A STUDY ON CUSTOMER SATISFACTION, PURCHASE PATTERN TOWARDS NILGIRIS SUPERMARKET COIMBATORE CITY

MR. K.C.PRAKASH AND MR. P.G.DHAMOTHARAN

K.C.Prakash, B.Sc.,(Agri), MBA. Department of Agricultural and Rural Management, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore -641003. k.c.prakash26@gmail.com Mobile no: 7708492443.

P.G.Dhamotharan, B.Sc.,(Agri), MBA. Department of Agricultural and Rural Management, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore -641003. dhamu.agri@gmail.com Mobile no: 9842086535,

Dr.P.Paramasivam Professor, Department of Agricultural Economics, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore- 641 003 Mobile no: 9442344051

INTRODUCTION
The Nilgiris since 1905 House of convenience Foods. The Nilgiris Dairy farm was started at Charles Villa, Vannarpet near concord in the year 1904. Sri S. Muthuswamy Mudaliar is the founder of the Nilgiris Dairy farm. Due to good principles of business and service mindedness, he developed the business and enjoyed great goodwill and reputation. In 1939 it established a shop at conoor. In 1970, Nilgiris was converted as private Ltd Company. Then in 1971 Supermarket was started at Bangalore. In 1974 Nilgiris Nest was started at Bangalore. Finally in 1994 they started a Supermarket, Nest, and Restaurant in Coimbatore. PROBLEM FOCUS: Nilgiris Supermarket supplies various grocery items and dairy products. There is a strong competition among other supermarkets in the city. In this context it is essential for a firm to understand the consumers, their satisfaction level, buying pattern and competitors position in the market. Information on customer satisfaction and comparison will be helpful for formulating the marketing strategies. Hence a study has been undertaken to examine satisfaction level, purchase pattern and comparison with other super markets in the Coimbatore city. OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY: 1. To measure the level of customer satisfaction towards nilgiris supermarket, 2. To assess the purchase pattern of products available in nilgris supermarket, 3. To study the relationship of income level and purchase pattern of consumers, 4. To give suggestions to nilgiris firm in improving the satisfaction level.

CONCEPTS AND REVIEW

Consumer: Glenn (1974) defined consumer as an individual who purchased, or had the capacity to purchase, goods and services offered for sale by marketing institutions in order to satisfy personal or household needs, wants and desires. Nagendra (1994) defined consumer as a person who bought goods or services for own use and needs. Bhatt (1985) Consumer is an individual who consumes goods, whether manufactured by business unit or created by nature such as air, water, etc and utilities offered by the government, business organizations like hospitals, religious, educational and voluntary organization etc. Kotler (2000) Consumers

included all the individuals & house holds who buy or acquire goods & services for personal consumption Satisfaction: Howard, John a. and J.N.Sheth.(1969). The theory of bayer behavior. Howard and sheth (1969) defined satisfaction as the buyers cognitive state of being adequately or inadequately rewarded for the sacrifices he has undergone. Oliver (1997) defined satisfaction as the consumers fulfilment response. It is a judgement that a product or service feature, or the product or service itself, provided a pleasurable level of consumption related fulfillment. Saxena (2002) Customer satisfaction is a function of customers expectation from the firm. Expectation shape a customers perception of the products or firms performance. Thus, Customer satisfaction = Customer expectation Perception Purchase pattern: Typical manner in which consumers purchase goods or services or firms place their purchase orders in terms of amount, frequency, timing, etc. REF: www.businessdictionary .com

DESIGN OF THE STUDY

SAMPLING DESIGN: A purposive sampling method was followed for selecting the customers SAMPLE SIZE: The sample size for the survey was 60 (60 sample for customer satisfaction and purchase pattern) SAMPLE AREA: The Sample area is Coimbatore city. TOOLS OF ANALYSIS: 1. PERCENTAGE ANALYSIS, 2. SCALING TECHNIQUE: Differential scaling technique was used for analyzing satisfaction of customers towards Nilgiris supermarket. 3. CHI-SQUARE ANALYSIS: Chi square test was used to analysis is there any relationship between the income level of customers and purchase pattern.

SURVEY FINDINGS:
1. CONSUMER PROFILE The general characteristics of the sample respondents included the age, Gender, educational status, occupation, income category, family size, and number of ed ucated 3

persons in the family, working members in the family, monthly income of the family and influence of family members on the purchase. The data on the general characteristics of the respondents were analyzed to understand their purchase pattern. It could be inferred from the Table 1, that most of the sample respondents (40.00 per cent) belonged to the age group of 31 40, majority of the sample respondents (53.33 per cent) were female, majority of sample respondent were married (70 per cent), 100 per cent of the sample respondents were literates, maximum number of respondent were private employees (22.22 per cent) and 40.00 per cent of the in the study area belonged to very high income group. 2. CONSUMER SATISFACTION LEVEL To measure the customer satisfaction level towards nilgiris supermarket, the factors taken into account for analysis are value, availability, and arrangement, of the products in nilgiris store & ambience level of satisfaction towards the supermarket. The data collected were analyzed to know the satisfaction level. Nilgiris supermarket customers are highly satisfied with quality (56.67 per cent) followed by Service (26.66 per cent). Customers are satisfied with continuous availability of products (70.00 per cent), followed by variety of products available in FMCG (63.33 per cent), Customers are satisfied with the staff understanding the specific needs of customers (66.67 per cent) followed by they are willing to help the customers (66.67 per cent). Customers are satisfied with all the parameters in the arrangement of products but highly satisfied in locating the product and easy billing, Customers are highly satisfied with location of supermarket (56.66 per cent) followed by Mall decoration (43.33 per cent).
3. PURCHASE PATTERN OF RESPONDENT TOWARDS NILGIRI SUPERMARKET:

To measure the customer purchase pattern towards nilgiris supermarket, the factors taken into account for analysis are type of product purchase, time preferred to purchase, frequency of purchase, time spent in supermarket, monthly purchase, mode of payment.. The data collected were analyzed to know the purchase pattern of customers. Mostly about 52 & 40 number of respondent purchase their FMCG & Groceries in nilgiris and only 12 number of respondent purchase their fruits and vegetables in

nilgiris supermarket. Customers mostly preferred purchasing time slot was evening (50 per cent), as majority were salaried people shopping after their office hours, It could be inferred that brand name (43.33 per cent) and quality (36.67 per cent) to be considered as a major factor for determining the purchase of products by the customers, the frequency of visit was monthly (36.67 per cent) in most cases followed by weekly and fortnight, average time spent was found to be less than <1 hr in the outlet about (66.67 per cent) followed by 1-2 hr (26.67 per cent), Monthly Purchase of Respondent was found between 2001-4000 (26.67 per cent) in most cases followed by less than 2000 (23.33 per cent). the mode of payment was by cash (63.34 per cent) by the majority of respondent, majority of Respondents made their purchases (83.33 per cent) whereas only about 16.67 per cent didnt purchase on that day, most of the respondents said they would recommend to others (73.33 per cent) whereas only about 26.67 per cent said they wont recommend but they will buy in future also. ASSOCIATION BETWEEN INCOME AND PURCHASE PATTERN The Association between income and purchase pattern were analyzed in this section. The chi square test is used at 5% level of significance. The analyzed results were given in the following bivariate table 22. Null hypothesis (h0): There is No significant association between income and monthly purchase Alternate hypothesis (h1): There is significant association between income and monthly purchase At 5% level of significance, the table shows that the chi square calculated value is 13.99, Degrees of freedom: 6 and the Table value: 12.59. Since table value is less than calculated value, we reject null hypothesis. Hence there is close association between income and amount of purchase. ASSOCIATION BETWEEN INCOME AND FREQUENCY OF VISIT: The Association between income and frequency of visit were analyzed in this section. The chi square test is used at 5% level of significance. The analyzed results were given in the following bivariate table 23. Null hypothesis (h0): There is No significant association between income and frequency of visit 5

Alternate hypothesis (h1): There is significant association between income and frequency of visit At 5% level of significance, the table shows that the chi square calculated value is

13.46, Degrees of freedom: 15 and the Table value: 24.99. Since table value is greater than calculated value, we accept null hypothesis. Hence there is no close association between income and frequency of visit.

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION

FINDINGS: The study reveals the following findings, Maximum respondent belongs to age group 31-40 years About 70% of respondent are married Maximum respondent are of females (53.34%), playing very high role in purchasing products. The majority of samples are graduate about 53.33%. 22.22% of respondent are a private employee. About 40% of respondent are belong to more than 40000rs. Income level (high income group). 56% of the respondents are highly satisfied with quality of products. 63% of respondents are satisfied with the availability of variety of FMCG 66.67% of respondent are highly satisfied with billing system. 56% of respondent are highly satisfied with location of supermarket. About 56.66% of the customers are overall satisfied 50% of respondent are used to purchase in evening time. 36% of respondent are monthly purchaser About 66% of customer will spent less than 1hr in supermarket. Mostly the payment is done through cash (63%). 50% of respondent is purchasing for more than 4000 rupees in supermarket.

SUGGESTIONS: Based upon the survey, most of the respondents are expecting reduction in price for nilgiris branded item. In order to increase more profit level, necessary care should be taken for fruits and

vegetable section. Respondents are expecting adequate space for parking. Regular customers are expecting some reduction from MRP rate. Customers should be provided with discount /offers to attract and retain the customers Availability of baby products is limited in variety.

CHAPTER VI - BIBLIOGRAPHY
REFERENCES: Glenn 1974, Customer Satisfaction towards Retail Stores. Indian Journal of Marketing, pp.26, 31. Howard, John a. and J.N.Sheth.1969. The theory of buyer behavior. Indian journal of marketing, pp 12-18. Kotler Philip 2000, Marketing Management, Prentice Hall of India Pvt Ltd, New Delhi, pp.13, 19. Nagendra, K.1994. Marketing of vegetables. Marketaoogy, IMM,Delhi, pp.13 Oliver 1997, A Study of marketing of commercial flowers in Maharastra. Indian journal of marketing, Jan 08, pp.8. Saxena 2002. Marketing of agricultural products. Indian journal of marketing, pp .29 Richard B Chase, F Robert Jacobs, Nicholas J Aquilano, Nitin K Agarwal 1985. Operations Management For Competitive Advantage, Tata McGraw-Hill Publishing Company Limited, New Delhi, pg.358-360 Website: www.indiainbusiness.nic.in

Table 1. Consumer profile

S. No 1. 2. 3. 4. S.No 1 2. S.No 1 2. S. No 1. 2. 3. S. No 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. S. No 1. 2. 3. 4.

Age of the respondents (years) <30 31-40 41-50 >51 Gender Male Female Marital status Single Married Educational Qualification Up to high school Graduate Post Graduate Occupational Status Govt. Employee Private employee Student Business House wife Others Family Income (Rs/month) <20000 20001-30000 30001-40000 >40001

No. of respondents 30 36 15 09 No. of Respondents 42 48 No. of Respondents 27 63 No .of Respondents 18 48 24 No. of Respondents 15 20 17 18 16 04 No. of Respondents 9 24 21 36

Percent 33.33 40.00 16.67 10.00 Percent 46.67 53.33 Percent 30.00 70.00 Percent 20.00 53.33 26.67 Percent 16.66 22.22 18.89 20.00 17.78 4.44 Percent 10.00 26.67 23.33 40.00

2. CONSUMER SATISFACTION LEVEL:

Table 7. Value for the products in nilgiris supermarket

category PRICE SERVICE VALUE FOR MONEY QUALITY Highly satisfied Count percent 6 16 10 26.66 Satisfied count 28 38 Percent 46.67 63.33 Neutral count 12 6 Percent 20 10 Dissatisfied count 14 0 percent 23.34 0

(n=60)
Highly dissatisfied count percent 0 0 0 0 Mean score 3.43 4.16

10

22

36.67

30

50

3.34

3.53

34

56.67

22

36.67

6.67

4.5

Table 8. Availability for products in nilgiris supermarket

Category Highly satisfied Coun percen t t 20 33.33 Satisfied coun t 38 Percen t 63.33 Neutral coun t 2 Percen t 3.34 Dissatisfied coun t 0 percen t 0

(n=60)
Highly dissatisfied coun Percen t t 0 0 Mea n scor e 4.3

VARIEY FMCG CONTINUO US AvailabilityFMCG FMCG products for all income group GROCERIES Fresh fruits & vegetables

12

20

42

70

10

4.1

13.33

16

26.67

18

30

20

33.33

3.3

12 6

20 10

30 18

50 30

16 24

26.67 40

2 12

3.33 20

0 0

0 0

3.86 3.3

Table 9: Employees in nilgiris supermarket

Category Staff explain product details Interest in solving problem Willing to help Specific needs Highly satisfied Count percent Satisfied count 36 Percent Neutral count Percent Dissatisfied count percent

(n=60)
Highly dissatisfied count percent Mean score

10

60

16

26.67

3.33

3.76

13.33

36

60

16

26.67

0 0

3.86

8 12

13.33

40

66.67

12

20

3.93

20

40

66.67

13.33

3.33

4.13

Table 10: Arrangement of product in nilgiris supermarket

Category Location of product Easy billing Visibility of price board Space for moving trolley Category arrangement FMCG Highly satisfied Count percent 36 40 10 24 60 66.67 16.67 40 Satisfied count 24 20 38 28 Percent 40 33.33 63.33 46.67 Neutral count 0 0 12 6 Percent 0 0 20 10 Dissatisfied count 0 0 4 0 percent 0 0 6.67 0

(n=60)
Highly dissatisfied count percent 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Mean score 4.6 4.67 4.1 4.16

30

50

24

40

10

4.4

Table 11: Ambience level of satisfaction in nilgiris supermarket

Highly satisfied Count percent 26 43.33 0 34 0 56.66 Satisfied count 28 14 22 Percent 46.66 23.33 36.66 Neutral count 6 36 4 Percent 10 60 6.66 Dissatisfied count 0 10 0 percent 0 16.67 0

(n=60)
Highly dissatisfied count percent 0 0 0 0 0 0

Category Mall decoration Parking space Location

Mean score 4.33 3.06 4.5

3.PURCHASE PATTERN OF RESPONDENT TOWARDS NILGIRI SUPERMARKET: Table 13. Purchase of product
Particulars FMCG Fruits &Veg Groceries Local Stores 0 42 5 Nilgiris 52 12 40 Others 8 6 15

(n=60)
Total 60 60 60

Table 14. Purchase preference

Time Slot Morning Afternoon Evening Any time Total No. of respondents 4 12 30 14 60

(n=60)
Percentage 6.67 20 50 23.33 100.00

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Table 15:factors for choosing a product

S.No. 1 2 3 4 5 6. Particulars Price Brand name Promotion and offers Packaging Quality Others Total No. of respondents 4 26 0 4 22 4 60

(n=60)
Percentage 6.67 43.33 0 6.67 36.67 6.67 100

Table 16: Frequency of Visit

Frequency 1 st time Weekly Fortnight Monthly Daily Rarely Total No. of respondents 4 18 10 22 2 4 60

(n=60)
Percentage 6.67 30.00 16.66 36.67 3.33 6.67 100.00

Table 17. Average Time Spent

Average Time Spent <1 HR 1-2 hr 2-3 hr > 3 hr Total No. of respondents 40 16 4 0 60

(n=60)
Percentage 66.67 26.66 6.67 0 100

Table 18. Monthly Purchase

Monthly Purchase <2000 2001-4000 >4000 TOTAL

(n=60)
Percentage 23.33 26.67 50 100

No. of respondents 14 16 30 60

Table 19: mode of payment

Mode Cash Credit Both Total No. of respondents 38 10 12 60

(n=60)
Percentage 63.34 16.66 20 100

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Table 20: Purchases Made Today

PURCHASE Yes No Total NO. OF RESPONDENT 50 10 60

(n=60)
PERCENTAGE 83.33 16.67 100.00 (n=60) PERCENTAGE 73.33 26.67 100

Table 21 To Recommend Others

RECOMMEND Yes No Total NO. OF RESPONDENT 44 16 60

Table 22. Association Between Income and Purchase Pattern Level of income <20000 amount of m.purchase <2000 2001-4000 >4001 Total 2000130000 6 8 2 16 3000140000 2 2 10 14 >40001 Total

2 2 2 6

4 4 16 24

14 16 30 60

Table 23: Association between Income and frequency of visit Frequency/income <20000 1st time 2 Weekly 0 Fortnight 0 Monthly 2 Daily 0 Rarely 2 6 Total 20001-30000 30001-40000 >40001 1 1 0 5 5 8 4 3 3 5 3 12 0 1 1 1 1 0 16 14 24 Total 4 18 10 22 2 4 60

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