Customer Loyalty in Retail Jewellery Purchase

Customer Loyalty in the Small and Medium Sized Retail Jewellery Firms

Research Proposal on What extent does loyalty schemes have an impact on Repeat Patronage

Marketing Topic-Dissertation on Customer Loyalty in the Small and Medium Sized Retail Jewellery Firms

How to Write the Introduction Chapter on Dissertation on Customer Loyalty

The aim of this research is to investigate the development of loyalty schemes used by Small Medium Sized Enterprises (SME’s) in the retailer Jewellery sector. Loyalty schemes were initiated by retailers with the goal to retain customers and increase repeat purchase by giving the consumers less reasons to switch to competitors; this can either be by points or by free gifts.

Initially retailers in super markets analyzed their own database and see how much each customer spends on products. Then accordingly give discounts and spend on them by giving them free gifts and other amenities. In the SME’s retail Jewellery sector each retailer will have it’s own individual schemes that it offer’s to it’s client in order to win their loyalty. For example some retailers offer free mending and polishing of the Jewellery, some might offer discounts, and some even ‘present’ fancy jewellery boxes with their sales so the consumer does not have to worry about finding a box. The SME’s retail Jewellery sector faces a lot of competition from larger multinational Jewellery firms, making it harder and harder for them to retain their existing customers. The main objective of this research is how these SME’s compete in the market place and

build customer loyalty.

This research will be undertaken from both the retailer’s perspectives as well as consumer’s perspectives of justifying the impact of loyalty schemes on repeat patronage and what factors cause repeat patronage. The likely future directions and recommendations of how these retailers can be more competitive and keep their loyal customers will be discussed in the recommendation section of this dissertation.

RATIONALE FOR CHOSEN SUBJECT MATTER AND RESEARCH AIMS

The stage that is most relevant to this dissertation is the post-purchase alternative evaluation stage because this stage (replace ‘because this stage’ with ‘which) most determines the level of loyalty a consumer has. The process of post purchase alternative evaluation stage is ongoing and does not end when the product is sold off or consumed. In turn this stage takes two forms; satisfaction and dissatisfaction. When patrons

purchase a good  or service, they perceive certain expectations about the product or service when consumed and satisfaction is an outcome that is hoped for. These expectations help people make judgments about the performance of a product or service in order to reach their desired state (Sheth, et al., 1999), satisfaction is what can make a consumer loyal.

Loyalty marketing has manifested itself in the retail sector in the manner of loyalty schemes since the 1990’s. These schemes are well accepted by consumers and retailers, and are now evident in industries and sectors such as banking, airlines and retailers. The main aim of loyalty schemes is to build a relationship with the customers or to reward  loyal customers. In today’s world loyalty schemes help increase the grip in consumer spending, and to help retailers accumulate information about their customers. A lot of research has been done on loyalty schemes with plastic cards in banking, airlines and large retailers but less research has been done on SME’s and how they retain customer loyalty and build relationships with their customers. Furthermore to this little research has been done in the Jewellery sector and about what factors actually motivate a customer to be loyal to their retailers. From the retailer’s perspective, the strategies they to stand

out from their competition and to create customer retention in the competitive market (Further, details on the industry are in Appendix 1). In addition the awareness level of consumers with respect to the whole aspect of these schemes such as discounts free boxes is so low that they often understand it to be a part of the whole service package from the retailers whereas in reality it is a form loyalty encouragement. The objective of this study is to look at it from both the perspectives of customers and retailers, why retailers run these schemes, what exactly they offer, and why consumers actually prefer a particular retailer over the other and the reasons as to why they would only stick to one retailer for their jewellery. This interest in this study was stimulated by informal talks with conversations with consumers who buy jewellery and also retailers who sell jewellery.

This study is important because it will not only assess how loyalty schemes are implemented by SME of Jewellery firms but it will also focus on the key factors on how this loyalty is developed for the store. The major limitation of SME Jeweller firms is that they do not have the money to spend on expensive technology to understand consumer needs. There is a gap in the literature because customer loyalty research has focused on a lot of large industries but not on small retail Jewellery stores.

Following are the research questions that this research aims to answer:

The main objective of this project is to study the relationship between loyalty schemes (LS’s) and its impact on repeat patronage?

The objectives of the research are as follows:

- To evaluate current literature on RM, loyalty schemes and customer loyalty?

- To identify gaps in the literature on loyalty schemes and customer loyalty?

- To evaluate how effective loyalty schemes are on inducing repeat patronage from the customers and retailers perspective?

- To evaluate other factors affecting repeat patronage?

- To realise the various drawbacks and limitations of this piece of research?

 RESEARCH OUTLINE

Chapter 2: Literature Review: Transaction Marketing to Relationship Marketing (RM): A Paradigm Shift?

This Chapter will commence with the introduction of the paradigm of RM, from its roots from Business-to-Business (B-2-B) and service markets, and its highly problematic domain extension into the consumer markets. The concept of loyalty marketing has been introduced as a sub segment of the domain extension.

Chapter 3: Literature Review: Loyalty and Loyalty Marketing This section will tackle the concept of loyalty marketing, and the ways that it can be measured. Various models will be discussed to interpret customer loyalty, such as behavioural, attitudinal and Dick & Basu’s model. This chapter will also discuss the

importance of loyalty marketing in the retail sector. In addition criticisms of loyalty schemes have also been cited.

Chapter 4: Methodology

This chapter first sets out the Aim/Purpose and objective of the Study. Further it contains a detailed discussion of the theoretical background for the research methodology adopted and explains the rationale for the specific techniques used for the data collection and analysis. Additionally, the framework utilised by this study is described and the basis for its use is provided. In addition, the research procedure is shown with the sampling method and how data triangulation is achieved is also highlighted. The entire process of

how the interviews will be conducted has been outlined and finally, the chapter discusses the research questions taken into consideration.

Chapter 5: Analysis and Discussions: From the Consumers Perspective

This section will represent the analysis and discussion of the semi-structured interviews with heavy consumers of jewellery. Here the main research question will be tackled: to what extent do loyalty schemes have an impact on buying behaviour? Apart from loyalty schemes this section will give an insight into other factors causing repeat patronage, such as customer service, communication, customization and finally trust and commitment.

Chapter 6: Analysis and Discussions: From the Retailers Perspective

This chapter will show the analysis and discussion from the point of view of retailers. Insights will be uncovered from the retailer’s perspectives on the impact of loyalty schemes, on buying behaviour and reasons behind its inception. Additionally the retailers will also give additional insights into other factors they think cause repeat patronage.

Chapter 7: Conclusions, Limitations and Recommendations

This chapter draws together all the different elements of the findings and proposes an overall, unifying conclusion to integrate all the results into one explanation. The chapter further goes on to discuss the limitations of the study and ends with suggestions for future research.

In order to get all the chapters of the Dissertation containing Abstract, Introduction, Literature Review, Research Methodology, Data Analysis, Recommendations, Conclusion, Implications of Study, Directions for Further Research, Questionnaire and Harvard Referencing Style and Plagiarism Free Custom Writing Help for  Dissertations and Thesis on Customer Loyalty, contact Mahasagar Publications, Call +91 9819650213 or +91 8081344446  or visit website www.projectspapers.com