Customer satisfaction and loyalty depend on the relationship marketing strategies of the marketer. This paper segregates the factors that affect Relationship Marketing (RM) across three stages: relationship building (expectation perspectives); relationship intensifying (exchange or transaction perspectives); and relationship solidifying (perception perspectives). Customers’ value for pre-purchase information, in-purchase service and post-purchase care are taken as antecedents to this. A Focus Group Discussion (FGD) using mall intercept method, done in one of the cities of Orissa, helped in identifying 40 factors. Under exploratory research design, factor analyses and testing of various hypotheses were done on shoppers’ beliefs. Three sets of factors were grouped under three stages of RM as stated above. A few important factors noticed in the context of RM in retail are basics, service augmentation, service differentiation, alert staff, error avoidance, freebies, convenience, sensory appeal, proximity, delightment, superior layout, price, core/tangible benefits and visual appeal. This paper explains relationship tenets based on basic transaction stages. The progressive effects of the stages are neither theoretically examined nor empirically established. The study aims at broadening the management implications for a conceptual framework in the context of RM in the organized retail business.

Forrester Research infers from various studies that the next phase of marketing will be an ‘Adaptive Marketing Era’, a period for marketers to be more adaptable to new channels and constructs for interacting with consumers, and flood the market keeping overall brand promise. The focus now shifts from outbound to surround, from campaigns to experiences and from segmented ‘audiences’ to individuals. This reinforces that the Relationship Marketing (RM) practices will always be vital to organizations. A welldesigned and intensified focus on RM programs within own firm and firms of affiliates is a new age paradigm. The term relationship marketing was introduced by Leonard L Berry in 1983. It is simply an orientation of treating all customer interactions as a part of an ongoing stream of interactions, rather than treating each customer interaction as an isolated incident. RM focuses on a long-term relationship and a series of transactions with the customer. There are world-class examples set by various companies on what can be done in this regard. Be it Customer First Program of Toyota Lexus or Best Friends Program of Alamo, the idea is to make customers the best friends; treat them this way all the time and they will always reciprocate as one. Organized retailing industry in India has evolved from traditional format to departmental stores/hypermarkets. This industry contributes around 10% to GDP and 8% towards employment generation and is expected to grow to $427 bn by 2015. The increased competition for retailers compels them to retain customers through long-term relationship. Customer satisfaction is a priority today. ‘Moment of truth’, defined as “the instance of contact or interaction between a customer and a firm (through a product, sales force, or visit) that gives the customer an opportunity to form (or change) an impression about the firm”, is of high importance to retailers. Hence, in retail, selling an experience matters more now than selling a merchandise or service. This forms the background for the study with an idea conception towards emerging trends in shoppers’ buying behavior and modern retailing practices towards relationshipbased loyalty building.

Marketing Management Journal, Guest Delight, Hotel Industry, Customer Delight, Customer Loyalty, Customer Satisfaction, Reliable Reservation System, Convenient Payment Method, Hotel Management, Disconfirmation Theory, Data Collection.