Tesco Loyalty card

Tesco Loyalty card

UNIVERSITY OF WALES, TRINITY SAINT DAVID

THIS DISSERTATION IS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTERS OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION IN MARKETINGDISSERTATION ONINVESTIGATING THE IMPACT OF CUSTOMER LOYLATY IN THE RETAIL SECTOR WITH RESPECT TO THE TESCO LOYALTY CARD

SUBMITTED BY- FARHEEN CHANDANWALASTUDENT ID- 1003004

Supervised by: Lipi BegumDepartment of Marketing

DECLARATION

STUDENT NUMBER-1003004

I Farheen hereby declare that the work Investigating the Impact of The customer loyalty in the Uk retail market is my own work and all the sources I have used in my work have been clearly acknowledged by means of the complete reference. This dissertation is submitted in the partial fulfilment of the Master of Business Administration at Trinity saints David.

FARHEEN CHANDENWALA09/11/2012

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The dissertation is one of the main work done by me during my Master of Business Administration. Without the support and the guidance of the following people it would not be a successful one. I owe them my deepest gratitude and I would be grateful to them. I would like to thank my supervisor Lipi Begum for her valuable feedback and the guidance during my dissertation. Her wisdom, knowledge and greater commitment motivated me during my dissertation period. Without her support and the guidance this work will not be a successful one. Iam also express my sincere thanks to the staffs of the college of Technology London for giving their full support during my dissertation stage. Finally and most importantly Iam grateful to my parents for showering their blessing upon me during my entire dissertation period.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1. CHAPTER ONE51.1 Introduction (Overview and Background)51.2 Background of the study61.3 Aims and Objectives81.4 Research objectives81.5 RESEARC OUTLINE9Chapter 2. Literature Review112.1 Loyalty112.2 Loyalty aspect category ( Retailers view)122.3 LOYALTY CONCEPTS (CUSTOMERS VIEW)132.4 Loyalty Frameworks152.5 REASONS FOR THE RAPID INCREASE IN POPULARITY OF CUSTOMER LOYALTY162.6 Building a CLP202.7 Tescos CLP-Mix21Chapter 3. CHAPTER THREE273.2 The Research Philosophy273.3 Position on Philosophy283.4 Research Approach283.5 Research Design293.6 Research Strategy303.6 Data Collection Techniques313.7 Sampling and Population313.8 Scope and Limitations333.9 Gaining Access and Research Ethics34Chapter 4.364.1 INTRODUCTION364.2 Analysis of the Questionnaires364.2 DISCUSSION OF THE FINDINGS464.3 Analysis of Focus group48Chapter 5. CHAPTER FIVE545.1 CONCLUSION545.3 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY56

ABSTRACTThe organisation strive to achieve an increased market share and in attracting the customers for their organisation has been losing its status as most organisation will enter in a competitive field. So for countering these changes the one of the way is to make the existing customers stay with the organisation and getting more benefits from them rather than attracting the customers newly. This has made this strategy as an effective one and the organisations have been using this more frequently these days As a retailer in the UK supermarket industry there will be a significant need to increase the loyalty of the brand. The customer loyalty schemes has not been so familiar during the time when the Tesco introduced the loyalty card but it has changed the concept as the customers are attracted towards the Tesco loyalty card. In the current business sector the Tesco loyalty card has been one of the few customer loyalty schemes that has been running so successful for its incorporation.th Tesco loyalty card has been a key ingredient behind the success of the tesco.The Tesco understood the behaviour of the customers and framed strategies based on it so that the customers will remain loyal with the Tesco. By understanding the needs of the customers and delivering service to meet their wants will create value in the customers mind and the Tesco will earn their life time loyalty. In this study the Tesco loyalty card has been analysed to know the customer perceptions and the data has been collected using multiple data collection tools.INTRODUCTION

1.1 Introduction (Overview and Background)Traditionally it has been seen that the marketing has been aimed at increasing the share in the market and in attracting the new customers other than the retaining the customers who are already the customers of the organisation(Kotler 2003).the organisation strive to achieve an increased market share and in attracting the customers for their organisation has been losing its status as most organisation will enter in a competitive field (Baker,2000).So for countering these changes the one of the way is to make the existing customers stay with the organisation and getting more benefits from them rather than attracting the customers newly. This has made this strategy as an effective one and the organisations have been using this more frequently these days (Sharp & Sharp, 1997). In the feb 1995 the Tesco stared a new era in the retail sector by the change of the business way of operations and it has been seen in the Tesco till now too. The change in the decision has changed the structure of the Tesco and the way it makes the decision, the way in treating the customers etc.This was due to the introduction of the Tesco loyalty card in the year 1995 as a part of their customer loyalty programmes. As a retailer in the UK supermarket industry there will be a significant need to increase the loyalty of the brand. The customer loyalty schemes has not been so familiar during the time when the Tesco introduced the loyalty card but it has changed the concept as the customers are attracted towards the Tesco loyalty card. In the current business sector the Tesco loyalty card has been one of the few customer loyalty schemes that has been running so successful fro its incorporation.th Tesco loathly card has been a key ingredient behind the success of the tesco.The Tesco understood the behaviour of the customers and framed strategies based on it so that the customers will remain loyal with the Tesco. By understanding the needs of the customers and delivering service to meet their wants will create value in the customers mind and the Tesco will earn their life time loyalty. Before the cub card introduction the Tesco was the second among the Uk retails sector and now the Tesco holds the major portion of the Uk retail market and it is one of the worlds fastest growing supermarket and it is also among the valuable Europes organisation list. The Tesco is one among of that organisation that uses effectively the CRM tool. In the UK the Tesco club card is an example of the best CLP and it has been used by almost all household and around the eighty percent of the Tesco turnover has been associated with the club card ( Humpy et al. , 2004). The success of the Tesco has been built around the Tesco loyalty card (Mason, 2003 cited in Humpy et al.)By the use of the club cards the Tesco used a personal approach to treat the customers effectively as an individual. The Tesco can be flexible to suit all kinds of the customers needs and can satisfy them. All organisations will state the importance of the customer centred but the Tesco has made this into practise.1.2 Background of the studyThe loyalty is one of the element that has been associated by the customers with the products and the services, sores and brands etc (Laurent, 1997) .The customer loyalty will depend upon the attachment that the customer holds with the brand or the product and the other dimension is the repeat patronage. The attachment dimension has been based on the two elements like the preference degree and the preference of the perceived product degree. The level of the attachment has been noted a high when customers enjoy a great purchase preference attached with the great product differentiation preference (Griffin 2005).The customer satisfaction and the loyalty has been linked each other and this relation has been considered as a symmetric relation where the customers are satisfied and all satisfied customers will not be loyal (Oliver 1999). Sometimes the customers will be satisfied and loyal and it does not mean that the customers will repeat the purchase with the brand. For an example in the case of the automobile industry suppose the 80 percent customers are satisfied but in this 80 percent only 40 or 50 will repeat the purchase from the same automobile. This shows that the satisfaction will not be so linked with the loyalty There are basically two aims for the loyalty programmes and the one important one is to generally increase the sales and the usage of the products or to increase the range of the products. The second is very much related with a defensive approach in which a bond will be created between the customers and the brand and so that the customers will be loyal and remain with the brand and the customers base can be increased. The one notable feature is that by the fulfilment of nay of these aims the profit can be increased a lot. The companies in todays economic scenarios are trying to increase the loyalty aspect to the employees. The loyal customers will remain with the product and will not avail the competitors products. The loyal customers will buy more from the organisation and they will ready to pay higher prices and will also act as a word of mouth for the organisation (Morgan et al.,2000).The profit management has also been very influential in the recent years and sometimes the customers will get only cheap profit from the organisation. One of the studies done by the Kumar (2002) showed that the customers ho loyal to the organisation will get only less profit when compared with the short term customer.The CLP will be designed to rewards the customers which are loyal with the organisation so that they will be retained effectively.\the main purpose of every CLP is to make the operations of the organisation more better(Stauss 2001).The organisations will formulate the loyalty programmes for increasing the loyalty aspect. The creation and the implementation of the CLP programme is not very simple as it requires careful analyses and the implementation. The CLP has been a resource intensive and so that the organisations have to take care while design the CLP programme. The organisation has to be aware of the time, the effort that has to be needed and the financial involvement too (Butsher,2001). The five main elements that can have an influence on the Tesco loyalty programmes are the following like the cash value, the choice of the redemptions, the rewards aspiration value, perceived rewards receiving and the ease of the adaptability.To deliver an effective CLP programme the managers have to choose the suitable CLP model and which can be divided into different models like the behaviour-based models, attitude-based models, hybrid models and relationship-based models (Morgan et al.,2000).The CLP of the Tesco belongs to the category of the integrative instruments (Stauss 2011) because of the ability to combine the different techniques of the existing techniques. Generally the product mix of the Tesco involves the Tesco services and its partners. The Tesco price mix will be related with the discounts and the advantage of the organisation by using the bonus programmes and the payment methods favourable to the customers. The communication will also be played in the interaction of the members and the exclusive communication has been done and will be accessible only with the members. The one notable aspect is that the Tesco listens what the members meant to stay instead of taking to them (Hansen, 2000). Or this aspect the Tesco has introduced the CLP magazines and the mailings conducted regularly and the member events (Butsher, 2001).1.3 Aims and ObjectivesThe main aim was to analyse the effectiveness of the loyalty as a strategy in the UK supermarket industry with respect to the Tesco club card. The purpose of the study was to understand the concept of the loyalty and the relationship on the customers and the loyalty schemes an important strategic decision. The objectives that has been used here are the following To analyse the concept of the loyalty and its relationship with the loyalty and the satisfaction of customers To evaluate the impact of the customer loyalty on the organisation profitability To analyse the role of loyalty in building effective relationship with the customers To review the Tesco loyalty scheme as a corporate strategy for the Tesco1.4 Research objectivesThe questions of the research needs o be answered and this is the starting point of a research. It will generally acts as the basics of the research and will guide the research during its journey. The research questions has been given below Do there is any relationship between the customer satisfaction and the loyalty? What is the impact of the customer loyalty on the organisation profitability What is the role of the loyalty in building effective relationship with the customers? Do the Tesco loyalty scheme is a corporate strategy for the Tesco?

1.5 RESEARC OUTLINEThe research outline can be discussed easily by using the bullet points and the explanation has been given below The introduction about the Tesco loyalty aspect has been discussed and the background also has been stated with the support of the intended research objectives and the questions. The literature was constructed across the loyalty aspect and the true meaning of the loyalty has been explored too. The loyalty has been studied by a lot of the researchers and it is an elusive phenomenon As all research the chapter three deals with all the methods and the approaches that incorporated in the study y the researcher. The methodology acts a as a foundation of the research for the data gathering. The research tools and the methods have been evaluated and the one selected has been discussed in detail

LITERATURE REVIEWLiterature ReviewINTRODUCTIONThe main aim of this study was to analyse the loyalty concept and to know the impact of the loyalty on the customers. The literature was constructed across the loyalty aspect and the true meaning of the loyalty has been explored too. The loyalty has been studied by a lot of the researchers and it is an elusive phenomenon. There was another aspect to be noted that sometimes the researchers uses the loyalty for some other aspects like the repurchase behaviour and in the retention aspect. The research articles and the journals has been discussed to structure around the loyalty aspect.2.1 Loyalty Loylaty has been defined as the being faithful or the steadfast in allegiance(Oxford (2003, pg 327).According to Payne 2002 the loyalty has been discussed by most of the researchers and it has been misunderstood by a lot of them in the recent past. There was another aspect to be noted that sometimes the researchers uses the loyalty for some other aspects like the repurchase behaviour and in the retention aspect. The customer loyalty has been entirely different from that of the customers repurchase behaviour as the loyalty is one of the internal factor that can make the customers loyal (Hansen,2000) .The customer retention is also one of the different construct and it is purely based on the behavioural character while the loyalty construct has been dealing with the attitudinal dimensions. The customer retention will involves the marketers and the role while the customer loyalty will be more focused on the behaviour of the customers (Hansen,2000) . The loyalty is one of the element that has been associated by the customers with the products and the services, sores and brands etc (Laurent, 1997) .The customer loyalty will depend upon the attachment that the customer holds with the brand or the product and the other dimension is the repeat patronage. The attachment dimension has been based on the two elements like the preference degree and the preference of the perceived product degree. The level of the attachment has been noted a high when customers enjoy a great purchase preference attached with the great product differentiation preference (Griffin 2005).2.2 Loyalty aspect category ( Retailers view)

In the retailer view of the loyalty aspect the Bergeron (2000) has defined the loyalty across the following aspects in the case of the transactional loyalty. The behaviour of the customers will be altered or can be altered and the reasons for the alteration are generally unclear. The change can be due to the any of the following mentioned factors. In the case of the supermarket it has been seen that the main purpose will be the transactional loyalty. In the Tesco the transactional loyalty can be encouraged by using the emotional aspects. So the retail sector will deal basically deal with this type of the loyalty. The other loyalty has been the perceptual loyalty in which the key elements are the opinions and the perceptions of the customers but its effect on the purchasing has been unclear. But this type of loyalty has gained importance sometimes as this type of the loyalty can predict the behaviour of the customers. The complex loyalty has been the combination of the transactional and the perceptual loyalty.

2.3 LOYALTY CONCEPTS (CUSTOMERS VIEW)

Adapted from Uncles et al., 2002

Uncle (2002) has put forward three loyalty concepts on the basis of the customers view point and the three aspects are the aspects that can create brand relationship (model 1), the loyalty associated with the revealed behaviour(model 2),and the buying decision associated with the individual characteristics(Model 3).This model of the uncle has been associated with the one of the purpose of this research as the loyalty meaning in the attitudinal and the behavioural aspect can be analysed. It has been seen that the loyalty definition has been done either on the behavioural aspects or the attitudinal aspects. It has been named as the stochastic and the deterministic approach respectively. But the main suggestion was that the loyalty has to be understood in both the aspects and the main argument will be there when the measurement comes (Rundle-Thiele, 2001).So it will be noted that the arguments is still be going on which has been started 30 years above by Kyner (Rundle-Thiele, 2001).The researcher who favour the stochastic approach will argue that that the customers will be loyal when the customers purchases the brand repeatedly. The loyalty like other aspect cant be measured. Related to the customer loyalty the factors that can be measured is the behaviour of the customers (Stone, 1997) .the customer loyalty has been analysed with the help of the past purchases with secondary consideration has been given to the motivations of the customers and the commitment (Ehrenberg 1988; Fader and Hardie 1996; Kahn, Kalwani and Morrison 1988; Massy, Montgomery and Morrison 1970). In the stochastic approach the customers buying observed patterns has been decribed.The loyalty of the rand can be measure with respect to the repeated purchase and this can lead to weak commitment.The customer repeated purchase cannot be related with the loyalty only as there are a lot of factors that can lead to the repeat purchase of the customers. Sometimes the convenience and the price and other aspect can lead the customers decision to purchase agin.if the customers found the brand unavailable then the customers will choose the product that similar to that product ( East 1997; Ehrenberg, Barnard and Scriven 1997). The one big challenge in the approach is that the researchers consider the loyalty behaviour as a complex phenomenon due to the presence of a number of variables and the process of the loyalty is very dichotomous (Odin,2001).it has been another factor that only some customers will be hundred percent loyal to only one brand and generally the customers will be loyal to three or four brands belong to the same category and this loyalty has been seen as polygamous loyalty (O Malley, 1998) .in the case of the determinist approach the loyalty will be regarded as an attitude and there will only a few factors influence them. Customer satisfaction: the customer satisfaction and the loyalty has been linked each other and this relation has been considered as a symmetric relation where the customers are satisfied and all satisfied customers will not be loyal(Oliver 1999). Sometimes the customers will be satisfied and loyal and it does not mean that the customers will repeat the purchase with the brand. For an example in the case of the automobile industry suppose the 80 percent customers are satisfied but in this 80 percent only 40 or 50 will repeat the purchase from the same automobile. This shows that the satisfaction will not be so linked with the loyalty Commitment and Trust: the commitment and the trust also can affect the loyalty and these two aspects are not so linked together as they underlines the success of the marketing(Morgan 1994).the trust shows that the customers believes in the brand and will purchase the product and the risk involved is very less. The commitment refers to the physiological attachment of the customers with the brand.2.4 Loyalty FrameworksThe loyalty has been associated with a lot of frameworks and the loyalty frameworks has been proposed by Beckman and Crompton (1994) and it has been demonstrated by the following diagram. Adapted from O Malley 1998, pg 47-55

Loyalty has been one of the elusive concepts that have a presence on the marketing field and it has been discussed by a lot of researchers in the past. The loyalty cannot be measured and it cannot be blue printed. The loyalty cannot be manufactured and it can be constructed only for the customers. It is a force which leaps into being only when conditions are exactly right for it, and it is a force very sensitive to betrayal. (Maurice R. Franks, 2004,page 10).it has been seen that without any great brand or the product the organisations can survive but they cant be survive without nay customers who are loyal.2.5 REASONS FOR THE RAPID INCREASE IN POPULARITY OF CUSTOMER LOYALTY

A critical evaluationGronroos (19994b, p9) described the objectives of relationship marketing as being to identify and establish, maintain and enhance and, when necessary terminate relationships with customers and other stakeholders, at a profit so that the objective of all parties involved are met, and this is done by a mutual exchange and fulfilment of promises. According to Payne(2002) the loyalty will deal with strategic approach by which the shareholder value can be improved by developing effective relationships between the customers who are very key for the organisations. This will be done through the focusing on the physiological relationship and this can be done by analysing the customers behaviour (Brown 2000; Pearson 1996). The researchers has argued the fact that the loyalty whether its attitudinal or the behavioural will be passive in nature. In the case of the individual customers the loyalty will be done to increase the value of one brand and reduce the sensitivity of the price and to increase the popularity and to avoid the customers from using the other brands and by this a large number of the customers can be attract ted towards the organisation ( Bolton et al., 2000). There are basically two aims for the loyalty programmes and the one important one is to generally increase the sales and the usage of the products or to increase the range of the products. The second is very much related with a defensive approach in which a bond will be created between the customers and the brand and so that the customers will be loyal and remain with the brand and the customers base can be increased. The one notable feature is that by the fulfilment of nay of these aims the profit can be increased a lot. The companies in todays economic scenarios are trying to increase the loyalty aspect to the employees. The organisations are trying to give some kind of personal service to the customers by which there will be increased loyalty and this has been focused by the organisations like the Tesco (Seybold, 2001).by the loyalty the organisation can increase the purchases and can also increase the employee trust and will also help in the promotion of the product (McAlexander,2002).in the loyalty schemes the research will involve taking the individual customers and find way to increase the loyalty. The most of the research has been focusing on the loyalty scheme and is exploring the ways to make the business transformation more effectively and to play a role in the business decisions of the organisation. The loyalty has been more significant because if the company lose one customers then they are losing not only some sale but a lot of potential purchases. The customers life rime purchases will be loosed by the organisation and the lifetime patronage will not be there (Kotler and Armstrong, 2001).If the customers lose one of the customers then it will influence the organisation effectively. The retention of the customers is more effective than the attraction of the new customers (Oliver, 1999).The loyal customers will remain with the product and will not avail the competitors products. The loyal customers will buy more from the organisation and they will ready to pay higher prices and will also act as a word of mouth for the organisation (Morgan et al.,2000).The profit management has also been very influential in the recent years and sometimes the customers will get only cheap profit from the organisation. One of the studies done by the Kumar (2002) showed that the customers ho loyal to the organisation will get only less profit when compared with the short term customer.2.5 Customer-Loyalty-ProgrammesThe customer loyalty programmes has been structured to increase the loyalty of the organisation and it has been seen from t he past research that the loyalty programmes can be traced back from the 18th century (Sparks,1999).The one of the notable feature of the loyalty programmes of the modern business is the ease of the programmes and the sue of the technology in the customer loyalty programmes. But the intention of the customer loyalty programme will be the same as that of the building the relationship with the customers and the organisations that the frequent customers will be loyal with the organisation. The CLP will be designed to rewards the customers which are loyal with the organisation so that they will be retained effectively.\the main purpose of every CLP is to make the operations of the organisation more better(Stauss 2001).the organisations will consider the profitability only as a secondary goal and this can be achieved only when the customers will get strong customer base and for this strong customer base the loyalty has to be increased(Butscher 2001).The loyalty cards can be used as a technique for increasing the loyalty and this has been considered as a new modern CLP strategy. This card can be used by the customers ate the organisations and this will help in the customer identification and the behaviour of the customers can be easily understood. By recording the purchase details of the customers in the loyalty cards the behaviour pattern can be easily understood and this helped in the creation of the better CLP.The some of the variety of the loyalty cards that has been used by the retailers arePayment cards: the payment cards is one of the loyalty cards that has been used and this will help in the payment of the customers to the retailers and it si also termed as the store cardsReward cards: the reward cards is another form and as the name indicates will help to reward the customers based on the purchase behaviour and it will also termed as the bonus cards and the Tesco club card will belong to the reward card category.Combined cards: As the name indicates the combined card deal with the mix of the payment and the reward card.The card strategies that available in the CLP are explained below( Cuthbertson and Williams 1999) Pure Strategy: The pure strategy is the one of the strategies among the four CLP strategies. In this pure strategy the benefits and the spending can be done only in one retailer who issued the loyalty card. This strategy is done to increase the bond between the customers and the organisation and this will help in the retailer understanding the needs and wants of the customers. The pure strategy is basically functions as a two way dialogue where the retailer understand the needs and fulfils it with the help of the loyalty cards (Rayner, 1998).the pure strategy is followed by the Tesco as well and the one main objective was o develop the relationship between the customer and the brands by understanding their needs.Push Strategy: The push strategy is one of the other strategies where by the customers can spend at a lot of the retailers while the benefits will be associated with the retailer who issues the card. This is one strategy that will motivate the customers to use a shopping style that they dont done before by making the customers to depend on the new channels and this will help in the new behaviour pattern. The one of the example of the push strategy has been done by the cheap airlines and it will be more suited for the retailers into the noncore businesses. In the case of the pure strategy the loyalty has been done among the exisisting customers while new customers will be attracted with the help of the push strategy(Rayner ,1998)Pull Strategy: In the pull strategy the customers can spend at the retailer which issues the card and the benefits can be collected outside the retailer. This strategy will help in the attraction of the customers by means of a retail offer so that the purchase on one of the product will give an offer on another product.tis has been referred in the business views as the buy one get one free aspect. This will be focused on increasing the sales by making the customers to buy a new thing (Sharp,1997). Purchase Strategy:In the purchase strategy the spending and the benefits that has been accured can be done across a lot of the retailers. The purchase strategy will try to increase the purchases of the product regardless of the place where the sales occurs. The best suited business will be the banking business and the service providers. For increasing the usage the strategies will depend on the greater availability and the awareness of the brand etc.This card will act as the payment cards in the first instance and then as a reward card( Reichheld , 2000)Purge Strategy: The purge strategy involves the avoidance of the loyalty cards and the strategy will target the customers belong to other schemes and will try to increase the benefits and the market share. The one of the main aim will be to increase the retailer competitiveness other than the measures associated with the loyalty cards.The information that has been derived from the members of the CLP are very important as they have made themselves very clear by associating them with the loyalty card schemes (Butscher (2001) 2.6 Building a CLPThe organisations will formulate the loyalty programmes for increasing the loyalty aspect. The creation and the implementation of the CLP programme is not very simple as it requires careful analyses and the implementation. The CLP has been a resource intensive and so that the organisations have to take care while design the CLP programme. The organisation has to be aware of the time, the effort that has to be needed and the financial involvement too (Butsher,2001). The organisation that create the CLP programme has to analyse the customers value because of the fact that the loyalty has been associated with the customer values and then the organisations have to develop a CLP programme than can increase the value in the mind of the customers (Morgan et al, 2000). When the customers have increased the perceived value of the organisation product then the loyalty will also be good (Bryan, 2002). A value proposition is the full positioning of a brand , the full mix of benefits upon which it is positioned and the answer to the customers question Why should I buy your brand?(Kotler & Armstrong,2001,P 120).To make the customer loyalty programmes viable it has to be take care that the loyalty programmes of the organisations will be distinct and it will be difficult to make a copy and it has to be differentiated from that of the competitors (Morgan,2001).the benefit has been of two types like the soft(magazines, events etc) and the hard(Discounts and offers etc) and the combination of these two has been done by the some retailers. Tesco knows the significance of the savings and the hard benefits has been copied easily and the Tesco consider the soft benefits for their loyalty programmes as they cant be copied by the others due to the intangibility.

The five main elements that can have an influence on the Tesco loyalty programmes are the following like the cash value, the choice of the redemptions, the rewards aspiration value, perceived rewards receiving and the ease of the adaptability.To deliver an effective CLP programme the managers have to choose the suitable CLP model and which can be divided into different models like the behaviour-based models, attitude-based models, hybrid models and relationship-based models (Morgan et al.,2000).In general most of the organisation CLP will of the behaviour model and it will focused to get the results like the repeated patronage and want immediate response to the organisation strategy. But this has been not seen convenient and suitable like the long term relationship marketing aspect and so that is the reason why the behavioural model has been criticised a lot by the lot of the researchers. The behavioural model will be like dressed up model and there will not ebb any involvement of the relationship between the initiatives (Tynan,2000).According to Dowling and Uncles (1997), behavioural based models might well stimulate sales for the duration of the promotion but do not have any long-term behavioural after-effects.2.7 Tescos CLP-MixThe one of the notable feature of the loyalty programmes of the modern business is the ease of the programmes and the sue of the technology in the customer loyalty programmes. But the intention of the customer loyalty programme will be the same as that of the building the relationship with the customers and the organisations that the frequent customers will be loyal with the organisation. The CLP will be designed to rewards the customers which are loyal with the organisation so that they will be retained effectively.\the main purpose of every CLP is to make the operations of the organisation more better(Stauss 2001).the organisations will consider the profitability only as a secondary goal and this can be achieved only when the customers will get strong customer base and for this strong customer base the loyalty has to be increased(Butscher 2001).The loyalty cards can be used as a technique for increasing the loyalty and this has been considered as a new modern CLP strategy.The CLP of the Tesco belongs to the category of the integrative instruments (Stauss 2011) because of the ability to combine the different techniques of the existing techniques. Generally the product mix of the Tesco involves the Tesco services and its partners. The Tesco price mix will be related with the discounts and the advantage of the organisation by using the bonus programmes and the payment methods favourable to the customers. The communication will also be played in the interaction of the members and the exclusive communication has been done and will be accessible only with the members. The one notable aspect is that the Tesco listens what the members meant to stay instead of taking to them (Hansen, 2000). Or this aspect the Tesco has introduced the CLP magazines and the mailings conducted regularly and the member events (Butsher, 2001).The organisation strive to achieve an increased market share and in attracting the customers for their organisation has been losing its status as most organisation will enter in a competitive field (Baker,2000).So for countering these changes the one of the way is to make the existing customers stay with the organisation and getting more benefits from them rather than attracting the customers newly. This has made this strategy as an effective one and the organisations have been using this more frequently these days (Sharp & Sharp, 1997). In the feb 1995 the Tesco stared a new era in the retail sector by the change of the business way of operations and it has been seen in the Tesco till now too. The change in the decision has changed the structure of the Tesco and the way it makes the decision, the way in treating the customers etc.This was due to the introduction of the Tesco loyalty card in the year 1995 as a part of their customer loyalty programmes. As a retailer in the UK supermarket industry there will be a significant need to increase the loyalty of the brand. The customer loyalty schemes has not been so familiar during the time when the Tesco introduced the loyalty card but it has changed the concept as the customers are attracted towards the Tesco loyalty card. In the current business sector the Tesco loyalty card has been one of the few customer loyalty schemes that has been running so successful fro its incorporation.th Tesco loathly card has been a key ingredient behind the success of the tesco.The Tesco understood the behaviour of the customers and framed strategies based on it so that the customers will remain loyal with the Tesco. By understanding the needs of the customers and delivering service to meet their wants will create value in the customers mind and the Tesco will earn their life time loyalty. Before the cub card introduction the Tesco was the second among the Uk retails sector and now the Tesco holds the major portion of the Uk retail market and it is one of the worlds fastest growing supermarket and it is also among the valuable Europes organisation list. The Tesco is one among of that organisation that uses effectively the CRM tool. In the UK the Tesco club card is an example of the best CLP and it has been used by almost all household and around the eighty percent of the Tesco turnover has been associated with the club card ( Humpy et al. , 2004). The success of the Tesco has been built around the Tesco loyalty card (Mason, 2003 cited in Humpy et al.)By the use of the club cards the Tesco used a personal approach to treat the customers effectively as an individual. The Tesco can be flexible to suit all kinds of the customers needs and can satisfy them. All organisations will state the importance of the customer centred but the Tesco has made this into practise.2.8 Loyalty as strategyThere are basically two aims for the loyalty programmes and the one important one is to generally increase the sales and the usage of the products or to increase the range of the products. The second is very much related with a defensive approach in which a bond will be created between the customers and the brand and so that the customers will be loyal and remain with the brand and the customers base can be increased. The one notable feature is that by the fulfilment of nay of these aims the profit can be increased a lot. The companies in todays economic scenarios are trying to increase the loyalty aspect to the employees. The organisations re trying to give some kind of personal service to the customers by which there will be increased loyalty and this has been focused by the organisations like the Tesco (Seybold, 2001).by the loyalty the organisation can increase the purchases and can also increase the employee trust and will also help in the promotion of the product (McAlexander,2002).in the loyalty schemes the research will involve taking the individual customers and find way to increase the loyalty. The most of the research has been focusing on the loyalty scheme and is exploring the ways to make the business transformation more effectively and to play a role in the business decisions of the organisation. The loyalty has been more significant because if the company lose one customers then they are losing not only some sale but a lot of potential purchases. The customers life rime purchases will be loosed by the organisation and the lifetime patronage will not be there. The loyaty schemes and the schemes as a strategy has been done in this study as well. The most general aspects is that the CLP doe not exist in vacuum but it is the element of the organisations overall strategy In order to realize the purpose of the research, its important to assess loyalty schemes as a part of a strategy rather than a stand-alone entity (OMalley , 2000).The Tesco has identified the importance of the loyalty cards and having been using it as one of the main strategies (Morgan et al,2000).The design of the CLP will mainly based on the nature of the business and the Tesco position in the market and the purpose and the goal of the Tesco (Fournier et al, 2001). The Tesco CLM will be a long term strategy and will not involve the current relationship of the customers with the Tesco and it will be focusing on the strategic direction of the tesco.The organisation will be success when the organisation has been aligned closely with the organisation ( Sawhney, 2001).Tescos concept of Relationship Management begins and ends with the customer. The strategies has been effectively used for analysing the customers needs and the way to meet the needs and this can be termed as Ideal customer service(Fournier 2003).The characteristics for an ideal customer experience has been designed by the Fournier so that the better service has been provided with the customers. If the customer need has been analysed and fulfilled by the organisation in a better way then it can cause for the repurchase behaviour. This relationship will start by analysing the needs of the customers and ends in satisfying the needs, the ultimate reward can be in the form of the increased loyalty.

2.8 Customer Loyalty Measures The Customer Loyalty Measures are formed in order to make the people who are within the company to understand and dictate upon the strategic directions that are made by the organisation itself. These would be helping the company with evaluating the level of performance by the current customer base of the company and this would be driving the customer strategy in overall into future directions. When we consider the Loyalty measures by TESCO it consists of the following elements. The mean profit on each customer by tenure Customer base size by Tenure The customer bases life time value by tenure The customer bases potential value by tenureThere is a brief discussion on the Loyalty measures are being done but there does not involve a deep analysis done on the econometrics of the club card by TESCO.

Rank the Customer Base by Value There exists a key output for determining the Customer Loyalty Measures and this process is done in order to rank the customer base in terms of value. This is a very crucial aspect and this would be the driving force that would be helping the company in decision making on the allocation of the resource. Previously the Loyalty Scheme by the Tesco was one size fits all and the company was later analysed and understood the vitality to perform something more which would be more profitable for Premium Loyal customers. The company started to understand the pivotal concept that involved in determination of the value of the customers and they understood that certain customers are important to them than some others.Customer Strategies There are customer strategies that are adopted by Tesco in order to retain the High Valued customers, to grow the High Growth customers, to acquire either High value or High Grow customers and also for the determining of the customers with negative value whom they can change into profitable customers. Every single step would be outlining the needs of the Tesco for retaining, growth and acquiring or terminating certain customers. These are done through the process of customer experience.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

3.1 IntroductionAs all research the chapter three deals with all the methods and the approaches that incorporated in the study y the sresearher.the mthsodolohy acts a as a foundation of the research for the data gathering. The research tools and the methods have been evaluated and the one selected has been discussed in detail. The chapter also continues to discuss the validity and the reliability and ends with stating the ethics of the study.3.2 The Research PhilosophyThe philosophy will be vital as it deals with the position of the researcher from he starts the research. The most reseahera argued that the philopshy is not important but it will have an impact on the entire study if not given enough attention (Saunders et al., 2007). The general two philosophies available for this study has been discussed belowPositivismThe positivism will be more common in the research which deals with the scientific topics. The more common use of the positivism in the scientific research is due to help he researcher in the collecting statistical information which will be free from the bias. The positivism will be free from the bias and generally used in study which involves the testing of a theory. The another common reason for the sue of the positivism is due to the fact that the generalisability will be there in the research. The positivism does not involves any attachment with the participants invited in the study and will be free from the emotional attachment. The main assumption of positivism is that the researcher is independent of and neither affects nor is affected by the subject of the research (Remenyi et al, 1998 p.33 cited in Saunders et al, 2009, p.114). InterpretivismThe another common form is the interpretisvism.The most common use of the interpretivism in the research will be suited in the management researches. The qualitative data will be collected from the participants of the study with the use of the interpretisvim.The participants emotions and the feeling can be analysed more effectively. In the interpretivism the research will be more done on the subjects and it will be subjective in its nature. The rich and the in depth gathering of the data will be possible Any using the interpretivism (Saunders et al., 2007; Greener, 2008).The one notable feature is that threw will be bias in the interpretivism studies and it will affect the reliability. 3.3 Position on PhilosophyThe use of the interpretivism has been used by the researcher in this study. The research questions nature and the data that needed to be collected demands the use of the interpretivism rather than the positivism. The qualitative data will be collected from the participants of the study with the use of the interpretivism and in this study the customers perceptions has to be colleteced.The participants emotions and the feeling can be analysed more effectively. In the interpretivism the research will be more done on the subjects and it will be subjective in its nature. The rich and the in-depth gathering of the data will be possible by using the interpretivism and this study needs the deep exploration of the topic.3.4 Research ApproachThe one of the other step in the methodology is the approach of the study. The purpose of the approach is to understand when there is any theory to be tested or development of the theory. The choose f the approach will also depend on the prior knowledge about the topic of the research. The general tow research approaches has been discussed belowDeductionThe deductive approach will be used in the testing of a theory as the theory ill be deducted on the basis of the literature. The deductive sues the primary form of the research to test the hypothesis and the common use of the deductive is done in positivism. The main reason for this is the fact that it can give standardised generalisations (Saunders et al., 2009).The deduction has been also been used in the management research as well and the deductive from will help in the exploration of the data more of the quantitative type. The deductive from will involves the data that are more of the numerical nature.

InductionThe other form available is the inductive and in this the development of the theory has been done. The study does not contain any hypothesis and the primary data has been used in the theory formulation at the end. The inductive from will help in the collection of the qualitative data and the interpretivism studies will suit the inductive form. Compared to the deductive method the inductive is very flexible and helps in analysing the emotional feelings and the attachment (Saunders et al., 2007). The findings will not be so generalisable and there is a chance of the bias too.Combined ApproachThe another approach is the combined approach and this will be suited in some from of the research only. The name refers to the combination of two forms like the inductive and the deductive forms. The combined approach will be selected in the studies where the researcher experiences doubts in the choosing of the research approaches as sometimes pure inductive or deductive can be selected (Saunders et al., 2007).the triangulation of the results will also be there by using the combined approach.ths research needs the qualitative and te quantitative data and so the deductive and the inductive from sis needed in this study. This shows that the combined approach will be more suitable.3.5 Research DesignThe research design deals with which type of the study has to be done and the main three designs are the exploratory, explanatory and the descriptive forms. The research in which there is no vast knowledge about the topic is available then the design suited will be the exploratory. The research which is relatively unexplored will seek the help of the exploratory study (Saunders et al., 2009).the explanatory design deals with exploring why a phenomenon is occurring and what is the reason and so on. The variables in the study and the relationship will be collected by using the explanatory design.th descriptive from will give descriptions of research and it is not so adopted in the management research. By the descriptive the analysis cant be done as it only gives the description (Saunders et al., 2009; Tharenou et al., 2007).here the exploratory will be used in the Tesco loyalty cars scheme and the analysis of the customer perceptions.3.6 Research StrategyThe strategy that can be adopted fro a research will depend on the questions of the study and purpose of the study. The strategy will guide the researcher to get valid answers to the questions. so it will be very vital to select the best strategy that suits the research. The some form of the strategy has been discussed belowGrounded TheoryThe inductive form of the study will choose the grounded theory most as sit has been more embed to the inductive form and will be adopted in the interpretivism studies as well. The grounded theory will help in the development of the theory from the primary data collected at the time when they doing the research. The grounded theory is well suited when the literature concerned to the study been very little. In this study the literature concerned to the loyalty has been very ample and so grounded has not been adopted (Saunders et al., 2009).EthnographyThe ethnography is also suited in the inductive forms of the research. The ethnography involves the interpretation of the social world as the actors may interpret it(Fisher 2010).The deep understanding and the rich data can be gained through the ethnography strategy. The ethnography is a very time consuming strategy and will involves a lot of time. In ethnographic strategy the researcher has o involve deeply in the research. The ethnography has not been adopted as the researcher has no time to deeply involve in the study (Saunders et al., 2007; Saunders et al., 2009; Fisher, 2010).Case StudyThe use of the case study has been done in this study. The main aspect of the selection of the case study was that this study was only done on the Tesco and so the deep understanding about the Tesco loyalty can be done through the case study. The one main advantage of the case study is that it can be adopted for the inductive and the deductive form. In this research the combined from has been selected and the case study will be suitable. The case study involves the real life exploration and helps in the collection of the in-depth data regarding the phenomenon. The case study will be suitable for the exploratory or the explanatory and this study the case study will be suited for the exploratory nature. The one aspect of disadvantage associated with the case study is that when the case is not s rich it cant provide the conclusive results to the research. The most important aspect is that the multiple case can be used and it so the validity an the reliability of the research will be increased. Due to the limited time period in this research only a single case has been used. The use of the case study helps to use two or more data techniques and this can increase the data validity. The general forms of the techniques that has been used in the case study are the interviews,questioannires and the focus group (Saunders et al., 2009). The use of the multiple collection tools will help in the data triangulation. The use of the different data collection techniques will help to validate the results obtained. The case study in this context will, help in the collection of the in depth information regarding to the tesco customer loyalty.3.6 Data Collection TechniquesIn a research the researcher has to collect the data for arriving at the valid findings. The primary information will be collected in this research from the population of the study. The secondary data that used in the study will be for the section of the literature. The primary authentic data has been collected with the adoption of the questionnaires and the focus group. The researcher cant gather data from all the population as it difficult to get the access. The primary data was collected from the London are as it is easy to access the population. In the London the researcher will use the sampling to select the samples from the population under study.3.7 Sampling and PopulationDue to the time limit and difficult in the access to the entire population the sampling has been used here in this research. In the sampling method the non probability is the adopted one ude to the nature of the samples. The main reason is due to the fact that the samples are not representative. The non probability will be used in the qualitative exploration about the research wee the use of the representative sample is not needed. The convenience sampling also been selected to choose the samples. The sample size of the study was 60 customers of the Tesco in the London area.Qualitative DataAs stated above the convenience as been used for the selection of the samples in the collection of the qualitative data. Convenience sampling involves selecting haphazardly those cases that are easiest to obtain for your sample (Saunders et al., 2009, p.241).in this study there will be chance of the bias as the samples has been chosen on the basis of the researcher convenience. The samples were selected by the researcher son his convenience and so the study will be biased to an extent (Saunders et al., 2009). But the researcher as given care and attention in selecting the sample and the researcher randomly selected the sample and this will decrease the bias involved. In the collection of the qualitative data one of the notable feature is that the samples have to be regular Tesco customers and have to poses the knowledge regarding the Tesco clubacrd.the qualitative interviews were done on the front line staffs and the store managers. The focus group discussion has been done on the customers of the Tesco.Quantitative dataIn the case of the qualitative data the researcher can easily collect the data if the method used was the probability sampling but it has not been selected due to the fact that the samples cant be accessed. In the case of the quantitative data the respondents were the Tesco customers and the sample size in the quantitative data were the 70 customers of the Tesco. The research invited the seventy samples for participating in the study. But it was seen that among the 70 samples only 60 has been replied to the questioannires.The main use of the quantitative data is due to triangulate the results of the interviews and the focus group.Focus Group InterviewsAs the research is of the exploratory nature and more deep understanding of the topic is needed (Fisher, 2010). For the deep understanding of the topic the tools that can be used are the focus group and the interviews. The semis structured interviews were used for the collection of the qualitative data from the in store manager and the front staffs of the tesco.The focus group also has been used for the collection of the qualitative data from customers of the Tesco regarding the loyalty cards. The focus group has been done in tow section in which each group of the focus group contains 5 members. The interviews were done among the five inshore managers and five front line staffs.QuestionnairesThe quantitative data that use in the data collection were gathered using the questionnaires. The large chunk of the data can be collected more economically by using the questionnaires. The question used in the questionnaires was basically based on the literature framework and the objectives of the study. The questionnaires have been put in the survey website and the link has been forwarded to the customers and they can fill the responses at any time they want. The main merit of the online questionnaire is that it will generally increase the rate of the response (Saunders et al., 2009; Kothari, 2004; Lancaster, 2005). Additionally, questionnaires bases on the internet are more convenient for both the researcher as well as the respondents. The questionnaires were basically used to triangulate the results of the interviews and the focus groups. In this study also it has been used for the same purpose. The likert scale was the method used in the framing of the questions in the questionnaire so that the respondents can easily fill out the responses with ease. In the online questionnaires only 60 questionnaires has been replied and 10 customers does not filled out the questionnaire.3.8 Scope and LimitationsThis study explores the customers perceptions towards the loyalty with respect to the loyalty cards of the tesco.This study will be mainly try to explore the customers perceptions of the Tesco loyalty scheme and whether it provided any advantage to the organisations from the competitors. While doing the study so many limitations has been felt by the researcher. This research will help in the exploration of the loyalty importance in the retail sector.The major limitation that has been let by the researcher is with regard to the time factor and for doing a research on this topic ample amount of time is needed. The study has been based on the Tesco and the findings will be applicable to the Tesco only. The size o the samples for this study are very small due to this aspect. The customers perceptions towards the loyalty can change from place to place but this research has been done on the London are and this can affect the study findings.3.9 Gaining Access and Research EthicsThe research ethics has been one major aspect that has to be taken care of in a research. The students will fail to follow the research ethics in most of the research. The most of the problems has been associated with the primary sample access. The access to the customers of the Tesco has been gathered prior to the data collection and the proper code of conduct has been followed in the research. The researcher has promised the respondents about the anonymity and the confidentiality of the information that has to be collected in the research. The proper freedom has been given to the customers to withdraw anytime they wish. The personal details are kept secret as well.ConclusionAs all research the chapter three deals with all the methods and the approaches that incorporated in the study by the researher.the mthsodolohy acts a as a foundation of the research for the data gathering. The research tools dn the methods has been evaluated and the one selected has been discussed in detail. The chapter also continues to discuss the validity and the reliability and ends with stating the ethics of the study. The selected strategy for this research was the case study and the population of the study were the Tesco customers. The samples were selected from the London area and the convenient sampling was used to selct the sample. The questioannires, interviews and the focus group has been used for the gathering of the data.

DATA ANALYSISDATA ANALYSISINTRODUCTIONIn the case of the quantitative data the respondents were the Tesco customers and the sample size in the quantitative data were the 70 customers of the Tesco. The research invited the seventy samples for participating in the study. But it was seen that among the 70 samples only 60 has been replied to the questioannires.The main use of the quantitative data is due to triangulate the results of the interviews and the focus group. For the deep understanding of the topic the tools that can be used are the focus group and the interviews. The semis structured interviews were used for the collection of the qualitative data from the in store manager and the front staffs of the tesco.The focus group also has been used for the collection of the qualitative data from customers of the Tesco regarding the loyalty cards. The focus group has been done in tow section in which each group of the focus group contains 5 members. The interviews were done among the five inshore managers and five front line staffs.4.2 Analysis of the QuestionnairesThe quantitative data that use in the data collection were gathered using the questionnaires. The large chunk of the data can be collected more economically by using the questionnaires. The question used in the questionnaires was basically based on the literature framework and the objectives of the study. The questionnaires have been put in the survey website and the link has been forwarded to the customers and they can fill the responses at any time they want. The main merit of the online questionnaire is that it will generally increase the rate of the response (Saunders et al., 2009; Kothari, 2004; Lancaster, 2005). Additionally, questionnaires bases on the internet are more convenient for both the researcher as well as the respondents. The questionnaires were basically used to triangulate the results of the interviews and the focus groups. In this study also it has been used for the same purpose. The likert scale was the method used in the framing of the questions in the questionnaire so that the respondents can easily fill out the responses with ease. In the online questionnaires only 60 questionnaires has been replied and 10 customers does not filled out the questionnaire.

1. Gender

The age is one among the demographic aspect that can have an influence on the validity and the reliability of the research. The sample respondents of this study include the customers of the Tesco in the UK and the samples were generally selected on the basis of the convenience aspect. The 60% customers were the females as the day to day activities and the shopping will be done mostly by the females. But the 40% customers were male too as they will also depend upon the Tesco stores for satisfying their needs.2. Are you a club card member?. The loyalty has been playing as an important role among the retail stores as the success of an organisation depends upon the customers. The Tesco loyalty cards are one of the strategies that has been used to increase the loyalty of the customers. The all of the respondents in the questionnaire has been having the Tesco club card as this is one of the reasons behind the selection of the sample. The respondents have to be aware of the loyalty and the Tesco loyalty card.3. Percentage of the monthly grocery budget spent with Tesco

The customers data about the monthly budget has been explained with the help of the chart. The customers purchase decisions and the loyalty will be based on the amount they want to spend in every time of their purchase. The customer mostly spends less than25 pounds as they always depends upon the Tesco for the day to day activities. Around 40 percent customers spend less than 25 pounds while 25 percent of the customers spend less than seventy five pounds. This customers will be monthly oriented or weekly oriented as they will do purchase only on bulk at weekends or once in a month.

4. How often you visit a supermarket?

The frequency of the customers visits s very important aspect in this research. The customers loyalty and the satisfaction only can be analysed effectively if the customers visits the stores frequently. In the sample customers 50% customers are the daily shoppers of the Tesco for the purchase of day to day products.15% customers will shop at weekends and the remaining 10% will only shop at once in a month. The most of the customers frequently visits the Tesco and so the customers will possess enough knowledge regarding the research topic.

5. Factors in selecting a super market

The Uk retail sector is very competitive in nature due to the presence of a lot of the retail stores. The customers will value the retail stores based on their needs and the customers will choose the stores that suit them. The convenience and the price are the two important factors that will affect the customers in depending a store.35% of the customers has used the price as factor in the selection of the supermarket while 20 uses the convenience factor. The location, brand mane and the quality and the quantity also has been playing a major role. So most of the customers satisfaction and the loyalty will be influenced by the price and the convenience of the product.

6. Are you satisfied with the Tesco loyalty card scheme?7. I The loyalty has been an influentials factor behind the customers retention and their repurchase behaviour. The loyalty customers will remain with the organisation and they will not leave and depend on the competitors products. The Tesco loyalty card is one of the schemes introduced by the Tesco for increasing their customers loyalty. The most customer in the study has been satisfied with the loyalty scheme of the Tesco.Infact 35% strongly agree that they are very much satisfied with the Tesco loyalty cards. The 10% customers are very much dissatisfied due to the loyalty cards as it does not meet their expectations.

7. I will recommend the Tesco club card scheme to my friends and others. The loyalty card scheme focused on the customers loyalty and the loyal customers can act as a word of mouth for the organisation. The customers will recommend the service to their friends and relatives and this can increase the market strength of the Tesco. The customers in this study are recommending the service to the friends and the relatives. Around 50 percent of the respondents in the study are recommending the service while 20 percent does not recommend as they personally dissatisfied with the loyalty scheme.

8. The Tesco loyalty programme helps in the increased satisfaction

The loyal customers will be satisfied with the services of the organisation and the use of the loyalty schemes can increase the customers satisfaction rate. The Tesco loyalty cards and the increase in the level of satisfaction has been analysed and the results shows that the half of the respondents are very much satisfied with the introduction of the loyalty schemes.30 percent customers strongly agree that they will be satisfied with the loyalty card scheme while 15 strongly disagrees that the loyalty card scheme can increase the satisfaction level.

9. The Tesco loyalty card influences my purchase decision

The customers buying decision will be influenced by a lot of factors and it depends upon the needs of the customers. The customers in this study have agreed that their decision has been influenced by the loyalty cards as they can save some money. The 30% customers strongly agree that the Tesco card influence them in the buying decision where as 15 percent disagree that their decisions has not been influenced by the Tesco loyalty card.

10. The Tesco understands my needs and services and iam satisfied with the product price and the discounts

The loyalty car will act as a communicator for the organisation as they can know what the customers want from the organisation. This will help the organisation to make the customers satisfied with the product and the organisation can give discounts and the offers. The customers agree with this aspect as 30 percent of the customers strongly agree while only 15 % customers strongly disagree with the statement.

4.2 DISCUSSION OF THE FINDINGSThe loyalty has been playing as an important role among the retail stores as the success of an organisation depends upon the customers. The Tesco loyalty cards are one of the strategies that have been used to increase the loyalty of the customers. The all of the respondents in the study has been having the Tesco club card as this is one of the reasons behind the selection of the sample. The respondents have to be aware of the loyalty and the Tesco loyalty card. But the customers are aware of the Tesco loyalty cards from the word of the mouth. The interview findings have been very clear that the Tesco has been taking only less effort in increasing the awareness. The strategy of an organisation will be more effective and eye catching when it will be communicated effectively to the customers (Kotler 2008).As a retailer in the UK supermarket industry there will be a significant need to increase the loyalty of the brand. The customer loyalty schemes has not been so familiar during the time when the Tesco introduced the loyalty card but it has changed the concept as the customers are attracted towards the Tesco loyalty card. In the current business sector the Tesco loyalty card has been one of the few customer loyalty schemes that have been running so successful from its incorporation. The Tesco loathly card has been a key ingredient behind the success of the tesco.The Tesco understood the behaviour of the customers and framed strategies based on it so that the customers will remain loyal with the Tesco.The customers purchase decisions and the loyalty will be based on the amount they want to spend in every time of their purchase. The customer mostly spends less than 25 pounds as they always depend upon the Tesco for the day to day activities. This shows that the most of the customers regularly visit the Tesco and this shows that the customers will value for the money they spend. The frequency of the visit can be a motivation of the organisation as the customers only needed a little push up to be more loyal().The frequency of the customers visits s very important aspect in this research. The customers loyalty and the satisfaction only can be analysed effectively if the customers visits the stores frequently. The Uk retail sector is very competitive in nature due to the presence of a lot of the retail stores. The customers will value the retail stores based on their needs and the customers will choose the stores that suit them. The convenience and the price are the two important factors that will affect the customers in depending a store. The location, brand mane and the quality and the quantity also has been playing a major role. So most of the customers satisfaction and the loyalty will be influenced by the price and the convenience of the product.The loyalty has been an influentials factor behind the customers retention and their repurchase behaviour. The loyalty customers will remain with the organisation and they will not leave and depend on the competitors products. The Tesco loyalty card is one of the schemes introduced by the Tesco for increasing their customers loyalty. The most customer in the study has been satisfied with the loyalty scheme of the Tesco. The loyalty is one of the element that has been associated by the customers with the products and the services, sores and brands etc (Laurent, 1997) .The customer loyalty will depend upon the attachment that the customer holds with the brand or the product and the other dimension is the repeat patronageThe loyalty card scheme focused on the customers loyalty and the loyal customers can act as a word of mouth for the organisation. The customers will recommend the service to their friends and relatives and this can increase the market strength of the Tesco. The customers in this study are recommending the service to the friends and the relatives. The Tesco customers acts as a word of mouth for the Tesco and the most of the customers ware of the club card due to the word of the mouth aspect.The loyal customers will be satisfied with the services of the organisation and the use of the loyalty schemes can increase the customers satisfaction rate. The Tesco loyalty cards and the increase in the level of satisfaction has been analysed and the results shows that the half of the respondents are very much satisfied with the introduction of the loyalty schemes. The customer satisfaction and the loyalty has been linked each other and this relation has been considered as a symmetric relation where the customers are satisfied and all satisfied customers will not be loyal (Oliver 1999). Sometimes the customers will be satisfied and loyal and it does not mean that the customers will repeat the purchase with the brand. The customers buying decision will be influenced by a lot of factors and t depends upon the needs of the customers. The customers in this study have agreed that their decision has been influenced by the loyalty cards as they can save some money. The loyalty car will act as a communicator for the organisation as they can know what the customers want from the organisation. This will help the organisation to make the customers satisfied with the product and the organisation can give discounts and the offers. The loyal customers will remain with the product and will not avail the competitors products. The loyal customers will buy more from the organisation and they will ready to pay higher prices and will also act as a word of mouth for the organisation (Morgan et al.,2000).The profit management has also been very influential in the recent years and sometimes the customers will get only cheap profit from the organisation. One of the studies done by the Kumar (2002) showed that the customers ho loyal to the organisation will get only less profit when compared with the short term customer.4.3 Analysis of Focus groupThe focus group will be done mainly to analyse the perceptions of the customers regarding the Tesco loyalty card and the scheme. The most of the customers were ware of the Tesco loyalty card abut the main notable aspect is that they are unaware of the sue of the clubcard.The one of the customer during the focus group discussion has stated.i holds the Tesco card and every time the staff asks I will produce the card but dont how the points will be added based on my purchase .This discussion has showed that the Tesco has somewhere done wrong in creating a proper awareness among the customers. The employees responses in the interview shown that they have been given adequate training regarding the loyalty cards but the customers during the discussion has opinioned that they have not been guided proper by the employees regarding the loyalty card. The one customer has views thatI my case I dont had any club card and I asked about its benefits and the customer service staff does not had any clue..The discussion has made clear that most customers will sign upon the loyalty card due to the word of mouth and the effort of the Tesco has not been so great to encourage the customers to depend on the loyalty card. The customers in the discussion have been said that the buying behaviour has been influenced by the Tesco cards. The one customers has stated in my case when I purchase I know how the value will be added to my card and I know that 1 und will get one point and so I will makes sure that the shopping of 5.90 becomes 6.The customer behaviour has not been so influential but the Tesco has changed it to something noticeable. The discussion has also pointed to a fact the customers are not have any knowledge regarding the discount percentage that gets from the Tesco. The most customers thought that it would be like five percentage but when the researcher informed them that its is one percent most of them was shocked. This shows that the Tesco has not taken any efforts to create a impression in the customers mind by using the clubcard.the customers were also not aware that the points can be added other than in the Tesco stores as well. The customers consider the Tesco loyalty card only with the Tesco and they dont know that it can be redeemed in so many ways. This also has been a result of the failure of the Tesco to create the awareness. The general view of the customers during the discussion was the Tesco club card has not creating increased loyalty among a lot of the customers and the customers feel depressed when the Tesco disappoints them and it will not effect them to stop from shopping in the tesco.The discussion of the customers pointed that all the loyalty schemes can create the loyalty. The customers in the discussion has pointed also that there is no need of loyalty to be created in the case f the supermarkets as the customers only care for the value for the money they spend and the service they get from the retail stores. The customers has been member of a club card because it involves any money and the one notable aspect is that the customers were attracted towards the ring format as it remembers to take it when they shops. The Tesco loyalty cards can lead to the satisfaction but the creation of the loyalty is undoubtable.The Tesco has been more successful by opening new stores in new places, the value added services and the use of the strong brand name in the market. The customers consider the Tesco has a highly recognised brand and it influences them in the purchase decisions.Analysis of Semi-structured interviews with Check-out (Customer facing) staffThe researcher has also interviewed the employees if the Tesco who been serving in the check outs. The employees in the check out was o the opinion that the club card and its aspects has been trained to them during the induction time and the importance of making the customers aware of the loyalty card has been emphasised more specifically. The Tesco has shown the employees the videos concerning to the loyalty cards so that the employees can undertand.The one of the check out staff has stated thatthe video concerned to the Tesco loyalty card has been very useful to me to make me understand about the Tesco loyalty card. But the response shown that after all these efforts also the employees not so ware of the loyalty card. The one of the front line staff has stated thatI have been here for almost 4 months and still now I dont know the key benefits of the Tesco loyalty card and all I know is it gives discounts. The most of the staffs does not know the club card and how the customers can get value out of this clubcard.The most of them does not know the adding up of the points and those who know was holding the club card membership. The interviews shown that the employees were not aware of the loyalty card and its help to the organisation. The staffs of the Tesco has only know that the customers holds a great value towards the loyalty card. The response of the staffs shows that.even the customers dont bring the club card they will make sure that the receipts are safe so that they can add pints and this shows the value of the clubcard.The most of the customers always care for the points and the discounts they are entitled too. The staffs also pointed that it has also been seen that for adding up of the points the customers will increase the spending power. The introduction of the key ring club card has been more useful to the customers. In the loyalty card the customers will be given with coupons and the vouchers and they will be rewarded mainly quarterly. The Tesco has been given the employees with the Tesco loyalty cards and the discount cards but the employees were not motivated enough due to the long hours of their work and may be this affects their service when they serving a customer regarding the loyalty card. The interviews shows that the staffs do not even ask for the loyalty cards and do not make the customers aware of the loyalty schemes while serving them. The employees does not know even the Tesco club card can be used in the firms where they have tie up with the Tesco and they dont know that it can be used in the website of the Tesco as well. The staffs do not ask the customers who does not have the loyalty card to sign a new one.Analysis of Semi-structured face to face interviews conducted with Store ManagersThe researcher has done the semi structured interviews with the managers of the stores in London to know about the Tesco loyalty card and how it plays a role in the Tesco business operations. The main aspect of the interviews was the results triangulation will be possible. The store mangers response has been pointing that the Tesco has been giving a lot of training to the staffs about the club card and its relevance and the important aspects of the club card that has to be remembered. The store manger during the interview has stated that..In my training days I have been given a full day training on the Tesco loyalty cards and this shows the relevance importance of the Tesco card in the Tesco operations. The Tesco provide more emphasis on the club card than any other. The managers responses shown that this has been done to make sure that more customers are attracted towards the Tesco loyalty scheme so that the Tesco can extend their operations. The manager has responded thatby the sue of the club card the Tesco can analyse the specific product category and products that suits the customers by analysing the consumption pattern and this helps them to give offers and the discounts. The Tesco values the customers as they are the superior force in the market and they need to be satisfied and have to make them loyal. The Tesco loyalty card has been one of the ways by which the Tesco can increase the customers loyalty aspect.The managers has replied that the Tesco club card can be used to collect information about the behaviour of the customers and this will function very well and can give an edge over the competition. The one of the manger has emphasised that.The Uk retail sector is very competitive and the Tesco by the only use of the club card has gone far beyond the other competitors like the Asda and the Sainsbury.The one another manager has added that the Asda is suing the research to understand the behaviour pattern while the Tesco can exactly understand the behaviour with the use of the club cards. The managers also opinioned regarding the Sainsbury nectar card and stated thatThe Sainsbury nectar card has been also one of the scheme introduced by the competitors but it does not worked effectively like the Tesco card because it was just a multi branded loyalty card. The interview has showed that the managers have a lot of knowledge regarding the club card and its aspect but the knowledge has not been the same among the employees ate the Front floor of the store. Some employees who services the customers does not have any idea about the Tesco club card and how ut works and the training does not yielder any result. The interview results as shown that the Tesco values the club card a lot and some of the decision has been made on the baisi of the loyalty card like the promotional decisions. The store manager was very confident that the Tesco loyalty card can increase the loyalty aspect. The one store manager has stated a perfect example like.if a customers takes 15 minutes of drive to reach a Tesco store then he values the Tesco a lot and this shows that he is loyal and the loyalty is the factor that prompt him to purchase at the Tesco. The managers were confident that the future of the Tesco will be more glimpser due to the loyalty cards and it will be one of the main key ingredient for the Tesco in attaining their objectives. The interviews also pointed out that the working of the loyalty card has been based on the analysis of the loyalty cards data abut the customers buying pattern.CONCLUSIONThe analysis of the data collected was done in the above section. The questionnaires were discussed and findings were discussed and the analysis of the focus group, interviews were also done.

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONCHAPTER FIVE5.1 CONCLUSIONIn the February 1995 the Tesco stared a new era in the retail sector by the change of the business way of operations and it has been seen in the Tesco till now too. The change in the decision has changed the structure of the Tesco and the way it makes the decision, the way in treating the customers etc.This was due to the introduction of the Tesco loyalty card in the year 1995 as a part of their customer loyalty programmes. As a retailer in the UK supermarket industry there will be a significant need to increase the loyalty of the brand. The customer loyalty schemes has not been so familiar during the time when the Tesco introduced the loyalty card but it has changed the concept as the customers are attracted towards the Tesco loyalty card. In the current business sector the Tesco loyalty card has been one of the few customer loyalty schemes that has been running so successful fro its incorporation.th Tesco loathly card has been a key ingredient behind the success of the tesco.The Tesco understood the behaviour of the customers and framed strategies based on it so that the customers will remain loyal with the Tesco. By understanding the needs of the customers and delivering service to meet their wants will create value in the customers mind and the Tesco will earn their life time loyalty. Before the cub card introduction the Tesco was the second among the Uk retails sector and now the Tesco holds the major portion of the Uk retail market and it is one of the worlds fastest growing supermarket and it is also among the valuable Europes organisation list. The Tesco is one among of that organisation that uses effectively the CRM tool. In the UK the Tesco club card is an example of the best CLP and it has been used by almost all household and around the eighty percent of the Tesco turnover has been associated with the club card ( Humpy et al. , 2004). The success of the Tesco has been built around the Tesco loyalty card (Mason, 2003 cited in Humpy et al.)By the use of the club cards the Tesco used a personal approach to treat the customers effectively as an individual. The Tesco can be flexible to suit all kinds of the customers needs and can satisfy them. All organisations will state the importance of the customer centred but the Tesco has made this into practise.The most of the customers were ware of the Tesco loyalty card but the main notable aspect is that they are unaware of the use of the club card. The employees responses in the study shown that they have been given adequate training regarding the loyalty cards but the customers during the discussion has opinioned that they have not been guided proper by the employees regarding the loyalty card..The study has made clear that most customers will sign upon the loyalty card due to the word of mouth and the efforts of the Tesco has not been so great to encourage the customers to depend on the loyalty card. The customers in the discussion has been said that the buying behaviour has been influenced by the Tesco cards.The study has also pointed to a fact the customers are not have any knowledge regarding the discount percentage that gets from the Tesco.This shows that the Tesco has not taken any efforts to create a impression in the customers mind by using the clubcard.The customers were also not aware that the points can be added other than in the Tesco stores as well. The customers consider the Tesco loyalty card only with the Tesco and they dont know that it can be redeemed in so many ways. This also has been a result of the failure of the Tesco to create the awareness. The general view of the customers during the study was the Tesco club card has not creating increased loyalty among a lot of the customers and the customers feel depressed when the Tesco disappoints them and it will not affect them to stop from shopping in the tesco.The discussion of the customers in the research pointed that all the loyalty schemes can create the loyalty. The customers in the discussion has pointed also that there is no need of loyalty to be created in the case f the supermarkets as the customers only care fro the value for the money they s