Loso Judijanto

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) in Modern Retail: A Bibliometric Study

Introduction

Customer relationship management (crm) in modern retail: a bibliometric study. Explore CRM evolution in modern retail via a bibliometric study. Discover key research trends, AI & big data integration, and strategic insights for retailers to gain competitive advantage.

Abstract

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) has emerged as a strategic cornerstone for modern retail, driven by the dual forces of customer-centric business models and digital transformation. This study conducts a bibliometric analysis to map the intellectual structure, research trends, and thematic evolution of CRM in the retail sector. Using the Scopus database, publications from 2000 to 2025 were retrieved and analyzed with VOSviewer, producing co-authorship, co-citation, and keyword co-occurrence visualizations. The findings reveal that traditional themes such as customer satisfaction, loyalty, and public relations remain central to CRM research, while newer areas such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, big data, and e-commerce have emerged as critical enablers of CRM innovation. The analysis further highlights the dominance of the United States, the United Kingdom, and India as major contributors, alongside strong collaborations across Europe and Asia. Theoretically, this study consolidates fragmented insights across marketing, management, and information systems, situating CRM within the broader paradigm of digital business ecosystems. Practically, it provides retailers with guidance on aligning relationship-building strategies with data-driven technologies to achieve competitive advantage. While limited by database coverage and language scope, the study offers valuable directions for future research, emphasizing interdisciplinary collaboration and the integration of advanced analytics into CRM practices.

Review

This bibliometric study on Customer Relationship Management (CRM) in modern retail offers a timely and pertinent analysis of a critical area for both academics and practitioners. By employing a robust methodology utilizing the Scopus database and VOSviewer, the authors aim to map the intellectual structure, identify key research trends, and trace the thematic evolution of CRM in the retail sector from 2000 to 2025. This comprehensive approach is highly commendable, as it provides a structured overview of a field increasingly shaped by digital transformation and customer-centric strategies, setting a strong foundation for understanding its current state and future trajectory. The study effectively highlights a dual landscape in CRM research: the enduring significance of traditional themes such as customer satisfaction, loyalty, and public relations, alongside the rapid emergence of technological enablers like artificial intelligence, machine learning, big data, and e-commerce. These findings offer valuable insights into how established principles are being reimagined and enhanced through digital innovation. Furthermore, the identification of dominant contributing countries (US, UK, India) and active cross-regional collaborations (Europe, Asia) provides a clear picture of the global research network in this domain. Theoretically, the paper adeptly consolidates fragmented knowledge across marketing, management, and information systems, positioning CRM within the broader context of digital business ecosystems. Practically, it furnishes retailers with actionable guidance for aligning relationship-building strategies with data-driven technologies to secure a competitive edge. While the study makes significant contributions, its acknowledged limitations regarding database coverage and language scope suggest potential avenues for deeper exploration in future research. Despite these constraints, the paper successfully offers valuable directions, emphasizing the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration and the integration of advanced analytics into contemporary CRM practices. This study serves as an essential reference point, providing a clear synthesis of the field and laying crucial groundwork for subsequent scholarly inquiry into the evolving dynamics of CRM in the modern retail landscape.

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