Evaluating Effectiveness of Online Services

The assignment involves analyzing data from customers to identify areas for improvement in an online service provided by Coles. A sample size of 100 was taken, and questionnaires were used to gather information on customer satisfaction and issues faced while using the online service. The assignment also touches upon the benefits of online purchasing, such as saving time, and discusses research methods and data analysis techniques used to derive conclusions.

Attitude research plan

Table of Contents
2. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY.........................................................................................................1
3. AIM & OBJECTIVES.................................................................................................................1
4. Information required to fulfil the marketing research objectives................................................2
5. Considerations in the research process........................................................................................4
6. CONCLUSION............................................................................................................................7
7. REFERENCES............................................................................................................................8
8. APPENDIX................................................................................................................................10

2. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The aim of the research is to find out the effectiveness of the online services provided by
Coles company in order to acquire customer satisfaction. For every business to be successful in
the market it is very essential to achieve customer satisfaction. Coles is also engaged into
providing online services along with the facility of physical store. Thus, it becomes important to
find out the gaps between customer expectations from the organisation so that necessary
improvements could be introduced in order to hold consumers with the brand. The proposed gaps
help in holding competitive advantage in the market along with satisfying needs of the
customers. It is also beneficial in terms of improving online services. Identified gaps thus could
be removed with the help of proper strategies. As a result, good relations could be build up with
clients. The identified gaps could be collected with the help of questionnaires and research
methods which are needed to be effective because then only quality information could be
collected.
3. AIM & OBJECTIVES
Aim: To analyse the effectiveness of online services provided by Coles in satisfying needs and
requirements of customers.
Objectives:
 To identify whether consumers are facing issues in making use of online services
provided by Coles.
 To determine whether customers are satisfied with the products delivered by Coles
through online.
 To evaluate whether customers perceive more benefits when purchasing online as
compared to products bought from physical store.
 To explore the unmet needs of customers in online purchasing process.
In any retail services it is very essential to identify the needs and requirements of the
customers so that they could be satisfied with the products provided by them. Customer
satisfaction thus could be present by the impression of the venture that has been left on them. In
order to hold competitive edge in the market it is very essential to satisfy clients by providing
them quality services and products (Kim, Lim and Brymer, 2015). Thus, it could be evaluated
with the help of conducting surveys and collecting information, primary and secondary
1

researches could be also be conducted. Collected data would help in identification of needs and
expectations of the consumers which have not been met by the supplier. Feedbacks could also be
collected from people where they could be asked to provide suggestions regarding betterments to
be implemented in the firm. Thus, Coles would be able to hold renounced position across the
world and would be a tough competitor for others.
4. Information required to fulfil the marketing research objectives
Online shopping is one of the most innovative approach that is being developed with the
objective of solving customer's difficulties to walk into stores and make purchases. Online
services have comforted people by providing facilities in which people could buy things sitting
at home and if they are not satisfied with the products, they could return and exchange them
(Koo, 2016). Coles is also engaged into providing online services to their customers so that they
could enjoy shopping at home. They have physical stores as well in Australia.
While conducted online shopping there are various issues that is being faced by
customers which are listed below: Quality issues: The most common issue that is faced by the people while using online
services are quality issues. There is no guarantee that products provided would be up to
the mark of customer's expectations. Reviews provided by the consumers are always not
reliable and many times they are provided with misleading information which leads to
dissatisfaction. Delivery issues: Once order has been placed it becomes the question that when the
product will get delivered. They are only providing expected date of delivery but not the
exact date. Online shopping websites have provided tracking facilities as well, with the
help of which people could track their orders (Wang, Cunningham and Eastin, 2015).
Many times, it has also been seen that orders are delivered when individuals are not at
home thus raising issue of where to deliver the product in case of cash on delivery option. Digital payments failures: When payment is made online either through net banking,
credit/debit cards or wallets, one of the commonly observed issue if payment failures. It
has also been observed that while making payments, amount gets debited from accounts
but it does not get displayed on the shopping sites for successful transactions.
2

 Unclear return policies: It is very common that when you do not have the product in your
hand, one cannot identify the quality of the products. If someone is not satisfied with the
provided products, then there are exchange and return policies as well with the help of
which it could be returned to the venture. Most of the online websites has unclear policies
making people confused by applying several terms and conditions. Refusal is also made
by companies for exchange of products.
 Lack of security: internet has made work easier and faster for people. But one of the
threat while using online services is security issues (Carter, Weerakkody and Dwivedi,
2016). There is always risk of hacking of personal information while transactions are
being made online. Customers provide their contact details along with bank account
details which becomes major threat and risk factor in online shopping.
Thus, all the above stated are some of the commonly observed issues which is faced by
people when they make use of online services. All such issues have been collected with the help
of conducting surveys where people have been asked to present their issues that they generally
face. List of above stated issues' comes into account. It could also be analysed with the help of
reviews provided by the people in online purchase. There is another facility that could be
provided to the customers that is, online feedback form where they could be rendered to present
their views on the acquisition of the products provided by Coles company (Chinman, George and
Delphin-Rittmon, 2014). With the help of these issues faced by customers could be analysed
along with their satisfaction level with the site. These feedback forms will also assist in finding
what are the expectations of the customers that has not been met completely and thus necessary
improvements are required to be introduced.
Data estimates:
Number of users that made use of online services in the year 2015 and 2016 been
compared and results have been found that number of users have increased with the passage of
time because of improvements introduced by the firm. Filtering and checkout activities have
been improved thus making customers shopping experience much better. Thus, from this it could
be concluded that company has been able to acquire customer satisfaction. Reviews provided by
them are helpful in decision making process of the company (Gu and Ye, 2014). Gaps that has
been found between expectations and reality thus could be fulfilled by the venture with the help
of effective strategies and issues that has been commonly faced by people could also be resolved
3

with the help of improved security services along with giving quality products and services to the
consumers.
For example, a sample of 10 customers could be taken up and they could be asked about their
experience with the online shopping and their responses could be recorded. If 6 out of 10 are
satisfied with the services, then it could be said that Coles is not required to make major
improvements rather by looking at core areas, company could acquire customer satisfaction.
5. Considerations in the research process
Being marketing manager of the company, it is the responsibility of manager itselff to
monitor and supervise the instructions given to the marketing agency to ensure work is carrying
out effectively in order to find gaps between the expected and actual outcomes of the consumers.
For conducting research, it is required to take into consideration following points:
 Correct Data collection methods
While conducting research it is very essential to identify that proper data collection
methods are utilized for the process (Eylem, Van Straten and Kerkhof, 2015). There are various
methods available with the help of which customer's views could be collected. The two basic
ways which are used in data collection are : primary and secondary research.
Primary research is effective medium of collecting data which could be collected with the
help of providing questionnaires, face to face interviews, telephone interview and emails. They
are quick and fast methods that helps in understanding where changes should be made. One
should not only use secondary methods as it only looks at previously done surveys rather
primary methods should be utilized. It helps in interaction with the consumers directly which
makes you understand what are the areas in which improvements are required to be introduced
so that customer's satisfaction could be achieved. Reviews provided by the consumers also helps
identification of areas where changes could be made (Glisson, 2015). Thus, researcher could
acquire answers of all the ambiguous questions with the help of such techniques and accordingly
strategies could be formulated. It becomes thus very essential and important to adopt effective
and appropriate data collection techniques that could be used for gathering customers responses.
 Questionnaire design
For data collection one of the effective way is through the help of questionnaires. They
could be categorized into paper pencil questionnaires which could be distributed among people
where certain questions could be framed and consumers could be asked to answer them. It saves
4

lot of time and money as you are not required to go to the doorway of individuals separately.
Thus, faithful answers would be provided to the supplier as the responses of the clients would be
anonymous.
There is another way which is web based questionnaire. Use of internet has made work
much easier and faster for everyone. People could be provided with certain questions and could
be asked to answer them online (Bergstrand and Savage, 2013). It should be noted that
questionnaire should be designed in such a way that it covers all the aspects of the issues that
customers may face and what modifications should company implement in response to it. It thus
becomes the responsibility of manager itself to look upon the prepared questionnaire so that if
unnecessary contents are found, then it could be removed and appropriate data could be included.
They are very beneficial in identification of gaps.
 Customer target and sample:
For implementation of any strategy it becomes very important to consider the targeted
audience. If people who are actual users of online service are not being taken into consideration,
then there would remain no point in making improvements in existing methodologies (Picciano,
Dziuban and Graham, 2013). If old aged people have been taken into study who doesn't make
use of online facilities, then the research would be of no use. Sample size also matters in the
research process. It is very essential to take appropriate number of individuals in the study
because if sample size would be small then accurate results would not be able to acquire.
Similarly, big sample size takes' lot of time and money. People who are frequent users should be
contacted and their shopping pattern should be analysed so that necessary improvements could
be introduced accordingly.
Manager is thus required to make necessary changes in the strategy so that more and
more number of consumers could be attracted towards online purchase of products. Rather,
giving just responsibilities, it becomes very essential to monitor and supervise marketing agency
as well so that it should be ensured that research is being conducted properly. Thus, appropriate
target audience and sample size should be taken for the study.
 Contact strategy and response rates
The way you contact your customers also holds importance in the research process. There
are various ways by which one can contact people such as through online feedback forms,
telephone services, face to face etc. (Alnahdi, Ali and Alkayid, 2014) The opted method affects
5

overall decision process of the venture that has to be made in order to enhance efficiency and
performance. In this context, number of responses which has been gathered also holds great
importance. If response rate is low then it would become quite difficult to understand what are
the changes that are required for the betterment of the firm in order to acquire customer
satisfaction. Thus, It becomes necessary for the manager to check that what contact strategy has
been adopted by the firm so that maximum responses could be collected with the clients and
accordingly aims and objective of the research could be attained.
 Training and supervision of the data collection team
The methodologies adopted by the agency team greatly impacts the working procedure of
the firm as it would make them understand what changes they are required to made so that
maximum satisfaction level could be achieved by Coles (Ahmed, Akbar and Sulehri, 2015). For
effective results, data collection team could be provided with training so that they could learn
what methods should be utilized by them in order to have optimum outputs which could assists
them in decision making process. When adopted methods are effective, then quality results are
obtained and appropriate analysis could be acquired regarding gaps that been found between
expectations and reality.
 Data Processing
After conducting research, the gathered data is needed to be analysed. As we know, there
are various sources from which data is collected, therefore, it becomes very essential to analyse
the data so that unnecessary findings could be eliminated and only useful data could be utilized.
Data analysis is performed with an objective to inspect and transform collected data (Importance
of Data analysis in Research, 2013). Statistical data is also obtained which is needed to be
examined that they are appropriate and could be used for further study. Thus, data analysis is
helpful in structuring the results.
Potential barriers that may encounter during research process
While conducting research, there are several barriers that might get come into existence.
One of the major issue that may encounter is lack of resources either financial or workforce.
Effective human resource available within the company could help in conducting research
process efficiently. There are certain policies of government as well that hinders the process.
There is possibility that the information required for the research is not available on time (Allan,
McIntyre and Doran, 2013). For conducting research, it is essential that timely information is
6

available. Sample size if not taken appropriately could also hinder the entire search process. If
the feedback is not taken appropriately from the target customer, then it becomes major concern
for the authorities of the firm. Customer review are very essential for betterment of the venture.
Effective data analysis tools and techniques are required so that data collected could be filtered
and appropriate outcomes could be collected (Law, Buhalis and Cobanoglu, 2014). One other
issue that may come into existence is of lack of actual data. If data required for the research is
not available correctly then all the changes that are needed to be introduced would get affected.
6. CONCLUSION
From the research conducted it can be concluded that online services have facilitated
individuals in many ways but on the same hand it raised various issues as well for the public.
Quality, product delivery etc. are some of the major issues that comes into existence. Thus, to
identify potential issues that consumers are facing, we could make use variety of methods such
as face to face interview, questionnaires, secondary research, online feedback form and many
more which could assist into making improvements. Therefore, by adopting customers feedbacks
one could understand possible changes that are needed to be introduced so that clients could be
satisfied. The research has its own significance as it was beneficial in identification of areas in
which individuals were not satisfied and what possible changes should be introduced so that
maximum benefits could be generated by the firm.
7

7. REFERENCES
Books and Journal
Ahmed, E., Akbar, S. and Sulehri, N. A., 2015. The Effects Of Consumer Perception And Trust
On Effectiveness Of Internet Banking Habit In Pakistan. Journal of Research in Social
Sciences. 3(2). p.104.
Allan, J.D., McIntyre, P. B. and Doran, P. J., 2013. Joint analysis of stressors and ecosystem
services to enhance restoration effectiveness. Proceedings of the National Academy of
Sciences. 110(1). pp.372-377.
Alnahdi, S., Ali, M. and Alkayid, K., 2014. The effectiveness of online advertising via the
behavioural targeting mechanism. The Business & Management Review. 5(1). p.23.
Bergstrand, K. and Savage, S. V., 2013. The chalkboard versus the avatar: Comparing the
effectiveness of online and in-class courses. Teaching Sociology. 41(3). pp.294-306.
Carter, L., Weerakkody, V. and Dwivedi, Y. K., 2016. Citizen adoption of e-government
Services: Exploring citizen perceptions of online services in the United States and United
Kingdom. Information Systems Management. 33(2). pp.124-140.
Chinman, M., George, P. and Delphin-Rittmon, M. E., 2014. Peer support services for
individuals with serious mental illnesses: assessing the evidence. Psychiatric Services.
65(4). pp.429-441.
Eylem, O., Van Straten, A. and Kerkhof, A. J., 2015. Protocol: Reducing suicidal ideation
among Turkish migrants in the Netherlands and in the UK: Effectiveness of an online
intervention. International review of psychiatry. 27(1). pp.72-81.
Glisson, C., 2015. The role of organizational culture and climate in innovation and effectiveness.
Human Service Organizations: Management, Leadership & Governance. 39(4). pp.245-
250.
Gu, B. and Ye, Q., 2014. First step in social media: Measuring the influence of online
management responses on customer satisfaction. Production and Operations Management.
23(4). pp.570-582.
Kim, W.G., Lim, H. and Brymer, R. A., 2015. The effectiveness of managing social media on
hotel performance. International Journal of Hospitality Management. 44. pp.165-171.
Koo, D. M., 2016. Impact of tie strength and experience on the effectiveness of online service
recommendations. Electronic Commerce Research and Applications. 15. pp.38-51.
8

Law, R., Buhalis, D. and Cobanoglu, C., 2014. Progress on information and communication
technologies in hospitality and tourism. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality
Management. 26(5). pp.727-750.
Picciano, A. G., Dziuban, C. D. and Graham, C. R. eds., 2013. Blended learning: Research
perspectives (Vol. 2). Routledge.
Wang, S., Cunningham, N. R. and Eastin, M. S., 2015. The impact of eWOM message
characteristics on the perceived effectiveness of online consumer reviews. Journal of
Interactive Advertising. 15(2). pp.151-159.
Online
Importance of Data analysis in Research. 2013. [Online]. Available through:
<http://www.dissertationindia.com/blog/importance-of-data-analysis-in-research>.
[Accessed on 1st August 2017].
9

8. APPENDIX
As a manager I was assigned with the responsibility of managing work in group so that
research process could be conducted effectively. To carry out work efficiently all the members
were assigned with certain roles and duties so that effective research could be performed.
Questionnaires were provided to the customers so that changes that are required to be introduced
by firm in their online services could be identified. I have come across various reviews and
feedbacks from customers where they have specified their major issues which they are currently
facing. All the gathered data has been analysed and examined properly so that improvements
could be introduced by the Coles in order to acquire consumer satisfaction. Benefits of online
purchasing has also been accepted by people as it helps in saving their time where they are not
required to go to physical stores. Sample size of 100 was taken for study so more accurate results
could be estimated.
10