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Mobile customer relationship marketing: a tool to create competitive advantage within the licensed liquor industry
Author(s)
Grahn, Graeme Aubrey
Date Issued
2013
Type
Thesis
Publisher
Cape Peninsula University of Technology
Abstract
The advent of IT technology in particular, mobile technology has forced most of the private
sector to re-evaluate how they interact and communicate with their intermediaries. Since the
early 1990s most businesses have put the intermediary at the centre of their business by
means of business strategies like Customer Relationship Management (CRM) solutions.
However, the speed at which technology is evolving is forcing businesses to evaluate new
and alternative means of managing intermediary relationships, as intermediaries now drive
the economy, not businesses. The very essence of a good CRM programme is its reliance
on an IT system which is advanced enough to analyse the captured intermediary data,
transform that data into usable knowledge, which is then stored in a centralised, crossfunctional
database or data warehouse.
Most businesses agree that the goal of CRM solutions is to maximise business profits by
maximising the value of interaction with intermediaries. Successful CRM businesses have
strong, clearly defined business strategies that focus on the intermediary and generate a
process-orientated view of the organisation. CRM functionality therefore creates a single
view of the intermediary and the business as well as support to the Marketing, Sales, Order,
Production and Service processes.
This dissertation investigated the CRM functionality within the Fast Moving Consumer Goods
(FMCG) wholesale and retail liquor sector of the City of Cape Town, paying particular
attention to the three channels that the liquor industry operate in. These three channels are
segmented as the formal Off-premise consumption, formal On-premise consumption and the
Informal Main market. The formal Off-premise consumption channel consist of the
mainstream convenience and self-service liquor retailers where stock is purchased and
consumed at another location by the end user. The formal On-premise consumption channel
consists of venues where patrons purchase and consume liquor on the spot. The informal
Main market, which is dominated by shebeens and taverns, is a combination of the Off- and
On-premise consumption channels where bottle purchases and consumption occur on site
together. This dissertation investigates one primary and four secondary questions within
these channels. The primary question will establish whether a mobile CRM programme can
be used as a marketing instrument to create a competitive advantage within the B2B
licensed liquor industry of South Africa. The secondary questions establish whether
intermediaries are willing to adopt CRM technology, what barriers exist, what the benefits are
for both intermediary and company and whether there will be a reduction in communication
costs for both parties.
The South African government regulates the South African liquor industry in that only
licensed outlets may trade in liquor. Within the Western Cape region, there are
approximately 4,000 licensed outlets of which approximately 2,000 licences (data obtained
from a leading liquor wholesalers company database) fall within the boundaries of Cape
Town. A leading liquor wholesaler has legal contracts with each one of these accounts,
providing a defined database from which primary research was conducted.
Primary researches, in the form of quantitative interviews with a random sample of 150
intermediaries, across the three identified channels were conducted for this study.
Questionnaires were used to establish how a competitive B2B mobile CRM programme can
be implemented, while possible barriers and facilitators to mobile CRM were also considered.
The findings produced two results: one result was expected but the second result was not
expected by the researcher. The first results were that 57.5% of respondents, across all
business channels, indicated their willingness to receiving a mCRM programme on their
mobile devices. The unexpected finding was that 57.3% of respondents across all business
channels had no idea or did not know what a CRM programme was. From these findings
several recommendations are discussed namely: the implementation of a six month tactical
marketing campaign which would expose intermediaries to the concepts and ideas of a CRM
programme; the establishment of a comprehensively updated intermediary database; welltrained
field sales staff who would support the CRM programme once implemented; a simple,
easy to use and navigate mCRM programme to begin with. This programme would have to
have the ability and capability to progress in the future as intermediaries become more
familiar with the system; and a complete company philosophy, with a clear, holistic and
coherent business strategy, that would embrace the mCRM concept to drive future growth
opportunities.
Key Words: business-to-business; customer relationship management; electronic customer
relationship management; Information Technology and mobile customer relationship
management.
sector to re-evaluate how they interact and communicate with their intermediaries. Since the
early 1990s most businesses have put the intermediary at the centre of their business by
means of business strategies like Customer Relationship Management (CRM) solutions.
However, the speed at which technology is evolving is forcing businesses to evaluate new
and alternative means of managing intermediary relationships, as intermediaries now drive
the economy, not businesses. The very essence of a good CRM programme is its reliance
on an IT system which is advanced enough to analyse the captured intermediary data,
transform that data into usable knowledge, which is then stored in a centralised, crossfunctional
database or data warehouse.
Most businesses agree that the goal of CRM solutions is to maximise business profits by
maximising the value of interaction with intermediaries. Successful CRM businesses have
strong, clearly defined business strategies that focus on the intermediary and generate a
process-orientated view of the organisation. CRM functionality therefore creates a single
view of the intermediary and the business as well as support to the Marketing, Sales, Order,
Production and Service processes.
This dissertation investigated the CRM functionality within the Fast Moving Consumer Goods
(FMCG) wholesale and retail liquor sector of the City of Cape Town, paying particular
attention to the three channels that the liquor industry operate in. These three channels are
segmented as the formal Off-premise consumption, formal On-premise consumption and the
Informal Main market. The formal Off-premise consumption channel consist of the
mainstream convenience and self-service liquor retailers where stock is purchased and
consumed at another location by the end user. The formal On-premise consumption channel
consists of venues where patrons purchase and consume liquor on the spot. The informal
Main market, which is dominated by shebeens and taverns, is a combination of the Off- and
On-premise consumption channels where bottle purchases and consumption occur on site
together. This dissertation investigates one primary and four secondary questions within
these channels. The primary question will establish whether a mobile CRM programme can
be used as a marketing instrument to create a competitive advantage within the B2B
licensed liquor industry of South Africa. The secondary questions establish whether
intermediaries are willing to adopt CRM technology, what barriers exist, what the benefits are
for both intermediary and company and whether there will be a reduction in communication
costs for both parties.
The South African government regulates the South African liquor industry in that only
licensed outlets may trade in liquor. Within the Western Cape region, there are
approximately 4,000 licensed outlets of which approximately 2,000 licences (data obtained
from a leading liquor wholesalers company database) fall within the boundaries of Cape
Town. A leading liquor wholesaler has legal contracts with each one of these accounts,
providing a defined database from which primary research was conducted.
Primary researches, in the form of quantitative interviews with a random sample of 150
intermediaries, across the three identified channels were conducted for this study.
Questionnaires were used to establish how a competitive B2B mobile CRM programme can
be implemented, while possible barriers and facilitators to mobile CRM were also considered.
The findings produced two results: one result was expected but the second result was not
expected by the researcher. The first results were that 57.5% of respondents, across all
business channels, indicated their willingness to receiving a mCRM programme on their
mobile devices. The unexpected finding was that 57.3% of respondents across all business
channels had no idea or did not know what a CRM programme was. From these findings
several recommendations are discussed namely: the implementation of a six month tactical
marketing campaign which would expose intermediaries to the concepts and ideas of a CRM
programme; the establishment of a comprehensively updated intermediary database; welltrained
field sales staff who would support the CRM programme once implemented; a simple,
easy to use and navigate mCRM programme to begin with. This programme would have to
have the ability and capability to progress in the future as intermediaries become more
familiar with the system; and a complete company philosophy, with a clear, holistic and
coherent business strategy, that would embrace the mCRM concept to drive future growth
opportunities.
Key Words: business-to-business; customer relationship management; electronic customer
relationship management; Information Technology and mobile customer relationship
management.
Additional information
Master of Technology Marketing Management
in the Faculty of Business
at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2013
in the Faculty of Business
at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2013
Subjects
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