This document compares and contrasts the retail chains Big Bazaar and Aditya Birla Retail More in India. Both chains target middle-income customers but have different positioning and strategies. Big Bazaar has over 290 stores nationwide and focuses on low prices, while More has around 500 smaller stores and emphasizes value and convenience. Their store formats, pricing approaches, branding activities and loyalty programs show similarities and differences. The conclusion evaluates their strengths and weaknesses, finding Big Bazaar has a stronger loyalty program while More could improve advertising and staff training. Recommendations include focusing on quality for Big Bazaar and promoting private labels for More.

1. Big Bazaar and Aditya Birla
Retail More: A Comparative Study

2. Objectives of the Project
 Organized Retail in India is still in its nascent stages and
like any other burgeoning industry, this industry too has
its own grave challenges but it still is very promising
 With few big organized retailers deciding to exit the
industry, others who have still managed to sustain have to
remain highly competitive in order to survive
 Each of the retail companies has their own unique
strategies and offerings in order to sustain and grow their
business. The retail outlets to be compared in this report
are: Big Bazaar (Future Group) and More (Aditya Birla
Retail). The retail chains would be compared on a
number of factors, as described in the rest of the
presentation

3. The Indian Retail Sector
 The Indian retail industry has experienced high growth over the last decade with a
noticeable shift towards organized retailing formats. The industry is moving
towards a modern concept of retailing
 The Indian retail market, currently estimated at USD 490 billion, is projected to
grow at a CAGR of 6% to reach USD 865 billion by 2023
 The opportunities in food and grocery retail in India are immense, given that it
constitutes about 69% of India’s total retail market
 Consumers shopping at modern trade have grown from 54% in 2012 to the
current 68% (2013), driven by increasing consumption, comfortable shopping
experience, new categories, wide variety of brands under a single roof and
attractive prices
 A whopping 55% of the modern trade shoppers actively seek promotional
deals, 35% of them make bulk purchases, of which 30% are male customers
 Mass media has a big role in bringing the rural market to the center-stage, which
is setting the actual consumer aspiration. The key element to be focused on is the
supply chain and infrastructure in the Tier-II cities
 The country is moving at a fairly fast pace and consumers are creating their own
opportunities and are becoming exposed to information
 There is a huge aspiration level among the people in Tier-II and Tier-III cities
which the retailer has yet to tap

4. The Companies Selected
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Big Bazaar is the largest hypermarket chain
in India
It was started by Mr. Kishore Biryani, the
Group CEO and Managing Director of
Pantaloons Retail, in September, 2001
Today, there are over 292 Big Bazaar stores in
93 cities and 60 rural locations across the
country
The current formats include: Big Bazaar, Food
Bazaar, eZone, Home Town, Central, Planet
Sports,
aadhaar,
KB’s
Fairprice
and
futurebazaar.com
Big Bazaar caters to roughly 300 million
customers each year and they select products
and services supplied by over 30,000
small, medium and large suppliers across
India. Currently, about 35,000 people are
employed with the firm
Big Bazaar claims to guarantee the best
products at the best prices
They completely value ‘The Indian Dream’
and their stores reflect the look and feel of
Indian bazaars.
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More is a pan-India retail chain operated by
the Aditya Birla Group company, Aditya Birla
Retail Ltd. The Group entered the retail space
in December, 2006
At present, there are 490 ’More’ supermarkets
and 15 ‘More Megastore’ hypermarkets across
the country. The company plans to increase
these numbers to 1,300 supermarkets and 65
hypermarkets respectively by 2016
The company has its own set of private label
brands like Feasters, Kitchen's Promise and
Best of India
‘More’ supermarkets are neighborhood
stores with the core proposition of offering
value, convenience and trust to the
customers, averaging 2,500 square feet area
The
hypermarkets
are
self-service
superstores offering value and range in food
and non-food products and services at a single
location

5. Comparison of the two
Retail Chains

6. Mission, Vision and Core Values (1 of 2)
Mission
Big Bazaar
More
Customers and stakeholders shall be served only by
creating and executing future scenarios in the To deliver superior value to their customers,
consumption
space
leading
to
economic shareholders, employees and society at large
development
They will be the trendsetters in evolving delivery
formats, creating retail realty, making consumption
affordable for all customer segments – for classes
and for masses
They shall infuse Indian brands with confused and
renewed ambition
They shall be efficient and cost-conscious and
committed to quality in whatever they do
Vision
Big Bazaar
More
To consistently provide the Indian consumer
To deliver Everything, Everywhere, Every time to
complete and differentiated shopping experiences
Every Indian Consumer in the most profitable
and be amongst India's Top retailers, while delivering
manner
superior returns to all stakeholders

7. Mission, Vision and Core Values (2 of 2)
Core Values
Big Bazaar
More
Indianness: Confidence in themselves
Integrity
Leadership: To be a leader in thought
and business
Commitment
Openness: To be open in and receptive
to new ideas, knowledge and
information
Passion
Adaptability: To be flexible
adaptable, to meet new challenges
and Seamlessness
Speed

8. Positioning
Big Bazaar
More
Big Bazaar is an aspirational brand targeted
‘Hamesha Extra’ is the core essence of More
mainly at the Indian middle class
Big Bazaar’s positioning shifted from being a
one-stop shop for buying quality goods at
really cheap prices (‘Isse Sasta Aur Accha More’s ‘everyday lowest price guaranteed’ is a
Kahin Nahin’) to a more emotional appeal critical component of their USP
(‘Naye India Ka Bazaar') to commemorate
completing 10 years of operations
They aim at offering the best value for money
The new positioning reflects the changing
to their customers
ethos of Indian shoppers
The freshness and range of their products is
used to attract customers
Their core proposition includes offering
value, convenience and trust to their
customers

9. Target Audience
Big Bazaar
More
Big Bazaar targets the price-conscious More’s stores are conveniently located in
middle class of India as their primary neighbourhoods and cater to the daily
customers
needs of families and young adults
The large and growing youth of the
country is aimed as the preferred target
segment and strategies are adopted to
attract such customers
The hypermarkets are aimed at attracting
families and small businesses to make
large purchases on a weekly or monthly
basis
Working women and homemakers
Working women and homemakers are
(primary decision makers) form an
the targeted segment
important part of the target group

10. Retail Formats
Big Bazaar
Hypermarket Chain (Big Bazaar): Provides
affordable and often discounted prices for a
household’s every need
Supermarket Chain (Food Bazaar): Provides a
blend of a typical Indian bazaar and international
supermarket atmosphere
Futurebazaar.com (Online Store): Offers
products ranging from apparel, electronic goods,
jewellery to books, movies and food
Other retailing formats: Home retailing (Home
Town) and a consumer durables chain (eZone)
More
Supermarket (More for you): Conveniently
located neighbourhood supermarket chain
providing one-stop shopping solutions for
customers’ grocery and other household
products needs
Hypermarket (More Megastore): Complete
destination shopping area with a variety of
national, international and house brands under
one roof
Clubmore (loyalty program): With a strong
membership base of over 3 million customers,
More offers exclusive promotional offers and
schemes to them

11. Presence and Reach in India
Big Bazaar
More
Currently, there are over 490 More
There are 292 Big Bazaar stores in over 90
Supermarkets in just 10 states across the
cities and 60 rural locations in India
country
15 More Megastore Hypermarkets are situated
in 8 cities namely Hyderabad, New Delhi,
There are 22 Central stores in India
Thane, Bangalore, Indore, Vadodara, Mysore
and Nasik
Home Town is present in 10 locations in key
metros
Ezone is a 55-store network
Map showing presence of Big Bazaar stores in India

12. SKUs and Types of Products Maintained
Big Bazaar
More
Big Bazaar offers 200,000 SKUs of
A More Megastore Hypermarket maintains
merchandize in a wide range of categories
25,000 SKUs of merchandize per store
led by fashion and food products
SKU breakup (revenue contribution):Food and groceries: 40%
Fashion and apparel: 30%
Electronics and other items: 30%
More offers a significant number of private
label products as well
More Megastore Hypermarkets are driven
by food and grocery SKUs (with lower
margins) and the number of apparel SKUs
are on the rise

13. Design, Layout and Size of Stores
Big Bazaar
More
Big Bazaar stores are designed like
More stores are bright and clean, with layouts
convenience stores so that people feel like
that allow ease of navigation
they are shopping on the streets
The design is like a planogram, providing
The product display is well organized,
ample space for customers to walk and see
allowing ease of choice
the products on display
The average size of a Big Bazaar store is
The stores have been designed by Fitch, the
50,000 sq. ft. and the Big Bazaar family
leading international retail design firm
center is 80,000-120,000 sq. ft.
The minimum size of a More Supermarket is
2,500 sq. ft. and that of a More Megastore
Hypermarket is 50,000 sq. ft.
Inside a Big Bazaar Store
Inside a More Store

14. Pricing Strategies
Big Bazaar
More
Value Pricing: Big Bazaar offers its customers the
lowest available price without coupon clipping or
More’s private label products were marked down by
comparison shopping (Promotional Pricing and
a significant margin
Every Day Low Price). It also adopts a Low interest
pricing strategy
Psychological Discounting: Involves setting an Pricing strategies used for private label products
artificially high price and then offering the product were unique so that they could not be compared with
at substantial savings
usual products
Differentiated Pricing: Difference in rate based on
More promises best in market pricing as it sources
peak and non-peak hours or days of shopping is a
fresh fruits, vegetables and staples directly from
pricing technique used aggressively used by Big
farmers
Bazaar
Time Pricing: Big Bazaar charges different rates for
a given product depending on the time, day or
More also generally follows the Value Pricing
month (Wednesday Bazaar, Festive Season Pricing,
Strategy
Special Offer Period pricing, Sabse Sasta Din, School
Time, Seasonal Offers)
Bundling Pricing Strategy: Offering multiple
products for sale as one combined product
Other Pricing Strategies: Buy More, Save More,
Highlighting the savings possible, Cashing in on
Sports events, The Price Challenge Offer

15. Advertising and Brand Building Activities
Big Bazaar
More
Big Bazaar generally uses mass media such as
television, print, radio and outdoor for advertising. It
has now extended its presence on social media as
well
More uses mass media such as print, radio and
outdoor to advertise its promotional schemes.
Television ads are scarcely aired. Social media
presence is very limited
Big Bazaar also makes use of innovative cross- Its most popular advertising campaign was
selling and up-selling strategies
‘Hamesha Extra’ for which it received many accolades
Popular advertising campaigns include ‘Saal ka
More displays large-sized promotional offers and
Sabse Sasta Din’, ‘Isse Sasta Aur Accha Kahin Nahin’,
special offers near the entrances of its stores
‘Naye India ka Naya Bazaar’, etc.
It has roped in celebrities like MS Dhoni, Asin
There is audio-visual promotion of private label
Sakshi Tanwar and now, Shikhar Dhawan to endorse
products inside the stores
the brand
Other promotional activities include weekend
discounts, exchange offers, point of purchase
More has colour slips based on product pricing
promotion, promotion of schemes on the loudspeaker within the stores
Brand endorsement also takes place through
positive word of mouth and the Future Card
Change in logo

16. Footfall and Rentals
Big Bazaar
More
Footfall: 3.5-4 million per week, which
averages out to around 15,000 per store Footfall: 2-2.2 million per week
per week
Rentals: On an average, More pays INR 35The footfall increases substantially on offer
40 per sq. ft. as rent in bigger cities and INR
days and in the festive season
20-22 per sq. ft. as rent in Tier-II cities
Rentals: On an average, Big Bazaar pays
INR 35-40 per sq. ft. as rent in bigger cities
and INR 20-22 per sq. ft. as rent in Tier-II
cities

17. Relationship Management Program
Big Bazaar
More
PAYBACK: Big Bazaar has tied up with PAYBACK,
India’s largest and one of Europe’s most
successful multi-partner loyalty programs. This
program enables customers to collect thousands
of points across online and offline partners, with
a single card
Clubmore: Its 3 million members enjoy a range
of exclusive promotions and offers. Becoming a
member is as simple as filling a form. Each time
such a customer shops, he earns reward points
which can be redeemed at a later stage
T24 Program: Big Bazaar has tied up with Tata
Teleservices Ltd. and rolled out its T24 program
through which customers will be rewarded with
free talk-time for every purchase at Big Bazaar
stores starting at INR 10 to a maximum of INR
350
Big Bazaar Profit Club: A unique membership
program where one can pay INR 10,000 and can
shop for INR 1000 per month for the next 12
months i.e., INR 12,000 over a period of 12
months. This card can be used across 215 + Big
Bazaars, Food Bazaars and fbb- Fashion at Big
Bazaar stores across the country. It can also be
used as a gift card and an employee incentive
mechanism

18. Conclusion and
Recommendations

19. Conclusion
Based on the comparison of the stores on the above 11 factors, the
following points can be arrived upon: Though Big Bazaar and More are not direct competitors of each
other, they do intrude into each other’s space in multiple ways, and
hence, they have to remain competitive
 The retail chains have positioned themselves differently over the
years; yet, the target audience of both firms does intersect
 They have similar retail formats and both companies enjoy a panIndia presence
 More stores are more spacious and their layout allows better ease of
navigation
 Pricing and promotional strategies are quite different from each
other
 Big Bazaar does have a superior relationship management system
in place

20. Recommendations (1 of 2)
Though Big Bazaar plays prominently on price, it should not compromise on quality. The
moment the quality of products sold at Big Bazaar starts deteriorating, customers will start
shifting to other retail chains as there are a plethora of options available in the organized
retail segment these days
Big Bazaar should adopt a High-Low pricing strategy (along with its existing pricing
strategies) rather than a Every Day Low Pricing strategy
Crowd management is a major matter of concern, especially on offer days and on
weekends. The number of staff should be increased in each section to handle the crowd. A
proper queue management system is pivotal
More needs to work on its customer loyalty program and come up with innovative
methodologies to retain its customers. Big Bazaar is leagues ahead of More in this regard
More also needs to develop a more aggressive advertising campaign given the fact that it is
now beginning to find its foothold in the Indian retail space after a prolonged lean phase

21. Recommendations (2 of 2)
More enjoys a wide range of private label products and it should go all out in promoting
these products and offering attractive schemes on them
More should also work on training its staff adequately because a lot of customers
complain about the lack of knowledge/courteousness with regard to the staff
Both stores should work on making their customers aware of their loyalty programs
because a lot of them have no clue about such rewards and incentives which the retail chains
are making available to them
As both retail chains are in the expansion mode, they must ensure that they do not intrude
too much into each other’s space so that their existing customers do not leave them and
shift over to the competitor retail chain as and when the competitor offers them something
more attractive than the former

22. Big Bazaar and Aditya Birla
Retail More: A Comparative Study