NMIMS Semester 3 December 2023 Retail Management Assignments

Consumer behavior

Q1. A study in 2021 by People Research on India’s Consumer Economy (PRICE) in partnership with the National Payments Corporation of India on Digital Payments has estimated that around 61% of Indian households will be doing digital payments by 2025 if the enabling environment for that is created. The break-up of the households across 3 broad income groups viz. Rich, Middle Class and Poor for digital payments is as under:

It is obvious that the Poor Class is going to be much bigger in Digital Payments compared to the Rich and almost similar in share compared to the Middle Class, though their average ticket size is going to be smaller. It is also clear that in order the realise the potential number of 55 million Households the poor will need the highest support and hand-holding

From a consumer buying perspective what are the things think the Government Authorities along with banks and financial institutions do to enable a faster adoption of Digital Payments across the poorer and economically backward sections of the society. (10 Marks)

Q2. Age has 2 broad categories – chronological age and Subjective Age which is different from chronological age. Subjective Age has 4 dimensions. Analyse how the 4 dimensions of Age will impact the purchase choices for consumers buying cosmetics and ready-to-wear clothes. (10 marks)

Q3. Answer the following

a) A company in USA has developed a Gluten Meter which is device that measure the gluten content in the food a consumer wants to consume. Gluten is a group of proteins found in wheat, barley, rye, and their derivatives. It’s what gives dough its elasticity and helps baked goods maintain their shape. While gluten is responsible for the desirable texture of many baked products, it can aggravate diabetes and obesity. Since India has the highest number of diabetics in the world this American wants to understand the attitude of people towards Gluten and Gluten Meters. How will they be able to understand the attitude of the consumer to this.

b) How will you use hemispheric laterization to influence consumers to buy a particular brand of a lifestyle home theatre system like Bose. (5 Marks)

Sales management

Q.1 Assume you are a sales manager. You will be opening a new branch for which you intend to promote one of the existing salespersons as a branch sales manager. What criteria or qualities would you look for in selecting a person for the position of branch sales manager? (10 Marks)

Q.2 Take any product/service of your own choice & explain the Personal Selling process. (10 Marks)

Q.3 Read the case & answer the questions based on the case:

Krishna Kumar, the marketing manager of MM Marketing Company was thinking how to go about designing sales territories, assigning salespeople to the territories and setting sales quotas, particularly as the product was new. The new product, called Swishflow fan was a unique kind of a table fan with attractive air-conditioner like looks. Considering the initial production capacity of 1,00,000 numbers in the first year, Krishna Kumar decided to market the product in and around Mumbai, where the marketing and sales office was located. The target consumers were household as well as commercial organizations, who could use this product as table-fan and wall-mounted fan.

Krishna Kumar thought that the territory design should include geographical areas with high market potential for achieving the sales budget of 1,00,000 numbers in the first year and a growth of 25 % per year for subsequent four years. He calculated a sales force size of seven numbers, and decided to launch the product initially in major metros and cities in Maharashtra and Gujarat. Krishna Kumar was of the view that sales quotas should consider sales volume, selling expense, and also number of sales calls per day, in order to have a proper control on salespeople. He wondered how to design sales territories, what criteria should he consider while assigning salespersons to territories, and how to design the sales quotas considering the factors mentioned above.

Questions: a) If you were Krishna Kumar, how would you design the sales territory? (5 Marks)

b) Suggest a suitable selling strategy for the new launch