Individual Marketing Approach In Large Stores And An Application

The changes which have occurred as a result of the globalization process have resulted in increasing consciousness and changes in demand on the part of the present-day consumer. Today?s large stores, being pressed by rivalry, are supposed to meet the consumer?s growing needs and expectations in order to survive in the market and to increase the level of profit. Those which manage to meet the consumer?s changing wishes and needs satisfy and please the customer. This way, realizing customer satisfaction, they can establish long-term relationship with the customer and can obtain a loyal customer profile. Hence, the importance of relationship marketing principle as a modern marketing approach emerges. In this study, a field research has been performed with a mention of theoretical justifications for individual marketing in the large store business, which has become significant under growing competitive conditions. In the first part of this study, the large store concept, a kind of retailer enterprise, is mentioned. Firstly, some information on large store types and on the historical background is given. Then, the benefits of the large store and the factors that have affected their development are mentioned. Lastly, the mixed marketing strategies in the large store business are provided. Novelties in marketing have come into being together with the customercentered approaches, a result of the current economic system, and the long-term relationship with the customer has become the key to profitability, in particular. Relationship marketing, which is a modern marketing concept and which explains the long-term relationship best, is dealt with in the second part of the study. Here, individual marketing is defined, and its historical process is examined. Then, differences between this particular marketing and the traditional one are discussed with a mention of the connection with the other current marketing concepts. In addition, the significance, aims and characteristics of individual marketing as well as the advantages from the viewpoints of both the large store and the customer are dealt with. Finally, in this part, individual marketing and mixed marketing strategies are clarified in relation with one another. In the third part, the issues of the large store business in Turkey and of individual marketing are discussed. In the fourth part, the information from the survey investigating the level of customer loyalty at large stores in the town of Bolu is presented. The results of the questionnaire conducted on 450 people are analyzed with the ?SPSS? software package. The obtained data are placed in the tables and evaluated by using the factor analysis. The ?Variance? analysis is performed in order to determine whether or not the factors obtained from the factor analysis have varied, depending on the demographic features of the subjects. The ?Tukey? analysis is performed in order to determine which of the two groups has given rise to the differences obtained. Finally, the conclusion and suggestions in the light of the outcome of the study are displayed.