the number of successful hits is high despite the
low probability of a single person turning up, and if all the efforts in one particular
area goes in vain, the eventual loss is less compared to one in a narrowly focused area.
Production costs per unit are low on account of having one production run for
homogeneous product, and marketing research/advertising costs are also relatively
low as well, which, as a whole, leads to higher potentials of sales volume and
efficiency of scale in a much larger market.
Drawbacks of Mass Marketing
Due to increased competition and the complexity of consumers’ wants and needs in
today’s society, Bennett and Strydom (2001) suggest that mass marketing campaigns
are less likely to be successful; as consumers have a range of specific tastes and
requirements that they would more likely find in alternative products.

25. Direct Marketing
Communicate directly with customers and prospects through mail, email, texts, fliers and
other promotional material.
Direct marketing is a form of advertising which allows businesses and nonprofit
organizations to communicate directly to customers through a variety of media including cell
phone text messaging, email, websites, online adverts, database marketing, fliers, catalog
distribution, promotional letters and targeted television, newspaper and magazine
advertisements as well as outdoor advertising. Among practitioners, it is also known as direct
response.
Benefits of direct marketing
Direct marketing is attractive to many marketers because its positive results can be measured
directly. For example, if a marketer sends out 1,000 solicitations by mail and 100 respond to
the promotion, the marketer can say with confidence that campaign led directly to 10% direct
responses. This metric is known as the 'response rate,' and it is one of many clearly
quantifiable success metrics employed by direct marketers. In contrast, general advertising
uses indirect measurements, such as awareness or engagement, since there is no direct
response from a consumer. Measurement of results is a fundamental element in successful
direct marketing.
One of the other significant benefits of Direct Marketing is, it enables promoting products or
services that might not have a strong brand. Products or service with a sound value
proposition, matched with an attractive offer, supported with effective communication,
delivered through a suitable direct marketing channel and targeting the relevant customer
segment can result in very effective cost of acquisition albeit the brand might be relatively
unknown. Relative to other channels of distribution (say retailing) Direct Marketing as a
practice principally relies on the proposition, offer, communication, choice of channel and the
target customer and so less dependent on the brand strength.
The Internet has made it easier for marketing managers to measure the results of a campaign.
This is often achieved by using a specific website landing page directly relating to the
promotional material. A call to action will ask the customer to visit the landing page, and the
effectiveness of the campaign can be measured by taking the number of promotional
messages distributed and dividing it into the number of responses. Another way to measure
the results is to compare the projected sales or generated leads for a given term with the
actual sales or leads after a direct advertising campaign.

26. Inbound Marketing
Companies often have customers calling them for various reasons. This can present a great
opportunity to sell customers additional products and services they currently don’t have.
When business customers call to check their balances, the business bank Chase often takes
the opportunity to ask if they are interest in a credit line, a 401 k plan, or a variety of other
services the bank offers.
Inbound marketing provides information, an improved customer experience and builds trust
by offering potential customers information they value via company sponsored newsletters,
blogs and entries on social media platformsMarketing strategist David Meerman Scott says
that inbound marketing allows marketers to "earn their way" into a customer's awareness
rather than invading their awareness through paid advertisements.
The term "inbound marketing" was coined by HubSpot CEO Brian Halligan and is
synonymous with the concept of Permission Marketing, a 1999 book by Seth Godin.
Compared with outbound marketing, inbound reverses the relationship between company and
customer. In fact, while outbound marketing is going to push the product through various
channels, inbound marketing creates awareness, attracts and helps new customers with
channels like blogs, social media, direct mail etc.
Cross-Media Marketing
Provide customers information through multiple channels like email, physical mail, websites,
and print and online advertisements to cross promote your products and services.
Cross-media marketing is a form of cross-promotion in which promotional companies
commit to surpassing traditional advertisement techniques and decide to include extra appeals
to the products they offer. The material can be communicated by any mass media such as e-
mails, letters, web pages, or other recruiting sources. This method can be extremely
successful for publishers because the marketing increases the ad’s profit from a single
advertiser. Furthermore, this tactic generates a good liaison between the advertiser and the
publisher, which also boosts the profits.
One of the first steps to integrate cross media tactics effectively into a specific project is to
evaluate and examine a customer’s preferences:
 Scheduling: When should I contact the customer?
 Rate: What is the correct time frame to leave between the delivery of my first, second and
third message to the customer?
 Pacing: How frequently should I check up on the customer?
 Incidence: If a customer is not responding, how long should I continue to pursue the
offer?

27. Customized offers
For mail, companies use the information collected from their customer analysis to provide the
individuals with personalized letters or upcoming offers. On the internet, customization
permits users to have access to exclusive messaging. In addition, the VDP assists the
marketing process by talking to each specific group of customers and giving them personal
attention rather than treating them all the same way. This consumer and company process is
very common in large online retailers such as Amazon.com. The more personalized an offer
is to the target audience, the more prone they are to react positively.
Some of the data that can be investigated to strengthen personalizing the offer includes:
 Personal information including the customer’s age, gender and the environment where
they live (town, city, etc.);
 Calculating the date of expiration of a customer’s magazine subscription is very
important because then the marketing company is able send the individual a notice about
re-subscribing;
 Keeping track of a customer’s involvement and acceptance rate in the company’s offers
is very essential. If a customer is providing the company with constant business than
sending them an offer for in store redemption is common courtesy.
B2B Marketing
Business-to-business marketing is a marketing practice of individuals or organizations
(including commercial businesses, governments, and other institutions). It allows businesses
to sell products or services to other companies or organizations that in turn resell the same
products or services, use them to augment their own products or services, or use them to
support their internal operations. International Business Machines is a well known B2B
marketer. IBM’s business has grown because taking a very intelligent approach at marketing
their products to other business and governments around the world.

28. Promotional Marketing
Promotional marketing is a business marketing strategy designed to stimulate a customer to
take action towards a buying decision. Promotional marketing is a technique that includes
various incentives to buy, such as:
 Contests: We all enjoy winning something for free. Contests offer an attractive marketing
vehicle for small business to acquire new clients and create awareness.

29.  Coupons: According to CMS, a leading coupon processing agent, marketers issued 302
billion coupons in 2007, a 6% increase over the previous year. Over 76% of the population
use coupons, according to the Promotion Marketing Association (PMA) Coupon Council.
Coupons still work and provide an affordable marketing strategy for small business.
 Sampling: Try before you buy. Giving away product might appear profit-limiting, but
consider how giving your customers a small taste can lead to a big purchase. Retail genius
Publix supermarkets share samples of their award-winning key lime pie not because people
question the goodness of the pie but to get their customers to buy more.
Brand Lover Marketing
Brand Lover Marketing is a marketing concept that is intended to replace the idea of
traditional brand marketing. Brands are running out of juice and Brand Lovers are what is
needed to rescue brands. But what builds loyalty that goes beyond reason? What makes a
truly great brand stand out? Brand Lovers bring brands to life. For a brand to elevate itself
into the “Cult Brand” category, it has to give customers a feeling of belonging while
generating strong feelings of love for its customers. Creating loyalty beyond reason requires

30. emotional connections that generate the highest levels of love and a sense of belonging for
your brand.
Contact us to discuss how you can better prepare for what’s ahead. We can help you identify
ways for your organization to tap into the power of cult branding, create value, and ultimately
thrust your performance.
Various Pricing Strategies Adopted
There are many outside influences that affect profitability and a retailer's bottom line.
Setting the right price is a crucial step toward achieving that profit. Retailers are in
business to make a profit, but figuring out what and how to price products may not
come easily.
Before we can determine which retail pricing strategy to use in setting the right price,
we must know the costs associated with the products.
Two key elements in factoring product cost are the cost of goods and the amount
of operating expense.
The cost of goods includes the amount paid for the product, plus any shipping or
handling expenses. The cost of operating the business, or operating expense, includes
overhead, payroll, marketing, and office supplies.
Regardless of the pricing strategy used, the retail price of the products should more
than cover the cost of obtaining the goods plus the expenses related to operating the
business. A retailer simply cannot succeed in business if they continue to sell their
products below cost.
Retail Pricing Strategies
Now that we understand what our products actually cost, we should look at how our
competition is pricing their products. Retailers will also need to examine their
channels of distribution and research what the market is willing to pay.
Many pricing strategies exist and each is used based on particular a set of
circumstances.
Markup Pricing
The markup on cost can be calculated by adding a pre-set (often industry
standard) profit margin, or percentage, to the cost of the merchandise.
The mark up on retail is determined by dividing the dollar markup by retail.

31. Be sure to keep the initial markup high enough to cover price reductions, discounts,
shrinkage and other anticipated expenses, and still achieve a satisfactory profit.
Retailers with a varied product selection can use different markups on each product
line.
Vendor Pricing
Manufacturer suggested retail price (MSRP) is a common strategy used by the
smaller retail shops to avoid price wars and still maintain a decent profit. Some
suppliers have minimum advertised prices but also suggest the retail pricing. By
pricing products with the suggested retail prices supplied by the vendor, the retailer is
out of the decision-making process. Another issue with using pre-set prices is that it
doesn't allow a retailer to have an advantage over the competition.
Competitive Pricing
Consumers have many choices and are generally willing to shop around to receive the
best price. Retailers considering a competitive pricing strategy will need to provide
outstanding customer service to stand above the competition.
Pricing below competition simply means pricing products lower than the
competitor's price. This strategy works well if the retailer negotiates the best prices,
reduces costs and develops a marketing strategy to focus on price specials.
Prestige pricing, or pricing above competition, may be considered when location,
exclusivity or unique customer service can justify higher prices. Retailers that stock
high-quality merchandise that isn't available at any other location may be quite
successful in pricing their products above competitors.

32. CHAPTER 2

33. Literature Review
Marketing strategy has been a salient focus of academic inquiry since the 1980s, according
to(Mavondo 2000). There are numerous definitions of marketing strategy in the literature and
suchdefinitions reflect different perspectives (Li et al 2000). A traditional definition of
marketing strategy
is a plan for pursuing the firm’s objectives or how the company is going to obtain its
marketing goals with a specific market segment (Orville and Walker 2008; Theodosio,
Leonidus, 2003; Kotler,Armstrong, 2009) while Brodrechtova (2008) explains that marketing
strategy is a roadmap of how afirm assigns its resource and relates to its environment and
achieves corporate objective in order togenerate economic value and keep the firm ahead of
its competitors. In laymen terms it is todetermine the nature, strength, direction, and
interaction between the marketing mix-elements and theenvironmental factors in a particular
situation (Li et al 2000). According to Levie (2006), the aim of the development of an
organization’s marketing strategy development is to establish, build, defend and maintain its
competitive advantage. A thorough analysis of the newest scientific articles onstrategic
management and organisational behaviour indicates that 71% of them analyse company
performance as a dependent variable, 12% of them analyse it as an independent variable
while 11% of the studies analyse performance as a dependent as well as an independent
variable (March and Sutton1997).Firm’s performance
, on the other hand, is a well established measure in marketing literature. Wemeasure it
through sales volume, profitability and market share for the current period (current
firmperformance), and perceived satisfaction with these measures when considering the
previous year.(Past firm performance)
Doherty and Ellis-Chadwick classified the studies of retailing into three categories . The first
category is the studies from customer perspective, taking the focus on customer online
purchasing behavior and psychology. The second category is the studies from retailer(i.e.,
company) perspective, taking the focus on the retailing management, such as business model
design and online store management. The third category is those from technology
perspective, taking the focus on the innovation of emerging IT for the online retailing
management.

34. CHAPTER 3

35. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY :
SAMPLE SIZE -
In this research, we have to interact with customer comes in the store.On the basis of
particular questionnaire .We interacted with more than 50 customers but due to un
availability of all the responses we taken into consideration the responses of 30 respondent.
PRIMARY DATA-
I collected primary data as I collected responses through QUESTIONNAIRE . So it was the
primary source of data collection.Moreover I interacted with customer and interviewed
them.So this was the primary data that I have collected.

36. CHAPTER 4

37. Data Analysis and Interpretation
1. Were you aware of promotional offers at Reliance Smart ?
ANALYSIS AND SUGGESTION :
Floor area defines the key ambience of the store.
54 % people agree that they were aware of promotional offers available and 46% people deny
this point of view.
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
YES
NO
PROMOTIONAL OFFERS

38. Promotions is very important aspect from the point of view of a customer . A customer want
to see him at a right place for shopping. if floors will be full of dust then, what is the
differentiation we are creating in our stores and a local market shop.
Spot fill during the shopping hour is the main reason that a customer point out for a lot of
unwanted and unsettled product on the floor.
2. Were the promotions marked clearly and accurately?
ANALYSIS AND SUGGESTION :
62 % of the people agree with the dislay of price is quite understandable.
Every customer can’t provide an employee from the company to guide them on the detail of
price of each and every product . So, an effective display of [price is better option but it must
be in that manners which is quite understandable to the customers.
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
YES NO
PROMOTIONS MARKED CLEARLY AND
ACCURATELY

39. Somewhere problems like non-display of the price happens.In reliance fresh stores, every
product is provided with SEL(Shelf Edge Label) which carries price,date of that label’s
attachment and the ENR no of the product.
3. Were the promotion well displayed?
ANALYSIS AND SUGGESTION :
72 % of the total respondent satisfied with the promotions of the Reliance Fresh/Smart.
Promotion are the main reason a person comes in the store.Some people came just for the
purchase the promotional items.
Promotion must be quite understandable,acceptable and effective.there are more spaces for
the promotion.There are not much of the promotion of the products.
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
YES NO
PROMOTION WELL DISPLAYED

40. 5. Were the promotion easy to understand?
ANALYSIS AND SUGGESTION :
61% of the respondent agreed on that promotion in the stores are easy to understand.
Promotion is only then beneficial if it is understandable if it is not then space and money both
are waste.
There were a lot of promotion but to make them aware to the customers need employees
assistance.Employees must take charge to tell the customer about the on going promotions.
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
YES
NO
PROMOTION EASY TO UNDERSTAND

41. CHAPTER 5

42. Findings and conclusion
Findings
My findings and observation were based on the following parameters :
 Ambience of the store.
A retail store may offer the best of products at the best bargains, but it is all fruitless if
there are no people walking through the door. It is the first thing the customer sees
before entering your store; the storefront. It makes good sense to focus your creative
energies on how the signage and storefront look like. The business name should be
clear and well defined. Its look should be refreshed and spruced up once in a while;
you obviously don’t want your customers to get the feel that your signage was made
sometime in the 90s when now it is almost 2017.
 Different product categories in the store.
Companies always attempt to maximize the profit and revenues over the entire life cycle of a
product. In order to achieving the desired level of profit, the introduction of the new product
at the proper time is crucial. If new product is appealing to consumer and no stiff competition
is out there, company can charge high prices and earn high profits.
 Prices of different products
Well, anything that goes into the final unit of sale should be included. Then we’ll add a little
bit for variable costs (to average things out).
 Employees behaviour.

43. Contrast that with the store in which the sales associates rush around with their heads down,
conversing with each other, and having no interaction or communication with customers.
Their peripheral vision allows them to see you when you’re approaching, and then they
quickly make a beeline for the stock room in a clear act of avoidance.
 Additional services like home delivery or parking facilities.
By providing various additional facilities like home delivery /parking facility how the sales
in the store increases.
 Product availability.
Keeping products on the shelves and available to customers is a vital part of the retail
business. Increasing inventory or in-store labour isn’t the only way to drive down out-of-
stocks: significant gains can be achieved at much lower cost by improving the way on-shelf
availability is measured and managed.
 Freshness of products.
Despite inflationary heat impacting many of our wallets, fresh foods continue to maintain
healthy sales contributions at retail. In fact, fresh foods can comprise between 30-60 percent
of total food, grocery and personal care expenses on average, depending on country and type
of fresh product. Let’s face it, fresh foods are high-traffic volume boosters. They are a staple
to a healthy diet and we shop for fresh foods often.
 Store’s own brand popularity.
Store brands are a line of products strategically branded by a retailer within a single brand
identity. They bear a similarity to the concept of house brands, private label
brands (PLBs) . They are distinct in that a store brand is managed solely by the retailer for
sale in only a specific chain of store. The retailer will design the manufacturing, packaging
and marketing of the goods in order to build on the relationship between the products and the
store's customer base. Store-brand goods are generally cheaper than national-brand goods,
because the retailer can optimize the production to suit consumer demand and
reduce advertising costs.

44. REFERENCES
o https://em.wikipedia.com,relianceretial
o https://www.retailfranchiseindia.com
o https://www.retailcostomes.com
o https://wwwvendhq.com
o https://www.nielsen.com
o https://www.oliverwyman.com
o https://www.relianceretail.com
o https://www.reliancesmart.com
o
Magazines, Articles & Journals
o Marketing management Phlip Kotler
o https://thebalance.com
o https://www.quora.com
Bibliography
o Mavondo 2000
o Li et al 2000
o Orville and Walker 2008
o Kotler and Amstrong 2009
o Brodrechtova 2008
o Levie 2006

45. Questionnaire
Are you aware of promotional offers at Reliance Smart
A. Yes
B. No
If yes, what was the mode of communication
A. TV
B. Newspaper
C. Hoardings
D. Leaflets
E. SMS
Did you notice/ hear about the promotional offers today (Promo Fruit , Hot Spot )
A. Yes
B. No
How frequently you visit Reliance Smart
A. Occasionally
B. Once in a month
C. Once in a week
D. Daily
E. As and when required
The Promotional offers at Reliance Smart are attractive and induce me to make a purchase
A. Strongly Agree
B. Agree
C. Neither Agree / Nor Disagree
D. Disagree
E. Strongly Disagree
For which price range of products/brands you expect promotional offers
A Clothing

46. I. 0-200
II. 200-300
III. 300-400
IV. 400-500
B Groceries
I. 0-50
II. 50-100
III. 100-150
IV. 150-200
C Eletronic Items
I. 0-500
II. 500-1000
III. 1000 above
Have you availed any offers during your recent visits
A. Yes
B. No
Do you communicate offers at Reliance Smart to your friends/ relatives
A. Yes
B. No
Please rate similarities between following retail stores of 1-5
1 2 3 4 5
Lulu vs
Reliance
Lulu vs More
Lulu vs
Bismi
Lulu vs Big
Bazar
Lulu vs
Priyom Mart
Lulu vs
Marginfree
Reliance vs
Bismi
Reliance vs
Priyom Mart
Reliance vs
More
Reliance vs
Marginfree
Reliance Vs
Big Bazar
More vs
Bismi
More vs Big
Bazar

47. More vs
Priyom mart
More vs
Marginfree
Big Bazar vs
Marginfree
Big Bazar vs
Priyom Mart
Priyom Mart
vs
Marginfree

48. Interpretation
From the above graph it is clearly that there will be no similarities between any retail stores