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Waiting is a ubiquitous constituent of many purchase situations. This research investigates the emotional discomfort experienced by customers visiting retail stores in India throughout the checkout process, focusing on three distinct phases: before joining the queue, while waiting, and during billing. The study examines the circumstances and underlying factors that lead to emotional discomfort among customers while they wait at the checkout counter. A cross-sectional survey involving 385 participants was undertaken to evaluate perceptions related to the waiting experience. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was utilized to validate the conceptual model. The study uncovers diverse contributors to emotional discomfort during queueing, such as extended wait times, physical constraints, and perceived time prolongation, highlighting the multifaceted nature of this experience. Notably, the absence of a significant link between emotional discomfort and overall satisfaction implies that, while emotional discomfort is a factor, other elements such as pricing, promotions, and product offerings may exert a more significant influence on customers’ comprehensive satisfaction assessments. The research makes a significant contribution by shedding light on the challenges associated with prolonged waiting times at checkout counters in multi-brand food and grocery retailers. The results provide valuable insights into the emotional experiences of customers during waits and their impact on overall shopping satisfaction.

Waiting is a ubiquitous constituent of many purchase situations. This research investigates the emotional discomfort experienced by customers visiting retail stores in India throughout the checkout process, focusing on three distinct phases: before joining the queue, while waiting, and during billing. The study examines the circumstances and underlying factors that lead to emotional discomfort among customers while they wait at the checkout counter. A cross-sectional survey involving 385 participants was undertaken to evaluate perceptions related to the waiting experience. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was utilized to validate the conceptual model. The study uncovers diverse contributors to emotional discomfort during queueing, such as extended wait times, physical constraints, and perceived time prolongation, highlighting the multifaceted nature of this experience. Notably, the absence of a significant link between emotional discomfort and overall satisfaction implies that, while emotional discomfort is a factor, other elements such as pricing, promotions, and product offerings may exert a more significant influence on customers' comprehensive satisfaction assessments. The research makes a significant contribution by shedding light on the challenges associated with prolonged waiting times at checkout counters in multi-brand food and grocery retailers. The results provide valuable insights into the emotional experiences of customers during waits and their impact on overall shopping satisfaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research unveils the facts and figures about organized retailing in Saudi Arabia and its influence on consumer behavior. This study reviews the literature about different initiatives taken by the retail sector to enhance sales in the retail store. Here, the focus is on how retail strategy has an impact on the buying intention of the consumer. The main aim of this research is to endorse, the various strategies taken by the retail stores and their impact in context to demographic variables. Consequently, the research results point to the fact that organized retail has a significant impact on the buying decision of consumers. It could be said that recent changes in the retail strategy in the kingdom has made a significant impact on the buying intention of the consumer and it has been observed that sales pattern has been increased significantly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Study is aimed at measuring dimensions of Retail Service Quality that has an impact on Customer Satisfaction and Customer Loyalty in organized Food and Grocery Retail shoppers of Bhopal City in central India. Data was collected from 216 food and grocery customers using Convenience Sampling technique through Structured Questionnaire. IBM SPSS 16 software for Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Smart PLS 3.2.6 software for Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) and Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) were used to analyse and validate the Path Model. The SEM results reveal that three factors viz. Physical Aspects, Price and Payment do not have a significant positive influence on Customer Satisfaction. Also, Customer Satisfaction has significant positive influence on Customer Loyalty. The study offers opportunities to organized Food and Grocery Retailers in Central India to focus on these Service Quality Dimensions while formulating strategies for gaining competitive advantage, attracting new customer and at the same time retain old customers by enhancing Customer satisfaction and Customer Loyalty.

Indian retail sector is in the nascent stage, even though India has become an attractive place or target for foreign players due to one of the largest consumer markets in the world. At present, around 92 percent retail sector comes under the unorganized retail and 8 percent of retail belongs to the organized retail. Because of modern style of consumer’s buying behavior, organized retail has become more famous in big cities. Earlier, entry of foreign retailers was restricted in India but now Government has opened its doors wide for single brand retail and only 51 percent FDI is allowed in multi brand retail. The present paper is an attempt to analyze the perceptions of consumers about foreign direct investment (FDI) in retail through questionnaire and interpreted by SPSS software. This research study presents an overview of Indian retail segment, current policy of Foreign Direct Investment in retail and the correlation between the foreign direct investment in retail and consumer purchasing behavior. It also includes the views of consumers for the perception of buying capacity, shopping style, quality of product, brand consciousness and monopoly situation of market.

The human capital of any organization is largely responsible for its success or failure. Therefore, the human resource management (HRM) functions play an important and catalytic part in providing a competitive advantage to any organization. The organized retail sector has registered a burgeoning growth in the recent past and has given a strong fillip to the economy of India. This, in turn, has underscored the vital need for improved and more effective HR practices. Due to this direct association between human resource efficiency and organizational productivity, organizations have started paying more attention to the HR practices that they follow. This paper has tried to study the various HR practices in three selected retail organizations, namely, Reliance Super, Spencer's Retail and Big Bazaar. The objectives of the paper were to analyze the human resource practices followed by the selected organized retail outlets in Greater Noida (UP), to identify various problems and challenges faced by HR managers in the execution of HR policies and to suggest measures to solve HR-related problems in the organized retail industry. It was found that training, performance appraisal, proper utilization of skills and abilities of the employees and career development were the major areas of concern. In terms of level of perception towards the HR practices, it was found that, in general, employees had an 'average' perception towards the prevailing HR practices in all the three organizations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to check the reliability and validity of a well-acknowledged scale developed by Pratibha A. Dabholkar (1996) in the context of Indian organized grocery retail and also to identify new aspects of service quality with respect to grocery retail from literature that have not been taken into account in earlier studies and to finally develop a new scale to measure service quality of organized retail grocery stores with consultation from several experts.Design/methodology/approach In order to achieve the objectives of the research, both descriptive and exploratory research designs have been employed such that a survey of 800 respondents was undertaken as part of descriptive research whereas exploratory research was conducted to add new dimensions to the existing service quality measurement model so as to develop a new comprehensive scale.Findings The results of the study suggest that all the five dimensions of Dabholkar’s model are not suitable to measure service quality in Indian organized grocery retail stores. Therefore, a new instrument with total four dimensions has been developed.Practical implications The study is of great importance for the retailers as it offers a more comprehensive and specific scale to measure service quality of organized grocery retail stores.Originality/value This research supports and makes contribution to the previous research on development of service quality measurement scales in Indian context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The health of a nation is gauged not only by the quantum of FDI it attracts but also the trend it follows. In turn this is dependent on the economic policies formulated and practiced and the willingness of all concerned to engage with global economic practices. Since the early 1990’s when the government embarked on a policy of liberalization it has been observed that FDI inflows showed a steady increase until the last couple of years when in fact there has been a de-growth particularly 2010 over 2009 by almost 30%. On the other hand China has attracted FDI more than 4 times the quantum of India during the same period. Investors will look to invest in ‘opportunities’ as they see bearing the most attractive returns within a given frame work considering both the ‘home’ as well as ‘host’ country. Facts and figures very clearly indicate the positive impact even in India for certain sectors when FDI has been embraced. On the other hand, India most urgently requires gathering as much as investment as is possible to keep the momentum of growth going and one such opportunity is the organizing of our retail segment which would support development endeavor in a big way. The issue of embracing partial FDI in retail has seen some level of procrastination which requires more urgent and serious attention. Can India afford to lose this opportunity? This paper attempts to study the implications for this investment as also providing some suggestions.

The retail landscape in India is changing rapidly and is being scrutinized by large scale investments by foreign and domestic players. Market liberalization and changing consumer behaviour have sown the seeds of a retail transformation. Indian retailing is growing fast and imparting the consumer preferences across the country. Today retailing is largest contributing sector to country's GDP i.e. 10% as compared to 8% in China, 6% in Brazil. Modern retailing is capable of generating employment opportunities for 2.5 million people by 2010 in various retail operations and over 10 million additional workforces in retail support activities. Organised retail which presently account for only 4-6 percent of the total market is likely to increase its share to over 30% by 2013.It offers huge potential for growth in coming years. India is becoming most favoured retail destination in the world.

The purpose of this paper was to find out (using Regression, Data Envelopment Analysis and Sensitivity Analysis) how efficiently some of the top organized India retail companies have been performing relative to each other over the years and thereby to identify factors that help increase the efficiency of a retail company. The study was conducted based on the analysis of data downloaded from Prowess database for five Indian retail companies for the time period 2000-2007. The paper is deemed to be helpful to enable Indian retail companies gain a competitive advantage in the face of increased competition being faced in the emerging organized retail sector in India. The findings brought forth Advertising and Marketing expenses as the significant performance determining factors to be paid attention to.

The business world has been experiencing a major economic change, consumer demand has shifted, and retailer's operating systems today are instilled with far more advanced technology than was the case ten years ago. While the world's largest developing markets still tempt the largest global retailers, and show no signs of slowing down, many smaller, untapped markets are providing new growth opportunities. Highly potential and dynamic business environment of India has influenced the Global Retail Giants and Industry Experts to rate Indian markets as the 'destination next' for retail sector only next to China. The organized Indian retail has responded positively to this rating, showing a phenomenal growth, despite the slump in the markets. 'Private Label Brands' refers to the brands that are owned by the retailers, and sold through a specific chain of stores. In the developed international retail markets private label brands are considered to be the key to success. The concept of PLBs in India is in its embryonic stage, it still promises a humongous potential to vitalize the Indian retail sector. This paper is an attempt to study the increasing influence of private label brands in the organized retailing. It is interesting to know how these newly born brands are competing with the giant standard brands - Not only competing but providing to be a better option to the retailers and to the consumers as well. The study will include only the private label brands offered by organized retailers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Retailing is presently the emerging sector of the Indian economic markets. This phenomenon is supposed to continue for at least the coming two- three decades, and it is attracting almost all entrepreneurs, business heads, investors as well as real estate owners and builders. Quality of product, adequate retail space, vast availability of products and effective brand communication are various driving factors of the retail industry in India. Retail sector creates huge employment. Organized retail sector is emerging within the retail industry speedily and it gives speedy phase to Indian retail sector. The rationale of the study is two folds: First is to examine the nature of changes taking place in the retail sector due to organized form of retailing and its implications to shift towards new form of retailing. Secondly, it has remained largely an unexplored part of research till date especially in context to India. The basic objective of the study is to have a view of consumer behavior towards organized and unorganized retail stores and to analyze the consumers satisfaction level from organized retail stores as well as unorganized retail stores and their expectation from traditional retailing towards the modern retailing. The study uses primary data that is assembled through in depth qualitative analysis to analyze organized and unorganized retails sectors individually. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Indian retail sector is in the nascent stage, even though India has become an attractive place or target for foreign players due to one of the largest consumer markets in the world. At present, around 92 percent retail sector comes under the unorganized retail and 8 percent of retail belongs to the organized retail. Because of modern style of consumer's buying behavior, organized retail has become more famous in big cities. Earlier, entry of foreign retailers was restricted in India but now Government has opened its doors wide for single brand retail and only 51 percent FDI is allowed in multi brand retail. The present paper is an attempt to analyze the perceptions of consumers about foreign direct investment (FDI) in retail through questionnaire and interpreted by SPSS software. This research study presents an overview of Indian retail segment, current policy of Foreign Direct Investment in retail and the correlation between the foreign direct investment in retail and consumer purchasing behavior. It also includes the views of consumers for the perception of buying capacity, shopping style, quality of product, brand consciousness and monopoly situation of market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Shopping in India has witnessed a revolution with the change in the consumer buying behavior and the whole format of shopping also altering. Organized retail sector draws more attention in the current scenario and the retail industry faces huge competition in the recent years. In order to meet the changing customer expectation, the retail industry changes its strategies quite often and the study was conducted to analyze the customer satisfaction which in turn will lead to customer loyalty and commitment. Retail outlets, in the current scenario take special measures in delighting customers for which customer satisfaction is considered to be the base. Some retail outlets have even started resorting to the strategy of customer delight. These two attributes customer satisfaction and delight in turn will lead to loyalty and commitment of customers in the long run. It is in this competitive scenario the study focuses its attention on having an understanding of the influence of demographic factors in the retailing sector and to identify the effect of store image on consumer purchasing behavior. Special focus is also given to identify the factors contributing towards competitive advantage of retail outlets and in studying the influence of sales promotional activities on enhancing the frequency of visits. The research design that is used for the study is descriptive. A sample size of 140 respondents is taken for the study. About seven organized retail outlets are taken for the study. Convenience sampling which is a non-probability sampling method is used for the study. The study is based on the opinion of the retail customers in Chennai. Since Chennai is one of the main metros, the findings can be considered to be the reflection of the opinion of the customers in other major cities also. As per the study, out of all the influencing factors price is found to have a dominant role in attracting customers to retail outlets. Influence of sales promotional activities is also found to have a major impact. Scope for having tremendous growth in retail industry is also more and organized retail outlets may take more measures in enhancing their position as well as in attracting and retaining customers by developing loyalty and commitment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of the study is to determine the perceived benefits of loyalty programmes among customers and its effect on their purchase intentions. It also determines the influence of demographics on customer loyalty programme membership and its role in relationship between perceived benefits and purchase intentions of customers in apparel stores in Jammu city. A theoretical framework is proposed based on the three integrating variables; perceived benefits of loyalty programmes, loyalty programme membership and purchase intention based on review of literature. Subsequently, a descriptive analysis has been undertaken to determine the relationship between the selected variables. The study has concluded that among the demographic variables under study, age group and income level have a significant impact on loyalty programme membership of customers while gender does not exhibit such impact. Further, it has confirmed that perceived benefits have a significant impact on purchase intentions of customers. The study also suggests the moderating role of loyalty programme membership in the relationship between perceived benefits of loyalty programmes and purchase intentions of customers. The paper has several practical implications for the stores/organisations who want to retain customers through effective loyalty programmes. When customers perceived more benefits from loyalty programmes they have higher intentions to purchase from the store of which they own a loyalty card, thus leading to long term relationship with the store. Moreover, the demographic variables included in the study may help the retailers to target the customers for loyalty card membership. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

FDI is an important tool in the economic development of a country. FDI increases overall productivity of different sectors of an economy through new technology, skilled labor and financial resources. The remarkable increase in FDI in the developing countries over the last decade focuses attention that whether this source of investment increases overall economic growth. Retail sector is one of the most important pillars of Indian economy. Growing Indian market has attracted various foreign investors as well as domestic corporates to invest in retail sector. Government of India has opened up retail business to FDI by allowing 100% FDI in single brand retailing and 51% FDI in multi-brand retailing. FDI in retail sector plays an important role in economic growth. FDI in multi-brand retail can be seen an important step towards revival of economy and to ease supply side pressures especially in unorganized sector. The study will be beneficial for the different stakeholders, policy makers and also be a valuable contribution to the existing literature and academia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Retail industry in India, being one of the largest retail industries in the world in terms of growth, provides goods and services to a large number of people from various strata of society. Retail sector also supports to create huge employment opportunities for the young generation as new form of organized retail sector has emerged within the retail industry. The objective of this paper is to examine the activities in which consumers engage in malls and why the mall culture is gaining acceptance among consumers. The paper focuses on the factors (specially demographic and social) which influence the shopping at malls in Lucknow. Another objective of study is to understand consumer behavior towards shopping malls and also to find out the consumer's satisfaction level from shopping malls. The study finds that consumers prefer shopping, eating at food courts, window shopping and entertainment in the form of movies at multiplexes or video game parlors in malls. Consumers prefer the air conditioned environment (shopping ambiance), availability of several product categories under one roof, quality of service, car parking facilities, convenience of shopping and the confidence that the store-owner is not cheating in context of mall. So, the retail industry in India must take concrete steps to withstand the growing global competition in market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims at developing a reliable and valid measure of retailer store image. Scientific scale development process has been followed. Survey methodology was used to collect data. The results are tested for reliability and validity using confirmatory factor analysis. The study conceptualizes a retailer's image as a reliable and valid multidimensional construct, explained in eight dimensions. The scale can be used to measure the perception of customers with regard to these eight factors and would provide [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the present study is to focus on shopper's perception towards the store brands and their emotions associated with the purchase of store brands with special reference to Nellore, one of the fast-emerging tier-2 cities of Andhra Pradesh. This paper aims at discovering current shopper's perceptions on, and attitudes towards, store brands in the FMCG sector. In doing so, the research will find out the impact of different demographic factors (with particular reference to gender and income) on purchase of private labels. Moreover, it aims at throwing lights on the effect that factors like pricing, accessibility, packaging, retail communications, shelf-positioning and in-store advertising have on shopping behavior with reference to purchase of store brands. A self administered questionnaire was used to collect data from respondents. A non-probability, convenience sampling technique was used to administer a consumer survey. Products of FMCG category sold at retail stores are considered for the present study. The results of the study point out that the store brands can be positioned as products of premium quality with price levels ranging from slightly lower to the prices of the brands promoted by leading manufacturers from the product category considered. Conversely, retailers can position their brands on the basis of their sheer value-for-money. This equates to average quality products at very affordable prices. Sadly, more often than not retailers consider store brand packaging to be unimportant and hence are packed unattractive and are failed to convey a sense of high product quality. However, a key drawback of the study is the sampling frame. Future studies should work on this study in different perspectives and with different target groups. The knowledge gained through this study should ideally facilitate the process of advancing store brand research in an academic milieu and improving positioning of store brands, increasing their market share and optimizing profits achieved from store brands in a managerial context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Food retailing, which was dominated by the unorganized sector until 1990s, is now witnessing a rapid growth with entry of corporate groups in organized sector. Entry of organized sector provided a ray of hope to the supply chain efficiency of the perishable food items as these have the capability to invest in the supply chain infrastructure to prolong the shelf line of food items. Additionally, farmers are also expected to be benefitted as the alternate channel for selling their agricultural produce will give them fair prices. The study tries to explore the supply chain management practices and the constraints faced by these organized and unorganized retailers in the Ahmedabad city of Gujarat. It is found that direct procurement of food items from farmers is still not a big practice with majority of the organized and unorganized retailers procuring from the traders. Organized retailers are quite ahead in making the use of infrastructure to improve the supply chain efficiency. Organized along with unorganized retailers are felt as threat for the unorganized retailers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Retailing consists of the activities involved in selling directly to the ultimate consumer for personal, non-business use. At present, organized and unorganized retail stores act as an important part of every human life. It helps the people to purchase all the items in one place. The consumer cannot act as same at the time of purchasing goods. Some consumer act as the prospective buyer to choose the right brand based on his/her needs. Some consumer are not with awareness to purchase quality product at reasonable price. In the competitive market, consumers should be prepared to purchase goods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

India being a signatory to World Trade Organisation's General Agreement on Trade in Services, which includes wholesale and retailing services, had to open up the retail trade sector to foreign investment. Until 2011, Indian government denied foreign direct investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail, forbidding foreign groups from any ownership in supermarkets, convenience stores or any retail outlets. In November 2011, India's central government announced retail reforms for both multi-brand retail and single-brand retail. This paper captures the exisiting retail scenario in India with regard to organized and un-organized retail and presents the limitations of the current set-up along with the experiences of domestic players. The paper discusses about opening up of the retail sector to foreign direct investment by the government and tracks the efforts taken by the government with regard to foreign direct investment in retail sector. The paper also discusses the rationale for permitting foreign direct investement in retail and concerns of the stakeholders with regard to foreign direct investment in retail and discusses the experiences of other counterparts. The rationale for retail reforms and challenges to be addressed by the retail sector are discussed. The paper concludes with the opportunities and the latest developments in the Indian retail sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]