Marketing of Logistics Services Term Paper on “A Study on Customer Perception about Professional Courier Services”

Title of the study:
This project is based on the topic ”A study on customer perception about the professional courier services ".
Introduction:
The Courier services in India have been growing considerably in recent years. This has resulted in the entry of many multinational courier company and consequently cut throat competition. In the changing scenario of modernization and sophistication it is very important and essential to invent and implement better marketing plans in order to improve quality of the services. Thus marketing success largely depends on the ability to anticipate buyer’s needs. Presently a great deal of awareness has been created in studying customer preference.
Professional courier is one of the leading courier services in India. The study is undertaken to analyze customer perception about the Professional courier services. The study concentrates customer preference of Professional couriers as many of its competitors are offering similar services and features to satisfy customer needs and wants.
Need of the study Customer is the king in the market. How to satisfy them is a big problem for every company. In order to know how customers could be satisfied, the need for the study arises: * How well the customer accept a service and with reasons for the same. * What services are offered for the similar courier company so that the company too can offer in order to attract new customers and retain the existing ones? * How it should be popularized. * How to improve better service and satisfy customers. * To analyze the competitors’ share in the market and the positioning they have made. * To know how the Brand Image influences customers.

Objective of the study: Primary Objective:
To analyze the customer’s perception about PROFESSIONAL COURIER. Secondary Objectives: * To ascertain if customers are satisfied with the courier services as well as pricing policy of the company. * To find out whether the customers will recommend the Professional Couriers to others or not. * To find out whether the customers will book their mails in future or not. * To know how the professional courier offer its services to differentiate from its competitor * To find out the problems in their services and suggest remedies to improve the same. Limitations of the study 1. The research is conducted on a sample of the unknown population in Visakhapatanam. The results obtained may not be an accurate representation. 2. Simple statistics are used for the tabulation of data. 3. The study cannot be used for future applications as the population of Visakahapatanam is ever changing. 4. Human beings act artificially when they are targeted for marketing research. This could affect the accuracy of the project.
5. To obtain information about the role-played by various media in spreading awareness about the service.

Research methodology Research methodology is the way to solve the research problems systematically. It explains the various steps generally adopted by a researcher in studying research problems along with the logic behind them.
Research Approach Researcher has followed survey method as the research approach in this study. Survey research is the best suited method for descriptive information.
Research Design Type of research: Descriptive Research Data sources: Primary The primary data has been collected through interviewer schedules. Secondary data has been collected with respect to information regarding the company profile, industry profile and other related documents.
Sampling technique : simple random sampling
Sample size of respondents : 180 The population of sample is unknown because we can’t calculate the how many customer using the professional couriers per day and the area of study is Visakhapatnam.
Research instrument
A structured non-disguised interviewer schedule was developed as a research instrument. Open ended, closed ended, dichotomous, ranking and rating scales were used in the questionnaire.

Pilot Study: Before the interviewer schedule is administered in to the field, it needs to be pre-tested. The sample that the interviewer schedule is administered in the pre-test should be roughly similar to those who will be covered in the study. A pre-test was done to collect among 8 customers and necessary adjustments were made depending upon the effectiveness of the response. Then the final questionnaire was drafted based on the feedback. Then this revised from of the questionnaire was used in the survey of the proposed sample population. Data collection: The method of data collection was through Customers: The required data was collected through personal interview and the Researcher designed a simple questionnaire for this purpose and administered in person to the samples. Data is the foundation of the all researches and they are the raw materials with which a researcher functions. Depending on the source, data can be classified as primary data and secondary data. Primary Data:
Data gathered for the first time by researcher is known as primary data. This data was collected through consumer survey. This data was collected by a person through survey techniques. Survey research is the systematic gathering of data from the respondents through questionnaires. Some of the data was also collected by means of personal interview. The type of questions asked was: * Open-ended questions: these questions call for a response of more than a few words. In open-ended questions, the respondents are free to express their views in their own words. * Multiple-choice questions: The questions for which we have a number of choices as answers are termed as multiple-choice questions. * Dichotomous questions: this is an extreme form of multiple-choice questions, which allows only two responses such a yes-no, agree-disagree, male-female etc.
Tools used for data analysis * Percentage Analysis * Chi –Square test. ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION
Tabulation And Graphical Representation GENDER OF RESPONDENTS Gender | Number Of Respondents | Percentage | Male | 138 | 77 | Female | 42 | 23 | Total | 180 | 100 | Source: Primary Data Analysis: From the above table it can be observed that 77 percent are male and 23 percent are female.
Inference: Majority of the respondents are males

AGE CLASSIFICATION OF THE RESPONDENTS Age | Number Of Respondents | Percentage | Below 20 | 24 | 13 | 20-30 | 83 | 46 | 31-40 | 57 | 32 | 40 Above | 16 | 9 | Total | 180 | 100 |

Source: Primary Data Analysis: From the above table, it is observed that 13% of the respondents are in the age group of below 20 years, 46% are in the age group of 20 to 30 years, 32% are in the age group of 31 to 40 years, and the remaining 9% are in the age group of 40 and above. Inference: Majority of the respondents are in the age group of 20 to 30 years.
CLASSIFICATION OF RESPONDENTS BASED ON THEIR CATEGORIES Age | Number Of Respondents | Percentage | Students | 62 | 34 | Employed persons | 71 | 40 | Own Business | 18 | 10 | House Wives | 25 | 14 | Others | 4 | 2 | Total | 180 | 100 |

Source: Primary Data
Analysis: The above table shows the distribution of respondents according to their categories. 10% of the respondents were having their own business, followed by employed persons at 40%, Students are at 34%, House wives are at 14% and the remaining belonged to other categories. Inference: Majority of the respondents are employed persons.
CLASSIFICATION OF RESPONDENTS BASED ON WHETHER THEY FREQUENTLY SEND COURIER OR NOT Age | Number Of Respondents | Percentage | Frequently send | 101 | 57 | Frequently not send | 79 | 43 |

Source: Primary Data Analysis: From the above table we can infer that 57% of the respondents are sending their mail frequently and remaining 43% of the respondents are not send their mail frequently. Inference: Majority of the respondents sending their mail frequently.
RESPONDENT’S RANKS FOR VARIOUS COURIER COMPANIES Courier Company | Rank I | Rank II | Rank III | Rank IV | Rank V | DTDC Courier | 8 | 9 | 34 | 47 | 37 | Overnite Express | 6 | 5 | 11 | 49 | 52 | Blue Dart | 17 | 12 | 19 | 37 | 37 | Professional Courier | 87 | 32 | 14 | 7 | 3 | First Flight | 32 | 56 | 32 | 5 | 19 | Source: Primary Data Analysis: From the above table it is observed that 87 respondents selected professional courier as rank 1, 32 respondents selected it as rank 2, 14 respondents selected it as rank3, rank 4 selected by only 7 respondents.
Inference: majority of the respondent’s selected professional courier as rank 1

REASONS FOR SELECTING THAT COURIER COMPANY AS RANK 1 IN ABOVE CLASSIFICATIONS. Opinion | No of respondent | Percentage | Low Charge | 32 | 21 | Fast Delivery | 36 | 24 | Reliable | 19 | 13 | Above All | 63 | 42 | Total | 150 | 100 | Source: Primary Data Analysis: From the above table it is observed that almost 42% of the respondents selected professional courier as rank 1 for its fast delivery, reliable, low charges.24% of the respondents selected for its fast delivery ,21% of the respondents selected for its low charges.
Inference: majority of the respondent selected professional courier as rank 1 for its fast delivery, reliable, low charges.
CUSTOMER’S OPINION REGARDING THE AWARENESS OF PROFESSIONAL COURIERS Respondent | No | Percentage | yes | 180 | 100 | No | 0 | 0 | Total | 180 | 100 |

Source: Primary Data Analysis: From the above statistical analysis it is inferred that 100% of the respondents are aware of the Professional courier; it shows the great success of its brand image. Inference: All of the respondents are aware about Professional couriers and its services. THE VARIOUS SOURCES AND THEIR RELATIVE EFFECTIVENESS IN SPREADING AWARENESS ABOUT THE PROFESSIONAL COURIERS. Source | Number Of Respondents | Percentage | Television | 26 | 15 | News Paper | 20 | 11 | Friends & Relatives | 102 | 57 | Magazines | 26 | 15 | Others | 4 | 2 | Total | 178 | 100 |

Source: Primary Data Analysis: From the above table it is observed that almost 57% of the respondent’s decision is influenced by their relatives and friends, 15% of them were influenced by television &magazine advertisements, 11% of them through newspapers. Inference: The popularity Professional courier is spread by word of mouth communication. From this we can understand that the customers are satisfied with the service of Professional couriers.

CLASSIFICATION OF RESPONDENTS WHO SEND THEIR MAIL THROUGH PROFESSIONAL COURIERS ONLY. Opinion | No | Percentage | yes | 138 | 78 | no | 42 | 22 | Total | 180 | 100 | Source: Primary Data Analysis: From the above table it is observed that almost 78% of the respondent’s they send their mails only in Professional courier, remaining 22% of the respondent send their mails in other couriers.
Inference: majority of the respondents send their mails through Professional couriers.
CLASSIFICATION OF RESPONDENTS WHO HAD DIFFICULTY WHILE BOOKING PARCELS OR COVERS IN PROFESSIONAL COURIERS. Opinion | No | Percentage | yes | 19 | 13 | no | 128 | 87 | Total | 147 | 100 | Source: Primary Data Analysis: From the above table it is observed that almost 87% of the respondent’s hasn’t difficulty while booking or parcels or covers in Professional couriers and remaining 13% of the respondents have difficulty while their booking . Inference: majority of the respondents hasn’t difficulty while booking or parcels or covers in Professional couriers.

OPINION OF RESPONDENTS REGARDING THE DELIVERY OF THEIR MAIL BY PROFESSIONAL COURIERS WHILE THEIR ABSENCE Opinion | No | Percentage | Properly Delivering | 129 | 81 | Properly not Delivering | 30 | 19 | Total | 159 | 100 | | | | Source: Primary Data Analysis: From the above table it is observed that almost 81% of the respondents believed the Professional courier deliver their mail properly while their absence. Remaining 19% of the respondent’s opinion is the company not deliver mail properly while their absence. Inference: majority of the respondent accepted the professional courier is delivering their mail properly. SATISFACTION LEVEL OF RESPONDENTS REGARDING THEIR NEEDS ( GETTING PINCODES, STATIONARY ) WHILE BOOKING PARCELS OR COVERS IN PROFESSIONAL COURIERS. Options | Number Of Respondents | Percentage | Highly Satisfied | 48 | 29 | Satisfied | 81 | 49 | Neither Satisfied or Dissatisfied | 26 | 16 | Dissatisfied | 9 | 5 | Highly Dissatisfied | 0 | 0 | Total | 164 | 100 |

Source: Primary Data

Analysis: From the above table it is observed that almost 49% Satisfied and 29% are highly satisfied with the needs of stationeries while their booking courier in professionals. 5% are not satisfied that.
Inference: majority of the respondent get satisfied with their needs (pin code details, stationeries) while booking mails in Professional Couriers.
SATISFACTION OF RESPONDENTS REGARDING VARIOUS FEATURES IN PROFESSIONAL COURIERS: Product | Highly Satisfied | Satisfied | Neither Satisfied or Dissatisfied | Dissatisfied | Highly Dissatisfied | Large network | 42 | 56 | 37 | 2 | 0 | Fast delivery | 48 | 62 | 21 | 6 | 0 | Reliable | 37 | 72 | 19 | 8 | 1 | Responsiveness | 52 | 48 | 34 | 2 | 1 |
Source: Primary Data
Analysis: From the above table it is observed that almost majority of the respondents are highly satisfied and satisfied with large network, reliable, fast delivery of the professional courier. Only few respondents are not satisfied that.
Inference: majority of the respondent are highly satisfied with the various features in professional couriers.
RESPONDENTS OPINION ABOUT THE PRICE OF ‘PROFESSIONAL COURIERS’ Price | Number Of Respondents | Percentage | Expensive | 40 | 24 | Moderate | 94 | 57 | Low | 30 | 19 | Total | 164 | 100 | Source: Primary Data Analysis: The above table shows that 24% of the respondent’s opinion regarding the price of Professional courier is expensive, almost 57% of the respondent’s opinion is moderate and remaining 19% of opinion is low. Inference: From the analysis above we can understand that a majority of the respondents consider the pricing of Professional courier to be acceptable.
INFORMATION ABOUT RESPONDENTS’ WILLINGNESS TO RECOMMEND THE PROFESSIONAL COURIERS TO OTHERS: Respondents’ Recommendation | Number Of Respondents | Percentage | Most Likely | 68 | 40 | Likely | 52 | 30 | Undecided | 36 | 21 | Unlikely | 16 | 9 | Most Unlikely | 0 | 0 | Total | 172 | 100 |

Source: Primary Data
Analysis: From the table we can infer that 68% of the respondents are most likely to recommend Professional couriers to their friends and relatives, 52% of the respondents are likely,36% of them haven’t decided whether to recommend Professional couriers .16% of the respondents are unlikely to recommend Professional couriers to others.
Inference: From the above table we can understand that the services of Professional couriers are satisfied and majority of the respondents most likely to recommend it to others.
TABLE SHOWING RESPONDENT’S OPINION REGARDING FUTURE PROSPECTS OF SENDING COURIERS IN PROFESSIONAL. Opinion | Number Of Respondents | Percentage | Most Likely | 60 | 36 | Likely | 54 | 32 | Undecided | 41 | 24 | Unlikely | 14 | 8 | Most Unlikely | 0 | 0 | Total | 169 | 100 |

Source: Primary Data
Analysis: From the above table it is observed that 36% of the respondents most likely the Professional couriers in future prospect, 32% of the respondent likely,24% of the respondent undecided their sending mail in future it, and 8% of the respondents unlikely to book covers and couriers in Professional couriers in their future.
Inference: From the above analysis we can understand that the majority of the respondents favor the Professional couriers and they most likely to book in future also.

CHI-SQUARE Chi-square test is one of the simplest and most widely used non-parametric test in statistical works. The symbol is the Greek letter chi, this enables us to find whether the two attributes are associated. We proceed with the null hypothesis that the two attributes are independent. On this basis, we first calculate the expected frequencies and then calculate chi-square. If the calculated is less than the tabulated value at a certain level of significance for given degrees of freedom, we conclude that the null hypothesis stands which means that the two values are not associated.
But if the calculated value is greater than the tabulated value then the two attributes are associated and the association is not because of some chance factor but it exists in reality. Chi-square is simply the technique of judging the significance of such association or relationship between two attributes
Being a statistical test , chi-square can be expressed as a formula . The formula, Chi Square,λ2 = Σ(Oi-Ei)2/Ei Oi = The frequencies observed
Ei = The frequencies expected
Σ = The ‘sum of’
If “n ” is the number of groups and one constraint is placed my making the totals of observed and expected frequencies equal , the degree of freedom is (n-1) . In case of contingency table (table with rows and columns) then the degree of freedom is worked out as follows d.f=(c-1) (r-1) Where ‘c’ means the number of columns, ‘r’ means the number of rows and d.f means degrees of freedom. By degree of freedom e means the number of classes to which the value can be assigned arbitrarily.
Chi square is a non-parametric test of statistical significance for bivariate tabular analysis (also known as cross breaks). Any appropriately performed test of statistical significance lets you know the degree of confidence you can have in accepting or rejecting a hypothesis. Typically, the hypothesis tested with chi square is whether or not two different samples (of people, texts, whatever) are different enough in some characteristic or aspect of their behavior that we can generalize from our samples that the populations from which our samples are drawn are also different in the behavior or characteristic.
A non-parametric test, like chi-square, is a rough estimate of confidence; it accepts weaker, less accurate data as input than parametric tests (like t-tests and analysis of variance, for example) and therefore has less status in the pantheon of statistical tests. Nonetheless, its limitations are also its strengths; because Chi Square is more 'forgiving' in the data it will accept, it can be used in a wide variety of research contexts.
Chi square test is used to test the statistical significance of results reported in bivariate tables, and interpreting bivariate tables is integral to interpreting the results of a chi square test, so we'll take a look at bivariate tabular (crossbreak) analysis.
Requirements of Chi-Square Test: * The sample must be randomly drawn from the population. * Data must be reported in raw frequencies (not percentages); * Measured variables must be independent; * Values/categories on independent and dependent variables must be mutually exclusive and exhaustive; * Observed frequencies cannot be too small.

Types of Chi - Square Tests
The Chi Square Test is a statistical test which consists of three different types of analysis * Test of Goodness of fit. * Test for Homogeneity. * Test of Independence. DATA ANALYSIS:
Analysis of relationship between gender of the respondents and the respondent of sending their mail through professional courier.
Crosstabs:
| | Sending Mail through Professional Courier | | Total | | | Yes | No | | Gender of the Respondents | Male | 98 | 40 | 138 | | Female | 30 | 12 | 42 | Total | | 128 | 52 | 180 |

Hypothesis:
Ho: There is no significant relationship between gender of the respondents and sending their mail through professional courier.
Ha: There is a significant relationship between gender of the respondents and sending their mail through professional courier.

CHI-SQUARE TESTS | Value | Df | Asymp. Sig. (2-sided) | Exact Sig. (2-sided) | Exact Sig. (1-sided) | Pearson Chi-Square | 8.449 | 1 | .004 | | | N of Valid Cases | 180 | | | | |

Inference:
Since calculated value .004 is less than 0.05, Ho is rejected. Therefore there is a significant relationship between gender of the respondents and the sending their mail through professional courier.

Analysis of relationship between categories of the respondent and the respondent of sending their mail through professional courier

Crosstabs: | | Sending Mail through Professional Courier | | Total | | | Yes | No | | Categories of the Respondent | Students | 49 | 13 | 62 | | Employed person | 57 | 14 | 71 | | Own business | | | | | House wives | 32 | 15 | 47 | | Others | | | | Total | | 138 | 42 | 180 |

Hypothesis:
Ho: There is no significant relationship between categories of the respondent and sending mail through professional courier.
Ha: There is a significant relationship between categories of the respondent and sending mail through professional courier.
Chi-Square Tests: | Value | df | Asymp. Sig. (2-sided) | Pearson Chi-Square | 7.135 | 4 | .129 | N of Valid Cases | 180 | | |

Inference:
Since calculated value .129 is less than 0.05, Ho is rejected. Therefore there is a significant relationship between categories of the respondent and sending mail through professional courier.

RECOMMENDATIONS AND SUGGESTIONS Findings: * Fast delivery has been given first consideration by the respondents when choosing their courier services. * Out of the respondents who do not send their mail in Professional courier also, first flight, DTDC, French courier and Blue dart are the other popular courier services also selected by the respondents. * All respondents are aware of professional courier; this reflects the effectiveness of professional courier in creating brand awareness. * 57% of the respondent comes to known the Professional courier from friends and relatives; it shows the effective of its services. * A majority of the respondents consider the pricing of Professional Couriers to be acceptable/ moderate. * Only very few less of the respondents had difficulty while booking their parcels or covers in professional couriers. * The users of Professional couriers are satisfied with the services and are likely to recommend it to others. * The respondents favor the brand image of Professional courier and expect its future to be very good. * Most of the respondents are highly satisfied with the fast delivery of their mail by the Professional couriers and they are reliable with the services. * Majority of the respondents consider the Professional courier delivers their mail properly while their absence.

Suggestions: * Most of the respondents come to known about Professional courier through their friends and relatives. By concentrating other forms of media in advertising the company may improve its services. * The price of Professional courier could be reduced, because many number of companies entered to the market, so in order to retain our customer we must maintain the moderate price. * Professional couriers should improve it services and more concentrate on ease available in all area and more collection center, and to give better service to its customers. * The company should focus on the regions where they are not strong * The company can run their own cargo flight and planning the routing effectively, and then they can capture more customers in international level. * The company should take steps to implement advanced online tracking system, so the customers can have easy access to the information about their consignment status. * Take steps to Implement of ISO 9000 quality certification for entire India. * Owning a cargo flight will enhance the efficiency and can gain advantage of time factor and also cut down the costs.

Conclusions:
From the above findings it clear that Professional courier services has a very positive brand image in the minds of the customers. The study has confirmed that professional courier is one of the preferred courier companies in courier services.
The company has a successful brand image among the people that has also added to its growth and acceptance. Although Professional competitors may offer similar services and features, the customers are aware that professional couriers are superior in services, fast delivery, reliable and responsiveness. Thus to conclude it can be said that Professional courier have a clear edge over its rivals and future prospects of the company are bright.

Annexure:
Interviewer schedule 1. Name of the Respondent:-_________________ 2. Sex: Male Female
3. Age group: Below 20 20-30
31-40 Above 40
4. Which of the following categories do you belong to? Students Employed person Own business Housewives Others
5. Do you send mail through courier frequently? Yes No
If yes, number of couriers send in week______________

6. Mention any three courier company in Tamil nadu ? I. ____________________ II. ____________________ III. ____________________

7. Rank the following courier companies based on their services?
(1.Highest rank…5.Lowest rank) DTDC courier | | Overnite express | | Blue Dart courier | | Professional courier | | First Flight courier | |

8.what are the reasons for selecting that courier service as rank 1 in above question? a) Low charges b) Fast delivery c) Reliable d) Above all

9. Are you aware of Professional courier? Yes No
10. If yes, How did you come to Know ? Thro’ Television Thro’ Friends& Relatives Thro’ News paper Thro’ Magazines
If any other please specify____________________
11. Do you send mail through Professional courier ? Yes No
12. If yes, How satisfied you are with the following features in Professional courier?

Product | Highly satisfied | Satisfied | Neither satisfied orDissatisfied | Dissatisfied | HighlyDissatisfied | Large Network | | | | | | Fast delivery | | | | | | Reliable | | | | | | Responsiveness | | | | | |

13. Do you find any difficulty while booking parcels or covers in Professional courier? Yes No
If Yes, Please mention it____________________________
14. In your absence, does the company deliver your mail properly? Yes No
15. When you book courier in Professional courier, do your needs
(pin code book, stationery …) get satisfied ? please √(Tick) your options.

Highly satisfied | Satisfied | Neither satisfied orDissatisfied | Dissatisfied | Highly dissatisfied | | | | | |

16. What is your opinion regarding the price of Professional couriers?
a) Expensive b) Moderate c) Low
17. Will you book your couriers in Professional courier in future also? a) Most likely
b) Likely c) Undecided
d) Unlikely e) Most unlikely
18. Will you recommend Professional couriers to others? a) Most likely
b) Likely c) Undecided
d) Unlikely e) Most unlikely

References:

1) Thomas C.Kinnear and Tylor R.James (1996) “Marketing Research and Applied Approach” Fifth Edition.

2) Philip Kotler (1994) “Marketing Management, Analysis, Planning, implementation and control” Eighth Edition.

3) www.google.com

4) www.tpcindia.com 5) www.professionalcourier.net