Working title:

Impact of customer relationship management practices on customer satisfaction with respect to online retailing.

Purpose of the research:

The nature of retailing is changing. Online shopping is no longer a fad; it's an acknowledged and important part of the retail experience, with more than a tenth of the world's population having bought products and services over the Internet. According to market research organization ACNielsen, there are more than 627 million online shoppers in the world. Hence, the new battleground is electronic retailing. With burgeoning consumer spending, retailers must establish their presence across all channels and grab their share of wallet. Yet, On-line shopping has not caught the fancy of majority of consumers in India as it has in developed nations. Issues of CRM practices like security, transaction fulfillment and genuineness are still the major stumbling blocks in the way of the on-line shopping. Another reason being touted is that the concept is relatively new and it is going to take time for the industry, which is still in its infancy to build secure payment gateways and logistics of fulfillment. The main consumer concern today is attached with safety & security. Also the customers are keen about some of the CRM practices like payment mode, proper delivery, after sales service, complaint handling, dealing with the defects etc.. There is a big market waiting out there if these concerns are addressed. Hence the purpose of the research is to know the parameters of CRM practices that will enhance the customer satisfaction. The research will also address the question whether a firm should invest in CRM practices.

Aim:
This research aims to understand the contribution of CRM practices in enhancing customer satisfaction as well as find out the parameters of CRM that impact on customers perception.

Objectives: 1. To study several aspects of online retailing. 2. To understand the contribution of CRM practices in enhancing customer satisfaction. 3. To find out the parameters of CRM that impact on customers perception. Key questions:
1. Why the customers buy online? 2. What kind of commodities do they prefer buying online? 3. What kind of problems do they face while buying online?

4. Whether CRM practices will impact the customer satisfaction?

Hypothesis:
Null Hypothesis: H0: There is a no relationship between CRM practices and customer satisfaction. Alternative Hypothesis: H1: There is a relationship between CRM practices and customer satisfaction.

Research Methodology:
Research design: The research design adopted will be Descriptive Research Design which includes interviews and fact-finding inquiries through questionnaires. Data collection & methodology: The data used for the study is both Primary data and Secondary data. Primary data: The primary data is collected through questionnaires. Two methods of data collection are used , they are: 1. Face-to-face interview session will be conducted by approaching the respondents personally. 2. Also questionnaires will be mailed to the candidates and will be asked to fill it and submit it. Secondary data: The secondary data regarding the industry will be obtained from the journals and Internet. Scaling procedure: Likert scale is used in the questionnaire. On the scale of 5, 1 is most preferable and 5 is least preferable. Sampling Unit: Sampling unit are the consumers.

Sampling Size: The sampling size is 50. Sampling Type: The sampling type adopted will be Non Probability Convenient Sampling. Questionnaire:

1. Name......................................................................................... 2. Age: 18-28 29-38 39-48 49 above

3. Gender Male Female

4. Occupation Student Salaried Business

5. Have you ever purchased online? Yes No

6. Which kind of product you prefer to buy online? Books Clothes and garments Utensils Foods

E-tickets Electronics Others................................................................................

7. How frequently you prefer to purchase products online? Once in a weeks Once in a 2-3 weeks Once in a month Once in a 2- 5 months Once in a 6-12 months

8. What is the reason you like to purchase products online? Availability of product Wide range of product Easy access Discount and free gift Doesnt matter

9. Is online industrys corporate strategy gives importance to a customers needs? Yes No

10. Is CRM practices important for online retailing? Yes No

11. Most important factor for customers buying online? Quality Proper delivery Price After / pre-sales services

12. What are the most preferable online buying sites? Flipkart E bay Amazon.com Snapdeal Others..............................................................................

13. Experience with that online buying site:Payment mode Most preferable 1------2------3------4-------5 least preferable

Price offers, gifts and discounts Most preferable 1------2------3------4-------5 least preferable

Quality of products Most preferable 1------2------3------4-------5 least preferable

After sales feedback Most preferable 1------2------3------4-------5 least preferable

Dealing with problems and defects Most preferable 1------2------3------4-------5 least preferable

Complaint handling Most preferable 1------2------3------4-------5 least preferable

Information on new products and offers Most preferable 1------2------3------4-------5 least preferable

Are your expectations met? Very much 1------2------3------4-------5 not at all

14. Why you prefer buying products from online buying site? a. .............................................................................................................................................. ................................................................................................ 15. Describe some of the pleasant experience of yours while buying products from online? a. .............................................................................................................................................. ................................................................................................ 16. Have you ever faced any problem during buying products online? a. .............................................................................................................................................. ................................................................................................

17. What suggestion you will give to improve the service of selling the online products? a. .............................................................................................................................................. ................................................................................................ 18. Which services (CRM Practices) of online buying site do you like the most? a. .............................................................................................................................................. ................................................................................................

Tools used for data analysis: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Questionnaires Descriptive Statistics Tables Graphs Anova

Proposed contents: 1. Introduction 1.1 E-Commerce 1.2 E-Retailing 1.3 History of E-Retailing 1.4 Advantages of E-Retailing 1.5 Disadvantages of E-Retailing 1.6 E-Retailing in India 1.7 Trends and future of E-Retailing in India 1.8 Major players of Indian E-Retailing industry 2. Research Methodology 2.1 Statement of the problem 2.2 Objective of the study 2.3 Sources of Data 2.4 Data analysis and interpretation

3. Conclusion and suggestions Bibliography Annexure

Work Plan Time devoted for this project will be 8 weeks. Collection of data 3 weeks. Analysis of data 2 weeks. Interpretation of data 1 week. Presentation of findings, recommendation and writing up the report 2 weeks.