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By working through the case and assignment questions, students will be able to conduct a marketing environmental analysis to aid strategic decisions; analyse the first-mover advantages of a retail firm and how these can be sustained; comprehend online retail business models and the challenges therein; understand the trade-offs of online/offline retail experiences specific to an emerging market’s beauty and personal care sector; conceptualize and formulate actionable growth strategies that balance the individual and collective requirements of brick and mortar and retail e-commerce environments.

The case is set in 2022, right after Nykaa – the pioneer of beauty and wellness e-commerce platforms in India makes a blockbuster stock market debut in 2021. Starting in 2012 with a disruptive online model for selling beauty and wellness products online in India, Nykaa had come a long way with expansions in physical retail and other segments such as fashion. The firm, which initially aimed to be a virtual store, is now thinking of aggressively expanding in the brick-and-mortar retail space as it opens its 85th retail outlet.

Falguni S. Nayar, founder and CEO of Nykaa, wanted to roll out 300 physical stores targeting 100 cities in India in the next couple of years. She aspired to establish Nykaa as a category leader as the “Indian Sephora” in the beauty and personal care market. Nykaa’s first-mover advantage in the online beauty and personal care marketplace worked well to establish it as a brand with positive endorsements by digital shoppers that enhanced the investment potential with potential financiers. However, the pandemic had brought every physical retailer to the online platform. Most e-commerce platforms dealing in grocery to lifestyle had added personal care products to their existing merchandise.

Additionally, several start-ups had ventured into the online marketplace. Online was a cluttered marketplace with little to no differentiation. In this bloodbath, would the first-mover advantage for Nykaa in the online space still count as a competitive advantage? Nayar was all set to expand Nykaa’s physical presence aggressively. The concern was that the beauty and personal care segment had also moved online as a function of long stay-at-home periods. In the post-pandemic times, would the customer indeed revert to brick and mortar once again? Nykaa was also into product formulations, but so was every big and small player in the space. What was the differentiated winning formula for the consumer’s heart and mind?

The case can be effectively used in foundation courses in marketing and a wide range of specialized courses on marketing management (core/foundation course), retail marketing and e-commerce/digital marketing and e-commerce for B-school learners. The complex decision points faced by an innovative e-commerce start-up firm on its road to market expansion make the case suitable for niche courses such as Marketing for Start-ups. Moreover, learners in executive MBA programs with considerable experience can benefit from the case analysis that balances a growing retail company’s long- and short-run objectives.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 8: Marketing.

Teaching Note and Exhibits.

The learning outcomes are as follows. The case offers a rare opportunity to understand the unique market dynamics of feminine health and hygiene products in an emerging market. The discussion would enable learners to comprehend different stages of “new product development process”; understand “diffusion of innovation” and consumer adoption process; conduct a comprehensive situation analysis to assess segment attractiveness; and plan market-driven “product commercialization” strategies to increase adoption and sales for long-term performance.

Peebuddy – “India’s first portable female urination device” that gave women the freedom to stand and pee in unfriendly toilets was launched in 2015. Over two million units were sold by December 2019. Riding on this success, Deep Bajaj – the creator of Peebuddy built a 20-product company from a small bootstrapped start-up, over a four-year period. After receiving two rounds of funding, Bajaj knew that for the next phase of expansion, he needed to showcase Peebuddy as the star product. Facing the challenge of getting over the chasm of limited adoption of an unconventional product in the intimate feminine hygiene and almost taboo space in an emerging market such as India, Bajaj was determined to retain the first mover advantage and emerge as the leader in the category. For this, he had to define his lead user distinctly and design appropriate strategies to increase consumer reach and sales that could overcome the challenges of cultural stereotypes.

MBA-level courses in marketing management (core), consumer behavior and product management.

CSS 8: Marketing.

This paper attempts to explore and identify the growing segments of online buyers of premium brands in the context of the post-pandemic market in India. The multi-dimensional trait of fashion orientation has been used as the psychographic construct for segmenting young urban consumers who shop on e-commerce platforms.

An online study across major cities resulted in a sample of 555 urban consumers of premium apparel and accessories brands. Hierarchical, two-step and k-means cluster analysis were conducted to identify diverse consumer segments and arrive at a demographic and usage-based profiling of the clusters. Furthermore, one-way analysis of variance was conducted to assess the key drivers for an online purchase among the obtained segments.

The pioneering use of fashion orientation as a base for segmentation helped identify three distinct clusters of socially conscious fashionistas, fashion involved and fashion indifferent buyers. The study identified significant differences in the demographic composition as well as their usage patterns and purchase motivations to shop online.

The study looks at an extremely important but neglected category of premium brands. The distinct clusters of premium brand buyers highlighted by the study adds theoretical value as well as managerial insights for the premium brand marketer as they seek to target consumers in Asian economies.

This exploratory study aims to examine the prevalent triggers that motivate a premium brand purchase in an online vs offline retail format.

A binary logit analysis is used to build a predictive model to assess the likelihood of the premium brand consumer seeking an online or an offline platform. Demographic and usage-based profile of the two set of consumers is established through a chi-square analysis.

Three hundred and forty six urban consumers of premium branded apparels residing in two Indian Metros were studied. A predictive model with 89.6% accuracy was validated for distinguishing premium brand buyers who shop at brick-and-mortar store or online platforms. Quality and finish were factors sought by the online buyer, whereas autotelic need, pleasurable shopping experience and social approval were important triggers for an in-store purchase.

The study posits divergent demographics and motivational drivers that led to an online vs offline purchase. Though interesting and directional, the study results need to be examined across geographies and categories for establishing the generalizability of the findings.

The study findings indicate that premium brand manufacturers can devise an omni-channel strategy that is largely tilted toward the online platform, as the quality conscious and brand aware consumer is confident and thus open to an online purchase. The implication for the physical outlet on the other hand is to ensure exclusive store atmospherics and knowledgeable but non-intrusive sales personnel.

The study is unique as it successfully builds a predictive model to forecast online vs offline purchase decisions among urban millennials.

This study aims to explore the effect of eco-labels on green product purchase intention among consumers of electrical/electronic products in an emerging market context.

This study adopted an extended theory of planned behaviour to assess the effects of eco-labels. To measure the key constructs, scales pertaining to the relevant literature were used to design a structured questionnaire for empirical examination. A final data set of 680 consumers was analysed using structured equation modelling.

The results indicate that eco-labels significantly impact perceived behavioural control, attitude, subjective norms and consumers’ willingness to pay higher prices for environmentally friendly green products.

The findings not only complement research on green consumerism but also serve as an important direction for socially responsible marketers who aim to play an important role in propagating pro-social consumption among emerging cohorts of consumers. The importance of eco-labelling as an effective marketing tool is highlighted, with valuable insights for future research and practices pertaining to emerging consumer markets.

This study fills a void in contemporary research by examining consumers of electrical/electronic products that typically involve long-term usage, with potentially greater environmental footprints.

The case offers a unique opportunity to understand the market dynamics of a young luxury brand that aspires to empower women and pursue the broader goal of marketing sustainability in an emerging market. The discussion would enable learners to conduct environmental analysis and assess implications of crisis (current pandemic) on business, understand the marketing mix implications for a firm with societal orientation, learn to design effective brand positioning strategies and plan social and market driven brand strategies to ensure sustainable growth.

Gauri Malik, an investment banker-turned-social entrepreneur, forayed into the luxury home décor and furniture market with Sirohi, in 2019. In a market driven by exclusivity and design appeal, the brand had sustainability at its core. Malik worked with 200 women, from a conservative rural base in India to create traditional products that were hand-made with recycled natural fibres and upcycled plastic wastes. Driven by the goal of securing the livelihood for a larger group of women artisans, Malik wanted to scale up from 350 to 5000 products in the next five years. Hence, for materializing her ambitious plans she sought answers to- Could her home-trained women artisans deliver the promise of quality and finesse to support Sirohi scale up as a luxury brand? While it was extremely critical for Sirohi to have an articulated image-she wondered if the parallel focus on the up-market luxury brand image and sustainability-create competitive advantage or lead to diffused positioning?

Classified as MODERATE in terms of difficulty level, the case can be effectively used in post-graduate programmes for foundation courses on Marketing Management, elective courses on Brand Management or Sustainability Marketing.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 8: Marketing.

The subject area is strategy and business.

The case can be used for MBA students. This is equally effective in short courses meant for low-to-mid-level working executives. The case is suited for classes in strategy, general marketing, media management and family business courses.

Dainik Jagran – a vernacular daily – is the most read newspaper in India. Under the banner of Jagran Prakashan Ltd.; which is one of the leading media houses in India, the success of Dainik Jagran has been an outcome of the strategic marketing decisions taken by its founder and his successors in the post-independence era. With extensive circulation, it created a large readership base and took bold decisions to launch multi editions to its daily through a series of acquisitions, mergers and consolidations from 1975 to 2010, enabling it to step into product diversification. Readership surveys, investments in technology, advertising, regular branding events and smart phone applications are a few tools that helped. While the group has diversified into other industries, there is an underlying anxiety about the future prospects of its newspaper business. With the onslaught of online news dailies, will Dainik Jagran be able to expand and maintain its readership base using its previous business and marketing strategies? Or is it time to change strategies for businesses in the newspaper and allied media industry in India?

The study has the following outcomes: application of value chain concept in businesses serving two-sided markets; application of environmental analysis, Porter’s five forces analysis and related strategy concepts; and learning to critically approach and develop a sustainable growth strategy framework for a successful family-run newspaper business in India.

Teaching notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email support@emeraldinsight.com to request teaching notes.

CSS 11: Strategy.

The purpose of this paper is to obtain a market-oriented approach to segment individual investors in terms of their attitudes and behaviour towards investment. It also attempts to understand the impact of certain demographic variables like gender, age and education on the behaviour of individual investors in the emerging urban Indian market.

A structured questionnaire was used to obtain a total of 340 valid responses which were collected from March 2016 to August 2016. Factor analysis was used to explore the components. Based on these components, cluster analysis was used to identify different subgroups. Statistical techniques, namely, t-test, analysis of variance and Fisher’s least significant difference test were used to examine the impact of demographic variables.

Factor analysis displayed five components, namely, interest in financial matters, anxiety for money, logical decisions, concern for future and spending tendency. Cluster analysis indicates that individuals can be divided into five clusters based on these components. It further substantiates that gender and education have a significant association with each subgroup.

Individual investor segments that were identified and profiled may provide an opportunity for advisors, financial analysts, organisations and investors to improve investment decision making. In this way, financial service firms can identify and provide services based on group-specific needs.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first of its kind to segment Indian investors into different homogeneous groups based on their attitude and behaviour towards financial matters.

The purpose of this paper is to explore store choice behaviour of Indian apparel shoppers and analyses the factors influencing their choice of retail formats from an emerging market perspective.

The research draws on a data set of 336 structured questionnaires with adult urban Indian respondents to understand their perceptions about organised and unorganised apparel store formats. The exploratory study uses a comprehensive list of demographics, shopping situations and format stimuli parameters along with two established psychographic scales to assess the extent of their effect on the store choice of apparel shoppers.

Factor analysis revealed five well defined store attributes influencing the apparel shoppers’ decision. The growing market for organised retail with a preference for multi brand stores is highlighted. The study establishes that the shoppers’ perception of single-brand stores is still going through a formative phase. Further at the micro level of the decision process, significant differences are established by a number of variables.

The paper explores the store choice behaviour from a wider perspective that may be useful for future research on developing integrated store format choice models. However, the data used herein relates to a cross-section of shoppers in urban India due to the feasibility and convenience of studying relatively organised retail forms and structure of retail in an emerging market environment.

The paper attempts to enumerate befitting analyses of factors that influence the store choice behaviour of apparel shoppers by using apt format classifications that are specific to the emerging retail market scenario in India.

The study aims to explore the evolving status of children as active consumers in the emerging Indian market by assessing their impact on family buying practices across distinct parental clusters.

The study uses a structured questionnaire to draw a quota sample of 136 urban Indian parents across four child segments from two Indian metropolitan cities to understand their attitudes towards parenting and the consequent empowerment of their children for actively participating in family purchase decisions around varied children’s product categories.

Exploratory factor analysis reveals five well-defined parental attitudes towards child rearing. The attitudinal factors are used to define three discrete parental clusters, namely, time-pressed parents, child-centric parents and socially influenced parents. The demographic and psychographic profiles of the clusters expose the significant influence of the educated and affluent parents in empowering their children as more active influencers/consumers. The role of children as independent buyers of eatables and toys over other categories is also re-established.

The diversity of Indian parents both in terms of their family structure and attitude towards parenting significantly deliver decisive signals for market-specific segmentation strategies. The uniformity in their shopping frequency and increasing child involvement in family purchases also highlight the opportunities ahead.

Empirical evidences on the growing role of children in family purchases and their transformation into active consumer in an evolving market adds to the existing under-represented family consumption literature with more market-specific insights.