FREE ESSAY ON SHOP AND CARS STUDY

SHOP AND CARS STUDY

-  Acknowledgements
-  Contents
-  List of Tables
-  List of Figures
-  Executive Summary
Introduction
Background
Rupani Brothers, established in 1943, is a watch shop located in Hazratganj, Lucknow. It
is into the sale and repair of watches and clocks. 
The shop sells watches of many reputed brands, in all price ranges. Some of the famous
brands of watches sold at Rupani Brothers are Tissot, Rado, Timex, Titan, HMT, Omega,
Swatch, Bentex, D'signer, Citizen, etc. They also sell many brands of clocks such as
Citizen, Prestige, Opel, Samay, Siwa and Rewa. They cater to customers of all classes and
categories, but its primary target group is the upper middle strata and the higher strata
of the society. 
Objective of the Study
Our objective is to make suggestions that would increase the sales of Rupani Bros. by 10
percent, through the application of our knowledge of marketing concepts. 
METHODOLOGY
Research Design
We planned to do our study from three angles:
A study of the shop: This would involve a detailed study of the shop. We would get
detailed information from the shop owner and from our observations of the shop. This is
to understand the factors that go into making a successful watch shop like services
offered, promotional and advertising strategy adopted by the shop etc.
A study of the competitors: We planned to look at the shop's competitors in Hazratganj.
The main competitors are listed below:
1. The Titan Showroom
2. Universal Watch Shop
3. Kings' Watch Shop
We do this in order to compare what Rupani Bros. has to offer to the customers with that
of its competitors. This comparison would give us a clear picture of the areas in which
Rupani Bros. have to improve.
Study of the customers: We planned to conduct a detailed study of people in Hazratganj
wherein we would ask them specific questions by means of questionnaire designed by us.
The purpose of the study is to know their behaviour as far as purchase of watches is
concerned and their views on the shop. These expectations would be mapped with what the
shop actually offers, and accordingly we would come up with some concrete suggestions as
to how the shop can meet these expectations.
Data Collection
We followed the above mentioned research design for data collection 
A study of the shop: We collected information about the shop from the shop-owner and by
our own observations during our four visits to the shop.
From the shop owner we got detail regarding the brands of watches and clocks sold, sales
figures for the various brands in terms of both units sold and revenue generated,
division of sales among watches and clocks, busy and lean season, advertising strategy
and sales promotions followed, and the after sales services offered. 
Through our observation of the shop we found out the general decor of the shop, the
display of watches, space availability and the services offered by the sales people. 
A study of the competitors: We looked at the shop's three competitors in Hazratganj. All
the three shops provide stiff competition to Rupani Bros as they are located in proximity
to the shop and target the same market segment comprising the upper middle strata and the
higher strata of the society. 
The study involved observation of the competitor shops to get information regarding the
various brands of watches and clocks sold, the display of watches and clocks, the decor
of the shop and the quality of services offered. 
A study of the customers: We conducted a detailed study of people in Hazratganj by means
of a questionnaire. In the questionnaire we asked specific questions like 
 Their favorite brands of watches
 The major occasions on which they buy them
 The sources they use to gather information about watches
 The people who influence their purchase decision, and
 What they look for in a watch shop. 
We interviewed a total of sixty-three people, all in Hazratganj. The reason for
conducting the survey entirely in Hazratganj is that there we would get a sample of
people who are either already customers of the shop or are potential customers. Thus the
sample would be representative of the target market segment of the shop 
DATA AND DATA ANALYSIS
Data collected from Shop:
The shop is very well situated; it occupies a corner plot just across the main road from
Nawab's, the popular restaurant in Lucknow. The shop itself is spread over three floors,
with the watches being sold in the basement and clocks on the ground floor. The first
floor houses repair and maintenance operations of the shop. 
The brands of watches sold include Titan, Timex, Omega, Tissot, Rado, Swatch, Bentex, and
Citizen etc. It is the only authorized agent of Swatch, Omega, Rado and Tissot in the
city.
It stocks many leading brands of clocks like Citizen, Prestige, Opel, Samay, Siwa and
Rewa. 
The table below gives the sales of watches in terms of units sold and value for the past
one year.
Table I: Brand-wise Sales in terms of units sold and Revenue Generated
Brands Units Sold Sales value (Rs. lakhs)
Titan 6000 90
Timex 3500 25
Omega 12 10
Tissot 50 2.5
Rado 40 6
Swatch 250 5
Bentex 30 0.75
Citizen 400 8
D'signer 500 10
 The total sales value of all the watches is approximately Rs 157.25 lakhs. 
 HMT's contribution to sales revenue is marginal
 The clocks contribute to only 1 % of the total sales value, which works out to
Rs. 1.6 lakhs. 
 Therefore the total turnover of the shop is Rs.158.85 lakhs. 
 The shop experiences annual busy and lean seasons. The busy season extends from
Diwali till February and about 70% of the total sales are in this period. The slack
season is from February to October and contributes only 30% to total sales. 
The current advertising strategy of the shop includes hoardings and advertisements in
local newspapers.
Presently they have five hoardings in different areas of the city:
 One near the Taj hotel.
 One near YMCA.
 One near Cathedral school, and
 Two near the bridge on River Gomti.
The cost of each hoarding is about Rs. 25000 per year.
The shop also advertises in newspapers like The Times of India, Lucknow edition and
Lucknow Times, on an average three times a year during the festive season. The
advertisements are small in size.
Last summer they had advertised on the local cable channel. The advertisement was in the
form of a small strip running across the bottom of the screen. The cost was Rs. 6000 for
a period of two months. The shop-owner feels that this didn't bring the expected returns
and hence has discontinued it
.
They do not offer discounts on their own. They offer discounts a particular brand only
when the respective watch company launches a sales campaign. 
The shop sometimes gives free gift, mainly in the form of a silver coin. Currently they
give a Tanishq silver coin for every purchase more than Rs. 1500. 
We can summarise the shop's offer and strategy in terms of the 4P's of Marketing as
follows
The Four P's Of Marketing
PRODUCT - The shop offers a large variety of watches and clocks. It stocks all the major
national brands as well as many famous foreign brands. Watch is grown into necessity in
today's world; this offers the shop a great potential for growth. One of the drawbacks
with the product is that the shop does not offer many of the services and benefits that
an exclusive showroom would offer. This point also came up in the survey of the people,
many of who prefer to go to the Titan showroom also in Hazratganj.
PRICE - The price that the shop charges is not fixed by it but by the company. The price
ranges from Rs. 200 to 1,00,000. Therefore the shop is targeting the entire gamut of the
watch market. The shop gets a fixed commission on sale of each watch.
PLACE - The shop is located in the busiest market place of Lucknow, Hazratganj. The shop
is visible from the main road and is located near city landmarks like Sahu theatre and
Nawab's. The shop itself is very old, having been established in 1943 and has built a