ASSIGNMENT

Module Code FMC502

Module Name RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Programme MANAGEMENT STUDIES
Department M.B. A
Faculty F.M.C

Name of the Student SANCHITH. Y

Reg. No 17MCMS046066
Batch 2017-2018
Module Leader Dr.G.Devakumar & Dr.N.Suresh

M. S. Ramaiah University of Applied Sciences, University House,

Gnanagangothri Campus, New BEL Road, M S R Nagar, Bangalore, Karnataka, INDIA - 560 054

i
Consumer Behaviour
 Declaration Sheet
Student Name SANCHITH Y
Reg. No 17MCMS046066
Course MBA Batch Full-Time 2017
Module Code FMC502
Module Title RESEARCH METHODOLGY
Module Date 17/09/2018 To 06/10/2018
Module Leader Dr.G.Devakumar, Dr.N.Suresh

Declaration

The assignment submitted herewith is a result of my own investigations and that I have
conformed to the guidelines against plagiarism as laid out in the Student Handbook. All
sections of the text and results, which have been obtained from other sources, are fully
referenced. I understand that cheating and plagiarism constitute a breach of University
regulations and will be dealt with accordingly.

Signature of the
Date 06/10/2018
student

Submission date stamp

(by Examination & Assessment
Section)

Signature of the Module Leader and date Signature of Reviewer and date

ii
Consumer Behaviour
Contents
____________________________________________________________________________

Declaration Sheet ..........................................................................................................

Contents .......................................................................................................................
PART-A CHAPTER 1 ......................................................................................................
1.1 Literature review (at least 10 Scopus papers) in your domain area addressing
issues/challenges/emerging trends
1.2 Record observations in template shown in the Appendix.
1.3 Summarize the literature review.

PART-B CHAPTER 2 ..................................................................................................................

2.1 In continuation to Part - A, freeze on one specific topic of your choice and prepare a
research proposal on the selected topic and address the following:
1. Introduction
2. Literature Review
3. Identification of Research Gaps
4. Research Objectives
5. Research Design (Methodology for Each Objective)
6. Findings
7. References

References ..................................................................................................................
Benefits received………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

iii
Consumer Behaviour
Abstract

Part A
This section deals with the detailed analysis about the E-Payment systems and the significance of the
payment systems and the challenges and also the privacy and security in the context of the Indian
market.

Part B
This section deals with the development of the strategies to enhance the customer base for the
selected companies and also preparing the annual budget plan in implementing the proposed
strategies and also the preparation of RFM profile of the customer base and proposing a loyalty
programme

Part C
This section deals with the analysis of the E commerce platforms and comparison of the E commerce
platforms and their performance and various strategies used to increase the sales and improve the
revenues of the company.

iv
Consumer Behaviour
 v
Consumer Behaviour
 PART-A CHAPTER 1

1.1 Significance of E – Commerce Payment systems and its adaption

E-commerce sites use electronic payment, where electronic payment refers to paperless
monetary transactions. Electronic payment has revolutionized the business processing by
reducing the paperwork, transaction costs, and labor cost. Being user friendly and less time-
consuming than manual processing, it helps business organization to expand its market
reach/expansion. Listed below are some of the modes of electronic payments −

1. Credit Card
2. Debit Card
3. Smart Card
4. E-Money
5. Electronic Fund Transfer (EFT)

Easy and convenient: Digital payments are easy and convenient. You do not need to take loads of cash
with you. All you need is your mobile phone or Aadhaar number or a card to pay. UPI apps and E-Wallets
made digital payments easier.
Pay or send money from anywhere: With digital payment modes, you can pay from anywhere anytime.
Discounts from taxes: Government has announced many discounts to encourage digital payments. If you
use digital modes to make a payment up to Rs. 2000, you get full exemption from service tax. You also
get 0.75% discounts on fuels and 10% discount on insurance premiums of government insurers.
Written record: You often forget to note down your cash spendings. Or even if you note, it takes a lot of
time. But you do not need to note your spendings every time with digital payments. These are
automatically recorded in your passbook or inside your E-Wallet app. This helps to maintain your record,
track your spendings and budget planning.
Less Risk: Digital payments have less risk if you use them wisely. If you lose your mobile phone or
debit/credit card or Aadhar card you don’t have to worry a lot. No one can use your money without
MPIN, PIN or your fingerprint in the case of Aadhar.

Product and Brand Management

1.2 Challenges of E payment system

Challenges of Digital Payments: Every coin has two sides so as the digital payments. Despite many
advantages, digital payments have a few drawbacks also.
Difficult for a non-technical person: As most of the digital payment modes are based on mobile phone,
the internet and cards. These modes are somewhat difficult for non-technical persons such as farmers,
workers etc.
The risk of data theft: There is a big risk of data theft associated with the digital payment. Hackers can
hack the servers of the bank or the E-Wallet you are using and easily get your personal information. They
can use this information to steal money from your account.
Overspending: You keep limited cash in your physical wallet. Hence, you think twice before buying
anything. But if you use digital payment modes, you have all your money with you always. This can result
in overspending
Intermediaries in the payment process: The payments sector operates through several
intermediaries which create the front-end payments interface.

1.3 Privacy and security issues in E Payment Systems

Security is an essential part of any transaction that takes place over the internet. Customers will lose
his/her faith in e-business if its security is compromised. Following are the essential requirements for safe e-
payments/transactions –

 Confidentiality − Information should not be accessible to an unauthorized person. It should not be

intercepted during the transmission.
 Integrity − Information should not be altered during its transmission over the network.
 Availability − Information should be available wherever and whenever required within a time limit
specified.
 Authenticity − There should be a mechanism to authenticate a user before giving him/her an access
to the required information.
 Non-Reputability − It is the protection against the denial of order or denial of payment. Once a
sender sends a message, the sender should not be able to deny sending the message. Similarly, the
recipient of message should not be able to deny the receipt.
 Encryption − Information should be encrypted and decrypted only by an authorized user.
 Auditability − Data should be recorded in such a way that it can be audited for integrity
requirements.

E – Commerce and CRM

1.4 Stance Taken

“The recent trends in electronic payment systems are more convenient for effective e-business”

Convenience: The ease of conducting financial transactions is probably the biggest motivator to go
digital. It’s also a safer and easier spending option when you are travelling.
Discounts: The recent waiver of service tax on card transactions up to Rs 2,000 is one of the incentives
provided by the government to promote digital transactions. For instance, 0.75% discount on digital
purchase of fuel. Similarly, saving on rail tickets, highway toll, or purchase of insurance can help cut your
costs. Add to these the cashback offers and discounts offered by mobile wallets like Paytm, as well as the
reward points and loyalty benefits on existing credit and store cards, and it could help improve your cash
flow marginally.
Tracking spends: If all transactions are on record, it will be very easy for people to keep track of their
spending. It will also help while filing income tax returns and, in case of a scrutiny, people will find it easy
to explain their spending.
Budget discipline: The written record will help you keep tabs on your spending and this will result in
better budgeting. Various apps and tools will help people analyze their spending patterns and throw up
good insights over a couple of years. Controlled spending could also result in higher investing. If the same
amount of cash does not flow back into circulation and people continue to use mobile wallets and cards,
it is also likely to bring down the latte factor. This means that the Rs 10 you spent on candy or chips, or
that regular cup of coffee office is likely to take a hit since you will be short of loose change and smaller
currency notes. There’s a lesser chance of budgetary leaks and unaccounted for spends sneaking into
your budget at the end of the month.

The government's demonetization move, and the subsequent cash crunch, has led to a surge in
digital payments. According to the government data, the number of daily transactions through ewallet
services such as Oxigen, Paytm and MobiKwik has shot up from 17 lakh — recorded on November 8 when
demonetisation was announced — to 63 lakh as on December 7 (a growth of 271%). In terms of value,
the surge has been 267%, from Rs 52 crore daily to Rs 191 crore now Future of Digital Payments: The
future of digital payments is very bright. India is experiencing a remarkable growth in digital payments.
In 2015-16, a total of Rs. 4018 billion transacted through mobile banking as compared to Rs. 60 billion in
2012-13. The percentage of the digital payments through other modes is also increasing in a significant
speed. There are many factors which are affecting the future of digital payments. Digital revolution
Digital revolution has provided an easy way to go for digital payments. India has more than 100 crore

E – Commerce and CRM

 active mobile connections and more than 22 crore smartphone users as of March 2016. This number is
going to increase further with a faster internet speed. The reach of mobile network, Internet and
electricity is also expanding digital payments to remote areas. This will surely increase the number of
digital payments.
The government is supporting digital payments a lot. It has reduced some taxes and announced
incentives for digital payments. It has launched Lucky Grahak Yojna for customers and Digi Dhan Vyapar
Yojna for shopkeepers. You can get cash prizes up to 1 crore if you pay digitally. Due to these incentives
and waivers, more people are showing interest in digital payments.
Go Digital, Get Discounts Service tax: Waiver of service tax of 15% on digital transactions up to `2,000.
Fuel: 0.75% discount on digital purchase of fuel through credit/debit cards, e-wallets or mobile wallets.
Rail tickets: 0.5% discount on monthly and seasonal suburban railway tickets from 1 January 2017. Online
rail ticket buyers get up to `10 lakh free accident insurance too. Rail catering: 5% discount on digital
payments for railway catering, accommodation, retiring rooms, etc. Highway toll: 10% discount on NH
toll payment via RFID or fast-tags in 2016-17. Insurance: 10% discount by government general insurers
on premium paid online via their portals. 8% discount on new LIC policies bought online via its site. POS:
Rs 100 a month is the maximum rent that PSU banks can charge for PoS terminals.

Conclusion: Electronic payment refers to the mode of payment which does not include physical cash or
cheques. It includes debit card, credit card, smart card, ewallet etc. E-commerce has its main link in its
development on –line in the use of payment methods, some of which we have analyzed in this work .The
risk to the online payments are theft of payments data, personal data and fraudulent rejection on the
part of customers. Therefore, and until the use of electronic signatures is wide spread, we must use the
technology available for the moment to guarantee a reasonable minimum level of security on the
network.

I Agree with the above statement with the above provided literatures and advantages
expressing the positives of the statement.

E – Commerce and CRM

 PART-B CHAPTER 2
________________________________________________________________________________

Case Study
2.1

The outlet selected in this part is “Zen Fitness” GYM which has 3 outlets across Bangalore. The company is
now preparing itself for further expansion across the city of bangalore. The company has come a long way
after the increased interests of the younger generations in staying fit. the company first started its journey
in 2017 april, and within a short span the company has expanded its operations in two different places across
bangalore.
To enhance the customer base for the Zen Fitness, there are few areas which the company has incorporate.

1. Student discounts: The company at present has an offer especially suited for the students. The GYM
currently charges around 7999/- per student annually. The company here must focus majorly that
their major customers are graduates and post graduates. These segments have the time restriction
and students majorly have the priority towards studies and exams and tend to avoid this package
most often. Slight changes in this regard to suit the convenience of the more prospective customers
will help the company’s future expansion programmes.
2. Tie -ups: The company should focus itself more on forming tie – ups with educational institutions
and public forums and clubs. Activities and programmes should be the main agenda to attract new
customers and make it an effective strategy of marketing for the company.
3. Online Facilities and assistance: The company has to focus more on providing online assistance and
engage in sustaining far away customers. Online video training sessions at a subscription charges will
be a unique strategy in GYM industry.
4. Infrastructure: The company also have to focus more on its GYM equipment’s and the infrastructure.
Adequate space for the gym sessions and high-end equipment’s which helps in attaining superior
customer satisfaction.
5. Sufficient trainers availability: often GYM ‘s face the trainers shortage and fail in providing their
customer with individual attention which often leads to discontinuation of customers and loss in
revenue.
6. Active Social media promotions
7. Hiring market expert for effective marketing

E – Commerce and CRM

2.1.2
Zen Fitness gym currently has four pricing categories,
1. Annual membership: 12000/- and students: 7000/-
2. 6months membership: 5000/-
3. 3 months membership: 2750/-
4. Monthly membership: 1250/-

The company with its three branches currently has around 200 annual membership subscribers out of which
78 customers are working segment and the rest are under student concessions. The total number of
customers who have subscribed the membership reaches to around 350 members. The company’s net
operational profit accounts to around ₹18,00,000.

1. Social media: The promotions can be done via Fb page, Instagram page, E-mails, WhatsApp and text
messages. They already stay in contact with customers via emails, fb or else Instagram. They can also
give individualised attention to the customers via WhatsApp by giving them training videos and
reminders to attend gym regularly.
2. Refreshments: regular training sessions often drain out the energy from the customers.
Complimentary refreshments like boiled eggs, fruits, or packed fruit juices, coffee, tea and milk
a. Cost: Tea/coffee vending machine: Rs 13000 (One time)
b. Daily expense: Rs 300 (Milk powder, tea, coffee)
c. Egg: ₹400 per day
d. Packed juices: ₹800 per day
The overall daily expenditure is around ₹1500 per day which is ₹4,50,000 annually.
3. Facilities:
a. Interiors: ₹50,000/- annually
b. Equipment maintenance: ₹50,000/- annually
c. Wifi facility: ₹2,500/- one-time investment and ₹12,000/- annually wifi plan charges.
4. Fitness activities and challenges:
a. Various camps and activities annually costs around ₹2,50,000/-
5. Equipment and trainers:
a. Trainers: ₹1,80,000/- annually for two trainers
b. Equipment: ₹5,00,000/- one-time investment
6. Miscellaneous promotion expenses accounts to around ₹1,00,00/- annually
Annual expenditure: ₹10,07,000/-
One-time investment: ₹5,15,500/-

E – Commerce and CRM

2.1.3
The forecasted plan for Zen Fitness Gym will help in ,

1. Social media engagement is the major form of engaging with the customers and extensively help in
retaining the customers. Social media helps in delivering the companies plans and offers to broad
range of its customer base and can keep engaged with its customers and obtain feedbacks
periodically for future improvements.
2. Refreshments will be complimentary for all the members of the gym which effectively acts as the
major point of promotion tool. The most popular gym sessions are in the early mornings and in the
late evenings which give way to hungry customers at the premises and if the customer feels hungry
and tired, it is more likely that the prolonged weakness will force the customer to discontinue and
hence loss in revenue. Providing complimentary refreshments will be a great strategy.
3. Facilities are the main expectations of all customers in all segments which is also in the case of GYM.
Many times, in the absence of the trainer the customers carryout the training sessions on their own
and often disengagement of customers is a negative point for the company. Providing wifi will help
the customers to access internet and carryout online training.
4. Fitness activities and challenges sponsorship will often act as an advertising stage for the company
where a broad customer base can be reached with less efforts and more effectively helps in the
positioning in the minds of the customers.
5. Equipment and trainers are the foremost elements that must be required for any GYM. Trainers who
effectively train the customers will ensure them being a happy customer and spread appositive word
of mouth. High-end equipment and technology with safety measures will ensure the customers to
remain active in the GYM and helps in retaining the customers.

2.2.1
The following research is conducted on a Retail shopping centre “M K Ahmed Stores” which is
situated in Bengaluru. An RFM table is developed below in order to observe the customers behavior
and to develop a loyalty program which determines the loyalty of customer and increases their
lifetime value. It also helps to retain the customers and increase the customers base. This table
helps to understand how many times the customer has visited M K Ahmed stores and when did he
visited last and what is the amount he spend at his last visit. Based on this the customers are given
the ranking which segregates the potential, low and high priority customers.

E – Commerce and CRM

 The criteria used is as follows:
1. The customers data is taken in to account in which 3 rd being the top rank and 1st being the least
amongst all.
2. The table is divided into 3 parts i.e. Recency Frequency and Monetary and the ranks are assigned
according to the survey and input.
3. The last column consists of combined ranks which are placed respectively of the RFM.
4. The customer having the highest rank i.e. 3,3,3 is the high priority customer because he/she
generates more business by spending more each time he/she visits.
5. The Recency table is classified as the people who has visited within 10 days have been ranked “3”,
the customers who visited between 10-30 days have been assigned “2” rank and the customers who
has not visited more than 30 days have been assigned “1” rank.
6. The frequency table is classified as how many times customer has visited the store within 6 months.
In which customers visiting 0-3 times have been assigned rank “3”. The customers visiting in between
4-6 times in 6 months have assigned rank “2” & the customers who has visited more than 6 times
have been assigned rank “1”.
7. The monetary expense is what amount the customer has spent at his last visit. So, the customer who
has spent more than Rs 2500 has ranked “3”, the customer who spend between 1000 & 2500 has
assigned rank “2” & the customers who spend less than 1000 are assigned rank “1”.
8. Further 3 tables are made in which the potential, high and low priority customers are segregated.
9. For e.g. Combined Rank 1,1,1 are low priority. Combined Rank 2,2,2 are potential customers &
Combined rank 3,3,3 or 3,3,2 are high priority customers.

Recency (In Combined

Sr No. Names Contact No. days) Rank Frequency Rank Monetary Rank Ranks
1 Nishanth 9058482643 25 2 3 3 500 1 2,3,1
2 Suraj S 8126423828 30 2 4 2 300 1 2,2,1
3 Nityanand 9855797357 45 1 6 2 500 1 1,2,1
4 Hemanth Rao 9874562123 22 2 7 1 400 1 2,1,1
5 Arvind R 9325462533 17 2 2 3 600 2 2,3,2
6 Darshan P 9699065742 5 3 4 2 500 1 3,2,1
7 Doddabasappa 9960832463 6 3 2 3 2200 3 3,3,3
8 Siddharth K 9686654245 17 2 5 2 750 2 2,2,2
9 Shruthi Neeralgi 8087665956 22 2 3 3 1200 2 2,3,2
10 Deepika KP 8446285756 3 3 4 2 1000 2 3,2,2
11 Sunita 8552889514 45 1 6 2 4000 3 1,2,3
12 Akshay Vshishta 9657316894 25 2 7 1 1500 2 2,1,2
13 Pradeep P 8308562565 15 3 1 3 600 2 3,3,2

E – Commerce and CRM

14 Md. Syed 879554845 12 3 2 3 600 2 3,3,2
15 Irfan Pasha 9066639852 34 2 4 2 700 2 2,2,2
16 Jeevan patil 8769950337 22 2 6 2 900 2 2,2,2
17 Sheetal J 9870025605 5 3 7 1 2500 3 3,1,3
18 Jayprakash 7545190656 9 3 3 3 400 1 3,3,1
19 Vinit M 8545125933 18 2 4 2 500 1 2,2,1
20 Sai Ram 7833725055 16 2 5 2 600 2 2,2,2
21 Kiran Kumar 8764871333 22 2 1 3 400 1 2,3,1
22 Gaurav D 9527722695 14 3 6 2 800 2 3,2,2
23 Rahul L 7699729326 18 2 8 1 1000 2 2,1,2
24 Akshay 8325402694 31 2 3 3 650 2 2,3,2
25 Akash Raj 9666625218 36 1 4 2 500 1 1,2,1
26 Suresh 7820187612 25 2 1 3 300 1 2,3,1
27 Rajat 8867984051 16 2 6 2 300 1 2,2,1
28 Pramitha 7113044911 7 3 2 3 1700 2 3,3,2
29 Divya J 8035705652 2 3 7 1 2000 2 3,1,2
30 Mohan R 9983293828 16 2 3 3 1200 2 2,3,2
31 Sachin 7980062166 22 2 5 2 700 2 2,2,2
32 Sandeep 7158810099 30 2 3 3 500 1 2,3,1
33 Divyaswaroopa 8115133004 23 2 7 1 450 1 2,1,1
34 Archana P 9829251314 29 2 4 2 3000 3 2,2,3
35 Vishnu Keerthy 7007767019 34 2 5 2 900 2 2,2,2
36 Karan M 9390622568 9 3 2 3 2400 3 3,3,3
37 Sujith Kumar 7087461723 4 3 3 3 500 1 3,3,1
38 Shreya H 8022864740 7 3 1 3 600 2 3,3,2
39 Vinay kumar 7820731652 17 2 2 3 300 1 2,3,1
40 Venkatesh 9390414191 15 3 3 3 300 1 3,3,1
41 Rakesh R 7762228974 26 2 6 2 400 1 2,2,1
42 Krishna 9097893272 25 2 3 3 900 2 2,3,2
43 Aishwarya R 7769234227 33 2 2 3 1200 2 2,3,2
44 Tanmayi V 9875418247 50 1 4 2 1700 2 1,2,2
45 Rizwan 7665555823 60 1 2 3 1700 2 1,3,2
46 Karan 9087745730 33 2 3 3 600 2 2,3,2

Potential
Customer
Low Priority High Priority
Name Ranks
Name Ranks Name Ranks
Aishwarya R 2,3,2
Nityanand 1,2,1 Karan M 3,3,3
Siddharth 2,2,2
Akash Raj 1,2,1 Doddabassappa 3,3,3
Sheetal J 3,1,3
Tanmayi V 1,2,2 Shreya H 3,3,2
Venkatesh 3,3,1
Pramitha 3,3,2
Karan 2,3,2
Md. Syed 3,3,2
Krishna 2,3,2

E – Commerce and CRM

2.2.2
The proposed loyalty programme are
1. Green card – High priority customers
 Discounts
 Rebates
 Cash back
 Points
 Free shipping
 Free gifts
 Flexible return policies
 Access to exclusive shopping events or hours
 Free services
 Upgrades
2. Blue card: - Potential Customers
 Discounts
 Rebates
 Points
 Free shipping
 Flexible return policies
 Free services
3. Red card (Paid): - Low priority and new customers
- Discounts
- Rebates
- Points
- Free services
- Free shipping

2.2.3

Loyalty programs are introduced by organizations in order to gain financial & non-financial benefits. It also
focuses on customer retention and building healthy relationships with the customers. It shows how much a
business values its customers which impacts the lifetime value of a customer.
The proposed programme for “M K Ahmed Store “will help to gain financial as well as nonfinancial benefit
from its customers. It will help in following ways:

E – Commerce and CRM

Customer Retention: Customer retention is important for an organisation as 5% in the rise of customer
retention it will boost the sale and will generate 85% of the revenue as compared to the new clients.
Programme such as treat card will help Jawed Habib to retain its existing customers which will generate more
sales by giving it a repeated business. It will also boost the cross selling and they are the one to whom
upselling of the products can be implied on. They can bring more clients as their word of mouth can promote
viral marketing which will invite more customers. The lifetime vale of the customers will increase. Focussing
on retention will incur less cost for marketing whereas to acquisition will cost more cost.

Advocacy: It is not likely that only valuable customers shell out money for the products or services they may
also generate some money. These customers cannot be ignored as they are known as brand advocates who
tend to refer to some friends, family members via social media or word of mouth. This system of tow way
reward system will help in customer retention as well as increase the loyalty towards brand.

Effective communication: Better communication will enhance marketing and sales. It will help the firm to
map the behaviour of the customer data and understand their pattern of shopping. It will help Jawed Habib
to connect to its customers at low cost via digital marketing. A personalized approach can be given to
customers via Emails or WhatsApp which will enhance better relationships and the loyalty of customers
towards the firm will grow. It will help in keeping the customers retained and invite more new clients.

High value: A well-structured loyalty programme may prompt clients to purchase high cot & quality items or
in more prominent volume than they generally would. The thought is that they get rewards for spending
more cash, so a client considering two items at various value focuses may buy the higher-end products or
services. Since, he spares a couple of bucks or gains indicates a future buy.

Lifetime value: The loyalty programmes provides a wider perspective in which the behavioural data of
customers can be mapped and understand their buying habits. This data is important as the shopping of
products or services is an emotional process. This data would help Jawed Habib to focus on micro and macro
levels of business. It will help to monitor the consumers steps before and shopping activity, it will prompt
the firm to reward the customer which can increase the lifetime value of customer.

Effective CRM: A well-structured loyalty program will provide the data of customers such as their shopping
history, referrals or the number of visits, it will help the firm to tailor the service according to the data and
needs of customer. It will help to segment its customers properly which makes marketing easy. The changes

E – Commerce and CRM

taking place will be easily understandable and catered to. By providing a unique and tailored service will
make the customers feel more valued.

PART-C CHAPTER 3
________________________________________________________________________________

3.1

Cart66

E – Commerce and CRM

 Cart66 makes building ecommerce sites just as easy as building any other WordPress site. Other
WordPress ecommerce plugins leave it up to you to figure out all the technical details for your online store.
For example, it's up to you to find the right payment gateway add-on, how to make sure your email receipts
aren't flagged as spam, and how to make sure your credit card payments are secure and PCI compliant.
Cart66 takes care of all of that for you with a suite of hosted services that includes:
 Built-in support for 100+ payment gateways
 Built-in recurring billing engine
 Content delivery network for digital products
 Business class, verified mail server to send customer emails
 Secure hosted payment page to accept credit card payments
 Secure customer portal for order history
In addition to the hosted services, you also get access to all the features you need without having to buy and
install a mashup of plugins. Products can have as many different variations as you want, like color and size.
You can even have the product variations change the price of the product. Variations can be required (like
picking a size for a t-shirt) or they can be optional. Optional variations can be used for upsells like buying and
extended warranty.

Sure done
SureDone Inc. operates a cloud-based eCommerce platform that enables users for selling across
various marketplaces. It offers SureDone, a solution that allows users to plug multiple channels into it and
manage listings, inventory, orders, and fulfillment out of one platform; and to add new or used products on
eBay, Amazon, Google Shopping, and their eCommerce storefront. The company was founded in 2012 and
is based in New York, New York. Today, SureDone offers a suite of software solutions and both professional
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support their original and fastest growing customer base of automotive and motorsports parts and accessory
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successful. The company continue to be passionate about investing in all of them by delivering more features,
better performance, and constantly striving to improve already high level of customer support.

Airsquare
Airsquare Tablet enables you to sell products and tickets in-store. Make your life easier, with one
inventory, shared between your online and physical stores. Stock levels are shown and synced instantly. You
can even sell offline. It Cater for both retail and wholesale customers, by using pricing tiers and 'on account'
options. It helps to Review your store's performance at a glance, process new orders quickly, edit
products/events as needed and access customer information right at your fingertips. Airsquare gives you

E – Commerce and CRM

clean, modern website designs that are user-friendly. It’s easy to customise your website to fit your brand -
upload your logo, edit the colours, change page layouts and choose fonts. Airsquare is web-based, so no
installation is required. All you need is an internet connection and your laptop. You can log in and edit your
website anytime, anywhere.

2checkout
2Checkout, a Francisco Partners portfolio company, is the digital commerce & payments provider
that helps companies sell their products and services via multiple channels, acquire customers across
multiple touch points, increase customer and revenue retention, leverage smarter payment options and
subscription billing models, and maximize sales conversion rates. The company's clients include ABBYY,
Absolute, Bitdefender, FICO, HP Software, Kaspersky Lab, and many more companies across the globe.
Avangate acquired 2Checkout in March 2017. 2Checkout is a leading global eCommerce and, Payment
Platform that allows companies to accept online and mobile payments from buyers worldwide, with
localized payment options. Capabilities include a pre-integrated payments gateway, merchant account, PCI
compliance, international fraud prevention, and integration with more than 100 shopping carts.
In business since 2000, 2Checkout supports transactions in 200+ markets through 8 payment methods, 87
currencies, and 15 languages, and is trusted by more than 10,000 merchants worldwide.

3.2

2Checkout (formerly Avangate), a leader in eCommerce, payments and subscription billing solutions,
announced that Bitdefender, a major endpoint security client, has expanded their relationship with
2Checkout to include eCommerce operations for the French market. This expansion adds to the more than
100 other countries where 2Checkout helps Bitdefender sell its solutions online to consumers and small
and medium businesses, including the United States of America (the largest global software market),
United Kingdom, Australia and Japan. Established in 2001, Bitdefender secures the digital experience for
500 million home and corporate users across the globe. In the past 15 years, Bitdefender has consistently
produced award-winning business and consumer security technology, and is a provider of choice in both
hybrid infrastructure security and endpoint protection. As Bitdefender exponentially grew operations at a
global level, it sought a new eCommerce partner that would support efficiencies of scale while providing
superior service and enhancing the customer experience in each market. 2Checkout’s Avangate platform
has been instrumental in enabling key online marketing, support and retention programs for Bitdefender,
as well as the launch of an innovative line of IoT products. 2Checkout’s initiatives have helped Bitdefender
improve eCommerce operations in several markets. In France, 2Checkout offers strong localization support,

E – Commerce and CRM

starting with order process localization, myAccount shopper support portal in French, price display and
billing in euros, local phone support and a range of popular local payment options.

Cart 66 is integrated with Stripe provides APIs that web developers can use to integrate payment
processing into their websites and mobile applications. In April 2018, the company released anti-fraud tools
that run alongside payments APIs to block fraudulent transactions.
The company expanded its services to include a billing product for online businesses. The new service
operates within the Stripe platform, allowing businesses to manage subscription recurring revenue and
invoicing.
On February 24, 2016 the company launched the Atlas platform that allows startups to incorporate more
easily in the U.S. The platform originally launched as invite-only. In March 2016, Cuba was added to the list
of countries covered under the program. Atlas was relaunched with improvements the following year. As of
April 2017, Atlas had signed more than 200 international startups. On April 30, 2018 the company announced
an expansion to Atlas. The upgrades to Atlas included the ability to be used to set up Delaware-based limited
liability companies. The Cart66 Connect your online store with your Stripe account using a secure, PCI
compliant, hosted payment page that looks exactly like the rest of your WordPress site. Cart66 skins your
hosted payment page with your WordPress theme so you maintain your design and branding but without
worrying about PCI compliance and security for accepting online credit card payments.

E – Commerce and CRM

 The Internet is revolutionizing the way business is conducted and its use is becoming increasingly
critical to the success of business firms. The Internet is becoming such a pervasive tool that every company
will be using it in some way or another in a few years. It is a powerful tool that a business can use to obtain
a competitive advantage. It offers many opportunities for businesses to grow in sales and reduce costs.
According to the American City Business Journal, small businesses that use the Internet have grown 46
percent faster than those that do not (Howard, 2002). Some of the major changes brought about by the
Internet can be seen in the way we purchase products and services, obtain information, and conduct our
banking. Customers can quickly find product and price information and obtain advice from a wide variety of
sellers. Online visitors can check product availability, place an order, check the status of an order, and pay
electronically. The use of the Internet empowers customers because they can go on the Web and quickly find

E – Commerce and CRM

out where to get the lowest prices for a product or service. Consumers benefit from the Internet because it
reduces search costs for products and product related information.
Business organizations will not survive the Internet era unless they change the ways in which they
conduct their business. However, there has been a tremendous amount of hype about e-commerce. The
truth is that despite the changes brought about by the Internet, e-commerce is based on the same
fundamental principles that have governed businesses for thousands of years (Howard, 2002). 4 Yet a lot of
businesspeople view it as something completely new that requires a new way of doing business. Success in
the Internet age is about learning the new rules of business while not giving up on the basic business
principles. Many Internet-based companies fail because they were built on business models that had no
chance of ever making a profit (Howard, 2002). While the Internet has become an indispensable tool in
marketing, many marketing managers do not understand how to integrate the Internet in their marketing
strategy. Developments in Web based technologies make it necessary to rethink how firms should conduct
their business and market their products as this new technology affects all aspects of marketing (Hoffman,
2000). Marketing success depends on the extent of market orientation of the business. Companies that fail
to take the customer point of view in designing their Web strategy have only a slim chance of succeeding.
Unfortunately, many firms use the Internet without considering how it fits within their marketing strategy.

E – Commerce and CRM

 Sure done usage statistics

E – Commerce and CRM

 Airsquare Usage Statistics

3.3

E – Commerce and CRM

 Cart 66 Suredone Airsquare 2checkout
Brief Cart66 allows you to sell SureDone is a rather This is an all-in-one A popular choice
description absolutely anything on different ecommerce ecommerce when it comes to
their all-in-one solution, allowing you platform which also online payments,
ecommerce platform. to upload your allows you to move 2Checkout is used by
products once and your already more than 50,000
sell them on multi- existing store to store owners.
channels. their platform.
Features  Physical products  Enterprise  Customer  Multiple
 Unlimited product Solutions database payment
variations  Product  Social methods:
 Digital downloads Listing media MasterCard,
 Secure digital file  Inventory integration Visa,
storage Management  Send email Discover,
 eBooks  Bulk newsletters American
 Event registration Uploader  Vend Express,
 Online giving  Advanced integration Diner’s Club,
/Donations Search  Xero JCB, debit
 Memberships  Hosted integration card, and
/Subscriptions Storefront  Mailchimp Paypal
 Recurring  Order integration
 Multi-
payments Management  Inventory /
currency
 Content  Developer stock
support of up
restriction API control
to 87
 Unlimited  Marketplaces  Multi-
currencies
Coupons & currency
 Multi-
 Shipping & Integrations
languae
Package Tracking  Partner
support of up
 Track inventory Integrations
to 15
 Min/Max cart  DCI
languages
quantities Integration
 Level 1
Payment
Card Industry

E – Commerce and CRM

  Business class  Managed and (PCI) Data
SMTP mail server Professional Security
built-in Services Standard
 Customized
checkout
options
 Recurring
Billing
 Account
Updater
 Create
customized
subscription
plans

Compatibility Windows, Windows, Windows, Windows,

Ipad/Iphones, Ipad/Iphones, Ipad/Iphones, Ipad/Iphones,
Android, web-based Android, web- Android, web- Android, web-based,
based Based Linux
Customer Large enterprises, Large enterprises, Large enterprises, Large enterprises
types Small and medium Small and medium Small and medium
Business, Business Business,
Freelancers Freelancers
Pricing model $29.99/month $499/month $19/month Varies depending on
your country
Clients Choicespc.com, Walmart, Amazon, E- Kiwi multisport, Bigcommerce,
Consumerhealthshop.com bay, Google bikeaholic, Webtrix Woocommerce

3.4

E – Commerce and CRM

1. Upsell your products
Most of us have heard some variation of the famous, “Would you like to supersize your order?” It’s an
example of upselling, or the approach of selling a slightly more premium product than the one the customer
was originally considering.
For many businesses, upselling can be more effective than acquiring a net new customer. Sometimes your
customers don’t know that a premium product is available, or they may simply need more evidence to
understand how an upgrade (or package) is a better fit for their needs.
For example, is one of your product models made of slightly better leather? Or does one carry a special
component that’s handmade? Make sure to emphasize the difference and ask, in the right places, if the
customer might want to upgrade.
There are two main considerations when using upselling to increase sales:
1. Make sure your upsells are related to the original product
2. Be sensitive to the anticipated price range of your customers
Your product has to fit the customer’s original needs, and they may not be enthusiastic about a higher price
point once they have an anchor price in mind. An anchor price is often the first number a customer sees, and
it’s the number against which they compare other price points. The new product must be a discernibly better
fit than the original for it to be worth the additional cost.

2. Integrate Instagram
With over 500 million daily active users, Instagram is one of the fastest growing social apps around,
connecting consumers, influencers, and brands.
If you take compelling photos, use hashtags strategically, and post at the right times then you’re well on your
way to building a large Instagram following of people who are interested in your products. The key to
mastering your organic Instagram presence is engagement with your followers.
What are some ways to engage with your audience on Instagram? You may try running contests or going
behind the scenes to showcase your product development process. You can also pay to play on Instagram.
For ecommerce marketing, creating shoppable Instagram posts gives your followers a direct path to
purchase, which is key for increasing your online sales.
Check out this example from GoPro to see shoppable Instagram posts in action:

E – Commerce and CRM

3. Reduce abandoned carts
The company is losing money every time a visitor abandons their cart without purchasing.
This phenomenon is well-studied. Visitors add items to their carts, but abandon their carts during the
checkout process. According to the Baymard Institute, 69.23% of shopping carts are abandoned.

It’s worth directly addressing as many hesitations as you can because some shoppers who abandoned their
carts could have been reminded to complete their purchase. Perhaps they could have been persuaded with
a discount or free shipping, for example.
One simple and effective ecommerce marketing idea to reduce the frequency of abandoned carts is an email
recovery campaign, which can convince your visitors to make a return visit and complete their original
purchase.

E – Commerce and CRM

The folks at LUSH use quirky subject lines and emails with additional product suggestions to try to get
customers to return to their carts.

Craft an email that entices your visitors to return to their carts by reminding them of what they considered
purchasing in the first place, and why.

4. Launch a Facebook store

Although Facebook has undergone a number of changes, it remains a viable platform for social media and
ecommerce marketing.
It’s fairly straightforward to start making sales through your Facebook store. Better yet, your Facebook store
can integrate directly with your Shopify store so you don’t have to keep a separate inventory.
For inspiration, have a look at the Facebook store for Fiercely by Valery Brennan.

5. Capture more email subscribers

Dollar for dollar, email marketing is one of the most effective channels at your disposal for making sales and
generating repeat customers. Roughly 17% of digital marketing spend happens in email, but it contributes
24% of revenue, according to a 2015 study by Forrester Research.
There are too many tweets and Facebook posts for us to keep up with, and email can offer a more intimate
interaction. People are still more protective of messages sent to their personal inboxes versus their social
feeds. Plus, email gives you the space to say things that can’t fit into a social media post.
To get started with email marketing, actively promote your newsletter, blog and any other email capture
efforts to get as many subscribers as you can.

E – Commerce and CRM

6. Improve your email campaigns
It’s not enough to simply capture a bunch of email addresses. You then need to send regular, valuable emails
for the channel to be an effective ecommerce marketing activity.
There are many occasions that are perfect for sending emails that your subscribers will actually appreciate:
 Send a welcome email as soon as a customer makes a purchase.
 Provide exclusive promo codes and free gifts.
 Send regular newsletters to alert subscribers of new discount offers, product tips, and, when
appropriate, company news.
 Share relevant content to help customers get the most out of their recently purchased items.
 Thank your highest-value customers. Send a personal note expressing your appreciation for their
business.
 Solicit feedback. If someone visits your site but doesn’t make a purchase, ask about their experience
and how you can improve it.

E – Commerce and CRM

7. Make it easy for your customers to get what they want
If the store is poorly designed, then you’re losing customers. Besides appearing untrustworthy, the store
could be suffering from some combination of the following: lacking a clear value proposition, hard-to-read
font, or confusing navigation.
Even when you’ve improved the dimensions above, you could still be making a few design mistakes. Are you
properly segmenting your products or are you putting too many products on a single page? Have you figured
out the right balance between text and visuals? These are just a few of the many things that you should
consider. If your theme isn’t converting well, consider some of the other great themes available on Shopify.

8. Engage online store visitors with live chat

There are other high-impact ways to engage with site visitors and customers outside of email. For example,
you could use live chat to engage with shoppers on your site.
Many live chat tools let you target browsers on certain pages, after they’ve been on your site for a certain
length of time, or even after they’ve arrived on your site through an email newsletter. Live chat also enables
you to have direct conversations with your customers so you can answer and address customer concerns
right while they’re planning to buy.

9. Anticipate future sales

For the ability to expand the product line, then the companies should evaluate market demand and see if it’s
worth the cost. You can do that through a variety of approaches: keyword research, geographic validation,
social media trends, etc. One more creative way to test out your market? Pre-sell items to see how many
people place orders.
If you’re trying to decide which of three to-be-released products to sell, for example, create pages for all of
them, making sure to use quality product photography and compelling copy for each one. Then list them as
“out of stock” and see which product gets the most attention in terms of back-in-stock notification requests.
That’s the one to sell.

10. Embrace personalization

Personalization is another effective marketing tactic to drive online sales. Using behavioral data,
personalized experiences are served to the visitor, according to their past actions and preferences.
According to BCG, personalization can lift sales as much as 10%, but the opportunity is greater than that.
Only 15% of companies are using the technology to its fullest extent.

E – Commerce and CRM

You can also account for location in personalization to create an experience catered to where your customers
are in the world. Someone in southern California may be looking for bathing suits in October, while your
Maine customers probably need coats, for example.
Alloy Apparel shows a “what’s popular” carousel of products for online shoppers, but personalizes it with
trending items local to the visitor.

11. Optimize your product pages

Conversion rate optimization (CRO) is the practice of optimizing your website for on-site conversions and
increased sales. Practicing CRO helps you identify problem areas on your site.
Where are you losing sales? Who’s dropping off and why? What can you do to capture those missed
opportunities? This process is done through both qualitative and quantitative research, so you get a holistic
and unbiased view of how conversion-oriented your site is.
Once you’ve conducted your research to identify challenges and opportunities, you can develop hypotheses
and tests to see which approaches generate the most sales. For more information on how you can implement
CRO to increase online sales, check out the following:
 19 Growth and CRO Experts on Increasing Revenue Without Increasing Traffic
 How to Find and Plug the Leaks in Your Conversion Funnels
 The Complete Guide to A/B Testing: Expert Tips from Google, HubSpot and More

12. Optimize for mobile

By 2021, more than half of all online shopping is expected to happen on mobile devices, according to Statista.
Optimizing your store for mobile means more than having a responsive design. It means you’re designing
your site with mobile visitors in mind from start to finish.
Perhaps you have a bigger add to cart button on all mobile product pages, making it easier for the visitor to
add to cart without zooming in, for example. You might also present your images in a different format,
making it faster for mobile visitors to load product photos and easier to zoom in.
Frank Body sells body scrubs and skincare products. When a mobile visitor lands on a product page and scrolls
down, the “add to cart” button appears at the bottom. This saves the visitor from having to scroll all the way
back up, likely losing their spot on the page.

13. Reward your loyal customers

Focusing on customer retention is a cost-effective way to increase online sales. Return customers account
for 22% of a retailer’s revenue, while making up just 11% of the total customer base, according to Stitch Labs.
They also spend 15% more over the course of a year.

E – Commerce and CRM

One way to reward loyal customers and big spenders is through a customer loyalty program. There are many
ways both your customers and you can benefit from a loyalty program. They give customers extra incentive
to make a purchase and they keep your brand top-of-mind through automated reminders.
You choose how to reward customers, how frequently and for what actions. For instance, you might have a
point-based program, which has its own point-based currency that can be redeemed for discounts, free
shipping or free gifts.

E – Commerce and CRM