A Business Research

Report for evaluating

the customer
satisfaction at
SATELLITE BPCL Petro-
Retail Outlet,
Ahmedabad

25th December, 2010

Submitted By:
Manthan Gattani (20101026)
Mayank Sharma (20101027)
Mayur Chokshi (20101028)
Milind (20101029)
Mukund Upadhyay(20101030)
Viral Noriya

Submitted To:
Dr. Ashutosh Muduli
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Table of Contents

Table of Contents................................................................................................ 2

Executive Summary.............................................................................................5

Problem definition............................................................................................... 7

Background to the problem..................................................................................................7

Managerial Problem Definition...........................................................................................8

Researcher’s problem definition..........................................................................................8

Objectives of the problem....................................................................................................8

Hypothesis............................................................................................................................8

Research design..................................................................................................8

Type of research design.......................................................................................................8

Data collection from primary sources..................................................................................9

Scaling techniques ...............................................................................................................9

Questionnaire development and pretesting..........................................................................9

Sampling techniques..........................................................................................................10

Fieldwork...........................................................................................................................11

Data analysis ....................................................................................................11

Methodology......................................................................................................................11

Results ..............................................................................................................11

Demographic Profile..........................................................................................................11

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 Customer preference of factors affecting decision making process..................................13

Customer satisfaction survey results..................................................................................14

Observations:....................................................................................................22

Limitations and Caveats....................................................................................22

Conclusions and Recommendations..................................................................23

Questionnaire ....................................................................................................................25

List of Figures

Figure 1: Customer Occupation Profile..............................................................12

Figure 2: Customer Gender Profile.....................................................................12

Figure 3: Frequency of Visits at the Retail Outlet..............................................13

Figure 4: Overall level of Customer Satisfaction with the outlet........................14

Figure 5: Usage of Appolo Services...................................................................15

Figure 6: Customer perception about surplus stock of medicines at Appolo.....16

Figure 7: Customer perception about availability of assorted varieties of snacks

at Appolo...........................................................................................................16

Figure 8: Customer perception about price competitiveness at Appolo............17

Figure 9: Customer awareness of the SBI Bank ATM Services...........................17

Figure 10: Customer perception about the reliability of SBI ATM Services........18

Figure 11: Customer awareness about air filling services.................................19

Figure 12: Customer perception about the presence of an attendant at the air
filling station......................................................................................................19

Figure 13: Customer perception about the air filling station attendant asking for
cash...................................................................................................................20

Figure 14: Customer perception about the quality of dispensed fuel................21

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Figure 15: Customer perception about the speed of service.............................21

Figure 16: Customer perception about behavior of the attendant.....................22

List of Tables

Table 1: Grouping for Discriminant Analysis......................................................10

List of Appendices

Questionnaire.........................................................................................................24

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Executive Summary
The objective of the research was to undertake a customer perception study and a customer
satisfaction study at the SATELLITE BPCL petro-retail outlet. The customers were
broadly divided into 2/3-wheelers and 4-wheeler category to undertake the perception
study.

After a discriminant analysis it was found that 2/3 wheelers and 4-wheelers differ on the
basis of location, service and reliability the former preferring location and the latter, service
and reliability. Therefore in order to increase the number of 4-wheeler customers it is
recommended that services and reliability are improved. Similarly when the discriminant
analysis was run with respect to the same categories on the basis of factors affecting
services it was noticed that higher preference to these factors is associated by 4-wheeler
customers in decreasing order of attitude, availability of desired fuel, quickness and NFR.
The discriminant analysis was also carried out with respect to the same categories on the
basis of factors affecting reliability and it was noticed that higher preference to all these
factors is associated by 4-wheeler customers in decreasing order of cleanliness,
infrastructure and automation.

It can be interpreted from the above results that as far as 2/3 wheeler customers are
concerned the primary motivation factor for choosing a particular petro-retail outlet is the
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convenience it offers them in terms of location where as for 4 wheeler customers they attach
substantial weightage to other factors like quality of service, the quality of fuel and the
reliability of the station. Hence in order to improve the sales of the petro-retail outlet the
only areas of improvements can be services, quality and reliability.

The null hypothesis

H1 - “Two/three wheeler and four wheeler customers exhibit different characteristics in the
process of selecting a petro-retail outlet” is found to be true as a chi square value in the
discriminant analysis is greater than 0.05.

From the customer satisfaction survey it is observed that there is still a scope for
improvement in the satisfaction levels of the customers. Certain recommendations are

• Improve inventory management of medicines to prevent stock out and increase the
offering at Apollo

• Increase the assortment of snacks provided at Apollo.

• Offer some discounts at Apollo and make the prices more competitive.

• Increase the visibility of ATM service by putting boards or signs as it is located at a

corner and many customers are not aware of the service.

• It has been observed that the ATM machine is out of order many times.
Improvements can be made to reduce the down time of the machine.

• It has been observed that the air pump is out of order many times. Improvements can
be made to reduce the down time of the pump.

• Many customers have found the Air pump station unmanned during their visits.
Customers find this unsatisfactory. It must be ensured that the station is always
manned by an attendant.

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 • The air services are provided free of cost. Yet it has been observed that the attendant
asks for tip from many customers. The management should ensure that the attendant
does not ask for money from the customers.

• The customer’s perception of the quality of fuel is good but many are not satisfied
by the speed of service. The management has to ensure that attendants improve their
efficiency of fuel dispensation and reduce time per customer. This will increase
customer satisfaction and also reduce long queues.

• Many customers, especially the auto drivers do not find the customers attentive and
courteous. Though the importance assigned to this factor is quite low for 3 wheeler
customers but it is an important factor for 4 wheeler customers. With poor
experiences in this factor customers may shift to other petro-retail outlets. It should
be ensured that attendants behave properly and exhibit courtesy with the customers.

Problem definition
Background to the problem
BPCLPetro-Retail Outlet in Satellite Ahmedabad is facing the problem of decline in sales .
In order to assess the reasons for decline in sales, the company had asked the Sales Officer
in the area, to understand the views and expectations of the customers arriving at the outlet.
On discussing with the manager of the petro-retail outlet, the sales officer had recognized
that despite offering non-fuel services like Appolo, SBI ATM and free air/ water services,
the sales are on a decline. The manager explained that he tried his best to offer value to
customers by maintaining the outlet and training his staff but had failed to realize the reason
behind declining sales. The sales officer undertook a research to understand the reasons for
declining sales and to suggest possible alternatives available to improve the sales of the
petro-retail outlet.

The findings should pave the way for future course of action at the outlet.

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Managerial Problem Definition
To identify reasons for declining sales and to identify possible alternatives available to
improve the sales of the petro-retail outlet.

Researcher’s problem definition

To identify, factors affecting the customer decision making process and the present level of
customer satisfaction at the SATELLITE BPCLPetro-Retail Outlet.

Objectives of the problem

1. To identify the demographic profile of the customers

2. To identify factors that affect a customer’s preference of the petro-retail outlet

3. To evaluate the present level of customer satisfaction at BPCL Satellite petro-retail

outlet

4. To identify possible areas of improvement

Hypothesis
Null Hypothesis: Two/three wheeler and four wheeler customers exhibit different
characteristics in the process of selecting a petro-retail outlet

Alternate hypothesis: Two/three wheeler and four wheeler customers exhibit same
characteristics in the process of selecting a retail outlet

Research design

Type of research design

The research is a basic (pure) research. The research type is descriptive. The data collection
method is the survey method and the instrument is personal interview (mall intercept). The
personal interviews are generally expected to last around 5 minutes however the length of
the interview will vary from respondent to respondent.

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Data collection from primary sources
Primary sources include 2, 3 and 4 wheeler owners visiting the petro-retail outlet. Mall-
intercept interviews were conducted for collection of data.

The data collected form primary sources represent their demographic profile, factors
affecting their choice of a retail outlet and their present level of satisfaction with the outlet.
Further, their expectations regarding service and reliability at the petro-retail outlet were
understood.

Scaling techniques
Scaling was done using the interval scale.

The preferences towards the factors that affect the decision making process of the
respondents were rated on a Liker Scale of 1 to 5.

The satisfaction of customers visiting the outlet was rated on a Liker Scale of 1 to 4.

Questionnaire development and pretesting

Based on discussions and brainstorming within the group, we identified certain parameters
which affect the respondent’s selection of a petro-retail outlet. Further, factors that affect
preference in terms of service and reliability of the outlet were identified.

We then zeroed in on factors that affect the respondent’s present level of satisfaction with
the petro-retail outlet.

The interview contained questions pertaining to the following:

1) Personal information of the visitors (Name, Gender, Age, Occupation, Type of

vehicle and Frequency of visit).
2) Factors affecting the selection of a petro-retail outlet (location, services, quality and
reliability)

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 3) Factors affecting the customer preference towards services at a petro-retail outlet
(availability, non-fuel retail, quickness of service and personnel attitude).
4) Factors affecting the customer preference towards reliability at a petro-retail outlet
(infrastructure, automization, and cleanliness).
5) Perception about services offered at Apollo/ SBI Bank ATM/ Free air services at the
BPCL petro-retail outlet
6) Perception about quality of fuel, promptness of service and attendant’s behavior at
the BPCL petro-retail outlet

As a part of our pilot study, we interviewed 15 people at the outlet. The sample was
selected on convenience non-probability basis. We had used an ordinal scale (ranking) for
capturing the preferences towards the factors that affect the decision making process of the
respondents, in selecting a petro-retail outlet. However, the process of ranking the
preferences was very taxing on the respondents. Time being a limiting factor in mall-
intercept interviews, we changed the scale used for capturing preferences from an ordinal
scale (ranking) to an interval scale (Likert) on a scale of 1 to 5.

Sampling techniques
A survey of 48 individuals provided the database for the study. The sample was selected on
convenience non-probability basis. The sampling unit was the SATELLITE BPCLPetro-
Retail Outlet belonging to Indian Oil Corporation Limited.

The sample was divided in the following way for carrying out the discriminant analysis:

No. of respondents

Group 1 2/3 wheeler owners 28

Group 2 4 wheeler owners 20
Table 1: Grouping for Discriminant Analysis

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Fieldwork
The field workers conducted the interviews of the respondents at the SATELLITE
BPCLRetail Outlet. The points of contact were the SBI ATM, Appolo and air filling station.

Data analysis
Methodology
A quantitative analysis of the data collected has been done using both descriptive and
inferential statics.

Inferential statistics through discriminant analysis has been utilized to identify factors that
differentiate a customers’ preference the most, amongst the 2 categorical groups, viz. 2/3
wheeler and 4 wheeler owners which visit the petro-retail outlet. The tool has been further
used to discriminate between factors that affect customer’s perception towards service and
reliability at a petro-retail outlet.

Descriptive statistics comprising simple tabulation and frequency distribution have been
utilized to analyze the data pertaining to customer satisfaction.

Results
Demographic Profile
Customer Occupation

Auto Students
Drivers 31%
15%

Business
Working
men
Profession
29%
als
25%

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 Figure 1: Customer Occupation Profile

31% of the customers are working professionals, 31% of the customers are students, 29%
are businessmen and 15% are auto drivers. There is an almost equal distribution of the three
groups of customers.

Gender

Figure 2: Customer Gender Profile

80% of the customers are male and the rest 20% are female.

Frequency of Visits at the Retail Outlet

The frequency of visits at the BPCL retail outlet has been surveyed to determine the loyalty
of the customers. The frequency distribution analysis depicts that majority of the customer
visits thrice a week followed by customers visiting once a week and then the customers
visiting twice a week. The number of customers visiting four to five times a week is very
nominal.

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 Figure 3: Frequency of Visits at the Retail Outlet

Customer preference of factors affecting decision making process

The data collected from the retail outlet catered to all types of vehicles. In order to
differentiate these samples they were classified into two categorical groups -

• 2/3 –wheelers

• 4-wheelers

The analysis of the customer preference study is done by using the discriminant analysis
technique using the above categorical groups as the dependent variables.

Discriminate Analysis 1 (Discriminating two/three wheelers and four wheelers with respect
to location, service, quality & reliability)

By examining the group means and standard deviations it appears that the two groups are
widely separated in terms of preference location, service and reliability. The difference in
the two groups in terms of preference to quality is almost negligible.

Location has some negative correlation (-0.351) with service this means that customers that
prefer services do not give as much importance to location and vice-versa. There is positive
correlation of 0.238 between service and reliability which means that customers who prefer

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services also give more importance to reliability. However, both these correlations are on
the lower side which indicates that although multi-co linearity maybe of some concern it is
not likely to be a serious concern.

Customer satisfaction survey results

In order to analyze the data collected with respect to customer satisfaction frequency
distributions have been tabulated and are shown below –

Overall level of satisfaction:

40 29
30
20 10
10 5 4 0
0
VerySatisfied Satisfied Neutral Somewhat VeryDissatisfied
Dissatisfied

Figure 4: Overall level of Customer Satisfaction with the outlet

The overall level of satisfaction is good. However there is scope for improvement. This can
be understood by further analyzing the specific questions that define the satisfaction level of
customers for various services based on several parameters at the petro-retail outlet.

Awareness of the Non-Fuel Retail Outlet Services:

According to the results of the survey conducted, all the customers of the sample size of 48
are aware of the Non-fuel retail services offered at the BPCL BPCL retail outlet other than
the retail fuel services. All the customers are also aware about the services offered by
Appolo at the retail outlet.

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 Figure 5: Usage of Appolo Services

But the above graph depicts that only 77% of the customers use the services offered by
Appolo, rest 23% of the customers although aware of the services provided have never used
them.

The study of experience of the customers using the Appolo services was based on several
criteria.

1. Surplus stock of Medicines

2. Availability of Assorted varieties of snacks

3. Competitive prices at Appolo

Surplus stock of Medicines:

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 Figure 6: Customer perception about surplus stock of medicines at Appolo

The frequency distribution analysis of the first parameter represents that majority of the
customers agree to the fact that there has never been stock out of medicines at Apollo. On the
other hand, 12 customers disagree on the same.

Availability of Assorted varieties of snacks:

Figure 7: Customer perception about availability of assorted varieties of snacks at Appolo

The above graph on the second parameter represents that out of the sample size of 37 customers
aware of the services provided, majority of 21 customers agree to the fact of availability of
assorted varieties of snacks at the Appolo store. On the other hand, 12 customers, disagree on
the same. Although very few as 2 customers strongly agree on the availability of varieties of
snacks but no customers strongly disagree to this fact.

Competitive prices at Appolo:

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 Figure 8: Customer perception about price competitiveness at Appolo

The above graph illustrates that out of the 37 customers aware of the services provided
majority of 19 customers agree to the fact that Appolo’s prices are competitive. To add to it,
9 customers strongly agree on the same, whereas 9 customers disagree to the fact of
competitive pricing at Appolo.

Awareness of the SBI Bank ATM Services

Figure 9: Customer awareness of the SBI Bank ATM Services

The above graph depicts that 79% of the customers are aware of the SBI Bank ATM
Services, whereas 21% are unaware of it. Of the 38 customers aware out of the sample size

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of 48, 31 customers use the SBI Bank ATM services, rest of the customers although aware
have never used them.

Figure 10: Customer perception about the reliability of SBI ATM Services

The analysis of the experience of the 34 customers using the SBI bank ATM services
represents that majority of 17 customers agree to the fact that the machine is never out of
order, whereas 13 customers disagree on the same.

Awareness of free air services:

100% of the respondents are aware of the services

100% use these services

The above two statements determine that customers are aware of air services and use them.

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The service is always functioning

35
29
30
25
20
15 12
10 6
5 3
0
StronglyAgree Agree Disagree Strongly
Disagree

Figure 11: Customer awareness about air filling services

The above results show that 69% of the respondents agree or strongly agree to that fact that
the air service is always functioning. In order to make sure that the rest of the 31% feel the
same way the manager has to continuously monitor the working of the pump and maintain
it on a continuous basis.

There is always an attendant at the air filling station

Figure 12: Customer perception about the presence of an attendant at the air filling station

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The above results with respect to attendant have been counter to other results with almost
50% supporting the absence of an attendant at the air filling service point. This therefore
definitely becomes a factor due to which the overall satisfaction of a particular customer
might drastically fall. Therefore it is imperative for the retail outlet manager to see to it that
an attendant always stays at the air point and also have back up staff to deliver this service.

The attendant never asks for cash

Figure 13: Customer perception about the air filling station attendant asking for cash

The retail outlet provides air services to its customers free of cost, however the attendant in
most cases asks the customer to pay for the service. The above graph shows that 42% of the
customers have disagreed to the fact that the attendant does not ask for cash. In order to
improve the overall experience it is mandatory for the manager to inform his staff not to ask
for remuneration for air services. The customers must be requested to inform the manager if
the attendant asks for cash.

The quality of fuel dispensed is good

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 60
40
40
20 5 7
0
0
Strongly Agree Disagree Strongly
Agree Disagree

Figure 14: Customer perception about the quality of dispensed fuel

In order to improve the already satisfying quality of fuel the retail outlet has to ensure that
there is no adulteration of fuel by the staff employed and should encourage the oil company
to promote the quality of fuel.

The speed of service is satisfactory

30 25
20 13 15
10
0
0
Strongly Agree Disagree Strongly
Agree Disagree

Figure 15: Customer perception about the speed of service

The above results clearly show that the attendants at the retail outlet are highly skilled and
quick with the service as only 29% of the respondents disagreed to the above mentioned
statement. However only 19% of the respondents are completely satisfied with the speed of
service and in order to bridge this gap training programs with respect to the former have to
be organized.

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The attendant is attentive and courteous.

Figure 16: Customer perception about behavior of the attendant

The above results clearly show that the attendants at the retail outlet are mostly courteous
and attentive since only 33% of the respondents disagreed to the above mentioned
statement. However in order to bridge the gap between respondents who agree to strongly
disagree the attendants must be trained to be polite and must be reminded to be attentive at
all times.

Observations:
 Free air service is unmanned(mostly), otherwise also he asks money

 SBI bank ATM located in a corner

 Service is quick but fuel dispensing is slow

 Required stock is not maintained at the ‘cash and carry outlet”

 Cheating on customers was absent(or we couldn’t catch them)

 Behavior of attendants was pleasing.

Limitations and Caveats

1. Time was a limiting factor while carrying out the survey.

2. The sample size of the survey has been restricted to 48 individuals only.

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 3. The implications of this study are only restricted to SATELLITE
BPCL retail station.

4. The exhaustiveness of the questionnaire is limited keeping in mind

the limited span of attention of the respondents.

5. The points of contact with the respondents at the retail outlet were
reduced to three in number to avoid disturbing normal course of
business.

Conclusions and Recommendations

It is observed from the discriminant analysis that 4 wheelers associate more importance to
service quality and reliability in the decreasing order of priority when compared to
two/three wheelers. Location for them is not as important as the other factors mentioned
above. This means that they are willing to travel some extra distance to purchase fuel from
an outlet which offers better service and quality. This is not the case with 2/3 wheeler
customers who attach the highest priority to convenience of location to other parameters.
Similarly it is also observed that in terms of services 4 wheelers associate higher importance
to all the parameters of Availability of fuel, Attitude of attendant, Non Fuel Retail services
and Quickness of service over the 2/3 wheeler customers. In terms of preference towards
reliability 4 wheelers give more importance to infrastructure and cleanliness.

It can be interpreted from the above results that as far as 2/3 wheeler customers are
concerned the primary motivation factor for choosing a particular petro-retail outlet is the
convenience it offers them in terms of location where as for 4 wheeler customers they attach
substantial weightage to other factors like quality of service, the quality of fuel and the
reliability of the station. Hence in order to improve the sales of the petro-retail outlet the
only areas of improvements can be services, quality and reliability.

The null hypothesis

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H1 - “Two/three wheeler and four wheeler customers exhibit different characteristics in the process
of selecting a petro-retail outlet” is found to be true as a chi square value in the discriminant
analysis is greater than 0.05.

From the customer satisfaction survey it is observed that there is still a scope for
improvement in the satisfaction levels of the customers. Certain recommendations are

• Improve inventory management of medicines to prevent stock out and increase the
offering at Apollo

• Increase the assortment of snacks provided at Apollo.

• Offer some discounts at Apollo and make the prices more competitive.

• Increase the visibility of ATM service by putting boards or signs as it is located at a

corner and many customers are not aware of the service.

• It has been observed that the ATM machine is out of order many times.
Improvements can be made to reduce the down time of the machine.

• It has been observed that the air pump is out of order many times. Improvements can
be made to reduce the down time of the pump.

• Many customers have found the Air pump station unmanned during their visits.
Customers find this unsatisfactory. It must be ensured that the station is always
manned by an attendant.

• The air services are provided free of cost. Yet it has been observed that the attendant
asks cash from many customers. The management should ensure that the attendant
does not ask for money from the customers.

• The customer’s perception of the quality of fuel is good but many are not satisfied
by the speed of service. The management has to ensure that attendants improve their
efficiency of fuel dispensation and reduce time per customer. This will increase
customer satisfaction and also reduce long queues.
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 • Many customers, especially the auto drivers do not find the customers attentive and
courteous. Though the importance assigned to this factor is quite low for 3 wheeler
customers but it is an important factor for 4 wheeler customers. With poor
experiences in this factor customers may shift to other petro-retail outlets. It should
be ensured that attendants behave properly and exhibit courtesy with the customers.

Appendix
Questionnaire
A survey to evaluate customer preferences and the level of
customer satisfaction at the BPCL Retail outlet by the students
of School of Petroleum Management, Ahmedabad.

1. Name :

2. Age :

3. Gender : Male Female

4. Occupation :

5. Type of vehicle/ Fuel used :

6. Are you a regular customer at the BPCL retail outlet? If Yes, How
frequently do you visit?
_______________________________________________________________________

7. How important are the following factors during the selection of a retail
outlet? Please rate them on a scale of 1-5 against the following factors, 5
for most important and 1 for least important.

5 4 3
2 1

Location on the retail outlet

Services in the retail outlet

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 Quality of the product

Reliability of the retail outlet

8. Please rate the following factors that affect services on a scale of 1-5, 5 for
most important and 1 for least important. 5
4 3 2 1

Availability of desired fuel

Non Fuel Retail services

Quickness of service

Personnel attitude

9. Please rate the following factors that affect reliability on a scale of 1-5, 5
for most important and 1 for least important. 5
4 3 2 1

Infrastructure

Automization

Cleanliness

10. Are there any other factors that affect the selection of the petrol retail
outlet? Please mention in the order of importance you attach to those
factors
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
_______________

11. Are you aware that retail outlets offer services other than fuel retailing
Yes No

12. Are you aware of the services offered at Apollo? Yes No

I. If yes, do you use the services provided there? Yes No

What are your experiences at Apollo?

Strongly Agree
Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree
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 a. There is never a stock out of medicines.

b. Assorted varieties of snacks are available.

c. Apollo’s prices are competitive.

13. Are you aware of the SBI Bank ATM services? Yes
No

I. If yes, do you use the services provided there? Yes

No

What are your experiences at the SBI ATM services?

Strongly Agree
Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree

a. The machine is never out of order.

14. Are you aware of the free air services at the outlet? Yes
No

I. If yes, do you use the services provided there? Yes

No

What are your experiences of the free air service?

Strongly Agree
Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree

a. The service is always functioning.

b. There is always an attendant at the service.

c. The attendant never asks for cash.

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 Strongly Agree
Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree

15. The quality of the fuel dispensed is good.

16. I am satisfied with the speed of service.

17. The attendant is attentive & courteous.

18. How satisfied are you with the overall experience at the station?

Very Satisfied Satisfied Neutral Somewhat

dissatisfied Very dissatisfied

19. What are your suggestions in order to improve your experience at this retail
outlet?
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
______________

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BIBLIOGRAPHY:

 www.bharatpetroleum.com

 www.indianexpress.com

 www.complaintsboard.com

 www.jutnareview.com

 www.thefreelibrary.com

Reference:

 Mr. Vikas Sharma(sales officer)

BPCL ,Ahmedabad

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