Page 172 - DMGT522_SERVICES MANAGEMENT

Unit 7: Delivering Services on the Web

further offers and discounts to maintain and increase the customer satisfaction levels. Notes

Marketing programmes: SangamDirect has initiated many marketing programmes to
generate calls and purchases. There are “Rice Utsavs” to inform the customers about the
wide varieties and assortments of merchandise available. Such Utsavs present the customers
with an opportunity for the “touch-feel” factor. This is very essential, especially since
SangamDirect is an electronic form of retailing. The customers get to see the various
products and also there is a facility for the customers to order for their purchases from
these Utsavs.
SangamDirect has tie-ups with other retailing and non-retailing organisations. This helps
in the SangamDirect brand recall and recognition. There are DSAs which are responsible
for promoting the concept door-to-door. The DSA teams are very competitive and
professional in their approach. This has benefited SangamDirect immensely by way of
making their services accessible to a greater number of customers. There is also a website
and an email address. The customers can send their orders through the website and the
email address.
SangamDirect has started distributing newsletters to all its customers. The newsletter
contains information about the range of products available with SangamDirect, the different
schemes, coupons, etc. Then there are inputs from the customers themselves, about certain
recipes, cooking tips, etc. There is also a section for the customers to put in their own
advertisements regarding certain services of their own, i.e. education classes, creativity
courses, cooking courses, requests for learning the same, etc. This has helped in creating a
virtual community-center among the customers and the society as a whole. Complaints
resolution: In case a customer has any complaints regarding any aspect of SangamDirect
operations, be it the quality of the products delivered, incomplete delivery of the order,
behaviour of the delivery boy or any service of SangamDirect that the customer is not
satisfied with, all these complaints are noted precisely by the call centre agents and the
necessary corrective actions are immediately taken. Needless to say, these factors are very
necessary for the success of any organisation, more so in the field of retailing.

SangamDirect is really a single point access to all the products essential for any household;
right from groceries, food grains to branded products of all the leading companies. This
assures right quality and quantity and at the right price for all the products that are
ordered for by the customers.
How does SangamDirect effort fit into the world of retailing?
Indian retailing scenario: Organized retailing has certainly grown in India – it accounts
for barely two per cent of the total ` 9 lakh crore retailing market here, but is likely to
touch 10 per cent by the end of this decade. Organized retailing has grown three-fold from
` 5,000 crore in 2000 to ` 15,000 crore today, with a potential to expand to ` 50,000 crore in
2008. There is enough potential in retailing. So much so that the top 10 cities in the country
account for 94 per cent of retail sales, with the top six cities filling the shopping basket
with 82 per cent sales. This is likely to go down to 86 per cent and 66 per cent, respectively,
by 2005.
From supermarkets and hypermarkets to department stores and convenience stores and
one-stop shops, a retailing wave is currently on in the country. And from food to music
and apparel to tea and coffee bars, companies of all hues are indulging in retail speak. The
various formats currently in use include hyper and supermarkets, convenience stores,
department stores and specialty chains. While each of these models gradually morphed
from one to another globally, the Indian retail arena is lush, with all the formats running
parallel.
Contd...

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