The Architecture of a CRM System in the Context of Internet Technologies

• Author: Alexandru Gavrila, Delia Babeanu, D. Boldeanu
• Pages: 646-650

The Architecture of a CRM System in the

Context of Internet Technologies

Gavrilă A.1, Băbeanu D.2, Boldeanu D.3

1Academy of Economic Studies, Faculty of Accounting and Management Information Systems,

galex@ase.ro

2 Academy of Economic Studies, Faculty of Accounting and Management Information Systems,

delia@cig.ase.ro

3 Academy of Economic Studies, Faculty of Accounting and Management Information Systems,

boldeanud@mailcig.ase.ro

Abstract. CRM (Customer Relationship Management) is defined as the sum of business processes that an

organization needs to execute in order t o identify, choose, buy, develop and retain its clients. The extremely

fast evolution and development of the Internet, as a new channel of communication also as an opportunity to

effective f ast dissemination led to the fundamental modification of the relations with clients. The Internet

shifted the ability t o control the market from seller to buyers. The new cli ent that comed from the Inter net is

looking mainly for 24x7 access to seller’s information and resources. The Internet client wants right context

and ease of navigation with effective search tools. Ultimately, he is looking for a personalised buying

experience, defined by ease of opening a personal account, ability to review his shopping cart in real time.

The current article is aiming to present the current architecture designed to fulfil all this requirements.

Keywords: CRM, Internet, Client, Supplier.

1 Introduction

The dynamics of the relationship with customers was fundamentally modified with the advent of the

Internet as a new type of communications and selling channel. This shifted the market control from the

sellers to buyers, the latter being able to effectively access competitive offers without any time or

distance constraints. While in the traditional selling system sellers had a tremendous advantage over

buyers due to better product knowledge, actual costs and availability, nowadays, buyers have in turn

basically unlimited access to all this information.

Up until not long ago, each commercial entity had its own distribution channel. By controlling this,

the firm also was defining the main way to interact with the client, thus, for example, the client could

only purchase a TV set only from a “brick-and-mortar” store and only during its working hours.

Similarly, a car could only have been bought only from a dealer showroom through one of its sales

associates and only during their hours. In conclusion, the classic CRM business model was

characterized by only one distribution channel. It was fairly simple, well defined and based mostly on

face-to-face interaction with the client.

What is the Internet buyer looking for? Besides 24x7 access to seller’s offers and info (technical data,

prices, order tracking, warranty, technical assistance data base), the Internet buyer is requiring

complete disclosure placed in correct context, easily accessible with powerful, yet simple to follow

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