A Leading Retail Chain Is Undertaking Environmental Scanning as It

A leading retail chain is undertaking environmental scanning as it is concerned that it is becoming uncompetitive and profits have started to fall. The Board of Directors is concerned that it will need to have a viable strategy to present to its shareholders at the next annual general meeting, in order to prevent shareholders' protests. The company has been reluctant in the past to offer an Internet shopping service. It now believes, however, that by offering this service and introducing customer relationship marketing (CRM) , this will produce a strategy that will help it to improve its competitiveness. Which of the following statements apply to CRM? (Choose all that apply.)

A) The company must be prepared to take customers' needs into account and be able to meet these needs.
B) In mature markets, existing customers provide the most likely source of future earnings.
C) CRM is about marketing to customers to obtain their loyalty, so customer research is not needed.
D) CRM utilizes marketing resources to retain, rather than simply attract new customers.
E) The CRM process needs to include increasing the range of products that will be offered to customers.