User Experience impacting the Retail Revolution in India

Aim: To analyze role of retail design in this revolution.

Duration: 4 months (Winter 2008 | IITG, India)

Methods Used: Literature Survey, On-site Visit, User Survey, Personal Interviews, Questionnaire Design, System Analysis.

Project Brief: To understand the retail boom in India by an eye of a Design analyst focusing on the design management, graphic design and the methods used to target the cognitive process of a customer. To understand the combined effect of the company’s corporate identity on the customer behavior and, what does company do to manipulate it?

Design and Methodology: The platform of this research is based on personal interviews of the market reviewers and the authentic data collected from the biographies and the books published by the eminent personalities like Kishore Biyani, who are still an active member of the revolution.

In the initial phase case studies of the Indian players and the companies who started this revolution in west were analyzed. This gave a very strong and a first hand experience of the actual scenario. It was very important to know the various retail formats in India are and their management.

The next target was rural retail sector. To understand and study the various problems in rural retail and the factors which are hindering the fast growth in this sector. Focus was on promotions, advertising, pricing, distribution and product development.

In the last phase, all the data collected from different sources was comprehended to get a clear image of the whole boom and to understand the changes Indian customer has underwent. Also we tried to predict the challenges that might hinder the process in near future.

Deliverables: A report was presented discussing the changes in the outlook of retail customer like their expectations, their aspirations apart from simply owning the product. The major issue dealt with was 'Why and how the retailer should determine the Customer Value Proposition that he wants to offer to customers in addition to the product'. The report also focuses on the challenges that retail sector might encounter in future like work force (Human Resource), Foreign Direct Investment, Real estate (Infrastructure), latest technology updation, supply chain etc.