Understanding customer-perceived values for apparel retailing in India

Abstract

PurposeInfrastructural revolution, intense competition and customer attraction towards organised apparel retailing in India are potentially affecting traditional retailing. The authors seek to identify the factors that customers perceive during shopping in organised apparel retail store. This study also investigates the indirect effects of identified factors on behavioural outcomes such as loyalty.Design/methodology/approachThe study randomly selected the customers immediately after shopping to minimise the experience's carryover effects. A sample of 648 customers was collected. Data were analysed using multivariate analysis of covariance.FindingsThe study has found that in-store logistics is the second order factor with ease of return, on-shelf availability, product accessibility, shopping convenience, and product information as the variables. The result shows that in-store logistics, store environment, store communication, merchandise assortment, perceived price and employee attribute influence customer satisfaction. As expected, these factors indirectly influence the loyalty.Research limitations/implicationsThis study focused on organised multi-brand apparel retailing, and the survey was conducted in a tier-II city of India only. Hence, any attempt to generalise the findings must be undertaken with caution.Practical implicationsIn the context of multi-brand retailing, competition is fierce. New entrants and traditional apparel retailers hesitate to adopt organised apparel retailing. The findings of this study can be helpful for new entrants and traditional apparel retailers to adopt organised apparel retailing.Originality/valuePrevious studies in the field of multi-brand retailing have mainly focused on the marketing aspect of retail stores. This study contributes to the operations aspect and tests the impact of operational function (in-store logistics) on customer satisfaction.