The Relationship of Internet Use to CRM - Essay Example

Price competition, the pressures brought about by price increases, changes in customer trends and preferences, and industry concentration. These factors have made it extremely challenging for supermarkets to keep their customers, let alone encourage them to be loyal. As a result of these changes, there are a number of ways through which retailers respond. Tesco, in particular, has always been a leader in influencing the market, and retaining customers, largely due to their technology-driven strategies, that focus on marketing the products and services with the help of technology. In addition, the company also emphasizes establishing and developing relationships with its customers. On the other hand, other companies like Asda and Safeway have decided to take another path, focusing on offering goods and services at a more competitive price. Sainsbury, at the moment, is still trying to gain back the market share that Tesco has taken from them (Obitz, 2009).

Aim

The current study aims to determine if the use of the internet has positive influences on customer relationship marketing and relationship marketing.

Objectives

Specifically, the objectives of the research are as follows:

1) To determine if there is a significant correlation between the effectiveness of the internet as a marketing strategy and the effectiveness of customer relationship marketing in Tesco; and

2) To ascertain if there is a significant correlation between the effectiveness of the internet as a marketing strategy and the effectiveness of relationship marketing in Tesco.

This chapter shall focus on the concept of relationship marketing and customer relationship marketing, both of which aim to preserve the loyalty of existing customers, instead of simply aiming to gain new ones. In order for this to happen, companies need to be innovative in their marketing approach, and this study shall investigate the approach of supermarket retailers such as Tesco, which has opted to make use of the Internet as part of its marketing strategy.