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Services Marketing
Notes 5. Tangibles: This is a measure of the effectiveness of the physical evidence of the service
provider like design layout and facilities.
CENTRAL BAZAAR
Case Study
Measuring quality of intangibles and experiences
Central Bazaar is a popular upcoming direct-to-home shopping service in South India. It
offers goods and services ranging from provisions, home maintenance, groceries, toiletries,
beauty, health and home deliveries, exchanges, etc. Its service was offered initially to the
residents of New Delhi and Gurgaon, and then went on to include other towns.
It was a bold new experiment in electronic retailing format, tried for the first time in India,
where customers ordered for their merchandise either through the net or the telephone. A
24-hour service delivery concept, it involved selling branded goods at a one per cent
discount to maximum retail price (MRP), and unbranded goods at a five per cent discount
to existing rates. Central Bazaar was cautious in using the web as an exclusive method for
taking order, following the bust of dotcoms in 2000 and the bad name that e-commerce
had earned. In addition, it set up call centres, which became the mainstay for receiving
orders, and which was more in the comfort zone of the housewives.
The Central Bazaar model, then, was that of an online Kirana store, where the line was
defined as telephone as well as website. The store did not have an outlet where customers
could come and shop; instead, all orders were to be booked through the phone or its
website, with the company promising 24-hour delivery.
The Process of Ordering from Central Bazaar: The customer has to call up the call centre.
There is a very efficient and trained team, at the service of the customers, ready to take
down their orders. Here, Information Technology has helped the call centre to a great
extent. Central Bazaar has a system where the call centre, the warehouse and the despatch
centre are all well integrated with each other. There is effective and efficient flow of
information across all these levels.
All the products that are available with Central Bazaar are stored in a database, complete
with the recent prices and quantity and also the promotions carried out by different
companies, while also featuring Central Bazaars exclusive offers. Thus, when a customer
calls up the call centre, he/she is given all the information, right from the product quantities
available, prices, offers and also the amount of money that the customer saves.
The call centre agents have all the knowledge about the product, i.e., the product features,
its quality, its uses, etc. Thus, they are in a position to inform the customers correctly about
the various aspects of the products that are being ordered. In case of any product not being
in stock, the call centre agents are immediately informed about it, so that they can suggest
alternative products to the customer. The order is delivered at the customers house at the
time convenient to the customer, free of cost. Not only does this process put the customer
at ease, it gives her the much-needed convenience as regards both of time and place.
The Processing of the Order: Once the order is confirmed and the customer decides the
time of delivery, the order is forwarded to the warehouse department. This department is
responsible for getting the order ready for despatch. This department prepares a list of the
items in the product and gives it to a person who does the shopping. The warehouse is
very methodically designed. There are different markings for different racks for easy
Contd...
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