Consumer purchasing behavior is shifting from stores to online. While online remains a small percentage of overall retail sales, it is the delivering the growth in revenues for retailers. Online retail sales are currently hovering around 10% of total sales, while brick-and-mortar is at around 90% of sales. Retailers are experiencing declines in shopper foot traffic into physical stores which is expected to lead to declining sales. Presently, sales are currently maintaining driven by increased average dollar sales, increased units per transaction and mark-downs which is not sustainable.
Women consumer purchasing behavior and chief purchasing officer
1. Women as chief purchasing officer
Economic world is now thinking in favor of the fairer sex. Now-a-days women are not only playing role of hardcore ‘housewives’, they are also playing a different role of ‘chief purchasing officer’ & controlling 85% of buying decisions. In today’s world, they are working as multi-tasker by playing a role of house maker as well as professional women with their hard work. With their new role as a professional, there has been a gradual evolution in the status of women & now they are called as marketers. As a professional India, women hold 25% of jobs in different sectors, although in 1980 it was only 10%. An Indian woman today has a greater sense of empowerment and economic freedom, which indicates that their consumption pattern has changed. A woman makes her values keeping whole family in mind rather than her individual self. We can say a woman is likely to be less selfish. On the flip side of this coin, this altruistic approach may prompt a woman to dictate, values to persons she can influence. An example is of a mother striving to be a follower of truth, feeling fulfilled only if her children also speak the truth. Good moral behavior, compassion and simplicity can make a person look great in her eyes. To a certain extent the male dominated society has imposed upon her this behavior as it was convenient to the society if every wife considered her father and husband as great human beings. Further, evolution and nature have demanded that she likes all her children equally and not just the prodigal child. This imposition by nature is a built-in survival mechanism of the human species. If every mother did not favour the ugly, weak and inefficient offspring, human evolution could have been very different and full of cruelty. It is notable that even among some animal species like lions and tigers where the weaklings are killed in infancy by the parents it is the male who performs the cruel act. This brings up another aspect of behavior that cruelty in any form and activities like hunting and blood sports are less enjoyed by women. In male-dominated societies, certain goods and services are decided or actually purchased largely by women; these are food items, women's clothes, clothes for children, jewellery, kitchen appliances and general household needs. Along with the growth in population and in the consumer market, the absolute volume of purchases decided by women is growing.
Values of a woman depend on her background, her education & her living life style. This type of changes have opened a separate chapter for women and treating them as a special object of study. Now, marketers have been segmenting woman customers and targeting them for many of the products or services. It is not possible to list out all the aspects to bring out if and how women behave differently in different situations as a consumer. So, I take up only the broad areas where a marked difference exists. It is hoped that recognition and analysis of these areas will help the marketer in addressing these issues.
2. REVIEW OF LITERATURE
A lot of studies have been conducted by many researchers, practitioners and professional on behavior of customers but only a few studies have been conducted on specific for women customers’ behavior. Martha Barlett suggests in her study “marketing to Women” that compared to the men, it is ideal to target the women, as it helps to enhance the returns due to the loyalty and referral power of women in the long run. Further, she opines that the natural behavior of women to talk and share experiences adds fillip to the marketing process by the multiplier effect of word of mouth. Fletcher & Keith (1988) presents information on the nature of problem recognition, the first stage of problem solving model of buyer behavior. The problem solving approach stresses the view that the consumer moves through a series of sequential and reiterative stages or procedures in reaching or not reaching a consumption decision. It is claimed that problem recognition is a two stage process; first, the problem of whether to buy, and second, and the problem of what to buy. The first problem is solved with little if any market searches over a prolonged period of time, the second with limited market search over a shorter period. The initial stages of a decision are generally accepted as influencing the later informational requirements and the choice criteria used to evaluate and discriminate between alternative products and, as such, are of major importance to marketers. Precipitation circumstances and enabling conditions do not operate in a clearly predictable way and are often not open to influence by the marketer. Simintiras & Anotonis (1997) attempt to distinguish evaluation outcomes of likely future satisfaction from feelings or emotions prior to the act of purchase, and assess the impact of pre-purchase satisfaction on the purchase behavior of first time buyers. In their study after conceptualizing pre-purchase satisfaction as the emotional outcome of anticipated satisfaction, it was hypothesized that; pre-purchase satisfaction and anticipated satisfaction are related but distinct constructs; and pre-purchase satisfaction levels are higher for potential first time buyers who buy than those who do not buy. The results provided support for both propositions, and suggest that anticipated satisfaction and prepurchase satisfaction are distinguishable constructs, and pre-purchase satisfaction is a predictor of the purchase behavior of first time buyers. Shainesh (2004) presents that buying behavior in a business market is characterized by long cycle times, group decision making, participants from different functional areas and levels and sometimes divergent objectives, and changing roles of the participants during the buying cycle. The high levels of market and technological uncertainty of services is the complexity in the buying process. Despite all this, marketers have been remarkably remiss in not looking at women as a separate segment. Dr.M.Subrahmanian (2011) examine in his study “buying behavior of the new aged Indian women” in the city of Chennai” with respect to the age, marital status, occupation, professional status factors, etc. to identify the decision maker and the influencer for the purchase made by the women. A sample of 200 women from the few distinct geographical areas of the Chennai city was collected. According to this study the women’s value perception is multi-faceted and they are more quality oriented. When it comes to the price attribute women do not opt for the products even if it is heavily priced or low priced but to the maximum prefer when it is reasonably priced within the affordable range.
3. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
Objectives of a study plays most important role in a study because with any goal or problem nothing can be found. It is a vital part of a study. In this study I have decided following objectives –
To examine the buying behavior of women in their purchase decisions
To know which area of purchase has influence more & how much they shop in regular intervals
4. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
The study “Indian Women’s buying behavior & their values for the Market” analyzes women behavior on the basis of primary data. Primary data for the study is collected through questionnaire and personal comments from the respondents. The primary data have collected at prime locations of Delhi-NCR region and other public areas of the city in order to study the buying behavior of the Indian women. A sample size of 500 women consumers of various age groups is taken from the distinct geographical areas of the Delhi-NCR.
5. ANALYSIS OF THE STUDY
The research has been carried out with the objective of to examine the buying behavior of women in their purchase decisions & to know which area of purchase has more influence to women behavior & how much they buy as in the frequency. To achieve the objectives of the study a sample of 500 Indian women from the few distinct geographical areas of the Delhi-NCR has been collected with the help of structured questionnaire. With the help of the data collected the results are analyzed. Results of the study indicates that out of total women respondents 51% women belongs to salaried class, 2% business class, 11% are self employed & 36% women are house wives. They belong to different age groups, 30% are in 20-30 years age group, 40% are in 30-40 years age group, 20% are in the age group of 40-50 years and 10% women are in the age group of 50 years and above. 10% women are falling in a income group of 0-120000, 33% are falling 120000-240000, 37% are falling 240000-360000, 7% women are falling 360000-480000 & 13% women are falling 480000& above. 24% women are having an impulse purchasing style & 76% women take time for purchasing. To buying the product 64% women take decision on their own self, 22% women involve their husband/father in their buying decision & only 14% women consult with someone else. Out of total women respondents 37% women prefer expensive/branded goods but 63% women consumers buy cheap product & they know the value of money. Therefore, most of Indian women take time for buying the goods. They are not able to make prompt decision for buying the goods. Although women consumers buy cheap goods but they are loyal for same type of commodity. Out of total women respondents 55% women are loyal customers & 45% women are interested to switch over for other product. Most of the women customers are influenced with her mother for their buyer behavior, because results of the study indicate that 62% women customers influence with her mother, 8% influence with her father, 21% influence with her friends & only 9% women are influence from others in their buying behavior. On the time the buying goods most of the women are bargaining with shopkeepers, analysis of the study indicates that 92% women responded in favour of it & only 8% women are not bargaining on the time of purchase. They also influence with advertisement which they see on the TV, newspaper, magazines & from hoardings of the companies. If the advertisement is offering any discounts on the goods, they influence very much. When they make their buying decision then they also consider corporate social responsibility, 54% respondents said that CSR activities affected on purchasing decision and 46% respondents said that CSR activities do not affected on purchasing decision. If we concentrate on their purchasing frequency in a month study found that only 2% women shop once in a month, 23% women shop weekly, 41% women shop in a gap of 14 days and 34% women almost shop daily. On the time of shopping if they see discount on any commodity they purchase the commodity in bulk quantity, 71% respondents respond in favour of the statement and 29% women purchase small quantity according to their needs & their income. Now Indian women are more aware about the market as compare few days earlier because they also prefer shopping from Malls as compare to Kirana store. Analysis of the study provides mixed results. Results indicates that 31% of Indian women says that their 20% purchase comes from Malls, 18% women says that their 20-40% purchase comes from Malls, 28% women says that their 40-60% purchase comes from Malls, 12% women says that their 60-80% purchase comes from Malls & 11% women says that their 80-100% purchase comes from Malls.
6. FINDINGS OF THE STUDY
Analysis of the study indicates that out of total women respondents most of the women belong to salaried class from different age groups with different incomes class. They influence the market with their buying decisions, they take time for purchasing. To buying the product most of the women take decision on their own self & prefer to buy cheap product & they know the value of money. Therefore, most of Indian women take time for buying the goods. They are not able to make prompt decision for buying the goods. Although women consumers buy cheap goods but they are loyal for same type of commodity. Most of the women customers are influenced with her mother for their buyer behavior. On the time the buying goods most of the women are bargaining with shopkeepers because they are aware with the price list of the commodity & discount offers on the commodity, which they see on the TV, newspaper, magazines & from hoardings of the companies. If the advertisement is offering any discounts on the goods, they influence very much. When they make their buying decision then they also consider corporate social responsibility. When study analyze their purchasing frequency in a month it found most of the women shop almost daily & on the time of shopping if they see discount on any commodity they purchase the commodity in bulk quantity. Now-a-days Indian women are more aware about the market as compare few days earlier because they also prefer shopping from Malls as compare to Kirana store. Analysis of the study provides mixed results, it shows that now Indian women are moving regularly in Malls for their purchase as compare to purchase from Kirana store, they buy only small amount of commodity in small quantity from Kirana store but most of the purchase shop from Malls.
7. CONCLUSIONS & SUGGESTIONS
With the help of findings of the study I conclude that the Indian Women, with her increasing financial power, has a greater discretionary income and utilizes it to satisfy their wants. Her criteria for family purchases have been modified by her increased exposure to new ideas and information. Now she is playing a new role as a facilitator. Previously, the Indian women concentrated on purchases that based on family needs and wants. Her only personal indulgences were items of clothing and adornment. But now she regularly moving to Malls for shopping & take her decision herself, she has full freedom to buy & make bargaining. She also takes interest in advertisement on TV, magazines & newspaper for discount offers & new schemes on the commodity. Gradually, the perception that women were looking for products more suited to their physical and emotional
needs and wants began to gain ground. Such products should be introduced, where marketers in the developed economies started recognizing this fact. However, the developing economies are still reluctant to extend this to other products. Thus it is high time that the marketers and manufacturers realize, understand and recognize women as a lucrative consumer segment and start developing concepts and create products that are women centric, which reap high growth potential.
8. Experts' view :
Professor Surinder Kr. Miglani says, A well structured questionnaire has been drafted to get the information regarding buying behavior of women. As we know that market cannot operate without the consumer so, the consumer is known as God for the market, as he behaves market work accordingly. Women as a consumer are also participating in buying the goods. Now-adays Indian women are dominating the market by making her presence in every purchase decision. So, it is also required to know that how women behave during purchasing & it is also required that what is the value of women for the market. An effort has been made to judge the Indian women buying behavior & their values for the market in this paper. Analyses of the study found that Indian women are playing a new role as a facilitator. Previously, the Indian women concentrated on purchases that based on family needs and wants. Her only personal indulgences were items of clothing and adornment. But now she regularly moving to Malls for shopping & take her decision herself, she has full freedom to buy & bargaining for the commodity. She also takes interest in advertisement on TV, magazines & newspaper for discount offers & new schemes on the commodity. They also realize the importance of corporate social responsibility to make their buying decision.
9. REFERENCES
[1] Martha Barlett, CEO of Trendsight Group, a marketing Consultancy firm “Marketing to Women” – Advertising express – ICFAI
[2] Philips, Hugh, How customers actually shop, Journal of Market Research Society, January 1993,Vol 35 Issue 1, pp 51 – 62.
[3] Flectcher, Keith, An investigation into the nature of problem recognition and deliberation in buyer
behavior, European Journal of Marketing, 1988, Vol 2 issue 5, pp 58 – 66.
[4] Simintiras, Pre-purchase satisfaction and first time buying behavior, European Journal of Marketing, 1997, Vol 31 issue 11/12, pp 737 – 872.
[5] Shainesh, Understanding buying behavior, International Journal of Technology Management, 2004, Vol 28 issue 1, pp 118 – 127.
[6] Dr.Mu.Subrahmanian, “buying behavior of the new aged Indian women” Indian Journal of Commerce & Management Studies, Vol–II , Issue -1 January 2011.
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