The Application of a Relationship Marketing Perspective in Retail Banking

This article considers the development of relationship marketing in retail financial services. It begins by examining the relationship marketing literature and considering its application to the retail banking industry. Following a discussion of the research methodology, four in-depth retail bank case studies are presented. These cases form the basis of a qualitative analysis of the state of relationship marketing in retail banking. Many banks have already reached a higher level of relationship marketing than businesses in other sectors. Yet generic relationship marketing models such as the one applied in this research do not necessarily reflect these differences. A modified version of a relationship marketing model, which caters for the particular characteristics of retail banks and which may be applicable to other services businesses, is therefore proposed.     

Internal Marketing in the UK Retail Banking Sector: Rhetoric or Reality

The article sheds light on the relationship between internal marketing rhetoric and its practice within the UK retail bank sector and addresses a deficiency in the current internal marketing literature particularly in terms of implementation. A practitioner view is explored through data generated by in-depth qualitative interviews with thirty-five branch managers and twenty-one employees. The study produced some interesting findings structured in the form of relationships which highlighted the distinct nature of the internal marketing practice within the specific sector. This article sheds light on the six emergent relationships. The examination of the relationship between the rhetoric and practice of internal marketing within the UK retail bank industry raises some criticisms regarding the motives behind the adoption of internal marketing and the current implementation approach adopted by these organizations. The study’s conclusions can be used as an outline agenda for future research aimed at strengthening internal marketing’s legitimacy in the academic literature and highlighting its contribution to practitioners.     

Customer Satisfaction in Retail Banking

Professional services firms (PSFs) engaged in international operations present a unique challenge for governments. They directly and indirectly affect governmental policies and the agencies that enforce these policies through policy development, problem solving, and implementation. Yet, governments that seek to advance rational, forward thinking public policy have little, if any, regulatory control over the input and influence of these professional experts. International professional service firms face an increasingly competitive marketplace and complex challenges that demand skill sets that are markedly different from those characteristically required of consumer service companies. This study identifies the qualities of the best performing PSFs that engage clients worldwide. Implications are discussed for governments to ensure the greater public good.     

A Strategic Perspective of Communication and Information Systems in Marketing Channels

Ifnormation and communication systems are not finance, marketing, or logistics domains. They are corporate/strategic domains that must focus on channel management issues. The corporate strategies and strategic postures of manufacturers and distributors alike have traditionally been driven by marketing, financial, and sometimes logistical considerations. Given the strategic impact of information and communication systems, there are good reasons to believe that the future may hold interorganizational strategic management thrusts driven by information and communication systems linkages. The author explores these strategic thrusts and presents a framework illustrative of the trajectory of alternative strategic and tactical vectors for marketing channel information and communication.     

Electronic Kiosks in Retail Service Delivery

Abstract

In-store interactive kiosks using Internet technology represent a channel within a channel in many retail and service settings. They offer wide-ranging informational, transactional and promotional benefits, as well as contributing to customer relationship management. Widespread adoption by customers is, however, required to realize their full potential. Drawing upon the diffusion of innovations and technology acceptance models, two empirical studies are reported, one using a kiosk prototype, the other an in-store trial system. In both cases, a model was able to predict around 50% of intention to use. Implications for retail strategy, positioning within stores, facility promotion and system design are discussed.     

Customer Satisfaction with Retail Banking Services in Ghana

Recent studies indicate high competitiveness of the Ghanaian banking industry, making it difficult for banks to satisfy and retain customers. However, little empirical knowledge exists on the determinants of customer satisfaction toward the services delivered by the banks. This article reports a study of the determinants of customer satisfaction of retail bank services in Ghana. An extensive review of the extant literature was used to identify the theoretical determinants of customer satisfaction in retail banking and their measurement scales. These were adapted to build a conceptual framework for the empirical investigation conducted. Data were collected using a questionnaire administered through personal interviews to 650 customers of retail banks, and the results were factor analyzed and regressed. The empirical results indicated that relational, core, and tangible dimensions of service were positively associated with customer satisfaction in retail banks in Ghana. The study discusses the strategic implications of the findings for the management of customer satisfaction for retail banks operating in Ghana. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Just‐in‐Time Retail Distribution: A Systems Perspective on Cross‐Docking

Cross‐docking is a just‐in‐time strategy for distribution logistics. It is aimed at reducing inventory levels and distribution lead times by creating a seamless flow of products from suppliers to customers. Prior supply chain literature has argued that creating such a seamless product flows requires a holistic view on cross‐docking management, aimed at synchronizing cross‐docking operations at the distribution center with its inbound and outbound network logistics. This paper provides an in‐depth case study illustrating how cross‐docking operations can be managed more holistically in a retail distribution context. A discrete event simulation model has been developed to understand and improve the cross‐docking operations of a large grocery retailer in the Netherlands. The model is used to quantitatively evaluate two proposed changes that exploit opportunities in the design and control of the retailer's distribution network. An extensive real‐world data set is used as input to the model. Overall, the case and simulation results show that a holistic cross‐docking management approach can indeed improve system‐wide performance, which further stresses the importance of making cross‐dock operational decisions making and network decisions together.     

The Nurturing of Relationships in Commercial and Retail Banking

ABSTRACT

The objective of this paper is to develop a better understanding of the factors associated with nurturing relationships between relationship managers and their clients in the banking industry. The Nominal Group Technique and a content analytical approach were both used to respectively collect and interpret the data. Results found the nurturing of relationships to be endogenous and asymmetrical in nature. The consequence is a personal, individualistic process maintained on behalf of the bank. The complexity associated with managing commercial portfolios requires commercial account managers to be more involved with their clients in the nurturing process than retail branch managers.     

A Conceptual Model of Strategic Considerations for International Retail Expansion

Expansion into global markets is a dominant issue influencing most retailers' plans for strategic growth. However,internationalisation is not a viable alternative for every retailer. This paper discusses four independent elements that areconsidered as preconditions that should take precedence in the global expansion decision-making process. These elementscomprise the PLIN Model.     

Retailer Advertising and Retail Competition in the UK

Radical changes have occurred in distribution in the UK over the past three decades. These structural changes have stimulated most retailers to increase their real advertising expenditure. The author analyses the main factors that have brought about the growing intensity of retail advertising as a form of non-price competition.     

Diagnosing the Impact of Patronage Concentration and Cross-Buying in Retail Banking

While information about customers who have multiple providers is not necessarily difficult to obtain managers do not seem to use this piece of information. A conceptual model was developed to diagnose the impact of customers’ disclosed disloyalty and the findings reveal that customer’s patronage concentration significantly shapes the dynamics of the customer’s relationship with his main provider.     

Opportunities for Innovation in the Delivery of Interactive Retail Services

In today's volatile economy, innovation in providing interactive services to consumers through a variety of channels is critical in retailing. Interactive service innovations offer opportunities for retailers by creating new markets or offering new benefits in existing markets. They also pose threats as existing customers encounter new alternatives offered by competitors. This article explores some of the most promising opportunities in interactive retail services; namely, the increasing power of consumers, channel synergies, pre- and post-transaction service, optimal use of resources, and consumer heterogeneity. In discussing these areas of opportunity we identify knowledge gaps and suggest research questions relevant to these gaps that warrant attention. Collectively, these questions offer a research agenda for the topic of interactive retail service innovation.     

Strategic Online and Offline Retail Pricing: A Review and Research Agenda

In the increasingly complex retailing environment, more and more retailers operate in more than one channel, such as brick-and-mortar, catalogs, and online. Success in this dynamic environment relies on the strategic management and coordination of both online and offline pricing. This article provides an overview of findings from past research in both offline and online domains and presents an organizing framework, as well as an agenda to spur additional research.     

Customer Relationship Management: A Strategic Perspective

Over the last decade and a half Customer Relationship Management (CRM) has developed into an area of major significance. However, there is considerable confusion in the academic and managerial literature about what is meant by CRM and how if differs from relationship marketing. Further, despite heavy investment by organizations in CRM, there is extensive reporting of CRM’s failure to achieve anticipated results in the literature. This article reviews the conceptual differences between CRM and relationship marketing and defines these terms. It argues that, in many organizations, CRM failures have occurred through a lack of strategic focus. Key strategic issues are identified. A CRM Strategy Matrix is presented which considers the strategic context of companies and the implications for the development of their CRM strategies. Four alternative approaches towards building customer relationships are identified and migration paths between them are reviewed. Implications for implementing CRM strategy and future research are discussed.

Marketing of Financial Servies to the Elderly in the Retail Banking Industry

Dramatic changes in the financial services industry have accelerated the search for feasible and profitable market seg- ments. Increased corporate attention is being focused on the finan- cial needs of the elderly market. This article examines the viability of the elderly market using the criteria for effective segmentation and focuses on actions retail bankers can take in the component ar- eas of the retail marketing mix-product, price, place, and promo- tion-to meet the financial needs of the elderly.     

Postservice Recovery Customer Satisfaction in Indian Retail Banking: Scale Development and Validation

The construct of postservice customer satisfaction with respect to Indian retail banking has been studied. Furthermore, the development and validation of the postservice recovery customer satisfaction scale in Indian retail banking is detailed. The scale development process was carried out over three stages (item generation, scale purification, scale validation) and comprised of conducting depth interviews and focus groups for item generation and three separate phases of data collection, involving a total of 851 individual respondents. The data provide evidence for face, content, discriminant and convergent validity, dimensionality, reliability, and generalizability of the customer satisfaction scale in Indian retail banking.     

Empirical Evidence on the Relationship Between Marketing Effort and Deposit Share in the Retail Banking Industry

This research examines the relationship between de- posit share and the various marketin effort components utilized in retail banking. This exploratory wor f focuses on one market in an effort to provide insight and direction for future research. The find- ings suggest that funds expended on distribution have the greatest impact on deposit share followed by expenditures on promotion and service, respectively. Additionally, ev~dence was found to support the argument of increasing returns to scale.     

Retail Banking and Customer Behaviour: A Study of Self Concept,Satisfaction and Technology Usage

Prior research has investigated the effects of self-image congruence on satisfaction and brand preference. With the help of empirical research, the paper argues that, while self-image congruence may be related to customer satisfaction in a normal context, it may not necessarily affect satisfaction levels when customers are using technology-based self-services. Furthermore, during encounters involving self-service technologies, customers might experience satisfying or dissatisfying incidents which may not be related to their overall satisfaction and brand preference levels. The paper discusses implications for brand managers in the retail banking sector and suggests future research directions.     

The Effect of 9-Ending Prices on Retail Sales: A Quantitative UK Based Field Study

Surveys suggest that around 64% of retail shelf prices end in 9: The preponderance of 9-ending prices is not a new phenomenon and has been the subject of much comment and discussion over the past 70 years. Despite this broad interest, very few empirically based studies have been conducted in order to assess the effectiveness of the practice; no quantitative study can be found that has assessed the reaction of UK consumers toward 9-ending prices. In this paper we present the results of a large-scale store-based trial in which a selection of product prices were rounded up from the retailers' traditional 9-ending prices to round-pound prices. The results from this research suggest that the adoption of round-pound prices may be more effective, with trial sales increasing. The data yields an interesting insight into the effectiveness of the practice, and provides clear indication of the value further research in this area would bring.