Private Super Markets and Margin Free Markets in Kerala: A Comparative Study of Factors Influencing Consumers

Abstract

Retailing occupies a predominant position in the economies of almost all the developed countries. It is one of the fastest growing sectors and contributes more than one-fourth of the GDP of many countries in the world. The sector gives nearly 20 per cent of the employment in the world. In India, organised form of retailing stared in 1990s and presently possesses nearly ten percent of total retail turnover and grows at a CAGR of 24 per cent – the highest rate in the world. In Kerala, organised retailers consists of supermarkets owned by private chains as well as independent large retailers, Margin free markets and government controlled retailers. Here, Private Supermarkets are supposed to compete with Margin Free Markets. In this study, the factors influencing the choice of stores among the consumers of Private Supermarkets and Margin Free Markets are identified and examined using 17 variables. The variables, as part of dimension reduction, are grouped into three prominent groups using the statistical tool Exploratory Factor Analysis. It is found that for the factors ‘Assortment and Service’ and ‘Quality of Goods’, Private Supermarkets are far better than Margin Free Markets. But in the case of the factor, ‘Price of Goods’, Margin Free Markets are better than Private Supermarkets as the former one sells goods at lesser prices than the latter.

Keywords

Organised retailing, Private supermarkets, Margin free markets

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