A typology of Indian hypermarket shoppers based on shopping motivation

Abstract

Purpose – Hypermarket is the most successful amongst organised retail formats in India. The purpose of this paper is to identify segments of hypermarket shoppers based on shopping motivation. The study profiles the identified segments on demographic characteristics and shopping outcomes, and compares the shopping motivation of hypermarket consumers with that of traditional store shoppers. Design/methodology/approach – The study involved a survey of 201 actual shoppers in a hypermarket and that of 117 actual shoppers in 20 traditional stores. Principal components analysis of the motives for shopping at hypermarket and traditional store identified the respective dimensions of shopping motivation. Cluster analysis of the factor scores obtained on shopping motivation at hypermarket revealed the typology of hypermarket shoppers. Chi-square test and MANOVA were used to profile the identified segments of hypermarket shoppers on demographic characteristics and shopping outcomes respectively. Findings – Results revealed different dimensions of motivation to shop at the hypermarket and traditional store and four types of hypermarket shoppers were identified: utilitarians, maximisers, browsers and enthusiasts. The utilitarians are motivated by functional benefits such as the price and variety of products; the maximisers seek functional as well as recreational benefits; the browsers are high on social motivation; and the enthusiasts are high on all dimensions of shopping motivation. These segments showed overall significant differences on demographic characteristics and shopping outcomes. Practical implications – The proposal for allowing FDI in multi-brand retail in India, a rapidly emerging market for global retail players, is at an advanced stage of policy making. Many national and multi-national retailers are in the process of expansion in India. This study adds to their understanding of Indian consumers. Based on the identified typology, the study suggests different strategies to target different segments of hypermarket shoppers. Originality/value – The study contributes to the growing field of cross-cultural research on shopping motivation by highlighting the typology of Indian hypermarket shoppers.

Online and store patronage: a typology of grocery shoppers

“…They uncovered some differences in cross-format patronage between their shopper types but primarily, they found that all four retail formats were patronised by all shoppers, suggesting that shopping motivation is not the main driver of retail format choice. However, their motivation measures related to shopping in general and not specifically to grocery shopping, whereas Mehta et al's (2014) study of Indian grocery shoppers found that motivations to shop at hypermarkets versus traditional stores differed. Nilsson et al (2015) also researched grocery store formats and examined Swedish grocery shoppers' use of supermarkets and convenience stores for major and for top-up shopping trips.…”

“…Bellenger and Korgaonkar, 1980;Westbrook and Black, 1985;Williams et al, 1985;Reid and Brown, 1996;Reynolds et al, 2002;Arnold and Reynolds, 2003; see also Mehta et al, 2014 for a review of shopper typology studies). As shopping evolved and retail store formats diversified, researchers have examined the continued applicability of these general shopper typologies and found that different (bricks and mortar) retail formats are patronised by mostly common shopper types (e.g.…”

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Understanding multichannel shopper journey configuration: An application of goal theory

“…Westbrook and Black, 1985) have been based specifically on one or the other, subsequent researchers have conflated them. There is no consensus among researchers as to the precise definitions of shopping orientation and shopping motivation (Wagner and Rudolph, 2010) and they are often used interchangeably (Bellenger and Korgaonkar, 1980;Chetthamrongchai and Davies, 2000;Mehta et al, 2014). Reviews of shopper typologies (e.g.…”

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“…[25,28,33]. Other studies focus on consumer expenditure [33][34][35] and number of visits [36][37][38]. Nilsson et al empirically analyzed how the socio-demographic characteristics and shopping behavior of Swedish consumers relate to shop attributes in order to understand the determining factor in shop selection [39].…”