INTRODUCTION

Customer satisfaction is a marketing term that measures how products or services supplied by
a company meet for customer’s expectation. Customer satisfaction is important because it
provides marketers and business owners that they can use to manage and improve their
business.

Customer satisfaction is defined as ‘the number of customers, or percentage of total

customers, whose reported experience with a firm, its product, or its services exceeds
specified satisfaction goals. In a competitive marketplace where business competes for
customers, customer satisfaction is seen as a key differentiator and increasingly has become a
key element of business strategy. Customer satisfaction is an ambiguous and abstract concept
and the actual manifestation of the state of satisfaction will vary from person to person and
product to product or service to service. The level of satisfaction can also vary depending on
other options the customer can compare the organization product.

Customer Satisfaction Model

The customer satisfaction model from N. Kano is a quality management and marketing
technique that can be used for measuring client happiness. Kano’s model of customer
satisfaction distinguishes six categories of quality attribute, from which the first three actually
influence customer satisfaction.
The explanation to the model is:-
 Basic factors: - Basic factors establish a market entry “threshold”.
 Excitement factors (Satisfiers attractive):- The factor that increase customer
satisfaction if delivered but do not cause dissatisfaction if they are not delivered.
 Performance factors:-The performance that cause satisfaction if the performance is
high, and they cause dissatisfaction if the performance is low.
 Indifferent attributes:- The customer does not care about this feature.
 Questionable attributes:- It is unclear whether this attribute is expected by the
customer .
 Reverse attribute.

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Steps in buying process
There are five steps in buying process which helps in buying goods and services. In need
recognition there are four further types that are need recognition, information search (which
helps in searching the information about product), evaluation and intention, purchase decision
and the last one is post purchase reaction. These steps are explained as follows:-

 Need recognition:-This is often identified as the first and most important step in the
customer’s decision process. A purchase cannot take place without the recognition of
the need. The need may have been triggered by internal stimuli (such as hunger or
thrust) or external stimuli (such as advertising or word of mouth) .
 Information search:- Having recognized a problem or need, the next step a customer
may take in the information search stage, in order to find out what they feel un the
best solution. This is buyer’s effort to search internal and external business
environment in order to identify and evaluates information sources related to the
central buying decision. Your customer may rely on print and visual online media or
word of mouth of obtaining information.
 Evaluation of alternatives:- As you might except, consumers will evaluate
different products or brands at this stage on the basis of alternative product attributes
– those which have the availability to deliver the benefits the customer is seeking . A
factor that heavily influences this stage is the customer’s attitude. Involment is
another factor that influences the evaluation process. For example – if the customer’s
attitude is positive and involvement is high then they will evaluate a number of
companies or brands, but if it is low, only one company or brand will be evaluated.
 Purchase decision – The penultimate stage is where the purchase takes place Philip
kotler (2009) states that the final purchase decision may be disrupted by two factors-
customer and the level of motivation to accept the feedback , he will then be bound to
change his preference . Furthermore, the decision may be disrupted due to unforeseen
situations such as a sudden job loss or relocation.
 Post-purchase decision- In brief, customers will compare products with their
previous expectations and will be either satisfied or dissatisfied. Therefore, these
stages are critical in retaining customers. This can greatly affect the decision process
for similar purchases from the same company in the future, having a knock –on effect
at the information research stage and evaluation of alternative stage. If the customer is
satisfied, this will result in brand loyalty. Companies should be very careful to create

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 positive post- purchase communication, in order to engage customers and make the
process as efficient as possible.
Measures of Customer Satisfaction
1. Speed of service
2. Quality of service
3. Pricing issues complaints
4. Complaints
5. Attribution satisfaction
6. Customer loyalty
7. Intention to repurchase
8. Employee’s happiness

1. Speed of service:-
Depending upon the kind of service or product you provide, support rates vary .The
overall response time for delivering support for instance usually lies within 24hrs of
receiving question/complaints.
The customer could have experiences services in 3 stages:-
 Before purchase
 During purchase /use
 After purchase
2. Pricing issues:-
This one is pretty basic, give your customers room to express how they feel about
pricing. Not only the total cost of your product or service, but also valued for money
and how they see this compared to the market price.
3. Quality of service:-
Following the speed of service, it’s as least as important to discover how high your
customers rate the quality of your delivered service.
4. Complaint:-
The person should always evaluate complaints thoroughly. Take time to look into
unsolicited feedback that you can find online in reviews. Make sure you contact users
who have taken their time to describe a specific issue or complaint.

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 5. Customer loyalty:-
If there’s one good starting point for insights into customer loyalty. The behavior of
returning customers and new customer’s proving you with good reviews is your first
insight into their loyalty.
6. Intention to re-purchase:-
Together with customer loyalty, the intent to re-purchase a product or service is an
indication of customer satisfaction. A simple question to include this into your
customer satisfaction metrics “Do you intend to repurchase the product or service
within the next month when you need it?”

Factors influencing customer satisfaction

The factors that influences the customers satisfaction can be divided into 2 broad categories,
there are human and product related factors:

Factors affecting customer satisfaction

(A)HUMAN FACTORS (B) PRODUCT FACTORS
 Response  Performance
 Service  Efficiency
 Commitment adherence  Technology
 Complaint management system  Maintenance requirement
 Customer importance  Life –span
 Attitude  Appearance
 Quality
 Customer friendly features

Factors affecting consumer satisfaction online tickets

 Promotion
Promotion is a form of cooperate communication that uses various methods to reach a
targeted audience with certain message in order to achieve specific organization
object. It will depend on services and product price offers, distribution system and
promotional programmed. here, services of the telecommunication organizations that
satisfy consumers require crucial decisions as ; the features and the introduction of
new service products , service product life cycle , modification or deletion of existing
and unprofitable services products of the life span of a service product.

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 Relationship between promotion and customer satisfaction
A great way to build customer satisfaction through marketing is to promotion,
company need to give away few things. Product or service promotions are a great way
to build relationships with customers because everyone finds out to find a good deal.
Use the holidays to run the some product promotions are most people have the day off
and they will spend time in your store if company offers them something valuable.
Many researchers have hinted a feeling – based route through which promotions may
impact customers satisfaction
 Service quality
Quality is an exclusive and indistinct construct. Often mistaken for imprecise
adjective like “goddess” or “luxury”, quality and its requirements are not easily
articulated by customers. Many researchers have recognized and need to develop
measures of service quality. One of the most often used measures is the SERVQUAL
based in extensive I service quality.
 Relationship between service quality and consumer satisfaction
When a customer recognizes quality, it is reflected in customer satisfaction. In the
web environment, the web (user interface) can be regarded as a service and user as
customer. They borrows, or surf the internet, access and share information interact
with other over the internet, other product or trade stock and obtain entertainment.
The quality of this service plays a greater role than the quality of service to customer
in other sector as hospitals and hotels or the customer service of a bookstore.
 Relationship between customers experience and satisfaction
The customer’s satisfaction or dissatisfaction is consequences of consumption or
service experiences. The process of consumer behaviour describes the basic step that
an ultimate consumer goes through in satisfying what customer want in the market
which is a problem. Customer satisfaction based on experiences in the interpretation
of the exchange relationship is the marketplace.
 Customer experience
Customer experience is the sum of all experiences of customer has with marketer of
goods and services, over the duration of the relationship with their marketer. It can
also be used to mean an individual experience over one transaction. Providing a
unique customer experience is the key to winning the hearts and minds of consumers

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 in the new millennium. In fact the experiences become a key element of the overall
product being purchased and consumed
 Brand
Brand satisfaction can be defined as outcome of the subjective evaluation that the
chosen alternative (the brands) meets or exceeds the expectations. This definition is in
line with the may be definition of satisfaction based on the disconfirmation paradigm.
Branding today is the formal introduction of the company, what is stand for, and the
product it provides the customer. It defines the company and gives the specific value
to ring the company to the market.
 Relationship between brand and consumer satisfaction
Brand affects how a company is remembered, and how customer describes the
company to other. Brand building takes consistency and commitment the desired
message to the consumer there are theories that recognize brands as being anchored in
consumer awareness intangible assets of the companies or as a theoretical construct,
which is functionally depend on brand management.

Ways of enhancing customer satisfaction

 Conduct regular research:- Regular research is a must to keep track of the changing
levels of customer satisfaction. It is market research that gives excellent dues to the
firm about what they present & prospective customers think of marketer’s product,
product competition. Regular researches enable the marketer’s to keep at best of
changing consumer levels.
 Customer feedback:-Most of the companies are endowing their customers to give
feedback and using this data as the means of maintains their contact and dialogue. The
feedback forms are sent to the customers asking relevant questions as to product /
what, the quality of service rendered and so on. Once the feedback is analyzed, it
helps in framing marketing strategies.
 Create distribution equity:- Many marketer’s have realized thatwith greater
availability of goods which are close substitutes to competiting brands, having good
distribution supply chain can actually prove to be a differentiating factor in deciding
customer value satisfaction. Strong distribution equity will determine the customer
satisfaction in the long run.
 Plan consumer benefitting promotions:-. Sales promotion modes will help a lot.
Since we too are to please customers, consumer promotions play a significant role.

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 The promotion that deliver value to customer will help in building customer support
and hence, satisfaction. The promotion matches the needs of different types of
customers. This serves the two purposes of communication and the introduction of the
new product
 Develop customer satisfaction oriented culture:-Every organization should strive to
make customer satisfaction its work culture. Development of such a culture should
percolate from the top management through its initiative, thinking, direction and
action. In fact, system ate to organization what habits are human beings
 Effective complaint management:-In spite of best efforts of the supplier in ensuring
that he supplies quality goods and services and puts the customer on top of his priority
list, he may frustrate the customer by not coming up to his expectations, resulting in
complaints. Good complaint management system is one in which is single-windowed
system. It adds value to the image of the company.

Sources of customer dissatisfaction

Every organization wants that its class of customers is to be one which is satisfied. That is,
customer expectations are marketed by product and service quality. However, it is important
to know as to why the customer dissatisfaction prevails. These situations of ambiguity occur
in different ways. These can be:

 Lack of experience:-Thus, when a customer is going in for CD writer, he may not be

having exact picture in mind as to what to expect. This happens because it is his first
experience or encounter in buying CD writer.
 The product in question may be new or an innovation:-The customer may be
marketing for the first time on online say online banking or undergoing laser eye-surgery.
 Variation in quality of service:- In case of tailors all don’t cut and stitch the same style
or way nor the same tailor performs the same way at different times.
 Absence of service while making purchase-decision:-For instance while placing orders
over the telephone for in home teleshopping, the service may not be physically present.
 Expectation built-up due to comparison:-It is unusual that a product is judged in
comparison with some standard or criteria.

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Customers expectations for purchase of online tickets
 Low expectation= more and better reviews post- sales= increased no. of bookings
When your customer have a lower expectation for your tour, they are more likely to
feel highly satisfied after it is complete, it is easier to exceed customers. This can help
you to get reviews, as customers will be surprisingly pleased by the experience.
However, you don’t want to sit expectation to low for your customers, because they
may not feel compelled to initially book your tours, you want to set the right tone of
excitement for the tour, without promising an experience that you cannot deliver.
 Exceedingly high expectations=bad reviews ,no referrals=decreased no of bookings
Make sure you can make good on your promise. If you set your customers
expectations high,you need to be prepared to meet or exceed them. If they leave
feeling like they did not get what they were promised, they are more likely to leave
bad reviews and will not be referring your site to others.
 Meeting desired expectations=happy customers more referrals=increase number of
bookings
This is the best approach to the best expectations and satisfaction theory of service
providers provide your customers with a realistic yet exciting expectation your
customers satisfaction levels will increase, and you will receive raving reviews as
well as plenty of referrals. By being honest and accurate about your service,
customers will trust you to provide them with an experience they won’t soon forget.
These descriptions play a vital role in attracting customers and convincing them to
book the tickets with you

Reasons why customer prefer to book tickets online

1. Always available, anywhere and anytime
2. Easy and instant
3. No cost
4. Easy access to information
5. Multi-language
6. Great experience
7. Transparent
8. Meets customer expectations
9. Control of the process

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The explanation to these factors are as follows:
1.Always available, anywhere and anytime:-A booking system attends to your customer’s
reservation 24/7. It allows them to make bookings from anywhere, At anytime, even in the
middle of the night or during holidays
2.Easy and instant:-Have you ever left a webpage because it wasn’t easy to navigate or
confusing to products/services? Probably so. If a potential customer feels that way about
your website, then he will likely take his business elsewhere and book with competition.
An online booking option is usually the simplest and easiest way to allow your customer
to make reservation. It will reduce the possibility of losing potential customers
3.No cost:-People love to get things for free, and that is why the mostly prefer to book
online for free instead of calling, especially if they have to spend a fortune calling from
abroad.
4.Easy access to availability:-Once the customer has seen your products/services, he will
then look to see what is available. If a calendar showing availability is not on your
webpage it could frustrate a customer and prompt to give you a call. This extra step could
easily be alleviated by having a booking calendar that displays real-time availability on
your website.
5.Multi-language:- if a potential customer is from another country or doesn’t speak the
same language , he may not want to reach out to you with questions via e-mail or phone
since the communication is difficult
6.Great experience:-The reservation process is first ,direct contact a customer has with a
business, and it is important to make sure this first impression is a positive one. This will
often translate into more business as customers that have a good experience will tell their
friends and family
7.Transparent:-transparency is critical when it comes to the internet. Booking system will
show prices, taxes, options, fees and accepted payment methods. Your customers will
immediately know all the important details, including cost of the products/service, and
how to make the payments
8.Meet customer expectations:-Today it is possible to do almost everything online .Your
customers are accustomed to doing most everything online. The same is true for making a
reservation – they will expect to be able to do it online. If you do not provide this option,it
will reflect poorly on your business.
9. Control of the process:-when you purchase or reserve something you certainly want to
control the process. You want to be able to book at your convenience, find the date and

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 times that work best for you, and not have pressure from anyone else to tell you how do it.
it is your money and time after all.

E-ticketing
An electronic ticket (commonly abbreviated as e-ticketing) is the digital ticket equivalent of a
paper ticket .the term is most commonly associated with airline issued tickets. Electronic
ticketing for urban or rail public transport is usually referred to as travel card or transit pass.
It is also used in ticketing in the entertainment industry. An electronic ticket system is more
efficient method of ticket entry, processing and marketing for companies in the airline,
railways and other transport and entertainment industries.

Train tickets
Amtrak started offering electronic tickets on all train routes on 30 July 2012. These tickets
can be ordered over the internet and printed, printed at a quick track kiosk, or at the ticket
counter can also be held in the smartphone and show to the conductor using an app. Several
European train operators also offer self-printable tickets. Often tickets can also be delivered
as SMS or MMS. Railway operators in other countries also issue electronic tickets. The
national operators of Denmark and Netherlands have a nationwide system where RFID
smartcards are used as train tickets. This is very common in Europe for local urban rail, such
as rapid.In India, an SMS sent by the Indian railways,along with a valid proof of identity is
considered equivalent to a ticket.

The benefits of purchasing tickets online

As more people favour buying e-and mobile tickets, the sales of physical tickets has
diminish;we have put together five reasons why it is better to purchase tickets online.

1. Cheaper
2. Time- saving
3. Accessibility
4. Security
5. Think green
1.Its cheaper- There are various ways you save money by purchasing an e-or mobile
ticket,you save on the transportation costs you would have incurred travelling to a retail
outlet, plus you save on the service fee as this is usually higher for physical tickets due to
production and other costs .

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2.Its time saving- As we all know, it takes less times to purchase a ticket online than it is at a
retail outlet. When you purchase physical tickets online. You have to wait a week or two
before the event to receive your tickets. If you purchase e- or mobile tickets these get sent
to you immediately or you can access them.
3.Accessibility-You can access your e-ticket or mobile ticket whenever you would like. If
you buy a physical ticket , there’s a risk of this getting lost or stolen, which causes a would
of pain trying to sort out . Sometimes tickets don’t get re-issued if something like this
happens. The great thing about e- and mobile tickets is you have 100% access to these
whenever you want.
4.Security- It’s more secure to purchase e-and mobile tickets because you know these won’t
get stolen or lost and there is also less chance of fraudulent activity.
5.Think green- Last but not the least , buying an e-or mobile ticket online reduces your
carbon footprint .it’s the little steps that make a difference in a sustainable future

Advantages of e-ticketing
An e-ticket offers many advantages for both travelers and the railways, including security,
flexibility, cost and convenience. But in some cases, passengers are required to buy new
tickets at full price .
 Passengers can book and buy the e-ticket online ,at any time of day or night , on any day
of week and year
 You can pay for the e-ticket using no cash but by credit cards and what is main- you do
not need to leave your home or workplace for such purposes
 The e-ticket is securely maintained in the electronic form , that’s why it is impossible to
loose or destroy it or forget at home
 Without a paper , a ticket in his/her hand , the passenger is protected from the theft of the
document
 A buyer can select the suitable train time , date, railway station and other peculiarities of
his/her trip independently online .without dealing with cashiers
 Upon purchase of the e-ticket , there is a no need for the passenger to go anywhere to get
the ticket or pay for its delivery
 While travelling in the train , you need to have the identity document only
 You may buy the e-ticket not only for yourself but also for yourself but also for your
friends and family living in another city or country

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 After the sale , railways can more easily track down passengers to inform them of train
timings ,cancellations and other last- minute changes
 Foe harried business travelers , this can be especially convenient , as it provides real –
time updates on their travel arrangements without slowing them down
 Travel agencies save on the cost of maintaining ticket printers and ticket inventory
control
 Finally ,using e –tickets is a more environmentally friendly approach The IATA estimates
the industry would save the equivalent of 50,000 mature trees per year, about 3 square
miles of forest, if it is used e –tickets exclusively.
 You no longer need to collect your ticket from station
 You can change or cancel your ticket any time up to departure of your train

Disadvantages of e-tickets
In spite of their advantages,e-tickets have some disadvantages as well
 A computer crash could cause a passengers reservation and other information and other
information to simply vanish
 If you are less technologically savy or don’t use computers and email , you may find the
online ticket or it may get lost among the many messages flooding your inbox
 You may accidentally delete the email containing your e-ticketing or it may get lost
among the many messages flooding your inbox.
 E- Ticketing is not successful in controlling corruption. For e-ticketing they ask for your
pin no. of your bank account they can misuse your bank account.
 Fear change
 No souvenir ticket to paste the ticket in the scrapbook.

Sites which provide facility of online purchase of train tickets

 IRCTC
 Yatra.com
 Cleartrip
 Make my trip
 Goibbo.com

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But the mostly used site for online purchase of train tickets is IRCTC
Indian railway catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) is a subsidiary of the Indian
railways that handles the catering, tourism and online ticketing operations of the Indian
railways
 Type- subsidiary of Indian railways
 Industry- railways
 Headquarters- New Delhi ,India
 Area served – India
 Products- e-ticketing, offline booking
 Services- catering, tourism and online ticketing
 Parent – Indian railways

Online ticketing
It is known for changing the face of railway ticketing in India. It pioneered internet –based
rail ticket booking through its website, as well as from the mobile phones via wifi, gprs or
SMS. In addition to the e –tickets , Indian railways catering and tourism corporation also
offers I –tickets that are basically like regular tickets except they are booked online and
delivered by post . The ticket PNR status is also made available.
Commuters on the sub-urban rail can also book season tickets through the website. It has also
launced a loyalty program called shubhyatra for frequent travelers through this program,
passengers can avail of discounts on all tickets booked round the year by paying an upfront
annual fee. Seeking to make it easier to book e- tickets, it launched a scheme called rolling
deposit scheme (rds). Rds is a hassle free e – ticket booking scheme allowing passengers to
reserve seats against advance money kept with the corporation.

Mission of IRCTC
“Enhance customer services and facilitation in railway catering, hospitality, travel and
tourism with best industry practices.”

Objectives of IRCTC
 To be customer friendly company through constant innovation, technology driven and
human resource development.
 Optimize resources , increase manpower productivity through quality product vending
and innovative marketing strategies

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 Upgrade and consolidate catering services in the organized sector
 Imbibe strongand ethical work culture through teamwork , build and reposition Indian
railways in the emerging service sector
 Evolve high standards of business ethics, quality management and effective cost control
measures.Concern for the environment and heritage

Security problems related to online ticketing

The security problem related to online ticketing can broadly discuss in the following two
categories:-

 Transactional risks-
The common transaction risks of online are:
1. Default on order taking/giving- seller may deny that customer ever placed that order
2. Default on delivery- sometimes the ticket is sent at the wrong phone
3. Default on payment- sometimes the there is a default in the payment system. The
server does not pick the details of the card or the wrong amount is being selected.
These are the some of the problems which are being faced during the online
transaction.
To protect payment following steps can be taken:
1. Credit card authentication: this process ensures that the credit card number provided
by customer is a valid one
2. Credit card authorization: this system checks whether funds are available in the
credit card account of the customer or not

Data storage risk-

Vital information can be stolen or modified to pursue some selfish motive or just for fun. The
common storage risks are:-
 Virus(vital information under seize)
Some of the computer viruses are deadly. They clean up all the information stored in the
computer memory. Viruses hamper the functioning of business.
 Hacking
Hacking refers to the unauthorized entry into a website. Hackers often destroy the data
and information which causes huge loses to the owner because it would interrupt the
business transactions.

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 This problem can be solved by:-
1. Setting up special criminal cell-
The government has set up a special crime cell to look into crimes committed by
the hackers and take necessary actions against the criminals.
2. Digital signature
Under this method a coded digital certificate is issued by certification authority.
This will help a checking the identity of the sender

How universe uses e- ticket

Tickets are mailed directly to the attendee with a unique QR code and confirmation number.
Using the ticket manager app (iphone or android) allows event organizers to scan tickets at
the door directly from guests Smartphone. The app also allows you to search your attendee by
name and check them electronically, so there is no need for physical tickets.

I- Ticketing
I – ticket refers to internet ticket is a normal ticket or we can say it is like a counter ticket.
When you book an I-ticket, it is the Indian railway responsibility to deliver the I- ticket at
your doorstep. I- ticket can only be booked three days before the journey date. It is required
to book i-ticket three days before because IRCTC need at least3 days to deliver the booked
ticket at your door step or address by the courier. Whenever you book the I –ticket IRCTC
dispatches that ticket immediately within 2 hours to your mentioned address.

How to book i-ticket online?

 Step 1- Create a new account in IRCTC website

 Step 2- Login to IRCTC website with the username which you created in step 1
 Step 3- Select the source and destination for your journey
 Step 4- Select ticket type: i-ticket from the drop down and click on SUBMIT button
 Step 5- Select the trains and click on book new button. That is it!

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 REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Singla,A. (2015) studied the perception of Indian people regarding the services provided by
online railway system and to understand what factors lead to customer satisfaction and
loyalty in the online Indian railway system. This research was intended to the various service
quality factors and their impact on customers towards online purchase of train tickets.

Pakdil,F. and Turkey,F. (2014) studied that the customer’s most important expectations are
employees empathetic approach towards customers, technical specifications of online system
error free services, and competent employees.

Vimal,K.P and Jitin,P. (2014) concluded that the respondents preferring online railway
services because it is cheaper than other mode of transport and the majority of the
respondents are facing problem of overcrowding or rush in railway compartments

Bukhari,et al. (2013). studied that e-tickets appear to offer a number of advantages to
organizations, including lower costs and increased operational efficiency. As such, it is
projected that the use of e-tickets will only continue to increase overtime.

PengHongxia,et al. (2013). studied that online travel booking has been adopted by an
increasing number of tourists. The research about the online booking and online booking
loyalty among tourists. The study not only provides a comprehensive understanding of
consumer behavior for tourism marketers, but also shed lights on the future research in online
booking,

Sinha ,et al. (2013).studied and found that e – ticketing has become much more straight
forward to provide multi – modal and multi – operator tickets that can be used for travel on
any element of public transport network. E – Ticketing can assist authority in improving
clearing mechanism by providing detailed information on customers mobility behavior.

Sorooshian,et al. (2013) defines – ticketing as “a procedure of keeping record of sales, usage
tracking and accounting for a passengers transport with no requirement for a paper ‘value
document”. rather the e-ticket represents an extensive architecture within the organization
that provides a wealth of information about the customer

Lubeck,et al. (2012) examined these issues by tracing the evolution of e- tickets and efforts
by the organization to improve efficiency in ticketing operations. E – tickets have evolved to

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address concerns associated with “inefficiency in information management and control of
operations”

Maruvada,D and Bellamkonda,R,S. (2012). studied that developing RAILQUAL about the
integrated framework in context to the objective of identifying such gaps that would lead to
quality in online railway services, through usage of quantitative and qualitative techniques. A
public utility like the online railways system has to be judged not merely on the bottom line,
but on the quality of service it provides.

Vishnuvarthan,A and Selvraj,S. (2012). concluded that the awareness of the passengers about
the online railway services, online reservation knowledge, e-ticketing and fares, special
services and miscellaneous services have significant relation with the level of satisfaction of
passengers.
Sahney ,et al. (2010). found that the modus operandi of the online reservation system requires
attention with special emphasis on the factors like the features of online information search,
design of the railway website, and the facility of all time network availability for online
booking

Tripathi , et al. (2009) studied that e-tickets can be used by a wide range of organizations to
provide services including coupons for e-shopping , to tickets for entrance into a concert or
sporting event. It is evident that the proliferation of e- tickets,represents a change in the way
that traditional ticket purchasing occurs.

Cubera, et al. (2002). stated that e-ticketing appear to be the future of operations for many
organizations seeking to streamline operations. E-ticketing services, much like many interest
and mobile applications, developed in ahavoc – manner. This has created a situation and
utilization of e- tickets has not been actively integrated into the strategy of the organization.

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 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Objectives
 To analyze the customer attitude towards online purchase of train tickets.
 To study the satisfaction level among customers towards e – ticketing.
 To identify the factors affecting the customers attitude for e – ticketing.
Methodology used
Data is being collected from both the sources i.e. from primary and secondary source.
Questionnaire was the tool of primary data collection and secondary data were collected from
journals, books, newspaper, research papers and websites.
Research design
It is an arrangement plan, which guides the collection of data and analysis of data. The
purpose of research design is to ensure that the data collected is accurate and relevant. Any
research work requires clarity of objectives to be achieved effectively. Research design I so
chosen that the analysis is accurate. It is descriptive in nature.
Sample size
The sample design is used with the sample size of 100 respondents from the Ludhiana city
regarding online reservation of train tickets.
Sampling Style
Judgemental sampling is used. Respondents are chosen as per my Judgements. Respondents
were of Ludhiana city who are interested in the online reservation of train tickets.
Statistical tools used
Statistical techniques of percentages have been used to analyze the data collected through the
questionnaire. The data has been presented using tables, graphs, etc whatever required.
Data analysis and interpretation techniques
For data analysis and interpretation, the data was processed with various tools of percentages.
For interpretation, various tools have been used and they are as follows:
 Tables
 Graphs
In case of five scales where respondents are asked to indicate their degree of agreement and
disagreement scores were assigned from 5 to 1. Where 5 is highly satisfied and 1 is highly
dissatisfied.

18
 DATA ANALYSIS
Demographic profile
 AGE
TABLE NO 4.1: Age of the respondents
Up to 20 11%
21-40 61%
41-60 15%
60 OR Above 13%

FIGURE NO 4.1: Age of the respondents

Age
70%
60%
50%
40%
30% Age
20%
10%
0%
upto 20 21-40 41-60 60&above

19
  GENDER
TABLE NO 4.2: Gender of the respondents
MALE 39
FEMALE 61

FIGURE NO 4.2: Gender of the respondents

Gender
100

50
Gender
0
male female

The survey was carried out on 100 respondents of Ludhiana city. Out of these respondents
39% are male and 61% are females. And the 11% are below 20 years of age while 61% are
between 21-40 years and 15% are 41-60 years and 13% are 60 or above.

20
Purchase of online tickets
TABLE NO 4.3: Respondents preference for the purchase of tickets
Self 67
Through agent 23
Through family member 7
Through friend 3

FIGURE NO 4.3: Respondents preference for the purchase of tickets

Online ticket purchase

80
70
60
50
40
30 Online ticket
20 purchase
10
0
self through through through
agent family friend
member

The above table shows that 67% of people purchase online tickets by themselves, 23%
purchase tickets through an agent, 7% of people purchase through their family member and
rest of the 3% by the help of friend.

21
Form of ticket being carried
TABLE NO 4.4: Form of tickets respondents carry
E – ticket 77

I - ticket 23

FIGURE NO4.4: Form of tickets respondents carry

Form of ticket being carried

90
80
70
60
50
Form of ticket being
40 carried
30
20
10
0
E-ticket I-ticket

Above data shows that 77% of passengers carry I – ticket with them and the rest 23% carry
e – ticket with them.

22
Preference of website
TABLE NO 4.5: Website preference of the respondents
IRCTC website 43

Make my trip 26

Yatra.com 14

paytm 12

Other websites 5

FIGURE NO 4.5: Website preference of the respondents

Website preference
50

40

30

20 Website preference

10

0
IRCTC make my yatra.com paytm other
website trip websites

The above data reveals that 43% of customers prefer IRCTC website and 26% of customers
prefer make my trip, 14% prefer yatra .com, 12% prefer paytm and the rest 5% prefers
other websites.

23
Payment mode
FIGURE NO 4.6: Payment mode preferred by the respondents
Credit card 6
Debit card 56
Net banking 2
Paytm 32
others 4

TABLE NO 4.6: Payment mode preferred by the respondents

Payment mode
60

50

40

30
Payment mode
20

10

0
credit card debit card net banking paytm others

The above graph shows that 6% of customers use credit cards, 56% uses their debit card,
2% uses net banking, 32% of customers uses paytm and rest 4% uses other mode.

24
Preference to book online tickets
TABLE NO 4.7: Respondents preference for online booking
Time saving 29
Cost saving 27
Convenience 24
Reliability 12
Selection of suitable 5
train
others 3

TABLE NO 4.7: Respondents preference for online booking

Preference for online booking

35
30
25
20
15
10 Preference for online
booking
5
0

The above data reveals that 29% of customers prefer to book online tickets to save their
time , 27% uses to save cost, 24% for convenience, 12% for reliability purpose, 5%so that
they can choose their suitable train and 3% for other purposes.

25
Offers for promotion
TABLE NO 4.8: Offers given to promote online ticketing
YES 79
NO 21

FIGURE NO 4.8: Offers given to promote online ticketing

PROMOTION OFFERS
100

80

60

40 PROMOTION OFFERS

20

0
YES NO

The above table shows that 79% customers believe that online websites gives offers to
promote online ticket booking and rest 21% doesn’t believe the same.

26
 Concessions available
TABLE NO 4.9: Concessions available to the respondents

Senior citizens 22

Students concessions 29

Cancer patient 13

Handicapped 11

Others 25

FIGURE NO 4.9: Concessions available to the respondents

The above graph shows that of the customers 22% of customers availing senior citizens while
29% are availing student concessions, 13% are availing cancer patient concessions and 11%
are availing handicapped concessions and rest 25% are availing other types of concessions.

27
 Problems in purchasing e – tickets
TABLE NO 4.10: Problems faced by respondents
Connectivity problem 36

Reliability 14

Cancellation problem 26

Complicated system 13

Difficulty in system 11

FIGURE NO 4.10: Problems faces by the respondents

Online purchasing problems

40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5 Online purchasing
0 problems

The above data reveals that 36% of customers face connectivity problems while 14% have
reliability issues, 26% face cancellation problem, 13% face complicated online system while
rest 11% face difficulty system.

28
Period of receiving refunded amount

TABLE NO 4.11: Receiving refunded amount

within 2 days 27

Within a week 63

Within a month 7

More than a month 3

FIGURE NO 4.11: Receiving refunded amount

The above graph shows that 27% of customers get their refunded amount within 2 days
while 63% get within a week, 7% within a month and rest 3% get their refunded amount
after 1 month.

29
 Availability of server
TABLE NO 4.12: Availability of the server
Yes 87
no 13

FIGURE NO 4.12: Availability of the server

Availability of server
100

80

60

40 Availability of server

20

0
yes no

The above data shows that 87% of customers says that server of the site is always available
and the rest 13% doesn’t believe the same.

30
Satisfaction among customers
TABLE NO 4.13: Satisfaction among respondents for online tickets

Yes 85
no 15

FIGURE NO 4.13: Satisfaction among respondents for online tickets

The above data reveals that 85% of customers are satisfy with facilities of online
reservation and on the other hand 15% are dissatisfied.

31
Ratings for online ticket booking
The ratings are shown below in the table:

TABLE NO 4.14: Satisfaction among respondents for various topics

1 2 3 4 5
Service 7 14 28 33 31
Timings 11 6 29 37 17
Price 4 10 16 51 19
Performance 7 21 39 26 7

No. of online seats 11 33 15 39 28

Working hours of online sites 1 1 10 21 67
Advance booking period for reservation 4 5 19 38 34
Safety and security 7 12 12 41 28
Availability of seats 19 27 29 15 10

32
Likings for the online reservation system

TABLE NO 4.15: Liking for the system among respondents

Yes 89

no 11

FIGURE NO 4.15: Liking for the system among respondents

Liking for online reservation

100

80

60
Liking for online
40 reservation
20

0
yes no

According to the graph 89% of the customers like online reservation system a lot while

only 11% does not like this online reservation system.

33
 FINDINGS, SUGGESTIONS AND CONCLUSION
FINDINGS
 In this survey there are 39 respondents were male while 61 respondents were female.
Majority of the respondents come under the age group of 21 to 40.
 The survey shows that most of the people purchase online tickets by themselves while
small percentage purchase through an agent.
 Most of the people carry E – ticket with them while travelling in the train.
 It seems that 43% of the respondents have used IRCTC site for their tickets while 26%
purchase through make my tripand rest through other website.
 Most of the people use debit card or paytm for purchasing e – ticket
 The survey shows that people purchase online ticket for time saving, cost saving,
convenience, etc.
 According to the survey most of the customers says online websites gives offers to
promote online ticket booking.
 The survey shows that 22% of customers avails senior citizens concessions and 29%
avail student concessions and rest avail other concessions.
 According to the survey, most of the people also faced problems while purchasing online
tickets like connectivity problems, cancellation problem, difficulty in system, etc.
 On cancellation of ticket 27% of customers get their refunded amount within 2 days
while 63% get their refunded amount within a week.
 The survey shows that maximum of people says the server of the site is always available.
 According to survey 85% of people are satisfied with facilities of online reservation.
 Most of the people are in favor of the introduction of more number of online sites for
ticketing.
 From the 100 respondents, there are 89% of respondents like the online reservation
system and want to buy again through online.

34
SUGGESTIONS
 People should be made aware about online reservation systems of trains, so that all
people can enjoy the facilities provided by online reservation system.
 Government should try to remove the inhabitation in minds of people which stops
them from using online ticketing.
 The services or options should be in each and every language so that every person
can buy their tickets through online websites.
 Security of transactions should be laid emphasis on.
 More concessions should be available while purchasing online tickets.
 The system should be more secure and reliable.
 Make the online reservation system easier so that it can be understood by each and
every person.
Conclusion
In this study we come to know that the quality of service is very important to create
customers. The main aim of developing online reservation system is to provide all
information that is required by the users other important requirements of online system are
data security, extensibility and maintainability. Good quality service aims at increasing
customers, customer value, customer interaction and proper fulfilling their demands.
Also somewhere people unsafe while using internet for their reservation of train tickets due
to fraud, misuse of their credit card, etc. more languages should be added while using
internet .so that each and every person can enjoy the facilities of online reservation system.
On the other hand it saves lot of time, cost, it provides convenience, etc. it also give offers
to promote booking.

35
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37
 ANNEXURE 2
QUESTIONNAIRE
 Name of the person-
 Age-
 Gender
Male Female
 Occupation-
1. How did you purchase the online ticket?
Self
Through an agent
By family member
By help of friend
2. Which form of the ticket do you generally carry in the train?
I-ticket
E-ticket
3. Which website do you prefer to book your online ticket?
Irctc website
Make my trip
Yatra .com
Paytm
Other website
4. Which payment mode do you prefer to book online ticket?
Credit card
Debit card
Net banking
Paytm
Others
5. Why do you prefer to book online tickets?
Time saving
Cost saving
Convenience
Reliability
I can choose suitable train

38
 Others
6. Does online websites give offers to promote online ticket booking?
Yes
No
7. What are the concessions you are availing while purchasing online tickets ?
Senior citizens
Student concessions
Cancer patient
Handicapped
Others

8. What are the problems being faced while purchasing online tickets?
Connectivity problem
Reliability
Cancellation problem
Complicated system
Difficulty in system
9. On cancellation of ticket, what is the period in which refund of money comes?
Within two days
Within a week
Within a month
Or more than 1 month
10. While online booking ,is the server of the site available?
Yes
No
11. If not, how frequent the online site server remains down?
Once a day
Twice a day
Once a week
More than twice a day

12. Are you satisfy with online reservation/satisfy with facilities of online
reservation?
Yes

39
 No
13. Do you favour for the introduction of more number of online sites for ticketing
Yes
No
14. According to you, how much would you rate the following for online ticket
booking

1. Highly dissatisfied
2. Dissatisfied
3. Neutral
4. Satisfied
5. Highly satisfied
1 2 3 4 5

 Service
 Timing
 Price
 Performance
 No. of online seats
 Working hours of online sites
 Advance booking period for
reservation
 Safety and security
 Availability of seats

15. Do you like the online reservation system and do you

want to buy again through online
Yes
No

40