A study on internal and external factors influencing consumer buying behavior with respect to retailing in India

While the retail industry is moving further and further away from its traditional roots – an old fashioned notion that rings more true today than ever before – ‘the customer is always right!’ Especially in the current climate where the majority of retailers are bridging the gap between traditional and multi-channel retailing – consumers are increasingly sophisticated, informed and will not wait for local service providers to catch up. Understanding purchasing intent In an increasingly diverse consumer landscape, it is of the utmost importance that retailers invest budget, resource and time to understand the purchasing intent of their target audience/s. Retailers need to think about shoppers not just about a format as understanding the Consumer Behavior holds the key to such a business. Retailers would have to create new delivery formats that can cater to the huge mass of consumers. Retailers must understand what value shopper is looking for and how the retailers can deliver that desired value to the customer. However, most retailers look for what they are offering and how shoppers can fit into retailer's scheme of offerings. It is also observed that in the changing retailing environment, understanding the psyche of customer is critical to success in retailing. Aggregate level picture may be misleading, as it averages the beats and the valleys. Hence, individual understanding is desirable. Thus the paper focuses on the Understanding the internal and external factors influencing the Consumer buying Behavior in India which can help the marketer to address family sensibilities more rigorously to woo Indian customers.