Business Analytics in

Marketing

Submitted By –
Roshni Agarwal - 42259
Submitted To –
Shubhankar Jain - 42287
Prof. Rohit Ghosh
Subodh Khurana - 42298
Swati Mehta - 42306
Case 1: Retailing, Advertising, Marketing and Merchandising
Services
Summary

Survey, Analysis & Results

A. To purchase
B. To do window shopping
C. To give company
D. To check out new arrivals

Inference: To know the intention of customers coming to shopping centres as these might be the
future customers for the store. Also, to check if the objective of coming to store is same for the
consumer goods and the electronic goods.

Q2: Do you prefer shopping in departmental stores like this?

Inference: Luxury items like cosmetics may seem more appealing when sold in large stores. Also,
people might be considerate towards the convenience and quality faith in the departmental stores.
In these stores merchandising can play a key role because of the relevant audience and space
available at POP.

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Q3: If answer to question 2 is yes then why do you prefer shopping in these stores?

Inference: There might be several reasons for coming to the departmental store. These may include
Convenience, quality, Variety, Courteous attitude, volume, status symbol etc. Knowing these aspects
can help in the right targeting and promotion for the Target Audience.

Q4: Are you pre-decided on what to purchase before you come to store?

Inference: It is a very crucial question in terms of the merchandising and consumer engagement at
point of sale. It is a well-known fact that two third of the customers decide what to purchase at the
time of shopping irrespective of the perception of ad. In fact, FMCG items are more likely to have
opportunity to influence consumers decision.

Q5: If the answer to question 4 is no, then what range of goods do you usually decide after coming
to the store?

Inference: Knowing the category where people can have a change in perception at the POP is
important for a company like RAMMS. These can help in placing the right advertisements at the right
place. This will help save cost and engage customers more effectively.

Q6: When you move towards the cosmetic section, What is it that strikes you most?

Inference: There might be several reasons that attract customers to a particular area in a
departmental store. These may include shelves, colors, sales person, other customers etc. Knowing
this can help in better designing shelves and displays and making them more attractive to the
customers.

Q7: Have you seen or come across the newly launched ads for Lakme orchid Range?

Inference: People might not remember the new products or new ads but it is the brand that attracts
the customer. Also, people might not care about the launch of a new product but they are more
likely to try the product. Hence this question is very crucial.

Q8: If answer to question 7 is yes then what is the media?

Inference: It is important for any advertising agency to know the impact of the advertisement that
they are showcasing. As the cost incurred in TV and print media is very high, companies are now
trying to focus on POP engagement and merchandising. The market is very profitable and currentlt
stands at about 350 crores out of which only 10% has been captured.

Q9: What is your opinion about ads?

Inference: Newspaper and TV ads are likely to have more reach but they are perceived more of
being humorous and tickling. People may not even want to see ads in several cases and hence adopt
paid ad free subscriptions. Thus, merchandising may play a key role here.

Q10: When you come to the cosmetics section of this store was the ad in your mind?

Inference: This question tests the impact that the ad has created in the mind of the customer. The
positioning of the ad needs to be perfect. These paly a key role in the consumers decision making at
the Point of Purchase.

Q11: What did you like in lake Orchids range of displays?

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Inference: Different people might like different things in an ad. These may include the color,
movements, positioning, try and buy concept etc. These help the customers to experience the
product in their hands and have a better connection with the brand. People like the courteous
attitude of the sales persons and might get converted at the point of sale.

Q12: What is your opinion about try and buy concept?

Inference: People gain confidence in the product quality and also enables them to buy and adopt a
new product. Trying helps the user to switch from an old product to a new one. Also this helps in
creating trust with the brand.

Q13: Would you have purchased Lakme Orchids range if there was no try and buy scheme?

Inference: Try and buy helps in widening the customer base. People may not be directly willing to
switch to a new product. Also, This can help in checking the impact of new product advertisement
both tv and display on the customers.

Q14: What in your opinion is the decisive factor in making the purchase?

Inference: This is the penultimate question and is directed towards knowing the impact of print ads,
tv ads, display ads, customer engagement, marketing schemes utilized and sales persons on the
buying intention of the customers. This can help the company in increasing expenditure in certain
areas and reducing in the non productive areas.

Q15: If you have not purchased, then please give the reasons.

Inference: The main motive of knowing the answer is to know the brand awareness of the consumer
and gaining customer insights. It is necessary that the customer say the display ad or the
merchandising at the POP in the departmental store. Buying is totally his choice. But the ads should
be capable of generating Lead and bringing the customer to the right shelve.

Questions on Case Study

The various parameters that can be analyzed on the basis of survey are:

1. Overall convenience
2. Quality of products
3. Variety
4. Sales people
5. Price
6. Quantity
7. Spaceousness
8. Location

Studying the advertisement expenses with the sales can give a better view on a monthly basis.
Regression Analysis can help in determining the correlation between the sales and ad expenses
keeping in mind the above parameters.

Survey data: Based on sample data collected through survey bar chart and pie chart helped to find
correlations between effectiveness of various merchandising activities and sales

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Financial data: Regression analysis portrays that increase in ad campaign fetches higher sales
revenue

Exploratory Factor Analysis: In order to group similar parameters together. This can help in
prioritizing the parameters on the basis of their impact on consumer decision making.

All these analysis will help in determining the prioritizing factor for the company which will attract
the most audience thereby saving time and cost of advertisements.

Q2: What type of conclusions can be drawn from such an analysis?

1. Most of the buying decisions are taken on the spot majorly for FMCG products
2. Big departmental stores offering good variety of products with attractive showcasing under one
roof increases perceived value proposition of the product
3. Schemes such as ‘Try & Buy’ complemented with advertisement in Newspapers & TVs play fairly
good role in influencing customers’ buying decision
4. Failure in meeting the sale of the product is mainly attributed to ‘High Prices’ that is out of
scope of merchandising.
5. Using the analysis, the company can try to change the objective of the customers for visiting the
stores.
6. It can change the normal behavior of customers who come pre-decided about the products to
buy.
7. The company can know the level of brand awareness and which advertisement struck
consumers the most.
8. They can get to know the media channel that attracted customers the most. Using this only
directed ads can be created resulting in huge cost savings.

Q3: Is it possible to conclude that effectiveness of merchandising is higher if coupled with Ad

Referring to the Survey questionnaire

“When you come to the cosmetics section of this store was the ad in your mind?”

Inferences: Effective advertising reaches potential customers and informs them of the products or
services. Ideally, advertising should capture the prospective customers attentions attention and
entice them to use the product. Regardless of the method, all the advertising should be clear and
consistently reflect the unique positioning statement of one’s business.

Advertising is communication intended to inform, educate, persuade, and remind individuals of your
product or businesses. Advertising must work with other marketing tools and business elements to
be successful. Advertising must be interruptive — that is, it must make you stop thumbing through
the newspaper or thinking about your day long enough to read or hear the ad. Advertising must also
be credible, unique, and memorable in order to work. Like all effective marketing support, it must be
built upon a solid positioning strategy. Finally, for any advertising campaign, enough money must be
spent to provide a media schedule for ad frequency, the most important element for ad
memorability.

When coupled with merchandising it creates a strong image in the minds of the customer. The
customer is already considering to buy the product in the ad campaign but merchandising at POP
strengthens the perspective of the customer to make the final purchase.

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Q4: What are the possible limitations?

Limitation of data analysis:

1) Limited & Biased sample- Sample data are highly biased as these are collected from limited &
niche segment of customers i.e. Students of IISc and social media that may have common cultural
and generation effects

2) Spurious correlation- Regression analysis is done along a considerable period of time; that shows
positive correlation between Sales & Ad but this may have spurious correlation with time as latent
variable

3) Not using Weighted Average- Every parameter has been given equal weightage while considering
the analysis. This might not be the case.

Limitation of Merchandising:

1) Limited Scope- It has limited scope up to product display & delivery; doesn’t touch ‘Price’ &
‘Quality’ component that is major decisive factor in buying decision

2) Accountability- Increases price of product & hard to measure the ROI

3) Negative Pre conceived notions – A person already having a negative mindset will be immune to
any display ad or customer engagement.

4) Once is Not Enough - The greatest disadvantage of successful merchandising may be the need to
keep at it to meet the expectations of your clientele and to keep a steady stream of new customers
coming in. Once the bar has been set, allowing it to fall would negatively affect your sales and shrink
your customer base. The stresses and obligations of small-business owners are many, and some are
not willing to take on the additional task of large-scale merchandising.

5) Expense - The expense of installing new fixtures, creating new signage and improving the overall
appearance of your retail space inside and out can add up quickly. Although good merchandising can
result in an increase in profitability over the long haul, it will likely cost you time, effort and money in
the short run. You must be comfortable with the disadvantage of an initial investment to reap the
rewards later in the process.

6) Unnecessary burden on staff - An attractive merchandising can bring more foot traffic to your
store, but the sales of your products will depend on the price and quality of your products. With the
increased traffic in your store, you would need to have more staff members to handle those
customers.

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 Case 2: East-West Airlines – A failed Experience

Questions on Case Study

According to the survey conducted, it was observed that 32% of the travellers were in the income
range greater that Rs 10000 per month. Most of the respondents preferred travelling with Damania
(35%) and Modiluft (15%). Only 2% passengers wanted to travel by East West Airlines.

The problem was improper implementation of the marketing strategy. As only 3% of respondents
had a positive image of the airline even before boarding, this indicates that EW failed to develop
trust and create a positive brand perception in the minds of the customers.

The following were the gaps that led to deterioration of EW Airlines:

After studying the comparison between ATOs provided by EW Airlines and its competitors, we can
observe the following gaps :

• Poor maintenance: During a touch-and-go landing training exercise at Vadodara Airport, East
West Airlines Fokker F27 aircraft’s main landing gear failed to touchdown. The aircraft continued
to skid forward on its belly to a halt on the runway. Even though there was no fire or injury, the
incident was contributed to poor maintenance of the aircraft. This damaged customer image of
the airlines.
• Limited In-flight services: While Damania provided additional facilities like complimentary
drinks, newspaper, cold towel etc, EW airlines provided just the basic amenities and thus failed
to exceed customer expectations.
• Even though EW Airlines had maximum number of agents present, there was no standard way
of collecting feed-backs from them. This led to lack of proper consumer insights. Also, there
was lesser contact between customer and company.

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• In 1993, there was a strike by Indian Airlines pilots and at that time, East West created a not-so-
clean image in the minds of most respondents.
• Also, the check-in system and in-flight service in East West Airlines was poor.

The major customer segments that was ignored by the East West Airlines was:

▪ High net-worth frequent flyers

Q2. In your opinion, what would East-West Airlines have done to remain in the business? How
could it have refurbished its image?

• The major pitfall for the company came when

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• EW airlines had built the workforce with youngsters which is no doubt critical for growth and
sustainability, but having an experienced leadership team should also be a priority.
• East West should have researched more about the flying patterns of its customers to find out
customer segments through cluster analysis and then select the target group accordingly.
• Increased perks in Frequent Flyer Program to decrease customer churn out rate and increase
sentiment towards brand loyalty.
• Potential offer: If Bonus miles are used with the
proportion of 80:20 then the customers can be
awarded with 50% off with frequent flyer credit
card.
• Non-frequent flyers are potential business
growth opportunity if the customers could be
turned into frequent flyers.
• Potential promotional offers: More mile points per
fly which can be redeemed as discounted air fare
rates can be offered to improve number of flyers.
• If frequent flyer credit card is used then the reward points per travel percentage can increase.
• If the number of travel check-ins are more than 5 in a year, then extra bonus points can be
awarded to the customer.

Q3. What is the import of the present case for a new ATO? How should it go about achieving a
good sales growth?
India is the world’s third largest domestic aviation market and third largest aviation market. By 2024,
India’s overall aviation market is expected to become the third largest globally.

Aviation Industry at a glance:

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Given below are the opportunities and advantages in Indian market for aviation players.

Comprehension of customer preferences, satisfaction and loyalty relationships has become very
critical for airline companies because of tough competition in the market.

Following factors can be considered to measure and improve brand image and increase trust among
customers which in turn will boost the sales.

• Reliability: The airline’s ability to perform the promised service dependably and accurately.

The efficiency of its services should be given special importance by airlines. Some suggestions may
be given about their services including reliability aspect as; they should ensure on-time departure
and arrival. We should also provide reliable ground / in-flight services and carry out service the first
time.

• Responsiveness: The airline's willingness to help customers and provide prompt service.
• Assurance and Customization: The caring, individualized attention the airline provides its
customers. Also, airlines should take into account spending power of its target customers and
accordingly define their offerings price attentively.
• Facilities and Flight patterns: Airline’s ground facilities and communications.

If the airline companies upgrade their facilities, they can gain a larger market share. Airline
companies should have high-quality physical equipment such as the exterior and interior design of
aircraft, in-flight entertainment facilities and systems, internet / email / fax / phone facilities in-
flight, and catering services facilities to better serve their customers.

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