Reflection Week 1

This course is designed to understand merchandising acquisition. This course is a blend of

theory, business examples, videos and class discussions and problems. It helps me to
understand the role and status of merchandising acquisition in the world. It identifies and
evaluates a range of tools appropriate for design and analysis of operating system of the
company with a special focus on decision marking.

This week has given me knowledge about merchandising acquisition, such as watching videos,
in-class discussions and chapter problems. Merchandising involves in acquiring particular good
and services and creating them available at the places, prices and qualities that empower a
retailer to reach its plan. For the videos, I have learned some new things that I have rarely seen
before. Retail technologies will change the way people shop. Customers can communicate with
a robot/computer. Smart mirrors can superimpose clothing over customer’s on-screen image.
The mirror becomes a virtual changing room where customers can create complete outfits
without ever getting dressed. Also, Amazon Go is the first shop cashier-less shop in the world.
Customers can walk in store, scan their Amazon Go app, take whatever they need and go out of
the store without waiting in line for a cashier to check out. The Amazon Go will send customers’
receipts through the app. Alibaba in China also got customers to love grocery shopping because
you can check out with Alipay and delivering fast. Alibaba offers online and offline retail. These
are the future of retail shopping. I have learned five most surprising findings about how people
actually buy clothes and shoes. Shopping is not yet actually omnichannel. When customers buy
online, they buy more. Online shopping takes longer than in-store. Brand stores and website
make higher spend than many brands stores. Customers often desire to purchase new styles of
an item they already own. When shopping online, most people think of Amazon.com. Amazon
Prime offers free two-day shipping or same day which make people spend more for
convenience. However, Amazon Prime is still a bargain for most people about their price that
may have increased in next few years. This week also helps me to see the sales, the major
responsibilities of the retail buyer and seller, comparative sales, full-store sales, assortment
planning, and retail positions use percent to total to analyze their individual businesses.