ABSTRACT
Customer relationship management (CRM) has come of age with computerized information systems. Manufacturers and service providers are striving to provide better service to customers and satisfy them profitably. With an increasing share of e-commerce in business, the electronic CRM (eCRM) uses IT to reach and serve the desirable customers in order to increase the value of the relationship. eCRM enables companies to manage customer relationships in real-time. Technology-based eCRM enables companies like Amazon to understand the various microsegments of customers, predict their long-term worth to the company and serve them better and faster. eCRM is a business process of acquiring, retaining, and growing profitable customers. Two main types of eCRM can be identified; operational and analytical. Operations eCRM involves actual contact with the customer through electronic means such as the internet. Analytical eCRM processes the information collected by operational eCRM. Fourth-generation mobile networks have exponentially increased the usefulness of operational and analytical eCRM.
