A PROJECT ON

Customer Relationship Management in Future Group

Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirement for the award of degree of

Master of Business Administration (MBA) To Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak

Supervised by: Ms. Poonam Sharma

Faculty Amity Business School, Manesar

Submitted by:
Mohit Dhiman Roll No-2821 MBA (4th Sem.)

AMITY BUSINESS SCHOOL, MANESAR

(2007-2009)

DECLARATION
I, MOHIT DHIMAN, ROLL NO. 2821 ,MBA(4th Semester) of AMITY BUSINESS SCHOOL,MANESAR hereby declare that the project report entitled, Customer Relationship Management in Future Group, is an original work & the same has not been submitted to any other institute for the award of any other degree. The interim report was presented to the supervisor on ________ and the pre-submission presentation was made on__________ . The feasible suggestions have been duly incorporated in consultation with the supervisor.

Countersigned

Signature of the Supervisor

Signature of the Candidate

Countersigned Director of the Institute

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

A project starts with an objective but it is accomplished only with enormous efforts and tremendous support and guidance. The project would be incomplete without mentioning the names of the guiding stars. I am really grateful to Dr R C Sharma, Professor and Advisor, Amity Business School, Manesar in this regard.

I also express my heartfelt gratitude to Ms Poonam Sharma, Faculty, Amity Business School, Manesar, and my project guide for lending a helping hand and intimate cooperation at every stage of this project, without this work would not have got this shape.

I am extremely grateful to Col. Anil Gulati, Head, Amity Corporate Resource Center, ABSM for his constant encouragement, guidance and wise counsel.

Mohit Dhiman

Table of Contents
Declaration Acknowledgement Chapter -1

Introduction of the study Significance of the study Conceptualization Focus of the study Objectives of the study Limitations of the study

Chapter -2 Review of Literature Research Methodology

Chapter -3 Industry Profile Company profile

Chapter -4 Analysis and Interpretation

Chapter-5

Findings Suggestions and Recommendations Conclusions

Bibliography Annexure

CHAPTER- 1

INTRODUCTION OF THE STUDY

Today the Indian Retail industry is evolving at a fast pace. Retailing involves selling products and services to consumers for their individual or family use. As the final link between consumers and manufacturers, retailers are a vital part of the business world. Retailers add value to products by making it easier for manufacturers to sell and consumers to buy. In general, the longer the customer stays with a firm, the more he or she is worth. Long term customers buy more, take less of a firms time, are less price sensitive, and bring in new shoppers. Best of all there is no acquisition cost. Many retailers realize loyal customers are the backbone of a business. As a result retailers have to stop thinking in terms of customers being loyal to the store and concentrate on the

retailer being loyal to the customer . CRM stands for Customer Relationship Management. Customer Relationship Management, or CRM, is the combination of processes, software, principles and strategies for achieving effective customer relationship management. CRM is not only the use of software technology but also the employment of business strategies to provide businesses with a smart way to understand the dynamic needs of their customers and to respond to those changes promptly.CRM is a combination
of policies, processes, and strategies implemented by a company that unify its customer interaction and provides a mechanism for tracking customer information.

CRM helps businesses use technology and human resources to gain insight into the behavior of customers and the value of those customers. It is an information technology term for the methodologies, processes, software, and interconnected capabilities that help to run business effectively and efficiently manage customer relationships. CRM implies that everyone in the

organization is focused on satisfying the customer. It costs five times more to acquire a new customer than to retain one. Customer relationship management, which is essentially directed towards maximizing profitability, by adopting customer centric strategies, helps organization to differentiate themselves amongst its peers. CRM is the sum total of all the employed methodologies encompassing all the functions of business including sales, marketing, human resource management, customer service etc. It is instrumental in coagulating consumer's loyalty, reducing overall costs, increasing revenue, improved cross-selling opportunities and streamlining inter-related business process by having a holistic approach.

Retail Industry is one of the oldest industries from the last many centuries. Retailers perform the task of middlemen and serving the ultimate consumer from barter economy to the new technological economy. They have undergone great deal of change. With the emergence of department stores and supermarkets, which bring one stall shopping convenience; retailers now require their own marketing strategies. Retailing in India is gradually inching its way toward becoming the next boom industry. The whole concept of shopping has got altered in terms of formats and consumer buying behavior, ushering in a revolution in shopping in India. Modern Retail has entered India as seen in sprawling shopping centre, multi-stored malls and huge complexes offer shopping, food and entertainment, all less than in one roof. The Indian Retailing sector is at an inflexion point where

the growth of organized retailing and the growth in the consumption by the Indian population are going to take a higher growth trajectory. The Indian Population is witnessing a significant change in its demographics. CRM integrated approach is highly successful in retail area all over the world. CRM is a very useful tool to track the customer preferences, changing habits, buying patterns and savings etc. so as to capitalize on the new emerging situation and get maximum benefits out of it. The rationale of using CRM suggests that retailers can increase their profitability by building relationship with their customers. The goal is to develop a base of loyal customers who patronize the retailer frequently. With the huge investment made by department stores and supermarkets, they require to increase the in-store traffic and later on converting them into customer. With the coming up of many department stores the extra marketing effort is need to be heard in the crowd. Customer too now a days wants discount, freebies, rewards for their purchases.

Significance of the Study

Success of every business depends upon how good a relationship it has with customers. This basic fact has catapulted the concept of customer relationship management to the forefront of many businesses' strategic planning. With increasing competition, companies are forced to deploy new strategies and think over the old ones. The dimension of business has changed over the years. In earlier times, customers did not have many choices and they had to choose whatever companies use to offer. But now-a-days, the number of products has increased and there is not much difference in the quality of same category products offered by companies. Customers being the king today, it becomes quite easier for them to look for other options in case they are not satisfied with the services offered. Opening up of the retail sector and the continuous development in this have lead to a number of global companies taking stakes. They are bringing with them capital, technology, and management skills and new marketing strategies. This has lead to an increase in the competitive spirit in the industry and focus has been shifted to enhance the efficiencies and offering the product to the customer in best manner. In view of the above, the present study entitled, Customer Relationship Management in Future group in Pantaloon and Big bazaar etc. evaluate losing profitable customers can dramatically affect a firms profits. The cost of attracting a new customer is estimated to five times the cost of keeping a current customer happy. The key to retaining customer is relationship marketing. The project is significant to the researcher because being a management student it gives the opportunity to utilize and put into practice the theoretical knowledge gained from studies to the practical perspective .And it is significant for researchers for further study. In this manner this study is significant in all manners.

Conceptualization
The Indian retailing sector is at an inflexion point where the growth of organized retailing and the growth trajectory. The Indian population is witnessing a significant change in its demographics. A large young working population with median age of 24 years, nuclear families in urban areas, along with increasing working women population and emerging opportunities in the services sector are going to be the key growth drivers of the organized retail sector in India. 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. CRM is a business philosophy based on upon individual customers and customised products and services supported by open lines of communication and feedback from the participating firms that mutually benefit both buying and selling organisations. The buying and selling firms enter into a learning relationship, with the customer being willing to collaborate with the seller and grow as a loyal customer. In return,, the seller works to maximize the value of the relationship for the customers benefit. The whole process in marketing today is considering, customer as a determinant factor. The concept of marketing holds the key to achieving organizational goals consists of the company being more effective than competitors in creating, delivering and communicating customer value to its chosen target market. The role of the customers is an important aspect in the corporate sector. All the activities of the business firms are customer-centric. From the production to selling, thus, in marketing, understanding customer needs and demands, customer satisfaction, customer retention are the priorities of a firm. The retailers maintain good customer relationship for sustaining continuous growth in the competitive market. The term CRM becomes the buzzword in retailing. CRM is, the infrastructure that enables the delineation of and increase in customer value, and the correct means by which to motivate valuable customers to remain loyalto buy again.

CRM emphasizes on serving existing customer in a more desirable way than to attract new customer. Because it is assumed that creating a new customer is expensive and time consuming than converting a present customer into a loyal one. The retailers try to develop good relationship with the existing customers through understanding properly their needs and expectations. Retailing is a service driven sector; and retail marketing has focused on the aspiration of the achievement of store loyalty among its customers. Along with this, the retailer takes into consideration various value added criteria of consumers store choice too. Thus retaining and gaining customer loyalty, the retailers use CRM as a tool to excel in this field. The customer retention and the customer loyalty can be achieved by providing quality product, satisfactory customer service, attractive shopping ambience, instant problem solving and by making customer shopping activities more convenient and comfortable. The role played by various tools of CRM in retail marketing has intensified the service quality and variety of retail firms in India. The renovation in existing shops and the advent of various department stores, supermarkets, shopping malls and specialty stores have given a fillip to the retail development. The whole process in marketing today is considering, customer as a determinant factor. The concept of marketing holds the key to achieving organizational goals consists of the company being more effective than competitors in creating, delivering and communicating customer value to its chosen target market. The role of the customers is an important aspect in the corporate sector. All the activities of the business firms are customer-centric. From the production to selling, thus, in marketing, understanding customer needs and demands, customer satisfaction, customer retention are the priorities of a firm. The retailers maintain good customer relationship for sustaining continuous growth in the competitive market. The term CRM becomes the buzzword in retailing. CRM is, the infrastructure that enables the delineation of and increase in customer value, and the correct means by which to motivate valuable customers to remain loyalto buy again. CRM emphasizes on serving existing customer in a more desirable way than to attract new customer. Because it is assumed that creating a new customer is expensive and time consuming than converting a present customer into a loyal one.

The retailers try to develop good relationship with the existing customers through understanding properly their needs and expectations. Retailing is a service driven sector; and retail marketing has focused on the aspiration of the achievement of store loyalty among its customers. Along with this, the retailer takes into consideration various value added criteria of consumers store choice too. Thus retaining and gaining customer loyalty, the retailers use CRM as a tool to excel in this field. The customer retention and the customer loyalty can be achieved by providing quality product, satisfactory customer service, attractive shopping ambience, instant problem solving and by making customer shopping activities more convenient and comfortable. The role played by various tools of CRM in retail marketing has intensified the service quality and variety of retail firms in India. The renovation in existing shops and the advent of various department stores, supermarkets, shopping malls and specialty stores have given a fillip to the retail development.

CUSTOMER REACTION:Customer Expectations of services from retail stores

Received services from the store

Received service from the store

Positive attitude

Negative attitude

Satisfaction

Dissatisfaction

Repeat purchase Stop Purchasing Store loyalty

Stages in the development of a Customer Relationship

The Pre-relationship Stage: The event that triggers a buyer to seek a new business partner. The Early Stage: Experience is accumulated between the buyer and seller although a great degree of uncertainty and distance exists.

The Development Stage: Increased levels of transactions lead to a higher degree of commitment and the distance is reduced to a social exchange. The Long-term Stage: Characterised by the companies mutual importance to each other. The Final Stage: The interaction between the companies becomes institutionalized.

These major points should be considered when evaluating CRM technology:1. Company Goals 2. Company Strategies 3. Web based client side or hosted 4. Scalability 5. Room to Grow 6. Rapid Development Attainable 7. Customizable 8. Integrates with existing systems 9. Vendors Reputation 10. Product Reliability 11. User Interface how easy 12. Functionality

Benefits of CRM in Future Group

The benefits of CRM :

Increased customer loyalty to the organization. Improved customer feedback channels and data.

Faster response to customer inquiries in the manner preferred by the customer (email, snail mail, telephone, interactive voice response, Internet chat, etc.)

Greater Knowledge of customer preferences and habits. Improved marketing and cross-selling effectiveness. Improved ability to identify and provide the best service to the most profitable customers. Increased business productivity through automation.

The present study is thus an attempt to review the significance of CRM practices in Future Group in Gurgaon region, which accounts for more than 40% growth of malls in this region in the coming times. The future is going to be very competitive for the organized retail sector and thus the one who would treat the customer as the king . Thereby utilizing CRM approach to its best is the need of the hour. This research is an attempt to have an insight into existing CRM programs of the Future Group owners in question and suggest the necessary perquisites and a total framework of CRM, as an imperative marketing move. According to a survey 60% of the customer would like to patronize a store, which treated them as favorite shoppers.

FOCUS OF THE STUDY

Present study entitled; Customer Relationship Management in Future Group is focused on an attempt to review the significance of CRM practices in future group. The present study focuses on meeting the individual needs of the valued customers. The skill requires building a customer database and doing data mining to detect trends, segments, and individual needs.

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

To study CRM processes which are necessary to understand the customer in Big

Bazaar, pantaloon and central mall. To analyze various services provided to retain and attract the customers. To study the grievance handling procedure adopted in the future group. To suggest ways how to build relationship with customers through effective CRM tools

LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

Survey is based only on limited locations. The information collected through the questionnaire was influenced by the willingness of the respondents to respond. Foremost of all the constraints is the limited time. So the study will be the results of whatever efforts could be put in within the time limit. Lack of reliability is always associated with secondary source of data.

CHAPTER -2

Review of Literature

Marketer have realized that, to achieve success, businesses need to have the appropriate measurement systems and marketing metrics in place to ensure that they are effective in terms of their use of customer-focused resources. Over the past two decades businesses have developed sophisticated approaches to measurement in other functional activities within their business- in Operations, Finance, IT and Human Resources. However, the marketing function may be the last bastion of inadequate and inappropriate metrics. Lord Leaver Hume is reputed to have said, Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted-the trouble is I never know which half it is. This approach to marketing is not acceptable. A Literature review surveys scholarly articles, books and other sources (e.g. dissertations, conference proceedings) relevant to a particularly issue, area of research, or theory, providing a description, summary, and critical evaluation of each work, thereby it enables us o understand the trends and provides directions to proposed study. Here are some of the views and researchers conducted on the proposed study: Chen Qimei, Chen Hong-Mei(2001).Exploring the success factors of CRM strategies in practice. He tries to find such success factors, that explains if the CRM will survive or not by

exploring the current adoption practices in eCRM implementations. The main point is to find out the Critical Success Factors (CSFs) of CRM from the managers point of view. By utilizing the concept of net benefit IS Success Model it aims to help to understand what net benefits companies have realised in practice of CRM implementation. Jochen Sengpiehl of BBDO Consulting(2001), companies can integrate one or more of the five strategies elements or modules as part of their CRM strategy: 1. Relationship marketing 2. Customer Relationship Centre 3. Dealer [Channel] Integration 4. Database Management 5. e-CRM

Cunningham Colleen, Song Il-Yeol, Chen Peter P. (2006). Data Warehouse Design to Support Customer Relationship Management Analyses. A long-term study to examine CRM factors that affect design decisions for CRM data warehouses and on the ground of it to build taxonomy of CRM analyses. A multidimensional model, which is built in this research, supports CRM analysis and consists of a profitability fact table, a future fact table, a customer service fact table and various dimensions. The model is then tested with an experiment using the following hypothesis as a base: the proposed data warehouse starter model has a positive impact on the ability to perform CRM analysis. Two new measures are introduced: percent success ratio and CRM suitability ratio. Then a case study using data from a manufacturing company is used to validate the proposed model. A series of CRM queries are executed against the proposed data warehouse schema and a success rate of the schema are computed. The queries are selected by random sampling. The taxonomy of this paper would serve as a guideline for companies in the selection and evaluation of CRM data warehouses and related technologies. The proposed CRM data warehouse model can be used to perform various CRM profitability analyses. It can also analyze both trends and overall lifetime value of customers, markets, channels and products. And

the results of the model are easy for the user to understand. By utilizing a data warehouse, companies can make decisions about customer-specific strategies. Van Bentum Ralph, Stone Merlin (2005). Customer relationship management and the impact of corporate culture A European study is to find out if there is a dependency between CRM implementation and culture. A model was created on the basis of a literature review and the following hypothesis were tested:H1: the higher the solidarity index the higher the customer orientation,H2: In order for an organizations CRM efforts to it become or stay customeroriented it should have mainly a network culture,H3: The higher the solidarity index the higher the learning orientation,H4: In order for an organizations CRM efforts to make it become or stay as a learning organization it should have mainly a network culture,H5: The higher the solidarity index the higher the CRM project orientation,H6: In order for an organizations CRM efforts to develop or maintain a CRM project culture it should have mainly a mercenary occupational subculture,H7: The higher the solidarity index the higher the organizational climate factors,H8: In order for an organizations CRM efforts to become or stay CRM oriented it should have mainly a communal culture. For this research such organizations were selected that were entered into or were going to enter into a CRM project and the individuals in each organization were selected as a quasi-random sample. The distribution of the online questionnaire was done by the primary contacts in the respective organizations. The results of the questionnaire were analyzed using several statistical methods. From the tested hypothesis it was found that climate factors correlate directly with a communal culture form. The paper presents also a model of CRM culture building elements, which shows the tight connection between customer orientation and learning and the relationship between organizational climate and the respective occupational subcultures. An organizational assessment is provided by this paper to help identify where the organization is positioned. The following findings apply irrespective of industry sector. The main conclusions are that without an appropriate cultural foundation, CRM will not succeed and there is not only one way to CRM success. No single CRM culture exists. A holistic culture for CRM requires a sophisticated approach to integrating a variety of sub-cultures. Evolving a CRM culture is a continuous leadership task on all organizational levels. A team of experts (1999) agrees it is more cost effective to retain customers than to acquire them. Research shows that more than 70% of customers say that poor service caused them to

take their business elsewhere while business managers think that price is the main reason for defection. Joseph (2003) said retailers in CRM should first focus on the cost acquire, serve, and maintain customers. Somewhere in a retailers IT scenario is data on cost per catalog, mailing, ad placed, etc. There is data on the picking, packaging, and shipping expenses of mailing merchandise to catalog customers. There is information on the cost of returned goods. There are customer service representative payroll expenses. Its up to the retailer how deep it wants to take this and how directly it wants to apply these costs to individual customers, but these costs should certainly be applied when classifying them, he says. Only then can strategic decisions be made about best customers. In an article published in the Education Times, Uday Salunkhe said,CRM is a business strategy to acquire and retain customers. Companies have been doing CRM for the past several decades, using basic customer retention technique. CRM as defined by John A. Young, former CEO of Hewlett Packard(2001):The chain of events that leads to customer satisfaction which being with the design decision and runs through marketing all of manufacturing and yield sales and culminates in after sales support.

McMillan and Doolittle (2002) A well executed CRM program can improve customer satisfaction, increase staff productivity, slashes operational costs and maximize the effectiveness of each customer interaction. However, simply installing much publicized technologies wont achieve these results. Successful CRM requires a comprehensive understanding of the context in which the initiative takes place, careful analysis of the key improvement areas and rigorous planning and execution to ensure implementation of CRM best practices.

D.K Joseph and associates (2004) says that successful CRM is about competing on the quality of the experience you provide to your customers not as an alternative to having a competitive product at a reasonable price. If your competitors are doing the same thing you are, product and price wont give you a long term, sustainable competitive advantage. His research paper points that a company can dramatically improve the chances of getting an ROI from CRM initiative by understanding the value of its customers wants and delivering the value profitably. JOHN GRACIOUS 1987 finds that effective CRM implementations do very little to meet top goals and business objectives. Effective CRM supports the creation of relationships that yield maximum value over their entire lifetime by selling, marketing and caring for customers based on their specific needs and preferences. Deploying a packaged CRM application that helps to create operational efficiencies within an organization does very little to improve the customer experience. Disappointing CRM initiatives are often missing the fundamentals optimization around the customer lifecycle.

Unisys Corporation(2006) showed that nearly two-third of consumers begin the car buying Process by doing research on the Internet. By the time these savvy consumers reach the showroom, they know the makes, models and options they want, as well as how much they can expect to pay. Interestingly enough, the same study shows that only 5% of Internet shoppers actually purchase a car online. As much as the customers used the Internet, they still wanted the face-to-face experience.

Traditional marketing activities which emphasize customer acquisition are no longer sufficient. CRM recognizes that marketing starts after the sale is over, not when the sale is completed. In

future marketing will need to create much stronger metrics so that strategies can be evaluated rigorously. CRM is a business approach that integrates people, process and technology to maximize the relations of an organization with all type of customers.

CRM is a business strategy to acquire and retain customers, Success of every business depends upon how good a relationship it has with customers. This basic fact has catapulted the concept of customer relationship management to the forefront of many businesses' strategic planning. With increasing competition, companies are forced to deploy new strategies and think over the old ones.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

NATURE OF RESARCH The research design is descriptive as well as analytical in nature. Descriptive is because it is telling about the current situation which leads to help the company in making better decisions for future. And it is analytical because it analyzes the relationship in Retail sector. .DATA COLLECTION AND DATA SOURCE The methodology used is balance of primary and secondary sources. Primary sources are questionnaires and secondary is the information collected from websites, books, previous studies and journals. SAMPLE SIZE Universe of the study is whole retailing industry out of which the sample size of 3 retail stores is selected from Gurgaon. RESEARCH INSTRUMENTS 1. For primary data: Questionnaires 2. For secondary data: Business Magazines Books, Journals, and Periodicals Internet

Analysis Pattern

Analysis pattern is used statistical tool is Tables Graphs Charts

CHAPTER -3

INDUSTRY PROFILE
The Indian retail market, which is the fifth largest retail destination globally, was ranked second after Vietnam as the most attractive emerging market for investment in the retail sector by AT Kearney's seventh annual Global Retail Development Index (GRDI), in 2009. The share of retail trade in the country's gross domestic product (GDP) was between 810 per cent in 2007. It is currently around 12 per cent, and is likely to reach 22 per cent by 2010. The total retail market size in India in 2008 was estimated at US$ 353 billion.

The annual growth of the retail market in India is expected to be around 8 per cent. The total retail market size in India is likely to touch US$ 416 billion by 2010. The present share of organized retail sector is estimated at 7 per cent. The estimated annual growth of organized retail sector is 40 per cent. The size of organized retail sector by 2010 is estimated to reach US$ 51 billion. The estimated share of organized retail in total retail by 2010 is 12 per cent.

India retail industry is the largest industry in India, with an employment of around 8% and contributing to over 10% of the countrys GDP. Retail Industry is expected to rise 25% yearly being driven by strong income growth, changing lifestyles and favorable demographic patterns. India retail industry is expanding itself most aggressively as a result great demand for real estate is being created. Indian retailers preferred means of expansion is to expand to other regions and to increase the number of their outlets in a city. It is expected that by 2010, India may have 600 new shopping centers. India retail industry is progressing well and for this to continue retailers as well as the Indian government will have to make a combined effort. India Shopping malls

Scope of the Indian retail market Indian organized retail market Opportunities in Indian organized retail sector Growth factor in Indian organized retail sector Challenges facing organized retail sector.

The great Indian consumer market is still going strong. The ETIG analysis carried out by the Economic Times revealed that most mass consumer goods and service in India were not much affected by the global economic slowdown. Despite the inflation experienced during the period, the second-quarter results of leading 70 consumer-related firms revealed that their aggregate revenues increased by 8.5 per cent during the September 2008 quarter over the same period in 2007. Even though this was a tad lower than the 9 per cent growth posted during the first quarter of 2008-09, it was a lot higher than the 7 per cent registered during the previous three quarters for these firms. The untapped scope of retailing has attracted superstores like Wal-Mart into India, leaving behind the kiranas that served us for years. Such companies are basically IT based. The other important participants in the Indian Retail sector are Bata, Big Bazaar, Westside, Pantaloon, Pantaloons, Archies, Cafe Coffee Day, landmark, Khadims, Crossword, to name a few. Future of organized retail in India looks bright. According to recent researches it is projected to grow at a rate of about 37% in 2007 and at a rate of 42% in 2008. It will capture a share of 10% of the total retailing by the end of 2010. However to compete in this sector one needs to have up-to-date market information for planning and decision making. The second most important requirement is to manage costs widely in order to earn at least normal profits in face of stiff competition.

CRM IN CURRENT RETAIL SCENARIO:-

In any service industry, the customer is the supreme. Every organization strives to keep its customer happy. Similarly in a typical retail store, the endeavor is to provide a revolutionary as well as a pleasant shopping experience to the shoppers. Different stores adopt different practices in their efforts adopt different practices in their efforts to keep their customers happy, satisfied and retained. Today, the concept of CRM is gaining huge importance. Many organizations, especially the typical modern retail stores have taken to CRM software packages. The use of IT has enhanced and made the building up and maintenance of long-term relationship with the customers all more convenient. When it comes to keeping customers happy, providing quality customer service is one of the most valuable strategies at a retailers disposal. CRM is a business tactic, method, culture and technology that help organizations increase revenue and value by better understanding the needs of customers using customer service, sales force automation and marketing automation. Retailers that pay close attention to the details of customer service are now more successful in winning and keeping customers, improving customer loyalty, and increasing profitability than those that do not. Some of the commonly followed programmes are mentioned below:-

Store website

Mailers

Direct Marketing

Insertions and Flyers

SMS Facility

 Websites- The individual websites of the stores are so designed to provide a soothing experience once a person lands the website. They are made so interactive that a customer can lodge his queries which are addressed in the minimum possible time and even give a feedback on his first hand experiences with the site. Direct Marketing- The stores approach the corporate with the reasonable head-count and strike tie-ups with them under which the employees of those companies get special discounts on the purchase of goods from that store. Insertions and Flyers- The stores insert their coupons on the newspapers or widely real magazines and distribute flyers on which customers get a certain percentage of discounts, if, presented at the counter while getting billed. SMS Facility- A few stores also announce their offers by sending SMS to the masses. This is continually gaining grounds.
Mailers- The customers are sent e-mails by the store operators on the launch of a new

product or a model. For example; if a customer regularly buys Lacoste or Blackberry and if Lacoste launches a new product, Pantaloon customers can expect a mailer regarding the same. Here is a graphical representation of the effectiveness of each program in acquiring the customer to the store: WAYS TO ATTRACT CUSTOMERS

These practices are just a one leap to attract customers to the store. Now comes the time where customers enter the store. He has to be literally accorded a red carpet welcome. Each and everyone have to perform their role till the customer exists the store. The way the guard at the gate passes a smile, the shop stewards greet and welcome, the treatment given by salespersons, the encounter at the billing desk, collectively make up for what the shopper experiences during his purchase. During each visit, the stores have to keep a record of the customers likes and dislikes profile. The customers preferences undergo a very frequent change these days. They even vary with every visit. So it becomes a Herculean task to track the changes in the preferences and behavior of the customers. But, it is indispensible for the survival of the stores. Some of the sources of collecting the requisite data are highlighted in the diagram below:-

Use of Software

Suggestion Forms

Feedback on

MIS Reports

ONE ON ONE

USE OF SOFTWARE- All the stores are using customized softwares to sponge the desired information about their customers. This information can be referred to in the future during the subsequent visits made by the customers so that, every time, the treatment rendered to him is based on his attitudinal and preferences profile. FEEDBACK- Retail stores also feature a feedback facility on their websites. Whether a customer surfs the site or physically visits the store, he can give his views and experiences about the stores, this feedback system acts as a potential source of collecting information about a particular customer. ONE-ON-ONE- The senior officers, often, come out of their cabins and have a one to one interaction with the customers. This pampers the senses of their customers and they reveal significant information, which is handy for the store, managers in devising loyalty programmes for the future. SUGGESTION FORMS-The customers are administered a form and required to write their suggestions and recommendations about what the store must do provide additional facilities and pleasing experience to its customers. The stores are able to gather vital information about the customer in process.

 MIS REPORTS- The stores consolidate the data gathered from various sources and store in an organized form. The reports are compiled and sent across the whole chain so that the programmes can be uniformly applied to every store of the chain. The sharing of such information helps a store in understanding the profiles of the customers of a different store of the same chain so that he can be meted out an appropriate treatment when he visits the store.

SWOT Analysis
A SWOT analysis of the Indian organized retail industry is presented below: Strength: 1. Retailing is a " technology-intensive" industry. It is technology that will help the organized retailers to score over the unorganized retailers. Successful organized retailers today work closely with their vendors to predict consumer demand, shorten lead times, reduce inventory holding and ultimately save cost. Example: Wal-Mart pioneered the concept of building competitive advantage through distribution & information systems in the retailing industry. They introduced two innovative logistics techniques cross-docking and EDI (electronic data interchange). 2. On an average a super market stocks up to 5000 SKU's against a few hundreds stocked with an average unorganized retailer.

Weakness

1. Less Conversion level : Despite high footfalls, the conversion ratio has been very low in the retail outlets in a mall as compared to the standalone counter parts. It is seen that actual conversions of footfall into sales for a mall outlet is approximately 20-25%. On the other hand, a high street store of retail chain has an average conversion of about 50-60%. As a result, a standalone store has a ROI (return on investment) of 25-30%; in contrast the retail majors are experiencing a ROI of 8-10%. 2. Customer Loyalty: Retail chains are yet to settle down with the proper merchandise mix for the mall outlets. Since the stand-alone outlets were established long time back, so they have stabilized in terms of footfalls & merchandise mix and thus have a higher customer loyalty base. Opportunity 1. The Indian middle class is already 30 Crore & is projected to grow to over 60 Crore by

2010 making India one of the largest consumer markets of the world. The IMAGES-KSA projections indicate that by 2015, India will have over 55 Crore people under the age of 20 reflecting the enormous opportunities possible in the kids and teens retailing segment. 2. Organized retail is only 3% of the total retailing market in India. It is estimated to grow at the rate of 25-30% p.a. and reach INR 1,00,000 Crore by 2010. 3. Percolating down : In India it has been found out that the top 6 cities contribute for 66% of total organized retailing. While the metros have already been exploited, the focus has now been shifted towards the tier-II cities. The 'retail boom', 85% of which has so far been concentrated in the metros is beginning to percolate down to these smaller cities and towns. The contribution of these tier-II cities to total organized retailing sales is expected to grow to 20-25%. 4. Rural Retailing: India's huge rural population has caught the eye of the retailers looking for new areas of growth. ITC launched India's first rural mall "Chaupal Saga" offering a diverse range of products from FMCG to electronic goods to automobiles, attempting to provide farmers a one-stop destination for all their needs." Hariyali Bazar" is started by DCM Sriram group

which provides farm related inputs & services. The Godrej group has launched the concept of 'agri-stores' named "Adhaar" which offers agricultural products such as fertilizers & animal feed along with the required knowledge for effective use of the same to the farmers. Pepsi on the other hand is experimenting with the farmers of Punjab for growing the right quality of tomato for its tomato purees & pastes. Threat 1.If the unorganized retailers are put together, they are parallel to a large supermarket with no or little overheads, high degree of flexibility in merchandise, display, prices and turnover. 2. Shopping Culture: Shopping culture has not developed in India as yet. Even now malls are just a place to hang around with family and friends and largely confined to window-shopping.

CHAPTER-4

COMPANY PROFILE

BIG BAZAAR
Parent Company Big bazaar, is Indias leading retailer that operates multiple retail formats in both the value and lifestyle segment of the Indian consumer market. Headquartered in Mumbai (Bombay), the company operates over 12 million square feet of retail space, has over 1000 stores across 71 cities in India and employs over 30,000 people. The companys leading formats include, a chain of fashion outlets, Big Bazaar, a uniquely Indian hypermarket chain, Food Bazaar, a supermarket chain, blends the look, touch and feel of Indian bazaars with aspects of modern retail like choice, convenience and quality and Central, a chain of seamless destination malls. Some of its other formats include Brand Factory, Blue Sky, aLL, Top 10 and Star and Sitara. The company also operates an online portal: futurebazaar.com. A subsidiary company, Home Solutions Retail (India) Limited, operates Home Town, a largeformat home solutions store, Collection i, selling home furniture products and eZone focussed on catering to the consumer electronics segment. Pantaloon Retail was recently awarded the International Retailer of the Year 2007 by the US-based National Retail Federation (NRF) and the Emerging Market Retailer of the Year 2007 at the World Retail Congress held in Barcelona.

Pantaloon Retail is the flagship company of Future Group, a business group catering to the entire Indian consumption space.

PANTALOON
Pantaloon Retail (India) Limited, is a large Indian retailer, which is part of the Future Group, and operates multiple retail formats in both the value and lifestyle segment of the Indian consumer market. Headquartered in Mumbai, the company has over 1,000 stores across 71 cities in India and employs over 30,000 people, and as of 2010, it was the country's largest listed retailer by market capitalization and revenue. With effect Jan. 1, the company separated its discount store business, which includes the Big Bazaar hypermarket and the Food Bazaar supermarket businesses, into Future Value Retail Ltd., its wholly-owned subsidiary, so that the company may be listed independently. The companys brands include Pantaloons, a chain of fashion outlets, Big Bazaar, a hypermarket chain and Food Bazaar, a supermarket chain. Some of the company's other regional brands include, Depot, Shoe Factory, Brand Factory, Blue Sky, all, Top 10 and Star and Sitara. A subsidiary company, Home Solutions Retail (India) Limited, operates Home Town, a largeformat home solutions store, Collection i, selling home furniture products and E-Zone focussed on caterng to the consumer electronics segment. All Pantaloons stores reflect the new ideology -- Fresh Feeling, Fresh Attitude, Fresh Fashion. The stores offer fresh collections and are visually stimulating thanks to appealing interiors and attractive product display!

The first Pantaloons was opened in Gariahat in 1997. Over the years, it has undergone several transitions. When it was first launched, this store mostly sold external brands. Gradually, it started retailing a mix of external brands while at the same time introduced its own private brands. Initially positioned as a family store, it finally veered towards becoming a fashion store with an emphasis on 'youth' and clear focus on fresh fashion. Today, the fashion store extends to almost all the major cities across the country. Pantaloons has established its presence with stores not just in the metros, but also in smaller towns. Pantaloons stores have a wide variety of categories like casual wear, ethnic wear, formalwear ,partywear. .

BOARD OF DIRECTORS:Mr. Kishore Biyani, Managing Director Mr. Rakesh Biyani, Wholetime DirectorMr. Mr. Vijay Biyani, Wholetime Director Mr. Vijay Kumar Chopra, Independent Director

Stores
Pantaloon began by operating a chain of department stores under the name PANTALOON in India. Currently pantaloon has twenty six (26) stores across the country and it has also begun operating a number of specialty stores. Pantaloon retails a range of branded apparel and private label under the following categories of apparel, footwear, fashion jewellery, leather products, accessories and home products.. BOOKS AND MUSIC:- Depot

WELLNESS AND BEAUTY:- Star Sitara - fit and healthy LEISURE AND ENTERTAINMENT:- Bowling co. - F 123 FOOD:- Bear Bar - Sorts Bar - Caf Bollywood

CENTRAL MALL (GURGAON)

First ever concept of Stores without Doors in Gurgaon malls, spread in 1, 25,000 sq feet area. That is how we decided to call the newly opened mall in Gurgaon (11th April 2008). There are many plus points for this mall the first and foremost is it's accessibility which is at the prime location of NH8 and Gurgaon-Mehrauli road. Secondly, there are more than 500 brands at display for you. The third point is the quality of stuff that is available is remarkable. The items are of finest collection for men, women and kids. You can certainly celebrate once you are here. What's more, well the presence of Food Bazaar adds to the grace of Gurgaon Central Mall, making grocery available for you. We recommend you try the food court as well. The restaurants that are present in Gurgaon Central Mall are not the once already existing in other malls. As they say "Treat your taste buds to some of the most exotic cuisines and lip smacking desserts spread over a sprawling food court". It would have been a truly wonderful experience in Gurgaon Central with a presence of a multiplex. But that is something that would strike you much later when you would be full shopping for your favorite brands and items. The floors are divided in various categories. Ground floor is mainly Cosmetics, first floor is women and kids stuff, second floor is all men and third floor is all food court and Food Bazaar (grocery store with wholesale prices)

IMPLEMENTING CRM:-

Six elements are required to implement CRM program effectively: Strategy; Metrics; Process; Segmentation; Organization; and Technology

A successful and an effective CRM implementation involve an overall integration of the factors mentioned below: Existing processes Customer location Budget management Flexibility Customer Characteristics Existing Organizational Structure Managements commitment to the change Supporting long term objectives Customer occupation Technology

LINES OF BUSINESS OF THE ABOVE STORES

E-tailing Food Fashion Home Solutions Telecom and IT General Merchandise Leisure and Entertainment Wellness and Beauty Books and Music

A store may have different types of customers; some come for actual shopping while others come for window shopping. The real challenge lies in transforming the footfalls into real purchases.Because of increased competition, companies have no other option then to try to differentiate themselves from their competitors. For many companies, CRM has been an effective and profitable to that thanks to the improvement in customer service.

ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

SATISFACTION LEVEL OF CUSTOMERS IN DIFFERENT RETAIL OUTLETS Satisfaction level based on the given parameters for the following stores

Stores

Unsatisfied Total % 25.71% 12.85 % 18.57 %

Satisfied Total 40 43 % 57.14% 61.42 %

Highly Satisfied Total 10 18 % 14.28% 25.71 % 21.42 %

Total Total 70 70 % 100% 100 % 100 %

Big Bazaar Pantal oon Central Mall (Gurga on)

18 9

13

42

60%

15

70

Data Collected
Consumers approached were asked about their satisfaction with the three stores covered in this study. This question was answered by 70 consumers. The three stores are Big Bazaar, Pantaloon, and Central Mall. The satisfaction scale comprised of four ranks Unsatisfied, Satisfied, Highly Satisfied.

Analysis
From the table, bar graph and pie chart depicted above, satisfaction levels with the three stores are evident. Of the 70 respondents who answered the questionnaire, 40 indicated a satisfactory response towards Big Bazaar. Of the 70 respondents who answered the questionnaire, 43 indicated a satisfactory response towards Pantaloon, 18 were highly satisfied, and 9 were unsatisfied. It is evident from the graph and chart presented above that of the 70 respondents, 42 indicated a satisfactory response towards Central Mall, 15 were highly satisfied.

Interpretation
Of the consumers approached, 70 people agreed to fill in the questionnaire and this specific question. This question is aimed at understanding the satisfaction levels of the consumers with the three stores under study Big Bazaar, Pantaloon, and Central Mall. The object is also to analyze how far the marketing strategies, brand image, advertisements, layout, quality etc., contribute towards consumer perception and satisfaction. By analysing the responses to this question, we, the researchers, as well as companies, can identify the effectiveness of advertisements, location, brand, price, promotion, product variety etc., on the target consumers. This helps to understand the current consumer perception of the three stores identified and the corresponding satisfaction levels. From the tabulated data depicted above and responses of the consumers, it is evident that a good number of target consumers are satisfied with the stores at large. However, there are those who

are unsatisfied or who have never visited the store at all. Such consumers form the potential market that the companies must strive to attract. There are also quite a few respondents who were highly satisfied with the retail chains. It is imperative for the stores to find out why this is so. They can modify and apply the same attractions towards the consumers who are less satisfied. The above table and graph give a worms eye-view of the consumer perception of the three stores. This can help the marketers understand how effective their strategies have been.

Analysis
From the pie chart depicted above, satisfaction levels with Big Bazaar are evident. Of the 70 consumers who answered this question, 57.41% indicate that they are satisfied with Big Bazaar because as Big Bazaar is well known for grocery products and they are offering quality products at comparatively cheaper prices and availability of products is excellent. They are offering other services like home delivery service, trolley carrying up to the parking area. Of the 70 respondents, who indicated their satisfaction levels with Big Bazaar, 25.71% indicated that they are unsatisfied with Big Bazaar because they dont have good billing counters everyone

has to wait for long time to get the product billed, very much crowded as compare to the other stores. Of the total number of respondents, 14.28% indicated that they were highly satisfied with Big Bazaar because they found the right match between what they expect from the store and the store offering like special schemes on weekdays, cheaper rates and purchase discounts.

Interpretation
Of the consumers approached, 70 agreed to fill in the questionnaire and answer the above question. The aim of this question is to understand the level of satisfaction that consumers feel with regards to the retail chain Big Bazaar. As is evident from the pie chart presented above, a little more than half of the respondents indicated that they are satisfied with Big Bazaar, while almost one-eighth indicated that they are highly satisfied with the store. However, almost one-fourth of the number of respondents indicated that they were unsatisfied with Big Bazaar. This goes to show that although Big Bazaar may have an overall goodwill from the consumers, there are still some things that they are not doing right. Big Bazaar must identify exactly what the problem areas are and must address them quickly and swiftly. The above pie chart shows that many of the respondents fall into the category of potential customers. Big Bazaar must take effective steps to attract these consumers.

Analysis
From the pie chart depicted above, satisfaction levels with Pantaloon are evident. Of the 70 consumers who answered this question, 61.42% indicate that they are satisfied with Pantaloon, as pantaloon is well known for garments, behind this satisfaction the product range, quality of product, level of completing the promises, the cool and calm atmosphere of the store, the standard maintain by the brand. These are the few reasons which lead to satisfaction. . Of the 70 respondents, who indicated their satisfaction levels with Pantaloon, 12.85% indicated that they are unsatisfied with Pantaloon because the schemes and the discounts are not been given by the store and other reason is that their merchandise mix is dominated by formal wearing over the casual wearing. Of the total number of respondents, 25.71% indicated that they are highly satisfied with Pantaloon. Out of this highly satisfied customers most of the consumers are of formal wearing. They are very much happy with the quality of stuff and behaviour of sales people.

Interpretation
Of the consumers approached, 70 agreed to fill in the questionnaire and answer the above question. The aim of this question is to understand the level of satisfaction that consumers feel with regards to the retail chain Pantaloon. As is evident from the pie chart presented above, almost two-thirds of the number of respondents indicated that they are satisfied with Pantaloon, while more than one-fourth indicated that they are highly satisfied with the store. However, almost one-eighth of the number of respondents indicated that they were unsatisfied with Pantaloon. This goes to show that Pantaloon is doing many things right. It seems to enjoy a reasonable amount of goodwill. The marketing strategies, advertisements, promotions, quality, pricing, product variety etc., seem to be very appealing and also translate into sales and repeat purchases. The above pie chart shows that 12% of the numbers of respondents, however, are unsatisfied with the store. They form the potential consumers market for Pantaloon.

Satisfaction Levels with Central Mall (Gurgaon)

Analysis
From the pie chart depicted above, satisfaction levels with Central Mall are evident. Of the 70 consumers who answered this question, 60% indicate that they are satisfied with Central Mall as we all know central mall is the only one which introduce the concept of shop without doors. Reasons behind this satisfaction is that the people dont face problem in finding the desired product, they are happy with the layout of the store and the environment of the store leads to the satisfaction. Of the 70 respondents, who indicated their satisfaction levels with Central Mall, 18.75% indicated that they are unsatisfied with Central Mall because they are not happy with the variety of products and the number of billing counters. Of the total number of respondents, 21.42% indicated that they are highly satisfied with Central Mall because they found the store which are rare like FCUK, Tommy Hilfigher, Ck and E-sprit.

Interpretation
Of the consumers approached, 70 agreed to fill in the questionnaire and answer the above question. The aim of this question is to understand the level of satisfaction that consumers feel with regards to the retail chain Central Mall. As is evident from the pie chart presented above, more than half of the number of respondents indicated that they are satisfied with Central Mall, while almost one-fourth indicated that they are highly satisfied with the store. However, almost one-seventh of the number of respondents indicated that they were unsatisfied with Central Mall. This goes to show that although Central Mall may have an overall goodwill from the consumers, there are still some things that they are not doing right. Central Mall must identify exactly what the problem areas are and must address them effectively and efficiently. The above pie chart shows many the respondents fall into the category of potential customers. Central Mall must take effective steps to attract these consumers.

Big Bazar

Retain Churn Not decided

42 7 21

60% 10% 30%

INTERPRTATION: From the above graph it is clearly shown that out of 70 people 42(60%) wants to stick with the same brand, and out of this 70 people 7(10%) wants to switch to other brand and 21 people which is 30% of total are not clear whether they stick or churn.

ANALYSIS: from the above graph it is clearly shown that 60% are been retained by the
company by meeting the customer expectations and this is figure is very much healthy for the store and the 10% of the sample size which is surveyed is been ready to churn to another store due to various reasons like good merchandise mix more schemes etc. And the remaining 30% is not decided whether to stick with the same store or move to other one.

CRM PREFERRED BY BIG BAZAAR:-

1. TECHNOLOGY BASED:- Now-a-days the retailing is the technology intensive sector.

For better managing of customers, many retailers use CRM software that allows an organization to monitor the performance level and to detect the area where problem exist. Data warehouse can be used to keep records of customer specific information and the purchase details. CRM is a comprehensive solution to customer interaction from marketing to sales to service. The CRM requires quality information about customers and it can be collected from various sources like customer service, sales peoples files, and their reaction to marketing campaign.

2. VALUE BASED:- The wide application of advanced technology cannot ensure the

success of the retail firms alone. It requires value added services along with technology to confirm the firms achievement of objectives. The term value is the difference between benefits received and the sacrifices ambience, parking facility, store design, cafeteria, and civic amenities, location of the store and the shopping centers and the customer service.

Pantaloon
Retain Churn Not Decided 46 8 16 65% 12% 23%

INTERPRTATION: From the above figure we come to know that out of 70(65%) decided to continue with pantaloon store but 8(12%) of them wants to churn to another store and 16(23%) still not decided.

ANALYSIS:- The retention rate in pantaloon store is very much healthy due to its: quality products store environment behavior of the sales persons their attitude toward customer.

But as per the graph shows that 12% of the sampled customers are not satisfied with the Pantaloon store because they find various reasons like less discounts, higher prices, less variety, not good shopping environment and so on. Rest of the 23% says that they has nothing with the store name if they got good and desired product from other store, they happily go for that, they do not make their mind that they have to stay with pantaloon or not. CRM STRATEGIES ADOPTED BY PANTALOON: 3. Membership cards 4. Points gaining system 5. Special discounts 6. Parking cards offered 7. Special sales person to attend

Central Mall (Gurgaon)

Retain Churn Not Decided 48 10 12 68% 15% 17%

INTERPRTATION: In the above figure it is clearly shows that in central mall 48 people in the sample of 70 wants to stick with central mall, 10 people which is 15% wants to churn to another store and 12(17%) has not decided. ANALYSIS:-In case of central mall it is a good sign for the store that they have good retention rate because they are offering large no. of brands under one roof and the brand which are very rare like FCUK, Tommy Hilfiger and Armani. They are focusing on the security systems as well and this is the one of major points which makes consumer more happy and satisfied, environment of store is very much lively and exciting, central mall focuses on making long term relations with consumers and celebrates occasions and offer special rebates on festiv days as well.

CRM STRATEGIES ADOPTED:

WIN-BACK OR SAVE- One of the four categories of campaigns, This is the process of convincing a customer to stay with the organization at the point they are discounting service or convincing to rejoin once they have left.

POTENTIAL CUSTOMERS- The three most critical elements of a prospecting campaign is segmentation, selectivity and source. It is essential to develop an effective needs based segmentation model that allows the organization to effectively target the order. Without this focus approach, the organization either fails to achieve an adequate acceptance or rate an offer or spend too much on promotion, advertising.

UP-SELL/CROSS-SELL- Customers need-based segment, usage pattern and reaction to previous contacts determine the nature of the offer. Up selling is similar, but instead of offering a complementary product, the organization offers an enhanced one. Cross-sell/up-sell campaigns are important because the customer targeted already has a relationship with the organization.

NO. OF FOOTFALLS

INTRERPRETATION: From above graph it is shown that in big bazaar no. Of footfalls is average 8000 on weekdays and approx. 15000 on weekends. In case of Pantaloon it is 7000 and 13000 on weekdays and weekends. In Central mall this figure is 10000 and 17000 on weekdays and weekends. ANALYSIS:- as it is clearly shown by the figure that no. of footfalls is almost double on weekends as compare to the weekdays. So store should focus on Saturdays n Sundays so that they can grab maximum share of wallet and generate maximum revenue, so they should make special arrangements for the visitors on weekends like Games , guests etc

CONVERSION RATE

INTERPRETATION: In above figure the percentage shown is conversion rate of footfalls in to the customers. So, this is 68% in Big Bazaar, 50% in Pantaloon store and 55% in central mall.

ANALYSIS:- conversion rate is the rate by which no. of footfalls is been converted in to
the customers, in this race Big Bazaar has the highest conversion rate among the three which is good sign for any kind of business

ANALYSIS OF GREIVANCE HANDLING IN RETAIL

Issues that may cause grievances include: - terms and conditions of employment - health and safety - work relations - bullying and harassment - new working practices - working environment - organisational change - equal opportunities. Few Approaches to Grievance Handling should be adopted:There are various approaches successfully implemented by companies. Two are discussed below. The informal approach: The written policy could encourage employees to bring up their grievances directly with fellow colleagues, managers, supervisors or executives by engaging in constructive discussions. This has the benefit of forcing employees learn how to resolve disputes on their own and also free up supervisors' time if the issue in question is trivial.

Self help effort When employees speak directly with the person whom he or she has an issue with in the first instance, there is support and acceptance by supervisors of the company.

Open door policy Employees may consult informally with any manager, supervisor or executive for help and to receive assistance in the form of listening, coaching, suggested options, friendly advice or even intervention.

Human Resources Employees may seek HR's views regarding the handling of the issue.

The formal approach: When an employee grievance could not be settled by the informal approach, an established formal procedure for mediation should be made available. Broadly, there are three recommended steps in the approach:

Step 1 Involve the employee's supervisor. If the issue relates to the immediate supervisor, then the second level of supervision i.e. the supervisor of the employee's immediate superior would have to be involved.

Step 2 Involvement of the Human Resources department if the employee disagrees with the decision made in Step 1. Step 3 Request in writing for an executive review if the employee disagrees with HR's decision in Step 2. A member of the senior management or an assigned senior executive as required could then be assigned to review the issue.

CHAPTER-5

FINDINGS
As per the study conducted in which we measured the satisfaction level of customers in the different retail outlets like in Big Bazaar is 57.33%, in Shoppers stop is 64% & in Central Malls is 54.67%.

The satisfaction level is higher in Shoppers Stop because they are more focusing on Loyalty programs & they are also looking towards the Cross-selling & up-selling. Every organization ultimate goal is to earn profits. The aim of building relationship with customers is to call them repeatedly to the stores so that they can generate revenues. The CRM initiative is also a step to capitalize on the select customers, satisfy their wants and needs and earn profits. In Retail Industry providing better services generally does this, more discounts, revolutionalizing shopping experiences, well featured loyalty schemes etc. Maintaining long term bonds with the customers is very essential for the survival of the business in the long run. The key customers or the customers who do bulk shopping and generate maximum revenue for the store should always be given top priority. After analyzing and interpreting the data collected from different sources, it is concluded that customer is an invaluable asset to the retail industry. Customer is the king, emperor and the god, and what not? The new viewpoint that has up fronted is: What exactly do the customers want and need? What needs to be done to be able to produce and deliver to the customers?

SUGGESSTIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

After going through the whole study and drawing analysis and interpretation, it is found that CRM is not being implemented in full swings in the retail stores. With the retail sector growing it is expected that CRM if practiced in the most appropriate manner will be the key to success of retail stores. . Following are certain recommendations and suggestions based on the study conducted: The stores have to do a cost-benefit analysis to know what they are getting out of technology. If the benefits delivered after spending huge sums is marginal, then its better not to have such technology. It is better not to go for a technology just because its a big name.

The stores should understand that happy customers are even ready to pay a premium to them if a service or hospitality delivered to the customers is above their expectations. So the store managers should understand customer expectations and provide more, which would give the customers a delight.

All the stores must provide a facility to exchange the purchased merchandise within a stipulated time period.

The CRM should not be relegated to a particular department, while it should be an organization-wide initiative that is aimed at delivering a win-win customer experience

The processes should be re-defined so as to save adequate time. The processes being adopted are, generally, time consuming.

The software being used should align with customers needs and manage change within the organization.

The software used should help in understanding the complete usage pattern of a customer before contacting the person.

As far as possible, the stores should collect the data about a mass number of customers. Generally the customer base is inadequate to create a one-on-one relationship at a small base is tough. It is not possible to get efficiency with cost.

The standing time of the customers in the queues at the billing desks should be minimized. Pantaloon practices this and calls it Moments of magic. The value of customers time should be given due importance.

Also the employees must understand and follow the basic etiquettes or manners to deal with their customers. Their style should reflect substance. It involves their attire, basic demeanors, way of extending greetings, table manners, handling calls/mails etc.

Company should adopt informal or silent approach towards grievance betweet employees because it gives good impression.

Company should adopt fair and transparent procedure to resolve disputes.

CONCLUSIONS
Only installing software does not provide a solution. First, the stores should know what information they need about the customer. Only the relevant and pertinent information should be gathered so that the needs and wants of the customer can be known and suitable solutions be provided to them. CRM is not only application software. It has various dimensions attached to it. It requires peoples training, process refinements and an overall cultural change. One common mistake with CRM initiatives is focusing on the technology and information pushed from the top to the down rather than focusing on the people and processes at the various customers touch points. CRM does not only aim at providing refined and polished services to the customers through the use of people, technology and processes. An effective CRM program helps in reducing the costs, time, wastages and complaints by introducing changes in people, processes and the overall culture. In any retail store it would help in increasing the footfalls, transforming these footfalls

into real purchases, making the customers visit repeatedly, referrals from the existing customers about their pleasure experiences with the store and ultimately increasing the satisfaction of the customers. To conclude an efficiently and effectively designed CRM program can bind together the store as a family and the employees and the customers as its members. In other words a well structured CRM program can spell magic on the mindset of the customers which is to the benefit of both the store and its customers. Although most of them realize that CRM is not only related to It, it also involves a transformation in people, processes and the overall culture of the store. The Role that IT plays in maintaining a long-term relationship with the customers has been unanimously emphasized. There is a consentaneous view that without the use of IT, the task of maintaining the profiles of the customers is impossible. They feel that their task has been made quiet convenient and easier by the use of IT. And thus they strongly believe that IT is a significant tool in the effective implementation of CRM. Some believe that CRM is all about providing the customer with the best product at the right time. Others say that we cant focus on every customer since we target masses and thus it is next to impossible. And also, there are frequent changes in the behaviors, attitudes, and thought patterns of the customers. Another ideology of CRM that was thrown up during the survey is that it is the process or system by which they maintain relationships with their customers.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:BOOKS:a. Barry Berman(2001),Retail Management- A Strategic Approach. b. David Gilbert (2005), Retail Marketing Management, Pearson Education. Inc. c. Desai Vasant (2000), Dynamics of Customer Relationship Management,

Himalaya Publishing House, New Delhi.

d. Kothari C.R. (2004), Research Methodology: Methods and Techniques, Second

Edition, New Age International Publisher, New Delhi.

e. Kotler Philip (1996), Marketing Management, Third Edition, Prentice Hall

International.
f. Michael Levy(2003), Retailing Management, Tata Mc Graw Hills

WEBSITES:A. www.cio.com B. www.crm2day.com

C. www.fundoodata.com
D. www.marketing.com

APPENDIX
QUESTIONNAIRE NAME: DESIGNATION: NAME OF THE STORE:
1. Are your customers valuable to you? 2. Do you want to maintain long-term relationship with your customers? 3. What sort of relationship would you like to develop? What facilities would you provide to your customers to maintain a relationship? 4. If yes, only a few key customers or all?

5. How will you identify your key customers? 6. Who are your key customers? 7. And how often do they visit the store? 8. How do you maintain the records of those customers? 9. Do you have any software solution to it? 10. Are you aware of the concept of Relationship Management? 11. What is your view about Customer Relationship Management? 12. What problems do you face in maintaining relationships? 13. What are the costs involved in maintaining relationships? 14. Would you like to implement a full-fledged CRM program in your organizational set up?

LIST OF RETAIL STORES TAKEN AS SAMPLES

NAME OF THE RETAIL STORE Pantaloon Limited, Metropolitan Mall, Gurgaon Big Bazar, Sahara Mall

CONTACT PERSON

DESIGNATION

Mr. Rajeev Das

Customer Care Associate & Unit Marketing Head

Mr. Jatin Kalra

Asst. Manager Operations

Central Mall, Gurgaon

Mr Pankaj Kumar

Asst. Department Manager