ASSIGNMENT OF BRL-013
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(A) Short Type QuestionsQ.l What do you mean by customer value management? Why is CVM required in retail?
Q.2 What is culture? How does it affect customer behaviour?
Q.3 What do you mean by Service Quality? Briefly explain the factors influencing service quality.
Q.4 What are the direct and indirect tools of customer value communication?
Q.5 Define customer value generation process.
Q.6 What are the stages of service recovery process?
Q.7 What are the difference between customers exportations and customers perception.
(B) Essay Type Questions
Q.8 What is customer loyalty? Classify customers on the basis of needs, nature and expectations.
Q.9 What is Internet retailing? What are the advantages of purchasing on the internet?
(A) Short Type Questions
Q.1 What do you mean by customer value management? Why is CVM required in retail?
ANS: Customer value management will help you accurately detennine what drives value for customers, measure your performance relative to the competition, align efforts, focus scarce resources and create your sustainable competitive advantage.
The concept of customer value management is really simple. It's about:
- asking cu stomers in your target market what they're looking for when they do business with vendors
- detennining how customers in your target mai-ket rate the value you provide relative to the value provided by your competitors
- deciding what changes on your pait will have the greatest positive impact on customers' perception of the relative value of your offering
- aligning people and processes in a common focus to deliver value
- providing a consistent flow of data and infotmation to keep them aligned
- winning with customers, with employees and with shareholders
- At its core, Customer Value Management (CVM) is an approach to managing all aspects of the "value journey" that a customer takes -from initial contact with prospective buyers - whether that is through a web calculator, SDR outreach or a targeted marketing campaign or through the active sales cycle to on-going customer relationship management following solution implementation.
The CVM journey consists of three distinct collaborative stages:
Value Discovery. Both the buyer and seller need a reason to initiate a meaningful conversation. Buyers need a "directional sense" of potential business value: "Given your u nderstanding of our business challenges, what is the potential business value of your solution for my organization?" To respond, s ellers need an efficient way to (a) gain unique insights into the buyer's business needs; (b) reach the Economic Buyer and frame the conversation around potential business outcomes; and (c) quantify an "outside-in" business value hypothesis. The goal: gain buyer agreement to collaborate on a business case to justify investing in the seller's solution.
Value Delivery. This collaboration consists of first dete1mining the solution benefits that are relevant to the buyer and then quantifying them according to the buyer's input. The goal: create a transparent business case, transfer ownership to the Economic Buyer, and implement the B2B solution, successfully setting the stage for periodically quantifying value achieved.
Value Realization. Following a successful implementation, value realization measures actual value achieved relative to the original baseline ROI model - helping the customer showcase business value. This stage leads to a satisfied customer, helps lock-in renewals, and opens the door to c ross-sell/ upsell opp01tunities. In addition, customer testimonials and case studies along with benefit proof points should be captured and fed back into the value models for continued refinement and emichment.
By achieving these goals, CVM complements and enhances the traditional Customer Relationship Management (CRM) discipline. Specifically, by adding insights and assets that enable value-centric conversations at each customer interaction touchpoint, CVM helps customers achieve success, which in tum accelerates seller success - a win-win value proposition for buyers and sellers.
Businesses today face great challenges from global competition, mergers and acquisitions, technology advancements, digital transfo1mation, rising consumer expectations, and cybersecurity th reats. The need for cost-effective B2B solutions to deal with these challenges has never been greater. As a result, ho1izontal and vertical competitive B2B solutions continuously enter the marketplace at an astonishing pace, leaving buyers with the tough decisions: "Why buy? Why now? Why from a specific provider?"
However, in a seemingly paradoxical convergence of interests, buyer and seller expectations are precisely the same when it comes to justifying investments in these B2B solutions. Both paities recognize that their key to success is an effective business case to justify investments and the ability to measure and showcase business value after the s olution is implemented.
Typical enterprises have a long list of potential projects to fund. So, buyers and sellers need a credible way to "rack and stack" investment priorities. After all, it's not just a question of convincing decision makers that your problem is w011h solving. It's a question of "hurdling" other projects in the queue and moving up the :fonding priority list.
In fact, industry analyst research reports that 90 percent of buyers require quantifiable evidence of business benefits before investing. Yet two-thirds of buyers confess that they are poorly equipped with knowledge and tools to create a credible business case, while over fom-fifths of buyers look to their suppliers for assistance in quantifying value.
Q.2 What is culture? How cloes it affect customer behaviour?
ANS: The culture a person is born into goes a long way toward dete1mining that individual's behavior patterns, beliefs and values. Culture is defined as a shai·ed set of practices or beliefs among a group of people in a paiticulai· place and time. Mai'keters, analysts and consumers themselves use an awai·eness of culture to learn how and why consumers in a p aiticulai· culture behave the way they do.
Culture is an impo11ant factor in determining consumer behavior. It explains why some products sell well in certain regions or among specific groups, but not as well elsewhere. Besides purchasing decisions, culture also affects how consumers use the products they buy and how they dispose of them. Product use helps mai·keters position their products differently in each mai·ket, while the culture's effects on product disposal can lead governments to adopt more effective recycling and waste reduction strategies.
Consumers can examine how members of other cultures use the same products, or fulfill the same needs with different products, as a way to find more efficient, cost-effective options in the marketplace.
traditions and influences on consumer behavior
Traditions are central to the ways that culture influences consumer behavior. For example, in mainstream American culture, turkey is a traditional food for Tiiank.sgiving. This culturally specific behavior allows companies that produce poultry, along with the retailers who sell it, to prepare for increases in demand near the Thanksgiving holiday, but only in the United States. Other countries have n·aditions that put special demands on the suppliers and retailers that se1ve those markets. Traditional patterns change over time as a culhire evolves, but marketers who study and understand such patterns have an advantage.
intensity of the influence of culture
Culture exerts different levels of influence on members. Age, language, ethnicity, gender and education level all affect which consumer behaviors a member of a given culrure demonsn·ates. Young people may not adopt cultural practices that are common for adults, and may develop practices unique to their own subculture.
This can involve everything from new buying trends to new product use trends. As people relocate and cultmes come together in new ways, the intensity of culturally detennined consumer behavior changes even more.
marketing response to culture
Marketers spend a great deal of time and money studying the effects of culture on consumer behavior. This is especially true for multinational companies that have customers from a diverse series of cultural backgrounds. A strong marketing strntegy in one culture might be unappealing, or even offensive, to members of another culrure. Marketers cater to specific cultural behaviors by offe1ing different versions of the same product that are tailored to appeal to the target audience.
Consumer behaviour and values:
Values are the total of the ethical connotation the consumer will undergo to frame their lens for viewing society. Consumer buying is highly influenced by values as far as the concept of money is involved. Making a purchasing decision is an economic reinforcing agent. All that is bought using money acts as a vital agent of self-independence.
How society greatly exerts pressure on consumer behaviour follows an upward cmve. Cultural nonns such as religion and morality determine the height of the buying phase. If a society is highly religious, there might be less buying behaviour. Conservative audiences tend to purchase quality things over inferior ones. At the same time, liberal audiences might go in for more quantity. Hence it is important here to note that societal upbringing is hardwired into the neural nets of consumer behaviour.
Regionalism in marketing:
Why do Japanese people often excel in using electronics, whereas South Koreans aie proficient in online combat simulations? Their inclination towards higher purchases is reinforced by the fact that they have more interest in technology.
Western culture plays a predominant role and dete1mines the levels to which the customers can go before purchasing. Using Hollywood stars for marketing also plays by the same principle; for example, an influential Hollywood actor such as Tom Cmise had to market for the movie The Last Samurai. Appropriation of other people's cultures through the digital marketing lens can create value for the company.
Adaptation in consumer behaviour:
Culture is the core dete1minant of customer behaviour. One c annot be immune to how culture permeates the customer's buying psyche. When there is an economic recession, so saving more money decreases purchases.
The same mle applies when customers try to adapt to a foreign countly; for example, when an Indian student goes to the USA on a student visa, the costs of ovenuns are checked. Consumer behaviom is adapted to the living smrnundings around them. Gradually, as they become more comfortable meeting life's needs, they are :free to adjust by altering their consumer behaviour.
Stereotypes in consumer behaviour:
Stereotyping in consumer behaviour led to the growth of fast-moving consumer product marketing campaigns; for example, one of the marketing strategies is to use gender and age to push more products in the skincare business. Therefore, females aged 18-44 are encouraged to be more concerned with their appearance.
Targeting this audience using highly effective advertisements led to the growth of the cosmetic beauty business. Societal sanctions coupled with a stl'ong urge to purchase the product will influence the buying behaviour, particularly those investing in everyday products.
Q.3 What do you mean by Service Quality? Briefly explain the factors influencing serYice quality.
ANS: Service quality is generally viewed as the output of the service delivery system, especially in the case of pure service systems.
Moreover, se1vice quality is linked to consumer satisfaction. Service quality is a perception of the customer.
Customers, however, form opinions about service quality not just from a single reference but from a host of contributing factors.
Se1vice quality is generally viewed as the output of the se1vice delivery system, especially in the case of pure se1vice systems. Moreover, service quality is linked to consumer satisfaction.
Although there is no consensus in the research community about the direction of causality relating quality and satisfaction, the common assumption is that se1vice quality leads to satisfied customers. For example - customers leaving a restaurant or hotel are asked if they were satisfied with the service they received. If they answer "no," one tends to assume that service was poor.
FACTORS INFLUECING SERVICE QUALITY:
Policy
Company p olicies are the important factors affecting the quality of the product. The top management establishes policies regarding product quality. These policies specify the extent of quality to be achieved during a product or se1vice. These policies specify the level of quality to be achieved in a product or service. Managers generally consider three factors in detennining policy for quality, the product or service market, its competition, and image.
A review of the market gives an idea of customer expectations of quality and their willingness to p ay for it. Quality levels in the competitive market also affect policy because the company's p roduct must h ave the quality of success in the market. Besides, conside1ing the market and competition, production of the inferior quality products may spoil the long-te1m interest of the organization.
Information
Another factor of factors affecting quality is information. Information is important to set a policy and to ensure that quality standards are achieved. The top management must acquire the right information about customer needs and expectations and the competitor's quality standards. Competitive benchma1-king is an effective way of obtaining important inf01mation about the competitor's quality standards and cost.
Engineering and Design
Product engineering and design ensure new products in less time with better quality at lower costs. The assembly department has got to produce a product at an inexpensive cost with better quality. It is an engineer or designer who must translate the policy into an actual product or service. Innovation and creativity help to design a product having superior quality. The essential purpose of designing is to avoid defective production.
Materials
The highest management must realize that quality products are often produced only by using good quality raw materials. For this, rna1mfacturing ente1prises got to adopt a pre-control system with staple suppliers. They need to tenninate contracts with lower-quality vendors and maintain long relationships with the better ones.
Equipment
The use of automatic machines, computer software, and robotics makes the output unifo1m and qualitative. Machines, equipment, and tools used in the production process should be advanced and automatic. The use of modem equipment and machines provide an oppottunity for an organization to compete in the market. It is important for manufacturing enterprises.
People
Employees are very imp01tant components for maintaining and improving quality.
Well-experienced and dedicated employees can contribute more to improve quality.
Functioning independently, or dming a group, they will improve t11e standard of a product and repair. Therefore, the management has to guide employees of the total approach of quality.
Q.4 What are the direct and indirect tools of customer value communication?
ANS:DIRECT TOOLS:
1) Personal selling (retail stores, door-t o-door selling, kiosks at malls, etc.):
It is the most effective and most costly communication method. It is effective because of face-toface fom1 of communication with customers. Sales personnel direct their message with oral presentation dming their conversation with c ustomers for the pmpose of making sales.
2) Advertising (pr int, radio, telev ision, hoar dings, etc)
: It is an impersonal method of communicating messages to prospective buyer and communication of ideas, goods or se1vices by retailer. It includes mass media such as newspapers, magazines, catalogues, posters, radio, television, and hoarding etc. It involves in communicating the same message to large customers. There is no automatic feedback mechanism as with personal selling.
3) Sales promotion (discounts, sales, 'bundle offerings', etc):
Sales promotion contains those communication activities that stimulate customer pm-chasing and retailer effectiveness such as discount on purchase of product or service, offer like buy one get one free etc. it creates vital link between personal selling and adve1tising. Sales promotion stands for all those activities that coordinate the eff01ts of personal selling and adve1tising and retailers to increase the sales and influence the customers to purchase the product/service and prepare the ground for future expansion
INDRECT TOOLS:
1) Public relations (sponsorships, promotions):
It is a business's communication and relationship with the public e.g. customers, suppliers, stockholders, employees and the society. Public relation programmes can be fo1mal or info1mal in nature. It is important method of reaching customers b ecause of its unique method of communicating. Eve1y firms tries to create a good public relation so as to give good publicity.
2) Exhibitions and trade fairs:
To communicate value to customers, sometimes businesses use exhibitions and trade fairs, where they demonstrate their products and services to customers and induce their purchasing and influence them to make relation with the business. These tools are generally used to meet the competition challenges.
3) Internet:
Recent changes in information technology and people awareness about products/services make a p ath to businesses to communicate value to customers through internet. Internet is a network of networks, where worldwide people generally meet and share their infonnation with each other. Under this tool, retailers try to communicate all the inf01mation about their product/service through internet and customers get all the information at their computer by a single click on computer.
4) Corporate identity ( corporate social responsibility):
It is also a very strong tool to communicate value. By fulfilling social responsibility, a business can easily build a strong image in society, which helps in building a relationship b etween business and customers and then business easily communicate value which the business want to communicate.
5) Others such as packaging, point-of-sale, merchandising and word of mouth:
Besides above mentioned tools, retailers also use some other tools to communicate with customers like attractive packaging with product and business information, infonnation at point of sale etc.
Q.5 Define customer value generation process.
ANS: There are three trigger points in Customer value generation process:-
1) Company/customers (marketing mix/programme);
(2) Employees/customers (se1vice providers); and
(3) Technology/customers (e-marketing mix).
A value judgment is created as an intersection point between the product /service, users and their goals and use situation or occasion. In the case of the example discussed in the introduction section above, the product is the fabric, user is the customer who wants to feel the fab1ic and then take a decision and use situation could be she wants to get a fonnal dress tailored on a ve1y sho11 notice as her boss from the head office is visiting them.
Analyze all the touchpoints you are making with customers during their entire custo mer journey. It struts from the first time they hear about you to the final point when they renew their contrnct. Replay every single interaction between the customer and your brand and you would find gaps that you can fill to provide greater customer experience.
Focus on quality
Lowering down the price may not be always feasible to give benefit to the customers. Instead you can focus on providing better quality of the product when compared to your competitors. This quality can be in tenns of better perfo1mance, enhanced features and easier adoption of the product.
Gather customer feedback and understand them more deeply
The best source of knowing what b1ings value to the customers ru·e customers themselves. Conduct timely surveys with them to understand what matters most to them. Customers often don't mind paying a higher p1ice for a greater customer experience. In fact, to be more precise, they are willing to pay 16% more for a better customer expe1ience. Hence, instead of guessing what is most valuable to them, ask them directly and work towards that.
Identify and leverage the customer segments
Identify what is most valuable for the customers from different segments in your customer base. To mention an example of customer value proposition, one customer segment may find a pa1ticular feature of your product more attractive than your competitors. Knowing this would allow you to leverage that feature in vruious business strategies like customer marketing or creating value propositions.
Focus on your most valuable customers
Allocating more time and resources to the customer segment that is most profitable is also a good strategy towards customer value creation. Give as much personalized customer experience to these customers so that they feel privileged to do business with you. For exrunple, your service terun can know their details beforehand when they call for any technical help. This would save their time from identifying themselves through their credentials and would boost your relationship with them.
Final Words
For creating value for your customers, you must have a thorough understanding of your customer's business. You must have deep insights as to why they want to buy your product. Matching their expectations with your product offerings then becomes a piece of cake.
Most of the new ambitious companies are so possessed with their own offerings that they fail to connect with their customers. They tend to overemphasize the product features and capabilities without showcasing how it solves the customer's challenges.
Honestly, customers don't care how great your product is. They only want someone to understand their pain points and challenges. And if you are able to connect the dots between what they want and what you can offer, the customer value creation happens automatically.
Q.6 Wbat are the stages of service recovery process?
ANS: Service recovery is an opportunity to create raving fans, but, at the same time, it offers the chance to evaluate what processes or systems led to the issue in the first place.
There are five logical steps in the service recovery process:
Anticipating customer needs
Acknowledging their feelings
Apologizing and owning the responsibility
Offering alternatives
Making amends
Anticipating means understanding customer expectations at key points along the expe1ience p athway. If we have a clear idea about what the customer expects at each point along the experience pathway, we can anticipate and prepare for them. When we fail to understand and manage the expectations, dissatisfaction results. The key to success is being able to anticipate the customers' needs at each step and strive to ensure that processes are in place that will meet and exceed their expectations.
Service recovery begins the moment we recognize that expectations are not met. At that point, it is vital that we acknowledge the problem and the customer's feelings. Remember that perception is reality. This is not the time to argue and explain your position. It is the time to accept responsibility for acting on the customer's complaint.
Most of us learned the importance of saying "I'm sorry'' as young children. Those two words can often diffuse anger and bridge an emotional gap between two people in a wide range of situations. An apology, as simple as it may seem, is an important step in moving the situation away from the negative and into the positive, action-focused arena. An apology is not an admission of guilt. Many people in medical settings are hesitant to apologize for fear of looking like they have done something that could result in a law suit. Not so. You can safely apologize by saying, "I'm sorry that happened''
Offering alternatives whenever possible is a method for helping dissatisfied customers regain a sense of control. Rather than telling customers what they can't have, focus on options for what is possible. Put them back into the driver's seat.
Making amends is a me ans for 1ighting a wrong. It can be as simple as making a sincere apology, sending a follow-up le tter, or may include a small gift or token of appreciation. Unfo1tunately, I find that many healthcare organizations mistake these tokens for real service recovery. I have seen several hospitals create "service recovery kits" consisting of gift certificates and other '·perks" prepared to appease disgmntled customers but miss the real opportunities to change systems and operations in order to prevent future occurrences.
Use the information to drive change.
Keeping service recovery logs can help to identify opportunities for in1provement. Be sure to record date, time, department, nature of the complaint, and patties involved. Be sure to record contact information from customers who made the complaint. This will allow you to contact them and delve further into the situation if needed. Gather the data from service recovery logs from all the depai1ments. Summarize and find the common denominators and use the information to set goals and make changes.
Q.7 What are the difference between customers exportations and customers perception.
ANS: Customer expectation:
it can be defined as "Customers assumption of his / her experience in fulfillment of a need with the available resources at his/ her disposal". In simple tenns, customer expectation is what the customer expects from a product or se1vice. This can be influenced by cultural background, demographic factors, advertising, family lifestyle, personality, beliefs, reviews, and expe1ience with similar products. These influencing factors help the customer in evaluating the quality, value and the ability of the product or service to meet the need.
Customer expectation can be classified into two categories based on the perf01mance aspirations for attributes, features, and benefit of the product or se1vice. These are known as explicit and implicit expectation. Explicit expectation is expressed by the customer and usually relates to product perfo1mance such as the number of servings per bottle, free maintenance pe1iod, electricity consumption per hour, etc. These are well-identified performance standai-ds and can be already explicitly mentioned in the package or technical data sheets. The implicit expectation is tricky, and most organizations fail to address it, resulting in poor customer satisfaction. Implicit expectations are things the customer believes to be obvious and thinks the seller knows it. But, they are unspoken assumptions of the customer. For example, the customer wants the seller to remember their past orders, or they expect to be given priority as they are regular customers. When the implicit expectation is ignored, the customer treats it as an explicit expectation. They assume that the seller knew the implicit expectation from the beginning, but did not attend to it.
Customer expectation was decoded by a research done by Parasuraman, et al ( 1985). The research only refened to service level quality. But, few of their findings were important and can be applied to both prnduct and service. They indicated that customers have a predetennined expectation before purchase. This affects the buying decision. Furthermore, customer expectation is said to have two levels. One is the desired level, and the other is sufficient level. The desi1ed level is the benefits customer hopes to get, and the sufficient level is the acceptable se1vice or benefit. Finally, their research indicated that a promise of the seller should not be umealistic. Under-promise is better, whereas the likelihood of exceedin g customer exp ectation is high.
Customer perception :
It is the customer experience via consumption and interaction with the seller. Customer perception is subjective and can differ from person to person. Perception is a result of customer's individual assessment of a product or service quality based on consumption and interaction with the seller.
The perception may differ from what the seller intended to induce. This probability of deviation possesses the greatest challenge to a marketer as customer perception is very difficult to predict and manage. If an organization is unable to get the attention or a favorable response from the customer, it can be a catastrophe for the organization. A large number of options in the marketplace and access to info1mation from a customer point of view makes things more difficult for rnaJketers. Customer perception is not static; it's dynamic. So, customer perception is about the present mindset of a customer. In future, the perception can shift from a favorable to an unfavorable situation or vise-versa. Initially, the perception will be judgmental, rational and fact-based. But, when the relationship grows between seller and buyer, it can be based on emotional factors. In addition, competitor actions, buyer circmnstances, and buying power also can impact the perception.
Measmng customer perception is a difficult task, but it's an essential task for an org anization to view its offering from the customer viewpoint. Market research and surveys are the best tools for the measurement. The organization needs to bridge the gap between customer expectation and perception to manage customer perception. After measuring the perception, they can attempt to manage the customer gap.
Differences:
Definition:
Customer Expectation: Customer expectation can be defined as the customer's assm11ption of his / her expe1ience in fulfillment of a need with the available resources at his / her disposal.
Customer Perception: Customer perception is an individual customer's mental interpretation of collected information and consumption of a product or service.
Pre-purchase or Post-purchase:
Customer Expectation: Customer expectation is an assumption in deciding the purchase. (Prepurchase stage).
Customer Perception: Customer perception is an interpretation of collective infonnation after purchase (Post-purchase stage).
Timeline:
Customer Expectation: Customer expectation is the anticipation of experience. It's a futureoriented concept
Customer Perception: Customer perception is a review of the experience. It's a past oriented concept.
Influencers:
Customer Expectation: Customer expectation is influenced by cultural background, demographic factors, adve1tising, family lifestyle, personality, beliefs, reviews and expe1ience with similar products.
Customer Perception: Customer perception is a result of customer's individual assessment of product or service quality based on consumption and interaction with the seller.
Target Audience for Measurement:
Customer Expectation: Customer expectation can be measured via surveys and market research among potential customers who are the segmented taJget audience for the product or service the organization is offering.
Customer Perception: Customer perception can be measured via smveys and market research among consumers who tried the product or service at least once.
The important aspect of customer expectation and customer perception is the gap between them which is k nown as customer gap. Organizations should strive hard to keep the gap minimal as possible to succeed in their trade.
(B) Essay Type Questions
Q.8 What is customer loyalty? Classify customers on the basis of needs, nature and expectations.
ANS: Customer loyalty is the probability that a customer returns. The more loyal a customer is, the less likely they aTe to abandon a brand for an increase in prices, non-availability of a product, etc. The company can charge its customers reasonably higher prices provided they maintain the quality standard.
Companies can ensure their customers' return for business by focusing on providing value to the customers through their products or services. If the customer experience is good, they will be satisfied and likely to maintain their loyalty.
Types of customer on the basis of needs:
1. Friendliness
This is the most basic customer need that's associated with things like courtesy and politeness. Friendly agents are a top indicator of a good customer experience, according to the customers smveyed in our 2021 Trends Report. 2.Empathy
Customers need to know the organization understands and appreciates their needs and circumstances. In fact, 49% smveyed in our 2021 Trends Report said they want agents to be empathetic.
3. Fainess
Customers must feel that they're getting adequate attention and fair and reasonable answers.
4. Control
Customers want to feel like they have an influence on the outcome. You can empower your customers by listening to their feedback and using it to improve.
Types of customer on the basis of nature:
Loyal customers: Customers that make up a minority of the customer base but generate a large portion of sales.
Impulse customers: Customers that do not have a specific product in mind and purchase goods when it seems good at the time.
Discount customers: Customers that shop frequently but base buying decisions primarily on markdowns.
Need-based customers: Customers with the intention of buying a specific product.
Wandering customers: O1stomers that are not sure of what they want to buy.
Types of customers on the basis of expectations:
Explicit expectations
Explicit expectations are specific targets that customers are looking for when they seek out your product or se1vice. For example, a customer may come to an automotive dealership expecting a ce1tain price range and minimum miles per gallon.
Implicit expectations
Implicit expectations are what customers have come to expect as table stakes from businesses in your ve1tical. These expectations are typically based on previous experiences with your competitors and what they've heard from family and friends.
Interpersonal expectations
Interpersonal expectations are what customers expect dllling p erson to person interactions with your team members, usually during customer se1vice. Typically, customers expect your employees to be professional, experts in their field, friendly, and courteous.
Digital expectations
Digital expectations relate to the interactions that customers have with your brand online. While customers were steadily turning towards digital for years, COVID-19 accelerated this trend. The onset of the pandemic saw a 10% increase in online customer base across verticals. That means it's become critical for your website to be easy to discover and easy to navigate.
Q.9 What is Internet retailing? What are the advantages of purchasing on the internet
ANS: A new trend which has caught up significantly with the expansion of the int em et is internet retailing whereby customers can pmchase products without having to physically visit a store. In the context of internet retailing, either there exists retailers who have both a physical store as well as a viltual store e.g. Shoppers Stop in India operating in both the fotmats or there are internet retailers having an exclusive vi1tual presence like the Flipkart.
Advantages of purchasing on the internet Superior Information:
Retailers no1mally provide far more information on the internet than is available through store or catalog channels .This information can be greater than what is provided in a catalog . This is re gulai-Iy updated and is available 24/7 ,3 65 days a year. The sales associate in a store is not always knowledgeable about all relevant details of the desired item. The comprehensive infonnation available on the internet can be sufficient to make a purchase decision.
Broader Selection:
Customers can check out merchandise of a large number of retailers to at-rive at a decision. The prices and product information of different brands can be pernsed. The customer can get more altematives in tenns of colors, brands and sizes as compared to a store. Buyers can now consider retailers located in different cities and countries ai1d ai·e not limited to an outlet in tl1eir own town. Formatted information: Buyers can view infonnation in a tabular fomiat giving a feature by feature comparison with competitive brands. In contrast, customers in stores have to inspect a single brand and remember different attributes in order to make a comparison.
Virtual Community networking sites:
Such sites help a customer get a view from other customers, allowing him to make an informed opinion.
Personalisation:
Personalised offering s can be made to customers based on their previous buying hi.story. For example, Amazon creates a personal home page for customers with infonnation about books and products of interest based on past purchases. They also get customised emails il1fonning them of any new books by their favorite authors. Amazon recommend complementary merchandise as well.
Selling merchandise with touch and feel attributes:
1. When a customer v isits a store he appreciates the color and the style of apparels by 'looking '. Similarly, the tastes of food items, smell of perfumes and fitting of apparel are experienced by actual ·touch and feel'.
2. These attributes of 'touch and feel' are difficult to replicate on the internet. This is a major difference between physically visiting a store and purchasing online. Due to this customer prefer buying familiar and well-known brands on the net rather than unfamiliar products.
They are confident about the quality of the product and sure about its consistency
3. Through electronic retailing, customers can save both the efforts and time.
4. The wide range of products is available online, so the compai-ison can be made easily before the purchase.
5. The customer can shop anytime and from anywhere, the facility is available 24*7
6. The huge discounts can be availed while shopping online.
7. The detailed infonnation about the product is available online; that helps the customer to make the purchase decision.
8. The electronic retailing offers the easy payment terms such as payment on delivery that instigate the customer to shop online.
9. he Electronic Retailing also called as e-tailing or internet retailing, is the process of selling the goods and services through electronic media, paiticularly the internet. Simply, the sale of retail goods and se1vices online is called as electronic retailing.
10. The Electrnnic Retailing also called as e-tailing or internet retailing, is the process of selling the goods and services through electronic media, paiticularly the internet. Simply, the sale of retail goods and services online is called as electrnnic retailing.
11. It follows the B2C business model wherein the business interacts directly with the customers without the involvement of any intermediaries.
The e-retailers can be of two types:
Pure Play e-retailers such as Amazon, that emerged as the online bookseller. It is present only online and do not have any physical outlet for the customers.
Brick and click e-retailers such as Dell, that sells computers through the internet as well as has the physical store front for the customers.
