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A Study on Reliance Consumer Ship Relationship Management

Introduction
Relationship marketing is a facet of customer relationship management (CRM) that focuses
on customer loyalty and long-term customer engagement rather than short-term goal like
customer acquisition and individual sales. Rather than trying to encourage a one-time sale,
relationship marketing tries to foster customer loyalty by providing quality products and
services.

The goal of relationship marketing (or customer relationship marketing) is to create strong
customer connections to a brand that can lead to ongoing business, free word-of-mouth
promotion and information from customers that can generate leads.

Customer relationship management (CRM) is the process of carefully managing detailed

information about individual customers and all customer “touch points” to maximize loyalty.
A customer touch point is any occasion on which a customer encounters the brand and
product—from actual experience to personal or mass communications to casual
observation. For a departmental store, the touch points include check-in and check-out time
spent in the store, quality of service, employee interaction, add-on facilities (parking etc.,)
good ambiance, product quality, and handling of returns16. The customers tend to come
back to the store on personal touches, such as a staff that always addresses customers by
name, high-powered employees who understand the needs of customers, and at least one
best-in-region facility.

CRM enables stores to provide excellent real-time customer service through the effective
use of individual account information. Based on what they know about each valued
customer, stores can customize market offerings, services, programs, messages, and media.
CRM is important because a major driver of company profitability is the aggregate value of
the stores customer base.

Companies are also recognizing the importance of the personal component to CRM and
what happens once customers make actual contact with the company. Employees can
create strong bonds with customers by individualizing and personalizing relationships. In
essence, thoughtful companies turn their customers into clients. Here is the distinction:

“Customers may be nameless to the institution; clients cannot be nameless. Customers are
served as part of the mass or as part of larger segments; clients are served on an individual
basis. Customers are served by anyone who happens to be available; clients are served by
the professional assigned to them.”

Don Peppers and Martha Rogers outline a four-step framework for one-to-one marketing
that can be adapted to CRM marketing as follows: Identify your prospects and customers.
Don’t go after everyone. Build, maintain, and mine a rich customer database with
information from all the channels and customer touch points.
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CRM IN REATAILING:
Customer relationship management (CRM) is a business philosophy and set of strategies,
programs, and systems that focuses on identifying and building loyalty with a retailer’s most
value customers.

According to Philip Kotler, “CRM (Customer Relationship Management) is a comprehensive

strategy and process of acquiring, retaining and partnering with selective consumer to
create superior value for the company and the customer.”

According to Parvatiyar and Seth (2001), “CRM is a comprehensive strategy and process of
acquiring, retaining and Partnering with selective customers to create superior value for the
company and the Customer.”

Customer Relationship Management is a tool for servicing the consumer. It is strategy that
aims at creating customers for life and enhances the sales and market share of the
organization. In service firms, the concept of CRM emphasizes on building good rapport with
its customers both internal as well as external. CRM is a strategic approach that is
concerned with creating improved shareholder value through the development of
appropriate relationships with key customers and customer segments.

The retailer’s goal of CRM is to develop a base of loyal customers and increase its share of
wallet (the percentage of the customers purchases made from the retailer) by providing
more value to their best customer by using targeted, more personalized promotions and
services. Retailers are more profitable when they focus on retaining and increasing sales to
their best customers rather than attempting to generate sales from new customers.

Significance of CRM in Retailing:

CRM has special relevance in retail and if used effectively, it can add value to the offering
made by the retailer. It is a business philosophy and set of strategies, programs, and systems
that focuses on identifying and building loyalty with a retailer’s most valued customers.

The ultimate goal of CRM is to develop a base of loyal customers who patronize the retailer
frequency.

The significance of CRM in retail is seen as follows:

1) Access to Most Relevant Information: How many customers visit the online
store and leave without placing an order or paying for items they added in their cart?

Smart CRM systems gives deep insights into such data so that retailer can take appropriated
action before it is too late.

2) Segmentation: CRM helps the retailer gather information about each and every
customer, their preferences and demographic data. This information can be used to
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segment the market and customers. Thus the retailer can adjust his strategies as per
the segmentation to suit the customers in a better manner.
3) Loyalty: The retailer’s goal of CRM is to develop a base of loyal customers and
increase its share of wallet – the percentage of the customers purchases made from
his store. The retailer can further increase this effect by using the CRM software to
implement customer loyalty programs.
4) Personalization: Traditionally, retailers have focused their attention on
encouraging more customers to visit their stores, look through their catalogues, and
visit their web sites. To accomplish this objective, they have use mass-media
advertising and sales promotions to attract visit from customers. This approach
treats all existing and potential customers the same. They all receive the same
messages and the same promotions. Now retailers are concentrating on increasing
their sales by providing more value to their best customers by using targeted, more
personalized promotions and services.
5) Retention: The overall effect of CRM is to increase the retention of customers by
serving them in a more focused and convenient way. Since the software applications
in the retail outlet already track purchases, retailers can issue reward points and
bonuses to keep valuable customers. Such programs let your further reduce costs
because sales to long them customers are less expensive than sales to new
customers. It is believed that retailers are more profitable when they focus on
retaining and increasing sales to their best customers rather than attempting to
generation sales from new customers.
6) Cost Effective: CRM program allows retailers to manage the customers in the most
cost effective way. They can send out bulk sms and email easily updating them about
the upcoming sales, offers and also allows them to take care of them individually by
focusing on their individual needs. It also saves more income as retailers will have
lesser staff and lesser resources to spend on.
7) New Buyers: CRM does not only manage the old customers or existing customers
but also has an intelligence that helps to identify potential buyers and convert them
into leads which can turn into customers. CRM can help get their attention by
identifying them for the sales department who can then go ahead and deliver their
interests to them.
8) Promotions: Promotions helps to target the right audience as it tracks each
customer. Therefore the retailer can manage them putting in groups or individually.
This will help to provide them better service. And when a customer visits the
retailers website, he can accordingly look into what they are looking for and
including the promotion of that particular product in their newsletter.
9) Purchase Tracking: CRM allows retailer to track each customers purchase
separately so that he knows their interests and if their product had any issue or any
damage. This way he can provide them better service by having their interests
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included in their sms and email or newsletters. In case of damage or issue he will be
able to provide them with them same item in low price in their next purchase or
even give free service, etc to provide them to gain more customer satisfaction.

Reliance Fresh
Reliance Industries launched its first retail format called Reliance Fresh in Hyderabad.
Spread over 2,000-5,000 sq ft, 11 such Reliance Fresh neighborhood convenience stores
were come up in the city.
Branches:
•Chennai,
•New Delhi,
•Hyderabad,
•Jaipur,
•Mumbai,
•Chandigarh,
•Ludhiana,
•Orissa,
•UP
•West Bengal
•Jharkhand

Reliance is gearing up to revolutionize the retailing industry in India. Towards this end,
we are aggressively working on introducing a pan-India network of retail outlets in
multiple formats. A world class shopping environment, state of art technology, a
seamless supply chain infrastructure, a host of unique value-added services and above
all, unmatched customer experience, is what this initiative is all about The retail
initiative of Reliance will be without a parallel in size and spread and make India proud.
Ensuring better returns to Indian farmers and manufacturers and greater value for the
Indian consumer, both in quality and quantity, will be an integral feature of this project.
By creating value at all levels, we will actively endeavor to contribute to India's growth.

Product range of reliance fresh

Vegetable and fruits: this is the speciality of the store as they provide fresh fruits and
vegetables at a rate lower than the market price.

Households Items: In the store we can get items which are at sli