Understanding Consumer Behaviour
Understanding the behavior of consumers is a key instrument to effectively sell a certain product or service. This will consequently help in growing the business by responding to their needs. There are many factors that influence consumers, such as geographical conditions, cultural factors and social factors. This article mainly focuses on understanding the behaviour of customers and how businesses can utilize this to increase sales in the textile industry.
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Studying and understanding consumer behaviour is important for any small business to succeed. Most small business owners use their common sense and instincts to successfully sell a product by acknowledging the wants and needs of their customers. GS Fashions is a small textile business in Shastrinagar, Bangalore owned by Mr. Rajesh Kothari. His store has a product line that includes trousers, jeans, shorts, T-shirts, shirts and accessories, for men only. These clothes are bought from different factories and all the orders are made in bulk. The factory is the price maker, and as an intermediary, the owner cannot change or fluctuate the prices to a great extent. This makes it affordable to all sections of society.
Mr. Rajesh also mentioned that everyone is a customer and everyone should get a chance to avail his products and services to satisfy their needs. When one observes the type of products consumers purchase, it becomes easier to understand the consumer’s buying pattern.
When asked the questions ‘What are the key elements of satisfying a customer?’ and ‘What factors does one take into account while selling a product?’ Mr. Rajesh responded by saying that the key elements of satisfying a customer are the availability of colour preferences, brands, the fabric of the cloth, the quality and the method of stitching, availability of different sizes, and the most importantly, the rate at which the product is priced and determining whether it is cost effective or not. Keeping all these things in mind he tries to understand his pool of customers.
In order to ensure that he is able to understand consumer behaviour in the best possible way, Mr. Rajesh personally visits the shops where his products are sold and converses with the shopkeepers to gain an insight on the items or patterns that are trending, the tastes and preferences of their customers, etc. Having a good relationship with fellow shopkeepers helps him maintain a consistent source to acquire the needed information in terms of choices of different customers. This practice makes it easier to ascertain what kind of products are sold best in certain stores and the pool of customers that are pulled towards that particular store’s product offerings.
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Mr. R Chandrashekar is the owner of a textile business in Bangalore. He owns two establishments—one in Malleshwaram and the other in Basaveshwaranagar. His business’ product line includes sarees, shirts, suits, pants, kurtis and more.
In the case of a big business, such as this, there are seasonal differences that come to play a major role. For example, during summer the demand for thin cotton clothes is more, therefore production of cotton clothing increases and in the winter, the demand for woolen clothing increases. As opposed to a small business setup where change in orders is not possible (since the products are provided by the factory), in this business, the owner can easily change the type of product offerings depending on the interests of the customer.
Mr. Chandrashekar stated that it is important to try and understand the customers on a personal level by taking mental notes of their likes, opinions and interests. He does this because all customers are different and show different behaviors while purchasing products. Being aware of all the details pertaining to his customers helps him better satisfy them all individually. Additionally, according to him, having a wide variety of materials and constantly keeping records of the recent trends has proved to be beneficial as well as profitable for his business.
The difference between the two businesses chosen for this article lies in the differences in their requirements pertaining to capital, labour, resources and contacts, how to effectively satisfy customer needs, how to price their products in order to cover the costs of production, profit margins, etc. Though these factors are common to all big and small businesses—how they are dealt with in their respective settings is what sets them apart from each other.
To sum up, the influence a business has on a consumer is based on the variables introduced by the consumers themselves. Understanding these influences and reacting to them will make businesses more successful.
Written by:
Shreya Kothari
Sneha Baindur
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