PROJECT REPORT ON:

A COMPARATIVE STUDY ON CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT OF

TWO LEADING RETAIL STORES SHOPPERS STOP V/S WESTSIDE- A CASE
STUDY

A Project Submitted to

University of Mumbai for partial completion of the degree of

Bachelor of Management Studies

Under the Faculty of Management Studies

BY

NEHA DAVE

Under the Guidance of

PROF. PARUL SINGHAL

THAKUR COLLEGE OF SCIENCE & COMMERCE

2020-2021
 DECLARATION BY LEARNER

I the undersigned NEHA DAVE here by, declare that the work embodied in this
project work titled, A COMPARATIVE STUDY ON CUSTOMER
RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT OF

TWO LEADING RETAIL STORES SHOPPERS STOP V/S WESTSIDE-

A CASE STUDY

Forms my own contribution to the research work carried out under the guidance
of Prof. PARUL SINGHAL

Is a result of my own research work and has not been previously submitted to
any other University for any other Degree/ Diploma to this or any other
University.

Wherever reference has been made to previous work of others, it has been
clearly indicated as such and included in the bibliography.

I, here by further declare that all information of this document has been
obtained and presented in accordance with academic rules and ethical conduct.

Name and signature of the learner

Certified by

Name and signature of the Guiding Teacher

(Prof. PARUL SINGHAL)

 CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that Ms NEHA DAVE has worked and duly completed her Project

Work for the degree of Bachelor of Management Studies under the Faculty of

Commerce in the subject of Marketing and her project is entitled, “COMPARATIVE

STUDY ON CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT OF

TWO LEADING RETAIL STORES SHOPPERS STOP V/S WESTSIDE-

A CASE STUDY”

Under my supervision.

I further certify that the entire work has been done by the learner under my guidance and that
no part of it has been submitted previously for any Degree or Diploma of any University.

It is her own work and facts reported by his personal feelings and investigations.

Name and signature of guiding teacher

(Prof. PARUL SINGHAL)

Date of Submission:
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

To list who all have helped me is difficult because they are so numerous and the depth is so
enormous.

I would like to acknowledge the following as being idealistic channels and fresh dimensions
in the completion of the project.

I take the opportunity to thank the University of Mumbai for giving me chance to do this
project.

I would like to thank my Principal, Dr. C. T. Chakroborty for providing the necessary
facilities required for completion of this project.

I take this opportunity to thank our coordinator Prof. Vivek Wankade for his model support
and guidance.

I would also like to express my sincere gratitude towards my project guide Prof. Parul
Singhal whose guidance and care made the project successful.

I would like to thank my College Library, for having provided various reference books and
magazines related to my project.

Lastly, I would like to thank each and every person who directly or indirectly helped me in
the completion of the project especially my Parents and Peers who supported me throughout
my project.
 INDEX
Sr. TOPICS Page No.
No.
1. CHAPTER – 1
1.1 - Executive summary 1
1.2 – Introduction to the study 2
1.3 – Objective 3
1.4 – Rationale of the study 4
1.5 – Scope of study 5
1.6 – Research Methodology 7
1.7 – Data Analysis Techniques 7
1.8 – Limitations of the study 8
1.9 – Conclusion 9
2. CHAPTER – 2

2.1 - Literature review 11

2.2 – About CRM 12
2.3 – Why CRM 13
2.4 – Birth of CRM 15
3. CHAPTER – 3

3.1 – Attraction and Retention of Customers 19

3.2 – Customer Lifecycle 22
4. CHAPTER – 4

4.1 – CRM Implementation 30

4.2 – E-CRM 36
4.3 – CRM in India 40
5. CHAPTER – 5

5.1 – Comparative study of Shoppers stop and Westside 50

5.2 – Shoppers stop 53
SWOT Analysis 56
5.3 – Westside 58
SWOT Analysis 61
Difference 63
6. CHAPTER – 6

6.1 – Analysis of study and Hypothesis testing 66

7. CHAPTER – 7
7.1 – Suggestion / Recommendation / Conclusion 79
8. Annexure 80

9. Bibliography 83
CHAPTER-1
1.1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
 This topic is all about how Customer relations are maintained in retail stores. I have
done a comparative survey on two leading retail stores i.e. SHOPPER’S STOP V/S
WESTSIDE, As we know retaining a existing customer in 5 time more times harder
than acquiring a new ones .

 In retail stores it is important to maintain relationship with customers as to know the

problems faced and also to overcome them.

 In Today’s world of completion it is very significant to maintain good relations with

customers. A retailer’s relationship with their customer is key to repeat store visits,
brand loyalty and ultimately sales conversions.

 But how do you go about creating a winning formula? How can you engage
consumers in today’s multi-channel environment, be it through a website, social
media channels or in store, to keep them coming back?

 Customer Relationship Management (CRM) in retail isn’t a new concept, but it’s one
that could help retailers win the battle for sales in these competitive times. Tesco
introduced their loyalty Club card in 1995, collecting data on shoppers and using the
information to personalize discounts and rewards. Fast forward 21 years and the
majority of retailers offer some kind of reward or loyalty program with Marks &
Spencer being the latest to launch their sparks card, a new ‘Members Club’ which
includes bespoke offers priority.
1.2 INTRODUCTION:

 The customer is king!

 From the viewpoint of the Management, CRM can be defined as an organized

approach of developing, managing, and maintaining a profitable relationship with
customers.

 By equating the term with technology, the IT organizations define CRM as software
that assists marketing, merchandising, selling, and smooth service operation of a
business.

 As per Franics Buttle, World’s first professor of CRM, it is the core business strategy
that integrates internal processes and functions, and external networks, to create and
deliver value to a target customer at profit. It is grounded on high quality customer
data and information technology.

 Customer Relationship Management (CRM) in a very broad way can be defined as

the efforts made towards creating, developing, and maintaining a healthy and long-
lasting relationship with the customers using technology. This tutorial is an
introductory guide to CRM that touches upon various topics such as understanding
21st century customers and managing them, building value for them, CRM software,
and future trends in CRM.

 In the past twenty years, the focus of global markets has shifted from sellers to
customers. Today, customers are more powerful than sellers; if we consider the
driving factors of market we have different types of CRM according to the changes in
customer portfolios, speed of business operations, requirement of handling large data,
and the need of sharing information, resources, and efforts jointly.
CRM systems are dividend based on their prominent characteristics. There are four basic
types of CRM systems-

 Strategic CRM
 Operational CRM
 Analytical CRM
 Collaborative CRM

“Your customer doesn’t care how much you know until they know how much you
care”. Being social animals, we are naturally inclined towards interaction. The bonding that
takes place when we communicate in a healthy manner paves smooth ways for many difficult
challenges. In the role of customers, we interact with salespersons, dealers, wholesalers, and
suppliers.

1.3 OBJECTIVES:

1. To study how to Improve Customer Satisfaction.

2. To analyse how to Improve the Efficiency of Your Business.

3. To Expand Your Customer Base.

4. To study the impact of how to enhance Your Sales and Support Teams.
1.4 RATIONAL:

 Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is a term applied to processes

implemented by a company to handle its contact with its customers.

 CRM software is used to support these processes, storing information on

current and prospective customers.

 Information in the system can be accessed and entered by employees in

different department, such as sales, marketing, customer service, training,
professional development, performance management, human resources
development, and compensation.

 Details on any customer contact can also be stored in the system. The
rationale behind this approach is to improve services provided directly to
customers and to use the information in the system for targeted marketing and
sales purposes.

 While the term is generally used to refer to a software-based approach to

handling customer relationships, most CRM software vendors stress that a
successful CRM strategy requires a holistic approach.

 CRM initiatives often fail because implementations was limited to software

installation without providing the appropriate motivations for employees to
learn, provide input, and take full advantage of the information systems.
1.5 SCOPE OF STUDY:

Customer relationship management’s definition is also its ambition: the development and
maintenance of mutually beneficial long-term relationships with strategically significant
markets.

The focus is on creating value for customer and the company over the longer term. The value
perceptions of the customers serve as bonds, or exit barriers, which inhibit the search for
alternative source of supply. The great American circus entrepreneur, P T Barnum, once said
‘There’s a sucker born every day’.

 One customer departs, another customer arrives. There’s little doubt that Barnum
provided great, spirited and inventive entertainment for his customers but he didn’t
expect them to come back. Once the show was over, a new ‘sucker’ has to be
recruited.

 Today’s businesses compete with multi-product offerings created and delivered by

networks, alliances and partnerships of many kinds. Retaining customers is critical to
corporate performance. This shift away from the marketing’s conventional focus on
the Barnum-like transaction rather than the relationship is being driven by, and
enabled by, a number of changing business conditions.

 First, competition for the customer is becoming more intense.

 Local and national suppliers’ locational advantage is being eroded as trade barriers re
removed and geographic boundaries are redefined by the established and emergent
trading blocs.

 As access to markets is becoming less localized, demands on logistics management

and distribution partnering are becoming more significant.

 Second, markets are becoming more fragmented. In the more developed economies,
we have moved from mass marketing – always associated with the condition of
 demand exceeding supply – through market segmentation, towards individualization
marketing. This so-called one-to-one marketing strategy is based on the premise that
customers will be more loyal and utters more positive word- of –mouth if value
propositions are customized to meet their particular, perhaps unique, requirements.
Third, customers are becoming more demanding. Their expectations for reliable
product and responsive service are becoming more extreme. Customers demand more
and are much less tolerant of failures. Customers compare their experiences against
best-in–class expectations. For example, if it takes no paperwork and two minutes’
interaction at a desk to hire a car, customers will want to know why it takes fifteen
minutes and form-filling to check into a hotel.
Expectations are a moving target. What was once a motivator is now a hygiene
factor.

 Fourth, product quality has risen substantially in the recent past and is no longer a
source of competitive advantage for many companies. Indeed, many customers tend
to buy from a portfolio of more-or-less substitutable brands. For example, some 45%
of Tesco shoppers also shop at Sainsbury’s, notwithstanding their memberships of
the respective Club card and Rewards schemes. Even 50% of cigarette smokers buy
from a small portfolio of alternatives. Brand loyalty founded on product differentials
is a relative, not absolute, matter. As product quality has risen, companies are seeking
competitive advantage in closer, service-focussed relationships.
1.6 RESEARCH METHODLOGY-

Primary data

 It is a primary type of survey in which research is done through survey in that I have
made a questionnaire which people can fill and the responses can be recorded.
 I have taken a sample 60 people to know what their perceptions are over Westside
and Shopper Stop is. Their responses are recorded of the future reference and to
make the survey more resourceful.

Secondary data

 The Secondary Data has been collected through the internet sites and some existing
articles.
 The secondary data has been added to some extent as it was not fully reliable.

1.7 DATA ANALAYSIS TECHNIQUES:

 All my responses were collected in the excel sheet in Google drive, they have feature
where analysis is done in the form of pie charts.
 Also I have used statistics ways and means to get to my analysis and conclusions for
the same.

The customer is King! This credo is more powerful, relevant and true today than ever
before. In a truly customer driven economy, success depends on a company’s ability to be
with the customer on a round the clock basis… satisfying all their product and service
specific needs. Simply stated, Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is about finding,
getting, and retaining customers.

Customer Relationship Management is one of the hottest and most talked about topics in
the industry today and for good reason. Industry analysts recently reported that CRM
expenditures will grow from $2.8 billion in 1999 to $11 billion by 2003. CRM is all about
building long term business relationships with your customers. It is best described as the
blending of internal business processes: Sales, Marketing and Customer support with
technology. CRM solutions empower businesses to more efficiently manage the activities that
affect their relationship with their customers. The ultimate goal of CRM is to meet and
exceed customer expectations, create a positive customer experience and build customer
loyalty.

CRM changes all of this and represents a continuing evolution in managing front office
operations. With CRM, traditional departmental applications for sales, marketing and

customer services are consolidated into a single unified system capable of managing the
entire customer life cycle. This approach allows employees throughout an organisation to
have immediate access to a complete profile of important customer information.
Organisations who are implementing CRM solutions feel confident that providing access to
this level of information will assist their sales and support staff in better understanding the
needs and buying patterns of their customers.

1.8 LIMITATIONS:

1. The sample size was small and no such defined audience is available for the same.

2. Primary research cannot reach mass audiences and includes a lot go manual data
analysis and interpretation.

3. There is very low awareness about CRM as a concept within the people.

4. I had to make the respondents understand the concepts a few times to get accurate
data.
1.9 CONCLUSION:
It used to be that one could think of marketing as totally separate from the rest of the
business enterprise. But with the advent of CRM involves knowing your customers
individually and having some mechanism for interacting with them or hearing from them,
and customizing your business for them. This is an inherently integrative operation. If a
company is going to treat a customer differently on what he is, then the back-end of the
enterprise has to be capable of modifying its behaviour on what the front end finds out about
what the customer wants. So back end functions, such as product or service delivery, must be
integrated with front-office functions such as sales, marketing, and customer service.

One of the benefits of CRM is that it would make a company’s customers more loyal. Every
time a company interacts with a customer, the company customizes its service to be a bit
more closely suited to the customer’s needs. The company is getting a little higher up on the
customer’s learning curve. Moreover the company is making the product more and more
valuable to the customer. The relationship with the customer is developing in its own context
the future requires a new mind set. It will take non-traditional thinking for you to look at the
way in which your company does business with your customer. Traditionally, customers
have has to do all the work to get their problems solved. In many companies, the business
units designed to serve the same customers rarely interact, and when they do, they seem at
odds about how to handle problems or complaints.

To remedy this lack of agreement, you need to look for ways to improve cross-functional
communication. Some assign customer accounts to teams of employees from various areas
where contact with customers is paramount—for example, sales, marketing, product design,
customer service and accounts receivable. A single company contact might have
responsibility for all inquiries regarding credit, purchasing and order fulfilment.

One of the major challenges in implementing CRM is resistance to change. Change does not
occur in isolation. Only committed people implement CRM successfully. For a collection of
people cutting across organizational boundaries to create he coordinated set of actions
necessary to implement CRM, they must feel connected to each other. Building relationships
are increased. This is a mutually reinforcing pattern. If the people that impact the customer
improve their relationships by working effectively across functions, they learn how to do that
with the customer too. Ultimately every organization must address what it’s going to do
differently so it can respond more effectively to its customers. This understanding cannot be
spoon-fed. It occurs when people are actively engaged. It is seen repeatedly that as people
come to understand the issues that are affecting them, they become excited about
possibilities for doing things differently. Creating this environment equalizes power. That’s
what makes CRM work. If you want to implement CRM successfully, you have to create this
environment. There are no “ifs,” “and,” or “buts’.
CHAPTER-2

2.1 LITERATURE REVIEW

 Customer relationship management has been defined as “a business approach that
integrates people, processes, and technology to maximize relationships with
customers” Golden berg (2008, p.3). Moreover, it has been stated that customer
relationship management “characterizes a management philosophy that is a complete
orientation of the company towards existing and potential customer relationships”.
 Mueller (2010) characterizes customer relationship management aspects of the
business as a highly dynamic, and convincingly argues that businesses have to adopt a
proactive approach in devising relevant programs and initiatives in order to remain
competitive in the industries.
 Sinkovics and Ghauri (2009) relate the necessity for engaging in customer
relationship management to high cost of direct sales, highly intensifying level of
competition in the global level, and need for information about various aspects of the
business in general, and consumer behaviour in particular, that can be used to increase
the levels of sales.
 According to peppers and Rogers (2011), there is global tendency in customer
relationship management that relates to the shift from transactional model towards the
relationship model. In other words, peppers and Rogers (2011) argue that satisfying
customer needs as a result of on-time transaction is not sufficient today in order to
ensure the long-term growth of the businesses.
 Union to the research area to be used in the study. Namely, the author provides a wide
range of specific customer relationship management techniques and principles that are
used by multinational businesses. The findings of Mathur (2010) can be compared to
the primary data findings in the proposed research, thus enhancing the scope of the
study.
 One of the most critical sources for the research is the book “Relationship Marketing
and Customer Relationship Management” authored by Brink and Berndt (2009). The
book offers an in-depth discussion of the concept of Customer Touch Map and
discusses the role of information technology in facilitating customers’ relationship
management.
2.2 ABOUT CRM:

CRM (customer relationship management) is an information industry term for

methodologies, software, and usually Internet capabilities that help enterprise Manage
customer relationships in an organized way.

CRM is at the core of any customer-focused business strategy and includes the people,

Processes and technology questions associated with marketing, sales, and service. In today’s
hyper-competitive world, organizations looking to implement successful CRM strategies
need to focus on a common view of the customer using integrated information systems and
contact centre implementations that allow the customer to communicate via any desired
communication channel.

What exactly is the definition of Customer Relationship Management? Ask a dozen

professionals, get a dozen different definitions. Here’s a general overview:

 Customer Relationship can be defined as a company’s activities related to increasing

the customer base by acquiring new customers and meeting the needs of the existing
customers. CRM is about building partnerships with your customers. It uses internal
business processes from Sales, Customer Service and marketing.
 The philosophy of CRM is the recognition that your long-term relationships with your
customers can be one of the most important assets of an organization, providing
competitive advantage and improved profitability.
 The most important part of CRM is the “customer-focus”. CRM uses technology,
strategic planning and personal marketing techniques to build a relationship that
increases profit margins and productivity. It uses a business strategy that puts the
customer at the core of a company’s processes and practices. It requires this customer
focused business philosophy to support effective sales, marketing, and customer
service and order fulfilment.

Regardless of company size or industry, businesses have begun to recognize the value and
importance of customer retention and are embracing new technology for automating
customer service and support. For the new millennium, it seems that the customer has finally
become King!!!

WHY CRM?

Keeping in mind the pace at which technology is changing today, any company which is a
step ahead of others because of some web product or service will not be able to hold on to
that advantage for long. Key to stability in today’s dynamic marketplace is forging long-term
relationships with the customers. Customers can be divided into three zones:

1. Zone of defection where customers are extremely hostile and have the lowest level of
satisfaction.

2. Zone of indifference where customers are not sure. They have a medium level of
satisfaction and loyalty towards the company.

3. The third level of customers is in the zone of affection described as “Apostles”. CRM
focuses on bringing customers from level 1 to level 3 and retaining customers.

Customer’s demands for customization are increasing with every passing day. This has made
companies shift their focus from “mass production” to “mass customization”. The present
scenario of companies using “poorly implemented” multichannel strategies for living up to
the expectations of customers is bringing both customers satisfaction and customer loyalty
down the ladder.

Today any company can copy products or services offered by other companies. If the new
entrant adds features like less order turnaround time and direct communication then
established players are bound to have sleepless nights. Organizations that implement CRM
and turn their business into e-businesses will find their competitors’ customers ready to
welcome them with a “smile”.

4.
Take the example of a small enterprise. Here hard work reaps high quality service and over
the years develops a database of loyal customers. In this enterprise computers are optional.
Then why is the CRM industry attracting investments of millions and billions of dollars? The
reason is simple. The concept of “Seller’s Customer” has just rotated 180 degrees to become
“Customer’s Seller”. This simply states that, now the customer is more powerful than the
seller. Options for customers have increased with the cycle of innovation-to-production-to-
obsolescence gaining momentum. On the other hand companies into taking a closer look at
their customer relationships. Organizing business to satisfy customer demands
organizes/simplifies internal functioning of the organization. Implementing CRM brings to
the front the “pits” that the organization had dug over the years, passing work from one pit to
another. Work flows are reduced, cycle times become shorter, information flow of non-
productive things gets eliminated and the most important thing – “pits” get covered
automatically with all the positive features. Compact sized organizations get into a position of
making more money. This in turn enables them to please more customers. For large
enterprises, CRM has become a strategic initiative because of its potential for increased
revenues and improved customer service. Smaller businesses are for going ahead as well, and
are using CRM solutions to capture and share customer information across multiple
departments and job functions. The top four reasons for implementing CRM are:

 Gaining customer confidence and loyalty

 Providing personalized service to customers

 Acquiring better knowledge of customers and their buying habits

 Differentiating themselves from the competition

BIRTH OF CRM

Throughout the 90s businesses were focused on improving internal operations. CEO’s tried
to distinguish their company through operational excellence and product innovation. Middle
management focused on automating departmental functions such as sales and help desk
support.

They believed that automation and better management of their sales and customer service
process would lead to increased revenue and customer satisfaction. Vendors were all too
happy to support this belief and raced to the scene with independent solutions for sales force
automation, help desk and customer service functions. While many of these applications
provided increased productivity, the approach of using independent solutions to address
departmental needs served only to created islands of information and database duplication.
Furthermore, the lack of system integration and workflow between these departments meant
that vital customer information was unavailable to sales and support personnel without
jumping from system to system. This did little to support cross selling opportunities or
increase customer satisfaction. By the time customers walk into your business - or log-on to
your website or call your sales centre - most already know what they want and how much
they're willing to pay. With easy access to mountains of information, today's customers do
their homework, and they now have the upper hand in most purchase transactions. In
response, sellers are bending over backwards to improve offerings and services. However,
rather than adopt a streamlined "you-want-it-we've-got-it" approach sellers have created a
marketplace where products and services are sold, serviced and marketed in an increasingly
fragmented and ultimately frustrating way. Never before has so much "clutter" bombarded
consumers from so many online and offline sources trying to be all things to all buyers,
sellers face a harsh reality that brings an old adage to life:

You can please some of the people most of the time and most of the people some of the time,
but you can't please all of the people all of the time.

It wasn't supposed to be this way. Customer Relationship Management (CRM), which swept

Through the business landscape in the early 1990s, brought the promise of helping sellers
please most of the people most of the time. Riding the coattails of customer satisfaction
would come increased organizational efficiency and, better still, increased revenues. That
dream has been slow in coming. While incremental improvements have occurred, CRM has
not yet delivered its ultimate promise - the transformed customer experience. Yes,
companies have implemented call centres and sales force automation software and customer
sales representative training. However, while improving the sales.

Companies have largely ignored the very piece required to attract customers in the first
place. It's the piece that ensures sales and service efforts are effective and integrated. It's the
piece that allows sellers to segment and analyse their customer information in order to create
a more personalized, long-term relationship. It's the piece called "marketing"
Figure 2.1 - Completing the CRM vision

We're not saying that the last decade's investment in CRM has been wasted.

• Quite the contrary: what began as a solution for providing more efficient customer
transactions evolved into a process by which companies could foster more meaningful
customer interactions (see Figure 2).

• This was the right direction to take. However, companies haven't reached the end of the
CRM road.

• Today, the challenge is to take this evolution one step farther - to focus on building lasting
and profitable customer dialogues at all interaction and transaction touch points to build
customer and brand value.
Figure 2.2: Evolution of CRM

• As CRM evolved, many companies assumed that just bolting on new technology (e.g.,
client/ server call centres, Sales force automation software, data warehouses, etc.) or adding
new services would enhance customer relationships. This assumption was as pernicious as it
was false.

• After all, you can't sell what people don't want to buy, no matter how efficient and service-
oriented your sales channel. And as for gathering customer insights, be careful what you wish
for. Many companies faced the unsettling paradox of having advanced data availability and
analytic techniques that quickly outpaced their ability to absorb and apply the information.

• They were left with sophisticated tools that offered little real value. The belief is that the
third wave of CRM will bring about the ultimate transformation of customer experiences -
not just by strengthening sales and service or even promoting interactions with your
customers – but by creating a series of "intelligent conversations" that build over time into a
long-term, meaningful dialogue.

• In this next evolutionary phase of CRM, information will be exchanged and acted on in real
time. Consumer history will be recorded (and remembered) and the expectations of both
parties will be met. Naturally, not every conversation will be profitable. But the series of
conversations and the on-going knowledge transfer will continue to grow, creating a
memorable and differentiated customer experience, and, in the long run, a profitable
relationship
CHAPTER-3

3.1 ATTRACTION AND RETENTION OF CUSTOMERS:

• To continuously attract and retain the most valuable customers, companies must act
aggressively to increase the economic value of both their brand and customer relationships. In
addition, they must sustain bottom-line performance in the face of skyrocketing marketing
costs. To realize these goals, companies must continue their efforts to maximize their
investments in the sales and service technologies that help reach, understand and interact
intelligently with customers. But they must also extend this traditional scope of CRM to
reach a higher standard of excellence in three distinct disciplines: analytical, creative and
operational marketing.

Figure 3.1 -The revitalization of marketing

Once these improved marketing processes are linked with core CRM capabilities, companies
will be able to drive seamless, consistent and real-time response across marketing, sales and
customer service. The result will be a sustainable process that not only enables lasting
customer relationships but also harnesses that elusive construct superior brand value.
Analytical Marketing

Drives market segmentation and identifies your most profitable customers. Information from
each customer interaction channel is collected, analysed and used to develop predictions of
your individual customer's behaviours. Analytical marketing utilizes those processes and
sophisticated technologies that allow businesses to direct their overall marketing investment
across the brand and customer. In a sense, analytical marketing tools are the "nuts and bolts"
of the marketing engine. Specifically, analytical marketing converts customer data, gathered
at various touch points, into relevant insights that direct market segmentation activities and
feed into more effective campaign design. Through predictive modelling, analytics lead to a
more robust understanding of customers and markets and an improved ability to make
strategic and operational decisions about customer treatment. The ultimate outcome is
increased profitability, based on customer differentiation, and more informed decisions
related to the development of product, pricing, promotion, packaging, and channels. Without
analytics, companies will keep investing in CRM without ever knowing where their money is
having the greatest impact. In short, analytical marketing puts customer insights to work for
the organization and prevents the company from delivering the wrong content to the wrong
person at the wrong time.

Operational Marketing

Relies on customer insight information to personalize interactions, differentiate sales and

service across segments, drive continuous improvement across customer interaction processes
and generate revenue lift. When these marketing disciplines work in tandem with your
existing sales and service capabilities, your entire CRM effort becomes revitalized.
Information becomes dynamic. Insights become powerful barometers of customers' likes and
dislikes. Comprehensive marketing campaigns become targeted and compelling. The result is
a customer base that is pleased with the unique and personalized interactions you provide.
Customer loyalty rises, as does your brand value and, ultimately, your revenue.

Its efforts encompass all the activities of data mining and data warehousing, which
continuously harvest customer information from a variety of contact points. Leveraged by
creative and analytical marketing capabilities, this information is assessed and converted into
meaningful insights that drive on-going, personalized marketing efforts. The goal of
operational marketing is to enable on-going "conversations" within dividable customers
across all channels.
Relationship Marketing

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is developing into a major element of corporate

strategy for many organizations. CRM, also known by other terms such as relationship
marketing and customer management, is concerned with the creation, development and
enhancement of individualized customer relationships with carefully targeted customers and
customer groups resulting in maximizing their total customer life -time value. Industry
leaders are now addressing how to transform their approach to customer management.
Narrow functionally-based

Traditional marketing is being replaced by a new form of cross functional marketing - CRM.
The traditional approach to marketing has been increasingly questioned in recent years. This
approach emphasized management of the key marketing mix elements such as product, price,
promotion and place within the functional context of the marketing department. The new
CRM approach, whilst recognizing these key elements still need to bead dressed, reflects the
need to create an integrated cross-functional focus on marketing -one which emphasises
keeping as well as winning customers. Thus the focus is shifting from customer acquisition to
customer retention and ensuring the appropriate amounts of time, money and managerial
resources are directed at both of these key tasks. The new CRM paradigm reflects a change
from traditional marketing to what is now being described as ‘customer management’. The
adoption of CRM is being fuelled by a recognition that long-term relationships with
customers are one of the most important assets of an organization and that information-
enabled systems must be developed that will give them 'customer ownership'. Successful
customer ownership will create competitive advantage and resulting improved customer
retention and profitability for the company. In many companies there is still confusion as to
what CRM is all about. To some it is about a loyalty scheme, to some it is about a help desk.
To others it is about are national Data base for key account management and for others it is
about mass profiling the customer base without undertaking detailed segmentation. Relatively
few organizations have implemented an integrated approach, which addresses all the key
strategic elements of CRM. Only a small number of businesses have a clear idea what should
be done with information technology in order to successfully implement.
INTEGRATED CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT (ICRM)

• The development of the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) marketing practice has
made more and more people realize the importance of strong customer relationship in
building sustainable competitive advantages in their market competitions and in generating
sustainable profits in the long run. However, the currently popular CRM marketing practice
often produces disappointing outcomes. Surveys after surveys, a surprisingly high rate of
failure have been reported for CRM practices. The failure rate of CRM systems ranges from
50% to over 80%. The major CRM system developers received much lower Customer
Satisfaction scores than companies in other industries did. The more popular this marketing
practice gets the more people who realize that the current CRM practice hardly manages
customer relationship.

• The current CRM practice was originated from a combination of database technologies and
database marketing (analytical techniques), so unavoidably, it inherits database as its only
focus.

• When it gets into the spotlight and becomes a major marketing practice, its inherited
characteristics become its limitations. It incorrectly defines customer purchase and contact
behaviours as customer relationship, restricts its marketing scope within a company's
database and ignores customers’ needs by focusing on purchase correlation in a company’s
database. Any good customer relationship management practice should start by answering the
following 6 critical questions:

1. What is customer relationship?

2. What drives customer relationship?

3. How to measure customer relationship?

4. Which customers should you build relationship with?

5. How to improve customer relationship?

6. How to develop effective customer relationship management strategies?

• However, no existing CRM system is able to answer (or is designed to answer) these
questions. Without clear answers to these critical questions, how could a company know what
customer relationship it needs to manage?

• How could it know if it has a strong relationship with its customers under market
competitions?

• How could it know with which customers it needs to build strong relationship?

• To effectively manage customer relationship, one should follow the following rules:

Rule 1:

Building strong customer relationship should be set as the primary goal of a company’s
marketing practice and all marketing functions should serve to the enhancement of a
company’s customer relationship

Rule 2:

Customer relationship should be defined and constructed based on customer’s basic needs. In
the “Customer Centric” customer relationship management practice, needs construct value
and value determines customer relationship.

Rule 3:

Customer relationship should be measured and improved under market competitions.

Customer relationship is competitive and a company should manage its Competitive
Customer Relationship.

Rule 4:

Customer relationship management practice should not be a sub-function of a company’s IT

department. Customer relationship management should be an INTEGRATED part of a
company’s marketing practices. Integrated Customer Relationship Management (ICRM) is
the latest marketing strategy, which has developed to meet the challenges raised from our
daily marketing consulting services. It is our solution to overcome the limitations of the
current CRM practice. ICRM provides a theoretical framework to define and to construct
customer relationship based on customers’ needs under market competitions. ICRM also
provides a practical guideline of a standard process for effective customer relationship
management. ICRM is based on the very fact that by building a strong customer relationship,
a company can build sustainable competitive advantages in the long run. Therefore, in ICRM
practice, building strong customer relationship is set as the primary goal of a company’s
marketing practices and it requires all marketing functions in a company to serve to the
enhancement of its customer relationship. ICRM puts customer needs in the centre of
marketing practices and defines customer relationship based on Customers basic needs under
market competitions. It integrates all major marketing functions in the process of building
strong customer relationship. ICRM manages Competitive Customer Relationship.

ICRM is a three-domain business system, aligning business processes, technologies, and the
customer life cycle. This business system must integrate sales, service, and marketing
processes as well as the CRM technology environment with the customer. To fully realize the
potential of CRM, business systems must align these three domains in ways that are
predictable, repeatable, and measurable. These systems should be clearly defined, thus
enabling predictable business activities to be automated and leveraged by technology:

1. Customer Engagement

• Marketing Planning and Campaign Management

• Telemarketing and Lead Generation

• Opportunity Management

• Sales Activity and Contact Management Customer Segmentation, Product, and Service
Profiling

• Collaborative Content Management

2. Business Transaction

• Order Acquisition

• Internet Pricing and Configuration

• E-Selling

• Telesales

• Field Sales
• Profitability Analysis

• One Step Buying and Selling

3. Order Fulfilment

• Complete Order Life Cycle Process

• Real-Time Availability

• Checks Contract

• Billing

• Financials Management

• Fulfilment Visibility and Order Tracking

4. Customer Service

• Interaction Centre

• Internet Customer Self-Service

• Service Management

• Claims Management

• Field Service -- Mobile Service

• Field Service -- Dispatch

• Integration of Market place Services

3.2 Customer Life Cycle Patterns

This is where advertising or marketing efforts create initial awareness of the organization or
product offering. The Engage process is fundamentally about "funnel management," or
generating leads and converting them into customers. However, there is a very important
engage activity that may start in the service process: cross-sell/up-sell. What may start as a
service request may end as an engage activity. This discipline falls predominantly into the
domain of CRM, with sales automation and campaign management the principal technology
applications. There are engage activities, including Web-based personalized interactions and
electronic catalogues, which primarily support the e-channel. However, some Engage
functions cross all customer channels.

In the customer engagement phase of the relationship life cycle Customer Relationship
Management supports the following key functional areas:

Marketing Planning and Campaign Management-- Enables complete marketing campaigns,

including content development, audience definition, market segmentation, and
communications

Telemarketing and Lead Generation-- Facilitates customer segmentation, lead qualification,

call list management, and monitoring of campaign progress by using integrated analytical
CRM functionality

Opportunity Management-- Provides sales tracking and sales forecasting; helps plan sales
approaches, identify key decision makers, and estimate potential-to-buy and potential closing
dates

Sales Activity and Contact Management- Organizes daily workloads and customer contact
information for display in calendar application; provides links to Business Intelligence
reporting capabilities

Transact

In the transact process, customers actually purchase the product offering. Related Transact
activities include product and sales configuration, pricing, and order management. Tightly
coupled, bi-directional integration with order management applications is a requisite
technology step in the Transact process pattern to provide a seamless commerce environment,
whatever the channel.

In the business transaction phase of the relationship life cycle Customer Relationship
Management supports the following key functional areas:

Order Acquisition --Enables planning, organizing, and implementation of sales strategy;

monitors sales pipeline, sales portfolio, and sales budget; facilitates coordination of budgets,
forecasts, and reports on product and pricing trends.
Internet Pricing and Configuration-- Delivers online systems that allow users to configure
products online and compare prices across different catalogues and marketplaces; includes
shopping basket functions

E-Selling-- Provides solution for selling products and services via the Internet; covers all
phases of sales cycle, including one-to-one marketing, catalogue browsing, search, order
placement, payment, contract completion, and customer support

Telesales-- Manages inbound and outbound calls; handles high call volumes; provides
efficient user interface; integrates sales information from back-office systems and product
information from online catalogues

Field Sales-- Delivers key customer and prospect information to sales personnel at any place,
at any time; facilitates planning and maintenance of sales activities, such as appointments,
visits, and calls, and provides activity reports; creates quotations and takes orders; includes
support for mobile and wireless devices.

Fulfil- The Fulfil category is where the offering is delivered to the client. This may consist of
a product being physically shipped to the customer, or in the case of an electronic product,
this may simply be an electronic transfer. Fulfilling a service may involve consultants coming
onsite to complete a project, or a utility offering such as telephone phone or electrical service
being turned on.

In the order fulfilment phase of the relationship life cycle Customer Relationship
Management

Complete Order Life Cycle Process-- Provides the ability to track and trace orders at all
points along order management, manufacturing, distribution, and service processes;
proactively notifies customers of changes that affect delivery

Real-time Availability Checks-- Enables allocation of resources in real-time at the front-

end; includes real-time access to inventory levels, production capacity, and lead-time
requirements across the entire supply chain; enables visibility into product and service
delivery dates

Contract, Billing, and Financials Management-- Provides information about customer

contracts, billing status, and accounts; integrates back-office functions
Fulfilment Visibility and Order Tracking-- Enables real-time tracking of order fulfilment;
provides unique, customized and "guided" content for customers; allows sharing of
information with customers via the Internet.

Service- Another process predominantly in the CRM domain, Service is the final stage of the
customer life cycle and typically involves helping the customer work with the product
offering. To do this, the organization must provide support functions ranging from
troubleshooting to replacement. Other Service activities include issue tracking/ resolution,
self-service, and cross-sell/up-sell. CRM technologies supporting this process pattern must
support multiple points of interaction, so customers can use whatever interaction capability
they find most appropriate. The notion of "continuous customer satisfaction" is fulfilled in
this stage as well. The fundamental point here is that when a business interacts with its
customers, customers inherently perceive the business as being able to support these four life
cycle patterns. They also expect this support to be consistent and the flow among the patterns
to be transparent - in other words, they don't even realize it’s happening.

In the customer service phase of the relationship life cycle Customer Relationship
Management supports the following key functional areas:

Interaction Centre-- Provides inbound and outbound call processing, e-mail management,
and activity management to track, monitor, and enhance all customer contact; supports
multiple channels for customer communication, including telephony and Web; integrates
industry-leading front Office call centre applications from Nortel Networks Clarify; provides
certified interfaces to leading computer telephony integration (CTI) solutions.

Internet Customer self-service-- Offers customers and prospects access to information and
customer service functions via Internet; supports effective customer self-service; includes
case-logic system featuring advanced decision support for problem determination and
resolution

Service Management-- Meets varied demands of service management business; handles

customer installations; facilitates simple and complex services; support services carried out at
customer site or in-house repair centre (depot); support involvement of external service
providers; integrates contract management; checks customer warranties when services are
performed; calculates services charges; integrates information from materials management,
cost accounting, billing, and accounts receivable; monitors day-to-day operations; helps
decision makers with strategic management issues

Claims Management -- Facilitates handling of entire claims process

Field Service-(Mobile Service) -- Delivers and tracks customer and accounting information
for field service personnel; provides service planning and forecasting, scheduling, and
dispatching functionality through tight integration with fulfilment systems; includes support
for mobile and wireless devices.

Field Service - (Dispatch) -- Enables rapid allocation of service engineers and materials to
meet incoming service requests

Provides access to a broad range of applications and services hosted on virtual marketplaces.

With you who can provide the strong advocacy for you and your products and services.

Figure 5.1- Customer life cycle stages

CHAPTER- 4

4.1 CRM IMPLEMENTATION

The single most important thing to remember about any enterprise is that results exist only on
the outside. The result of a business is a satisfied customer .Inside an enterprise there are only
costs.”

--Peter F. Drucker, the New Realities T

j STEP V: DEPLOYMENT &

TRAINING

STEP IV: TESTING & QUALITY

ASSURANCE

STEP III: IMPLEMENTATION

STEP II: PROJECT PLANNING

STEP I: NEEDS ANALYSIS

STEPS IN CRM implementation

• STEP I: Needs Analysis

• STEP II: Project Planning

• STEP III: Implementation

• STEP IV: Testing & Quality Assurance

• STEP V:Deployment & Training

STEP I: Needs Analysis

This phase of the implementation consists of reviewing the strategic objectives of the CRM
implementation and gaining management acceptance and commitment to the project. During
this phase you will define the policies and procedures for managing customer interaction.
Authority: Top management

Duration: 12 - 16 hours

Per person Schedule: 15 days

Concerned dept.: Marketing, EDP (IT), finance, HR

STEP II: Project Planning

The implementation plan will be created and finalized during this phase. A system
administrator will be selected, as well as team members from each department, who will
work in conjunction with the vendor or system integrator managing the implementation
process.

Authority: Middle management

Duration: 8 - 12 hours

Per person Schedule: One month

Concerned authority: Marketing, EDP (IT), Customer Support.

STEP III: Implementation

It is during this phase that the software implementation will begin. System configuration and
administration will be completed and customization will be identified. Authority: middle /
lower level mgmt.

Duration: 8 - 12 hours

Per person Schedule: 15 days

Concerned authority: Marketing, EDP (IT), Customer Support, Corporate communication

Software: Oracle, SAP

STEP IV: Testing & Quality Assurance

An operational prototype of the system is up and running at this time. Operational issues are
identified and resolved and basic modifications will be made.

Duration: 12 - 24 hours per person

Authority: lower level management

Schedule: 15 days

STEP V: Deployment & Training

During this phase the CRM system will be completely operational. There are no additional
installation activities. Training will begin for all end users. The system administrator should
provide ongoing support with telephone assistance from the vendor or system integrator.
Duration: 24 - 40 hours

Authority: Middle & lower level managers

Schedule: 8 days Concerned authority: EDP (IT), Marketing, Call center operators, HR.

One of the most important aspects of implementing a customer relationship management

(CRM) system is ensuring that it meets the expectations of a variety of audiences within your
company

More than 65% of CRM projects fail to meet expectations, so all of these concerns are valid.
To make sure failure isn't the outcome of your hard work in building a CRM system, think
through the consequences of the system from every angle. Here are some ways to do just that.
Start with a clean slate, as if you're designing and selecting your first system

Don't try to fit your current system to your new needs. If you do, you'll end up with quick
fixes rather than true solutions. When designing your system, think about what will make the
most difference in your organization. What's missing now? Are you looking for speed, ease
of use or low maintenance costs?

CRM systems track sales contacts and potential sales schedule appointments and calls so they
don't fall through the cracks, keep notes and print out reports. They can also play a part in
product development, targeting the right audience and shortening the sales cycle, and they
can help your salespeople give dynamite presentations. Identify the most important of these
features and priorities for your new system.

Write down exactly what you want your system to do for you

Write your list from the perspectives of everyone affected by the system--salespeople, sales
managers, the CEO and the IT department. Look at your sales processes as well as the
technology.

Take time to put yourself in the shoes of people in your organization

In order to design your new system from the perspectives of everyone affected, you need to
get their input. Live a day in the life of several of your salespeople. Go with them for a whole
day, if possible. Watch them work. Ask questions. Choose at least one sales star, someone
who's been there a long time and one new salesperson. Do the same for your sales managers,
regional managers, CEO, CIO, customer service people and telemarketing people. Ask them
their ideas, and take them seriously. You may want to ask the following questions:

● What do you want the system to do for you that the current one doesn't do?

● What are the top three challenges you face in your work?

● What are the top challenges your customers face?

Be as complete and detailed as you can. Then, after you've made your notes about their
answers, call in your CRM team and compare notes. Only after you and your team have done
your homework can you call in consulting and software companies for sales presentations.
Getting everyone's perspectives is important also because you will be "selling “them the new
system, software, consulting company and your implementation plan at some point. Sales are
a major component in CRM system implementation and project management. Your job is to
sell the system throughout its implementation. A workshop, course or refresher in selling
skills will give you tremendous payoffs as you go ahead with your new CRM system.

Before you speak with them, list the reasons these same people won't want a new system.
What will cause resistance? For example, a new system means change. People are usually
more

Comfortable with the way things currently are, even though they can see in their minds that
there may be better ways to do their work.

Identify the success criteria for the project

Define exactly what the system and the implementation will be measured on. For example,
you might write:

● Do salespeople like and use the system?

● Is management getting the reports they want?

● Are there increased sales? By how much? How will these happen?

● Will there be more calls and more meetings?

Be careful here. "Increased sales" is too vague. To build success into your CRM
implementation, you want to include specific, measurable goals. For example, you could
decide one criterion should be "Sales should increase by XX% one year after
implementation," or "Salespeople should contact twice as many people as they did last year.

4.2 Identify the project killers

List them so you will be more aware if these red flags appear. To carry through with our
example, if salespeople liking and using the system is important, a project killer would be
that the salespeople aren't using the system. There could be other project killers that aren't
part of your success criteria, too: There might be interdepartmental synchronization problems
(i.e., projects not done on time or according to plan).
Once you've designed your "ideal" system on paper, find out how other companies managed
their projects

Learn from their experiences. Look for descriptions of successful projects. Look for
companies in similar businesses or companies that have solved some of the challenges you
want to solve with your system. Call them up and ask questions such as:

● What advice would they give as you start your project?

● What would they have done differently?

● What were their key reasons for selecting the system, software and consulting
company?

● What were they most satisfied with?

Who did they include on their implementation team? Ask to visit and see exactly how their
systems work. Talk about their projects and how hey made their decisions. Ask their advice.

Figure 6.2--What CRM can deliver Business Unit or Functional Benefits?

Unique CRM Benefits

E-CRM

“CRM IS A CORE ELEMENT IN ANY CUSTOMER-CENTRIC E-BUSINESS”“-

ANON

The rules of the game have changed for CRM. Customer demand for increased value, greater
convenience, and more control over products and services, along with heightened pressure
from competitors, have increased customer acquisition costs and decreased customer and
brand loyalty. At the same time, advancements in technology have enabled the cost-effective
distribution of huge amounts of customer data, the delivery of customized products, and the
efficient use of interactive channels. These technology developments are creating major
opportunities to collect and use customer information to gain a better understanding of
customer needs and to strengthen customer relationships. To take advantage of these
opportunities and address the escalating demands of customers, companies are shifting the
focus of their efforts to adopt a customer-centric approach. Product excellence, innovation,
and operational efficiency are still important; however, successful companies are building on
these existing business strengths as they shift their attention to their customers -CRM refers
to the set of activities that enable a firm to utilize the power of the Internet and the electronic
medium to implement CRM. Firms all around the world have realized the potential of the
Internet as a medium for CRM and have been actively pursuing e-CRM strategies.

The following statistics highlight the importance and potential of the e-CRM industry.

● General Motors (GM)

Receives about 100,000 emails from its customers, every day.

According to IDC and Forrester worldwide investment in E-CRM solutions will reach $11
billion to $14 billion annually by 2003. And the payoff is significant.

• Jupiter Communications

Survey of companies who have implemented E-CRM solutions found that, on average,
companies were able to recover their investments in seven months. Even more impressive,
the average return after one year was 300%

● Cisco Systems
Automated customer interactions with its one-to-one website, saving $270 million in annual
operating expenses and significantly reducing the time required to place an order.

● Amazon.com

Was able to achieve a repeat purchase rate of 78%, more than double the industry average, by
building one-to-one relationships with its customers and targeting their individual needs. This
customer loyalty has enabled Amazon to remain a viable e-commerce company at a time
when so many other dot-coms have failed.

● Sears

Demonstrated the cross-channel benefits of E-CRM by increasing Web shoppers' subsequent

offline purchases by 27%.

● The volume of customer related email traffic is so much that almost 42% of the queries
never get answered by the companies.

To achieve positive results like these from their E-CRM efforts, companies must develop a
comprehensive strategy for managing and utilizing customer knowledge. This strategy should
include three key objectives:

Key Aspects of e-CRM

Know Your Customer

Know Your Customer is about understanding your individual customer's value and needs.
This understanding comes only from collecting information that customers provide in their
interactions with your company, and developing a 360-degree view of customer behaviour
across all touch points. As you begin a dialogue with individual customers, you create a
learning relationship with your customers; each interaction becomes an opportunity to build
and extend your relationship with that customer. The more extensive the learning
relationship, the more invested the customer becomes in the relationship and the more
difficult it will be for the customer to switch to a competitor.

Reach Your Customer

Reach Your Customer is about reaching the right customers with the right offer at the right
time through the right channel. Based on your knowledge of each Customer, you are able to
reach specific customers with targeted offers, information, products, and services. You reach
each customer with a personalized message based on his or her needs, behaviours, and value.

Grow Your Customer

Grow Your Customer refers to your company's ability to effectively execute Marketing
strategies based on your knowledge of customer share and customer lifetime value. You must
use scarce investment dollars to target your efforts to your best, most valuable customers.
Increasing the total value of your customer base by retaining and growing your best
customers, is significantly less expensive than trying to generate the same amount of value by
acquiring new customers. Focusing on your best customers requires you to re-examine and
re-allocate total Marketing and sales investments from less profitable customers and the
acquisition of new customers.

A complete e-CRM architecture would comprise of the following components

1. Sales Force Automation (SFA)

2. E-Mail Management System (EMS)

3. Interactive Voice Response (IVR)

4. Knowledge Management (KM)

5. Call Centres

6. Instant online querying through Chat

Managing a full range of customer relationship involves two related objectives

1. Provide the firm and its customer-dealing personnel, a complete singular view of each and
every customer

2. To provide the customer with the same singular uniform level of service in every
interaction with the company through every channel. The above-mentioned proposition can
be illustrated with a simple example. A person dealing with a bank should be able to get the
same level of service whether he contacts the bank through phone, the Internet or in person.
This implies that all details about the person and his past transactions need to be consistent
and available vie-à-vice very channel

3. The above-mentioned proposition can be illustrated with a simple example. A person

dealing with a bank should be able to get the same level of service whether he contacts the
bank through phone, the Internet or in person. This implies that all details about the person
and his past transactions need to be consistent and available vis-à-vise very channel.

4. Additionally, IT is expected to support the selection and implementation of the best

management tools that not only provide an integrated solution, but also leverage prior and
future IT investments. For both IT and Marketing, resource constraints make it critical that
the technology solution enables Marketing to manage its increased responsibilities with
minimal intervention and assistance from IT.
4.3 CRM IN INDIA

“INDIA IS A BIG MARKET FOR CRM” --DAKSH

In India, CRM satisfies three basic objectives for companies that are keen on retaining
customers and increasing market share.

It offers a 360-degree view a company should have a clear understanding of clients and their
needs. It means that whoever the company speaks to, irrespective of whether the
communication is from operations, sales, systems, finance or support, the company is aware
of the interaction.

This is one of the key steps in a CRM implementation. CRM give a complete set of tools that
are required to improve efficiency. There are numerous channels of communication e-mail
(ECRM), fax, telephone, Personal Data Assessments and many other wireless devices. In
order to get a complete picture these must be integrated and tracked.

CRM optimizes processes and functions related to the customer All operations can be
optimized and systematized to enhance efficiency and effectiveness. It is a matter of
continuous improvement. This is why sales force automation became important and critical.
Corporates began to realize that in the face of increasing competition, sales force automation
is critical. The problem lay in convincing the sales guy who believed in his personal abilities.
Sales automation results in more accurate predictions as well. Sales operations have to be
organised to make customer-facing systems efficient and effective.

To learn from integration-The learning process should be focused on bettering marketing,

sales and any other function that interacts with the customer. The interaction will help an
organization to bring out better products that target potential and existing customers. The
whole idea is that if you know your customer better, you can target them better .Their
operations are aimed at getting the right customer and then retaining them by giving them the
service they require. Some customers have preferred channels of communicating. Some
customers may not like to transact

Over the Net and may prefer physical transaction. This varies from customer to customer. All
these differences lead to the importance and need for CRM.
Survey report on Indian CRM market

● The need for improved customer service and high global adoption shall drive the Indian
CRM market

The high cost of implementation and low awareness of benefits is going to prove a major
deterrent .The next two charts indicate the factors our respondents feel will drive acceptance
of CRM in India, and the factors that will hold back acceptance
Acceptance of CRM in INDIA
Observations and Inferences

● A need for improved Customer Service shall be the main driver for Industry sectors that
depend on the quality of their customer interactions to retain existing customers and win new
ones. High Global adoption is likely to drive the MNCs to adopt CRM first in line with
Global implementations.

● While the first hurdle holding back the market is a lack of awareness, respondents have put
high cost of implementation as the main inhibitor. Complete and comprehensive CRM
packages such as those of Siebel and Oracle costing in the range of Rs.1 to 2.5Crores (and
more) are too expensive for most Indian firms. However, with software vendors bringing
down prices and offering relatively affordable packages bundled with integration and
consulting services, this could soon change.

● In the Indian context, lack of customer orientation and poor existing IT infrastructure can
prove major factors.

Firms need to evolve their customer thinking by a significant extent before they accept CRM
as the strategic imperative it is, and internal systems and database management practices need
to be upgraded before CRM software can be used to any effect.

Another major inhibitor indicated by respondents was that Indian firms lack the skills and
strategic vision required to successfully implement CRM.

Factors favourable for CRM in INDIA

In order to meet the growing international demand for cost-effective, customer-interaction

centres, many organizations worldwide are outsourcing these services from locations like
India. India has intrinsic strengths which have made it a major success as an outsourcing
destination for CRM.

● A booming IT industry, with IT strengths recognized all over the world (65% of the CMM
level5 companies are in India).

● The largest English-speaking population after the USA.

● A vast workforce of educated, English-speaking, tech-savvy personnel: A boon in a high-

growth industry faced with a shortage of skilled workers.
● Cost-effective manpower: In a call interaction centre operations, manpower typically
accounts for 55% to 60%of the total cost. In India, the manpower cost is approximately one-
tenth of what it is overseas. Per agent cost in USA is approximately $40,000 while in India it
is only $5,000.

● Technical support: India graduates about 100,000 engineers each year. These can be used
in call centres for troubleshooting/tech support as the salaries are dramatically lower than in
Europe or the US.

● The Government of India has recognized the potential of IT-enabled services and has taken
positive steps by providing numerous incentives like Software Technology Park (STP), under
this scheme Ministry of information and Technology gave 10 year of tax holiday on software
product and subsequent technology required for CRM.

● The presence of most international technology vendors and solutions would enable creation
of most advanced set-ups in this technology- intensive segment.

IT is a major thrust area for the Government of India

● IT is one of the Government of India's top five priorities.

● The National IT Task Force submitted its 108 point Action Plan to promote IT in the
country. The Government of India has approved the plan and is in the process of
implementing it.

● A separate Ministry of Information Technology is set up to expedite swift approval and

implementation of IT projects and to streamline the regulatory process.

● Information Technology Act 2000: The Information Technology Bill that was passed in the
Indian Parliament in May 2000 has now been notified as the IT Act 2000. The IT Bill brings
E-commerce within the purview of law and accords stringent punishments to "cyber
criminals". With this, India joins a select band of 12 nations that have cyber laws.

As India emerges as a global outsourcing hub, the industry is forecast to explode at

exponential rates - from 23,000 people and $ 10 million pa in 1998 to over a million people
and revenues in excess of $ 20 billion by 2008. Pivotal segments are going to be back office
operations, medical transcriptions, insurance claims processing, customer interaction centres
and content development. Current trends suggest that the country is well on course for
achieving the above target.

Some Outsourcing Success Stories of India.

● American Express processes internal financial transactions for all of Asia and employs 600
people - in country finance organization has shrunk by 60%.

● GE Capital employs 10,000 people and is expected to have 20,000 by the end of 2003-04

- Manages global payroll, call centres, mortgage and insurance claims.

- Call centre makes inbound and outbound calls for credit card collections and response to
customer queries.

British Airways employs 750 people to handle an array of back office applications. Strategy
for small Indian companies who find CRM is good, but it’s expensive too…

There is an inherent imbalance in the scheme of things in the world. And this imbalance is
captured very well by 80/20 principle. Ever wondered why you wear only20% of the clothes
80% of the time or why people spend 80% of their time with just 20%of their friends? Or the
more popular example of unequal distribution of income across the world- 20% of the world
population holds 80% of the wealth. This is where 80/20 principle comes to play.

But this rule has extreme relevance in business. Most business would agree that 20% of their
products bring in 80% of the revenues, 80% of the organizations salary budget goes to20% of
the executives, 80% of the quality problems can be assigned to20% of the causes and 20% of
the customers bring in 80% of the revenues.

The 80 and 20 are not a hard and fast set of numbers but the basic idea is to understand the
imbalance between the things and that to your advantage.

80\20 principle
One ready application to this rule is customer relationship management.

Everybody knows how difficult it is to get a new customer than to retain an existing one.
Wireless companies in US are spending more in finding new customers but 40% of their
customers defect every year this has made business extremely difficult for them. Not only do
they have to replace the defected 40% but also add more to show some growth.

Another example of expensive customer service is in the banking industry. Most customers
cost more than the returns on their deposits. Banks are figuring out how to serve their more
valuable customers and retain them and cut the cost of serving the less valuable ones. CRM
deployment is exorbitant and prohibitive for a small company.

The 80/20 principle is a solid start for any company. One look at the customer file would
separate your customers into the most valuable 20% and the other 80%. Most companies do
not understand this imbalance and pay equal attention to every customer.

This way they do disservice to those who deserve most attention and waste excessive
time on less value-adding customer. This is not discrimination against certain set of
customers. It is just proportional distribution of organizational effort. Companies are better
able to retain their customers.

Small companies don’t have resources to invest in CRM solutions and then to maintain
them. What they need is a simple but yet effective ways just to differentiate between their
Values adding so that they know where to concentrate their limited resources and energy.
Identifying the most revenue generating 20% customers would immediately reduce the task
to a more manageable level.

Companies can further know more about what they buy, where they buy, how much
they pay, etc. Based on these answers, companies can then decide on their distribution,
product development and pricing strategies.

Companies consider in advertising and distributing equally to all the market. This has
also created incentive issues with sales people who get assigned to the less valuable 80%
customers. This has helped them to retain their profitable clients. There are standard services
available to the other 80% customers.
 There is no technology investment required for some basic analysis on customer file
which can unravel tons of knowledge about customers. Simple mean and standard deviation
of a normally distributed set of customer data would give important on pricing strategies.

It would seem that big companies already analyse their customer files and use data for
customer service. But that surprisingly not the case. Multi-million dollar companies often fail
to do this simple analysis. But they have money to spend on CRM products.

For small Indian companies who need a simple but effective substitute to CRM
intelligence, the 80/20 principle is the way to go.

Companies should think beyond merely selling products or services to their customers.
They need to play the role of a customer’s consultant, problem solver, coach, motivator and
partner. Every company no matter what it sells, must adopt proven strategies and best
practices to differentiate its selling efforts,

Nowadays, customers are demanding more while paying less for products and services.
All companies are facing new and ambitious competitors. Moreover they are being
challenged unusually to differentiate their products in a “commodity” market.

The relationship between buyers and sellers is constantly changing. Sales personnel
assume that lowering prices is the only way to attract customers. However, what customers
are actually looking for is better value, better solutions to their problems rather than doing
business with the low cost provider. Smart companies must offer competitive prices and
focus more on their value-added services to win and retain customers

“CRM is not only simply about a system it is about serving our customers, and delivering
on what we promise and having a shared vision on what it means having World Class
Customer we promise”

- DETTER

CRM HEAD, SHELL EUROPE

To implement CRM successfully, you'll have to reorganize your customer and change your
organizational mind-set. There are three important criteria. First, it is necessary to have a
good design interface. It has to be easier for a customer to give a company its information and
for the company to capture that information. Second, is to have a good memory. The
company has to remember what the

Customer told them so that they don’t need to ask the customer same question again. And,
third the company has to have the ability to integrate the information into the way it handles
that customer. These three criteria apply both on and off the Web. In the end, it is more than
just

Technology with CRM, one is operating in a different dimension of competition – finding

products and services for customers, as opposed to finding customers for the products and
services the company sells. The technology is crucial, but it’s also important to have
managers with the vision to imagine what this technology enables the enterprise to
accomplish.
V/s

Comparative Study of Shoppers Stop and

Westside
5.1 SERVICE MARKETING

Service marketing is marketing based on relationship and value. It may be used to market a
service or a product. Marketing a service-base business is different from marketing a goods-
base business.

There are several major differences, including:

1. The buyer purchases are intangible

2. The service may be based on the reputation of a single person

3. it’s more difficult to compare the quality of similar services

4. The buyer cannot return the service

The major difference in the education of services marketing versus regular marketing is that
apart from the traditional "4 P's," Product, Price, Place, Promotion, there are three additional
"P's" consisting of People, Physical evidence, and Process. Service marketing also includes
the servicewomen referring to but not limited to the aesthetic appearance of the business from
the outside, the inside, and the general appearance of the employees themselves. Service
Marketing has been relatively gaining ground in the overall spectrum of educational
marketing as developed economies move farther away from industrial importance to service
oriented economies.

Characteristics of a Service:

What exactly are the characteristics of a service? How are services different from a product?
In fact many organisations do have service elements to the product they sell, for example
McDonald’s sell physical products i.e. burgers but consumers are also concerned about the
quality and speed of service, are staff cheerful and welcoming and do they serve with a smile
on their face?

There are five characteristics to a service which will be discussed below.

1. Lack of ownership.

You cannot own and store a service like you can a product. Services are used or hired for a
period of time. For example when buying a ticket to the USA the service lasts maybe 9 hours
each way , but consumers want and expect excellent service for that time. Because you can
measure the duration of the service consumers become more demanding of it.

2. Intangibility

You cannot hold or touch a service unlike a product. In saying that although services are
intangible the experience consumers obtain from the service has an impact on how they will
perceive it. What do consumers perceive from customer service, the location, and the inner
presentation of where they are purchasing the service?

3. Inseparability

Services cannot be separated from the service providers. A product when produced can be
taken away from the producer. However a service is produced at or near the point of
purchase. Take visiting a restaurant, you order your meal, the waiting and delivery of the
meal, the service provided by the waiter/waitress is all apart of the service production process
and is inseparable, the staff in a restaurant are as apart of the process as well as the quality of
food provided.

4. Perishability

Services last a specific time and cannot be stored like a product for later use. If traveling by
train, coach or air the service will only last the duration of the journey. The service is
developed and used almost simultaneously. Again because of this time constraint consumers
demand more

5. Heterogeneity

It is very difficult to make each service experience identical. If traveling by plane the service
quality may differ from the first time you travelled by that airline to the second, because the
air hostess is more or less experienced.

A concert performed by a group on two nights may differ in slight ways because it is very
difficult to standardize every dance move. Generally Systems and procedures are put into
place to make sure the service provided is consistent all the time, training in service
organizations essential for this, however in saying this there will always be subtle differences.
Indian Retail Sector

The Indian Retail Sector has undergone rapid transformation by setting scalable and
profitable retail models across various categories and formats. Traditional markets are
making way for departmental stores, hypermarkets, supermarkets and specialty stores. The
modern malls cater to shopping, entertainment and food, all under one roof. It was estimated
that India will have close to 50 million square feet of quality retail space by the end of 2007.
The growth in mall space has been over ten fold in four years: from about 2 million square
feet in 2002 to 28 million square feet in 2006. The Indian Retail market is estimated to be
worth around Rs. 14,100 billion. The organized retail market has increased its share from 3 %
in 2004 to around 4% in 2006 and is valued at Rs. 511 billion.

Overview of Retailing in India.

★ The Indian Retail market is estimated to be worth around Rs. 14,100 billion. The
organized retail market has increased its share from 3 % in 2004 to around 4 % in 2006 and is
valued at Rs. 511 billion (source: India Retail Report 2007).

★ Food and grocery is estimated to be the largest single block, but the contribution of the
organized sector is at 0.8 %.

★ The clothing, textile and fashion accessories constitute the second largest block where
nearly 17.5% is contributed by the organized sector. Footwear has the highest contribution
from organized retail (36%)
5.2 SHOPPERS STOP

Shopper’s Stop Ltd., has redefined retail in India, taking it to the next level. From being just
the sale of goods to consumers, the company has created a unique aura around retail and
turned it into an experience, an indulgence. The pioneer of organized retail in India,
Shopper’s Stop Ltd., has been Instrumental in bringing about a retail revolution in the country
and has become the highest benchmark for the industry. With its growth plans firmly in place
and undeniable leadership in the field, Shopper’s Stop Ltd., is well on its way to raise the bar
of performance even higher. Shopper’s Stop Ltd. has made this purchase of goods extremely
pleasurable. The stores have redefined shopping by making it more than just a transaction.
The entire shopping process is the coming together of an amazing array of offerings, warm
but unobtrusive service and special privileges and benefits that translate every visit into
customer delight.

Since its inception in 1991, Shopper’s Stop Ltd., which was founded by the K Raheja Corp.
Group (Chandru L Raheja Group), one of the leading players in the country in the business of
real estate development and hotels, has been offering premium and luxury value for the entire
family. Its first store was in Andheri, Mumbai. Shoppers Stop Ltd has been awarded “the Hall
of Fame" and won "the Emerging Market Retailer of the Year Award", by World Retail
Congress at Barcelona, on April 10, 2008. Shoppers Stop is listed on the BSE. With the
launch of the Navi Mumbai departmental store, Shoppers Stop has 27 stores in 12 cities in
India. Shopper’s Stop Ltd. has metamorphosed from being a chain of retail stores to emerging
as a Fashion & Lifestyle destination, which now includes retail concepts such as bookstores,
cafés and high-end lifestyle merchandise for the growing affluent middle class in India.
Today, its name is synonymous with superior quality product, services and above all, an
international shopping experience.

Store:

Shoppers Stop is one of the leading retail stores in India. Shoppers Stop

Began by operating a chain of department stores under the name “Shoppers’ Stop” in India.
Currently Shoppers Stop has twenty seven (27) stores across the country and three stores
under the name Home Stop. Shoppers Stop has also begun operating a number of speciality
stores, namely Crossword Bookstores, Mother care, Brio, Desi Café, Araceli.

Shoppers Stop retails a range of branded apparel and private label under the following
categories of apparel, footwear, fashion jewellery, leather

Products, accessories and home products. These are complemented by cafe, food,
entertainment,

Shoppers Stop launched its e-store with delivery across major cities in India in 2008. The
website retails all the products available at Shoppers Stop stores, including apparel, cosmetics
and accessories.

Products:

Shoppers Stop retails products of domestic and international brands such as Louis Philippe,
Pepe, Arrow, BIBA, Gini & Jony, Carbon, Corelle,

Magpie, Nike, Reebok, LEGO, and Mattel. Shoppers Stop retails merchandise under its own
labels, such as STOP, Kashish, LIFE and Vettorio Fratini, Elliza Donatein, Acropolis etc.
The company also licensees or Austin Reed (London), an international brand, who’s men's
and women’s outerwear are retailed in India exclusively through the chain. In October
merchandise under its own labels, such as STOP, Kashish, LIFE and Vettorio Fratini, Elliza
Donatein, Acropolis etc. The company also licensees for Austin Reed (London), an
international brand, who’s men's and women’s outerwear are retailed in India exclusively
through the chain. In October 2009, Shoppers Stop has bought the license for merchandising
Zoo zoo the brand mascot for Vodafone India.

Marketing:

In April 2008, Shoppers Stop changed its logo and adopted the mantra “Start Something
New" repositioned to bridge to luxury segment and introduced international brands like CK
Jeans, Tommy Hilfiger, FCUK, Mustang, Dior across the stores. The focus of the reposition
was on the service, ambience up gradation and customer connect.

Connect with Youth

Shoppers Stop connects with the youth audience through adopting the communication routes
relevant to youth, up the fashion quotient through merchandising, and create ambience that
connects with the mind-set. The brand campaign addresses environment-related issues in a
youthful, tongue-in-cheek manner. Shoppers Stop as a brand active on social media
marketing platforms with Facebook and Twitter to connect with this audience.

Merchandising

Merchandising opportunities like the launched Zoo zoo merchandise and film merchandise
with Om Shanti Om and Love Aaj Kal.

Sensorial experience

Creating an environment conducive to relax in-between shopping introduced Shoppers Stop

Radio that plays youthful music and Cafe Coffee Day was given the management of the Desi
Cafe and Brio cafes. In order to enhance the level of customer service and gain insight into
new and emerging practices followed internationally, Shopper’s Stop Ltd. is a member of the
Inter Continental Group of Department Stores (IGDS). It is the only Indian member along
with 29 other experienced retailers from all over the world. Leveraging expertise, excellence
and experience, Shopper’s Stop Ltd. has become a benchmark for the Indian retail industry to
follow. Continuing expansion plans, presence across several retail formats and international
offerings will empower Shopper’s Stop Ltd. to meet and exceed the expectations of shoppers
at the micro level and the industry at the macro level. The company’s flagship business of
department stores is manifest in Shoppers’ Stop. A pioneer of organized retail in India,
Shoppers’.
Stop today, is the country’s biggest Department Store Chain. It offers customers an
international shopping environment and a world-class shopping experience through its 20
stores in 11 cities. It houses a host of international and domestic brands across categories
such as apparel, accessories, cosmetics, home & kitchenware as also its own private brands.
Shoppers‟ Stop offers a wide range of brands (more than 400 brands) for the entire family to
choose from. Exclusive and established brands share shelf space to offer an array of choices
customers across all ages, tastes and occasions.

SWOT OF SHOPPERS STOP

Strengths

★ Variety

★ Range

★ Different Brands

★ Low risk

★ Good financial position

★ Presence across various segments

Weakness

★ Very high prices

★ Less Schemes

★ Less Discounts

★ Competition from standalone stores

Opportunities

★ Awareness about the brand

★ Quality

★ Youngsters

★ Collaborate
★ Private levels

★ Enter

Threats

★ Government Policies

★ Entrance of New Players

★ High attrition

★ Lesser consumer spending

★ Entry of foreign players

★ Unorganized sector
5.3 WESTSIDE

Style, affordable prices, quality these are the factors that have shaped Westside's success
story in the retail fashion stores business. Launched in 1998 in Bangalore, the Westside chain
has, ever since, been setting the standards for other fashion retailers to follow.

Established in 1998 as part of the Tata Group, Trent Ltd. operates Westside, one of India's
largest and fastest growing chains of retail stores. The Westside stores have numerous
departments to meet the varied shopping needs of customers. These include Menswear,
Women’s wear, Kid’s wear, Footwear, Cosmetics, Perfumes and Handbags, Household
Accessories, lingerie, and Gifts. The company has already established 36 Westside
departmental stores (measuring 15,000-30,000 square feet each) in Ahmedabad, Bangalore,
Chennai, Delhi, Gurgaon, Ghaziabad & Noida (to be considered as 1 city), Hyderabad,
Indore, Jaipur, Kolkata, Ludhiana, Lucknow, Mumbai, Mysore, Nagpur, Pune, Rajkot, Surat,
Vadodara and Jammu. The company hopes to expand rapidly with similar format stores

That offers a fine balance between style and price retailing

Trent ventured into the hypermarket business in 2004 with Star Bazaar, providing an ample
assortment of products made available at the lowest prices, aptly exemplifying its ‘Chota
Budget, Lambi Shopping’ motto. At present Star Bazaar has 4 stores in 3 cities located in
Ahmedabad, Mumbai and Bangalore. This store offers customers an eclectic array of
products that include staple foods, beverages, health and beauty products, vegetables, fruits,
dairy circa 1998 when The Tata’s acquired Little woods – a London based retail chain. This
acquisition was followed by the establishment of Trent Ltd (a Tata enterprise that presently
operates Westside). Littlewoods was subsequently renamed Westside.

In addition, Trent acquired a 76% stake in Landmark, one of the largest books & music retail
chains in the country. Landmark began operations in 1987 with its first store in Chennai with
a floor space of 5500 sq. ft.
At present Landmark have 12 big stores , 7 hotel bookstores and 4 Airport stores, varying in
size from 12,000 sq. ft. to 45,000 sq. ft. in Chennai, Bengaluru, Gurgaon, Mumbai, Vadodara,
Gurgaon, Pune, Lucknow , Ahmedabad and Hyderabad. Until 1996, Landmark’s product
portfolio comprised books, stationery, and greeting cards. It was later that music was added
to it. Landmark also sparked the trend of stocking curios, toys and other gift items. What
separates Landmark from other stores of its kind is the range and depth of its stock.

In a rapidly evolving retail scenario, Westside has carved a niche for its brand of merchandise
creating a loyal following. Currently, the company has 36 Westside stores measuring 15,000-
30,000 square feet each across 20 cities. With a variety of designs and styles, everything at
Westside is exclusively designed and the merchandise ranges from stylized clothes, footwear
and accessories for men, women and children to well-co-

Coordinated table linens, artefacts, home accessories and furnishings. Well-designed

interiors, sprawling space, prime locations and coffee shops enhance the customers’ shopping
experience.

Westside has garnered numerous accolades

* Balanced Scorecard Hall of Fame

* India Brand Summit – Brand Leadership Retail

* IFA Visionary of the Year Award, 2002 – Mrs Simone N. Tata

* Most Admired Large Format Retail Chain of the Year – Lycra Images Fashion Awards
2005.

* NDTV Profit Business Leadership Awards 2006 - Retail Category

Aiding the community:

Light a Diya, Help a Child – Purchase a Diya and light it at Westside during

The Diwali Promotion Funds collected are donated to NGOs to help bringing smiles to the
faces of underprivileged children.

Angels Tree – Purchase a “Silver Star” or a “Gold Star” during Christmas

Promotion, and decorate their Angels Tree. The money collected donated to various NGOs
across the country working with underprivileged children.

SWOT OF WESTSIDE:

Strengths

★Growing at the faster pace

★Brand name of TATA’s.

★Good customer base.

★Apparels are cheaper

★Attractive promotional schemes and heavy discounts ★Location advantage

Weakness

★ Not much product range for middle class

★ Need some concessions from labour laws

★Lack of differentiation

★Poor inventory turns and stock availability

Opportunities

★Huge untapped market

★Urbanization

Threats
★Competition from organized retail players

★Competition from local retailers.

 THE DIFFRENTIATION BETWEEN WESTSIDE AND SHOPPERS
STOP

WESTSIDE SHOPPERS STOP

• Style, affordable prices, quality these are the • Shoppers Stop is one of the leading retail
factors that have shaped Westside's stores in India. Shoppers Stop began by
operating
• India's largest and fastest growing chains of
retail stores. • A chain of department stores under the name
“Shoppers’ Stop” in India.
• The Westside stores have numerous
departments to meet the varied shopping • Currently Shoppers Stop has twenty seven
(27) stores across the country and three stores
• Needs of customers. These include
Menswear, Women’s wear, Kid’s wear, • Under the name Home Stop.
Footwear,
• Shoppers Stop has also begun operating a
• Cosmetics, Perfumes and Handbags, number of speciality stores, namely
Household Accessories, lingerie, and Gifts. Crossword, Bookstores, Mother care, Brio,
Desi Café, Arcelia.
• The company has already established 36
Westside • Shoppers Stop retails a range of branded
departmental stores (measuring apparel and private label under the following
15,000-30,000 square feet each) in categories of apparel, footwear, fashion
Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, jewellery, leather products, accessories and
home products.
• Gurgaon, Ghaziabad & Noida (to be
considered as 1 city), Hyderabad, Indore, • These are complemented by cafe, food,
Jaipur, entertainment,
personal care and various beauty related
• Kolkata, Ludhiana, Lucknow, Mumbai, services.
Mysore, Nagpur, Pune, Rajkot, Surat, • Shoppers Stop launched its e-store with
Vadodara and Jammu. delivery across major cities in India.

• The company hopes to expand rapidly with • The website retails all the products available
similar format stores that offer a fine at Shoppers Stop stores, including apparel,
balance between style and price retailing cosmetics and accessories.
The following comparative study has been done between Shoppers Stop
Inorbit mall and Westside Infinity mall 2.

Comparison between Shoppers stop and Westside:

The following comparison on shoppers stop and Westside is based on personal perception
after having a direct shopping experience in both the retail chains. The following table
outlays a few similarities and dissimilarities between the two. Both the retail chain their own
in private label brands but Westside is more into promoting and selling its own brand
whereas shoppers stop as lot of other brands apart from its own private one.

Westside has the following

Club west card program an assured return-and-exchange policy reinforces customer

confidence in the chain. Another winning Westside idea is Club West, a customer loyalty
program launched in May 2001. The 30,000-plus members of this club get rebates at
restaurants and on holiday packages from the Taj Group of Hotels, home delivery of
alterations, and best of all, special shopping hours on the first day of any discount sales event
organized by the chain.
SERVICES:

Pre-purchase services include accepting telephone & mail orders, advertising, window &
interior display, fitting rooms, fashion shows. It provides post purchase service including
shipping & delivery, gift wrapping, adjustments & returns, alteration & tailoring It also
provides ancillary services including general information, check cashing, parking,
restaurants, repairs, interior decorating, credit etc. Shoppers stop has a separate exchange
counter which is not properly visible which is done purposefully to hide it from the normal
customers. The billing counter and the waiting line model in Westside are comparatively
slower than in shoppers stop. Hence though being two popular retail chains there are many
aspects in which they are differ. The difference is basically because their targets are different
through the format is the same.
CHAPTER-6

ANALYSIS OF STUDY

• I had conducted a survey comprising of 18 questions on a comparative study Shoppers stop

and Westside and on CRM

• My sample size was 60 respondents.

• There was no age group for the same, but my average age of the respondent was 50 years.

The result has been concluded on the basis of different rates given by the customers to the
services both the retail shops on the scale of 1-10.

HYPOTHESIS TESTING:

NULL HYPOTHESIS:

• Shoppers stop has better customer amenities as compared to Westside

• Shoppers stop has better pricing as compared to Westside

• Shoppers stop has better buying behaviour than Westside

Comparative study of Shoppers Stop and Westside according to our observation:

Parking: facility:

Shoppers stop has good parking facilities in comparison to Westside and also through our
survey it can be concluded that customers are happier with the parking facility of Shoppers
Stop than Westside.

Outside appeal:

In terms of outside appeal that is facades windows etc. definitely Westside scores higher than
Shoppers Stop.

Sales Personnel:

Sales personnel of Shoppers Stop seemed more attentive and friendly to us than Westside.
Moving Space and arrangements:

There is lots of space for moving in Westside in compare to Shoppers Stop.

Moving space in Shoppers Stop seemed little congested. But the arrangements seemed more
organized in Shoppers Stop than Westside. Different brands had different section for
customers convenience whereas in Westside it was not so.

Billing counters and trial rooms:

There is equal number of billing counters and trial rooms in both the retail shops but the
billing system is fast in Shoppers Stop in comparison to Westside. In Westside you have to
wait more for payment of bill than in Shoppers Stop.

Ease of location of desired category:

In Shoppers Stop it is much easier to locate desired category as each category is separated
floor wise. The retail layout of Westside is free form layout wherein the fixtures and the
aisles are arranged asymmetrically. Merchandise in clustered like the accessories and the
women section are clubbed together for ease of shopping there are two main divisions:

a) Products – household items, gifts etc. b) Apparel – kids wear, women wear, men’s wear
etc. Whereas in shoppers stop it’s more organized and arranged. It’s not free form but every
category is departmentalized like men formal wear has different section and casual wear is
different.

Range of garment and accessories:

Range of garments and accessories are much more in Shoppers Stop than Westside. In
Shoppers Stop you can find wide varieties of brands and accessories but Westside deals
mainly with their brand that is Westside and accessories are also limited.

Products:

As mentioned before the product quality in shoppers stop is higher than Westside. The
variety and assortment is pretty good in shoppers stop. The range of products available is too
good be it apparel or home furnishing or accessories and that’s customers drive in especially
to shoppers stop and hence it has been able to succeed in standalone stores whereas Westside
usually is in a mall.
In Store advertisements:

In Shoppers Stop frequently you can hear ads and offers through speakers.

But this was less in case of Westside.

Kids toys:

There is more variety of toys in Shoppers Stop than in Westside.

Restroom:

Each floor of Shoppers Stop contains at least one rest room but that could not spot in
Westside, though Westside had sitting arrangements for their customers in each floor which
was not there in case of Shoppers Stop.

Service Desk:

Both Shoppers Stop and Westside have at least one service desk in their retail shops.
Comparative Study between Shoppers Stop and Westside on the basis of
survey conducted:

According to the survey

• 36.7% of the people agree with “Westside” which is the red coloured area

• 63.3% of the people agree with “Shoppers stop” which is the blue coloured area

According to the survey

• 40% of the people agree with “Westside” which is the red coloured area

• 60% of the people agree with “Shoppers shop” which is the blue coloured area
According to the survey

• 65% of the people agree with “Yes” which is the blue coloured area

• 8.3% of the people agree with “No” which is the red coloured area

• 21.7% of the people agree with “Maybe” which is the orange coloured area

According to the survey

• 45% of the people agree with “Westside” which is the red coloured area

• 55% of the people agree with “Shoppers shop” which is the blue coloured area
According to the survey

• 43.3% of the people agree with “Extremely useful” which is the blue coloured area

• 40% of the people agree with “Very useful” which is the red coloured area

• 10% of the people agree with “Moderately useful” which is the orange coloured area

• 1.7% of the people agree with “Slightly useful” which is the green coloured area

• 5% of the people agree with “Not at all useful” which is the purple coloured area

According to the survey

• 43.3% of the people agree with “Quite yes” which is the red coloured area

• 43.3% of the people agree with “Extremely yes” which is the blue coloured area

• 8.3% of the people agree with “Quite no” which is the orange coloured area

• 5% of the people agree with “Extremely no” which is the green coloured area

According to the survey

• 46.7% of the people agree with “Westside” which is the red coloured area

• 53.3% of the people agree with “Shoppers stop” which is the blue coloured area
According to the survey

• 43.3% of the people agree with “Westside” which is the red coloured area

• 56.7% of the people agree with “Shoppers stop” which is the blue coloured area

According to the survey

• 41.7% of the people agree with “Westside” which is the red coloured area

• 58.3% of the people agree with “Shoppers stop” which is the blue coloured area
According to the survey

• 48.3% of the people agree with “Westside” which is the red coloured area

• 51.7% of the people agree with “Shoppers stop” which is the blue coloured area

According to the survey

• 38.3% of the people agree with “Westside” which is the red coloured area

• 61.7% of the people agree with “Shoppers stop” which is the blue coloured area
According to the survey

• 40% of the people agree with “Westside” which is the red coloured area

• 60% of the people agree with “Shoppers stop” which is the blue coloured area

According to the survey

• 50% of the people agree with “Westside” which is the red coloured area

• 50% of the people agree with “Shoppers stop” which is the blue coloured area
According to the survey

• 40% of the people agree with “Westside” which is the red coloured area

• 60% of the people agree with “Shoppers stop” which is the blue coloured area

According to the survey

• 40% of the people agree with “Westside” which is the red coloured area

• 60% of the people agree with “Shoppers stop” which is the blue coloured area
According to the survey

• 36.7% of the people agree with “Westside” which is the red coloured area

• 63.3% of the people agree with “Shoppers stop” which is the blue coloured area

According to the survey

• 50% of the people agree with “Westside” which is the red coloured area

• 50% of the people agree with “Shoppers stop” which is the blue coloured area
According to the survey

• 45% of the people agree with “Westside” which is the red coloured area

• 55% of the people agree with “Shoppers stop” which is the blue coloured area
CHAPTER -7
7.1 Conclusion, Recommendations and Suggestions
• After the survey we can conclude that CRM is needed in every walk of life of a business.

• As we all know that the Customer is the king, a system to maintain such customer base is
very important.

• We can conclude saying there is always a difference in opinions of various people regarding
any topic so coming to a common consensus is a bit difficult.
8.1- ANNEXURE
CRM of Shoppers stop v/s Westside
Customer relationship management survey form

* Required

1. Who has the better customer service? *

 Shoppers stop
 Westside

2. Who has better parking facilities? *

 shoppers stop
 Westside

3. Do you think Customer Relationship Management (CRM) plays an important role? *

 Yes
 No
 Maybe

4. Who has better trail-room facilities? *

 Shoppers stop
 Westside

5. How useful is CRM from business performance perspective? *

 Extremely useful
 Very useful
 Moderately useful
 Slightly useful
 Not at all useful

6. If you had a store, would you say that the CRM systems solved your problems or
make you understand your customers and improve your overall business
performance? *
 Extremely yes
 Quite yes
 Quite no
 Extremely no

7. Who of them has good range of garments? *

 Shoppers stop
 Westside

8. Which of them has Ease of Location of desired category? *

 Shoppers stop
 Westside

9. Better Membership Facilities? *

 Shoppers stop
 Westside

10. Which of them Entertain queries in a proper manner? *

 Shoppers stop
 Westside

11. Which of them give a special treatment to regular customers? *

 Shoppers stop
 Westside

12. Which store often informs you about the new services/changes in the services on
time? *
 Shoppers stop
 Westside

13. Better infrastructure facilities? *

 Shoppers stop
 Westside

14. Which of them give attractive offer/ discounts? *

 Shoppers stop
 Westside

15. Which of them has ease of alterations/exchange facilities? *

 Shoppers stop
 Westside

16. Which of them provide full/better information to the customers? *

 Shoppers stop
 Westside
17. Which of them is good at maintaining relations with their customers through their
services? *
 Shopper stop
 Westside

18. In all which is your favourite store? *

 Shoppers stop
 Westside
.

Bibliography

• www.wikipedia.oeg

• www.quora.com

• www.crmmaster.com

• www.timessquare.com

• www.shoppersstop.com

• www.mywestside.com

• Strategies in CRM - Philip Kotler

• AMA (American Marketing Association)