Retail Management

The exterior design of any retail store must protect the interior from the outside elements (heat, dust, humidity, light etc.). Just as  important, it also serves to convey information to potential customers. The  exterior is first part of the store that potential customers see. They will determine  from the outside whether or not they wish to enter and shop. It is critical that the  outside of the store gain the attention of customers and entice them to enter. If the  outside does not reflect an image appropriate to customers, they will not enter into the store. The important exterior design considerations  for the retail store  design are: 1. New Building versus Existing Facility The decision to build a new facility or seek existing space is a critical  element in exterior design planning. Each option has its advantages. Building  allows the retailer to design all aspects of the exterior and interior. Continue reading

This type of retail store stands alone, physically separate from other retail  stores. It does not enjoy the same benefits that shopping  centers  offer from the  stand point that customer of a free standing retail store must have made a special trip to  get there. Shoppers are not “just next door” and decide to walk in as they could in  a mall or strip center. Freestanding locations constituted about 22 percent of all  retail space, and a recent survey of retailers shows that this category leads all  others for future importance. Drive in locations are special cases of freestanding sites that are selected for the  purpose of satisfying the needs of customers who shop in their automobile. In  some situations, the drive-in aspect of the retail business is only to supplement  existing in – store sales, but the same requirements of all drive in location  apply. These sites are usually Continue reading

Store design is the architectural character or decorative style of a retail store that  conveys to the customer “what the store is all about.” Retail stores vary so much in kind, size,  and geographical location that it is difficult to generalize about design. The architecture of  the store’s exterior creates an initial impression. For example, if a  retailer chooses to  remodel an older Victorian home, the customer will get a different impression from that of  a store in the mall. Because of continued pressure on costs, newer designs reflect  a closer attention to all details including store size. The drive to reduce inventory levels  has forced a move to smaller stores, because a large store with less merchandise looks  as though it is going out of business. The stores showing an increase in store size are  those attempting to diversify and broaden merchandise lines. Higher rents, higher  building costs, and Continue reading

Retail is often termed as a business of responding to change. Today‘s retailer is faced with a rapidly changing and demanding consumer, intense competition, and pressures on costs. The combinations of the business condition that exist today and the advances in technology have created an opportunity for the development of new management approaches. One such approach is that of category management. The need to reduce costs, control inventory levels and replenish stock efficiently, led to the concept of Efficient Consumer Response (ECR) taking shape in the grocery retail industry in Europe and America. By focusing on a superior understanding of consumer needs, category management provides renewed opportunities for meeting consumer needs, and at the same time, for achieving competitive advantage as well as lower costs through greater work process efficiencies. Category Management can be defined as the distributor’s / supplier’s process of managing categories as strategic business units, producing enhanced Continue reading