ANALYSIS OF THE MERCHANDISE MIX OF
THE BRAND – HONEY AND COMPETITIVE
POSITIONING OF THE BRAND – CANDIE’S
PANTALOONS FASHION AND RETAIL LTD
PROJECT GUIDE: MS. LIPI CHOUDHURY
MAY YEE LEW
2013-2015
MASTER OF FASHION MANAGEMENT
DEPARTMENT OF FASHION MANAGEMENT STUDIES
NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF FASHION TECHNOLOGY
(MUMBAI)
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2
CERTIFICATE FROM FACULTY MENTOR REGARDING
COMPLETION OF WORK
This is to certify that Ms. May Yee Lew has completed the degree project
entitled “Analysis of the merchandise mix of the brand – HONEY and
competitive positioning of the brand – CANDIE‟S” under my guidance. She
has been submitting the progress report on time. She is hereby allowed to
participate in the internal and external jury for Degree Project.
(____________________________)
Name of faculty mentor: Ms. Lipi Choudhury
Date: 14/05/2015
Place: Mumbai
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DECLARATION
I, May Yee Lew hereby declare that the Project entitled “Analysis of the
merchandise mix of the brand – HONEY and competitive positioning of the
brand – CANDIE‟S” is my original work and no part of the project has been
copied from any other reports or were carried out by someone else and have
been submitted for any other degree/award. However, any material taken
from any other published sources has been suitably referred and
acknowledged at various places.
Name: MAY YEE LEW
Roll no: MUM13MM08
Batch: MFM 2013-2015
Centre: NIFT, MUMBAI
Date: 14/05/2015
Place: NAVI MUMBAI
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I am grateful to NIFT for providing me an opportunity to do research work on
“ANALYSIS OF THE MERCHANDISE MIX OF THE BRAND – HONEY AND
COMPETITIVE POSITIONING OF THE BRAND – CANDIE‟S”. I take this opportunity
to express my profound gratitude and deep regards towards my industry guide Mrs. Simran
Arora (Deputy Manager - Honey ) for her exemplary guidance, monitoring and constant
encouragement throughout the internship tenure.
I am indebted to Ms. Lipi Choudhury, my college mentor who has guided and supervised
me throughout this study. If not for her valuable suggestions, this report would not have
come together. I would also like to thank the rest of the FMS faculty for their constant
support and encouragement.
I will be failing in my duty if I do not express my gratitude and many thanks to Mr. Tejas
Chalke (Executive – Honey), Ms. Lipika Roy (Buyer – Candie‟s), Ms. Sonam Jain
(Planner – Women‟s western wear) for teaching and providing me with information that
will help me work as a merchandiser and buyer in the future.
May Yee Lew
Master of Fashion Management
NIFT, Mumbai
Date of submission: 14/05/2015
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The retail industry is one of the largest and ever-growing industries in the world, of which
fashion retailing is a major sector. Close to 33% of organized retail market is from the
clothing and accessory segment. As per the recent trends, there has been an increasing
focus on private labels. Private labels are brands owned by the retailer rather than the
producer or manufacturer. The private label market in India is currently estimated at Rs 13
billion, which accounts for 10-12% of organized retail in India. Retailers such as
Pantaloons (Aditya Birla Retail), Trent (Tata Trent Ltd) and Shoppers Stop (K Rahejas)
have increased focus on private label retailing.
Pantaloons is a chain of departmental stores that is becoming one of the fastest growing
lifestyle and apparel retail destination in India. Pantaloons reflects the ideology of keeping
alive the 'newness factor' through fashion apparel and accessories that are visually
appealing and fashionably upbeat. Pantaloons was previously controlled by the Future
Group and was taken over by Aditya Birla Nuvo Limited (ABNL) in July 2012. Pantaloons
Fashion & Retail Ltd. is among the top 3 large format retailers in India with 105 stores and
25 factory outlets spread across 2.2 million sq. ft.
During the course of the internship at Pantaloons, the following two projects were
completed Project 1: Analysis of honey‟s merchandise mix to develop a suggested buy mix for
Honey-SS16
The aim of this project was to develop a suggested buy mix for Honey SS16.
The main objective of this project was to use sales contribution and sell through as
parameters to study and analyze Honey‟s sales for SS14 and SS15 in order to identify and
understand if Honey‟s sales were affected due to its product in terms of fabric, color,
pricing, prints and size that were consistently slow selling for both SS14 and SS15 and that
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should be avoided or not be continued for the next season, i.e. SS16. In order to replace
styles that should not be continued further in SS16, suggestion of new styles were also
provided. This was done on the basis of the data acquired from customer survey, trend
analysis and competition shop analysis. As it was important to understand customer‟s
perception of Honey‟s products and their expectations from Honey in terms of product
offering in order to provide additional styles to be included in the SS16 collection
It was found that the Topwear-Knits category was the best performing category in terms of
sales and sell through for both the seasons while Bottom wear category is slow selling.
Polyester as a base fabric has the highest sales contribution for Wovens Tops and Dresses,
whereas Rayon is slow selling for the same category in both the seasons. Viscose as a base
fabric has the highest sales contribution for Topwear-Knits category in both the season.
Whereas Polyester and Poly blends are slow selling. Cotton Lycra Twill as the base fabric
for Bottoms has the highest sales contribution in both the seasons
White and Ecru are good selling colors for both Topwear-Wovens and Knits. Orange is a
poor selling color for Woven Tops and Dresses in both the seasons. Light Yellow and
Fuschia are poor selling colors for shrugs for both the seasons. Bright colors like Fuschia
and Red are slow selling colors for Trousers. Light colors like Off White and Ecru are slow
selling for Leggings.
Woven Tops priced above Rs. 999/- are slow sellers for both the seasons. Jersey Tops
priced above Rs. 799/- are slow sellers for both the seasons.
Extra Small (XS) is the least contributing size in Tops and Dresses, in both Woven and
Knit Category for both SS14 and SS15. 34/ Extra Large (XL) in the the Bottom wear
category is also slow selling for both the seasons.
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All Over Prints have maximum sales contribution for both the seasons in both Topwear
Knits and Wovens, especially AOP Dresses. Solid Bottoms, especially trousers have
higher sales contribution than printed trousers in both the seasons. However, Printed shorts
have performed well, with high sales contribution and sell throughs, in both the seasons
Before suggesting an optimum buy mix, it is also important to understand customer‟s
perception of Honey and its products and their expectations from the brand. The survey
was a focused group survey and was carried out in Mumbai with a sample size of 80
females.
It was found that Blouses and T-shirts are the most purchased product categories. Honey‟s
core target group lies between the ages 16 yrs and 23 yrs, most of whom are college
students and young working professionals. Girls in their early teens shop more T-shirts
than dresses and females in the age group 20-23yrs prefer Blouses over T-shirts. Majority
of the customers are satisfied with the fit of the garments but are dissatisfied with the
fashion quotient and quality of the garment. Honey should improve the quality of its
garments and also introduce more fashion products. Some of the customers want Honey to
include more number of options in Dresses and wanted Honey to include a Party wear
collection in their range. Most of Honey‟s customers also shopped from other Pantaloons
brands such as Bare Denim, Annabelle and Candie‟s and other competitor brands like
Forever 21 and Shoppers Stops brands.
After understanding the customer‟s needs and wants through the customer survey, it is also
important to know what the season‟s trends are and what competitors are offering.
Trend analysis was carried out using secondary data from the internet – Websites like
WGSN and Stylesight, fashion blogs and international brands websites; fashion magazines
etc. To understand what products the competitors are offering and at what price points
competition shop analysis was carried out. Based on this research, certain styles were
selected for Honey and a presentation was made with new fashion styles that Honey could
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include in SS16. Most of the suggestions given were fashion styles that Honey never
introduced in any of its categories.
Based on all of the above analysis for SS14 and SS15 sales and sell throughs and MC wise
sales contribution, a suggested buy mix was prepared in order to improve sales and
optimize profits earned from that category. For product categories that performed well in
both the seasons, their buy mix was maintained or increased by a small percentage. For
product categories that were slow performing in both the seasons, their buy mix was
decreased by a small percentage. For product categories that have performed well in one
season and is slow selling in the other season, their buy mix was maintained or reduced
based on the sales contribution.
Project 2: Competition Mapping for the brand Candie‟s
The aim of this project was to develop positional maps based on the price-benefit analysis
for Candie‟s in order to understand where it stands in the market place.
The objective was to conduct customer survey in order to understand customer‟s
perception and expectations from the brand Candies and its competitive brands, to identify
the gaps and provide suggestions.
Competitors for Candie‟s had been identified and analyzed on various dimensions like
brand ideology, target market, product offering and pricing of the products. Forever 21 and
Nuon are direct competitors while Zara and Vero Moda are indirect competitors /
inspiration brands. Customer survey helped in understanding customer‟s perception of
Candie‟s and its competitors and their product offerings.
From the survey, it was found that Dresses and Blouses are the most purchased product
categories. Candie‟s core target group lies between the ages 16 yrs and 23 yrs, most of
whom are college students and young working professionals. Females in their early teens
hardly shop for candies, those in their late teens shop T-shirts more than dresses and
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females in the age group 20-23yrs purchase a lot of Dresses and Blouses. Majority of the
customers are satisfied with the style and fit of the garments but are dissatisfied with the
quality and pricing of the products. Most of Candie‟s customers shop from Forever 21 and
Nuon. Majority of the respondents have product quality issues with Candie‟s and Forever
21 majorly, followed by Nuon. In terms of pricing, Candie‟s products are place slightly
higher than its competitors – Forever 21 and Nuon but lower than Zara and Vero Moda.
Zara and Vero Moda have the highest ratings for product quality, style and fit of the
garments. Customers are satisfied with the fit of Candie‟s garments
Based on the customer survey, two positional/perceptual maps were prepared for Candie‟s.
One was prepared for Price-Quality and Price-Style. It was observed that Candie‟s product
quality is a major concern, Candie‟s products are slightly on the higher side and Candie‟s
has a low number of options in its range.
Gaining industry oriented training with Pantaloons, has helped me understand the overall
buying tasks and processes involved in the working of a private label brand in India
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
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CHAPTER 1: COMPANY PROFILE
Introduction
Pantaloons is a chain of departmental stores that is becoming one of the fastest growing
lifestyle and apparel retail destination in India. It is involved in constantly innovating
designs, concepts and products by infusing the latest trends in fashion and clothing styles.
Pantaloons positions itself as India's premium lifestyle apparel company that offers chic
and trendy fashion to meet the youth's ever-changing needs. Pantaloons reflects the
ideology of keeping alive the 'newness factor' through fashion apparel and accessories that
are visually appealing and fashionably upbeat.
Aditya Birla Nuvo Limited (ABNL)
Pantaloons was previously controlled by the Future Group and was taken over by Aditya
Birla Nuvo Limited (ABNL) in July 2012. Aditya Birla Nuvo Limited (ABNL) acquired
the controlling stake in Pantaloons Fashion business; post its demerger from Future Retail
Ltd. under a court approved Scheme of Arrangement. ABNL is a US$ 4 billion
conglomerate by revenue size. It is part of the Aditya Birla Group, a US$ 40 billion Indian
multinational, operating in 36 countries across the globe with over 120,000 employees.
With a market cap of US $ 3.5 billion as on 30th September 2014, ABNL is present across
Financial Services, Telecom, Fashion & Lifestyle and Manufacturing Businesses.
ABNL‟s Fashion & Lifestyle business reported revenue at USD 1 billion (Rs. 6,048
Crores) and EBITDA at about USD 100 million (Rs. 573 Crores) in 2013-14. It is the
largest branded apparel player in India selling two branded apparels every second and is a
leading linen manufacturer in India. It includes three businesses – Madura Fashion &
Lifestyle, Pantaloons Fashion & Retail Limited and Jaya Shree Textiles.
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Madura, retails leadership brands viz., Louis Philippe, Van Heusen, Allen Solly and Peter
England through 1,703 exclusive brand outlets spanning across 2.4 million square feet area
besides a chain of MBO‟s and departmental stores.
Pantaloons Fashion & Retail Ltd. is among the top 3 large format retailers in India with
105 stores and 25 factory outlets spread across 2.2 million sq. ft. It is a subsidiary of
ABNL, wherein ABNL owns 72.62% holding as on 31st December. Jaya Shree, a division
of ABNL, is the largest manufacturer of linen yarn and linen fabric in India. The nationwide reach of Madura, Pantaloons and Jaya Shree, combined together, stands expanded to
1,931 exclusive brand outlets / stores spanning across 4.7 million square feet as on 31st
December 2014.
The Aditya Birla Group ranks high in the League of Fortune 500 Corporations of the world
with a strong mix of talented and capable personnel comprising 42 different nationalities,
who are credited with anchoring the organization and scripting one brilliant success story
after another.
Pantaloons Fashion and Retail Ltd.
The first Pantaloons store was launched amidst much fanfare in Gariahat, Kolkata in 1997.
Over the years, the brand has undergone several transitions and re-invented itself to bring
forth compelling trends and styles catering to the evolving fashion hub.
Since its inception, Pantaloons progressed from retailing just a mix of brands to its very
own popular private labels as well, designed by the in-house Design Studio. With a sharp
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focus on bringing the latest in fashion, the Design Studio combines its prowess in design
and aesthetics to present styles that keep the consumer fashionably dressed each season.
Initially positioned as a store catering to the fashion needs of the entire family, Pantaloons
has transitioned to a fashion and lifestyle brand with an emphasis on youth and a focus on
designs that are inherently in sync with current fashion trends. This compelling
combination has helped Pantaloons retain its place on the style radar of every consumer's
wardrobe.
A typical Pantaloons store is spread across a sprawling retail space of about 18,000 sq. ft.,
with a brand portfolio that runs across a wide gamut of styles that spell class. Pantaloons
stores have an abundance of choices across categories that range from western to Indian
wear, formal to party wear and active wear for men, women and kids. To further add to the
customer's innumerable choices that reflect style, attitude, and comfort, Pantaloons has
extended its horizons to fashion accessories like fragrances, footwear, handbags, watches,
sunglasses and much more. With a vast collection of more than 200 prestigious brands for
the discerning fashionista, Pantaloons offers an incredible and complete one-stop shopping
experience to its buyers.
With a chain of 105 fashion stores and 25 factory outlets across 46 cities and towns,
Pantaloons is constantly extending its foot-prints into the rest of modern India.
With its overwhelming repertoire of lifestyle apparel brands, Pantaloons is focused on
growth while continuing to create fresh fashion. Pantaloons is recognized by its warm
personalized service that completes the core proposition of this trendy chain. With all these
advancements, Pantaloons is one of the fastest growing apparel companies and is poised to
grow bigger and better.
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Brands at Pantaloons:
Pantaloons retails over 200 brands which comprises a mix of exclusive brands, licensed
brands, international brands and more in apparel as well as accessories leaving the
consumer spoilt for choices. The greatest asset of Pantaloons is their exclusive brands that
have won customer loyalty over the years.
Pantaloons private brands offers a wide range of brands for men, women and kids with
choices across categories including western wear, ethnic wear, formal wear, party wear,
active wear and accessories making it a one stop destination for all the fashion needs of the
consumer.
The women‟s section houses our exclusive brands that offer different collections for a
wide range of occasions:

Ethnic wear exclusive brands include the mix-n-match range by Rangmanch, fusion
wear by Akkriti and occasion wear by Trishaa.

Western wear exclusive brands include Ajile for the fitness conscious, trendy
casual wear by Honey, smart formals and evening wear by Annabelle.
The men‟s section houses a plethora of options that includes a range of exclusive brands.
Western wear exclusive brands include edgy casuals by SF Jeans, preppy British sports
inspired collection by Byford, sports luxe by Ajile and party wear by F Factor.
Formal wear section offers a range of crisp and well tailored collection by popular
international brands like Van Heusen, Allen Solly, Peter England and Louis Philippe.
The kid‟s section has something to offer for all age groups starting from 1 month old
toddlers to 12 year old tweens. The portfolio of brands includes infant wear by Chirpie Pie,
ethnic
wear
by
Akkriti,
casual
wear
by
Chalk
and
Poppers.
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List of Pantaloons Private Label Brands
In an endeavor to meet the consumer‟s ever-changing fashion needs, Pantaloons has
introduced new brands that include

Candies, New York, for young fashionistas who like to flaunt their style.

San Frisco Jeans Co, that offers the latest edgy styles in denim wear for young
men and women.

Byford, estd 1919 a British inspired sport lifestyle brand that offers polished
preppy collection.

Alto Moda, high fashion for plus sized people

Poppers, a bubbly,cheerful kids wear brand for young boys and girls.
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In addition to this vast range of brands, Pantaloons also has a well established repertoire of
partner brands such as Lombard, Bare Denim, Bare Leisure, JM Sport Classic, RIG, Turtle,
Spykar, Lee Cooper, 109F, AND, Chemistry, Global Desi, Biba, Giny & Jony and Barbie.
With a chain of 105 fashion stores across 46 cities and towns, Pantaloons is constantly
extending its footprint into the rest of modern India. It spans a retail space of 1.7 million
square feet which is amongst the largest in India.
Voted as ‘India’s Most Trusted Apparel Retail Brand’ in the prestigious Brand Equity
Survey 2014, Pantaloons continues to nurture consumer trust and confidence.
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CHAPTER 2 : LITERATURE REVIEW
Fashion is transient in nature and constantly evolving in form and concept, and so it is
rightly labeled as a dynamic and volatile phenomenon. It is, however, this volatility that
creates the excitement and buzz which draws people into this most precarious of
businesses.
The retail industry is one of the largest and ever-growing industries in the world, of which
fashion retailing is a major sector. Retailing in India is one of the pillars of its economy
and accounts for 14 to 15 percent of its GDP. The apparel sector is the second largest
segment in terms of its contribution to the retail market. Close to 33% of organized retail
market is from the clothing and accessory segment. The overall size of the textile and
apparel industry in India is currently estimated at $70bn and is expected to grow to $220bn
by 2020 with a CAGR of 11%. Currently, menswear is the biggest segment of the domestic
apparel market with 43% share of the total pie while women‟s wear constitutes 38%. The
Indian fashion retail market has witnessed several fascinating changes and challenges in
recent years, which are indicators of the country‟s evolving fashion retail market.
As per the recent trends, there has been an increasing focus on private labels. The growth
of private labels is directly linked to the growth of modern retailing. Retailers need to gain
customer confidence in its offerings so as to successfully introduce private labels. Private
label products are commonly referred to as name brand, store brand, own label, retailer
brand or generics. These are brands owned by the retailer rather than the producer or
manufacturer. The reasons why retailers choose to offer private labels include generating
additional margins by by-passing branded suppliers as the power shifts from national
brands to retailers; filling gaps in their product range which may not be currently addressed
by branded suppliers; including a product variant or a size option in that category and
using private labels to differentiate their store‟s product range from competitors; and create
a distinctive advantage This helps in improving profitability and loyalty to the retailer.
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The private label market in India is currently estimated at Rs 13 billion, which accounts for
10-12% of organized retail in India. Retailers such as Pantaloons (Aditya Birla Retail),
Trent (Tata Trent Ltd), Shoppers Stop (K Rahejas) and Spencer‟s have increased focus on
private label retailing. Private labels constitute 90% of Trent‟s, 80% of Reliance‟s and 75%
of Pantaloon‟s overall sales. Aditya Birla Retail plans to increase the share of own brands
in sales from the present 3% to 10% in the next 2-3 years.
Large retailers such as Pantaloons, Westside, Shopper‟s Stop, etc have their own in-house
designing team and buying team apart from the planning and sourcing departments. Apart
from their individual roles and responsibilities, these teams are inter-related and depend on
each other for smooth working of the organization and processes involved in all the stages
right from merchandise development to merchandise distribution and sales.
The retail buying process, and those involved, play an important role in the value chain as
they ultimately determine which products and brands are made available to the consumer.
The nature, organisation and implementation of the buying process is influenced by a
range of external and internal factors including the scale of the organisation, the product
categories sold, and the company‟s market position within the competitive environment in
which it operates.
The roles and responsibilities of a retail buyer entails a series of stages or buy-phases‟
involving a range of tasks which lead to an eventual decision. Buyers have to be in
constant touch with the designers, the sourcing team and the planning team to ensure
consistency in the following processes – merchandise developing, merchandise sourcing,
merchandise purchasing, merchandise distribution and sales analysis/ performance review
process.
The sourcing of private brand ranges requires greater involvement on the part of the buyer
– “The implication of own label for the buyer‟s role is a change of emphasis from
negotiating the best deal for ”off the shelf” products to a range of marketing and buying
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tasks such as sales forecasting, range design, product quality and new product launches.
Exploratory research suggest that involvement in own labels is a main factor determining
the breadth of the buyer‟s role”
The pro-active role played by the retailer in the development of private brands requires
greater involvement in the product development process - including need recognition, idea
generation and product and market testing. In effect additional stages (usually enacted by
the supplier for manufacturer brand products) may be added to the process and different
approaches are required to supplier relationships and governance. However, below are the
six main areas of involvement of for the retail buyer –

Analysis of past sales and promotions – analyzing sales reports and stock levels,
analyzing customer purchasing patterns, predicting future trends, wants and desires

Planning financial budgets – constructing sales and purchase plans, assessing gross
margins and stock levels, modeling markdowns and markups

Developing merchandise – constructing merchandise assortments, selecting and
pricing merchandise, meeting vendors, sourcing private labels

Vendor planning and negotiations – selecting vendors and building relationships,
replenish stock

Integrating marketing plans – develop merchandising plans, promotional activities
etc, plans for sale

Training and development of staff – providing information to sales staff,
planograms etc
Alongside the core elements of the retail buyer‟s role, the modern retail buyer – or perhaps
more accurately the modern retail buying process – requires involvement in a range of
activities and tasks previously regarded as the domain of the commercial parts of the retail
operation. The buying process, as such, has in essence become a process of product
management – encompassing buying but also aspects of selling the product. Retail buying
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is no longer simply concerned with the sourcing and purchasing of products for resale, but
also with ensuring that these products are sold and that consumer‟ needs and wants are
fulfilled.
In order to develop an assortment plan, they buyer also need to understand consumer
needs, competition brands apart from past sales performances. One of the most critical
factors determining the success of fashion retailers in India is the ability to gauge trends in
consumer purchase decisions. Market competition has increased, consumers want more
product variety, and consumer needs from a product have become complex and various.
The Indian fashion consumer is undergoing an evolution and is rapidly adapting to
international fashion statements. Increasing disposable incomes, exposure to international
events and fashion icons, and rising confidence levels are driving the changes in the
consumer purchase behavior. Hence, understanding what a consumer expects from a brand
and its products is very important. This can be assessed by carrying out customer surveys.
Customer feedback is paramount when determining a customer's needs and tastes,
particularly when a business introduces new products. Customer feedback helps companies
determine what's important to their customers. Without customer feedback, a company
could not possibly meet the product needs of the consumer. Consequently, its products
would likely fail in the marketplace. Customer feedback also allows companies to better
understand how customers rate and use their products versus competitive products. It is
vital in determining where a company's products and services excel or fall short compared
to alternatives on the market.
The next important thing is to study and analyze competition and to develop an option plan
that is at par with the competition or better than the competitor in terms of – product
offerings, product quality, pricing, service etc. It is important to not only identify and
understand like to like competitors but also other types of retailers. Competitor
analysis in retail, marketing and strategic management is an assessment of the strengths
21
and weaknesses of current and potential competitors. This analysis provides both an
offensive and defensive strategic context to identify opportunities and threats. There are a
number of competitor analysis tools, one of which is Competition Mapping
The method of analyzing where a company stands in the market with respect to its
competitors is known as competition mapping – i.e. mapping the company‟s competitive
position. It is performed by drawing Position Maps.
In its simplest form, a price-benefit positioning map shows the relationship between the
primary benefit that a product provides to customers and the prices of all the products in a
given market. Creating such a map involves three steps –

Define the market
To draw a meaningful map, you must specify the boundaries of the market in which
you‟re interested. First, identify the consumer needs you wish to understand.
Second, choose the country or region you wish to study. It‟s best to limit the
geographic scope of the analysis if customers, competitors, or the way products are
used differ widely across borders. Finally, decide if you want to track the entire
market for a product or only a specific segment, if you wish to explore the retail or
wholesale market, and if you‟re going to track products or brands. You can create
different maps by changing these frames of analysis.

Choose the price and determine the primary benefit
Once you‟ve defined the market, you need to specify the scope of your analysis of
prices. Identify the primary benefit. A product offers several benefits: basic
functions, additional features, durability, serviceability, aesthetics, ease of use, and
so on

Plot positions
When you have identified the primary benefit, you are ready to draw a positioning
map by plotting the position of every company‟s product (or brand) in the
22
marketplace according to its price and its level of primary benefit. Such positioning
maps may be an oversimplification, but they show the relative positions of
competitors on a common scale.
The other tools that help in strategic decision making are the competitive profile matrices.
These positional maps and matrices should be studied and analyzed thoroughly. The
analysis should enable the company to determine a set of feasible strategies and decide
upon the most appropriate one, which implementation could improve its current position.
One such strategic decision making tool is the IE matrix (Internal- External Matrix) which
is used to analyze working conditions and strategic position of a business. The Internal
External Matrix or short IE matrix is based on an analysis of internal and external business
factors which are combined into one suggestive model.
The IE matrix belongs to the group of strategic portfolio management tools. In a similar
manner like the BCG matrix, the IE matrix positions an organization into a nine cell
matrix.
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The IE matrix can be divided into three major regions that have different strategy
implications.

Cells I, II, and III suggest the grow and build strategy. This means intensive and
aggressive tactical strategies. Your strategies should focus on market penetration,
market development, and product development. From the operational perspective, a
backward integration, forward integration, and horizontal integration should also be
considered.

Cells IV, V, and VI suggest the hold and maintain strategy. In this case, your
tactical strategies should focus on market penetration and product development.

Cells VII, VIII, and IX are characterized with the harvest or exit strategy. If costs
for rejuvenating the business are low, then it should be attempted to revitalize the
business. In other cases, aggressive cost management is a way to play the end
game.
The analysis of the IE Matrix helps in the next and final stage that is the decision making
stage.
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CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research Area – Two projects were completed during the course of the internship.
PROJECT 1: ANALYSIS OF HONEY‟S MERCHANDISE MIX TO DEVELOP A
SUGGESTED BUY MIX FOR HONEY-SS16
Objective:

To analyze past season‟s (SS14) and current season‟s (SS15) sell through, sales
contribution and profit in order to develop a Suggested Buy Mix for the season
SS16 for Honey

To understand customer‟s perception of Honey‟s products and their expectations
from Honey in terms of product offering in order to provide additional styles to be
included in the SS16 collection

To suggest new styles based on trend analysis and competition brand‟s offerings
Methodology:

Type of Data:
o Primary Data – Customer Survey, Store Visits, Competition Shop analysis
and interaction with store staff
o Secondary Data – Sales reports and Internet sources

Type of Research: Quantitative , Analytical and Qualitative and Suggestive

Obtaining past season‟s (SS14) and current season‟s (SS15) sales and sell through
report

Preparation of base data from sales report and the MCC file

Preparation of MC (Merchandise Category) Wise sales for both the seasons and
analysis of buy mix and sales contribution for both the seasons

Preparation of IE Model:
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(a) Preparation of sales contribution and profit earned data for these MCs in order
to graphically represent them on an IE Model
(b) Using sell through values and buy(%) and sales contribution values to obtain
X-axis and Y-axis values for the IE Model
(c) Plotting these categories on the IE Model

Determination of slow selling styles:
(a) Analysis of sales reports to determine styles with sell throughs much less than
the average sell through
(b) Analysis of slow selling styles on the following levels- fabric, color, price, size
and prints
(c) Consolidation of findings – to understand which fabric base composition, price
level, print type, color and sizes are slow selling that consistently didn‟t sell well
for both the seasons and that Honey should avoid or discontinue from the next
season

Conducting Customer Survey:
(a) Store Visits
(b) Data – Primary Data, based on questionnaires filled by customers
(b) Sample Size – 80

Trend Analysis and Competition brand‟s product offerings for addition of new
styles to replace the slow selling styles

Developing an optimum buy mix for the next season based on the above analyses
which will ensure optimum sales
26
PROJECT 2: COMPETITION MAPPING FOR CANDIES
Objective:

To conduct competition analysis in terms of pricing

To conduct customer survey in order to understand customer‟s perception and
expectations from the brand Candies and its competitive brands

To develop positional maps and to identify the gap and provide suggestions for the
brand to achieve competitive advantage
Methodology:

Type of Data:
o Primary Data – Customer Survey, Store Visits, Competition Shop analysis
and interaction with store staff
o Secondary Data – Sales reports and Internet sources

Type of Research: Quantitative , Analytical and Qualitative and Suggestive

Identification of competitors on the basis of product offering and brand ideology

Analysis of price points- entry/modal/exit, quality and options offered for Candie‟s
and its competitive brands

Conducting Customer Survey:
(a) Store Visits
(b) Data – Primary Data, based on questionnaires filled by customers
(c) Sample Size – 80

Plotting on positional maps for the attributes- quality and style with respect to price

Identification of gaps and providing suggestions for Candie‟s to improve
27
CHAPTER 4: BRAND BRIEF
HONEY
Brand Profile:
Honey is one of Pantaloons‟ largest private labels in the women‟s western wear segment. It
offers fun and peppy casual wear for young girls who are free spirited, impulsive yet a
romantic at heart. The range encompasses stylish day wear - floral, feminine & vibrant.
Logo –
Department – Young Fashion
Tagline/ Key words – “Amazingly Affordable and “Feminine and Young”
Brand attributes – “Pretty and Feminine”, “Easy Day wear”, “Floral and colorful”,
“Comfortable and Effortless style” and “Romantic, dainty and flowy silhouettes”
Key Items – Woven Tops/Tunics, Knit Tops/Tunics, Dresses and Jumpsuits, Bottoms and
Winter wear
Inspiration brands – New Look, H&M, Primark
Competitors – Max, Ginger, L.O.V., Nuon
Customer Profile:
Demographics –

Female

Age Group: 15-22 yrs

Household ( SEC A/B)
28

Education Level: student or early in her career
Attitude –

Pretty and feminine

Safe and mildly conservative

Lives with parents hence seeks their consent
Lifestyle –

Day activities - College going, evenings with family and friends

Weekends - Spends time with friends, but outings with family

Hobbies - Shopping / window shopping at the mall, movies

Aspirations
o Spend time with friends during weekdays- lunch/dinner, party, mall visits.
o Keeps a tab while window shopping on upcoming trends
o TV sitcoms and magazines are key influencing mediums keeping her
updated on the latest.

Shopping patterns
o Seeks variety (By paying less)
o Pretty, cheerful & young styles
o Safe, but not boring
o Seeks deals
o She mostly shops smaller items with her friends during her visit to the mall
but keeps her „big‟ item shopping with her family/parents. Dependent on
„pocket money‟
29
CANDIE’S
Brand Profile:
Candie‟s was founded in 1981 in New York and was purchased by the Iconix Brand
Group in 1993. Reliance Brands, a part of Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) had bought
50 per cent stake in Iconix India in 2012. Reliance used this Iconix JV to acquire Candie‟s
in India and has licensed it to Pantaloons in 2014. The range encompasses dainty floral
dresses, delicate lace tops, frilly skirts, printed leggings and bodycons that make for the
wardrobe essentials of every 'it' girl.
Logo –
Department – Young Urban Fashion
Tagline/ Key words – “Young Glamour” and “Value for Trend”
Brand attributes – “Pretty and Glamorous”, “Fashion Forward”, “Sexy Club”, “Stylish and
Trendy” and “Dress Destination”
Key Items – Dresses, Fashion tops/tees, Skirts and Shorts, Jumpsuits, Club wear
Inspiration brands – Miss Selfridge, ASOS, Top Shop
Competitors – Forever 21, Splash, Nuon, Zara Trafuluc
Customer Profile:
Demographics –

Female

Age Group: 16-22 yrs

Household ( SEC A/B)
30

Education Level: Student / Young Professional
Attitude –

Fun, Feminine and Sexy

Experimental and bold

Has a mind of her own

The “IT” girl who everyone wants to be friends with
Lifestyle –

Day activities - College going and hangs out with friends

Weekends - Socializes, Parties with friends, Goes to clubs

Hobbies - Shopping, watching movies, hanging out with friends, self pampering
activities

Aspirations
o Trend hound – takes cue from fashion magazines, celebs fashion and
runways
o Loves to dress up
o Wants to be noticed, attention seeking

Shopping patterns
o Experimental and bold
o Seeks value for trend
o Sexy and flirty silhouettes
o Seeks variety in fashion tops and dresses
31
CHAPTER 5
PROJECT 1: ANALYSIS OF HONEY’S MERCHANDISE MIX TO DEVELOP A
SUGGESTED BUY MIX FOR HONEY-SS16
It had been observed that there were drop in sales and sell throughs for Honey since the
season SS14 (full price sell through – 55%) as compared to its previous seasons (SS13 and
AW14 full price sell throughs were 60% and 59% respectively). In AW14 the sell throughs
dropped even further down (full price sell through – 40%) and in SS15, the sales were slow
moving too (10 weeks sell through – 10%). It is believed that Honey‟s sales and sell
throughs were affected due to the launch of the brand Candie‟s in AW14.
The aim of this project is to understand and analyze if Honey‟s sales were affected due to
it‟s product apart from the launch of Candie‟s. It was imperative to find out if there is any
problem regarding Honey‟s product in terms of fabric, color, pricing, prints and size that
didn‟t perform well consistently for both SS14 and SS15 and that should not be continued
for the next season, i.e. SS16.
Preparation of base data for analysis
Past season (SS14) and current season‟s (SS15) sales reports were obtained from the
planning team to understand trend in buy mix and sales contribution and the sell throughs
of each MC (Merchandise Category). The sales reports are prepared by the planning team
every week for all the brands and then it is forwarded to the respective Brand‟s buyers for
sales analysis. A consolidated full season sales report is also prepared by the end of the
season and is sent to the buyers.
The base data is prepared from the sales report as well as the MCC file. The following
image is an example of the sales report for 9 options. Due to space limitations, the sheet is
divided and pasted one after the other. The sales report contains the option number, name
of the category, buy qty, sales qty and sales per week of all the options and related data.
32
Sales report received from the Planning Team
33
Sales report received from the Planning Team
The MCC file is a detailed sheet of the options (including pictures of the products)
prepared by the buyers at the beginning of the range development process and is
continuously updated throughout the season. The MCC file contains product
specifications, fabric details, size ratios, MRP, cost, GM %, hit, silhouette, print, and other
product related data. The following is an example of the format of the MCC file. Due to
space limitation it is shown only for one option
MCC file prepared by Buyers
34
MCC file prepared by Buyers
Data from these two files are used to prepare the base data. The following is the example
of the base data prepared for SS15.
Base Data prepared for Sales Analysis
35
SALES ANALYSIS:
Once the base data is prepared, the following analyses for merchandise category sales, and
sales on fabric level, color level, size level etc, for both the seasons is carried out
simultaneously.
(A). MC WISE SALES AND CONTRIBUTION
In Honey, the merchandise categories are divided into three main groups: TopwearWovens, Topwear-Knits and Bottom Wear. Topwear-Wovens category includes all woven
tops/blouses, shirts, woven dresses and jumpsuits. Topwear-Knits category includes all
jersey tops, t-shirts, knit dresses and shrugs and the Bottom Wear category includes woven
as well as knitted trousers, leggings, palazzos and culottes, capris, shorts and skirts.
It should be noted that sales contribution and sell throughs calculated are on full price sales
and not full season. This gives a better understanding of the product‟s salability. As stated
earlier, the analyses for SS14 and SS15 are done simultaneously. Below is the MC wise
sales contribution and profit data SS14:
SS14 MC Wise Sales Contribution, FP Sell Thru and Profit Earned
Buy quantity or Inward quantity (%), Sales (%), sell throughs and profits were calculated
for every MC and also on product level. This was done to understand growth/de-growth of
36
the MC in terms of sales and sell throughs, to understand in which category the most profit
is earned and mainly to analyze which fabric composition, price points, sizes, colors and
prints are slow selling.
SS14 Buy Mix
28%
36%
36%
Topwear-Wovens
SS14 Sales Mix
25%
Topwear-Knits
Bottom Wear
38%
Topwear-Wovens
Topwear-Knits
37%
Bottom Wear
SS14 Buy Mix and Sales Mix Comparison
It is observed that in SS14, sales contribution of the Topwear-Wovens and Knits (37% and
38% respectively) are more than the buy mix (36% for both the categories) whereas the
sales contribution of Bottom wear category (25%) is much lesser than the buy mix (28%).
Similarly, the MC wise sales contribution data is prepared for SS15 to understand the
contribution and profits of each category
SS15 MC Wise Sales Contribution, FP Sell Thru and Profit Earned
37
SS15 Buy Mix
28%
28%
Topwear-Wovens
SS15 Sales Mix
24%
Topwear-Knits
44%
Bottom Wear
27%
Topwear-Wovens
Topwear-Knits
49%
Bottom Wear
SS15 Buy Mix and Sales Mix Comparison
It is observed that in SS15, sales contribution of the Topwear-Wovens (49%) is much
higher than its buy mix (44%) and also has significantly increased from SS14. However,
the sales contribution of Topwear-Knits (27%) is lesser than its buy mix (28%) and has
reduced form SS14. And the bottom wear category is slow performing like the last season.
It‟s sales mix (24%) is much lesser than its buy mix (28%) and has even reduced from
SS14.
(B). PLOTTING CATEGORIES ON THE INTERNAL-EXTERNAL (IE) MODEL
It is important to not only understand the sales contribution of the merchandise categories
but also to understand the profits earned from the categories. For this purpose, the IE
Matrix was used to graphically represent sales contribution and profits earned for each of
the categories.
As in the typical IE Model an organization is positioned into a nine cell matrix, the
categories are also positioned in this nine cell matrix. It is based on two key dimensions –
The IFE total weighted scores on the X-axis and The EFE total weighted scores on the Yaxis. It is divided into three major regions that have different strategy implications.
38

Cells I, II, and III suggest the grow and build strategy.

Cells IV, V, and VI suggest the hold and maintain strategy.

Cells VII, VIII, and IX are characterized with the harvest or exit strategy.
Therefore, based on which cells the categories fall, appropriate measures should be taken
by the buyer in order to achieve maximum sales from each category.
To prepare the data that is to be represented on the IE model, we require sales and profit
values and also values for the X-Axis and Y-Axis respectively.
(In actual, IFE and EFE scores are taken for the X-Axis and Y-Axis respectively)
The following is the data prepared for SS14 and SS15
SS14 - Preparation of Data to be used for analysis for the IE Model
39
SS15 - Preparation of Data to be used for analysis for the IE Model
The Net Sales Value (NSV) is calculated for each product and its category, here given as
Sales (Rs), Sales value contribution is taken out (Sales%), Profit earned from each
category and its percentage is taken out, the buy mix % is calculated along with sales mix
(here given as Sales quantity contribution %) and the sell through.
To get values for X and Y axis, the following assumptions are made:

X-Axis:
Here, Sell through values were grouped and given scores for a set of defined sell
through range and were taken as the X-axis values
For SS14
For SS15
40

Y-Axis:
The comparison between the buy mix (%) and sales mix or sales quantity
contribution (%) were given scores and those values were taken as Y-axis values
Condition
Y-Axis Value
If Buy Mix % < Sales Mix %
If Buy Mix % = Sales Mix %
If Buy Mix % > Sales Mix %
3 to 4
2 to 3
1 to 2
Based on the above conditions, X-axis and Y-axis values were calculated. Once the data is
ready, the sales and profit contribution of the categories are plotted on the IE Model.

SS14 categories on an IE Model:
MC name
Sales (Rs)
Topwear-Wovens
Topwear-Knits
Bottom Wear
67,663,170
50,267,441
56,557,049
Sales % Profit (Rs) Profit (%) Sell Thru X Axis Value Inward% Sales Mix%
39%
29%
32%
45,957,025
33,324,427
39,373,296
39%
28%
33%
58%
57%
49%
3
3
2.5
36%
36%
28%
38%
37%
25%
Y -Axis
Value
3 to 4
3 to 4
1 to 2
41
 Cell I – Grow and build

Topwear-Wovens: Highest sales contribution is from the Topwear-Wovens
category in terms of sales quantity – 38% as well as value (Rs.) – 39%. The profit
earned is also the highest from that category, i.e. 39%. Since it‟s sell through is
58% it‟s X-axis value is 3 and its sales mix is greater than its buy mix, therefore it‟s
Y-Axis value is between 3 to 4.

Topwear-Knits: Sales contribution in terms of value is the least – 29% for
Topwear-Knits but its sales contribution in terms of quantity (sales mix) is the
second highest, i.e. 37%. The profit earned is however the least from all the
categories – 28%. Its sell through is 57%, therefore it lies on point 3 on the X-axis
and its sales mix is higher than its buy mix therefore it lies between 3 and 4 on the
Y-axis. This shows that these two categories are contributing to sales the most and
that the strategy should be to grow and build these categories.
 Cell VIII – Harvest

Bottom wear: Sales contribution in terms of value is the second highest – 32% for
Bottom wear but its sales contribution in terms of quantity (sales mix) is the least,
i.e. 25%. Profit earned is the second highest – 33%. Its sell through is 49%,
therefore it lies on point 2.5 on the X-axis and its sales mix is lower than its buy
mix therefore it lies between 1 and 2 on the Y-axis.
42

SS15 categories on an IE Model:
MC name
Sales (Rs)
Sales %
Profit (Rs)
Profit (%)
Sell Thru
X-Axis
Value
Inward%
Sales Mix %
Y-Axis
Value
Topwear-Wovens
8,137,435
28%
5,440,790
30%
10%
2.5
28%
27.5%
2 to 3
Topwear-Knits
12,221,772
42%
8,305,348
46%
11%
3
44%
49%
3 to 4
Bottom Wear
8,956,802
31%
4,452,589
24%
8%
2.5
28%
24%
1 to 2
 Cell I – Grow and build

Topwear-Knits: Sales contribution is the highest in in terms of value– 42% as well
as its sales mix – 49% for Topwear-Knits. Profit earned is the highest as compared
to the other two categories – 46%. Its sell through is the highest – 11%, therefore it
lies on point 3 on the X-axis and its sales mix is higher than its buy mix therefore it
lies between 3 to 4 on the Y-axis
43
 Cell V – Hold and Maintain

Topwear-Wovens: Sales contribution in terms of sales mix % is the second
highest – 27.5%, however in terms of sales value contribution is the least – 28%
only. Profit earned is the second highest – 30%. Since it‟s sell through is 10% it lies
on point 2.5 on the X-axis and its sales mix is less than its buy mix, but almost
equal to it therefore it‟s Y-Axis value is between 2 to 3
 Cell VIII – Harvest

Bottom wear: Sales contribution in terms of value is the second highest – 31% for
Bottom wear but its sales contribution in terms of quantity (sales mix) is the least,
i.e. 25%. Even the profits earned is the least from this category – 24%. It‟s sell
through is 8%, therefore it lies on point 2.5 on the X-axis and its sales mix is lower
than its buy mix therefore it lies between 1 and 2 on the Y-axis.
SS14 and SS15 Consolidated Findings (IE Model):

Overall the Topwear-Knits and Topwear-Wovens category are highest sales
contributors in terms of sales quantity. The strategy should be to grow and build
these categories – like increase their buy mix or make certain changes in the
product attributes to attract more sales, etc.

Topwear-Knits‟s sales contribution and profits have significantly increased in SS15
from SS14. Major reason was change in vendors and getting products at lower cost
price. Lowering the entry price points of T-shirts from Rs.599/- in SS14 to Rs.499/in SS15

Bottom wear has consistently performed poorly in both the seasons. Similar
strategy should be adopted like Topwear-Knits in SS16, i.e. lowering the entry
price points of trousers and leggings and try to source these products at a lower
44
price. Honey should also adopt a new strategy for increasing bottom wear sales (in
terms of quantity) – like increase fashion quotient of the bottoms, improve quality
of fabric and trims, reduce buy quantity apart from reducing prices for bottoms.
C. PRODUCT ATTRIBUTES - SALES AND SELL THROUGH ANALYSIS
(I). Fabric Level Analysis:
Quality is of prime importance in any aspect of business. Customers demand and expect
value for money. As producers of apparel there must be a constant endeavor to produce
work of good quality. The first thing that the customer looks out for in a garment is the
quality of the fabric – it‟s type, handfeel and weight. Fabric quality is the most important
component for a customer to buy the garment. Hence, fabric level analysis was performed
for both SS14 and SS15 to identify if there‟s any fabric that had not performed well in
SS14 and is slow selling in SS15 too. This analysis is carried out on product level. For
example, Woven Tops, Woven Dresses, Jumpsuits and playsuits in the Topwear-Wovens
category.
Fabrics were classified based on their composition. The types of fabrics that Honey uses
for its products are broadly classified as under –

Cotton

Polyester

Poly Cotton

Cotton-Lycra

Cotton-Lycra Twill

Viscose/Rayon (Viscose used for Knitwear, Rayon used for Wovens),

Poly Viscose and Combination (Wovens + Knits)
45

SS14 Fabric Composition – Sales and Sell through analysis:
SS14 Fabric Base Split - Sales and Sell through analysis for all the product categories
o Polyester had the highest sales contribution (51%) and sell through (64%) in
the Topwear-Wovens category. Whereas Rayon was comparatively slow
selling in the Topwear-Wovens category; its sales contribution being 19% in
this category, as compared to its buy mix which was 21%.
o Viscose had the highest sales contribution (41%) and a decent sell through
(60%) in the Topwear-Knits category, followed by Cotton (27% sales
contribution and 50% sell through) and Cotton-Lycra (2% sales contribution
as compared to its 1% buy contribution and 86% sell through). Whereas
Polyester was slow selling in this category; its sales contribution being 19% in
this category, as compared to its buy mix which was 21%.
o Cotton-Lycra Twill had the highest sales contribution (50%) and sell through
of 52% in the Bottom wear category, followed by Cotton-Lycra. Polyester as
a base fabric for bottoms was poor selling with sales contribution of 1% as
compared to its buy contribution 2% and had the least sell through – 37%
o On the product level – Rayon had low sales contribution and sell through for
Woven Tops and Dresses, Polyester and Poly Viscose had low sell through –
46
28% and 38% respectively for Jersey Tops, Cotton-Lycra Twill was a good
selling fabric for both Trousers and Cotton-Lycra was a good selling fabric
for Leggings

SS15 Fabric Composition – Sales and Sell through analysis:
SS15 Fabric Base Split - Sales and Sell through analysis for all the product categories
o Polyester has the highest sales contribution (78%) and sell through (11%) in
the Topwear-Wovens category followed by Polyester Lace (2.5% sales
contribution as compared to 1.5% buy contribution). Whereas Rayon is
comparatively slow selling in the Topwear-Wovens category; its sales
contribution being 2% in this category, as compared to its buy mix which is
10%
o Viscose has the highest sales contribution (65%) and but a low sell through
(10%) in the Topwear-Knits category. Poly Cotton has a greater sales
contribution (12.8%) than its buy contribution (7%). However Poly Viscose is
slow selling in this category; its sales contribution being 0.1% in this category,
as compared to its buy mix which is 4%.
47
o Cotton-Lycra Twill had the highest sales contribution (80%) and sell through
of 13% in the Bottom wear category. Polyester as a base fabric for bottoms
was poor selling with sales contribution of 3% as compared to its buy
contribution 9% and had the least sell through – 3%
o On the product level – Rayon had low sales contribution as compared to its buy
contribution and sell through for Woven Tops (2%, 10% and 2% respectively)
and Woven Dresses (3%, 7% and 6% respectively). Viscose has the highest
sales contribution (62%) for Jersey Tops. Cotton-Lycra Twill is a good
selling fabric for Trousers
(II). Color Level Analysis:
Color of the garment is one of the most important apparel characteristics that influence
purchase decisions. It is one of the first components that attract a customer towards the
product. If the fit is fine, fabric quality is good, design and styling of the garment is good,
but the color is not right and not appealing, the customer may not choose to buy the
garment, resulting in loss of sale.
Hence, it is very important to analyze if there is any color that is slow performing in both
SS14 and SS15 and that should be discontinued or the buy quantity should be reduced for
the next season-SS16. This analysis is carried out on product level. For example, Woven
Tops, Woven Dresses, Jumpsuits and playsuits in the Topwear-Wovens category.
The colors used for the seasons, SS14 and SS15 were classified into 20 basic color groups
– black, white, ecru, off white, pink, fuschia, navy, blue, turquoise, yellow etc. Following
are the sales and sell through analysis of the product categories on color level for both
SS14 and SS15.
48

SS14 Color Level Analysis:
SS14 Color Split - Sales and Sell through analysis for all the product categories
o Off White had the highest sales contribution (13%) and a decent sell through
(52%) in the Topwear-Wovens category. However colors like Blue, Green,
Light Yellow and Fuschia had sales contribution (7%, 6%, 7% and 6%
respectively) more than their buy contribution (5%, 5%, 6% and 5%
respectively) and had sell throughs above 60%. Whereas colors like Orange
49
and Beige had lower sell throughs (37% and 29% respectively) and their sales
contribution was lesser than their buy contribution
o White had the highest sales contribution (11%) and decent sell through of 53%
in the Topwear-Knits category. This may be because a lot of options had been
bought in white. But the colors Black, Coral, Dark Green and Red had higher
sales contribution (10%, 10%, 10% and 6% respectively) than their buy
contribution (7%, 8%, 7% and 4% respectively) and had sell throughs above
70%. Whereas Orange and Green were poor selling colors for this category,
with their sales contribution being lower than their buy contribution and sell
throughs lesser than 35%.
o Black had the highest sales contribution (14%) with a decent sell through of
53% in the Bottom wear category. Whereas Beige and White had sales
contribution (6% and 9% respectively) more than their buy contribution (3%
and 7% respectively) and highest sell throughs 96% and 70% respectively
o On the product level, Orange had the least sales contribution (0.4%) and lest
sell through of 16% for Woven Tops. Off White and Pink had lower sales
contribution (12% and 5%) as compared to their buy contribution (17% and 7%
respectively) for Woven Dresses. Orange and Green were slow selling colors
for Jersey/ Knit Tops, their sales contribution was much lesser than their buy
contribution and had low sell throughs (20% and 10% respectively) too. Light
Yellow, Green and Fuschia had least sales contribution (1%, 2% and 3%
respectively) and was much lesser than their buy contribution (3%, 6% and 4%
respectively) for Shrugs. Light yellow and green had the lowest sell throughs
(17% and 18% respectively). Beige had the highest sales contribution (13%)
and sell through (96%), followed by Blue for Trousers. Dark Green, Light
Yellow and Pink were poor selling colors for Trousers, with their sales
contribution being much lesser than their buy contribution. Off White and
White were poor selling for Leggings. Orange had the least sales contribution
50
for Capris (7%) as compared to its buy contribution of 14%. Peach was a poor
selling color for Shorts, with its sales contribution being lower than its buy
contribution. Off White had the least sales contribution (5%) which was much
lesser than its buy contribution (26%) and had the least sell through – 6%

SS15 Color Level Analysis:
SS15 Color Split - Sales and Sell through analysis for all the product categories
51
o Ecru has the highest sales contribution (27%) and sell through (15%) in the
Topwear-Wovens category. However colors like Mint Green / Turquoise,
and Coral had sales contribution (13% and 18% respectively) more than their
buy contribution (12% and 15% respectively). Whereas colors like Orange and
Light Yellow had lower sell throughs and their sales contribution was lesser
than their buy contribution
o Red, Mint Green and White have the highest sales contribution (17%, 16%
and 13% respectively) and high sell throughs (17%, 22% and16% respectively)
in the Topwear-Knits category. But the colors Ecru and Light Yellow are also
selling well. Whereas Navy and Pear are slow selling colors for this category,
with their sales contribution being lower than their buy contribution and sell
throughs lesser than 2%.
o Beige has the highest sales contribution (21%) and sell through of 21% in the
Bottom wear category, followed by Mousse and White. All of their sales
contribution is greater than the buy contribution. Whereas Grey, Peach and
Fuschia are slow selling or poor selling colors this season, with the least sales
contribution and lowest sell throughs
o On the product level, Off White and White have the least sales contribution
(0.1% and 1%) as compared to their buy mix (1% and 3% respectively) and the
least sell through of 1% and 3% respectively for Woven Tops. Navy and
Orange have lower sales contribution (0.1% and 2%) as compared to their buy
contribution (6% and 13% respectively) for Woven Dresses. Navy and
Fuschia are slow selling colors this season for Jersey/ Knit Tops, their sales
contribution is much less than its buy contribution and had low sell throughs
(1% and 3% respectively) too. Yellow and Fuschia have the least sales
contribution (2% and 6% respectively) and was much lesser than their buy
contribution (14% and 5% respectively) for Shrugs. Black, Beige and Mousse
have the highest sales contribution (20%, 19% and 17% resp.) and sell through
52
(24%, 25% and 25% resp.) Ecru, Fuschia and Red are poor selling colors for
Trousers, with their sales contribution being much lesser than their buy
contribution. Off White and Ecru are poor selling for Leggings. Red is a poor
selling color for Palazzos and Cullotes. Fuschia is a poor selling color for
Shorts, with its sales contribution being lower than its buy contribution.
(III). Price Level / MRP Range Analysis:
The price of the product is one of the most important criterias that drive purchase
decisions. Especially, for a Honey customer – who‟s looking out for value for fashion – the
price of the garment matters the most. In order to increase more purchase of garments, it is
important to understand at what price-points are the product categories selling the most –
so to have more options in that price range and at what price-points the product categories
are selling the least/slowest – so to reduce price points or reduce number of options in that
category. This is analysed on product level.

SS14 MRP Analysis:
SS14 MRP - Sales and Sell through analysis for all the product categories
o Price at which maximum no. of Woven Tops sold – Rs. 899/- and the price
at which least no. of Woven Tops sold – Rs. 1099/-
53
o
Price at which maximum no. of Woven Dresses sold – Rs. 1199/- and the
price at which least no. of Woven Dresses sold – Rs. 999/-
o Price at which maximum no. of Jersey Tops sold – Rs. 599/- and the price
at which least no. of Jersey Tops sold – Rs. 799/o
Price at which maximum no. of Jersey Dresses sold – Rs. 1199/- and the
price at which least no. of Jersey Dresses sold – Rs. 1199/-
o
Price at which maximum no. of Trousers sold – Rs. 1499/- and the price at
which least no. of Trousers sold – Rs. 899/-
o
Price at which maximum no. of Leggings sold – Rs. 499/- and the price at
which least no. of Leggings sold – Rs. 299/- and 399/-

SS15 MRP Analysis:
SS15 MRP - Sales and Sell through analysis for all the product categories
o Price at which maximum no. of Woven Tops sold – Rs. 799/- and the price
at which least no. of Woven Tops sold – Rs. 999/o
Price at which maximum no. of Woven Dresses sold – Rs. 1199/- and the
price at which least no. of Woven Dresses sold – Rs. 1299/-
o Price at which maximum no. of Jersey Tops sold – Rs. 699/- and the prices
at which least no. of Jersey Tops sold – Rs. 399/- and 1199/-
54
o
Price at which maximum no. of Leggings sold – Rs. 699/- and the price at
which least no. of Leggings sold – Rs. 499/-
o Price at which maximum no. of Pallazos/Culottes sold – Rs. 1299/-and the
Price at which least no. of Palazzos/Culottes sold – Rs. 999/-
(IV). Size Level Analysis:
One of the most important factors in inventory management or stock planning is the
analysis of sales in terms of sizes and size ratios. This not only helps in efficient stock
allocations and stock replenishments but also understanding what products should be
bought in what sizes. It is important to know which sizes are fast selling, so to have
maximum number of options in those sizes and which sizes are slow selling, so to have
minimum number of options or lesser buy quantity for those products. This analysis was
carried out for both SS14 and SS15 and on the product level.

SS14 Size Level - Sales Analysis:
SS14 Size level - Sales and Sell through analysis for all the product categories
o Size Medium (M) is the highest selling size in all three categories (sales
contribution above 28%), followed by Large (L) and Small (S) sizes
55
o Extra Small Size (XS) is the least contributing size in the both the
Topwear categories (sales contribution less than 10%), followed by Extra
Large (XL) for Woven and Knit Dresses
o 36 / 2XL
is the least selling size in Bottom wear (negligible sales
contribution)

SS15 Size Level – Sale Analysis:
SS15 Size level - Sales and Sell through analysis for all the product categories
o Size Medium (M) is the highest selling size in Topwear-Woven category
(sales contribution above 30%). Extra Small (XS) is the least contributing
in this category (sales contribution lesser than 0.1%), followed by Double
XL / 2XL
o Size Small (S) is the highest selling size in the Topwear-Knits category
(sales contribution above 31%) followed by Size M
o Medium/30 and Small/28 are good selling sizes in Bottom wear followed
by Large/32. Extra Small/26 is a slow selling size for pants but good
selling size for skirts, whereas Extra Large/34 is a slow selling size for
skirts
56
(V). Print Level Analysis:
When planning the range and the number of options in the range, it is important to have a
balance between the number of printed options and solid options in the range. It is
important to know whether the Honey customer prefers printed garments and specifically
what type of prints or solids. Hence, print/solid level sales analysis was carried out for both
SS14 and SS15 on product level. Prints/Solids sales were analyzed on the following
classes – AOP (All Over Prints), Graphic/Placement, Solid, Solid + AOP and Stripes.
 SS14 Print/Solid Sales Analysis:
SS14 Prints/Solid Split - Sales and Sell through analysis for all the product categories
o All Over Prints had maximum sales contribution in the Topwear-Wovens
category (sales contribution more than 78% and sell through above 56%).
AOPs in Woven Dresses had the highest sales contribution (82%). Stripes
had the highest sell through (77%) for Woven Tops. Whereas Solid + AOP
combination dresses in this category have the least sales contribution (2%)
as compared to its buy contribution (7%) and sell through of 23%.
o Solid + AOP had the highest sell through of 88% for Knit Tops while
overall Solids were selling better than AOPs for Knit Tops and Dresses.
However, All over printed Shrugs had sales contribution (35%) more than
the buy contribution (23%).
57
o For Bottom wear overall, Solids contributed to sales more than AOPs
(sales contribution above 65%). Printed Shorts had higher sales
contribution than solid shorts. All over printed Leggings and Skirts had
the least sales contribution (9% and 31%) and sell through (38% and 25%
respectively)
 SS15 Print/Solid Sales Analysis:
SS15 Prints/Solid Split - Sales and Sell through analysis for all the product categories
o All Over Prints have maximum sales contribution in the TopwearWovens (61%) and Topwear-Knits (41%) category, particularly AOP
Dresses. Solid Woven Tops and Knit T-shirts also have a decent sales
contribution but high sell through. (Possibility – AOP options have been
bought in a lot of quantity; therefore sales is skewed)
o Graphic/Placement print T-shirts have higher sales contribution (26%)
than its buy contribution (20%). Striped T-shirts have low sales
contribution (2%) and sell through (7%)
o For Bottom wear overall, Solids contributed to sales more than AOPs.
Printed shorts have higher sales contribution (57%) than its buy
contribution (36%) and high sell through (17%). Printed Trousers are slow
selling (sales contribution of 9% as compared to buy mix of 20%). Solid
58
Leggings (sales contribution of 9% as compared to buy mix of 46%) and
Solid Pallazos and Cullotes are slow selling (sales contribution of 31% as
compared to buy mix of 68%)
Consolidated Findings for SS14 and SS15:
i.

Fabric:
Polyester as a base fabric has the highest sales contribution for Topwear-Wovens,
in both the seasons. Whereas Rayon is slow selling for the same category in both
the seasons

Viscose as a base fabric has the highest sales contribution for Topwear-Knits
category in both the season. Whereas Polyester and Poly blends are slow selling

Cotton Lycra Twill as the base fabric for Bottoms has performed well / has the
highest sales contribution in both the seasons
ii.
Color:

White and Ecru are good selling colors for both Topwear Wovens and Knits

Orange is a poor selling color for Woven Tops and Dresses in both the seasons

Light Yellow and Fuschia are poor selling colors for shrugs for both the seasons

Bright colors like Fuschia and Red are slow selling colors for Trousers

Light colors like Off White and Ecru are slow selling for Leggings
iii.
Price:

Woven Tops priced above Rs. 999/- are slow sellers for both the seasons

Woven Dresses priced above Rs. 1299/- are slow sellers for both the seasons

Jersey Tops priced above Rs. 799/- are slow sellers for both the seasons
59
iv.
Size:

Extra Small (XS) is the least contributing size in Tops and Dresses, in both Woven
and Knit Category for both SS14 and SS15

34/ Extra Large (XL) in the the Bottom wear Category is also slow selling for both
the seasons
v.

Print/Solid:
All Over Prints have maximum sales contribution for both the seasons in both
Topwear Knits and Wovens, especially AOP Dresses.

Solid Woven Dresses are slow selling in both the seasons

Solid Bottoms, especially trousers have higher sales contribution than printed
trousers in both the seasons. However, Printed shorts have performed well, with
high sales contribution and sell throughs, in both the seasons
D. CUSTOMER SURVEY
Before suggesting an optimum buy mix, it is also important to understand customer‟s
perception of Honey and its products and their expectations from the brand.
Customer feedback is paramount when determining a customer's needs and tastes,
particularly when a business introduces new products. Customer feedback helps companies
determine what's important to their customers. Without customer feedback, a company
could not possibly meet the product needs of the consumer. Consequently, its products
would likely fail in the marketplace. Hence, a customer survey was carried out in order to
understand how customers rate and use Honey‟s products. It is vital in determining where a
Honey's products and categories excel or fall short.
Location of Survey – Mumbai; Pantaloons Store at Phoenix Mills Compound-Lower Parel,
Infiniti Mall and Phoenix Market City Mall-Kurla
60
Type of Data – Primary Data
Sample Size – 80 Females
Sampling Technique – Judgmental Sampling
Graphical tools & descriptive analysis is used to analyze the data. Microsoft Excel was
used to analyze and present the data in form of charts. The following is the analysis of the
survey:
a) Brand Awareness and Honey Customers:
Awareness of the brand Honey
Percentage of Honey Customers
It is observed that out of 80 females, 90% of them, i.e. 72 females were aware of the brand
while 8 were not aware of the brand. Out of the 72 females who were aware, 92% of them,
i.e. 66 females were Honey‟s customers / who have shopped from Honey in the past
b) Category of clothing that is purchased most frequently / most in terms of quantity:
Percentage of most purchased category by Honey‟s customers
61
Based on the above pie-chart, it is observed that T-Shirts is the most purchased product
category (50%), followed by Woven Tops/Blouses (42%) and then Dresses (8%). Not a
single customer selected bottoms as the most purchased product category.
c) Age of respondents and Most shopped category:
Based on Honey‟s target age group, judgmental sampling was carried out where young
women were given to fill the survey and a cross tabulation between age of respondents and
most shopped product category was carried out to know which age groups purchase what
products more frequently.
Percentage of Age of the respondents
Majority of the customers (37%) belong to the age group 20-23 yrs, followed by the age
group 16-19 yrs (35%). Only 2 of the customers belonged to the age group 28 yrs and
above, who were not Honey‟s customers.
62
Cross tabulation of age of respondents and most shopped
category

Blouses: Majority of the customers (36%) that purchase blouses belong to the age
group 20 – 23 yrs, followed by the age group 16 – 19 yrs (30%). It is bought the
least by the age group12 - 15 yrs (3%)

T-Shirts: Majority of the customers (47%) that purchase T-shirts belong to the age
group 16 – 19 yrs, followed by the age group 20-23 yrs (32%)

Dresses: Majority of the customers (11%) that purchase dresses belong to the age
group 16 – 19 yrs, followed by the age group 20 – 23 yrs (5%)

Bottoms: Non of the customers belonging to any of these age groups purchase
bottoms the most
d) Level of Satisfaction for Honey’s Product’s Attributes:
Customers were asked to rank the product attributes – quality, style, fit and price, on the
basis of level of satisfaction. Where rank 1 stands for highly dissatisfied, 2 for dissatisfied,
3 for neutral, 4 for satisfied and 5 for highly satisfied.
63
Percentage of the level of satisfaction of different product attributes
Majority of the customers (50%) were Satisfied with the Fit of the product, followed by the
Price of the products (33%). Most of the customers were Neutral about almost all of the
product attributes - Price (59%), Fit (45%), Quality (44%) and Style (41%). Customers
were dissatisfied with the Style of the product (36%) and the quality of the product (33%)
e) Feedback on number of options offered by Honey:
Customers were asked if they were satisfied with the number of options offered by honey.
And if not satisfied, which category would they like more number of options.
Percentage of customers happy with the
number of options offered
Percentage of customers who want more number of
options to be included in a particular category
64
Out of the 66 customers, 38 females (58%) were satisfied with the number of options
presented by Honey. Out of the remaining 28 females, a majority (50%) suggested that
dresses should have more number of options followed by bottom wear (21%)
f) Addition of a new category:
Percentage of new category that should be introduced
Customers were asked if they wanted Honey to include a new category altogether – Formal
Wear, Party Wear or Active/ Yoga Wear. Majority of the customers (42%) wanted Honey
to include a line of party wear in its collection, and most of them (29%) were satisfied with
the category types offered by Honey.
g) Criterias Honey should improve:
Percentage of customers that want a new category to be introduced
65
Based on the pie-chart above, a majority of the customers (48%) said that honey should
include more fashion products, followed by improving the quality of the garment (41%)
h) Purchase of other Pantaloons brands:
Customers were asked if they also shopped from other pantaloons brands to understand if
Honey‟s target customers shop from other pantaloons brands and if they are it‟s
competitors
Percentage of customers that purchase from other
Pantaloons brands
Majority of the customers (36%) shop from Bare Denim, followed by Annabelle (28%)
and Candies (17%)
i) Purchase of Competitor Brands:
Percentage of customers that purchase from
competition brands
66
Majority of the customers shop from the brand Ginger by Lifestyle (30%), followed by
Max (28%) and Nuon (28%). Other brands included Forever 21, Shoppers Stop, FBB
Brands, Zara etc
j) Occupation of the respondents:
Occupation of the respondents
Majority of the customers were students (80%) followed by young working professionals
(18%).
Interpretation of Findings:

Blouses and T-shirts are the most purchased product categories

Honey‟s core target group lies between the ages 16 yrs and 23 yrs, most of whom
are college students and young working professionals

Girls in their early teens shop more T-shirts than dresses and females in the age
group 20-23yrs prefer Blouses over T-shirts

Majority of the customers are satisfied with the fit of the garments but are
dissatisfied with the fashion quotient and quality of the garment. Honey should
improve the quality of its garments and also introduce more fashion products

Some of the customers want Honey to include more number of options in Dresses
and wanted Honey to include a Party wear collection in their range
67

Most of Honey‟s customers also shopped from other Pantaloons brands such as
Bare Denim, Annabelle and Candie‟s and other competitor brands like Forever 21
and Shoppers Stops brands.
E. TREND ANALYSIS / ANALYSIS OF COMPETITOR BRAND’S PRODUCT
OFFERINGS
After understanding the customer‟s needs and wants through the customer survey, it is also
important to know what the season‟s trends are and what competitors are offering.
Trend analysis was carried out using secondary data from the internet – Websites like
WGSN and Stylesight, fashion blogs and international brands websites; fashion magazines
etc. To understand what products the competitors are offering and at what price points
competition shop analysis was carried out.
Based on this research, certain styles were selected for Honey that it could include in its
SS16 range.
Before that a price comparison was carried out between Honey and its competitors as it is
very important to understand if Honey is at par with it‟s competitors in terms of the
number of options it offers and the entry-modal-exit pricepoints of its products.
68
Honey’s price positioning vis-à-vis National brands:
Honey‟s Price Positioning and No of options offered Vis-à-vis Competiton Brnads
Honey is at par with Lifestyle‟s brand Ginger for almost all its categories and it‟s entry
price points in line with Max. Honey has overall at par or lower price points than its
competitor brands
Suggestion of New Styles:
A presentation was made with new fashion styles that Honey could include in SS16. Most
of the suggestions given were fashion styles that Honey never introduced in any of its
categories.
Following are some of the screenshots of the ppt.
69
Suggestion of New Styles for SS16 Topwear
Suggestion of New Styles for SS16 Dresses
70
Suggestion of New Styles for SS16 Bottom wear
F. SUGGESTED BUY MIX
Based on all of the above analysis for SS14 and SS15 sales and sell throughs and MC wise
sales contribution, a suggested buy mix was prepared in order to improve sales and
optimize profits earned from that category.
The Buy Mix (%) / Inward % and Sales Mix (%) / Sales contribution (%) was calculated
for both SS14 and SS15 and growth/de-growth in terms of sales contribution was analysed
for each product category. Based on this assumptions were made and a suggested buy mix
for SS16 was prepared.
71
Option
MC name
Product
Topwear-Wovens
WOVEN TOP
WOVEN DRESS
JUMPSUITS AND PLAYSUITS
Topwear-Wovens Total
Topwear-Knits
Topwear-Knits Total
Bottom Wear
T-SHIRT
KNIT DRESS
SHRUGS
TROUSERS
LEGGINGS
CAPRI
SHORTS
SKIRT
Bottom Wear Total
SS15 Addition
Topwear-Wovens
WOVEN TUNIC
Topwear-Knits
KNIT TUNIC
Bottom Wear
PALAZZOS AND CULOTTES
SS15 Addition Total
Grand Total
SS14 SS15
68
13
6
87
74
3
19
96
34
15
6
19
7
81
61
20
6
87
76
2
12
90
10
18
5
11
5
49
264
3
5
10
18
244
Inward
Sales
SS14
SS15
112,278
15,029
5,992
133,299
102,812
4,183
25,915
132,910
48,114
18,362
9,993
23,940
4,135
104,544
78,356
9,073
2,075
89,504
117,636
2,651
19,734
140,021
27,186
28,357
7,924
21,654
1,636
86,757
370,753
4,946
6,108
6,903
17,957
334,239
SS14
SS15*
63,889
10,660
3,381
77,930
57,572
2,571
15,816
75,959
22,319
8,650
6,974
11,920
1,438
51,301
6,810
1,371
364
8,545
13,869
341
2,003
16,213
3,881
676
850
2,265
86
7,758
205,190
Buy % Vs Sales Contri%
SS16
SS14 - SS14 - Sales SS15 - SS15 - Sales Suggested
Buy Mix
Buy % Contri % Buy % Contri %
30%
31%
23%
21%
22%
4%
5%
3%
4%
5%
2%
2%
1%
1%
2%
36%
38%
27%
26%
29%
28%
28%
35%
42%
37%
1%
1%
1%
1%
2%
7%
8%
6%
6%
6%
36%
37%
42%
49%
45%
13%
11%
8%
12%
8%
5%
4%
8%
2%
7%
3%
3%
2%
3%
3%
6%
6%
6%
7%
4%
1%
1%
0.5%
0.3%
1%
28%
25%
26%
23%
23%
520
15
140
675
33,191 100%
100%
1%
2%
2%
5%
100%
2%
0.05%
0.4%
2%
100%
1%
1%
1%
3%
100%
Working of Suggested Buy Mis for SS16
For product categories that performed well in both the seasons, their buy mix was
maintained or increased by a small percentage. Product categories that performed well in
SS14 and SS15 are Woven Dresses, Jumpsuits and Playsuits, the entire Topwear-Knit
category and Capris in Bottom wear. Their sales mix % was higher than their buy mix %.
Therefore based on their sales contribution % their buy mix was increased or maintained at
the same level. Using Woven Dresses as an example - In SS14, it‟s buy mix was 4% and
its sales mix was 5% and in SS15, its buy mix is 3% and its sales mix is 4%. For both
seasons, its sales mix % was higher than the buy mix%. This indicates that Dresses have a
good potential to sell in SS16. Therefore it‟s buy mix has increased for SS16 to 5% and
Honey should do more options in woven dresses for SS16
For product categories that were slow performing in both the seasons, their buy mix was
decreased by a small percentage. For Example – Leggings were slow performing in SS14
and SS15. In SS14, it‟s buy mix was 5% and its sales mix was 4% and in SS15, its buy mix
72
is 2% and its sales mix is 2%. For both seasons, its sales mix % was lower than the buy
mix%. This indicates that either there are too many options in leggings or the buy quantity
was very high. Therefore it‟s buy mix has been reduced for SS16 to 7% and Honey should
either reduce the number of options in leggings or reduce buy quantity.
For product categories that have performed well in one season and is slow selling in the
other season, their buy mix % was maintained or reduced based on the sales contribution.
For Example, Woven tops performed well in SS14 but are slow selling in SS15. In SS14,
its sales mix (31%) was higher than its buy mix (30%) but in SS15, it‟s sales mix was
lower than its buy mix (23%). Therefore for SS16, its buy mix has been reduced to 22%.
.
SS16 Suggested Buy Mix – Product MC wise
73
Based on the buy mix and sales and sell through analysis for product categories on the
levels - fabric, color, size etc. the final suggested buy mix is given –

Topwear-Wovens
o Fabric:
-
Atleast 55% Polyester and Polyester blends, 25 % Cotton and 25% Others
o Price:
-
Tops should be priced below Rs. 999/-
o Prints:
-
Atleast 70% All over prints, 25% Solids and 5% Others
o Color:

-
Tops should consist more of Off White and Ecru colors.
-
Avoid orange color for Dresses
Topwear-Knits
o Fabric:
-
Avoid Polyester jersey
-
Atleast 55% Viscose, 30% Cotton and 15% Others
o Price:
-
Tops should be priced below Rs. 799/-
o Prints:
-
Atleast 35% All over prints, 20% Graphics/Placements, 25% Solids and 20%
Others
o Color:
-
Avoid Orange color for dresses.
-
T-shirts should consist more of Coral, Red and Black
74

Bottom wear
o Fabric:
-
Maintain current fabric for bottomwear
o Price:
-
Trousers should be priced below Rs. 1299/-. Leggings should not be priced
above Rs.699/-
o Prints:
-
Reduce Inward% of printed trousers
o Color:
-
Light colors like Ecru and White are slow selling for leggings, so buy should be
less
-
Buy quantity should be increased for Beige and Black trousers and reduced for
Pink/Fuschia trousers
75
CHAPTER 6
PROJECT 2: COMPETITION MAPPING FOR THE BRAND CANDIE’S
This project aims at understanding the competition in the market for the brand Candie‟s in
order to identify any gaps, if any and to develop a competitive strategy that can be
formulated to take into account the competitors' likely actions and responses.
Analyzing a brand‟s competitors helps the brand to discover its weaknesses, to identify
opportunities for and threats to the organization from the industrial environment. While
formulating a brand‟s strategy, managers/buyers must consider the strategies of the brand‟s
competitors. Competitor analysis is a driver of an organization/ brand‟s strategy and effects
on how firms act or react in their sectors. The organization/brand does a competitor
analysis to measure / assess its standing amongst the competitors.
Competitors should be analyzed along various dimensions such as their product offering,
size, growth and profitability, brand ideology, reputation, objectives, culture, cost
structure, strengths and weaknesses, etc. Competition analysis for Candie‟s has been
carried out with prime focus on product offering and their pricing.
I.
Identifying competitors on the basis of product offering and brand ideology –
The first step in conducting a competitor analysis is to identify your competitors. Two
complementary approaches are possible.

The first is demand-side based, comprised of firms satisfying the same set of
customer needs.

The second approach is supply-side based, identifying firms whose resource
base, technology, operations, and the like, is similar to that of the focal firm.
Apart from this, there are two types of competition – direct and indirect.

Direct competitors are businesses that are offering identical or similar products
or services as your business. These are organizations that customers can easily
76
buy from instead of from you, so these companies represent your most intense
competition.

Indirect competitors are businesses that are offering products and services that
are close substitutes. These competitors are probably targeting your markets
with a same or similar value proposition, but delivering a different product.
Based on Candie‟s product offerings, pricing and target customers – Forever 21, Splash
and Nuon have been identified as direct competitors while Zara Trafaluc and Vero
Moda as indirect competitors.
In terms of product offerings, Forever 21 and Nuon are considered as very close
competitors both of which have a wide variety of fashion dresses, tops and trendy
bottomwear including skirts and shorts. Each of them include a club wear or party wear
capsule in their range. Splash‟s product offerings are almost 60-70% similar to that of
Candie‟s, however it also includes mature silhouettes. Apart from Nuon and Candie‟s,
Forever 21 and Splash have a wide range of basic tank tops, spaghetti tops and basic
leggings. The product categories and number of options are large for Forever 21 and
Splash. Candie‟s and Nuon have smaller range of basic tanks, spaghettis and tees as
compared to Forever 21 and Splash. Forever 21 and Splash also have product
categories for Men. Candie‟s and Nuon only offer product categories for women.
However, overall the products are made on fun and flirty lines with a feminine touch.
Styles are inspired by the latest runway fashion.
In terms of brand ideology, Candie‟s, Forever 21, and Nuon are synonymous with
Young Urban Fashion focusing on value for trend. These brands revolve around the
philosophy of their younger customers, giving them a chance to represent their identity
and express themselves through their clothing. Young glamour, sexy and fun and value
for fashion are the keywords for these brands. These brands follow the fast fashion
77
model, that is getting new fashion trends to stores as quickly as it possibly can, then
selling at a low price.
Candie‟s
Forever 21
Nuon
Splash
In terms of pricing, the prices of the most of the product categories are almost at par
with each other. However, Forever 21 has lower entry price points for most of it‟s
product categories. Price comparison will be analyzed in detail in the next point.
Zara Trafuluc and Vero Moda are considered indirect competition as their brand
ideology is different from the above brands. These two are almost considered as
inspiration brands for Candies and Nuon. These are mid premium/premium brands that
target a different segment of customers – who belong to a different income group.
These brands target those customers who don‟t look out for value for fashion but look
out for quality and fashion. Their price range is higher. They target women who are
fashion forward but who belong to a higher social class. Any change in the level of
income, will push the customer to buy products from Zara and Vero Moda instead of
shopping from Candie‟s or Nuon.
78
II.
Analysis of price points- entry/modal/exit, quality and options offered
Comp shop analysis for Candie‟s was carried out focusing on the number of options
offered and the price range of the product categories. This was done to check if
Candie‟s is at par with the competition in terms of prices and number of options. The
following is the comparison of price points for different product categories for
Candie‟s and its competitors.
Candie‟s Price positioning Vis-à-vis Competition brands
Price Positioning:

Candie‟s price points are almost at par with Nuon‟s price points. Forever 21 has
the lowest entry price points and also the highest exit price points for all the
product categories.

For Woven Tops/Blouses – Candie‟s entry price points are at par with Splash.
The tops start at Rs. 999/-. However, while Candie‟s exit price points (Rs.
1399-1499/-) are lower than that of Splash (Rs. 1799-1899/-), its exit price
points are higher than that of Nuons. (Rs. 1299/-).
79

For Knit Tops/ T-Shirts – Candie‟s entry price points are at par with Nuon (Rs.
499/-) and higher than Forever 21(Rs. 399/-) but lower than Splash. (Rs. 599/-).
Its exit price points are lower than the rest of the brands

For Dresses and Jumpsuits – Candie‟s entry price points (Rs. 1299/-) are higher
than Forever 21 (Rs. 499/-) and Nuon (Rs. 999/-) but lower than Splash (Rs.
2499/-)

For Bottom wear – Candie‟s entry price points are at par with Nuon (Rs.699/-)
and higher than Forever 21 (Rs. 399/-) but lower than Splash (Rs. 1999/-)
Number of Options Offered:

For SS15, Candie‟s has 127 options in total, which is the least number of
options as compared to the other brands. Nuon has roughly about 135-140
options Splash has more than 200-220 options in women‟s western wear and
Forever 21 has the highest number of options in the women‟s western wear,
(more than 300 options, approximately)

Candies has the most number of options in Dresses and Jumpsuits (34%),
followed by Woven Tops (29%) then Knit Tops (23%) and the least number of
options in the Bottom wear category (14%)

Forever 21 has the highest number of options in the Dresses and Jumpsuits
category (31%), followed by Knit Tops (27%), then Woven Tops (24%) and in
the least number of options in the Bottom wear category (18%)

Nuon has the most number of options in Knit Tops (29%) followed by Dresses
and Jumpsuits (28%), then Woven Tops (27%) and lastly Bottoms (16%)

Splash has the highest number of options in the Dresses and Jumpsuits category
(30%) followed by Woven Tops (28%) then Knit Tops (25%) and lastly Bottom
wear category (17%)
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The image below is a comparison of the products offered by Candie‟s, Forever 21 and
Nuon for the entry, modal and exit price points for Tops, Dresses and Bottoms.
Comparison of products offered at different price points by Candie‟s and its competitors
The next step in developing the positional map, understanding customer‟s perception about
these brands is also very important. For this reason, customer survey was carried out.
III.
Customer Survey
Customer feedback is paramount when determining a customer's needs and tastes. It helps
companies determine what's important to their customers and what they expect from a
brand. Customer feedback also allows companies to better understand how customers rate
and use their products versus competitive products. It is vital in determining where a
company's products and services excel or fall short compared to alternatives on the market.
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Location of Survey – Mumbai; Pantaloons Store at Phoenix Mills Compound-Lower Parel,
Infiniti Mall and Phoenix Market City Mall-Kurla
Type of Data – Primary Data
Sample Size – 80 Females
Sampling Technique – Judgmental Sampling
Graphical tools & descriptive analysis is used to analyze the data. Microsoft Excel was
used to analyze and present the data in form of charts. The following is the analysis of the
survey –
a) Brand Awareness and Candie’s Customers:
Awareness of the brand
Percentage of Candie‟s Customers
Out of the 80 female respondents, 66 of them (82%) were aware about the brand Candie‟s
and out of the 66 females, only 53 females (80%) were Candie‟s customers or have
shopped from Candie‟s in the past.
82
b) Category of clothing that is purchased most frequently / most in terms of quantity:
Most purchased product category
Based on the above pie-chart, it is observed that Dresses are the most purchased product
category (40%), followed by Woven Tops/Blouses (28%) then T-Shirts (21%) and lastly
Bottoms (11%)
c) Age of respondents and Most shopped category:
Based on Candie‟s target age group, judgmental sampling was carried out where young
women were given to fill the survey and a cross tabulation between age of respondents and
most shopped product category was carried out to know which age groups purchase what
products more frequently.
Percentage of age the respondents
Majority of the customers (37%) belong to the age group 20-23 yrs, followed by the age
group 16-19 yrs (35%). Only 2 of the customers belonged to the age group 28 yrs and
83
above, who were not Candie‟s customers. It is observed that customers belonging to the
age group 12-15 yrs and 28 yrs and above do not shop from Candie‟s at all.
Cross tabulation of age the respondents and most purchased category

Blouses: Majority of the customers (26%) that purchase blouses the most belong to
the age group 20 – 23 yrs, followed by the age group 16 – 19 yrs (17%). It is
bought the least by the age group 24 - 27 yrs (4%).

T-Shirts: Majority of the customers (23%) that purchase T-shirts belong to the age
group 16 – 19 yrs, followed by the age group 20-23 yrs (11%)

Dresses: Majority of the customers (34%) that purchase dresses belong to the age
group 20 – 23 yrs, followed by the age group 16 – 19 yrs (23%) and by the age
group 24 – 27 yrs (8%)

Bottoms: Majority of the customers (13%) that purchase bottoms belong to the age
group 16 – 19 yrs, followed by 20 – 23 yrs (4%)
84
d) Level of Satisfaction for Candie’s Product’s Attributes:
Customers were asked to rank the product attributes – quality, style, fit and price, on the
basis of level of satisfaction. Where rank 1 stands for highly dissatisfied, 2 for dissatisfied,
3 for neutral, 4 for satisfied and 5 for highly satisfied.
Percentage of the level of satisfaction of different product attributes
Majority of the customers (30%) were Satisfied with the Style of the product, followed by
the Fit of the products (28%). Most of the customers were Neutral about almost all of the
product attributes – Quality (34%), Fit (23%), Price (32%) and Style (22%). About 8%
were dissatisfied with the Quality of the product and the price of the product (7%)
85
e) Purchase of Competition Brands:
Percentage of customers that shop from competition brands
Majority of the customers shop from the brand Forever 21 (31%), followed by Nuon (24%)
then Splash (17%), Zara (14%) and lastly Vero Moda (10%). Others included other
Pantaloons brands such as Honey, Shoppers Stop etc
f) Ranking of product attributes in comparison with Competiton Brands:
Respondents were asked to rank the product attributes – quality, style, fit, price, and
number of options for Candie‟s and its competitors; where 1 is the lowest and 5 is the
highest.
Rating of the product attributes for Candie‟s
Rating of the product attributes for Nuon
86
Rating of the product attributes for Forever 21
Rating of the product attributes for Splash
Rating of the product attributes for Zara
Rating of the product attributes for Vero Moda

Candie’s :
o Quality – Majority of the respondents (65%) have given quality a low rating of 2
and 6% have given quality a very low rating of 1
o Style – Majority of the respondents (52%) have given style a high rating of 4 and
14% have given style a very high rating of 5
o Price – Majority of the respondents (48%) have given pricing a low-medium rating
of 2 and 3
o Fit – Majority of the respondents (70%) have given a medium rating of 3 and 20%
have given a high rating of 4
o No. Of Options – Majority of the respondents (52%) have given the number of
options in Candie‟s a low rating of 2 and 27% have given a very low rating of 1
87

Nuon :
o Quality – Majority of the respondents (59%) have given a low rating of 2 and 41%
have given a medium rating of 3
o Style – Majority of the customers (53%) have given a high rating of 4 and 35%
have givena medium rating of 3
o Price – Majority of the customers (79%) have given a medium rating of 3 and 15%
have given a high rating of 5%
o Fit – Majority of the respondents (73%) have given a medium rating of 3 and 24%
have given a rating of 4
o No. Of Options – Majority of customers (53%) have given a low rating of 2
followed by 42% who have given a medium rating of 3

Forever 21:
o Quality – Majority of the respondents (70%) have given quality a low rating of 2,
followed by 21% who have given a medium rating of 3
o Style – Majority of the respondent (73%) have given a very high rating of 5 for
style, followed by 24% who have given a high rating of 4
o Price - Majority of the respondents (61%) have given a very high ratinf of 5 and 30
% have given a high rating of 4
o Fit – Majority of the respondents (59%) have given a medium rating of 3 and 24%
have given a high rating of 4
o No. Of Options – Majority of the respondents (58%) have given a very high rating
of 5, followed by 42% who have given a high rating of 4

Splash :
o Quality – Majority of the respondents (64%) have given a medium rating of 3,
followed by 33% who have given a low rating of 2
88
o Style – Majority of the respondents (58%) have given a high rating of 4, followed
by 39% who have given a medium rating of 3
o Price – Majority of the respondents (52%) have given a low rating of 2, followed
by 44% who have given a medium rating of 3
o Fit – Majority of the respondents (73%) have givena medium rating of 3, followed
by 24% who have given a high rating of 4
o No. Of Options – Majority of the respondents (56%) have given a medium rating of
3, followed by 44% who have given a low rating of 2

Zara :
o Quality – Majority of the respondents (42%) have given a high rating of 4 followed
by 41% who have given a very high rating of 5
o Style – Majority of the respondents (68%) have given a very high rating of 5
followed by 32% who have given a high rating of 4
o Price – Majority of the respondents (59%) have given a low rating of 2 followed by
29% who have given a very low rating of 1
o Fit – Majority of the respondents (47%) have given a high rating of 4 followed by
33% who have given a very high rating of 5
o No. Of Options – Majority of the respondents have given a medium rating of 64%
followed by 20% who have given a high rating of 4

Vero Moda :
o Quality – Majority of the respondents (47%) have given a high rating of 4,
followed by 29% who have given a very high rating of 5
o Style – Majority of the respondents (61%) have given a very high rating of 5,
followed by 39% who have given a high rating of 4
o Price – Majority of the respondents (65%) have given a low rating of 2, followed
by 26% who have given a very low rating of 1
89
o Fit – Majority of the respondents (47%) have given a high rating of 4 followed by
27% who have given a very high rating of 5
o No. Of Options – Majority of the respondents (67%) have given a medium rating of
3, followed by 20% who have given a very high rating of 5
g) Criterias Candie’s should improve:
Criteria Candie’s should improve
Based on the pie-chart above, a majority of the customers (36%) said that Candie‟s should
improve product quality, followed by 32% of the respondents who wished for cheaper
products and 29% wanted an increase in the number of options.
f) Occupation of the respondents:
Occupation of the respondents
90
Majority of the customers were students (80%) followed by young working professionals
(18%).
Interpretation of Findings:

Dresses and Blouses are the most purchased product categories

Candie‟s core target group lies between the ages 16 yrs and 23 yrs, most of whom
are college students and young working professionals

Females in their early teens hardly shop for candies, those in their late teens shop
T-shirts more than dresses and females in the age group 20-23yrs purchase a lot of
Dresses and Blouses

Majority of the customers are satisfied with the style and fit of the garments but are
dissatisfied with the quality and pricing of the products

Most of Candie‟s customers shop from Forever 21 and Nuon

Majority of the respondents have product quality issues with Candie‟s and Forever
21 majoryly, followed by Nuon. In terms of pricing, Candie‟s products are place
slightly higher than its competitors – Forever 21 and Nuon but lower than Zara and
Vero Moda. Zara and Vero Moda have the highest ratings for product quality, style
and fit of the garments. Customers are satisfied with the fit of Candie‟s garments
IV.
Plotting positions on perceptual map
The method of analyzing where a company stands in the market with respect to its
competitors is known as competition mapping – i.e. mapping the company‟s
competitive position. It is performed by drawing Position Maps. It is also known a
perceptual mapping
Perceptual maps help to graphically represent your Brand‟s position in relation with
your competitors. The brand/ organization can take appropriate measures to understand
91
the shortcomings for the brand and apply strategies that will improve the position of
the brand in the market.
Based on the information collected through customer survey, the customer‟s perception
about the brand Candie‟s and its Competitor‟s and their product offering is clear
enough to draw a perceptual map. Using the price-benefit analysis, below are two
perceptual maps for the brand Candie‟s and it‟s competitors.
a) Price – Quality Perceptual Map:
This perceptual map is analysed on 2 dimensions – Price on the X-Axis and Quality on
the Y-Axis.
Price – Quality Positional Map
Based on brand positioning, pricing of products and customer perception –

Candie‟s products are priced higher than Forever 21 but in terms of quality it is
slightly better than Forever 21‟s products.

Candie‟s products are priced slightly higher than that of Nuon‟s; however
Nuon‟s product quality if slightly better than that of Candie‟s

Candie‟s products prices and quality are slightly lower than those of Splash‟s
92

Zara and Vero Moda have high product quality and higher price points
b) Price – Style Perceptual Map:
This perceptual map is analysed on 2 dimensions – Price on the X-Axis and Style on
the Y-Axis.
Price – Style Positional Map
Based on brand positioning, pricing of products and customer perception –

Candie‟s products are priced higher than Forever 21 but in terms of style
Forever 21 is way higher

Candie‟s products are priced slightly higher than that of Nuon‟s and the style
quotient in its products are slightly higher than Nuon

Candie‟s products are priced slightly lower than that of Splash, and the style
quotient in Candie‟s products is slightly lower than that of Splash

Zara and Vero Moda have high product quality and their products are high on
style
93
V.
Identifying Gap and Providing Suggestions

Candie‟s product quality is a major concern – Candie‟s needs to improve
quality of fabric, trims used and stitching of the garments. Candie‟s should
conduct a market research on Vendors providing good quality fabrics and
producing good quality garments and should tie up with these new vendors

Candie‟s products are slightly on the higher side – Candie‟s should re-work on
the cost, GM% and MRP of its products and try making the products value for
trend.

Candie‟s has a low number of options in its range – Candie‟s should re-work on
its budget and buy mix based on what products categories are bestsellers, so as
to increase number of options in that category.
Over and above these, based on comp shop analaysis and interactions with the customers,
the following USPs of the competitive brands have been listed and strategies to counter
these have been listed for Candie‟s below:
COMPETITION
BRAND NAME
USP
CANDIE’S COUNTER STRATEGY
COMPETITIVE PRICE POINTS
EXTENSIVE COMPETION ANALYSIS
STRONG ON LATEST FASHION TRENDS
OTB MUST BE SET ASIDE FOR INJECTION OF FAST FASHION
STYLES
FOREVER 21
LARGE NUMBER OF OPTIONS IN EVERY CATEGORY – ECLECTIC MIX LACE TANKS IN 6 FASHION COLORS AND CANDIE’S LOGO
OF SILHOUETTES
TEES – AT LEAST 4 OPTIONS
VIBRANT COLORS
STRONG COLOR PALETTE
LATEST FASHION TREND INCORPORATED IN PRODUCTS
STRONG ON TREND
FRESHNESS / NEWNESS ON THE FLOOR MAINTAINED
HIT / DROP WISE WISE DELIVERIES WILL ENSURE THIS &
RESHUFFLE LINES ON FLOOR
STRONG VM DISPLAY
CONCRETE VM PLANNING SHOULD BE DONE BASED ON
FLOOR LAYOUTS
HIGH BRAND RECALL
VM AND MARKETING ACTIVITIES
NUON
Competition Brand‟s USPs and Suggestions for Candie‟s Counter Strategy
94
CHAPTER 7: CONCLUSION
PROJECT 1: ANALYSIS OF HONEY‟S MERCHANDISE MIX TO DEVELOP A
SUGGESTED BUY MIX FOR HONEY-SS16
Honey should maintain the buy quantity or increase number of options in the TopwearKnits category for the next season-SS16 to increase sales, as it was the best performing
category in terms of sales and sell through for SS14 and SS15. Since Bottom wear is a
slow performing category, Honey should either improve the quality of the bottom wear
products by focusing on the style quotient or reducing the buy quantity or reducing the
number of options for the next season to improve sales and sell through.
Since Polyester as a base fabric has the highest sales contribution for Wovens Tops and
Dresses, Honey should maintain the buy quantity or increase number of options, especially
Printed Dresses. Honey should reduce buy quantity for Rayon Tops and Dresses. Honey
should reduce the number of options in the color Orange as it is a poor selling color for
Woven Tops and Dresses for both the seasons. Light Yellow and Fuschia shrugs should be
avoided for SS16. Buy quantity for light colored leggings like Off White and Ecru should
be reduced. Woven Tops should not be priced above Rs. 999/- and Jersey Tops should not
be priced above Rs. 799/-. Honey should reduce buy quantity in Extra Small (XS) size for
Tops and Dresses and 34/ Extra Large (XL) in the Bottom wear Category. Honey should
do more number of options in AOPs have maximum sales contribution for both the seasons
in both Topwear Knits and Wovens, especially Dresses. Honey should reduce the buy
quantity for printed trousers.
Customer survey helped in understanding customer‟s perception of honey and what they
expect from the brand in terms of its products. Honey‟s core target group lies between the
ages 16 yrs and 23 yrs, most of whom are college students and young working
professionals. Majority of the customers are satisfied with the fit of the garments but are
dissatisfied with the fashion quotient and quality of the garment. Some of the customers
95
want Honey to include more number of options in Dresses and wanted Honey to include a
Party wear collection in their range.
Based on the merchandise sales and sell through performance analysis and customer
survey a suggested buy mix was prepared for Honey where the buy quantity % for
Topwear-Knit category was increased to 46%, Topwear-Wovens was increased to 30% and
Bottom wear category was reduced to 24%. Based on trend analysis and competition
brand‟s product offerings new styles were suggested for SS16.
PROJECT 2: COMPETITION MAPPING FOR CANDIES
Competitors for Candie‟s have been identified and analyzed on various dimensions like
brand ideology, target market, product offering and pricing of the products. Forever 21 and
Nuon are direct competitors while Zara and Vero Moda are indirect competitors /
inspiration brands. Customer survey helped in understanding customer‟s perception of
Candie‟s and its competitors and their product offerings.
Based on the customer survey, two positional/perceptual maps were prepared for Candie‟s
and its competitors in order to identify where Candie‟s is positioned in the marketplace in
relation with its competitors. One was prepared for Price-Quality and Price-Style. It was
observed that Candie‟s product quality is a major concern – Candie‟s needs to improve
quality of fabric, trims used and stitching of the garments. Candie‟s should conduct a
market research on Vendors providing good quality fabrics and producing good quality
garments and should tie up with these new vendors. Candie‟s products are slightly on the
higher side – Candie‟s should re-work on the cost, GM% and MRP of its products and try
making the products value for trend. Candie‟s has a low number of options in its range –
Candie‟s should re-work on its budget and buy mix based on what products categories are
bestsellers, so as to increase number of options in that category.
96
CHAPTER 8: SUGGESTIONS
HONEY

Based on the observations at the Pantaloons store and Competition Shop analysis,
in the current season the big learning has been on delivering coordinated ranges to
help increase the basket size. Ranges should been planned with at least 3 tops to a
bottom in varied price baskets which will ensure multi product sales within the
brand. Products should be strategically placed. For example- Solid tunics with
printed leggings, or tops that match with bottoms. This makes it easier for the
customer and helps in increasing basket size

It is observed that Honey does a lot of options in layered tops (cropped top with a
inner tank/spaghetti top) and these styles have good sell throughs. Instead, Honey
should include a variety of crop tops and spaghetti tops. They should be
strategically placed together at the store. For this store staff training is required, to
train them how to push sales by assisting customers on „how-to-wear‟ Honey
products

Reduce the number of options in Peasant Bodies/ Blouson Tops – Tops with
elasticated bottoms

Separate OTB should be made for introducing or increasing a small line of Party
wear collection.

Honey is known for its floral prints and pastel colors. However, Honey should start
experimenting with new types of prints like conversational and geometric prints or
a combination of floral and conversational prints.

Commercially viable styles should have more options (suggested at least 2)
97

Smaller color capsules – A story should not have more than 20-25options. There
should be smaller color capsules within one story. This will help maintain newness
on floor
CANDIES

Not many customers are aware of the brand Candie‟s. Marketing and promotional
strategies should be adopted to increase brand awareness and to make the brand
more visible

OTB must be set aside for injection of fast fashion styles

Range must have commercial silhouettes. A balance between cute and sexy must be
maintained. Overtly bold / edgy tops should be avoided, for instance, deep cut outs,
necks or armholes to be curbed

All sheer fabric products need to be lined or offered with an inner as it justifies
price of the product
98
CHAPTER 9: LEARNING OUTCOMES
The entire Graduation Project Internship tenure has been a wonderful learning experience.
Hands on training enabled me to understand the roles and responsibilities of a Buyer in a
Private Label Brand. Some of the Key Learnings during this period are listed below:

Detailed understanding of the Buying and Product Development process of a
Private Label brand in India. The coordination of work between the DesignersBuyers, Sourcing Team-Buyers and Planning Team-Buyers was understood

Exposure to the entire Range Development process:
o Development of the option plan
o Range presentation by designers and buyers
o Range closure
o Handover to the sourcing team
o Costing and negotiations of the products
o Testing and approval of Fit Samples
o PC:MRP – Final MRP of the products based on GM%
o Approval of Shipment Samples
o Keeping track of Inwards, shipping to warehouses and then to stores

There were a lot of „on the job‟ learnings, where I learnt to prepare the MCC file,
update techpacks, prepare best selling and slow selling styles ppt, prepare current
season‟s Looks ppt, store staff training ppt and other buying related reports and
presentations

Learnt to work with deadlines and schedules. Understood time management and
prioritizing tasks better

Learnt the dynamics of the fashion retail industry
 Customer survey and store visits helped increase my knowledge on consumer‟s
needs and wants from a product/ brand and their buying behavior
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APPENDIX – 1
Questionnaire – Honey
This survey aims at understanding customer’s perception of Honey’s products and their
expectations from the brand in terms of product offering.
1. Are you aware of the Brand Honey by Pantaloons?
o Yes
o No
(If No, proceed to question no.8)
2. Do you shop from Honey? If No, proceed to question no.6. If Yes, what category of
clothing do you shop the most from Honey?
o Blouses
o T-shirts
o Dresses
o Bottoms
3. On the basis of level of satisfaction, rank the following attributes of Honey‟s products:
5
(Highly Satisfied)
4
3
2
1
(Satisfied)
(Neutral)
(Dissatisfied)
(Highly Dissatisfied)
o Quality
o Style
o Fit
o Price
100
4. Are you satisfied with the number of options Honey offers?
o Yes
o No
4 (a.) If No, in what category should Honey include more number of options?
o Blouses
o T-Shirts
o Dresses
o Bottoms
5. Do you want Honey to include any additional category? Kindly select any of the
following categories given below:
o Formal wear
o Party wear
o Active/Yoga wear
o None of the above
6. What do you think Honey should improve:
o Better quality
o Cheaper Price
o More Fashion products
o If any other, please specify ________________________________________
101
7. What other Pantaloon‟s Brands do you shop Western apparels from?
o Candies
o Annabelle
o Bare Denim
o Ajile
o None of the above
8. Do you shop from the following Brands?
o Ginger – Lifestyle
o Max
o Nuon – Westside
o Others ________________________________________________________
Name: _________________________________________
Age: __________
Occupation: _____________________________________
102
APPENDIX – 2
Questionnaire – Candie’s
This survey aims at understanding customer’s perception of Candie’s products and its
competitive brands
1. Are you aware of the Brand Candie‟s by Pantaloons?
o Yes
o No
(If No, proceed to question no.4)
2. Do you shop from Candie‟s? If No, proceed to question no.4. If Yes, what category of
clothing do you shop the most from Candie‟s?
o
o
o
o
Blouses
T-shirts
Dresses
Bottoms
3. On the basis of level of satisfaction, rank the following attributes of Candie‟s products:
5
(Highly Satisfied)
o
o
o
o
4
3
2
1
(Satisfied)
(Neutral)
(Dissatisfied)
(Highly Dissatisfied)
Quality
Style
Fit
Price
103
4. Kindly select the following brands you shop from:
o
o
o
o
o
o
Forever 21
Nuon – Westside
Splash
Zara
Vero Moda
Others ________________________________________________________
5. Kindly rate the following attributes of the brands given below: (1 being the lowest, 5
being the highest)
Candie’s
o
o
o
o
o
Forever 21
Nuon
Splash
Zara
Vero Moda
Quality
Style
Price
Fit
No. Of Options
6. What do you think Candie‟s should improve:
o
o
o
o
Better quality
Cheaper Price
More number of options
If any other, please specify ________________________________________
7. Name: _________________________________________
Age: __________
Occupation: _____________________________________
104
REFERENCES

http://www.adityabirla.com/businesses/Profile/Pantaloons-profile

http://pantaloons.com/brands/

http://www.indiaretailing.com/fashion/

http://www.fibre2fashion.com/industry-article/free-retail-industry-article/indianretail-industry-its-growth-challenges-and-opportunities/indian-retail-industry-itsgrowth-challenges-and-opportunities1.asp

http://www.recapt.org/images/PDF/D4.1.%20Retail%20Buying_final.pdf

http://smallbusiness.chron.com/importance-customer-feedback-2089.html

http://www.wearegrow.com/why-your-competitors-are-the-best-friends-you-have/

https://www.boundless.com/management/textbooks/boundless-managementtextbook/strategic-management-12/strategic-management-86/the-impact-ofexternal-and-internal-factors-on-strategy-419-1549/
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