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Impact Of Customer Relationship Management On

Customer Retention
A report submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Award of
Diploma of
Post Graduate in Management

In

Retail Management

by

Akhila Gopakumar
21RM905

Under Supervision of

Dr Veenu Sharma

BIRLA INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT TECHNOLOGY,

GREATER NOIDA

Year of submission : 2022

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Acknowledgement
I would like to thank the Centre for Retail Management, BIMTECH for providing
me with this opportunity in the form of Internship with The Collective,ABFRL. It
has helped me immensely in comprehending the various minuscule details about a
store’s operations that allowed me to understand the concepts taught in class in a
new light and enhance my knowledge.
My faculty mentor Prof. Veenu Sharma was always a phone call away from
helping me whenever I needed any guidance during my training period. She shared
her extensive knowledge with me from time to time and provided her inputs for
fine-tuning the outcome of this report.
I would also like to thank my store manager, Miss Sarojini for assisting with my
day-day activities during my summer internship
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Letter Of Authorization

I, Akhila Gopakumar, a student of Birla Institute of Management Technology

(BIMTECH), hereby declare that I have worked on a project titled “Effectiveness of
Customer relationship management in customer retention in organised retail sector”
in partial fulfilment of the requirement for the Post Graduate Diploma in
Management programme.

In all respects of the procedure carried out during the project term, I
guarantee/underwrite that my research work is original to the best of my knowledge.

My learning experience under the guidance of Dr Veenu Sharma, (Program

Coordinator - PGDM, BIMTECH), has been truly enriching.

Date 09/07/2022 Akhila Gopakumar

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Contents
Letter Of Authorization.....................................................................................3
About The Company.........................................................................................5
Introduction.......................................................................................................6
Problem statement.............................................................................................7
Literature Review..............................................................................................8
Conceptual Model of the Determinants of Relationship Commitment...........16
Methodology....................................................................................................19
Findings...........................................................................................................20
Analysis...........................................................................................................29
Conclusion.......................................................................................................33
Suggestions......................................................................................................34
References.......................................................................................................35
Appendices......................................................................................................35
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About The Company

Collective is a unique super premium retail concept known for its exclusive fashion
range. With over 100 of the world's best fashion brands under one roof, this unique
lifestyle store gives enthusiasts a unique perspective on each individual's personal
style.
The range of clothing ranges from formal to semi-formal, casual, denim to active,
with iconic brands such as Armani Jeans, Armani Nicoletzioni, Versace Collection,
Versace Jeans, Hugo Boss, True Religion, Vivienne Westwood, Lagerfeld and McQ.
Covers all wardrobe needs from Alexander McQueen and others.
A rich collection of accessories includes fashion watches, cufflinks, shoes, ties, belts,
leather goods, jewellery, sunglasses and more to create the perfect ensemble. The
accessory brand repertoire includes well-known names such as Love Moschino,
Tartessian, Michael Kors and Lulu Guinness.
Madura Fashion & Lifestyle, a division of Aditya Birla Nuvo Ltd, is one of India's
fastest growing brand apparel companies and a premium lifestyle player in the retail
sector. After consolidating market leadership with it's own brand, it launched the
Premium International Label, allowing Indian consumers to purchase the country's
most prestigious global fashion apparel and accessories
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Introduction
Globalisation and internet have increased the retail competition. Especially after the
outbreak of covid-19 CRM is the weapon that leverage customer retention , demand
and loyalty of brand. CRM has evolved rapidly around the world in recent years.
This is primarily due to changes in many key trends, including a shift in focus from
transaction marketing to relationship marketing and a shift in focus from simply
targeting customers.To focus on a single sale, process premature information about
your customers, attract them on every sales call, and use your investment more
efficiently and effectively than a one-time acquisition. You need to maintain a
lasting relationship with your customers. Strategies that do not explicitly talk about
customers or the competitive environment .Indeed, it does not help create and
maintain the right level of customer and competitiveness in your business, especially
in the corners and gaps where the actual work takes place.

Even though these changes in customer demand and loyalty are by no means a
modern development, the willingness to adapt a company to its customers' needs has
gained a special dimension.
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Problem statement
The main purpose of conducting this research is to study the impact of Customer
relationship management on consumer purchasing decision in retail
sector..Understanding consumers and their buying behaviour is really difficult
especially in a retail sector.Consumer buying behaviour is affected by many other
social and cultural factors, hence how Customer relationship management is
affective in customer retention is a controversial matter.
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Literature Review
 To critically analyse the customer relationship management in a retail store
and its impacts

 To understand the connection between Customer relationship management

and customer retention and satisfaction

Customer relationship management

Customer Satisfaction is one of the most basic and inevitably very important
business elements that organizations today cannot avoid.The growing importance
of customer satisfaction, customer loyalty, changing market demand, and 9
intensifying competition has led to a shift from transaction marketing to
relationship marketing.Customer response gradually declined as more options were
driven by globalization and new marketing channels .These challenges have led
companies and researchers to develop the concept of “customer relationship
management”.
Ideally, CRM will focus on moving from customer acquisition-focused marketing
activities to customer retention and acquisition-focused marketing activities,
treating customers as a major corporate asset rather than just an audience.
Transactional Marketing vs. Relationship Marketing : Over the years,
companies have built marketing activities based on marketing transaction models.
But over time, companies have realized the importance of transforming their
marketing efforts. Therefore, this is the beginning of another marketing model,
relationship marketing. Currently, marketing activities focus on customer retention
rather than customer acquisition. This is how customers have become the center of
attraction for the relationship market.

Transactional Marketing Relationship Marketing

Focuses on a single POS transaction Focus on building long-term

relationships with customers
Oriented by product features This is both product benefits and
system solution oriented.
Less contact with customers More contact with customers

Short term horizon Long-term horizon

Benefits of Relationship Marketing : Relationship marketing has several
advantages over transactional marketing. First, it's always cheaper to retain
existing customers than to acquire new ones. Second, it provides greater value to
customers. This is an integrated approach to marketing, service and quality that
helps companies gain a competitive advantage over others. Another advantage of
relationship marketing is that long-time customers can introduce companies and
perform viral promotions. In addition, relationship marketing tends to increase
purchases over time, reducing the need for a company to offer a particular price
promotion to retained customers.
Over time, more and more companies tend to go into relationships marketing
approach. Club card released by Tesco and Nectar card released by Sainsbury's is
the biggest example in this series. Purchase made from customers will accumulate
points and customers will buy more and more In addition, the data collected
through such cards is a company that gets ideas for customer purchasing
behaviour. Through this companies design custom marketing strategies for gifts
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Methodology
Research Objective
To analyze the impact of customer relationship management on customer retention
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Findings
Data Collection
For the research, primary data was collected through a questionnaire. Data of 43
Demographics
examinees was recorded from different geographical regions of India.
Out of 43 respondents around 46.5% ie 20 were male and the remaining 23 were
female.Talking about the age , its a mixed age group from teenagers like 18 years
Data Analysis
to middle age group at their fifties.
Used IBM SPSS Statistics 21 for the investigation. SPSS used regression analysis
to determine the relationship between the dependent variable and the independent
variable.
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When asked about whether the chosen retail store provides the respondents with
wide range of products more than half of the respondents agreed and were happy
with the type of products available at their favourite retail store, which is a major
factor which drives customers to the stores.
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Most of the retailers are happy with the kind of services they receive from their
favourite retailers and also majority are happy with the way they clear their
concerns or queries.Only a few percent of the people are neutral about this, that is
they are neither happy nor unhappy about the services they receive from their
chosen retailer.
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Offers are something which attracts most of the customers to a retail store , when
asked about how informed are they about the offers that the stores were having
most of them agreed that they were aware about the offers that were going on in
their favourite retail store , whereas a few respondents didn't agree as they were at
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times unaware about the offers that were going on in the store

Customers are king and their opinion should be valued always so that
improvements if any can be made according to their needs. Most of the
respondents strongly agreed to the fact that their favourite retailer take the
customer feedback into consideration, whereas few , were neutral about this .
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The retail sector is evolving over the years especially after the outbreak of covid-
19 the shopping pattern has shifted from traditional physical store to online
stores.People find it more convenient to do shopping sitting at their homes hustle
free, in such a situation, to retain the online customers is also a huge task.Most of
the respondents i.e. more than half of them also agree to the fact that their shopping
behaviour have also changed once the online shopping platforms came into the
picture.
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It is very important to keep a good connection with the customers inorder to gain
their trust and retain them. Majority of the customers ie more than half of the
respondents feel that that have a good bond with their retailer because of which
they go back to that store for their purchases. Only a limited % of people feel they
neither have a good nor bad relation with their favourite retailer.
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Quality of service matters a lot when it comes to choosing one retailer over other.
It is the one thing which makes them unique in comparison to others.Most of the
respondents agree to the fact that their favourite retailer provides good quality
services to them and they are happy about it.
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Trust is a major factor which retains the customers. Retailers should try to create
that trust between their customers only then they will come back to the store for
future transactions. It is different ways in which the retailer treats the customers
that build trust in them . More than half of the respondents trust their favourite
retailer which makes them go back to the same retailer again and again.
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It is necessary for the customers to be updated about their favourite brand.More

than 20 respondents out of 43 prefer to be updated about the brand through social
media. As the technology is evolving and digital marketing is emerging, now
retailers should try to advertise about their brand to their customers through social
media. Many respondents believe in word of mouth as well. Retailers should
ensure to give good services to their customers so that they will be giving good
reviews to their friends or family, which in turn can increase the customers.
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It is the different type of merchandise and offers that the retailer provides will
attract the customers and they end up buying more from the store.Most of the
respondents purchase more than what they came for. Which shows they must be
impressed with the type of collection and offers their retailer is providing.
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When asked about how many times they visit the store in a year most of the
respondents said 5-6 times a year. Which shows that they must be happy with the
kind of services , offers or merchandise mix they are offering to the customers
which is making them visit the store again and again.
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Your favourite retail store Statistics

Descriptive has a wide range of products
N N Minimum
Minimum Maximum
Maximum MeanMean Std.
Std.Deviation
Deviation
VAR00002 42 43 4.00 2.00
3.00 5.00 5.00 4.8810
4.2093 .32777 .70200
4.5349 .46589
Valid N (listwise) 42 43

Analysis

The data collected was transformed into SPSS statistics for analysis, through mean
comparison model.In which the mean was compared by analysing the data in the
questionnaire

1. Customer Satisfaction

Here the mean is 4.8 which means most of the people strongly agree that their
favourite retailer offer wide range of products.

Your favorite retail staff provides excellent service skills and inquiry
handling

Here the mean is 4.2 which means most of the people agree that their favourite
retail staff provides excellent service skills and handles the customer inquiry well

2. Communication Effectiveness

In most cases, you know the attractive offers of your favorite retailer

Here the mean is 4.5 which means the customers agree to the fact that they are well
aware about the offers their favourite retailer provides.
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Descriptive Statistics
N Minimum Maximum Mean Std. Deviation
VAR00002 43 3.00
1.00
.00 5.00 4.4186
4.3721
4.3953
4.2093 .98156
.57831
.62257
.88797
Valid N (listwise) 43

Most often, you end up buying unwanted products for attractive offers

Here the mean is 4.4 which means the customers strongle agree that during offer
time they end up buying more than what they have decided to buy.

Preferred retail store values customer feedback

Here the mean is 4.3 which means most of the customer strongly agree that their
favourite retailers values the feedback given by them

3. Functional Quality

Do you think your priority retailer's customer retention strategy is

significantly different from that of other retailers?

Here the mean is 4.3 which means most of the customers strongly agree that their
favourite retailers retention strategy is different and better as compared to other
retailers.

The development of online shopping platforms has influenced your shopping

behaviour through physical store

The mean in this case is 4.2 hence most of the customers agree that online
shopping platforms has influenced their physical store shopping behaviour.Hence
retailers should now focus more on providing online services as well to the
customers.

4. Relationship Commitment
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Descriptive Statistics
N Minimum Maximum Mean Std. Deviation
VAR00002 43 1.00
3.00 5.00 4.4651
4.3953
3.3953
4.4186 1.46612
.59156
.54070
.62612
Valid N (listwise) 43

There is a strong bond between you and your favorite retailer

Here the mean is 4.4 which means majority of the people strongly agree that they
do have a strong bond between them and the store.

You would be more comfortable in interacting with existing retail store rather
than a new one

Here the mean is 4.3 which means that most of the customers strongly agree that
they are only comfortable in communicating with the existing retailers than a new
retailer.

You are more likely to switch to a new retail store

Here the mean is 3.3 which means that the customers neither agree nor disagree
when asked about switching the retailer. This can imply that if better services are
provided by another retailer then they might switch to that retailer from the
existing one

5. Trust

You can trust your favorite retailer

Here the mean is 4.4 which means that the customers strongly agree that they trust
their favourite retailer
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Descriptive Statistics
N Minimum Maximum Mean Std. Deviation
VAR00002 43 3.00 5.00 4.4651 .59156
Valid N (listwise) 43

Priority retailers offer genuine products and services

Here the mean is 4.4 which means that customers strongly agree that their
favourite retailer offers genuine products and services.
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Conclusion
This study identifies different types of attachment strategies that are practiced.

From an Indian retail store

 Implementing a Customer Loyalty Program: A great way to retain customers

will be rewarded for repeated purchases. Or benefits include discount
vouchers, reward points, coupons, early access to sales etc. If the customer
remains loyal to the transaction the company should reward customers and
show gratitude to them choose it against your competitors

 Training of employees : The organization offers a variety of training

programs to make it easier for employees to learn about new products and
services, team building skills, social skills, and more. This also helps reduce
employee turnover. By implementing this type of training program,
organizations can easily create a sincere atmosphere that both customers and
employees can easily identify.

 Excellent Customer Services: To satisfy and satisfy customers, corporate

organizations need to provide excellent service to their customers. This
includes questions about timely delivery, best after-sales service,customer
contact, and the customer's experience with the product. Connect with your
customers via social media sites and email and keep them informed of new
products and services on a regular basis

 Customer Satisfaction Surveys : Customer surveys are the best tool for
identifying improvements in the customer experience and can also help
identify customer needs. Companies can use a variety of research techniques
for this purpose, such as feedback forms and suggestion boxes.
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Here are some recommendations that Indian retailers should follow when
developing a customer retention strategy.
 “It's a technical world. Therefore, companies must rely on technology In
formulating a new customer retention strategy. The days gone by
geographical location was a major constraint for businesses. For now
globalization and technology advances Companies can expand their
global presence . Such a business environment with cloud-based
customer retention techniques prove to be the best solution for
companies to maintain their techniques , also to attract customers and
potential customers. . Therefore, the retention system should be based on
technology that allows loyal customers of the company to profit from it”

Suggestions
 According to Maslow's motivation theory, motivation varies from person to
person. the need and desire for motivation. Also to motivate customers it is
essential for companies to design rewards and customer loyalty programs
to help businesses motivate different customers according to their needs for
repeat purchase
 Retailers have loyalty programs for customers.Customer loyalty programs
are just a way to attract and retain customers. Whatever it is ,it is important
for retailers to focus more on their business. When there is no retailer we
can provide better products and services and engage in attractive customer
loyalty programs and loyalty programs do not serve that purpose
 “To keep customers loyal, businesses need to go beyond price and choice.
Therefore, not only the retail sector, but all economic sectors are the least
used assets, namely H. Its labor force, leverage. Company employees should
strive to build lasting relationships with their customers. When an employee
is passionate and devoted, he or she can offer a personalized customer
experience for your customers. This is how businesses generate customer
loyalty.”
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References
 https://storage.googleapis.com/wzukusers/user-34065638/documents/
5cdc55a83662aHOFZKLa/09-IBMJ%20Vol1%20Issue4%2009.pdf. (2019). 30

IJARKE Business & Management Journal, 1(4).

https://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/138520/9/09_chapter
%203.pdf
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