Retailing can be distinguished in various ways from other businesses such as manufacturing. Retailing differs from manufacturing in the following ways: There is direct end-user interaction in retailing. In is the only point in the value chain to provide a platform for promotions. Sales at the retail level are generally in smaller unit sizes. Location is a critical factor in retail business. In most retail businesses services are as important as core products. There are a larger number of retail units compared to other members of the value chain. This occurs primarily to meet the requirements of geographical coverage and population density. Direct Interaction with Customers Retail businesses have a direct interaction with end-users of goods or services in the value chain. They act as intermediaries between end-users and suppliers such as wholesalers or manufacturers. Therefore, they are in a position to effectively communicate the response and changing preferences of Continue reading
Retail Management Basics
Functions of Retailing
Retailers play a significant role as a conduit between manufacturers, wholesalers, suppliers and consumers. In this context, they perform various functions like sorting, breaking bulk, holding stock, as a channel of communication, storage, advertising and certain additional services. Sorting Manufacturers usually make one or a variety of products and would like to sell their entire inventory to a few buyers to reduce costs. Final consumers, in contrast, prefer a large variety of goods and services to choose from and usually buy them in small quantities. Retailers are able to balance the demands of both sides, by collection an assortment of goods from different sources, buying them in sufficiently large quantities and selling them to consumers in small units. The above process is referred to as the sorting process. Through this process, retailers undertake activities and perform functions that add to the value of the products and services sold to the Continue reading
Growth Potential of Retail Trading Areas
Every retailer must answer one more question before completing the trading area evaluation process. That is what holds for the future for the retail trading area ? In other words he is to foresee the growth potentials of trading areas. It is because, the marketing opportunities can change quickly or dynamically growing trading areas might turn either static or decline. The retailer either must fight to maintain present market share or be willing to survive on a smaller share without future growth. However, with the growth, the retailer has an opportunity to expand sales and market share at a reasonable amount of cost and effort. Therefore, the final step in evaluating a retail trading area is to determine the areas future growth. The retailer can very often learn what to expect by examining future conditions because, the future of a retail trading area is an outgrowth of past and present Continue reading
Store Positioning in Retail Management
Attracting the customers is the crux of the issue of retail trade. How and where the store is positioned on the site affects the retailer’s ability to attract the customers. Therefore in evaluating the existing store facilities or planning future site layouts, the retailer should answer effectively and satisfactorily these three questions. These are: How visible is the store? Is the store compatible with its surroundings? Are store facilities placed for customer convenience ? 1. Ensuring the Store Visibility The customers must see the store if the retailer wants to achieve the goals of stopping, attracting and inviting the customers. A visible store becomes a part of the consumers mental map of where, to shop for certain product as service. Visual awareness of a stores existence has the short-run benefit of alluring impulse shoppers and the long-run benefit of attracting the future customers who develop a particular need for Continue reading
Concept of Planned Shopping Centers
The expansion of suburbia brought with it planned residential developments. These new sub divisions were connected by many new city streets and through fares along which retail businesses could be established. The notion of the planned shopping center was born. Developers could plan multi store facilities that would serve the needs of these new neighbor hoods with grocery, drug, and apparel goods. With the availability of large tracts of relatively cheap undeveloped land located many miles from the inner city, but close to these new living areas, large centers could be designed that would offer one stop shopping to entire clusters of residential areas. The last thirty years witnessed the widespread development of multiunit retail strip centers and the construction of multiacre shopping malls/theme parks. Several important issues surround the choice of locating a retail business in a planned shopping center. One important consideration is the nature of the business Continue reading
What is Retail Advertising?
The manufacturer has little concern where its product is purchased. The goal of the retail advertiser differs from that of national advertiser. The retailer advertises to encourage patronage by consumers and build store loyalty among them. The retailer is not particularly concerned with any specific brand. In case the retailer shows some concern (the retailer wants to clear stocks of a particular brand), then the message in effect is “buy brand ‘B’ at our store.” General approach in retail advertising is “buy at our store.” The sale of any specific brand is not the concern of retailer unlike the national advertiser. The retailer must compete in one of the most competitive arenas of business and move large volumes of products. Besides, the retail advertising must convey the image of the type of store to particularly attract certain types of consumers. To achieve these objectives, retailers often communicate price information, service Continue reading