. Introduction
The topic of relationship marketing can be seen as incorporating customer service with quality and market orientation in order to gain and essentially keep customers (Ballantyne et al 2000) an illustration can be seen at appendices 1. To gain the finest customer service a company has to establish how best they can add value to there product and service. They must accomplish customer's requirements for pre- purchase, purchase and post- purchase. Quality must be measured from the perspective of the customer. Marketing is concerned with the activity of the competition, the customer's wants and needs and the relationship between products and services.
The four main supermarkets are Tesco, Asda, Safeway and Sainsburys they each have a major supermarket in most large towns in the country and every city. Each has their own marketing strategies which can be very similar as this is a highly competitive industry.
This report attempts to assess their relationship marketing policies by comparison, looking at their market orientation, and at total quality management. Firstly it might be appropriate to begin by describing the supermarkets individual relationship marketing policies, then attempt to compare them and rank them, then assess whether the supermarkets have been successful in fulfilling their corporate objectives. Lastly I will attempt to conclude with my own analysis and recommendations.
2. Orientation and strategy
The supermarket industry is a very high contact with all four supermarkets relationship marketing orientated. All offer much the same services and quality standards. Some supermarkets offer outstanding quality and services leaving other supermarkets a fairly close second but in such a competitive industry second isn't good enough.
Tesco whole company strategy is based on customer retention, their core purpose is 'to create value for customers to earn their lifetime loyalty' (Tesco 2001/02). Asda has placed slightly more emphasis on lower prices than the other supermarkets. Safeway believe their customer service to be the best and Sainsbury's aim is to be the customer's first choice by delivering a great service. I have included some of the customer service benefits offered on appendix 2.
The four supermarkets have slightly different position strategies (see appendix 3 for an illustration). Asda focuses primarily on the cheapest prices, offering no store card or very many promotional offers and quality is generally low compared to the other supermarkets. Tesco also offers the lowest prices but has slightly higher quality than Asda. Sainsbury's and Safeway are also similar but Safeway seems to boast the higher quality there prices are generally higher because of this.
The topic of relationship marketing can be seen as incorporating customer service with quality and market orientation in order to gain and essentially keep customers (Ballantyne et al 2000) an illustration can be seen at appendices 1. To gain the finest customer service a company has to establish how best they can add value to there product and service. They must accomplish customer's requirements for pre- purchase, purchase and post- purchase. Quality must be measured from the perspective of the customer. Marketing is concerned with the activity of the competition, the customer's wants and needs and the relationship between products and services.
The four main supermarkets are Tesco, Asda, Safeway and Sainsburys they each have a major supermarket in most large towns in the country and every city. Each has their own marketing strategies which can be very similar as this is a highly competitive industry.
This report attempts to assess their relationship marketing policies by comparison, looking at their market orientation, and at total quality management. Firstly it might be appropriate to begin by describing the supermarkets individual relationship marketing policies, then attempt to compare them and rank them, then assess whether the supermarkets have been successful in fulfilling their corporate objectives. Lastly I will attempt to conclude with my own analysis and recommendations.
2. Orientation and strategy
The supermarket industry is a very high contact with all four supermarkets relationship marketing orientated. All offer much the same services and quality standards. Some supermarkets offer outstanding quality and services leaving other supermarkets a fairly close second but in such a competitive industry second isn't good enough.
Tesco whole company strategy is based on customer retention, their core purpose is 'to create value for customers to earn their lifetime loyalty' (Tesco 2001/02). Asda has placed slightly more emphasis on lower prices than the other supermarkets. Safeway believe their customer service to be the best and Sainsbury's aim is to be the customer's first choice by delivering a great service. I have included some of the customer service benefits offered on appendix 2.
The four supermarkets have slightly different position strategies (see appendix 3 for an illustration). Asda focuses primarily on the cheapest prices, offering no store card or very many promotional offers and quality is generally low compared to the other supermarkets. Tesco also offers the lowest prices but has slightly higher quality than Asda. Sainsbury's and Safeway are also similar but Safeway seems to boast the higher quality there prices are generally higher because of this.
