H.S.S.KhanK.B.Ramappa2016-08-092016-08-092007http://krishikosh.egranth.ac.in/handle/1/71752Globally, retailing is a big business. It is one of the largest industries in India and second largest employer after agriculture. The share of organized retail is more in developed countries but bulk of this business is unorganized (97%) in India. In recent times, retail sector has been growing rapidly with the multitude of factors viz., increasing sophistication, modernization of the life-style of households and increasing globalization of trade. Hence, an effort was made in the state to study the entire business aspects of organized food retailing particularly in supermarkets using both primary and secondary data collected from various sources. The study found that majority of the organized supermarkets existing and operating only in big cities with multi outlets operating under the single management and accounts for huge costs and turnover. The centralized purchasing pattern was followed in most of the organized supermarkets whereas store level purchasing was noticed in un-organized retailing. The purchase frequency was found to be more in fruits and vegetables but the cost/quintal was highest in chilli and least in rice. The quantity procured and their unit costs were found high in Bangalore alone due to higher average size of the supermarkets and turnover. Short-time period inventories were observed in all supermarkets. Higher percent of value addition was noticed in mustard (27.68%) among groceries, and tomato (49.21%) in fruits and vegetables. At an overall, all supermarkets in the state followed absorption cost pricing and market pricing methods by attaching significance importance to the quality and nature of products. Non-availability of trained employees and demand for credit and bargains from the customers were the key problems among different variables considered. Finally, the primefactors influencing consumers to go for purchase at supermarkets were grouped in three clusters such as accessibility and product oriented, influencing, and product promotion factors.Thesis