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MARKETING OF SERVICES EARLY JOINING ASSIGNMENT

PROJECT ON RESERVATION SYSTEM THAT WORKED WELL AND THAT WORKED BAD (INDIAN RAILWAYS AND PVR CINEMAS)

Submitted to:

Mr. Ramesh Bagla

Submitted by:

Nilim Kumar NathMarketing and SalesClasses roll number: B28Enrollment number: A0102213065MBA Class of 2015

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CONTENTS

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TOPIC PG.

NO

1. Introduction 1 – 4

2. Project scope 4

3. Indian railway reservation system:

3.1 About Indian Railway: - An Overview 4 -5

3.2 limitations of existing railway reservation system 5 – 6

3.3 Indian Railway Reservation system with enhanced technology 6 - 7

3.4 advantages of the technology driven indian railway reservation system

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3.5 Conclusion and recommendation 10

4. PVR cinemas ticket booking system

104.1 Introduction of PVR cinema

4.2 PVR cinema’s   online ticket booking system 11-12

4.3 Problem in online ticketing: 12-13

13-144.4 Conclusion and recommendation

5. References 14

INTRODUCTION

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1.

Marketing has been defined as the aim to know and understand the customer so well that the

product or service fits him and sells itself by Peter Ducker whereas Chartered institute of

marketing has defined marketing as the process of discovering, expecting and suiting the

customer needs and at the same time making profits.

Services have been defined as:-

• S ervice is performance

• Service does not mean ownership of anything

• Goods are produced.

• Services are performed.

• Service is purchased.

• Service purchased –is just the use of/access to facility.

• Traditionally difficult to define.

• Which services are created and delivered to customer are difficult to define because many

inputs & outputs are intangible.

• Service is an act or performance offered by one party to another . Although the process

may be tied to a physical product, the performance is essentially intangible and does not

result to any owner ship of any factor of production.

• Services are economic activities that create value and provide benefits for customers at

specific times, place.

• Philip Kotler ---”service is any activity of benefit that one party can offer to another that

is essentially intangible and does not result in the ownership of anything. Its production

may or may not be tied to a physical product

Service sector as a whole:-

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• Comprises of bulk of today’s economy.

• US – 73% & Canada 67% of GDP.

• Consists of vide variety of industries that sell to individual customers, business

customers, government customers, NGO’s.

• Change in economy – boom in agriculture, manufacturing – increased demand for brand

new services and traditional services.

Service organization:-

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• Large international corporations –airlines , banking, telecom, hotel chains, freight

transportation and many more

• Locally owned small business– restaurants, laundries, taxi services, internet services,

courier etc.

• Franchised service outlets--- food, education, etc.

Classification of services:-

• High contact service

• Medium contact services

• Low contact services.

2. PROJECT SCOPE :

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The scope of my project is to understand and analyze two reservation systems, one that

worked very well and the other that worked really bad.

Therefore I took Indian railway reservation system which worked really well when Indian

railway used it to maintain its overall working and also its reservation system and Multiplex

PVR ticket reservation system which did not work well as they were not able to address

customer complaints properly on time which led to a huge dissatisfied customers

3. INDIAN RAILWAY RESERVATION SYSTEM THAT WORKED

REALLY WELL:

3.1 About Indian Railway:

Indian Railways   is an Indian   state-owned   enterprise, owned and operated by the   Government of

India   through the   Ministry of Railways. It is one of the world's largest railway networks

comprising 115,000   km (71,000   mi) of track over a route of 65,000   km (40,000   mi) and 7,500

stations. As of December 2012, it transported over 25 million passengers daily (over 9 billion on

an annual basis). In 2011, IR carried over 8,900 million passengers’ annually or more than 24

million passengers daily (roughly half of which were suburban passengers) and 2.8 million tons

of freight daily. In 2011–2012 Indian Railways had revenues of   Rs.1119848.9

million   (US$17   billion) which consists of   696759.7 million   (US$11   billion) from freight and  

286455.2 million   (US$4.4   billion) from passengers tickets.

Railways were first introduced to India in 1853 from   Bombay   to   Thane. In 1951 the systems

were nationalized as one unit, the Indian Railways, becoming one of the largest networks in the

world. IR operates both   long distance   and   suburban rail systems   on a   multi-gauge   network

of   broad, meter   and   narrow   gauges. It also owns   locomotive   and   coach   production facilities at

several places in India and are assigned codes identifying their gauge, kind of power and type of

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operation. Its operations cover   twenty eight states and seven union territories   and also provide

limited international services to   Nepal,   Bangladesh   and   Pakistan.

Indian Railways is the world's   ninth largest commercial or utility employer, by number of

employees, with over 1.4   million employees. As for   rolling stock, IR holds over 239,281   Freight

Wagons, 59,713   Passenger Coaches   and 9,549   Locomotives   (43 steam, 5,197 diesel and 4,309

electric locomotives). The trains have a 5 digit numbering system as the Indian Railways runs

about 10,000 trains daily. As of 31 March 2013, 23,541   km (14,628   mi) (36%) of the total

65,000   km (40,000   mi) km route length was electrified. Since 1960, almost all electrified

sections on IR use 25,000 Volt AC traction through overhead catenary delivery

The basic functions being performed by our system are:

1. Reservation management

2. Fare   management

3. Timetable management

3.2 LIMITATIONS OF EXISTING RAILWAY RESERVATION SYSTEM: -

Data redundancy:

It means that same data fields appear in many different files and often in different formats.

In manual system, it poses quite a big problem because the data has to be maintained in

large volumes but in our system, this problem can be overcome by providing the condition

that if the data entered is duplicate, it will not be entered, otherwise, updating will take

place.

Difficulty in accessing the data:

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In manual system, searching information is time consuming but in our system, any

information can be accessed by providing the primary key.

Unsatisfactory security measures

In manual system, no security measures were provided but in this system, password security

has been provided. The person can access the system by providing the correct password

otherwise he is denied the access

The system is basically concerned with the reservation and cancellation of railway tickets to

the passengers. The need of this system arose because as is the known fact that India has the

largest railway network in the whole of the world and to handle it manually is quite a tough

job. By computerizing it, we will be able to overcome many of its limitations and will be able

to make it more efficient. The handling of data and records for such a vast system is a very

complex task if done manually but it can be made much easier if the system is computerized.

3.3 INDIAN RAILWAY RESERVATION SYSTEM WITH ENHANCED

TECHNOLOGY:-

Technology has transformed many aspects of life in the 21st century, including the way many of

us make train reservations. For example, to make ticketing more convenient for travelers, Indian

Railways has started an online reservation system, which helps us in booking tickets from the

comfort of our homes or offices. While this is convenient for most people, it has made things

particularly easier for people residing in remote locations.

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The system is basically concerned with the reservation and cancellation of railways tickets of the

passenger. The need of this system arose because as is the known fact that India has the largest

railway network in the whole of the

world and to handle it manually is

quite a tough job. By computerizing

it, we will be able to overcome many

of its limitations and will be able to

make it more efficient. The handling

of data and records for such a vast

system is a very complex task if

done manually but it can be made

easier if the system is computerized.

The handling of data and records for such a vast system is a very complex task if done manually

but it can be made easier if the system is computerized. The Customers are required to register

on the server for getting Access to the database and query result retrieval. Upon registration,

each user has an account which is essentially the ‘view level ‘for the customer. The account

contains comprehensive information of the user entered during registration and permits the

customer to get access to his past reservations, enquire about travel fare and availability of seats,

make afresh reservations, update his account details, etc.

In this all the reser vation process through online. This system saves money, manpower, time. It

provides security compared to existing system.

The basic functions being performed by the system are status, reservation and cancellation.

The reservation system has following sub functions:-

It reserves and cancels seats of passenger.

It contains Information about the stations.

It contains information about the trains.

It contains information about the passenger.

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It contains the details of reservations fare.

It makes entries for reservation, waiting, cancelled tickets.

It will update for uptime and downtime trains.

The passenger could search for trains from a particular source to destination.

The record of train status includes dates for which tickets can be booked, total number of

seats available, number of seats already booked and waiting slot

The Railway Reservation system is to eliminate heavy load paper work by converting it into

web based computer process. This web-based application is completely client - server oriented

for processing

Various toolbars for users of Indian Railway reservation system which made the syatem more

user friendly:-

Toolbars:-

1. For Logout

From this user can go back to login page. If user terminates session then user can

easily get on “Login Form”.

2. Booking

For Reservation of ticket. User can book ticket by giving some Details.

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3. Train between Stations-

To find number of running train with source id and destination id.

4. Contact Us

For Further info about Admin or website handlers or organization

5. Add Train

6. Add Route –

For adding Route

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3.4 ADVANTAGES OF THE TECHNOLOGY DRIVEN INDIAN RAILWAY

RESERVATION SYSTEM:-

1. Searching of the trains is so easy:

It is easy to search for the wished train as train code, train nor are there, you do not need

to remember those, you just have to mention source and destination

2. Provides fare tables for   passengers:

A fare table is already there so that passengers can know the specific price of their ticket.

And as it is stored there the amount cannot wrong.

3. Reduce the possibility to make mistake:

Due to excessive amount of work the employers tend to do mistakes by manual form.

Here the chance that redundancy is reduced.

4. Reservation can be done very easily:

The overall method is very easy and based on few steps. No huge amount of knowledge is

needed to complete the task.

Also the following advantages have also been experienced by Indian railway passengers

due to implementation of IT in its reservation system which brought a lot of efficiency

and efficacy in the system.

5. Reservation form:

This form is used for the reservation of ticket. The main advantage of the form is that it

has the easiest of the user interface. This makes it user friendly and easy to use. It has

Passenger’s name, address, contact no, source and destination station name and codes.

6. Cancellation form :

This form consists of cancelation. the user interface is again easy. One just needs the

PNR number to cancel a ticket.

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7. Fare records:

This form is used for the fare between two stations with a specific class.

8. Train enquiry

Train enquiry is used for knowing available trains between two stations. We need to

provide source and destination names or codes and then we will be given the train names

between those two stations.

9. Reservation enquiry

  This form is used to know if there is any seat available in a train. Here we need to

provide date, train no, source and destination stations.

10. Seat details

This form is used to know about the seat later using our PNR no.

3.5 CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION:-

1. The main aim of developing Reservation system is to provide all information that is required by

the users.

2. User friendliness is a must that is the user must get the details without complicated searching

procedures. Other important requirements of software are data security, extensibility and

maintainability. All these features are included in this web application.

3. The user friendliness though customers are experiencing to certain extent but more needs to be

done on that aspect.

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4.0 PVR CINEMAS TICKET BOOKING SYSTEM THAT WORKED

REALLY BAD:-

4.1 Introduction of PVR Cinema:

PVR (Priya Village Roadshow)   Cinemas   is one of the largest cinema chains in   India . The

company, which began as a joint venture agreement between Priya Exhibitors Private Limited

and   Village Roadshow Limited , began its commercial operations in June 1997 with the launch of

PVR Anupam in Saket , India's first   multiplex . By introducing the multiplex concept in India,

PVR Cinemas brought in a whole new paradigm shift to the cinema viewing experience: high

class seating, state-of-the-art screens and audio-visual systems.

As of April 2010, PVR has a total of 136 screens in 31 multiplexes across India. PVR commands

a significant presence in   New Delhi   and   NCR   with 37 screens in 13 multiplexes. PVR also has a

strong presence in   Chennai ,   Lucknow ,   Indore ,   Hyderabad , and   Bangalore . It is expanding to

other parts of the country, especially in   Mumbai   with openings of PVR Juhu, where there are

many other established multiplex. After the tremendous success of Cinema Europa in Delhi,

PVR Cinemas has introduced the concept of luxury viewing to Bangalore as well. PVR also

currently operates India's largest multiplex, PVR Bangalore, which has 11 screens multiplex

which includes two ultra premium cinemas known as the Gold   Class and two luxurious

auditoriums called Cinema Europa.

PVR recently launched its premium brand, PVR Premiere, targeted at urban consumers in

metros, with the opening of PVR Select Citywalk in   Select Citywalk . The company operates two

other brands, PVR Talkies, the no-frills cinemas for consumers in tier II cities and the original

PVR Cinemas targeted at the urban & semi-urban consumers.

4.2 PVR CINEMA’S   ONLINE TICKET BOOKING SYSTEM

PVR cinema is a leading multiplex. People enjoy every movie in PVR Cinema. People can book

the ticket in two ways –

                                                                                        -       Manual Booking.

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                                                                                        -     Online Booking.

                                                                                     

MANUAL BOOKING -

  In manual booking people go in PVR cinema counter and pay ticket charge and get ticket for

any movie.

In PVR Cinema Indore there are three ticket counter and three persons for ticket booking.

Customer can book their ticket by giving cash on any of counter. After giving cash they receive

ticket by counter person. After that they can go to movie.

ONLINE TICKET BOOKING-

Customer can book their ticket by PVR cinema website   www.pvrcinema.com   and other website

like www.bookmyshow.com   etc.

With the introduction of online booking, which now constitutes 13% of PVRs ticket sales, and

more competition from other players, there was an increasing need to be more customers driven.

As the online ticketing system in Indian market is new to Indian customers therefore making it

more users’ friendly has been a requirement to capture market. Also with increasing use of

internet people are getting more and more prone to use of technology and impact of IT and

technology on entertainment was also prominent.

Therefore PVR cinemas as a part of its online marketing also collaborated with social

networking websites along with various global fast food chains.

  SOME FACT ABOUT ONLINE TICKET BOOKING SYSTEM-

•       Launched in India’s first multiplex PVR Anupam, Delhi

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•   Introduced THX approved three way surround sound system with real life sound effects and

projection facility with latest Xenon based technology

•   First to offer computerized and online ticketing with kiosks, mobile based ticketing service, and

first to accept credit card based ticketing

TICKET BOOKING PROCESS

Booking tickets online is really easy and simple. Fist customers go to PVR Cinema website as

shown picture-                                                          

  After process has been described step by step below:--

-Select the Location and Cinema

-Select the movie

-Select the Date and click the search button

-Once we are confirmed the timing, then select the number of seats you want to reserve

-We do our seat selection and click on OK button.

-Give our email address and mobile number

-Give our card details and you can pay by debit and credit card (Visa and Master card)

We will receive a confirmation after booking the ticket. We have to go to the ticket counter to

collect your tickets.

BY MOBILE:

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  For Booking Tickets of PVR Cinema on from any Mobile. Customers need to dial 505-787*

from any Mobile Phone.

CHARGE FOR TICKET:

  Customer   can book ticket very nominal amount of   Rs. 50   per ticket in morning from Monday

to Thursday & Rs. 70 from Friday to Saturday. Rs.80 as a convenience charge for all Cinemas

Except PVR Premiere Sites. At PVR Premiere PVR charge Rs. 20/- Per Ticket. You have to

collect your tickets from the booking counter prior to the show using your Transaction ID &

Credit Card used for same.                              

Customer   can pay by credit, debit, master and visa card.

4.3 PROBLEM IN ONLINE TICKETING:

The biggest problem that PVR   was facing was receiving a lot of complaints from people who

were   booking online a lot of times payment was deducted from their credit cards but the ticket

was not booked. So all this need to be checked manually at the backend, which was a difficult

task. Therefore the need for automation was felt to minimize this manual interface, and address

faster solutions to customer’s problems. The other things that pressed PVR to go further with

technology and continue to be a pioneer in the field of entertainment was the need to have

speedy reaction time to customer mails, increased advanced online bookings, and customer

feedback which was many a times hushed up at the cinema manager level.

  4.5 RECOMMENDATION AND CONCLUSION:-

As PVR also wants to check if there is a pattern in the customer feedback. Therefore they

have to implement something more into their CRM which is already live and IT so that

customers can have an pleasant experience while booking tickets online. All this and much

more prompted PVR to go live with its CRM program, last year in April. PVR zeroed in on

Microsoft application, while an IT team internally handled the project.

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Handling customer complaints is the sole requirement of the IT backed CRM program which

needs proper attention as of now as disappointed customers always exist and they makes

impact on the entrainment business much higher than anything else. As a result making

disappointed customers satisfied is more necessary as service marketing is all about providing

excellent services.

The company is also planning to make the bookings done at the box office automated, and

launch RFID, which increased its footfall.

PVR have planned a lot of things for online. Collaboration with social networking sites is on

the cards which would be a boon for its online marketing along with its own website.

The company has already launched its digital screens in Delhi and Mumbai, Recently PVR

opened a multiplex in Mumbai comprising seven mainstream digital auditoriums. The new

multiplex has 2k digital cinema, compliant with DCI technology, and advanced sound and

picture quality. In these times of recession, which has not spared the entertainment industry

either, technology is helping them in get an edge over other players .

     

5.0 REFERENCES:-

1. Kevin Lane Keller, D. R. (Aug 2004. Revised 2005, 2nd edition May 2005). Brands &

Branding. Marketing science institute research generation conference

2. Seema Agarwal, JIMS New Delhi, GGSIPU New Delhi, India Journal of Engineering,

Computers & Applied Sciences (JEC&AS) Volume 2, No.6, June 2013 Computerized

Passenger Reservation System for Indian Railways – Its Development and System

Architecture.

3. Retrieved from   http://www.moneycontrol.com/company-facts/pvr/history/PVR

4. Retrieved from www.pvrcinema.com