Market Study Project –More Stores – Retail Arm Of Birla Group.-Vikram Tuli -FT13191

More Stores –Annupuram, Chennai, Tamil Nadu

More - Super Utility Multi-Brand Store

Conveniently located in every neighborhood MORE supermarkets cater to the daily, weekly and monthly shopping needs of consumers. The product offerings include a wide range of fresh fruits & vegetables, groceries, personal care, home care, general merchandise & a basic range of apparels in some of the branches.

Name of the store where I visited was Trinethra Super Retail Private Limited who had taken the franchise of MORE.

Since the store being located in the outskirts of Chennai, the stock and items had to be brought from Chennai city approx. 65 km from Annupuram. The addresses from where the stocks were procured from  and the delivery address were -

Source Address (from where stock is being procured):  Balaji Warehouse -459/3A, Sembiam –Redhills Road, Puzhal village, Chennai -600 066.

Destination Address (from where the stock is offloaded for selling): SM Chennai Kalpakkam, Bhartiya Nabhikiya Vidyut Nigam Ltd, Kalpakkam – 603 102

Having spent close to 2 hours at the retail store I could observe many things:-

-          Display and the layout of store

The store had probably a straight floor plan; there were small empty spaces for movement. Customers had to move criss-cross to locate and select the items they wish to purchase. Work-flow was very well designed as to keeping things in mind such as 

• Where does the customer enter the space and what display do they see first? How and where do employees interact with the customer? Where is product stored and how are the shelves replenished?

• There were products which are complements just next to each other. For example the section which had the pizza base had the tomato puree and mayonnaise on its side. Impulse buying was the imperative behind the construction and layout of the store.

•   One more peculiar thing I noticed was that the milk and milk product items which are being used on a daily basis were kept in one far corner of the store. I think this was to increase sale of other items which a consumer will pass and would see on the way as he reaches the refrigerator housing the milk products.

• The offers like More Club membership and any other discounts offered for the day were displayed right at the entrance of the store and on bill boards.

• There were cameras all over the walls to prevent any shop lifting in the store.

•   There were different sections for different categories of products. The sections were like –Soap -Detergents and cleansing agents ,Fruits, Vegetables, Biscuits, chips, cookies, Rice, flour, Oil, Shampoos, lotions, creams 

•  The products solving same purpose under one category were grouped together

-          Store Operating Timings

•  The shop operated form morning 7.00am to night 10:30pm  7 days a week. I visited the store at around 3:30pm there were not many customers present , I came to know from the store staff that the average customer count per day was 50 and and peak hours of customer rush were morning 8-10am and evening 5:30 to 9:00pm.

Sales

•         Approximate amount of sale per day was close to Rs30,000
•            Inventory in the shop is checked on a daily basis and the orders are send to the vendor via phone or e-mail.

From the Store Manager's Mouth

•          I had a word with the store manager Mr Gopinath, who was working with the store for the past 4 years. 30Yrs of age native –Pondicherry.  I got to many things from him in relation to sales and as to how the store is managed by him. All the staff members had undergone basic training course mentioned  ‘Point of Sale’ program .The program was held in Chennai regional office at Kodampakam.Staff members are rotated and are given a day's off on rotational basis.There are reward credits set for employee who performs exceptionally well .

          Some noteworthy points were:

     Accessibility of products was very proper and up to the mark.

     Visual Merchandising -Attractive products with high sale and good packaging were diplayed very well. 

                                   More Income Statement

                                      Cash Counter