Factors Affecting Customer Loyalty in Retail Sector

RESEARCH PROPOSAL

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
Rationale of the study..................................................................................................................2
LITERATRUE REVIEW................................................................................................................4
Factors affecting customer loyalty in retail sector.......................................................................4
Link between service quality and customer loyalty....................................................................5
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY....................................................................................................6
Research design...........................................................................................................................6
Research methodology.................................................................................................................6
Research technique......................................................................................................................6
Data collection.............................................................................................................................6
Sampling......................................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
Customer loyalty plays most significant role in every sector as it is regarded as the
outcome of positive emotional experience, physical value of an experience and it directly
associated with the product being consumed by target market. Further, it is the ultimate objective
of every enterprise to enhance its customer loyalty and this supports in accomplishment of
desired aims along with objectives of the firm (Katie, 2013). Moreover, in the modern era every
business has started to focus on its service quality as through this level of customer loyalty can
be enhanced easily and in turn is profitable for the business in every possible manner. In retail
sector every organization has started to focus on the range of services being delivered to its target
market and it is assisting business to survive in the competitive market for longer period of time.
Further, their existing large number of challenges in the present which can be only faced
by organization is delivering high quality service to its valuable customers. In short, quality
matters a lot in the entire retail sector (Ackah and Agboyi, 2014). Apart from this, through every
service delivered by retail organization is directly associated with customer loyalty and overall
decline in level of service can have adverse impact on every business. In short, the service
quality being maintained by business is directly linked with growth and success of organization
in the market where operations are being carried out. On the other, management of every
enterprise focuses on maintaining proper level of service quality so that its valuable customers
can be retained for longer period of time. Further, it becomes easy for organization to grab
opportunities present in the business environment and acts as development tool. Objective of
customer loyalty can only be accomplished business if its service quality is up to the mark and its
ignorance can have adverse impact on company (Cahill, 2006).
Company overview
For conducting the present study Marks and Spencer will be chosen as one of the
organization which is a British multinational retailer headquartered in London. Company is
specialized in home products, clothing and other type of food items (About us., 2015). At present
revenue earned by company is around £10.3 billion and is regarded as leader in the market for
conducting overall operations. Further, company is having strong customer base and this
supports to sustain in the competitive market for longer period of time. At present enterprise has
employed 83,069 staff members who are capable enough of delivering effective customer service
to the target market. Further, international expansion of business is taking place at faster pace
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and firm is opening its stores worldwide with the aim to serve large number of customers in the
market. Apart from this financial strength of the business has allowed firm to modify its product
range as per changing need and requirement of its target market. Turnover of enterprise has risen
every year and it is the real outcome of rise in level of customer loyalty which is fruitful for the
business enterprise in every possible manner. Rise in level of customer loyalty is providing
competitive advantage to business.
Aim: The main behind carrying out this study will be “To assess the impact of service quality on
customer loyalty within retail sector: A study on Marks and Spencer”
Objectives: Following will be the objectives set for the study on the basis of aim which are as
follows:
 To identify the factors affecting customer loyalty in retail sector
 To understand the link between service quality and customer loyalty in Marks and
Spencer
 To recommend the effective ways through which Marks and Spencer can raise service
quality for enhancing customer loyalty.
Research questions
Following will be the research questions for the present research which are:
 What are the ranges of factors affecting customer loyalty in retail sector?
 What is the link between service quality and customer loyalty in Marks and Spencer?
 What are the effective ways through which company can raise its service quality for
increasing customer loyalty?
Rationale of the study
The main aim behind carrying out this study will be “To assess the impact of service
quality on customer loyalty within retail sector: A study on Marks and Spencer”. In the modern
era concept of service quality is getting popular where every retail enterprise has started to focus
on the range of services which are being delivered to target market and it is effective enough in
enhancing the level of customer loyalty (Paluch, 2011). Further, it is one of the ultimate
objectives of enterprise to raise the level of customer loyalty and this is only possible when
efforts are applied in enhancing service quality. The range of services rendered by retail
enterprise involves providing assistance to target market at the time when they purchase services,
solving product related issues, sharing information regarding product range etc. All these type of
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