Technology Enabled Customer Relationship Management in Supermarket Industry in Nigeria

Olamade O. Owolabi, Yusuff S. Adeleke, Kazeem Abubakar

.
National Centre for Technology Management, Federal Ministry of Science and Technology, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria..

DOI: 10.4236/ajibm.2013.32027                

Abstract

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is an enterprise-wide business strategy directed at attracting, retaining and effectively serving customers to grow up their value over the long term. Because customers differ in their preferences and purchasing habit, and their mobility is enhanced by increasing availability of information, firms invest in technologies that help them gain detailed understanding of their customers, allowing them to know how to respond to customer needs and market products and services more effectively. While the modern CRM strategy is intensive in the use of analytical technologies, the Nigeria supermarket industry still at the first stage of its development phase have largely interacted with customers through personal interaction partly due to the low level of competition for customers, high cost of investment in analytical CRM infrastructure and lack of dynamic capability to integrate technology, people and processes.

Keywords

Technology; Customers; Relationship Management; Supermarket

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

References

[1]	S. M. Shugan, “Brand Loyalty Programs: Are They Shams?” Marketing Science, Vol. 24, No. 2, 2005, pp. 185-193. doi:10.1287/mksc.1050.0124
[2]	D. Weatherspoon and T. Reardon, “The Rise of Supermarkets in Africa: Implications for Agri-Food Systems and Rural Poor,” Development Policy Review, Vol. 21, No. 3, 2003, pp. 1-17. doi:10.1111/1467-7679.00214
[3]	L. Botha and H. Schalkwyk, “An Inquiry into the Evolving Supermarket Industry in Africa,” International Food & Agribusiness Management Association’s 17th Annual World Symposium, Parma, 23-26 June 2007, pp. 1-13.
[4]	T. Reardon, J. Berdegue, M. Lundy, P. Schutz, F. Balsevich, R. Hernandez, E. Perez, P. Jano and H. Wang, “Supermarkets and Rural Livelihoods: A Research Method,” Staff Paper, Michigan State University, East Lansing, 2004.
[5]	K. Sanjeev, A. Prabhu and T. Tom, “Quantitative Model for CRM Performance,” Journal of International Technology and Information Management, Vol. 17, No. 2, 2008, pp. 99-110.
[6]	B. Goldenberg, “CRM: The Past and the Future,” Customer Relationship Magazine, Vol. 10, No. 1, 2006, p. 18.
[7]	D. Goodhue, B. Wixom and H. Watson, “Realizing Business Benefits through CRM: Hitting the Right Target In the Right Way,” MIS Quarterly Executive, Vol. 1, No. 2, 2002, pp. 79-94.
[8]	E. Riyad, “Towards a Successful CRM Implementation in Banks: An Integrated Model,” The Service Industries Journal, Vol. 27, No. 8, 2007, pp. 1021-1039. doi:10.1080/02642060701673703
[9]	S. Nelson, “CRM Is Dead; Long Live CRM,” In: J. Freeland, Ed., Defying the Limits, Montgomery Research, 5th Edition, John Freeland, San Francisco, 2004, pp. 194-195.
[10]	Gartner, Inc., “Gartner Says Spending on Social Software to Support Sales, Marketing and Customer Service Processes Will Exceed $1 Billion Worldwide by 2013,” Gartner, Inc., Connecticut, 2011.
[11]	F. Buttle, “Customer Relationship Management: Concept and Tools,” Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford, 2004.
[12]	R. Winer, “A Framework for Customer Relationship Management,” California Management Review, Vol. 43, No. 4, 2001, pp. 89-105. doi:10.2307/41166102
[13]	K. Srivastava, S. Tasadduq and F. Liam, “Marketing, Business Processes, and Shareholder Value: An Organizationally Embedded View of Marketing Activities and the Discipline of Marketing,” Journal of Marketing, Vol. 63, No. 4, 1999, pp. 168-179. doi:10.2307/1252110
[14]	Y. Cho, J. Hiltz and J. Fjermestad, “An Analysis of Online Customer Complaints: Implications for Web Complaint Management,” Proceedings of the 35th Hawaii International Conference on Systems Science, Los Alamitos, 7-10 January 2002, pp. 2308-2317.
[15]	A. Kamakura and M. Wedel, “Market Segmentation: Conceptual and Methodological Foundations,” 2nd Edition, Kluwer Academic Press, New York, 1999.
[16]	Y. Xu, D. Yen, B. Lin and D. Chou, “Adoption of Customer Relationship Management Technology,” Industrial Management and Data Systems, Vol. 102, No. 8, 2002, pp. 442-452. doi:10.1108/ 02635570210445871
[17]	S. Hart, G. Hogg and M. Banerjee, “Does the Level of Experience Have an Effect on CRM Programs? Exploratory Research Findings,” Industrial Marketing Management, Vol. 33, No. 2, 2004, pp. 549-560. doi:10.1016/j.indmarman.2004.01.007
[18]	M. Kennedy and A. King, “Using customer Relationship Management to Increase Profit,” Strategic Finance, Vol. 85, No. 9, 2004, pp. 36-42.
[19]	G. Alvonitis and N. Panagopoulos, “Antecedents and Consequences of CRM Technology Acceptance in the Sales Force,” Industrial Marketing Management, Vol. 34, No. 4, 2005, pp. 355-368. doi:10.1016/j.indmarman.2004.09.021
[20]	T. Tellefsen and G. Thomas, “The Antecedents and Consequences of Organizational and Personal Commitment in Business Service Relationship,” Industrial Marketing Management, Vol. 34, No. 1, 2005, pp. 23-37. doi:10.1016/j.indmarman.2004.07.001
[21]	P. Kotler, “Marketing Management: Analysis, Planning, Implementation, and Control,” Prentice Hall International, Upper Saddle River, 1997.
[22]	H. Peck, A. Payne, M. Christopher and M. Clark, “Relationship Marketing—Strategy and Implementation,” Butterworth Heinemann, Burlington, 2004.
[23]	I. Gordon, “Relationship Marketing: New Strategies, Techniques and Technologies to Win Customers You Want and Keep Them Forever,” John Wiley and Sons, Hoboken, 1998.
[24]	D. Justla, J. Craig and P. Bodorik, “Enabling and Measuring Electronic Customer Relationship Management Readiness,” Proceedings of the 34th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, Maui, 3-6 January 2001, p. 7023.
[25]	M. Abdullah, A. Al-Nasser and N. Husain, “Evaluating Functional Relationship between Image, Customer Satisfaction and Customer Loyalty Using General Maximum Entropy,” Total Quality Management, Vol. 11, No. 4, 2002, pp. 4-5.
[26]	J. Fjermestad, C. Nicholas and J. Romano, “An Integrative Implementation Framework for Electronic Customer Relationship Management: Revisiting the General Principles of Usability and Resistance,” Proceedings of the 36th Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, Los Alamitos, 6-9 January 2003, p. 183.
[27]	R. Ocker, and S. Mudambi, “Assessing the Readiness of Firms for CRM: A Literature Review and Research Model,” Proceedings of the 36th Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, Los Alamitos, 6-9 January 2003, p. 181.
[28]	H. Kale, “CRM Failure and the Seven Deadly Sins,” Marketing Management, Vol. 13, No. 5, 2004, pp. 42-46.
[29]	W. Reinartz, M. Krafft and W. Hoyer, “The Customer Relationship Management Process: Its Measurement and Impact on Performance,” Journal of Marketing Research, Vol. 41, No. 3, 2004, pp. 293-305. doi:10.1509/jmkr.41.3.293.35991
[30]	J. Dickie, “Does CRM = Sales Effectiveness or Sales Ineffectiveness?” IT Toolbox, Scottsdale, 2005.
[31]	G. Day, “Capabilities for Forging Customer Relationships,” Marketing Science Institute Working Paper, Cambridge, 2000.
[32]	R. Erffmeyer and D. Johnson, “An Exploratory Study of Sales Force Automation Practices: Expectations and Realities,” Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, Vol. 21, No. 2, 2001, pp. 167-175.
[33]	C. Speier and V. Venkastesh, “The Hidden Minefields in the Adoption of Sales Force Automation Technologies,” Journal of Marketing, Vol. 66, No. 3, 2002, pp. 98-112. doi:10.1509/jmkg.66. 3.98.18510
[34]	P. Raman, C. Wittmann and A. Rauseo, “Leveraging CRM for Sales: The Role of Organizational Capabilities in Successful CRM Implementation,” Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management, Vol. 26, No. 1, 2006, pp. 39-53. doi:10.2753/PSS0885-3134260104
[35]	Institute of Direct Marketing-IDM, “The IDM Guide to CRM Mastery,” Institute of Direct Marketing-IDM, Middlesex, 2002.
[36]	A. Payne and P. Frow, “Customer Relationship Management: From Strategy to Implementation,” Journal of Marketing Management, Vol. 22, No. 1-2, 2006, pp. 135-168.
[37]	G. Larry, “The Role of Customer Intelligence in Successful CRM,” DM Review, 2004, pp. 12-14.
[38]	D. Peppers and M. Rogers, “The One to One Future,” Doubleday, New York, 1999.
[39]	D. Hunt and C. Lambe, “Marketing’s Contribution to Business Strategy: Market Orientation, Relationship Marketing, and Resources-Advantage Theory,” International Journal of Management Reviews, Vol. 2, No. 1, 2000, pp. 17-34. doi:10.1111/1468-2370.00029
[40]	M. Xu and J. Walton, “Gaining Customer Knowledge through Analytical CRM,” Industrial Management & Data Systems, Vol. 105, No. 7, 2005, pp. 955-971. doi:10.1108/02635570510616139
[41]	F. John, A. Michael, W. Thomas and H. Charlotte, “CRM in Sales-Intensive Organizations: A Review and Future Direction,” Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, Vol. 25, No. 2, 2005, pp. 169-180.
[42]	H. Kracklauer, D. Mills and D. Seifert, “Collaborative Customer Relationship Management: Taking CRM to the Next Level,” Harvard Business School Soldiers Field Boston, 2004.
[43]	G. Barton, “CRM Automation,” Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, 2002.
[44]	M. García-Murillo and H. Annabi, “Customer Knowledge Management,” The Journal of the Operational Research Society, Vol. 53, No. 8, 2002, pp. 875-884. doi:10.1057/palgrave.jors.2601365
[45]	Y. Butler, “Knowledge Management: If Only You Knew What You Knew,” The Australian Library Journal, Vol. 49, No. 1, 2000, pp. 31-42.
[46]	I. Nonaka, “The Knowledge Creating Company,” Harvard Business Review on Knowledge Management, Harvard Business School Press, Cambridge, 1991, pp. 21-46.