WHAT IS RETAILING:

According to STANTON-"Retailing includes all activities directly related

to sales of goods or services to the ultimate consumers for personal and non-
business use"
The word RETAIL is derived from the french word RETAILLIER,which means to cut of
f a piece or to break bulk. Retailing is the set of business activities that add
s value to the products and services sold to consumers for their personal or fam
ily use. Often people think of retailing only as the sale of products in stores.
Not all retailing is done in stores. Retailing also involves the sale of servic
es. The distribution of consumer products begins with the producers and ends at
the ultimate consumers. Between the producer and the consumer there is a middlem
an-- the retailer,who links the producers and the ultimate consumers. Retailers
attempt to satisfy consumer needs by having the right merchandise, at the right
price, at the right place, when the consumer wants it. Any organisation selling
goods to final consumers whether it is a manufacturer, wholesaler or retailer is
doing retailing. It does not matter how the goods or services are sold by the p
erson like may be through mail, telephone, vending machine or internet or a stor
e on the street or also in the consumers home.
Retailing thus may be understood as the final step in distribution of m
archandise, for consumption by the end of consumers. Ant firm that is selling th
e product to the final consumers is termed as retailing. It is thus necessary to
understand that in the complex world of trade today retail would include not on
ly goods but also services which may be provide to the end consumers. In this ag
e consumer is the king of market and marketers are focussing on the consumer del
ight. The Retail industry currently employs over more then 20 million workers. R
etailing began several thousand years ago with peddlers hawking their waves at t
he earliest marketplaces. It is extremely competitive, and the failure rate of r
etail establishments is relatively high. Price is the most important arena of co
mpetition, but other factors include convinence of location, selection and displ
ay of merchandise, attractiveness of the establishments and reputation. A retail
er or a retail store is any business enterprise whose sale volume comes primaril
y from retailing.

FUNCTIONS OF RETAILING:
From the customer point of view, the retailer serves him by providing th
e goods that he needed in the required assortment, at the required place and tim
e. From an economic standpoint, the role of retailer is to provide real value ad
ded or utility to the customers. Retailers play a significant role as a conduct
between manufacturers, wholesalers, suppliers and consumers. Retailers provide m
ore important functions that increase the value of products and services they se
ll to consumers and facilitate the distribution of those products and services f
or those who produce them.In this context, they perform various functions like s
orting, Breaking bulk, Holding stock, as a channel of communication, storage, ad
vertising and certain additional sevices.
SORTING:
Manufacturers usually make one or a variety of products and would like t
o sell their entire inventory to a few buyers to reduce costs. Final consumers p
refer 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 suffici
ently large quantities and selling them to consumers in small units.The above pr
ocess is referred to as the sorting process.Through this process, retailers unde
rtake activities and perform functions that add to the value of the products and
services sold to the consumer. Customers are able to choose from a wide range o
f designs, sizes and brands from just one location.
BREAKING BULK:
Breaking bulk is another function performed by retailing. As it that ret
ailer means (to cut a piece off) that is breaking bulk. To reduce transportation
costs, manufacturers and wholesalers typically ship large cartons of the produc
t, which are then tailored by the retailer into smaller quantities to meet indiv
idual consumption needs.Breaking bulk is important to both the manufacturers and
consumers. It is cost effective for manufacturers to package and ship merchandi
se in larger, rather rhan smaller quantities.It is also easier for consumer to p
urchase merchandise in smaller and more mangeable quantities.
HOLDING STOCK:
Retailers also offer the service of holding stock for the manufacturers.
Retailers maintain an inventory that allows an instant availability of the prod
uct to the consumers. It helps to keep prices stable and enables the manufacture
rs to regulate production. Consumers can keep a small stock of products products
at home as they know that this can be replaced by the retailer and can save on
inventory carrying costs.This is particularly important to consumers with limite
d storage space and purchasing perishable merchandise like meat and produce.
ADDITIONAL SERVICES:
Providing product guatantees, after sales service and dealing with consu
mer complaints are some of the services that add value to the actual product at
the retailers end. Retailers also offer credit card and higher purchase faciliti
es to the customers to enable them to buy a product now and pay for it later. Sa
lespeople are also employed by retailers to answer queries and provide additiona
l information about the displayed products. The display itself allows the consum
er to see and test products before actual purchase.Consumers can choose whether
they want to pick merchandise up at a store or have it shipped to their home.
TRANSPORT AND COMMUNICATION FUNCTION:
Small manufacturers can use retailers to provide assistance with transpo
rt, storage advertising and pre-payment of merchandise. This also works the othe
r way in case the number of retailers is small. The number of functions performe
d by a particular retailer has a direct relation to the percentage and volume of
sales needed to cover both in their costs and profits.
To deliver the above functions, any retailer may have to first design ap
propriate marketing mix like Product, Price, Place and promotion.

TYPES OF RETAILERS:
Types of retailers are store-based and non-store based retailers. Retailers diff
er in terms of merchandise and services they offer to consumers, the nature of r
etail mixes used to satisfy consumer needs, the degree to which their offerings
emphasize services versus merchandise, and the ownership of the firm.

MULTICHANNEL RETAILING:
 The distribution of products across multiple sales channel-often referre
d to as multi-channel retailing-has become the norm today. Today;online consumer
s think nothing of shooping across a retailer stores, Website and catalog. As a
consequence, online product research is actually driving more land-stores sales
than online sales. The Multi-Channel Retailing report analyzes the factors that
are contributing to make online product research a vital driver of offline retai
l stores.Any retailer who isnt using the offline channel to promote offline sale
s-as well as online sales-is missing a huge opportunity.Multichannel Retailing h
as truly arrived-65% have researched a product online and purchased that product
offline. Of this people,51% have cross-channel shopped in the past 3 months, in
fluencing in store sales of more than $100billion. But the right multichannel st
rategy for retailers depends on the catagory of goods they sell-the multichannel
opportunity in that catagory, industry is dynamic and competitive.
The past 15 years have been a period of rapid growth in the practise of
multichannel retailing, mirroring the rise of the internet as a nearly ubiquitou
s tool that firms use to interact with customers. Today, many retailers conduct
business in multiple channels- brick and mortor stores, Websites, Catalogs and c
all centres- but few are adept at coordinating these channels. The multichannel
retailing report analyzes how leading retailers have been able to offer a superi
or shopping experience and gain more loyal customers-and more profit. Now consum
ers expect these retailers to offer high levels of shopping convenience, flexibi
lity and personalization by leveraging the strengths of each of their channels.
A multichannel retailing is a company that sells directly to the public
via more than one distribution channel. Most multichannel retailers sell through
mail order catalogs and "brick and mortar"retail stores. Some multichannel reta
ilers sell online as well. At a basic level, any commercial transaction that inv
olves a direct sale to a consumer at any point of time may be termed as retailin
g. It can be the selling of apparel, books, music, footwear, grocery items or ot
her things. Such a retail trade could take place in a shopping mall, a mom-and-p
op store, a department store, or in a friendly neighbourhood grocery shop. Most
of such retail trades that can be done through the brick and mortar retailing ro
ute can be succesfully replicated over the internet as well. In the traditional
sense, the term Retailing referred to the final transaction between a business a
nd a consumer (B2C). The consumer preference for multi-channel retailing calls f
or a study of the underlying reasons behind the user-acceptance and subsequent p
opularity of the particular business model.
REASONS FOR BECOMING A MULTICHANNEL RETAILER:
Traditional store-based and catalog retailer are placing more emphasis o
n their electronic channels and evolving into multichannel retailers for 5 reaso
ns:
1) The electronic channel gives them the opportunity to reach new markets.
2) They can leverage their skills and assets to grow revenue and profits.
3) An electronic channel overcomes some limitations of their traditional formats
.
4) An electronic channel enables the retailers to gain valuable insights into th
eir customers shopping behaviour.
5) Finally providing a Multichannel builds "share of wallet". Share of wallet is
the percentage of total purchases made by a customer in your store.
RETAIL MARKET STRATEGY:
The term strategy is frequently used in retailing. For ex., Retailers ta
lk about their merchandise strategy, promotion strategy, location strategy, loca
tion strategy, and private brand strategy. In fact, the term is used so commonly
it appears that all retailing decisions are now strategic decisions.Different t
ypes of retail strategies that a retailer follows are:
1) Product strategy:
Product strategy is perhaps the most important functions of a company. i
t must evalute the customers expectations at the time of delivery. Depending on
the company size and history, product management has a variety of functions and
roles. Sometimes there is a product manager, and sometimes the role of product m
anager is held by others. frequently there is a Profit and Loss(P&L) responsibil
ity as a key metric for evaluating product manager performance.
2) Promotion strategy:
Sales are the lifeblood of a business, without sales there would be no b
usiness in the first place; therefore it is very important that if a business wa
nts to succeed, it should have a sales promotion strategy in mind. The primary o
bjectives of a sales promotion is to improve a companys sales
by predicting and modifying your target customers purchasing behavior and patter
ns. sales promotion is very important as it not only helps to boost sales but it
also helps a business to draw new customers while at the same time retaining ol
der ones.
3) Price strategy:
One of the four major elements of the marketing mix is price. Pricing is
an important strategic issue because it is related to product positioning. furt
hermore, Pricing affects other marketing mix elements such as product features,
channel decisions, and promotion. Before the product is developed, the marketing
strategy is formulated, including target market selection and product positioni
ng. There usually is a tradeoff between product quality and price, so price is a
n important variable in positioning.
4) Place strategy:
As an owner of a small retail business your marketing strategy must be o
ngoing and current. Marketing strategy; to promote your business each and every
day in every way posible and stay dynamic. people are dynamic so your marketing
should be dynamic as well.
THE STRATEGIC RETAIL PLANNING PROCESS:
The strategic retail planning process is the set of steps a retailer goe
s through to develop a strategic retail plan.It describes how retailer selects t
arget market segments, determine the appropriate retail fromat, and build sustai
nable competitive advantage.Its steps are as follows:
1) Define the business mission.
2) Conduct a situation audit.
3) Identify the strategic opportunities.
4) Evaluate strategic alternatives.
5) Establish specific objectives and allocate resources.
6) Develop a retail mix to implement strategy.
7) Evaluate performance and make adjustments.
 10 ways to turn off customers:
As individuals, we all have our own little pet peeves. What may turn off one cus
tomer may not bother another. As retailers, we can't afford to turn off a single
customer and image is everything. Keeping our stores neat and clean is not only
easy to do; it is generally an inexpensive way to attract customers and create
a pleasant store atmosphere.
Take a look around your retail store. Do any of the following situations exist?
Here are ten ways your store may be turning off customers:
1. Dirty Bathrooms
This customer pet peeve clearly deserves the number one spot on this lis
t. Retail store restrooms should always be sparkling clean, whether they are ope
n for public use or not. Make sure to stock the bathrooms with plenty of paper p
roducts, soap, trash receptacles and clean it daily.
2. Messy Dressing Rooms
Keeping the dressing room area free of discarded hangers, tags and empty
packaging goes beyond creating a neat store appearance, it is also a good step
towards loss prevention. Take a quick look for out of place items after each cus
tomer uses the dressing room.
3. Loud Music
Playing music in a retail store can help create a certain atmosphere for
our shoppers. Music that is too loud, inappropriate or of poor quality can run
a positive shopping experience.
4. Handwritten Signs
In this era of technology, there is no excuse for displaying handwritten
signage. It is too simple to print a sign from our computers or use pre-printed
signs. Printed signs simply look more professional and signs with hard-to-read
handwriting can be a customer turn-off.
5. Stained Floor or Ceiling Tiles
It is true, accidents happen. However, our customers don't have to see t
hem. Dirty carpet, stained flooring and ugly ceiling tiles can turn off many sho
ppers. Sweeping, vacuuming and mopping should be done on a regular basis. Consid
er hiring a professional cleaning crew to polish tile floors. Replace stained po
rtions of carpet and ceiling tiles where possible.
6. Burned-out or Poor Lighting
Replace any burned out light bulbs as soon as possible. Make sure all cu
stomer areas of the store have ample lighting and take into consideration shoppe
rs with aging or less than perfect eyesight. Your store should be well illuminat
ed for all customers.
7. Offensive Odors
Customers understand if they visit a lawn and garden center they will ha
ve to deal with the smell of fertilizer. The same goes for shoppers of a feed su
pply store. Certain odors are understandable and may even appeal to the customer
's sense of smell. However, shoppers don't want to smell an employee's lunch dri
fting across the store. Use neutralizers to combat any offensive odors.
8. Crowded Aisles
Consumers like a selection but not if it means sacrificing comfort while
shopping. Be sure your store is designed to allow adequate space between aisles
and keep walkways free of merchandise. Cramped spaces can ruin a shopping exper
ience and turn off a customer.
9. Disorganized Checkout Counters
A stack of hangers, returned merchandise and sloppy work areas behind th
e checkout is a huge customer turn-off. This particular area where a customer's
financial transaction is taking place should not show any signs of disorganizati
on. Like messy dressing rooms, a disorganized checkout counter can lead to theft
. Keep those register areas neat and tidy.
10. Lack of Shopping Carts/Baskets
Your type of retail shop may not require a shopping cart or your store m
ay be too small, but there's not a single type of retailer that wouldn't need at
least some sort of shopping basket. If you hope for your customer to purchase m
ore than one item in your store, be sure to have an adequate supply of shopping
carts or baskets on hand.

TYPE OF STORE LAYOUT:

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