An investigation into impact of online customer service strategies on sales and customer retention: a study of Sports direct UK

By

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I am very grateful to God who has given me the grace to start this course and end it successfully. I would like to thank my family, who worked really hard and stood by me all the way. God bless my family who gave me full support and encouraged me. I would like to thank my supervisor, for her patience and support. Finally to my friends and all who have made the completion of this project a success, thank you and God bless you.

DECLARATION

I declare that the work in this dissertation was carried out by me. The project is my own original work and has not been submitted elsewhere in fulfilment of the requirements of this or any other award.

SIGNED: ............................................................. DATE: ..........................

ABSTRACT

The major purpose of this dissertation was to conduct an investigation regarding the impact of online customer service strategies on sales and customer retention of the UK based sports firm known as Sports Direct Company. There was also a need to assess the usefulness of the current marketing strategies followed by Sports Direct Company. It was important to see the relationship various variables which were discussed in the study. There was one participant and thirty respondents who were selected as a sample size for the study. An interview was conducted with the Area Manager of the Sports Direct Company UK. Secondly, an interview and questionnaire was provided to the thirty respondents. The responses were generated with the help of interview and questionnaire questions where all the respondents answered the questions in detail. The manager explained the current position of the marketing strategy followed by the company and also provided an insight of the future strategy which will be pursued by the firm. It was witnessed that the Sports Direct Company UK have managed to gain a lot of success in their marketing strategy and will further look forward to achieve their major aims and objectives. The respondents also provided favourable view about the Sports Direct Company. Therefore, these were the major issues related to research study that was discussed in detail.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTII

DECLARATIONIII

ABSTRACTIV

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION1

1.1 Overview of the topic1

1.2 Problem Statement2

1.3 Research Questions2

1.4 Research Objectives3

1.5 Significance of the Study4

1.6 Purpose and Rationale of the Study4

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW5

2.1 Background of the online marketing strategy5

2.2 The impact of online marketing strategy on customer retention6

2.3 Various factors related to Online Marketing strategy and Customer Retention9

2.4 The importance of consumer trust in Online Marketing Strategies11

2.5 Evaluation Approach of the Literature Review14

2.6 Current position of Sports Direct International15

2.7 The role of Social Networking Websites in Online19

2.8 The importance of consumer engagement in online marketing21

2.9 Quality of the information communicated to the customer23

2.10 The importance of customer loyalty in online marketing25

2.11 Major Features of Online Marketing and its application in Sports Industry27

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY31

3.1 Description of the Research Design31

3.2 Research Philosophy31

3.3 Overview of Research ...