Analysis of the Strategies for Impulsive Buying In The Competition Market

ANALYSIS OF THE STRATEGIES FOR IMPULSIVE BUYING IN THE COMPETITION MARKET

INTRODUCTION

The concept of buying and selling constitutes various kinds of concepts, one of which is Impulsive buying. It means an unplanned decision just made before the purchase of any product. It is not confined to a specific kind of category of products, instead can be done with any kind of product. Impulse buying will go a long way toward increasing purchasing costs and consumer lifetime satisfaction. Impulse purchases are one of the ways that stores can increase sales and remain competitive as more of our buying preferences are influenced by the eCommerce experience. Furthermore, these kinds of strategies will assist in attracting more spontaneous sales of the goods.

Generally, this kind of purchasing can be seen in the products such as chocolates, clothes, mobile phones, and in costly items such as cars, jewelry, and other luxury items, etc. Having an unplanned purchase or any kind of a purchase that is done due to impulsive behavior is referred to as impulsive buying. It is founded on irrational reasoning. Marketers attempt to capitalize on this buyer behavior to increase profits. The shop owners tend to use different types of strategies to promote Impulsive buying among the consumers. It helps to boost the sales and gain high profits and better growth of the business. Different strategies such as the proper language used in the products, correct placement of the items, classifying customers’ needs, showcasing considerable and low-cost products, showcasing seasonal products, etc.

“The remarkable growth of the Indian retail landscape over the last decade is reflected in the proliferation of supermarkets, departmental stores, and hypermarkets in India. Evolving consumption patterns, rising living standards have sparked a huge demand in food and grocery retailing. Impulse buying is a time-tested tactic by which retailers grab customer’s attention and boost average purchase value. Prior research has deliberated extensively on impulse buying in the store and its determinants. However, little effort has been made to examine impulse buying behavior, particularly at the retail checkout. To bridge this gap, we conducted an empirical study in the leading food and grocery modern retail stores in selected Tier I and Tier II cities in the state of Karnataka, India. The data was collected from 385 respondents using a structured questionnaire.”

All impulse purchases are driven by emotions and sensations. None of them have anything to do with rational decision-making and planning. This is something that marketers are well aware of. They study and make use of human psychology, particularly our feelings. “Sports enthusiasts may feel compelled to purchase something because it features their country's flag. When their country's team is competing in a major international tournament, the desire to buy is especially great. Hundreds of objects around the world, for example, miraculously have the national flag painted or printed on them during the FIFA World Cup football (soccer) tournament. The sight of your country's flag instills pride in you. Passion is a powerful emotion, and strong emotions cause people to buy things they don't need.” The responses were analyzed using confirmatory factor analysis and multiple regression.

The study shows that impulse buying at the store checkout area is minimal and sporadic for most of the product categories at the checkout. “Impulse buying at the checkout is instigated by factors such as store environment, credit card availability, momentary mood, in-store promotion, offers and discounts, and large merchandise. The study has important implications for retail stores by emphasizing the choice of merchandise offered for sale at the checkout area. Further, the investigation reveals that Indian shoppers are health-conscious and cautious about their purchase at the checkout rather than being impulsive.”

Impulsive behavior is the type of impulse that the consumer feels while buying any product. The types of the impulsive buying are such as-

 Pure Impulse Purchase: These types of products contains the products such as magazines, chocolates, soft toys, handicraft, etc. These are placed near the checkout area to attract the impulse of the consumer towards the product and let the consumer have a look at it all of a sudden. A consumer purchases these types of products in very emotional behavior.

 Suggestion Impulse Purchase- These products are related to the type of the need of the product that the consumer wants to purchase such as gym essentials. The consumer in this type of purchase does not purchase in the emotional behavior rather he purchases it for a need or a reason. An example of the essential could be a protein bar that a person could buy as it is a need for a gym diet.

RECOMMENDATIONS

The recommendations related to the impulsive buying of the consumer are such as-

 They should create a pathway that leads the consumer towards the product so that they could focus on buying the product rather than wasting time finding the product, to do this they should place boards for the information that can be accessed by the consumers.

 To place right cheap products near the checkout area increases the sales which in return promotes impulsive buying.

 Using appropriate language to give a better understanding of the product and thereby providing better information to the consumer.

 Providing samples to the customers so that they can have a better understanding of the product and they could purchase the product with trust and security.

 Showcasing some seasonal products to make better profits in the season and also giving a boost to the seasonal product's sales.

 Training the staff to promote impulsive buying, the staff could encourage the consumers and provide them with extra information about the product, this not only promotes better sales but also creates a better bonding between the staff and the consumers creating a good consumer relationship.

These recommendations can be performed by the owners to promote their sales and have a better amount of profits.

 Reminder Impulse Purchase- This purchase isn’t related to emotion or need, rather it is based on stock. A person just for the sake of buying the product purchases the product.

 Planned Impulse Purchase- The so-called planned impulsive purchase is the fourth form of impulse purchase. This type of purchase is frequently prompted by a low price or a special offer. And, once again, the buyer purchases something he does not require or purchases more than he requires.

The consumer concerning India has a changed perspective now, in terms of purchase the consumers have a very liberal point of view and they are ready to buy products at very competitive pricing. “Positive changes in the domains of the economy and rising upper-middle class (in India) have had a bearing on the consumer who is more playful than ever. Consumer in India is now tasting abundance in resources as well as choices, and as a result, consumption is the new language of expressions that one is learning and this has led to shedding of many inhibitions that were earlier holding her back from exercising her ‘free will’ in the scenario of buying. Therefore, this destabilized sense of formality is making him/her more prone to impulse buying and the consumption paradigm is increasingly becoming ‘why not’ instead of ‘why’.” Consumers always tend to achieve more value from the goods they purchase.

CONCLUSION

About India, the consumer's attitude has shifted; in terms of purchasing, customers today have a more liberal mindset and are willing to buy items at extremely low prices. It mainly depends on the consumer and the willingness to buy a good, therefore impulsive buying can be used as a major effective tool in the market for sales.

AUTHOR: TANISHQ BISEN