International Journal of Advanced Information Science and Technology (IJAIST) ISSN: 2319:2682

Vol.6, No.2, February 2017 DOI:10.15693/ijaist/2017.v6i2.1-5

Customer preference towards readymade

garments in Pune city: An empirical study
Prof. Harish Naidu
Dr. Mamta Mishra
Department of Management Studies
Department of Management Studies
Sinhgad College of Engineering
Sinhgad College of Engineering
Asst. Professor
Professor and Head

Abstract— Clothes and mood are two inter-related constituents,

II. ORIGIN & SIGNIFICANCE OF THE RESEARCH
affecting the overall personality of an individual.
PROBLEM
India has been ranked as the top retail destination globally for
retail investment attractiveness among 30 emerging markets in There are various National & International brands available in
the world. The Indian retail sector is the second largest market. Students are brand conscious but there are some
untapped market after China. The readymade apparel market is factors which make the students to select the brand, hence the
increasing very rapidly. Hence, the need of hour is to researcher selected the topic to know on what basis students
understand the consumer psyche and proceed accordingly. The select different brands
marketers of readymade apparel need to go through the
observations discussed above and hence, capitalize the vast In today’s era there are various brands for ready-made
opportunities provided by this sector. Factor most influence garments available nationally and internationally. Customers
while purchasing a ready-made garments is price & least is have their own perception while purchasing ready-made
availability. garments. This study will enable in understanding factors
responsible for development of these perceptions.
Key words: Brand, Customers‟ preference, Price,
Readymade Apparel, Retail sector Ready-made garments were among India’s leading export
I. INTRODUCTION sectors during the last financial year (2011-2012) According to
preliminary figures released by the Ministry of Commerce
Clothing is considered to be second skin of the body and shipments of readymade garments, yarns and fabrics rose by
interest in clothing is higher during the whole life. Today, we 18 per cent to Rs. 71,692 crore. Observers expect overall
live in consumer based society where consumer is known as textile and apparel exports for the year to be around Rs.
the king of the market. The behavior of the customer affects 1,56,990 crore, up from Rs. 1,41,291 crore, a year ago. The
the market size, brand name, fashion etc. Clothes or in other Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) report (2012) on
words, a person’s wardrobe isone of the key aspects in Punjab industry shows that the hosiery and ready-made
assessing one’s personality. Clothes and mood are two inter- garments constitute about 31 percent of the total exports from
related constituents ,affecting the overall personality of an Punjab, followed by yarn and textile contributing 23 percent.
individual. The districts of Ludhiana, Gurdaspur and Jalandhar accounts
for around 95 percent of the total exports from Punjab. We see
India has been ranked as the top retail destination globally for that there is no study available on Jalandhar region related to
retail investment attractiveness among 30 emerging markets in apparel industry. Jalandhar is also emerging as key retail
the world. The Indian retail sector is the second largest markets of North India. Present study offers useful marketing
implications for further reference
untapped market after China .Readymade garment is a part of
the textile industry and it accounts for about half of India’s .III. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
textile exports .India’s consumer market for readymade
apparel has become varied by surge of more designer brands.
India is becoming the most preferred destination for  To know the brand preference among students for
outsourcing readymade garments for the international market. ready-made garments.
 To understand the factors on which the brand
According to Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI), preference for ready-made garments is done.
apparels created by Indian designers are going to play a major  To make a comparative analysis for various brands of
role in the growth of the apparel industry in the next few ready-made garments based on opinion of
years. These changes will have far-reaching implications for respondents
designers, manufacturers and retailers targeting the India
apparel market.

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 International Journal of Advanced Information Science and Technology (IJAIST) ISSN: 2319:2682
Vol.6, No.2, February 2017 DOI:10.15693/ijaist/2017.v6i2.1-5

IV. LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY of advertising on their purchase decision. This study
concluded that most of the times buyers visit the showrooms
 This study is limited to graduate and post graduate of branded garments with the purpose of shopping (Jaishri and
students in Pune city only and result may differ if conducted Jethwaney, 1999). The purchasing of branded garments is not
in other regions. Also it measures the consumer preference in impulsive. However, compared to women, male buyers visit
ready-.made garments categories. If the same study is the showroom for passing the time; The number of people
repeated for any other product category the results may vary. visiting the showroom with a brand in mind is same as the
 Evaluation is based on the primary data generated number of people visiting the showroom with no brand in
through questionnaire and accuracy of the findings entirely mind; Advertising has maximum impact in creating brand
depends on the accuracy of such data and unbiased responses awareness (Kamalaveni, 2008).
of the customers.
The Article entitled “The Recipe for the success of
Garment Industry”
V.REVIEW OF LITERATURE Segmentation – Targeting – Poisoning (STP) is an important
strategic tool in business, where in customers are grouped
In paper titled „Customer Preference towards branded together based on some common traits (segmenting), business
coffee shops like Café Coffee day, Amul, Lipton, Nescafe in analysis is done for these segments to identify viable
Institute Campus‟ (2016) by Dr. Mamta Mishra and Rohit segment(s) (targeting) and the firm positions its marketing
Sarsar a study with the objectives to know the preference of offer to appeal to the targeted segment(s) so that the identified
students for coffee shops available on campus and understand segment resonates to the offering (positioning). Because of the
the parameters responsible for the preference of coffee shops, universalization of common production technologies and
the study was carried out. The major finding of this research quality standards, differences in various products and services
states that students had chosen the taste and quality of food as are getting blurred. At the same time, customers are quite
the most prominent reason to choose a coffee shop. demanding and would want their specific needs to be
addressed. Thus, firms will have to configure what customers
Lalitha et al., (2008) made a study entitled "Brand Preference want, rather than being product centric. This trend makes the
of Men’s wear". Scope of the study focuses on the brand customer segments smaller and smaller and poses a challenge
preference regarding shirts and pants of select consumers to make each cluster a viable segment
living in twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad. It is
confined to the customers visiting the select showrooms in In paper titled „A study of consumption pattern towards
Hyderabad and Secunderabad. The objectives of this study selected personal care products in teenagers.‟ by Dr. Mamta
were to know the reason why customers prefer branded shirts Mishra and Anuradha Mahajan the authors make an attempt to
and pants to unbranded ones, to find out the influence of point out that use of personal care products amongst teenagers
advertisement for branded clothing for the purchase behavior is vast area of study as girls and boys tend to use personal
of the respondent and to know the factors influencing care products on daily basis. Advertisements impact them to
customers while choosing branded shirts or pants. It is buy personal care product and also influence their buying
concluded that educational qualifications, employment status, decisions. Teenagers are well aware about the brand, variety
age group, convenience of shops, and advertisement are of products of personal care through television advertisements,
influencing factors for purchasing the branded shirts and pants internet, newspaper etc. The buying decision of teenagers can
by the respondents. 94 percent of the respondents are highly be easily influenced by advertisements or word of mouth.
educated and purchased branded ready wears. Age group of
20-50 years is income earning people and spending on the In paper titled „Understanding consumers‟ online
branded wears. The study reveals that the advertisements play purchasing behaviors in Pune city‟ by Tapan Patel and Dr.
a limited role to choose the brand among readymade dresses Mamta Mishra it was concluded that the Internet, as a retail
available in the market. 54percent of the customers are buying outlet, is moving from its infancy used by only a few to a
branded ready wear because of quality and status symbol market with significant potential. There has been remarkable
growth in Internet sales, but there is evidence which suggest
Ritu Narang (2006) in a study entitled “A Study on Branded that there are many consumers shopping with intent to buy at
Men’s wear”, was taken up in the city of Lucknow with an retail websites who for some reason do not complete the
intention to explore the purchase behavior of the buyers of transaction. Due to the rapid development of the technologies
branded men’s wear. The objectives of this research are to surrounding the Internet, a company that is interested in
study the purchase behavior of the buyers of branded men’s selling products from its web site has constantly to search for
garments, to study the impact of advertising on the purchase an edge in the fierce competition. To attract all four groups of
decision of buyers, to study the impact of promotional consumers to Internet buying, e-tailers will need to tailor
activities on purchase behavior of buyers (Kazmi, specific parts of his or her marketing campaign to meet the
2001;Mathur, 2002). The research type was exploratory as it specific demands and needs of each group. They need to
was conducted to develop a concept about the purchasing understand that just as in brick and mortar retailing the
behavior of buyers of branded men’s garments and the impact

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 International Journal of Advanced Information Science and Technology (IJAIST) ISSN: 2319:2682
Vol.6, No.2, February 2017 DOI:10.15693/ijaist/2017.v6i2.1-5

Brand awareness No. of people

Levi’s 48 . Fashion brands respondents were aware of
Blackberry 18 Large number of respondents shop from the malls (about 49%)
Provogue 22 which means respondents were brand conscious; followed by
Biba 24 38% which shop from the brand outlets which shows a special
Louis Philippe 20 inclination towards brand consciousness. Respondents buying
Van Heusen 28 from local shops indicate they were least concern about brand.
Peter England 30 The awareness for Levi’s brand was highest 48% which means
Others 10 respondent in large no prefer Levi’s brand where awareness
for peter England was 30%.The least awareness was for brand
Internet customer is not a homogeneous group. It represents a Blackberry which means less no of respondent prefer this
variety of individuals with different attitudes and online brand.
shopping intentions. E-tailers need to focus on what the
consumers want in exchange for their money, time, and effort Factor influencing purchasing decision
not only in terms of product and customer service but also
Internet experience. Factors influence purchasing
ready-made garments
VI. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY Cloth type
 Sample Universe:-The response was collected from 18 Brand
25
the universe comprising of UG/PG students from
various Institutes offering graduate and post graduate 16 Colour
courses 15 5 Fashion
21
 Sampling Frame: The sampling frame was the Price
various Institutes at Sinhgad Road and Ambegaon
Avalibility
area

 Sample Size: A proposed sample size of 200 Frequency of purchasing ready-made garments
respondents was selected randomly to be the
respondents
Frequency of Purchase
 Sources of Data collection:

Primary Data: The primary data was collected through a

structured questionnaire with questions relevant to the Rarely
objective of research and printed or typed in a definite order
Occasionaly
on the form or sets of forms.
Frequently
Secondary Data: The secondary data had been collected from
various magazines and journals. 0 10 20 30 40 50 60

.V11. DATA ANALYSIS No. of people

Respondents preferred to shop from

Respondents shopping Factors which influenced the most while purchasing a ready-
made garments was price 25% which means respondents were
from mostly concern about price. Followed by 21% respondent who
Branded
were influenced by brands showing their concern about
outlets
1%
12% Malls brands. 18% were trend and fashion concerned followed by
38% colour (16%), and cloth type (15%). A negligible number was
49% Local shops least concerned about availability. It can be interpreted that
usually students are not concerned about the brand as well as

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 International Journal of Advanced Information Science and Technology (IJAIST) ISSN: 2319:2682
Vol.6, No.2, February 2017 DOI:10.15693/ijaist/2017.v6i2.1-5

availability of it. They go for those garments which they can way. It seems that the marketing strategies of both
afford and is in trend. these companies are framed after due consideration of
Frequency of purchasing clothes by respondents frequently purchase attributes of their prospective customers.
was lowest with 15% which means respondents don’t shop  The marketers of readymade apparel need to go
regularly. Occasionally purchase of clothes was 54% which through the observations discussed above and hence,
mean respondents shop occasionally on festivals & on special capitalize the vast opportunities provided by this
events. sector.
It was also observed and interpreted that 85 took their own  The most preferred media is TV & least preferred is
decision while purchasing which meant that reference groups news paper as far as readymade garments are
had least influential role in making purchase decisions. 58 considered as product.
respondents were influenced by advertisements while making  Factor most influence while purchasing a ready-made
purchase which meant promotion mix had a considerable garments is price and quality & least is availability.
impact on purchase decision of respondents. 36 respondents  Most preferred brand of denim is Lee Cooper while
were influenced by their friends and 21 by family members least preferred is Lee
while purchasing but it were those who had developed an
image as opinion leaders. X. SUGGESTIONS

VIII. CHI-SQUARE TEST A comparative study on branded and non-branded apparel may
be attempted. The respondents were selected from the urban
Relationship between gender and purchase of ready-made area of Pune only. It would be beneficial to extend the study
garments. to rural area of Pune and also select another research area.

H0:Gender factor will not effect on the purchasing Gender Yes No Total
H1:Gender factor will effect on the purchasing
Male 40 60 100
Female 55 45 100

o E (O-E)2 (O-E)2/E Total 95 105 200

40 47.5 15 0.315
XI. REFERENCES
55 52.5 6.25 0.119
Books
60 47.5 156.25 3.289
1. Jha Mithileshwar, Koshy Abraham, Keller Kevin
45 52.5 15 0.285
Lane, Kotler Philip, “Marketing Management”, 13th
E 4.008 edition, 2008, Pearson Education, Delhi
2. Dr. Karunakaran K, “Marketing Management”, 2010
ed ition, Himalaya Publishing House, Delhi
X2=∑(O-E)2 / E=4.008 3. Kothari C.R. “Research Methodology” 2nd edition,
Number of degree of freedom reprint 2008,New Age International(P)Limited
Ndf = (row-1) (column -1) Publishers, New Delhi
= (2-1) (2-1) 4. Parvatitay Atul, Shainesh G, Sheth N Jagdish
V= 1 “Customer Relationship Management- Emerging
Table value of X2 at 5% level of significant=3.84 concepts tools and applications”, 12th edition, reprint
Thus calculated value is greater than the tabulated value of X 2009, Tata McGraw Hill Education Private Ltd, N.
at 5% level of significance at V=1 , so the null hypothesis is Delhi
rejected. Hence there is a significant relationship between 5. Peeru Mohamed H, Sagadevan A “CRM- A Step by
gender and purchase of ready-made garments. Step Approach”, first published 2002, Vikas
Publishing House Private Ltd, N. Delhi
IX.CONCLUSION
Journal
 The readymade apparel market is increasing very
rapidly. Hence, the need of hour for manufacturer and 1. Efthymios Constantinides, " Influencing the online
marketer is to understand the consumer psyche and consumer's behaviour: the Web experience" Volume
proceed accordingly. 14, Emerald Group Publishing Limited · ISSN 1066-
 The companies like Levi’s and Peter England have 2243, 2004
been able to establish brand connect in meaningful

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 International Journal of Advanced Information Science and Technology (IJAIST) ISSN: 2319:2682
Vol.6, No.2, February 2017 DOI:10.15693/ijaist/2017.v6i2.1-5

2. Li, Na and Zhang, Ping, "Consumer online shopping

attitudes and behavior: an assessment of research" Harish Naidu M.B.A. in HR & Marketing
Paper 74AMCIS 2002 Proceedings. .(2002). from Institute of Business Management &
3. David R. Bell & James M. Lattin “Shopping Research Chinchwad. Savitri Bai Phule
Behaviour and Consumer Preference for Store Price Pune University, Pune, India, in
Format” February 1998 2002.Currently working in Sinhgad
4. Zafar U. Ahmed, Morry Ghingold, "Consumer College of Engineering, Department of
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Asia‐Pacific perspective" January 2003 Resources.
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Behaviors in Pune City, Journal for Research,
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Authors Profile
Dr.Mamta Mishra M.Sc. (Chem),
M.B.A.( Mktg.), Ph.D from Sant. Ghadge
Baba Amravati University, India,
Currently working in Sinhgad College of
Engineering, Department of Management
Studies. Her research interest includes
Marketing & Corporate Social
Responsibility..