Strategic Retail Management

A retail store’s front is the first impression that consumer has for a store.  Three components make up retail store’s front namely, front configurations, window displays and store’s entrances. 1. The Store-front Configuration There are three possible front configurations namely, Straight front Angled front and Arcade front. The “straight front” is a store configuration that runs parallel to the side-walk, street, mall or a parking lot. Usually the only break in the front is a small recess for an entrance. This store front design is operationally efficient because it does not reduce the interior selling space. However, it lacks consumer appeal because it is monotonous and less attractive than either of the other configurations. Window shoppers can inspect only a small part of any display from anyone position when retailers use the straight configuration. Another limitation is that reflective glare from windows can inhibit window-shopping, while heavy foot traffic and Continue reading

Unit planning is an operational management tool to plan the merchandise assortment and support. It is directed at determining the amount of inventory the retailer should carry by items and by units and answers the inventory questions of how many product items or assortment and how many units of each items or support to stock. The process of unit planning involves the use of several merchandise lists which constitute a set of operational plans for   managing the total selection of merchandise. Based on the type of merchandise, the retailer carries, one or more of the following three merchandise lists namely, Basic Stock list, Model stock list and Never-out list.  These merchandise lists represent essentially the ‘ideal’ stock for meeting the consumer’s merchandise needs in terms of assortment and support. 1. Basic Stock List The “basic stock list” is a planning instrument retailers use to determine the assortment and support Continue reading

Customer spotting techniques include several methods by which the retailer attempts to “spot” customer origins on a map. By carefully observing me magnitude and arrangement of these origins the retailer can identify the dimensions of the trading area. Retailers normally define customer  origins  by home addresses, although customers place of employment are also important. Some of the more common customer  spotting techniques include surveys of customers’ license plates, customer surveys, analysis of customer records and studies of customer activities. License Plate Surveys. By recording the license plate numbers of automobiles in the store’s parking area, retailers can obtain customer home addresses. Sampling normally includes the checking of licence plates at different times of the day, different days of the week and different weeks of the month to ensure a representative sample. The major advantage of this technique is it is relatively in expensive method. However, the advantages are; (1) It Continue reading

It is very clear that not all the consumers who are within the trading area shop exclusively from that area. A group of consumers known as “out-shoppers” frequently and regularly shop outside their local trading area. These consumers spend a considerable amount of time, money and effort making inter-trading area shopping trips. Some out-shoppers look for economic gains arising from lover prices in larger trading  centers  where assortments are better and the level of competition is more intense. Some shoppers simply seek the diversity of unfamiliar or more stimulating surroundings. Demographically  out-shoppers  are younger and are relatively well educated and their relative income is high; psychologically,  out-shoppers  are active and are on the “go”, urban-oriented who are neither time conscious nor store loyal shoppers. They tend to manifest a distaste for local shopping and, hence, a strong preference for out of town shopping areas. To obtain an accurate estimate of Continue reading

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

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