Contents

Sr.No Particulars Page No

1 Company Profile 1 – 4

2 Executive Summary 5 – 6

3 General Introduction 7 – 9

4 I. Statement of the problem

10

II. Objective of the study

III. Scope of the study

IV. Limitations of the study

5 Biscuit market in India 11 – 21

6 Research Methodology 22 – 24

7 Findings from Retailer’s (Store) survey 25 – 26

8 Retailer’s insight about the biscuit category 27

9 Store Observations 28 – 29

10 Various in-store communication tools 30

11 Suggestions with respect to retail outlets 31

12 Findings of Shoppers survey 32 – 34

13 Interpretation of Shoppers survey 35

14 Suggestions with respect to shoppers behaviour 36

15 Observations of Shoppers behaviour 37

16 Data Analysis by Hypothesis method 38 – 41

17 Conclusion from the study 42

18 SWOT Analysis of Britannia on the basis of P & S research 43

19 Annexure

Annexure I: Store details 44

Annexure II: Questionnaire for shoppers 45

Annexure III: Bangalore City Map 46

Annexure IV: Store photos 47 – 49

20 Bibliography 50

Company Profile:

In today’s retail world, there are no safe havens-the customer is unpredictable but demands

predictable shopping experiences. RammS India Pvt Ltd has harnessed its vast experience in

understanding the shopper and the retail environment to build a unique set of retail solutions that

help its clients in developing winning retail strategies.

With fifty different clients and many successful projects makes us India‘s only premier retail

agency.

RammS India commenced its operations in the year 1991and today we are an end-to-end retail

solutions provider to some of the best-known business houses in India.

RammS India today has 4 Full Fledged Branch Offices and two service offices headed by well-

experienced management teams to execute Retail programs nationally.

RammS is a part of the MAA Group headquartered in Bangalore.

RammS India a part of Ebeltoft Group:

RammS India is India’s premier retail solutions company, the first and only company from India

selected into the international consortium of retail consultants, the Ebeltoft Group. This

prestigious association is proving to be highly productive and eventful not only to RammS, but to

India as well. It is an opportunity for India to enter the retail market abroad with the help and

knowledge of countries such as the U.S., Europe and Australia.

The Ebeltoft Group provides consulting services through a collaborative global network to a

variety of international retail brands around the world. The group offers consulting services such

as strategy consulting, consumer research, and category management, point of purchase, store

planning & execution, and human resource planning, to retail brands around the world.

E G is a dynamic international consortium of consultants offers paradigm-shifting consulting for

retail and service business around the world. Ebeltoft Group members provide consulting

services to a variety of retailers and suppliers to the retail sector around the world.

1

Ebeltoft network spans countries around the world that includes United States, Italy, Germany,

Brazil, Australia, United Kingdom, Spain, France, Denmark, Canada, Norway, Sweden &

Switzerland.

Some of Ebeltoft members:

McMillan/Doolittle, L.L.P, Chicago, Illinois, USA

J.C. Williams Group Ltd, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Gouvêa De Souza & Md, São Paulo, Brazil

Fuhrer & Hotz Baar, Switzerland

Kiki Lab Brescia, Italy

Frontline Strategies Pty. Ltd. Melbourne, Australia

Pragma Consulting Twickenham, Middlesex

Gruppe Nymphenburg Retail Consult AG Munich, Germany

The Ebeltoft Group clients include:

Carrefour, HMV, J.C.Penny, Marks & Spencer (UK), McDonald’s, The Body Shop, Vodafone,

Procter & Gamble, Bata International, Unilever, BMW, Chevron, Nestle, Mercedes Benz, British

Petroleum, Coca Cola, British Airways and many more global brands.

Recently the company has formed a strategic partnership with J.C.Williams Group (JCWG)

headquartered in Toronto, Canada with offices in Chicago & Montreal.JCWG is one of North

America’s leading retail and retail related consultancy firm. With 30 years of global retailing

experience, JCWG are pioneers in:

Mall Management

Retail Operations

Merchandising & Productivity

Retail Training & Development

2

This partnership to be called RAMMS-J.C.Williams Group India brings together RammS

knowledge and experience of working with Indian brands and retailers with JCWG’s global

practical, creative and in-depth knowledge of retailing and marketing including up-to-date know-

how and techniques to make retail operations better and more profitable.

RammS India provides retail solution in the following field:

1. Retail Consultancy

a. Shopper Research

b. Retail Communication

c. Category Management

d. Channel Based POP

e. Store Positioning Strategy

f. Retail Manuals

2. Retail Design

a. Retail Identity

b. Point of Purchase

c. Store Planning

d. Visual Merchandising

e. Signage Design

3. National Execution

a. Point of Purchase Execution

b. Merchandising Services

4. Specialized Services

a. Franchise Management

b. Human Resource Services

c. Mystery Shopper

d. Online Services

3

e. Retail Events & Promotions

RammS India’s clientele:

1. Britannia Industries Limited

2. Hindustan Unilever Limited

3. Proctor & Gamble

4. Johnson & Johnson

5. PepsiCo

6. HP

7. Maruti

8. Mahindra

9. Intel

10. HSBC

11. VIP

4

12. Frito-Lay

13. Samsung and many more…

Britannia being one of its clients, RammS India is working out the solution regarding the

BTL (Below the Line) marketing strategy for biscuit category at the General Trade outlets.

Executive Summary:

Globally, as below-the-line (BTL) accounts for an increasingly larger share of marketing and

corporate spends; it would be tempting to conclude that BTL does indeed present a threat to mass

media. Take the forecasts made by several leading global agency networks. One lead agency

network has forecast that its own revenue split between marketing services and advertising,

which stands today at 55:45, is likely to become 70:30 in a few years’ time. Hence, common

perception would tend to agree with the view that mass media is under threat.

However, it’s not BTL that is posing a threat to mass media. Huge changes in consumer buying

behavior and competitive scenario are forcing marketing managers to address consumers in a

more holistic manner. Mass media cannot be their lone warrior in this battle; they need other

weapons which BTL provides. However, one cannot succeed without the other.

5

Brief about the project:

This particular project deals with BTL (Below the Line) marketing research for biscuit category

in general and Britannia biscuit in particular.

Market survey was conducted comprising of 30 outlets and 30 shoppers of biscuits across

various residential/commercial areas in Bangalore.

Kirana/Self Service kirana Stores & Bakeries form the GT (General Trade) also called as

unorganized sector whereas Supermarkets form the MT (Modern Trade) also called as organized

sector.

Simple Random Sampling method was used and the sample comprised mostly residential areas.

The data collected comprised both the retailer’s insight and shoppers buying behaviour at GT

outlets.

Retailer’s (Store) survey was conducted in order to get the retailers insight about Britannia

biscuits in particular and the data was noted in the verbatim form. Keen observation was done at

the stores in order to assess Britannia’s BTL activities and photos were taken to support the

study. (See Annexure IV). For list of store visited see Annexure I.

Shoppers were interviewed one to one as soon as they were leaving the store. A structured

questionnaire was used comprising of 5 questions (see Annexure II) for understanding the

shoppers psyche for biscuit buying process.

The data collected is shown in the form of Pie chart for ease of understanding.

Finally to analyze the data hypothesis method (Chi Square test) was used check the hypothesis

assumed.

Hence the research so conducted is more of a qualitative research wherein subjective -

individuals’ interpretation of events is important, e.g., use of participant observation, in-depth

interviews etc.

6

Also secondary research was done to study the biscuit market in India and various pie charts

were drawn to support the study. The objective was to understand the overall biscuit market

scenario in India.

General Introduction:

A brief about ATL (Above the line) & BTL (Below the line) marketing:

Promotion can be loosely classified as "above-the-line" and "below-the-line" promotion. The

promotional activities carried out through mass media like television, radio, newspaper, etc., are

above-the-line promotion.

The terms 'below-the-line' promotion or communication refers to forms of non-media

communication, even non-media advertising. Below-the-line promotions are becoming

increasingly important within the communications mix of many companies, not only those

involved in FMCG products, but also for industrial goods.

7

Some of the ways by which companies do BTL (below-the-line) promotions are by exhibitions,

sponsorship activities, public relations and sales promotions, like giving freebies with goods,

trade discounts given to dealers and customers, reduced price offers on products, giving coupons

which can be redeemed later, etc.

While it is well documented that advertising spends in India are over Rs 10,000 crore, there is no

rigorous or formal documentation of the spends on BTL. Even in the developed markets of the

West, no one really knows how large the BTL spends are.

A large part of the problem pertains to the way in which BTL spends are incurred. Only part of

the spend happens through agencies in the organised sector. Much larger spends happen through

hundreds of mom and pop shops that you see in every city. Similarly, clients spend a lot of

money directly especially when it comes to trade marketing, entertainment-related events or

endorsements, telemarketing etc. Let me give you a sense of the magnitude of the problem:

Organised sector agencies in India are unlikely to account for anything more than Rs 800-

Rs1000 crore even if one includes everything—DM, sales promotions, events, retail, branding,

telemarketing, PR, marketing consultancy etc. But a lot more happens through small outfits and

direct spends by clients.

BTL promotions are gaining popularity among all big companies nowadays considering their

effectiveness because of the "individual customer promotion" at a price, which is much lesser

than the normal media promotions.

Key drivers of BTL

In difficult or uncertain economic environments, marketing managers will divert their spends to

where ROI is likely to be greatest and fastest. BTL is perceived to deliver this.

Fragmentation of markets and media options

Consumers are more aware and have a large number of choices.

8

If you take the classical model for consumer buying behavior, there are four steps: Awareness,

Interest, Desire, and Action. In the past, when consumers were less aware; when product choices

were limited; and media was not fragmented, it was easier for the mass-media to take a consumer

all the way to the actual action of buying. Let’s look back at the late-80s.

India had not yet opened up its economy and consumers had few choices. If you were a new

brand trying to launch, you would simply place your TV spots on Mahabharat, Hindi films and

Chitrahaar. If you had a good product with a story to tell, and had money to spend on good TV

advertising, you would be home.

The point is: you could effectively use mass media and need nothing else. Today, that’s no

longer true. Mass media can help create awareness for a brand. And this is a must!

Unless a brand or a company interacts with its consumers at all the relevant touch-points, it will

go nowhere. Hence, both ATL (above-the-line or mass media advertising) and BTL have their

respective roles to play, and there’s no point in them seeing each other as a threat. They have to

work together in communicating a unified message through a strategy that’s completely

integrated.

ATL & BTL play complementary roles in fields like FMCG:

• Advertising ensures top-of-mind awareness about the brand and its key benefits

• But because of crowded market, that, by itself, is not enough.

• Extensive consumer contacts called for, in order to demonstrate benefits

• Extensive PoP deployment at retail outlets

• Consumer promotions once/year to reward usage.

• Trade is another focus via incentive programs and rewards.

9

Visual Merchandising & Creative Communication:

Visual Merchandising (VM) is the art of presentation, which puts the merchandise in focus and

in perspective too. It educates the customers, creates desire and finally augments the selling

process.

Visual Merchandising achieves the following:

• Educates the customers about the products and services offered creatively and effectively.

• Enables a successful selling process, from browsing to buying.

• Establishes a creative medium to present merchandise in a lifelike 3-D environment, thus

creating a strong impact and recall value.

• Sets the context of the merchandise.

• Establishes the linkage between fashions, product design and marketing by keeping the focus

on the product.

• Draws the attention of the customers and help them match their needs with the visually

merchandised product.

Statement of the problem:

“Understanding of biscuit shoppers buying Behaviour & Retailer’s (store) insight for

biscuit category at the General Trade outlets”.

Objectives of the study:

1. To study the buying behaviour of the consumers at General Trade outlets.

2. To study the impact of in-store promotion on consumers behaviour.

10

3. To study the retailers (store) insight for the biscuit category in general trade outlets.

Scope of the Study:

This study will prove useful to find out whether the in-store promotional activities like visual

merchandising will help consumers buy the biscuits or indulge them in impulse purchase.

Limitations of the study:

1. Sample size collection was limited to Bangalore city and especially residential

areas.

2. Survey was limited to only General Trade outlets and not Modern Trade outlets.

3. Survey was limited to biscuit shoppers (either only biscuits or biscuit as a part of

overall purchase) and retailers selling biscuits.

4. Shopper’s survey was conducted according to the structured questionnaire while

Retailer’s survey was conducted according the unstructured questionnaire.

Biscuit Market in India:

The multi-billion food and beverage industry comprises several markets, including bakery,

beverage, confectionery, dairy, processed foods and others.

The food processing industry is witnessing a 20% annual growth rate and, consequently, the

demand for processed foods and beverages in the country is constantly on the rise. There are 300

million upper-and-middle-class consumers of processed and packaged food in the country, and

another 200 million are expected to shift by 2010.

11

The annual production of bakery products which includes bread, biscuits, pastries, cakes, buns,

rusk etc is estimated to be 50 lakh tonnes in 2004-05 with estimated value of Rs 69 billion. The

two major bakery industries, viz., bread and biscuit account for about 82 per cent of the total

bakery products.

Indian Bakery sector is indicating significant growth both in terms of volumes and customer

base. The two factors that drive the bakery products are disposable incomes and time constraints

in the working population, according to analysis by Kurt Salmon Associates (KSA), a global

management consulting firm.

Biscuits were assumed as sick-man's diet in earlier days. Now, it has become one of the most

loved fast food products for every age group. Biscuits are easy to carry, tasty to eat, cholesterol

free and reasonable at cost. States that have the larger intake of biscuits are Maharashtra, West

Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Uttar Pradesh. Maharashtra and West Bengal, the most

industrially developed states, hold the maximum amount of consumption of biscuits. Even, the

rural sector consumes around 55 percent of the biscuits in the bakery products.

The Federation of Biscuit Manufacturers of India (FBMI) has confirmed a bright future of India

Biscuits Industry. According to FBMI, a steady growth of 15 percent per annum in the next 10

years will be achieved by the biscuit industry of India. Besides, the export of biscuits will also

surpass the target and hit the global market successfully.

Biscuit Industry in India:

Particulars Details

Leading Countries in biscuit production 1.USA

2.China

3.India

Per capita consumption of biscuit India – 2.1 kg

US,UK,Western Europe – 10 kg

China – 1.9 kg

South East Asian countries – 4.25 kg

12

Biscuit Production(Ratio)

Unorganized: Organized 60 : 40

Scale of Manufacturer in numbers Organized Sector

Large Scale : two

Medium Scale : around 50

Small scale : around 2500

Unorganized Sector

Around 30000 small & tiny bakeries

Annual turnover 8000 crores

Biscuit Production

(2007-2008)

Total: around 26 lakh MT

Organized sector

17.44 Lakh MT

Biscuit Contribution in FMCG Market 7 %

Growth rate of biscuit industry (2007-2008) 15 %

Rural-urban penetration of BiscuitUrban Market :  75% to 85%

Rural Market  :   50% to 65%

Estimated Exports (07-08)15 % of annual production

Marketing of biscuitsWholesale and Retail marketing in the Biscuit industry is

carried out with a network of C & F Agencies (for States

/specific Districts) Dealers / Wholesalers and Retail shops

Employment generation3.25 lakh (Direct Employees)

35 lakh (Indirect)

Biscuits are sold throughApproximately 12 lakh retail outlets

More than 80% of the outlets run by small groceries in

comparison just 3% by organised sector.(Source: E&Y 2006)

TaxationBiscuits @ 12.5% (VAT) Sweets, Namkeen, Bhujia, Bread,

Atta, Maida, Besan and Suji @ 4% (VAT)

CENVATIBMA succeeded in obtaining exemption from central excise

duty on biscuits with MRP upto Rs.100/ Kg (as against MRP

13

upto Rs.50/ Kg) in the union budget 2007-2008.

Biscuit Market Share of leading companies (Source: AC Nielsen retail sales audit 2006)

Figure 1: Biscuit Market Share (By % Volume)

14

Figure 2: Biscuit Market Share (By % Value)

Figure 3: Zone wise Biscuit consumption pattern (Source: IBMA-2007)

15

Figure 4: Sales Growth Rate (Source: Company Financial Results-2008)

16

Figure 5: Market share in Glucose category (Source: rediff.com, indiainfoline.com-2008)

Figure 6: Share of Biscuit Categories Segment wise

Regional players-Priya, Anmol and Bisk Farm in the east, Priya Gold in the north and west,

Anmol and Bharat in the north and east, and Duke in the south are also consolidating and

expanding their reach. The east, in particular, is where Britannia's market share has eroded the

most: its sales have dropped from 8,000 tonnes a month to 6,000 tonnes over the last five years.

The beneficiaries of this loss: Priya, Anmol and Bisk Farm.

17

Salient Features of Biscuit Industry in India:

1. While the growth rate has been stagnating during last 4 years, it has picked up momentum during

the 2007-08 and the first quarter of 2008-09 mainly on account of exemption from Central

Excise Duty on biscuits with MRP up to Rs.100/per kg, as per Union Budget for 2007-08.

2. IBMA, instrumental in obtaining the excise duty exemption, estimates annual growth of

around 20% in the year 2008-09.

3. Biscuit Industry especially the Small & Medium Sector, consisting

of around 150 units are facing erosion in their profitability and competitive capability, due to:-

Steep hike in cost of production on account of increase in prices of major raw materials, i.e.

Wheat Flour, Veg. Oil, Sugar, Milk, Packaging Materials, Fuel.   Wages, etc.Recent increase in

prices of Petrol/Diesel in May 2008 has further resulted n cost push.

4. The per capita consumption as well as pattern of consumption in the four regions, as shown

above, will also increase considerably, in case the industry’s plea for reduction in the rate of

Value Added Tax (VAT) from 12.5% to 4% is acceded to.

5. Growth in biscuit marketing has been achieved also due to improvement in rural market

penetration. 

6. Imports of biscuits into India has not shown any significant growth during    the last two years

and has not affected production/sales by the Indian biscuit industry.

7. With the changing trend of consumers becoming more health- conscious, the health biscuit

category is expected to grow at a very fast rate over the next few years. Presently it is about 12%

of the total biscuit market.

8. Kolkata has the highest biscuit eaters (Source: Indian Readership Survey 2008)

The health biscuits category in India accounts for only about Rs2bn of the Rs80bn biscuit market

in India, in which the unorganized small units account for about 40%. Among the major players,

18

Britannia has recently introduced a new range of high-value, high-fiber extension of its Nutri

Choice brand. ITC Foods, a late entrant into the biscuit sector with its Sunfeast brand, had

launched a similar multigrain biscuit. Some of the US brands of biscuits like Nature Valley &

McVites are already into the health biscuit segment and other global players are also planning to

enter this category.

Pricing models: (Source: ITC Portal press release 2006)

The biscuits industry now has two clear models. Parle products play the low price game at all

varieties of biscuits from glucose to cream. Essentially, Parle plays a high volume, low margin

game. But Britannia and Sunfeast look at a two-pronged strategy. High margins in cream

variants and volumes from the Marie and Glucose segments. For instance, cream biscuits from

both Britannia and Sunfeast cost Rs 10 for 100 grams. Parle, however, only charges Rs 5 for its

cream variants. Except for Hide & Seek, all of Parle’s products lie in the price range between Rs

4 and Rs 6 for 100 gram packs.

To be fair, in Glucose and Marie, the companies have little choice. As there is little

differentiation, consumers are extremely price sensitive. But these segments are important.

The industry can also be divided brand wise into:

1. Popular varieties such as Parle-G and Tiger

2. Medium varieties such as Milk Bikis and Super Milk

3. Premium varieties such as Good Day and Monaco.

The segment can be further divided into the sweet and savory. The savory segment includes salt

biscuits, and the salt and sweet variety accounts for the rest.

19

Britannia Biscuits:

Various Brands:

Sr.No Brands Flavours (Varieties)

1 Tiger Tiger Cocunut,Tiger Creams,Chota Tiger, Tiger Banana with Iron Zor

2 Good Day Choconut,Butter Scotch, Honey & Raisin, Chocolate Chip, Rich Butter

cookies, Rich cashew cookies ATC,Rich Pista badam ATC

3 Treat Treat Choco Gelo,Treat Delicious Dates, Treat Apple Punch,Treat

flovoured tangy Orange, Treat strawberry flovoured surprise, Bourbon

Treat, Treat Elaichi fon,Treat jim jam, Treat Mango mischiet,Treat masti

orange, Treat Pineapple prank

4 50 - 50 50 – 50,50 – 50 Maska Chaska

5 Milk Bikis Milk Bikis,Milk Bikis Cream

6 Marie Gold Vita Marie Gold, Marie Gold

7 Little Hearts Classic

8 Time Pass Nimkee,Classic Salted

9 Nutrichoice Nutrichoice 5 Grain,NutriChoice Digestive, NutriChoice Cream Craker,

NutriChoice Thin Arrowroot, NutriChoice Sugarout Chocolate,

NutriChoice Sugarout Litetime, NutriChoice Sugarout Orange cream

10 Nice Time Nice Time

Britannia was rated as # 2 Most Trusted Food brand in 2008. (Source: AC Nielsen 2008)

Britannia is undoubtedly the leader with brands like Tiger, Good Day and Marie Gold.

Britannia's Tiger brand is selling largely in the rural areas which actually constitute 56% of the

20

biscuit market. Launched in 1997, Tiger became the largest selling Britannia biscuit brand in just

4 months of launch. It crossed the Rs1 billion sales mark in its very first year.

According to Antique Stockbroking, The broking firm is of the view that going ahead,

Britannia’s sales would be driven by Good Day, which has been growing at 25-30% in the

premium category and Tiger brand, which has been growing at 18-20% in the value for money

category.

Tiger glucose biscuit is Britannia’s largest selling biscuit brand in the low-end category. The

introduction of Tiger variants including cream, banana and coconut flavours along with small

priced packs have enabled higher sales growth of 18-20 per cent for the Tiger brand. A further

boost came in the form of the extension of excise cut for biscuits below Rs 100/kg (announced in

2007-08 budget), benefiting the mid-price segment, which includes popular brands like “Milk

Bikis”, “Marie Gold” and “50:50”. This segment contributes around a quarter of revenues for

Britannia.

While the mass segment contributes the volumes, the premium segment adds value to the sales.

As per AC Nielson data for 2008, the contribution of premium segment to the total biscuit

volumes (for industry) is around 17.1 per cent and in value terms, it is 28.6 per cent. “Good

Day”, a major brand in the premium category (churns around quarter of total revenues) with

cookie variants like cashew, coconut, butter and pista in its product-mix, has cornered the market

leadership in this fast-growing segment. The growth in this segment is expected to be good on

the back of higher disposable incomes, thus encouraging customers to up trade from mid-priced

biscuits to premium brands.

Britannia has a focus on health segment (high fibre & low fat) through its “Nutrichoice” range

with variants like digestive, cream crackers and multi-grain. Although this segment is small, it is

still unique as none of its competitors have products in this segment. The growing urban and

health conscious population would drive the demand for these biscuits in the future. Overall,

expect the company’s biscuit business to sustain growth rates of 18 per cent over the next two

years.

21

Parle Biscuits:

Sr.No Brand Flavours (Varieties)

1 Parle –G

2 Krackjack Sweet n Salty

3 Krackjack Crispy creams

4 Monaco Namkeen

5 Kreams Orange,Bourbon,Chocolate,Elaichi,Pineapple,Mango

6 Hide n Seek

7 Hide n Seek Milano

8 Digestive Marie

9 Marie

10 Milk Shakti

11 20 -20 Cookies

12 Nimkin

The company's flagship brand, Parle G, contributes more than 50 per cent to the company's total

turnover. The other biscuits in the Parle Products' basket includes Monaco, Krack Jack, Marie,

Hide n Seek, Cheeslings, Jeffs, Sixer and Fun Centre.

Sunfeast Biscuits:

Sr.No Brand Flavours (Varieties)

1 Sunfest Dark fantasy (Dark chocolate & Vanilla cream)

2 Sunfest Snacky (Chilli flakes, Classic Salted)

3 Sunfest Dream Cream

22

4 Sunfest Sweet n Salty

5 Sunfest Marie Light

6 Sunfest Special

7 Sunfest Glucose Biscuit

8 Sunfest Nice

9 Sunfest Marie Orange

Research Methodology:

Data, or facts, may be derived from several sources. Data can be classified as Primary Data and

Secondary Data. Primary data is data gathered for the first time by the researcher; secondary

data is data taken by the researcher from secondary sources, internal or external. The researcher

must thoroughly search secondary data sources before commissioning any efforts for collecting

primary data. There are many advantages in searching for and analyzing data before attempting

the collection of primary data. In some cases, the secondary data itself may be sufficient to solve

the problem. Usually the cost of gathering secondary data is much lower than the cost of

organizing primary data. Moreover, secondary data has several supplementary uses. It also helps

to plan the collection of primary data, in case, it becomes necessary. We shall therefore discuss

secondary data first and then take up primary data.

Secondary data is of two kinds, internal and external. Secondary data – whether internal or

external – is data already collected by others, for purposes other than the solution of the problem

on hand.

Business firms always have as great deal of internal secondary data with them. All the output of

the MIS of the firm generally constitutes internal secondary data. This data is readily available;

the market researcher gets it without much effort, time and money.

Sources of External Secondary Data – Examples

23

The Internet is a great source of external secondary data. Many published, statistics and figures

are available on the internet either free or for a fee.

Primary research is research that's tailored to a company's particular needs. By customizing

tried-and-true approaches — focus groups, surveys, field tests, interviews or observation — we

can gain information about our target market. For example, we can investigate an issue specific

to our business, get feedback about our Web site, assess demand for a proposed service, gauge

response to various packaging options, and find out how much consumers will shell out for a

new product.

Primary research delivers more specific results than secondary research, which is an especially

important consideration when we are launching a new product or service. In addition, primary

research is usually based on statistical methodologies that involve sampling as little as 1 percent

of a target market. This tiny sample can give an accurate representation of a particular market.

Methodology Adopted:

In our case we have taken a sample size of 30 each for Stores to be surveyed and shoppers to be

interviewed in Bangalore city.

Survey was conducted only at the General Trade Outlets (Kirana/Self service Kirana Stores and

Bakeries) as these are the place where biscuits are sold other than Supermarkets which comes

under Modern Trade.

The survey was conducted by simple random method and mostly residential areas were covered

and to certain extend commercial areas.

Retailer’s survey was conducted in order to find the status of in-store promotion/communication

tools at the GT outlets and how it will impact the biscuit customers in the buying process.

Unstructured questions were asked to the retailers regarding the Britannia biscuit sales and the

company’s efforts in order to make retailer push its product.

24

At the retail outlet keen observation was done regarding the biscuit assortment as to how its

being kept in the store, whether the brands are clearly visible etc and photos of each store were

taken to support the study.

The shopper survey was carried out with the same sample size of 30.

The method adopted was one-one interview with the shopper as soon as he/she was leaving the

store. The shoppers were limited to either just biscuit shopper or biscuit as a part of overall

purchase. The shoppers were keenly observed during the time of purchase since the objective

was to understand their psyche for the biscuit purchase.

As customers don’t have a particular time to purchase the biscuit the observation time was made

flexible in order to interview the shopper.

The objective was to understand the buying behaviour and frequency of purchase all these

objectives were supported by a structured questionnaire.

List of Stores surveyed, Questionnaire for shoppers and Bangalore city map indicating the area

covered are provided in the Annexure section.

1. Consumers Research:

Buying behaviour of the consumers.

Consumption pattern of the consumers.

2. Retailers (Store) Survey:

Britannia’s position in the market.

Retailer’s insight for the biscuit category in General Trade outlets.

Sampling:

25

Population: General Trade (Kirana/Self Service Kirana Stores & Bakeries)

Sampling Method: Simple Random Sampling.

Retailer’s (Store) Survey:

Findings from the survey:

Fig 1: Stores with Shelf Stickers Fig 2: Stores with Backend Sheets

26

Fig 3: Stores with Pillar Branding Fig 4: Stores with Danglers

The above 4 pie charts shows the in-store promotion/communication status of the stores

visited.

27

Fig 5: Type of Stores Surveyed Fig 6: Stores with Total Branding

Fig 7: Type of Store Surveyed Fig 8:Stores with properly arranged

assortment

Retailer’s Insight about the biscuit category:

1. Sale of Good Day (cashew) is maximum among all the biscuit categories followed

by Marigold.

2. Sale of Mariegold is very good compared to Mariegold Vita.

3. Sale of Parle-G is good compared to Tiger (60:40)

4. Sale of NutriChoice is limited to few and regular customers in upmarket areas like

Indra Nagar.

5. Sale of 5 Grain is very less.

28

6. Distribution system of Britannia is very good compared to Parle.

7. All the stores surveyed had at least 70% stock of Britannia.

8. Stock of Little Heart was rarely available at the store surveyed.

9. Of the total stores surveyed, 3 stores had McVites cookies.

10. Ten stores had Unibic cookies assortment.

11. Sunfeast’s Special is picking up very fast.

12. Sales of Parle’s Hide n Seek is picking up in upmarket areas.

Store Observations:

1. Almost all stores are lacking in-store promotion/communication tools.

2. Biscuit assortment was properly arranged only at the self service stores.

3. Sale of Britannia is mainly due to the Brand name and ATL (Above the Line) activities.

4. No support from Distributor for arrangement of assortment whereas other companies like

Pepsi, Cadbury’s distributor arranges the stock once in a week.

5. New Tagline”Zindagi mein Life” was promoted in only one store out of the total store

visited through Danglers.

6. No supply of Shelf sticker, Backend sheets by the distributor of Britannia.

7. No particular push from the retailer as an alternate brand to the customer.

29

One of the stores had kept Britannia stock in

the shelf where the backend sheet was

provided by Sunfeast.

One of the stores had Britannia posters entirely

covered by other company’s posters. Here we

can see the posters of Airtel & Vodaphone

applied on Britannia poster making it invisible.

Improper display of biscuit assortment at

Kirana Stores. Here the brands are not

clearly visible.

Display of Biscuit Assortment at General Trade outlets

30

8. Signboards were displayed at 5 stores within a span of around 500 meters in

Sudhamanagar area, Lalbaug Road cross. All these signboards were

displayed recently (around 10 days back).

Sizes of these stores were very small except one. These stores were Rehyana Stores,

Nandikeshwara Condiments, Sridevi Condiments, Akbar Stores & NR Stores.

Proper display of Assortment at Self

Service Kirana Stores. Here the brands are

clearly visible.

The various in-store promotional/communication tools are:

Shelf Stickers

31

Danglers

Pillar Branding

Signboard

Backend Sheet

Suggestions with respect to retail outlets

1. The biscuit assortment should be properly arranged and the brands should be

clearly visible so that when the potential shopper enters the outlet, though he/she

might be planned but still good visual merchandising may influence the shopper

and indulge him/her in additional (impulse) buying.

32

2. The distributor should be trained to arrange the assortment properly for the

customer’s convenience whenever they replenish the stock to the retailer.

3. Retailers should be given some discount by the company for displaying their

assortment above all for clear visibility.

4. Distributor should make the retailer push their product over its competitor by

providing some incentives.

5. If not all, at least some prominent stores spread across different localities should

have total branding for making customer aware of the brand.

6. New varieties of biscuits should be explained to the retailers like NutriChoice, as

few of the retailers were not aware of it.

7. Retailers play an important role in pushing the product therefore it is imperative

for Britannia to find a favour with the retailers so that they will push their brands

against its competitors.

Findings from Shoppers Survey:

33

Fig 2: Biscuit buying process (frequency)

Fig 1: Customers biscuit buying place

Bakery20%

Kirana/Self Service Kirana

Stores63%

Supermarket17%

Bakery

Kirana/Self ServiceKirana StoresSupermarket

34

Fig 3: Biscuit buying behaviour

35

New brand of Biscuits tried in the past six months.

1. Sunfeast’s Special (7)

2. Britannia – Bourbon (4)

3. Unibic Cookies (4)

4. Parle’s 20 – 20 (3)

5. NutriChoice Digestive (4)

6. Haven’t Tried (8)

Most of the suggestions from the shoppers were:

1. Proper arrangement of assortment would enhance the visibility of the brand which

eventually may entice the potential customer to buy biscuits other than planned one.(13)

2. Good advertisements (ATL) will attract kids and these kids further influence parents to

buy the advertised brand.(8)

3. Free gifts like tattoos and small toys should be provided along with the large biscuit

packs to attract kids.(5)

4. No idea(4)

[Note: Figures in the parenthesis indicates number of shoppers]

Interpretation of Shoppers survey:

36

1. By looking at the first pie chart it is clear that most of the people in the

residential areas buy biscuits from kirana/departmental stores.

2. The biscuit buying frequency of most of the shoppers is same, they

purchase biscuit as and when required or need arises while few made it a

point to purchase it on a monthly basis.

3. Most of the customers were preplanned in their buying process proving the

retailers feedback.

4. Sunfeast’s Special biscuit is doing good business and it was supported by

both shoppers as well as retailers.

5. Almost 50% of the respondents were of the view that good visibility can

enhance their biscuit purchase apart from preplanned one.

Suggestions with respect to shopper’s behaviour:

37

1. As most of the biscuit purchase is done at the Kirana/Self Service Kirana stores for

people residing in residential areas the company should concentrate on these

stores for the BTL marketing.

2. Since monthly biscuit shoppers are very less compared to shoppers who shop

as & when required, the company can make use if it and incite buyers for

impulse purchasing by good visual merchandising of the biscuits.

3. Though the customers are preplanned but still the company through in-store

Communication/promotion tools can impact their purchasing decision.

4. As 50% of the respondents are of the view that visual merchandising can

enhance their purchase, taking cue from this feedback I would suggest that the

company should initiate this project at general trade outlets similar to the

Planograms what they following at modern trade (supermarkets).

Observation of shopper’s behaviour

38

1. Most of the customers observed were preplanned in their buying process, with few

exception, these were the purchasers who were looking at the assortment and then

deciding which brand to buy.

2. Here the company’s duty is convert these unplanned customers to buy their brand

through good visual merchandising.

3. Observed few customers struggling to find the biscuit as the assortment was not properly

arranged.

4. At the self service stores customers were just picking up the required brand, this

showcases the convenience the shopper will get if the assortment are properly arranged,

which according to the survey report was available not only at the self service stores.

5. Colour of the biscuit wrapper can also influence the kids and can create impulse buying.

Data collected through the survey has been analyzed using Hypothesis method.

39

Statistical Hypothesis Testing

The formal statistical procedure for performing a hypothesis test is to state two hypotheses and to

use an appropriate statistical test to reject one of the hypotheses and therefore accept (or fail to

reject) the other.

The first hypothesis is usually referred to as the Null Hypothesis because it is the hypothesis of

no effect or no difference between the populations of interest. It is usually given the symbol H0.

The second hypothesis is usually called the Alternative Hypothesis by statisticians, but since it is

often the hypothesis that the researcher would like to be true, it is sometimes referred to as the

Study Hypothesis or Research Hypothesis. Note, however, in equivalence trials a researcher

would like a new (but perhaps cheaper) treatment to be as effective as the current treatment, it is

the null hypothesis that the researcher would like to see supported by the data. The Alternative

Hypothesis is usually given the symbol Ho or Ha. The Alternative Hypothesis states that there is

an effect or that there is a difference between the populations.

One-and two-tailed hypotheses

Also referred to as one- and two-sided hypotheses, these refer to the alternative hypothesis. The

alternative hypothesis, referred to above, is a non-directional alternative hypothesis; it states that

there is a difference, with no indication of the direction of change, e.g. higher or lower, more or

less. This is a non-directional (two-tailed) alternative hypothesis.

Note: the null hypothesis is the same for both directional and non-directional cases.

The distinction between non-directional and directional hypotheses is important when

interpreting the results of significance tests. In Minitab, the appropriate alternative hypothesis

can be set, but SPSS printouts only show two-tailed probabilities. In the latter case, the p-value

('2-tail sig') should be halved.

The p-value (level of significance)

40

All statistical tests produce a p-value and this is equal to the probability of obtaining the

observed difference, or one more extreme, if the null hypothesis is true. To put it another way - if

the null hypothesis is true, the p-value is the probability of obtaining a difference at least as large

as that observed due to sampling variation. Consequently, if the p-value is small the data support

the alternative hypothesis. If the p-value is large the data support the null hypothesis. But how

small is 'small' and how large is 'large'?

Conventionally (and arbitrarily) a p-value of 0.05 (5%) is generally regarded as sufficiently small

to reject the null hypothesis. If the p-value is larger than 0.05 we fail to reject the null hypothesis.

The 5% value is called the significance level of the test. Other significance levels that are

commonly used are 1% and 0.1%.

The data analysis is divided into two sections:

Ho: Null Hypothesis

Ha: Alternative Hypothesis

Section I:

Ho: Biscuit buying pattern at General Trade outlets is not preplanned. (B)

Ha: Biscuit buying pattern at General Trade outlets is preplanned. (A)

Section II:

Ho: In-store visibility of Britannia is triggering impulse purchase. (B)

Ha: In-store visibility of Britannia is not triggering impulse purchase. (A)

Chi-squared test for nominal (categorical) data

41

The χ2 test can be used to determine whether a difference between 2 categorical variables in a

sample is likely to reflect a real difference between these 2 variables in the population.

With sample size 30, the observed frequency is as below:

Observed Count A B Total

Buying behaviour 25 5 30

Buying Frequency 24 6 30

Total 49 11 60

To answer the question 'is there any evidence of a difference in the buying pattern at the General

Trade outlets?’ the chi-square test is used.

To perform a chi-squared test, the number of planned/unplanned buying expected in each cell of

the table if the null hypothesis is true, is calculated.

Calculations

The expected numbers (under the null hypothesis) in each cell are equal to

Thus for the buying behaviour (A) cell the expected number is

30 x 50 = 24.5

60

24.5 is the expected frequency.

To calculate the chi-squared statistic the value of

42

needs to be calculated, therefore the calculated Chi square value is

(25 – 24.5) 2 = 0.01

24.5

This calculated value is smaller than the p-value (0.05) therefore we reject the null hypothesis

and accept the alternate hypothesis.

For the buying behaviour (B) cell the expected number is

30 x 11 = 5.5

60

5.5 is the expected frequency

Further the Chi square value is to be calculated for cell (B)

(5 – 5.5) 2 = 0.045

5.5

This calculated value is less than p-value (0.05) therefore we reject the null hypothesis and

accept the alternate hypothesis.

43

Conclusion:

The compilation of this report bears a judgmental mark on the in-store

promotion/communication tools which forms the BTL marketing for Britannia biscuits.

The perception of the consumer and the attitude of the retailers have no doubt added a new

dimension to the existing marketing strategy in use by the company.

The above two study of both retailers as well as shoppers have helped in assimilating the core

issue of BTL of the proposed BTL study.

Indian Retail industry is at its nascent stage and it is fast developing with customers becoming

more aware of the products due to fast changing environment and more exposure to commercial

advertisements, Indian consumers have become cautious as far as purchasing is concerned.

The two survey conducted shows the consumption pattern of biscuits, wherein the consumers are

preplanned in their buying process but still their exist an opportunity mainly through the

consumers response that good visual merchandising can be helpful for a company to increase

sale at the general trade outlets.

In-store communication as far as biscuit category is concerned is poor and needs immediate

attention in order to increase the sale.

As the shoppers are preplanned but good visual display can enhance their buying or can indulge

them in impulse buying which is what exactly happening at Modern Trade outlets where the

customers end up buying multiple things through impulse which is mainly done by good visual

merchandizing.

Britannia should take initiative wherein they should do the field work and try to take the retailers

into confidence and if the store is of substantial size it should be converted into self service

kirana store and there should be an exclusive rack for Britannia biscuits with properly arranged

assortment.

44

SWOT Analysis of Britannia done on the basis of primary & secondary

research

Strengths:

1. Britannia has strong brands like Good Day, MarieGold and Tiger.

2. Britannia has well penetrated distribution network.

3. Britannia is holding leadership position in six out of the seven sub-categories of biscuit

with exception being Glucose category.

4. It has a very strong brand image as it is a very old player in biscuit category.

Weakness:

1. Britannia is unable to improve its margin since last few quarters due to increasing input

cost.

2. It is also facing problems of high turnover of Key Managerial Personnel (KMP).

Opportunities:

1. Britannia can leverage its pillar brands in full swing.

2. Increase its BTL (Below the line) marketing activities to increase its sale at the general

trade outlets by making customers buy through impulse purchasing.

3. Capitalize on its brand image to introduce new varieties of biscuits.

Threats:

1. Threats of local & regional players are more.

2. Others competitors like Sunfeast & Parle are playing very aggressive role in the

contemporary period. While PriyaGold is strong player in north region and it is planning

to foray in south region very soon.

3. Threats of inflation in prices of agri-based commodities are always attached to it.

45

4. Lack of new product innovation could cool things off for Britannia.

Annexure:

Annexure I: Store Details

Sr.No Store Name Area1 Casio Home Needs Frazer Town2 Bake Hut Frazer Town3 Green Land Stores Infantry Road4 Bakes & Shakes Shivaji Nagar5 Cake Paradise Bakery & Sweets Shivaji Nagar6 Aishwarya Bakery HAL Airport Road7 Vijaya Bakery Indra Nagar 1st Stage8 Choice Supermarket Wind Tunnel Road9 Honey Bakes Stores Indra Nagar 1st Stage10 Rehyana Stores Lalbaug Cross Road11 Mamta Super bazaar JP Nagar 2nd Phase12 S.G.Iyenger’s Bakery & Sweets Cox Town13 Niharika Provision Stores MICO Layout14 National Stores Baneerghatta Cross Road15 Zam-Zam Stores Main Road, RT Nagar16 Top in Town Stores HAL 2nd Stage, 11th Main, Indra Nagar17 Brothers Provision Stores HAL 2nd Stage, 7th Main, Indra Nagar18 Anugraha Food land Kodihalli19 Sri Durga Stores Wilson Garden 20 Nandikeshwara Condiments Sudhamanagar21 Ashirwad Bakery Arekere, MICO Layout22 Shiva Provision Stores Domlur Layout,1st Main23 New Family Stores Domlur Layout,2nd Main24 Ashirwad Stores Kodihalli25 KP Stores Murgeshpalaya26 New Delight Stores Frazer Town27 Pee Kay Stores SBM Colony, Mathikere28 Golden Departmental Stores MSR Nagar, Mathikere29 Akbar Stores Sudhamanagar, Lalbaug Road Cross30 Sri Gayatri Stores Jayanagar

46

Annexure II:

Questionnaire for shoppers

1. Normally where do you buy the biscuit from?

a. Bakery

b. Kirana/Self service Stores

c. Supermarket

2. Is biscuit a part of your monthly buying or it’s an impulse (as & when required)

buying?

3. Does good visibility at the outlet attracts you for buying or you are

preplanned in your buying process?

4. What are the new kinds of biscuits you have tried during the past six

months?

5. What should be done by Britannia in order to help the shoppers buy the

biscuits more? (Any suggestions)

47

Annexure III:

Bangalore City Map (Red circle indicates area covered)

Note: all areas which were covered are not shown due to the limitation of map

Annexure IV: Survey Store photos

48

49

50

51

Bibliography:

Books Referred:

1. Leon G Schiffman, Leslie Lazar Kanuk (2008); Consumer Behaviour; Prentice Hall India; Ninth Edition.

2. Chetan Bajaj, Rajnish Tuli, Nidhi V Srivastava (2008); Retail Management; Oxford University Press; 11th Impression.

3. Donald R Cooper, Pamela S Chindler (2007); Business Research Methods; Tata McGraw Hill; Ninth Edition

52