Merchandising

In the broadest sense, merchandising is any practice which contributes to the sale of products to a retail consumer. At a retail in-store level, merchandising refers to the variety of products available for sale and the display of those products in such a way that it stimulates interest and entices customers to make a purchase.

In retail commerce, visual display merchandising means merchandise sales using product design, selection, packaging, pricing, and display that stimulates consumers to spend more. This includes disciplines and discounting, physical presentation of products and displays, and the decisions about which products should be presented to which customers at what time.

Merchandising helps to understand the ordinary dating notation for the terms of payment of an invoice. It solves pricing problems including markups and markdowns. It helps to find the net price of an item after single or multiple trade discounts and can calculate a single discount rate that is equivalent to a series of multiple discounts. Further it helps to calculate the amount of cash discount for which a payment qualifies.

Merchandising (play)

Merchandising is a 1999 play by American playwright David Henry Hwang. The play was written as a special commission from the Actors Theatre of Louisville's Humana Festival. The 1999 Festival sold "T(ext) Shirt Plays" by authors such as Wendy Wasserstein, Tony Kushner, and Mac Wellman.

Hwang's play, printed on a navy blue shirt, depicted two filmmakers who lament the failure of their picture and the nature of merchandising in Hollywood.

The play was published, along with the other "T(ext) Shirt Plays" in Smith and Kraus' Humana Festival 1999: The Complete Plays.

References

Thomas & Friends merchandise

Thomas & Friends merchandise has been produced to capitalize on the success of the television series Thomas & Friends (formerly Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends). Whilst merchandise was produced alongside due to the popularity of the first of The Railway Series books by the Rev. W. Awdry since 1945, and the original broadcast of the television series in 1984 in the United Kingdom, large numbers of manufacturers have sought to produce Thomas-branded items after the television series was broadcast in America and Japan.

The most popular and wide-ranging items of merchandise are the models of the characters, which have been produced in many different ranges, some including accompanying railway systems. The Rev. W. Awdry created the original toy model of Thomas the Tank Engine, which inspired the character, soon after the first book of stories was complete. In 1927, while still at school, he built Annie, and in 1948, he built Clarabel. Other popular products include videos, books and magazines, and computer games. 'Thomas' merchandise has also included such diverse items as: audiobooks, annuals, colouring and activity books, jigsaws, board games, stationery, clothing, cutlery, household items such as curtains, duvet covers and lampshades, and soft drinks and spaghetti shapes.