Departmental store Project - Tinsukia College

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS :-
I would like to thank ___________________ & _____________________________________ for their
invaluable help and suggestions that they provided during our summer project . The staff of Vishal mega mart
helped us a lot and all of them were very cooperative. They helped in understanding the marketin g mix and
logistics of the retail industry very deeply. We would also like to thank the branch manager who guided us at every
step whenever we seek help from her regarding this project. Further he guided us not only in theoretical way but
also told how to take care of your health while doing the project.
At last, I would like to thank each other in the classroom for their coordination and cooperation in
preparing this project.

Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. Features of Departmental Store
3. The Vishal Group – Company Background
4. Vishal Retail – Tinsukia Branch
5. Purchases and Sales management
6. Promotional Techniques
7. Problems faced by a Departmental Store
8. Conclusion
9. Bibliography

Introduction - Departmental Store:
A departmental store is a large retail trading organization. It has several departments, which are classified
and organized accordingly. Departments are made as per different types of goods to be sold. For example,
individual departments are established for selling packed food goods, groceries, garments, stationery, cutlery,
cosmetics, medicines, computes, sports, furniture, etc., so that consumers can purchase all basic household
requirements under one roof. It provides them maximum shopping convenience and therefore, also called as
'Universal Providers' or 'One spot shopping'. The concept of a departmental store first originated in France.
All departments are run under the same ownership, management and control. Each department is an
independent unit as far as a sale of any specific product and its varieties are concerned. The main aim of every
departmental store is to provide and fulfill all requirements of their customers at one place along with comforts
and facilities which a small scale retailer cannot provide. Here all goods which are available under one roof are sold
on a cash basis.
Characteristics / Features of Departmental Store
Following are the main features or characteristics of a Departmental Store :-
1. Departmental Store is located in the centre of a city: The departmental store is usually located in the
central area of a large city. Location and premises are the two most important aspects for it. The departmental
store is generally situated at that place where a maximum number of people comes for shopping.
2. Departmental Store offers a wide variety of goods: A departmental store not only offers a wide variety of
goods and but also provides a huge range of designs, colours and styles that suit individual demands of consumers.
3. Departmental Store means shopping under one roof: The main idea behind a departmental store is to
supply all basic requirements under one roof. It acts as a supplier of a large variety of quality goods and services.
Thus, departmental store provides maximum shopping convenience to its customers.
4. Departmental Store offers quality goods and services: The motto of every departmental store is to
provide high quality goods and render professional services to their customers. It always keeps a huge stock of
fresh goods which highlight latest fashions and trends followed by different manufacturers.
5. Departmental Store has a single management: Various sections of the departmental store operate
independently. However, they all are under direct control of a single management. Buying, supervision, accounting,
advertising and external communications are handled directly by the central management of a departmental store.
6. Departmental Store always attracts customers: Departmental stores have attractive interior decoration
and window display. They spend heavily on sales promotion. This is done through the advertising, discounts, special
seasonal offers, gift schemes, festival offer, etc.
7. Departmental Store fulfil needs of most families: Departmental store mainly satisfies needs of the rich
and higher middle class group of the society. More attention is given to quality, choice, convenience and service
rendered to the customer.
8. Departmental Store renders good customer service: Departmental stores offer efficient customer
services such as inspection of goods, actual demonstration of goods, convenient packages, provision for
refreshment, reading rooms, home delivery, parking facility, etc.

9. Departmental Store operates by appointing experts: The departmental store conducts its business on a
very large scale and generates good profit revenues. It can easily afford to appoint experts for purchasing,
advertising, recruitment, supervision, etc., and keeps operating smoothly.
10. Departmental Store sells goods only on cash basis: A departmental store sells goods only on a cash
basis. Generally, credit facilities are not offered to customers to avoid the risk of bad debts.
THE VISHAL GROUP – Company Backround
What started as a humble one store enterprise in 1986 in Kolkata (erstwhile, Calcutta) is today a
conglomerate encompassing 51 showrooms in 39 cities. India’s first hyper-market has also been opened for the
Indian consumer by Vishal. Situated in the national capital Delhi this store boasts of the singe largest collection of
goods and commodities sold under one roof in India. The group had a turnover of Rs.1463.12 million for fiscal 2005,
under the dynamic leadership of Mr. Ram Chandra Aggarwal . The group had of turnover Rs 2884.43 million for
fiscal 2006 and Rs. 6026.53 million for fiscal 2007.
The group’s prime focus is on retailing. The Vishal stores offer affordable family fashion at prices to suit
every pocket. The group’s philosophy is integration and towards this end has initiated backward integration in the
field of high fashion by setting up a state of the art manufacturing facility to support its retail endeavors. Vishal is
one of fastest growing retailing groups in India. Its outlets cater to almost all price ranges. The showrooms have
over 70,00 products range which fulfills all your household needs, and can be catered to under one roof. It is
covering about 1282000 sq. ft. in 18 state across India. Each store gives you international quality goods and prices
hard to match. The cost benefits that is derived from the large central purchase of goods and services is passed on
to the consumer.
Ram Aggarwal started Vishal Mega Mart in Kolkata in 1986, in a 100 sq ft shop in Lal Bazaar. It was a
struggle in the beginning, but within two years his store had taken off, and today Vishal Mega Mart has branches all
over the country. With a turnover of Rs 89 crore (Rs 890 million), Vishal Mega Mart has been one of the pioneers of
bargain retailing in India, and now it is diversifying to become an all-purpose departmental store. His family had a
business in Calcutta (now Kolkata) when he was growing up, but he wanted to do something different, so he got a
job instead. However, by 1984, he got bored and decided to start something by himself.
Vishal Retail – Tinsukia Branch
Popular Indian retail chain Vishal Mega Mart is started in Tinsukia city of Assam 9 years back. The Vishal
Mega Mart, Tinsukia stays open on weekdays (Monday to Sunday) from 12.00 PM till 10:00 PM.
Address: Vishal Mega Mart
Khaitan Plaza, Near Municipal Board, Tinsukia, Assam
District – Tinsukia, PIN – 786125
Contact Numbers:
Phone: 9085779600

Purchases and Sales Management System of Vishal Retail
Inventory refers to the goods stocked for future use. Every retail chain has its own warehouse to stock the
merchandise to be used when the existing stock replenishes. Inventory management refers to the storage of
products to be used at the time of crisis.
The retailer keeps a track of the stocked goods and makes sure there is surplus inventory to avoid being
“out of stock”. Such a process is called as inventory management. Gone are the days when customers had limited
options for shopping. In the current scenario, if a customer does not find the desired merchandise at one retail
shop, he has a second brand to rely on. A retailer can’t afford to loose even a single customer. It is really important
for the retailer to retain his existing customers as well as attract potential buyers. The retailer must ensure that
every customer leaves his store with a smile. Unavailability of merchandise, empty shelves leave a negative
impression on the customers and they are reluctant to visit the store in near future. Inventory management
prevents such a situation.
One must understand that the products need some time to reach the store from the supplier’s unit. The
retailer must have sufficient stock to offer to the customers during the “lead time”. Managing inventory also helps
the retailer during situations beyond control like transport strikes, curfews etc. The retailer has ample stock as a
result of judicious inventory management even at the time of crisis.
Technique used in Inventory management
1. SKU (Stock Keeping Unit): Every product available at the store has a unique code. This code which
helps in the identification and tracking of the products at the retail store is called as stock keeping unit or SKU.
The retailer feeds each and every SKU in the master computer and can easily track the product in the stock
just by entering the SKU Number. Assigning a unique code to the products avoids unnecessary searching.
2. New Old Stock (Abbreviated as NOS): The stock which is never been sold by the retailer and now not
even being manufactured comprises the new old stock. Such products do not have takers and may not be produced
anymore.
3. Stock out: Stock out refers to a situation when the retailer fails to fulfill the customer’s requirement
due to lack of merchandise. The merchandise is not available in the current inventory and thus the customer has to
return home empty handed.
Promotional Strategies by a Departmental Store
Departmental store is large scale retailing institution. Generally, it is established in central places of big
cities and towns. Departmental stores sell so many varieties of goods that most of the needs and wants of
customers are satisfied at the same store.
Generally, departmental stores are established and operated as joint stock compani es. Departmental
stores are managed and operated by a general manager or executive director under the control of board of
directors. Departmental stores are divided in different independent stores. Separate manager is appointed for each
department. They work under the leadership of general manager, and become responsible to the general manager
for the operation of their department. Each department obeys policies, rules, directions and regulations formulated
by management. Each department may have separate office and account section.
Different sections such as sales promotion, customer services, account etc. are established in departmental
stores according to necessity and type of goods. Departmental stores adopt the centralized purchasing and
decentralized sales policy. It gets all kinds of benefits of a large-scale business. Departmental stores can get relative

benefits such as discount in price, transportation, selection of goods, packaging etc. Such facilities are provided
while purchasing large volume of goods.
In western countries, mostly women are the customers of departmental stores. Women shoppers also buy
goods, which are needed for gents. Departmental stores also provide various free services. They provide goods on
credit, help customers to carry goods their homes etc. Departmental stores also provide facilities such as
entertainment, place for children to play, cafeteria, waiting room, telephone service, mail, newspapers, different
information etc. to customers. Departmental stores remain active to make customers feel cheer and happy along
with buying goods.
Problems Faced by a Departmental Store
1. Departmental store needs higher operating costs: The cost of running a departmental store is very high.
Since a departmental store is centrally located the rent for the building is very high. It also offers personal services
and facilities, spends more on advertising and gives a high salary to skilled employees. All these expenses increase
the overhead expenses of a departmental store.
2. Departmental store is difficult to supervise: A departmental store has many departments with a large
number of selling units. Effective co-ordination, supervision and control of all the departments may not be always
possible. This may due to a shortage of qualified staff. Without a team of professional staff, it creates problems of
effective supervision and control over the work of employees.
3. Departmental store always needs huge capital: A departmental store has many departments dealing in
different lines of products, since it aims at selling everything under one roof. Such a large retail organization always
requires a large amount of capital to keep business running.
4. Departmental store maintains high prices: Generally, the prices of goods sold in a departmental store
are higher than those in the other small retail shops.
5. Departmental store don't supply all goods: Departmental stores are not capable of conducting all types
of retail business. They supply certain varieties of goods. It is physically impossible for the m to supply all varieties or
kinds of goods.
6. Departmental store has to deal with thefts: In large stores, there are chances of shoplifting, robberies,
misuse, etc. The thefts can be committed by customers as well as by staff members.
7. Departmental store gets low customer feedback: Departmental stores offer services to a large number
of customers. The salesmen in the stores, being salaried staff can hardly give personal attention to all customers.
Due to lack of contact with the customers, their feedback may be very low or sometimes may not be possible.
8. Departmental store needs services of specialists: Departmental store requires services of specialists to
plan and to manage the store. However, it is difficult to appoint and maintain specialists.
Conclusion

Retail has opened up in a big way in India with players like Shubkisha , Big Bazaar Vishal Mega Mart & many
alike , all entering it at one go ,its very clear that no one has a clear cut advantage over the other . Out of all the
three Vishal mega mart has emerged to be the most fastest coverer with its coverage of 39 cities with 51
Showrooms . With a growth at this place Vishal mega mart has surely moved places & is definitely a big hit among
people This is a sector which has just started to emerge & the competition is fierce between the three majors Big
Bazar Shubkisha & Vishal Mega Mart in order to be among the most preferred retail format . The competition has
just fiercend up, it would be exciting what these giants would come up & would Woo the consumer to purchase
from them Vishal Mega Mart positions itself as “Manufacturing to Retailing” or one stop shop emphasing on the
count of convenience for a consumer,
During my research we came out with various findings in terms of five P’s in the organization . Products of
Vishal Mega Mart ranges from apparels to eatables to grocery items . They do have plans to introduce new
products to its already existing arsenal in very near future but at the moment they are concentrating on the
products in hand and are examining market demands for the products they want to introduce . In apparels though
Vishal Mega Mart has their own brand and in terms of other products ,they are same as other stores. But they do
have quality issues with their apparels .
As far as positioning is concerned we found out that Vishal Mega Mart is positioning itself as a “one stop
shop”. Though as of now its product arsenal has many deficiencies . In terms of promotion strategies they don’t
have any specific one ,though they do give advertisements on print media to promote their organization . And as
for the products in their arsenal ,the manufacturers of those respective products take the responsibility of all the
promotional strategies and its execution regarding those products .Vishal Mega Mart doesn’t play any role in that
.Vishal Mega Mart also procures its products both from local and foreign suppliers . Most of its products comes
from local vendors though some products also comes from countries like China . The amount of the products to be
stocked depends on two factors in Vishal Mega Mart . They normally keep 20% to 40% profit on their products.
They don’t change vendors very often and tend to rely on old vendors mostly because the company doesn’t want
to go through the tedious job of selecting new vendors . They rather prefer to trust their old suppliers . Vishal Mega
Mart uses all types of transports for their logistics . These includes ships and aircrafts while importing and trucks
and trains for inside country transport.
Vishal Mega Mart also needs to revolutionize their promotional strategies . They need to create a very
active promotional campaign using both electronic and print media as well as hoardings and banners and ad
campaigns . Vishal Mega Mart also should change its policies regarding vendor selection . They prefer to trust their
old vendors rather than looking for new vendors with better quality . This attitude can lead to a over secured
feeling in the old vendors which in turns might end up creating severe quality problems in their products . Vishal
Mega Mart should not allow any sort of competency to creep into their vendors and should always look for new
vendors with better offers . This will help to invoke competitive attitude in old vendors which will in tu rn result in

better quality products .The lack of training in the salespersons at their stores are quite evident which will lead to
customer dissatisfaction. Management should immediately organize proper training mechanism for its employees
to rectify this problem.
BIBLIOGRAPHY :-

Website :-
www.vishalmegamart.net
www.assams.info/yellowpages/shopping/vishal-mega-mart-tinsukia-assam#ixzz3ISsEicrT
www.google.co.in
www.kalyan-cityblog.com
www.wikipedia.org
Books :-
Business Studies – Syllabus book class IX
FDI in retail sector , A report by I C R I E R and ministry of consumer affairs , Government of India .

Departmental store Project - Tinsukia College

More Related Content

What's hot (20)

Similar to Departmental store Project - Tinsukia College (20)

More from Kumar Nirmal Prasad (20)

Recently uploaded (20)

Departmental store Project - Tinsukia College