Research Paper on Customer Satisfaction Regarding Mahindra SUV’S in Moradabad Region”

INDEX

S.No. Title Authors 1. “Research Paper on Customer Satisfaction Alfita Shamim Regarding Mahindra SUV’s in Moradabad Khan Region” MBA-IVth Sem 2. Analysis of Factors affecting Selection of an Harsh Bhatt International Freight Forwarding Company : A Student –MBA – study of Indian scenario Logistics & Shipping

3. Internet Retailing : The forthcoming need for Mr. Ankit Goel– sustainability Research Scholar,School of Commerce & Business Studies, J I W A J I University, Gwalior, (Madhya Pradesh) Mrs. Parul Garg– Research Scholar Mewar University, Chittorgarh, Rajasthan

4. Retail Banking in India- Opportunity and *Dr. Asma Challenges Farooque **Amit Kumar Goel 5. Impact of Emotional Intelligence in Indian Dr. Tanvir Hussei Retail Banking Industry: Challenges And Ms. Tanu Goel Opportunities

6. Comparative study of hero and honda bike with Gazal gupta preference to customer satisfaction mba-iv sem.

7. Inventory Management and Its Effects on Shekhar Kaushik Customer Satisfaction Rahul Malik

8. Marketing strategy of Nokia and Samsung Firoza(MBA2nd year)

9. “Sidbi’s promotional and developmental Ms. Smrita Jain

1 activities”- in special reference with uttar Mr. Vibhor Jain Pradesh Ms. Shikha Bhatnagar

10. Impact of Modern Retail on Traditional Sidra Wahid Formats & SCM Applications Kopal Agarwal Student of BBA 11. Rural Retailing in India: Challenges and Prof. (Dr.) Tusshar Mahajan Opportunities Professor, Managememt Department Rukmini Devi Institute of Advanced Studies, Rohini, Delhi

12. Human Resource Management Practice in Ms.Pratibha Retail Banking: Challenges and Opportunities Tiwari in India Mrs Bhavna Varsehney Ms.Shradha Goel 13. IMPACT OF LOGISTICS AND SHIPPING IN MAYANK THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF PANDEY SOCIETIES ANKIT TYAGI ADITYA SAXENA

14. AN EMPIRICAL STUDY ON RETAIL Dr. Manish SERVICE QUALITY DIMENSIONS Madan1 AFFECTING SATISFACTION OF Ms. Namita Garg2 CUSTOMERS AND CONSEQUENTLY INTENTION TO REPURCHASE AND RECOMMENDATION TO OTHERS

15. QUALITY ASSESSMENT FRAMEWORK Ms. Namita Garg FOR TECHNICAL EDUCATION IN INDIA: A STUDY OF TECHNICAL INSTITUTIONS Associate AFFILIATED TO GGSIPU, DELHI Professor, Training & Placement Manager

2 Rukmini Devi Institute of Advanced Studies

16. Hr Practices, Challenges & Growth Of ARCHANA

Organised Retail Sector-In Indian Perspective *RESEARCH

(Coimbatore District) SCHOLAR,

TMU,MORADABAD

*ASSIT.

PROFESSOR IN

SHREE SATYA

GROUP OF

INSTITUTION,

MORADABAD

17. Retail Market In INDIA Shipra jain 18. Rural Retail Marketing: Innovation and Mohd obaid Creativity MBA 4 th semester

19. Online shopping has overruled traditional Shivangi jain shopping & Priyanka jain

20. “Role of regional rural bank in rural Pankaj kumar rai development of moradabad with special (mba 2nd year,4th reference of prathama bank.” sem.)

21. Retail marketing in india Mohd anas M.b.a student

22. Prospects of retail banking as a market segment Naseem zehra with special refrence to ing vysya bank farha rehman mohd. Danish alam Mba 4th sem Guided by: mr. Mohit rastogi

3 23. Customer perception towards internet banking Firoz khan with the special reference of pnb (moradabad) Mba 4th sem

24. Impact of television advertising on buying Ankit shrivastava behaviour of consumers’ [with special reference mba - ivth sem to fmcg products] lucknow city.

25. Medical tourism : status and affairs in india Singh Abhishek,student s of mba(hm), department of hospital administration, t m u,moradabad

26. Study on inventory management techniques & Bhagyashree,Mba (hm) department issues in health care supply chain of hospital administration,t m u,moradabad, u.p.

27. Severity assessment of h1n1 in india virus and Chaturvedi its handling deepti, student of mba(hm), department of hospital administration, teerthanker mahaveer university

28. Growing importance of information technology Ul Haque Imran records in health care management

29. Impact of communication in health care Kumari Khushboo

,MBA(HM),Depa rtment of Hospital AdministrationT M U,Moradabad, U.P. 4

30. Research paper on Mahver Abbas Marketting strategy of samsung and nokia MBA 4 Sem

31. Blog Marketing Paritosh Sharma Ayushi Jain

32. Paritosh Sharma Ila Sayyed Digital Money – A Big Boom For Etailing In India

33. Impact of forign direct inestment in retail sector Himani agarwal in india Paritosh sharma

34. Foreign direct investment in insurance sector in Prof.Paritosh india:- Sharma The real game changer Sonali Sindhi, Farzana Bi, Nikita Dhall

35. Jan dhan yojana a game changer for retail Shivani,udita banking in india chaudhary, paritosh sharma

36. Retailing of organic food in india- scope and Paritosh sharma challenges shikhi datta

37. Retailing in indian railways –opportunities Priyanka Jain ahead Paritosh Sharma

38. Presentation on “an insight in retail sector in Ayesha farooqui india” Sonali pandey Shehreen iram

39. Research paper on customer satisfaction level Mohd. Waqqas Towards fast food products khan Mba-ivth sem 40. Impact of growth of organized retail stores Vishal ahuja

5 on unorganised retail stores with special Dr. Chanchal reference to gautam budh nagar chawla

41. Impact of Education & Income on Impulsive Syed Md. Faisal Khan Buying from Organized & Unorganized Retail Dr. Chanchal Store Vivek Devvrat Singh

Chawla

42. Impact of various Agricultural Loans Schemes swapnesh kumar of Nationalized Bank in Agriculture with special reference of Syndicate Bank,Moradabad”. 43. Supply chain Management Retail in India 44. A Study on Customer Relationship Mohit kumar Management Practices in Selected Organized MBA final year Retail Stores in Moradabad City 45. A STUDY ON STUDENTS SATISFACTION Puja Rani Mansi LEVEL OF MBA STUDENTS WITH SPECIAL Tiwari REFERENCE OF TMIMT

46. Impact of job rotation on employee motivation, Preeti sagar commitment and job involvement in banking Braj rani sector of india Mandeep singh (mba 2nd year, 4th sem.)

47. Customer life time value” Pankaj Nepal singh ravi Sanjeev kumar Mba 2nd sem 48. Human resource management in Shikhar gupta Organized retail industry in india

49. Rural marketing & its impact on fmcg Mayank arya Mba 4th semester Tmg1302061 50. Variation in acoustical parameters of carbon Amit kumar, disulfide with insecticide (parathion) with research scholar, temperature by ultrasonic measurement hindu college moradabad 6 Dr. Puneet sethi, senior lecturer, teerthankar mahaveer university, moradabad

51. Attaining customer loyalty! The role of Kameshwar consumer attitude and consumer behavior M.b.a.-4th sem. Tmg1302153

52. Role or information technology inretail secter Mohd. Akil arpit mishra pankaj sharma b.b.a. 4th semester

53. Retail pricing Tuba khan

54. Growth and challenges of retail industry Rajat sarraf (human resource management) in india Maryam fatima Apoorv gupta

55. Effect of supermarkets on retailers and Shubham economies chauhan

56. Customer satisfaction in healthcare services Megha verma and kanika jain Mba- 1st year, 2nd semester 57. Fdi in indian retail sector Deepak kumar chauhan

58. Customer satisfaction with supermarket retail Sonu Mba 4th sem shopping Tmimt

59. Strategy and repositioning the brand Mohammad mcdonald’s in india aamir Mba 4th sem Tmimt

60. Impact of f.d.i in retail sector Tanu rastogi economies with reference to india Komal agarwal & Palak arora 7

61. Student Attitude towards Numerical Subject Divya Kumari Sharma Vaishally Bhandari

62. An Impact of E-Commerce Portals on Retailing Satyendra Arya Avinash Raj in India Kumar Firasat Ali Zaidi Dr. Rajiv Verma

63. Online Retailing S.Meera, Assistant Professor (IB), IITTM, Nellore

“Research Paper on Customer Satisfaction Regarding Mahindra SUV’s in Moradabad Region”

Alfita Shamim Khan MBA-IVth Sem

Abstract:

Customer Satisfaction is the key point used by the business people of organization in the present day. Due to the increase of heavy competition in every product line it become difficult for the companies to retain customers for longer time, the marketer has to do only one things i.e. customer satisfaction. If customer is fully satisfied by the product it not only increase the organization successfully but also fetch many benefits for the company.

The research was conducted to know the customer satisfaction regarding Mahindra SUV’s. It involved gathering information about the company, its product, customer satisfaction and impact of various competitive firms on the company.

The research paper covers the satisfaction of customers regarding Mahindra SUV’s i.e. Mahindra Bolero, Mahindra XYLO, Mahindra Scorpio, Mahindra Renault Logan, Mahindra Maxx, Mahindra Marshal.

Keyword : customer satisfaction , customer awareness.

Introduction:

Every company is conducting survey on customer satisfaction level on their products. To make the products up to the satisfaction level of customers. This research paper is also done to know the customer satisfaction on Mahindra SUV’s. The impact of automobile industry on the rest of the economy has been so pervasive and momentous. It played a vital role in helping the nation to produce higher value good and services and in the enhancing their skills.

9 There are various strategies followed by Mahindra consist of Customer Relationship Management , strategy to providing better facility to the owner and strategy to provide better after sales service to customer.

A series of customer relationship management activities were implemented with regular direct communication, events and customer satisfaction surveys, events, festive offer, rewards program etc.

At the same time, M&M managed to be the largest manufacturer of tractors in India, by holding leadership in the market of the country, for around 25 years. The company is an old hand in designing, developing, manufacturing and marketing tractors as well as farm implements. It made its entry to the passenger car segment in India, with the manufacture of Logan (mid-size sedan) in April 2007, under the Mahindra Renault collaboration. The decrease in the interest rate and easy available of cars loans from 2 to 3 years, lot of car manufacturers company facing competition in the fields of technology and price, So to gain the market share it is important for the organization to satisfy its customers and to retain the reputation and its image. Company Profile:

Mahindra was established in 1945 as “Mahindra and Mohammad” . Later on, after the partition of India, one of the partners Gulam Mohammad returned to Pakistan, where he became Finance Minister. As a result the company was renamed to Mahindra & Mahindra in 1948. Mahindra & Mahindra started its operation as a manufacturer of general purpose utility vehicles. It assembled CKD jeeps in 1949. Over the passing years, the company expanded its business and started manufacturing light commercial vehicles and tractors.

Mahindra & Mahindra partnered with companies prominent in the international market, including Renault SA, International Truck and Engine Corporation USA, in order to make its global presence. Mahindra & Mahindra also started exporting its product to several countries across the world. Subsequently, it set up it branches including

10 Mahindra Europe, Mahindra USA Inc. ,Mahindra South Africa and Mahindra Tractors Co. Ltd.

The company is an old hand in designing, developing, manufacturing and marketing tractors as well as farm implements. It made its entry to the passenger car segments in India, with the manufacture of Logan(mid-size sedan) in April 2007,under the Mahindra Renault Collaboration.

Mahindra & Mahindra has been awarded as the organization with the “Best Automotive Manufacturing Supply Chain Excellence”. The awards were presented by India Times Mindscape (Times of India Group) along with the Business India Group at the Express, Logistics & Supply Chain Awards held in Mumbai on September 28, 2007. Objective:

• To find out level of satisfaction of existing customer with regards to various SUV’s brand of Mahindra. • To identify which SUV brand of Mahindra are not yielding satisfaction to the customer & why?

Research Methodology:

A research process consists of stages or steps that guide the project from its conception through the final analysis, recommendations and ultimate actions. The research process provides a systematic, planned approach to the research project and ensures that all aspects of the research project are consistent with each other. Data collection sources information was collected through secondary sources. Any data which have been gathered earlier for some other purpose.

The research is conducted on 50 respondents who are using Mahindra SUV’s . The survey is conducted with the help of questionnaire to know the satisfaction level of existing customer with regards to various SUV’s brand of Mahindra.

11 Data Analysis & Interpretation:

 The sample drawn shows that 60% of the customers were satisfied with Mahindra products and 40% were not satisfied.  The sample drawn shows that 15% is satisfied with features, 35% is satisfied with low maintenance and 15% is satisfied with looks and the rest 35% is satisfied with after sales service.  The sample drawn shows that out of 50 respondent 35% have Mahindra Bolero, 35% have Mahindra Scorpio, 15% have Mahindra Xylo, and 15% have Mahindra Marshal.  The sample drawn shows that out of 50 respondent 45% were extremely satisfied with fuel consumption, 27% are neutral and rest of 28% is dissatisfied with fuel consumption.  The sample shown that 48%of the respondent is satisfied with the safety and comfort of Mahindra SUV’s, 22% are extremely satisfied, 20% are neutral and 10% are dissatisfied.  40% of the respondent approach were satisfied with the design, 20% were more satisfied, 27% were neutral and 13% are dissatisfied.  52% of the respondent were satisfied with the space availability, 27% were more satisfied, 18% neither satisfied & dissatisfied, 3% are dissatisfied.  The sample shows that 50% of the respondent were satisfied with the maintenance cost, 22% are extremely satisfied, 20% are neutral & 8% are dissatisfied with the maintenance cost.  The sample shows that out of 50 respondent 70% are satisfied with service cost and 30% are not satisfied with maintenance cost.

Findings:

 Mahindra has excellent percentage of customer satisfaction according to the data shown in the data analysis and Interpretation .  Most of the people are satisfied with its low maintenance cost and looks provided by Mahindra . 12  Most of the people are using Mahindra scorpio than the other SUV’s brand of Mahindra.  Based on the fuel consumption, most of the people are satisfied with it.  Based on Safety and Comfort, Design, Space, Maintenance most of the people are satisfied with it.  If we took the satisfaction level of people toward Mahindra, it becomes good.  Its features and style satisfy most of the people. Conclusion:  Mahindra has a very good market share for the SUV segment.  The company is offering good services, which is reflected on the satisfaction of the customer.  Majority of the customer are satisfied with the design of the vehicle.  Company provided good facility of employees for his job  Mahindra Limited offers an environment for professional growth for every customer.  Mahindra offer foreign tour for who employee and dealer achieved targets.  Young leader can take decision and implementation of new ideas. Limitations:  Research was limited to only Mahindra SUV’s with in Moradabad region.  Research was restricted to Mahindra SUV’s users only.  Sometimes it was very difficult to get the necessary information as filling the questionnaire required time.  Measurement of customer satisfaction is complex subjects, which uses non-objectives method, which is not reliable References: Books: • Research Methodology by C.R. Kothari Websites: • http://www.mahindra.com/us/en/home.html • http://www.google.com 13 Annexure

Customer Satisfaction Questionnaire a) Name ………………….. b) Occupation ……………………………….. c) Age …………………….. d) Income……………………………………. e) Address:- …………………………………………………………………………… ..

1) Are you a satisfied with Mahindra Products? a) Yes b) No 2) If “Yes” Which factor you consider is satisfies you most? a) Feature b) Low Maintenance c) Looks d) After Sales Service 3) Which Mahindra SUV’s are you using ? a) Mahindra Bolero b) Mahindra Xylo c) Mahindra Scorpio d) Mahindra Maxx e) Mahindra Marshal

4) Are you satisfy with the fuel consumption of Mahindra SUV’s? a) Extremely Satisfied b) Satisfied c) Neutral d) Dissatisfied 5) Are you satisfied with the Safety and Comfort provided by Mahindra? a) Extremely Satisfied b) Satisfied c) Neutral

14 d) Dissatisfied 6) Are you satisfied with the Design? a) Extremely Satisfied b) Satisfied c) Neutral d) Dissatisfied 7) Are you satisfied with space available in SUV’s? a) Extremely Satisfied b) Satisfied c) Nor Satisfied & Dissatisfied d) Dissatisfied 8) Are you satisfied with Maintenance cost? a) Extremely Satisfied b) Satisfied c) Neutral d) Dissatisfied 9) Are you satisfied with service cost? a) Yes b) No

Analysis of Factors affecting Selection of an International Freight Forwarding Company : A study of Indian scenario

Harsh Bhatt Student –MBA –Logistics & Shipping TMIMT Teerthanker Mahaveer University Moradabad

Abstract: International trade is affecting the world economy significantly. When a company operates in international market it has to deal with the challenges of logistics and transportation , shipping etc. The international freight forwarders are considered as the main logistic mediator in international trade. Selecting an IFF is a great challenge for the company as it has a significant element in a business extension overseas. This paper is an attempt to determine and analyse the key factors among Indian business companies when selecting an IFF. After going through a detailed study of the literature, a questionnaire was developed and survey was conducted among the users of IFF . After analyses certain factors are identified which are important and significant in the selection of an IFF. This survey is especially in the Indian scenario which will be helpful for the freight forwarder companies to improve their services. Keywords: International trade, Freight forwarding company, India, Services INTRODUCTION In global business world , in order to get competitive advantage on international scale, companies depends heavily on the services of intermediate logistics middleman. International freight forwarders are the primary logistics middleman for cross-border trade. In general the international freight forwarding is a service used by companies that deal in international or multi-national trade. The freight forwarder

16 acts as an intermediary between the client and various transportation services. Sending products from one international destination to another can involve a multitude of carriers, requirements and legal formalities. International freight forwarder plays a significant role as it guarantees that products will get to the proper destination by an agreed upon date, and in good condition. The freight forwarding service utilizes established relationships with carriers of all kinds, from air freighters , to rail freighters and ocean liners. Freight forwarding services negotiate the best possible price to move the product along the most feasible and economical route by working out various bids and choosing the one that best balances speed, cost and reliability.

Almost all the companies in global business use international freight forwarders. Still different companies have different parameters for selecting freight because in general selection of IFF will affect organizational resources, inventory management, and production planning, cash flow and product quality of the company. The process of choosing an IFF company is a high priority activity in which company officials, primarily logistic managers, compares IFF companies according to a broad set of criteria and factors and select the best one.

This paper is an attempt to determine and analyse the key factors among Indian business companies when selecting an IFF.

LITERATURE REVIEW

According to P.R. Murphy and J.M. Daley,(1997) international freight forwarders are international trade specialist who can provide a variety of functions to facilitate the movement of cross-border shipments . V. Markides, and M. Holweg (2006) describes the functions of international freight forwarder as delivery and distribution services; handling payment arrangements; assistance in paperwork required for deliveries; and organizing local and international shipping; information

17 services; insurance; customs services; warehousing and consolidation services.

The study of R.C. Lieb, R.A. Millen, and W.L.N. Van(1993) identifying the key factors which are important for IFF clients in freight service selection. These factors vary according to the different types of carriers, including: customhouse agents (CHAs); non-vessel operating carriers (NVOCCs); and export management companies which characterize themselves as Third-Party Logistics providers (TPLs). Different methodologies were adopted in different studies. In the continuation of literature review various methods can be found as the expert system (ES) developed by A. Ozsomer , M. Mitri and S.T. Cavusgil , an analytical hierarchy process (AHP) by M.M. Akarte, N.V. Surendra, b.ravi and N. Rangaraj (2001) . Recently by M.D. Voss, T.J. Page, B.keller and J.Ozment (2006) a theory of reasoned action (TRA) model is developed which assess the actual purchase intention of the companies towards freight forwarding services.

There is a wide range of different key factors which are considered as important when selecting an international freight forwarder . According to C. Kahraman, U. Cebecei, and Z. Ulikan (2003) the selection criteria can be grouped into four categories: supplier criteria, product performance criteria, service performance criteria and cost criteria.

According to a study by M.A. McGinnis. (1989) reliability is taken as the most important factor. Additionally in a study by S.M. Matear and R. Gray (1993) , forwarding time is more important than freight price. They suggest that Indian freight shippers and suppliers rank a list of service attributes. They found that shippers and freight suppliers employ different criteria in selecting a freight transport service. The issue of punctuality is most important factor for a freight supplier. M.D. Voss, T.J. Page, B.keller and J.Ozment (2006) considered carrier security as an significant factor. These literature reviews were mostly from the studies of Germany, UK, USA and Israel. Present study is related to the Indian scenario. It is

18 hoped that this study will contribute to the literature regarding the Indian perspective while selecting an international freight forwarder. REESEARCH METHODOLOGY

In this study, we prepared a questionnaire related to the factors affecting IFF selection . The questionnaire was mailed to 200 Indian exporters and importers. The 50 complete responses were received and the response rate is considered as 25 %.

Based on the different previous studies 17 factors were identified and respondents were asked to ranks each factor importance on the basis of Likert-type scale (1=not important, 5= very-important).

The factors selected from literature review are as follows:

S.No. Factor Name 1 Reliability 2 Meeting time deadlines 3 Meeting customized requirements 4 Competitive prices 5 Range of services 6 Providing all freight services 7 Reporting tools 8 Meeting international standards

9 Experience of staff 10 Size of company 11 Information technology 12 Expertise in providing services

19 13 Online services 14 Location of offices 15 Personal attention given to customers 16 Taxation 17 Quality Standards

ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION: The questionnaire was mailed to 200 Indian exporters and importers. The 50 complete responses were received and the response rate is considered as 25 %. Out of the fifty respondents, 12 % were juniors, 10% were seniors and the rest were middle level executives.

Seventeen IFF selection factors were included in this study. The statistics is presented as follows. IFF Selection Factors

S.No. Factor Name Mean Rating SD 1 Reliability 4.68 0.61

2 Meeting time deadlines 4.52 0.68 3 Meeting customized requirements 4.50 0.69

4 Competitive prices 4.26 0.72 5 Range of services 4.22 0.76 6 Providing all freight services 4.28 0.82

7 Reporting tools 4.16 0.83 8 Meeting international standards 4.10 0.85 9 Experience of staff 3.8 0.93 10 Size of company 3.56 0.97 11 Information technology 3.54 0.99 12 Expertise in providing services 3.51 1.02 13 Online services 3.38 1.03 14 Location of offices 3.30 1.05 15 Personal attention given to 3.19 1.07 customers 20 16 Taxation 3.12 1.09 17 Quality Standards 2.8 1.17

RESULT & DISCUSSIONS

The four most important factors are reliability , Meeting time Deadlines and Competitive, Meeting Customized requirements and competitive prices All scores ranged between 1 and 5. The three findings are similar to those reported in earlier literature , But in Indian scenario one more factor is important as per the findings of this study – it is meeting customized requirements of the customer. CONCLUSIONS

The most important factor to Indian International trader is Reliability. Among them second important factor perceived is meeting time deadlines. Meeting Deadlines directly affects forwarder’s clients’ ability to meet their own obligations towards their Customers and this factor is also relates to reliability. One another important factor is meeting customized requirements of the customer as the requirements of customer can vary in number of dimensions . It is more important for middle level exporters and importers .

SCOPE OF FURTHER RESEARCH :

The research can be continued further with the factor analysis of various significant factors. The analysis can further done with Indian business environmental characteristics also.

REFERENCES 1. Akarte M.M., N.V. Surendra, B. Ravi, and N. Rangaraj, "Webbased casting supplier evaluation using analytical hierarchy process", J. Operat. Res. Society., vol. 52, pp. 511- 522, May 2001.

21 2. Kahraman C., U. Cebeci, and Z. Ulikan, “Multi-criteria supplier using fuzzy ahp", Logist. Info. Manag., vol. 16, pp. 382-395, 2003.

3. Lieb R.C. , R.A. Millen, and W.L.N. Van, "Third-party Logistics Services: A Comparison of Experienced American and European Manufactures", Int. J. Physic. Distr. Logist. Manag., vol. 23, pp.35-44, 1993. 4. Markides V, and M. Holweg, "On the diversification of international freight forwarders A UK perspective", Int. J. Physic. Distr. Logist. Manag., vol. 36, pp. 336-359, 2006. 5. Matear S.M., and R. Gray, "Factors influencing freight service choice for shippers and freight suppliers", Int. J. Physic. Distr. Logist. Manag., vol. 23, pp. 25-36, 1993. 6. McGinnis M.A., "A comparative evaluation of freight transportation choice models", Transp. J., vol. 29, pp.36-46, 1989. 7. Murphy P.R. and J.M. Daley, "Investigating selection criteria for international freight forwarders", Transp. J., vol. 37, pp. 29-36, 1997. 8. Voss M. D, T.J. Page, B. Keller, and J. Ozment, "Determining important carrier attributes: a fresh perspective using the theory of reasoned action", Transp. J., vol. 45, pp.7-19, 2006.

Internet Retailing : The Forthcoming Need For Sustainability

Author:

1) Mr. Ankit Goel– Research Scholar School of Commerce & Business Studies, JIWAJI University, Gwalior, (Madhya Pradesh) Email id- [email protected] Ph. No.: +91-9634451240 Mailing address- 15 Brij Enclave, Junction Road, Mathura – 281001 (U.P.) 2) Mrs. Parul Garg– Research Scholar Mewar University, Chittorgarh, Rajastha Email id: [email protected] Ph. No.: +91-9457374854 Mailing address - 15 Brij Enclave, Junction Road, Mathura – 281001 (U.P.)

Abstract

At present e-commerce, e-banking, e-business, e-marketing and e- financial services industry have increasingly become a necessary component for success of any business and a strong need for economic development. As a developing country, India is also making an effort to reach and compete with global retail. So it is need of an hour to upgrade its retail system to e-retailing. E-retail services not only create new competitive advantages and differentiation but also improve their relationships with customers. With this point of view most of the big Indian retailers have started providing Internet retailing services from last few years. The key endeavor of this paper is to critically review the forthcoming need that explicitly addresses the adoption, application and impact of Internet technologies, by retailers, for the promotion and sale of merchanidise. This paper is aimed at to determine the : 1) present and forthcoming need of Internet retailing; 2) current trends in Internet retailing; and 3) explore upto where e-tailing may be heading in the 23 coming years. The results showed that e-retailing serves several advantages to Indian retail sector and their customer's. The paper concludes with suggestion to make e-retailing services more effective in the future.

Keywords: e-retailing , customer satisfaction, internet Introduction

The Electronic commerce or e-Commerce as is known today evolved as businesses (end to end process) started to shift from real time market to digital market. All of the business today is done over the internet and anything which is not there is meant to be wiped off. Ecommerce, the online shopping system has brought down political and physical barriers giving everyone in the world an equal playing ground for their market, everyone can put their products on sale through the e-stores(website dedicated to selling of product, a virtual store).

Speaking about the last decade we saw a great market, rise over the internet, online shopping was introduced wherein firstly computer scientists got interested in then it came to general public and gradually became a substitute for the real market place. Online shopping developed with B2B as well as with B2C since everybody is on internet, and development is going on each and every second for grabbing a better share of the market.

Today for buying a book we don’t drive downtown to some high shop but preferably check on the internet for best rates and for the reviews. If you want to buy a property in India these days then the smartest approach would be to visit all web pages of the dealers and just by looking at them you can get a fair idea of how much you want to spend on what kind of property, similarly for checking out the latest offers and updates at possibly anything. All you need is to check out the one which suits you best and order online, pay online and get the delivery.

Benefits of online shopping :

24 • Best bargain as you can visit numerous shops/suppliers. • No national or international barriers, making equal playing ground for players from developed as well as 3rd world nations. • Consumer at a demanding position and suppliers not in a very commanding one. • Enormous employment opportunities, as a whole new industry is defined. Objective of the study

The Study has the following objectives:

1) To study the present and forthcoming need of Internet retailing.

2) To examine the current trends in Internet retailing

3) To explore upto where e-tailing may be heading in the coming years and challenges ahead.

Research Methodology

The primary source of the information in this research study is the secondary data. The available information on internet regarding the e- retailing has been extensively used to complete the research work. All the available Journals, Articles, papers provided necessary information have gone through to finalize the research study.

Internet Retailing: The current Scenario

 The rising trend of internet shopping has taken off more noticeably in metropolitans such as Delhi and Mumbai where both consumers and merchants have become equally net-savvy.

 The rise in online shopping is not just for consumer market. The Government is another rising user of the online buying under the overall theme of e-commerce. A series of initiatives from the government, public sector banks and Indian Railways

25 embracing the Net, have helped boost the confidence of users to trade online in this sector as well.

 Online shopping is a big attraction for the NRIs (non- resident Indian), the apparel and gifting business online has maximum NRI consumers. Best Indian Online Shopping Websites

1. Amazon.in - World leader in e-commerce market recently started operation in india, Now Indians can buy Books, CDS and Electronic at cheaper price from Amzon.in. For limited time they offering free shipping.

2. Flipkart.com – Founded in 2004 with only Rs. 400000 now in 2014 tuned over 60,000 Crore company. You can not only buy books online through Flipkart, but also mobile phones & mobile accessories, laptops, computer accessories, cameras, movies, music, televisions, refrigerators, air-conditioners, washing-machines, Clothings, Footwears, Accessories, MP3 players and products from a host of other categories. After takeover of letsbuy.com now flipkart is largest player of e-commerce of India.

3. Snapdeal.com - SnapDeal offers everything from local daily deals on restaurants, spas, travel to online products deals. They offer you best price with free shipping.

4. ebay.in - After almost 6month of dominating at number 1 ebay has come down at number two on indiafreestuff.in list. eBay.in is the Indian version of the popular online shopping portal

26 eBay.com – world’s online marketplace. Ebay has a diverse and passionate community of individuals and small businesses. Ebay offers used and fresh items with a wide network of international shipping.

5. Shopclues.com:- Shopclues is famous for their heavily discounted Jaw Dropping deals. Shopclues is one of the best online stores that offers a wide variety of cameras, Computer accessories, Mobile, Gift, Jewellery, Cosmetics, toys, clothes, books and bag. Their Jaw Dropping deal has become most liked deal of 2012.

6. Jabong.com:- Jabong Fashion & Lifestyle Store offers you great discount on all listed product. They offers wide range of products from Apparel to Home needs.

7. Myntra.com :- Myntra.com is leading online retailer of lifestyle and fashion products. Myntra offers T-shirts, Shoes, watches and more at discounted price.

8. Homeshop18.com - here you find large range appliances, kitchen, cameras, mobiles, laptops, site, indian, gifts, apparel, buy, online, gifts. and more, HomeShop18 is a venture of theNetwork18 Group, India’s fastest growing media and entertainment Group. Network18 operates India’s leading business news television channels – CNBC TV18 and CNBC Awaaz. HomeShop18 has also launched India’s first 24 hour Home Shopping TV channel. The

27 company has its headquarters in Noida, UP. The website has received the ‘Best shopping site” award from PC World Magazine in 2008

Growth Drivers of Internet retailing

1. Over the years there has been a sharp increase in the number of buyers and sellers in this segment. In addition to online buyers, many offline stores have begun to sell their products in the online marketplace.

2. There has been a significant change in the attitude of an average Internet user. He is ready to experiment to suit his convenience. Truly, an average user is buying a variety of products online.

3. People nowadays find it easier shopping online, as the products get home-delivered coupled with the facility to shop 24x7. Convenience appears to be a big attraction as most online shoppers find the crowded high streets too stressful. Thus, an online buyer saves time, effort and money when buying online as compared to buying from physical stores.

4. E-Tailing eliminates the need to maintain expensive and fancy showrooms. Instead, what attracts customer attention to online stores is the ‘great deals’ ‘best prices’ and ‘better bargains’. For an industry player, Online retailers can manage to offer attractive offers as they operate out of websites and thus save on inventory handling and maintenance costs.

Challenges Ahead

 On-line portals are not up to the mark: There have been few lacuna’s in the exiting on-line websites like poor front ends, website search options are not good, lack of sufficient

28 information about products and terms and conditions, slow websites etc

 Issues concerning security and transaction frauds : In addition many of the web portals don’t support al on-line modes of payments. There are high occurrence of failed payments and this if often a deterrent for clients to revisit the portal.

 Competitors are just a click away: When consumers search, they have multiple options available, and many use search to navigate the Web rather than type in or bookmark specific sites.

 Customers wait for merchants' best offer: Having been seduced during the holiday season with free shipping and handling and other price-driven offers, consumers have been trained to wait for a special deal.

The future of Internet retailing

Products such as consumer electronics, consumer appliances and media products, which are perceived to be less risky amongst Indian consumers, are projected to lead the growth of internet retailing in India in the forecast period. These products are considered to be less risky because consumer electronics and appliances have a product warranty with the manufacturer, such as Sony, Samsung or LG, which is no different from buying them in a store-based channel. Thus, with these internet retailers predicted to expand to new cities, purchases of such products via internet retailers will increase and help to fuel growth.

Conclusion

From the present perspective , and looking forward, there is plenty of evidence to suggest that this

Internet-enabled revolution has got much more life .

In particular, it appears that the revolution has moved from a phase in which the innovation and ideas were primarily flowing from the supply-side, to one in which it will be the consumer, from the demand-side, who will be empowered to direct the way in which the revolution unfolds, from this point on. Having reviewed the growth and impact of online retailing, from the perspective of the present and the future, it is interesting to stand back and critically appraise the implications of an increasingly vibrant and sophisticated Internet market-place, from the retailers' and the consumers' perspective. There are still many significant challenges that they need to confront and overcome.

All retailers will need to develop strategies for responding to enhanced consumer power, possibly with initiatives such as: marketing via social networking sites; growing their brand; differentiating their product offerings; and working hard to ensure that their web-sites provide consumers with an enjoyable and reliable shopping experience. The established retailer will also need to consider how

30 they can more effectively integrate their on-line and off-line channels to provide customers with the very highest levels of service. For the consumers, the big message must be to make more use of their increasingly powerful position, to become better informed, shop around, and ultimately drive a harder bargain.

References

1. Forrester Research, Understanding Online Shopper Behaviors, US 2011, May 17, 2011". N. F. Doherty and F. E. Ellis-Chadwick, “New perspectives in Internet retailing: A review and strategic critique of the field,” In International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, Vol. 34, No. 4–5, pp. 411–428, 2006.

2. M. K. O. Lee and C. M. K. Cheung, “Internet retailing adoption by small-to-medium sized enterprises (SMEs): A multiple-case study,” In Information Systems Frontiers, Vol. 6, No. 4, pp. 385–397, 2004.

3. N. M. Levenburg, “Delivering customer value online: An analysis of practices, applications, and performance,” In Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Vol. 12, No. 5, pp. 319– 331, 2005.

4. Dr.Gagandeep Nagra, Dr.R Gopal(2013 ).A study ofFactors Affecting Online Shopping Behavior ofConsumers .International Journal of Scientific andResearch Publications (IJSRP), 3( 6)

5. ACNielsen (2007),Perception towards online shopping.An empirical study of Indian Consumer, Abhinav National Monthly Referred Journal Of Research InCom merce & Management.3(1), 202

31 6. http://blog.dreamstarts.in/survival-of-e-commerce-startups-in- india/#more-161

7. http://www.instantshift.com/2010/03/26/the-history-of-online- shopping-in-nutshell/

8. http://indiafreestuff.in/top-10-online-shopping-sites-in-india- html/

9. www.google.com

10. www.flipkart.com

Retail Banking in India- Opportunity and Challenges *Dr. Asma Farooque **Amit Kumar Goel * Associate Professor, Department of Business Management Integral University Lucknow. **Assistant Professor Department of Business Management Integral University Lucknow. [email protected]

Abstract Retail banking in India has fast emerged as one of the major drivers of the overall banking industry and has witnessed enormous growth in the recent past. There are various pointers towards this. Retail loan is estimated to have accounted for nearly one-fifth of all bank credit. Housing sector is experiencing a boom in its credit. The retail loan market has decisively got transformed from a sellers’ market to a buyers’ market. Gone are the days where getting retail loan was somewhat cumbersome. All these emphasise the momentum that retail banking is experiencing in the Indian economy in recent years.

Retail Banking – Meaning 32 Retail Banking refers to provision of banking products and services offered to individual customers, typically for non- entrepreneurial purposes. On the liability side, banking has invariably always been ‘retail’ i.e. the banks have raised resources from a large number of retail depositors. In that sense when we talk about retail banking, our focus is on the asset side i.e. lending to the retail segment. Thus, on the whole, retail banking involves offering of products both sides of the balance sheet eg. fixed, current / savings accounts on the liability side; and mortgages, loans (e.g., personal, housing, auto, and educational) on the asset side. Additionally, retail banking also involves offering of credit cards, depository services and other Para-banking products and services viz. insurance products, capital market products etc. to individuals. Thus, retail banking services broadly corresponds to the banking services providing in the intermediate phase of evolution of banking.

Drivers of Retail Business in India Following are some of the major drivers of retail business in India. Economic prosperity and the consequent increase in purchasing power has given a fillip to a consumer boom. Note that during the 10 years after 1992, India's economy grew at an average rate of 6.8 percent and continues to grow at the almost the same rate – not many countries in the world match this performance. Changing consumer demographics indicate vast potential for growth in consumption both qualitatively and quantitatively. India is one of the countries having highest proportion (70%) of the population below 35 years of age (young population). The BRIC report of the Goldman-Sachs, which predicted a bright future for Brazil, Russia, India and China, mentioned Indian demographic advantage as an important positive factor for India.

33 Technological factors played a major role. Convenience banking in the form of debit cards, internet and phone-banking, anywhere and anytime banking has attracted many new customers into the banking field. Technological innovations relating to increasing use of credit / debit cards, ATMs, direct debits and phone banking has contributed to the growth of retail banking in India.

Treasury income of the banks, which had strengthened the bottom lines of banks for the past few years, has been on the decline during the last two years. In such a scenario, retail business provides a good vehicle of profit maximisation. Considering the fact that retail’s share in impaired assets is far lower than the overall bank loans and advances, retail loans have put comparatively less provisioning burden on banks apart from diversifying their income streams.

Decline in interest rates have also contributed to the growth of retail credit by generating the demand for such credit.

What is ‘mass retail banking?’ Typically, retail banking services begin with a target clientele which is the common masses and it slowly graduates through a stage which can be called as ‘class retail banking.’ The ‘mass retail banking’ is the stage in which the bank provides standardized banking products and services to its customers. In this phase the banks attempt to build a sufficiently broad customer base which can serve as a stable source of funding . The ‘class retail banking’ on the other hand, is the stage in which the bank offers customized products and services targeted at a niche customer segment, the high net worth individuals. Retail banking focused solely at a niche customer segment may also be termed as private banking.

34 A graphical representation of the positioning of mass retail banking vis-à-vis other segments of banking is as under:

There is a lot of confusion around the ambit of retail banking. This is not really confined only to emerging markets but is a global phenomenon. The confusion primary emanates from whether the banking services offered for entrepreneurial purposes should be considered as part of retail banking or not. Many of the banks include the banking services extended to small borrowers and SME clients.

Issues related to the Retail Banking Some of the major issues in retail banking are:

Standardization The products and services under retail banking are supposed to be standardized. In other words, they are “off-the-shelf” products without any customization for individuals. For comparison sake, I would equate them to products offered at a branded retail store. At retail stores, you pay for what you see and what is mentioned on the price tag. There is uniformity, transparency and non-discrimination about the products and services offered. Hence, the products offered by retail banks also should 35 have similar characteristics. Further, retail banking products are offered across multiple channels and at multiple places (branch, internet, ATM, telephone). The banks have to aim at delivering these services in the most efficient manner. As the retail (mass) banking involves reaching out to a group of individuals, the banks also need to have appropriate systems, structure, manpower and processes in place to deal with the group, group characteristics, group behaviour and group dynamics for the target clientele.

Pre-conditions for success of retail banking

The necessary preconditions for the success of retail banking is also an important issue. 1) The most important pre-requisite for retail banking to succeed is the presence of an efficient delivery mechanism. What essentially binds customers to their bank is quality of services offered, the fairness and affordability of pricing and the promptness of service. . While there is not much scope for the banks to differentiate their product and service offerings in so far as the basic products are concerned, it is important for the bank to enhance the customer experience by ensuring that the services are made available whenever and wherever the customer demands them. Further, the banks can bring down their cost of service delivery, if and only if they are able to improve operational efficiency. In a nutshell, the banks should be able to deliver the products and services to the customers in safe, secure, prompt and cost effective manner by leveraging technology. 2) The second essential pre-condition for the success of retail banking is appropriateness of product and services for the customers. As the banks strive to bring new customers into their fold and also to retain the existing ones, they must invest heavily into data analytics and assess what are the appropriate products and services for the specific groups of their customers. The 36 banks have to be sensitive about the customers’ needs and requirements. This can be explained through an example. A migrant labourer in a metropolitan centre and a labourer in a village may have similar balances in their bank accounts, but their requirements would be distinct and therefore, the product offerings of banks to these sets of customers would have to be different. In sum, rather than focusing on financial worth of the customers, the banks would have to inculcate a habit of listening to their customers and building analytics based on this interaction. 3) Third essential pre-requisite relate to pricing. Our experience in India demonstrates that the pricing of the products and services – both on the liability as well as on the asset side are heavily weighed against the retail customers as a group. In fact, we have evidences of retail customers being paid different interest rates on their deposits for the same tenor within the same bank. Similarly, I have seen one particular bank’s lending rate for automobile loan vary quite widely. I do not know why a standardized loan product like an automobile loan should be priced differently for different customers when it is a secured loan. Banks should in such cases upfront decide on whether the customer can be given a loan or not and once the lending decision has been made Thre should not be any discrimination in the pricing of the loan. Banks should not be looking to benefit from information arbitrage they hold rather than pricing their products transparently. In contrast to the situation in developed economies, such problems are more endemic in the developing world as here not only the level of financial education and literacy is low, but the financial consumer activism is also pretty much dismal. 4) Insofar as lending decisions in retail banking business goes, the banks would need to start using scoring models for assessing the credit worthiness of borrowers to bring in greater transparency and efficiency. Credit Scoring model is a statistical technique 37 that combines several financial characteristics to predict the behavior of new applicants based on the performance of previous applicants. At least among the Indian banks, except for a couple of foreign banks and new generation private none of the other banks seem to employ them. For bringing in uniformity, transparency and fairness in retail lending process, the banks would need to start employing credit scoring. 5) For retail banking business to thrive in the developing markets, it is essential that an effective consumer protection environment is created quickly. Across the globe the regulators and supervisors are turning increasingly intolerant of unfair market practices adopted by the market participants. We have seen large amounts of penalties levied on banks by the regulators mainly for failing to protect consumers’ interests and for unfair practices. In fact, there is a growing feeling that the banking regulators/supervisors have proved ineffective in checking these unfair practices and failed in effectively protecting consumers. This has culminated in creation of separate authorities for enforcing fair market conduct and for protection of financial consumers. Therefore, unless the banks in the developing countries are firmly committed to treating their customers fairly and put in place appropriate systems and processes to ensure that, they would be well advised to refrain from riding the bandwagon of retail banking.

Growing rate of interest in retail banking

The growing interest in the retail banking in the developing economies can be explained on account of a few major developments: 1. Transitioning of the economies into the intermediate phase In the initial phase of evolution of banking, the policy makers focused on ensuring the flow of bank credit to the productive sectors of the economy. But over time, as the credit demand from the basic industrial and infrastructure sectors have waned somewhat, the regulators have 38 become more accommodating in allowing the banks to lend even for consumption purposes. 2. The second development that has provided a boost to retail banking aspiration of banks is the availability of enabling technology. Since retail banking requires mass production techniques, the advent of technology has enabled the banks to design appropriate technology-based delivery channels. Retail banking has also received a thrust from the regulators/policymakers’ push for inclusive growth in the wake of the global financial crisis. The Governments across the world view banks as the key component in furthering the cause of financial inclusion. We, in India, have also been promoting a bank-led financial inclusion model and view retail mass banking as the stepping stone towards achievement of universal financial inclusion. The last, but not the least of the reasons for the growing interest in retail banking is the banks’ quest for new sources of revenue and new channels for profit. Slowly but surely, the banks have realized that the commerce for the poor anywhere in the world is more viable than the commerce for the rich and hence they view the excluded masses as a potential source of profit in the long-run. Commercial banks cannot ignore the adage that the “Future of Banking is Retail Banking.” Opportunities for Retail Banking Sector Retail banking has immense opportunities in a growing economy like India. As the growth story gets unfolded in India, retail banking is going to emerge a major driver. In this context it is important to quote the BRIC report which mentions India as an economic superpower. A. T. Kearney, a global management consulting firm, recently identified India as the "second most attractive retail destination" of 30 emergent markets.

39 The rise of the Indian middle class is an important contributory factor in this regard. The percentage of middle to high income Indian households is expected to continue rising. The younger population not only wields increasing purchasing power, but as far as acquiring personal debt is concerned, they are perhaps more comfortable than previous generations. Improving consumer purchasing power, coupled with more liberal attitudes toward personal debt, is contributing to India's retail banking segment.

The combination of the above factors promises substantial growth in the retail sector, which at present is in the nascent stage.

Deficiencies in/Challenges for Retail Banking

Some of the major challenges in retail banking sector are as follows: a) Consumer Protection and Pricing The pricing of products and services in the banking system in India is non-transparent would be an understatement. There are several examples of pricing being done discriminatory, arbitrary and to a certain extent illogical. Banks have been in fleecing their customers and this can be explained through following example. There are charges for non-maintenance of minimum balance, charges for cheque return and there are charges even where no service has been provided – customers not conducting any transactions. Charging the customer once for not maintaining the minimum balance that he was supposed is a valid charge but he/she should not be charged for second, third and fourth occasions. Instead the customer should be informed to close his account after the first instance or rather his account can be converted into a basic savings account. Another disquieting feature in the pricing of products and services by banks and that is poor subsidising the rich. Banks do not 40 mention the yields to the customers of their deposits or the effective borrowing cost for the customers on the lending products. Banks also do not advertise their Annual Equivalent Rates/ Annual Percentage Rates on their deposit and credit products respectively .For retail banking model to be successful, your pricing should be non-discriminatory, risk-based, competitive and value added.

b) Inadequacy of MIS The information system in the Indian banks continues to be rudimentary which leads to impressionistic decision making rather than information-based decision making. The banks even lack the basic information on how many customers they have and how many products they have. The data on segmental revenues and segments profits are not available with any granularity. Under the circumstances, the banks would find it very difficult to make their pricing risk-based. It is crucial, therefore, that if the retail banking has to be rolled out successfully, the banks would need to build an appropriate MIS. c) Understanding and trackling KYC/AML issues The banks in the developed countries have faced significant amount of penalties from the regulators for their failure to conduct adequate due diligence on their customers. Even, we in India, had to impose penalties on some of the banks for their failure to have proper due diligence on their customers. It is important to understand and appreciate KYC requirements in all manifestations- be it for the products on the asset side of the balance sheet or on the liability side. Banks would also need to be mindful about the KYC due diligence for the third party products that they sell from their premises/through their delivery channel. You have to be increasingly vigilant in the coming days as the trend of forex inflows is likely to reverse thereby exposing the banks to more stringent KYC requirements from the host countries in the West. 41 d) Managing Risk The retail banking business involves dealing with a large number of customers over varied delivery channels thereby creating significant vulnerabilities across banks’ systems. These vulnerabilities could be in the form of inadequacy of internal guidelines or non-adherence by staff, inadequacy in the technology systems supplied by vendors, fraudulent practices employed by customers, hackers etc. While the banks have developed sufficient safeguards to deal with operational risk event associated with traditional delivery channels, it is the emergence of non-traditional delivery channels which are likely to be the pressure points for banks going forward. This is already evident in large number of technology-related frauds that we have witnessed across Indian banks in the past few years. Though from a value view point these frauds are not significant, still from an individual’s stand point they are quite important. The banks would also need to recognize and manage risks arising from mis- selling etc. besides the other business risks like market risk, liquidity risk, interest rate risk etc. Unless, the banks address these issues quickly, even the low-value frauds would have the potential to cause reputational risk and unwarranted litigation for the banks. It is, therefore, absolutely important that the banks improve their risk management systems to address these vulnerabilities. e) Countering the effects of disruptive new technologies Retail banking has been most impacted by technology, thanks to the proliferation of alternate channels of delivery (ATMs, internet and telephone banking). The pace with which consumers in the developing countries have also adopted digital technologies has been quite amazing. According to available statistics, by the end of 2011, China and India were ranked first and third respective in the global league table for number of Internet users. Also the use of mobile platforms for accessing internet has been staggering: in China, 65 percent of mobile-phone users regularly access the 42 Internet via their phones, while in India, mobile-only web browsers are expected to comprise 55 percent of the total Internet user base by 2015. As a corollary, the use of traditional delivery channels for accessing banking services has seen a perceptible decline. According to a McKinsey Personal Financial Services survey, in 2011, in both the emerging and developed markets in Asia, there was a significant decline (more than 25per cent) in the number of consumers visiting branches for accessing banking services than in earlier years. Likewise, the use of digital- channel for accessing banking services also showed significant increase (in excess of 35 per cent). While the number of bank customers in India and few other developing countries may still be low, but the banks have to be cognizant of this emerging trend and quickly adjust to the new paradigm where more and more of their customers move online for accessing banking services. As the demographic changes take place the “technology acceptors” will soon outnumber the “technology deniers” and banks have to use this short transitory period to adequately equip themselves to manage the disruptions arising out of this alternate delivery channel. Further, since the internet is available on a “24 by 7” basis, the banks would have to substantially invest in appropriate technology and ensure that their service offerings are available round the clock with minimal downtime. While the use of technology-aided delivery channels has grown multifold, so has the scope for fraudulent transactions through impersonations and identity thefts. Banks would also need to quickly put in place lasting technology-based solutions to thwart the efforts of fraudsters and minimize the customer complaints. As the use of new delivery channels gets more popular, the banks would need to ensure that their customers continue to have good experience with their service offerings and remain loyal to them. f) Continuing Growth Growth is not as much a challenge for the retail banks in developing economies as in the developed economies. Even with 43 our concerted efforts on increasing the banking penetration and bringing more and more adult population under the formal financial system over the last 6-7 years, more than half of the target population remains uncovered. Of the 6 lakh plus villages in India, as on March 2013 only about 2.68 lakh villages, had access to banking service either through a branch mode, a banking correspondent or other channels. Similarly, the credit penetration from the banking system in the country is abysmally low at about 10%. In absence of access to formal sources of finance, the alternate cost of funds for the people is exorbitantly high. As the pricing of loans no longer remains restricted due to any regulatory/ government fiat, the banks are free to reasonably charge their customers. All this means that the retail banks have a huge potential to grow in India over time. The Future Ahead There is little to differentiate between basic products and services offered by retail banks and therefore the packaging and branding of products and services are going to be the key differentiator between banks. The banks would have to invest quite a lot in innovation, research and product design so as to keep their product and service offerings relevant and contemporaneous to emerging customer needs. They would have to rummage through huge amount of customer data that gets generated every day in course of transactions and use appropriate analytics to develop products in keeping with changing customer preferences. In this context, banks can also think in terms of giving a dedicated platform of their webpage to the customers to solicit their views/ requirements. As competition gradually brings down the spreads and the profitability, the banks have to continuously work towards improving their productivity and efficiency so as to maintain their RoE. Towards this end, technology would be 44 the key enabler. Though, technology has been available and been in use in the banking sector for more than a decade now, my belief is that it has not yet been exploited to its optimum potential. Technology can assist in all spheres of banking activities – right from planning, strategy, MIS, processing, delivery, monitoring and follow up. I feel that the banks that can quickly conjure up a technology based cost-efficient delivery model for their products and services would be the ultimate winners in the long run. The urgency for developing standardized products and services should also be taken seriously for furthering the retail banking initiatives. Across the globe, retail lending has been a spectacular innovation in the commercial banking sector in recent years. The growth of retail lending, especially, in emerging economies, is attributable to the rapid advances in information technology, the evolving macroeconomic environment, financial market reform, and several micro-level demand and supply side factors. In the context of retail lending, deployment of scoring models would minimize the subjective element and thereby fast track the decision making process. The mass retail banks of today would also have to plan a transit path for the class banking and gradually to entrepreneurial banking. Quality of services offered by the banks is going to be another key differentiator. In ultimate analysis, providing better service to the customers would be the key to generating larger revenue for the banks.

Conclusion While retail banking offers phenomenal opportunities for growth, the challenges are equally daunting. The exacting regulatory requirements on the consumer protection front, risks from a slowing global economy 45 and increasing customer expectations mean that banks must innovate to grow. How far the mass retail banking of the future would be able to fulfil its socio-economic objectives would in a large measure depend upon the willingness of the banks to innovate and reform their business processes and structures for this cause. It is in the banks’ own interest to be alive to the customers’ interests; else they might have to face stiff regulatory sanctions. Post crisis, several jurisdictions in the developed world have seen public demands for ethical pricing. In this Facebook and Twitter age, the banks cannot remain oblivious to the power of the social media which wields enough clout to forcibly reform the outliers through negative publicity. Only such retail banks, who inculcate ability to churn out innovative and differentiated products by harnessing cutting-edge technology, greatly improve their productivity and efficiency, bring a fair, transparent and non-discriminatory pricing and demonstrate a commitment towards fair treatment to their customers, would be able to survive and add value to the society.

Bibliography: • www.rbi.org.in • www.moneycontrol.com • RBI bulletin

Impact of Emotional Intelligence in Indian Retail Banking Industry: Challenges And Opportunities

Dr. Tanvir Hussein Ms. Tanu Goel

Abstract

The banking industry in India has a huge canvas of history, which covers the traditional banking practices from the time of Britishers to the reforms period, nationalization to privatization of banks and now increasing numbers of foreign banks in India. Therefore, Banking in India has been through a long journey. Banking industry in India has also achieved a new height with the changing times. The