INTRODUCTION The management of Procter and Gamble stated their business mainly focused on providing the customer the products, which he wanted by having a clear understanding about his preferences [1]. We give more importance to clearly knowing the customer, which helps in designing the right product and marketing strategies. The success of a business organization will be determined by the customer, whom it is serving [2]. All the activities and strategies of the organization will depend on customer. Therefore, understanding the customer is very much required to design a proftable and successful business strategy. The survival of a retail organization largely depends on better serving the customer with the products and services he wants. For this, it is needed to know and understand customer needs better. Hence, the good marketing program should start with a cautious evaluation of customer’s attitudes, habits, motives, preferences, tastes, and needs of the customers. Knowledge of customer preferences and buying motives helps the retail organization to succeed well at the market place as it enables the retailer to satisfy the customers better. Retailers are required to understand the impact of different aspects of customer on purchase decision. The study of consumer buying behavior should start with: ∑ understanding about how the consumers’ needs for different products and services are determined; ∑ understanding how customer searches for the information about the products and services; ∑ understanding how customer evaluates different product offers available in the market; ∑ knowing about the modes of payment the customer prefers; and ∑ knowing the behavior of the customer after the purchase. LITERATURE REVIEW According to Martenson (2007), customers are satisfed when the store is neat and pleasant and when they feel that the store understands their needs. Furthermore, satisfed customers are loyal. Hansen et al. (2011) investigated whether consumer- supermarket satisfaction is infuenced by the composition ANALYZING RETAIL CUSTOMER BUYING PREFERENCES AND PATTERNS: AN EMPIRICAL STUDY WITH REFERENCE TO SPENCER’S RETAIL OUTLET, GUNTUR P. Daniel*, M. S. Narayana**, P. Vijay Kumar*** Abstract: The world of business today is full of competition. The business organizations are required to differentiate themselves in terms of the quality of the product, the quantities they are producing, the cost at which they are producing, making it available to the end user, and, most importantly, analyzing and understanding customer concerns and customized needs and preferences. This requires an organization to continuously analyze the changing preferences and buying motives and behavior to make the customer delighted. In this context, the researcher felt that it is imperative to attempt to know the preferences and buying patterns of retail customer with reference to Spencer’s retail outlet located in Guntur district. Keywords: Retail Customer, Retail Marketing, Customer Preferences, Buying Behavior * Assistant Professor, Department of Management Studies, NIT, Narasaraopet, Andhra Pradesh, India. Email: careerfocusgnt10@gmail.com ** Head, Department of Management Studies, NEC, Narasaraopet, Andhra Pradesh, India. *** Director, School of Management Studies, JNTU, Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh, India. International Journal on Customer Relations 6 (2) 2018, 9-13 http://publishingindia.com/ijcr/