Module III & IV
Module III & IV
Store management:
Management of employees
Maintaining the sales environment
Cost minimization
Recruitment, Training and Development
Budgeting and Forecasting
Implementing Marketing plans
Team Leadership
Maintaining Leave and Salary Record
Holding Inventory
Extending Customer Services
Store security:
1. Store functions
2. Pricing of purchased material.
3. Pricing of store returned material.
4. Material received account.
5. Issue of material from store.
6. Physical verification of store stock.
1. Store functions:
Store functions will be supervised by different persons and will have separate sphere duties.
Store Procurement
Store Keeping
Store Accounting
Un-used Material
Material at site will be kept only for immediate use for the ongoing specific jobs. Otherwise,
material returns to Store at month end through Store Return Warrant (SRW).
The Procurement Section and Accounts Section will jointly carry out
physical verification of the store stock items by classifying the material .
Coding system:
A code system should have the following characteristics to be scientific and easily adoptable:
• Simple to use: easy to understand with minimum and /or no need for training,
v. Brisch – this is the use of numeric system. It combines numbers and decimals.
E.g. 47.002
vi. Kodak – this originated by Eastman Kodak Co. of the USA. This system
borrows all the good points from all other systems. It is much based on the
numerical codification system and in the place of decimals hyphens are used in the
Kodak System.
This is another method of codification. There are two t ypes of marking of stores:
i. Color marking – this is used to supplement the other codification systems e.g.
use of paint such as blue, red, aluminium etc
ii. Secret Marking – expensive stores items are highly susceptible to theft and
pilferage. These are discreetly marked to help detect / identify from where they
have been sold out. The secret marks are not easily visible.
Material handling is an integral part of all retail stores and accounts for 10-20% of the total
cost of the selling price. It is the way by which the goods of greater efficiency can be attained
not only in stores but wherever materials can be moved either manually or with the help of
slings, or other handling instruments. Material can also be moved by people using machines
such as forklift trucks, and other lifting fixtures (mechanical lifting). It does not directly add
value to the product but adds to the final cost.
Thus material handling function includes all types of movements within the retail stores.
These materials are of various types, shapes and size. At each stage of selling materials are
loaded and unloaded are travel widely inside the store moved. It is method for moving
material.
Each handling task poses unique demands on the floor staff. However, workplaces can help
store staff to perform these tasks safely and easily by implementing and upholding proper
policies and procedures for minimum and automatic materials handling resulting in reduction
in handling costs.
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Manual material handling operations are carried out in most retail stores because the goods
comparatively belong to FMCG sector and these are light in weight. But in case of electronics
furniture/luxury retailing, manual lifting can spoil the goods/items meant for sale. As when
these items collide with each other, they can create hazards that result in injuries.
The more merchandise customers are exposed to that is presented in an orderly manner, the
more they tend to buy. Retailers focusing more attention on in-store marketing – marketing
dollars spent in the store, in the form of store design, merchandise presentation, visual
displays, and in-store promotions, should lead to greater sales and profits (bottom line: it is
easier to get a consumer in your store to buy more merchandise than planned than to get a
new consumer to come into your store)
• Best used in retail environments in which majority of customers shop the entire store
• Can be confusing and frustrating because it is difficult to see over the fixtures to
other merchandise
• Should be employed carefully; forcing customers to back of large store may frustrate
and cause them to look elsewhere
• Most familiar examples for supermarkets and drugstores
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• Major customer aisle(s) begins at entrance, loops through the store (usually in shape
of circle, square or rectangle) and returns customer to front of store
• Exposes shoppers to the greatest possible amount of merchandise by encouraging
browsing and cross-shopping
3. Free-Flow Layout
• Fixtures and merchandise grouped into free-flowing patterns on the sales floor – no
defined traffic pattern
• Works best in small stores (under 5,000 square feet) in which customers wish to
browse
• Works best when merchandise is of the same type, such as fashion apparel
• If there is a great variety of merchandise, fails to provide cues as to where one
department stops and another starts
4. Spine Layout
• In fashion stores the spine is often subtly offset by a change in floor coloring or
surface and is not perceived as an aisle
Pay attention to the business sign, the most direct method of reaching potential customers.
Building interiors
Visual merchandising:
The use and manipulation of attractive sales displays and retail floor plans to
engage customers and boost sales activity. In visual merchandising, the products being sold
are typically displayed in such as way as to attract consumers from the
intended market by drawing attention to the product's best features and benefits.
Feature Areas
The areas within a store designed to get the customer‘s attention which include:
Freestanding fixtures
Windows
Walls
Point-of-sale (POS) displays/areas
Fixture Types
Straight Rack – long pipe suspended with supports to the floor or attached to a wall
Gondola – large base with a vertical spine or wall fitted with sockets or notches into
which a variety of shelves, peg hooks, bins, baskets and other hardware can be
inserted.
Four-way Fixture – two crossbars that sit perpendicular to each other on a pedestal
Round Rack – round fixture that sits on pedestal
Other common fixtures: tables, large bins, flat-based decks
Fixture Types
Wall Fixtures: To make store‘s wall merchandisable, wall usually covered with a skin
that is fitted with vertical columns of notches similar to those on a gondola, into
which a variety of hardware can be inserted. Can be merchandised much higher than
floor fixtures (max of 42‖ on floor for round racks on wall can be as high as 72‖.
POS Displays
Storefronts must:
o Clearly identify the name and general nature of the store
o Give some hint as to the merchandise inside
o Includes all exterior signage
o In many cases includes store windows – an advertising medium for the store –
window displays should be changed often, be fun/exciting, and reflect
merchandise offered inside
Atmospherics
Visual Communications
Lifestyle Graphics
Coordinate signs and graphics with store‘s image
Inform the customer
Use signs and graphics as props
Keep signs and graphics fresh
Limit sign copy
Use appropriate typefaces on signs
Create theatrical effects
Lighting
Colour:
Sound
o Music viewed as valuable marketing tool
o Often customized to customer demographics -
o Can use volume and tempo for crowd control
Scent
o Smell has a large impact on our emotions
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Inventory management simply means the methods you use to organize, store and replace
inventory, to keep an adequate supply of goods while minimizing costs.
Each location where goods are kept will require different methods of inventory
management.
Keeping an inventory, or stock of goods, is a necessity in retail.
Customers often prefer to physically touch what they are considering purchasing, so
you must have items on hand. In addition, most customers prefer to have it now,
rather than wait for something to be ordered from a distributor.
Every minute that is spent down because the supply of raw materials was interrupted
costs the company unplanned expenses
Inventory control is the technique of maintaining the size of the inventory at some
desired level keeping in view the best economic interest of an organization.
Customer service:
1. Financial Assistance
2. Physical Assistance
3. In-Person Product Support
4. Internet
5. Kiosks
6. Telephone/Help line/Toll free Numbers
Category management:
Category management is the process of managing a retail business with the objective of
maximising the sales and profits of a category rather than the performance of individual
brands or models.
A category is an assortment of items that the customer sees as reasonable substitutes for each
other. For example, retailers in ready to wear segment consider female and male clothing as
one category.
Retailers throughout the globe usually employ two types of buying systems:
I. Staple merchandise buying system
II. Fashion merchandise buying system
Staple merchandise consists of the items that are regularly purchased, displayed and
sold by the retailers.
For a grocery store, staple merchandise will be bread, butter, milk, salt, eggs, and
tissues and so on.
Similarly, most of the merchandise at sports store and home improvement centers are
staple.
For a departmental store, staple merchandise is camera rolls, stapler pins, pens,
notebooks, briefcase, gift items and house wares.
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Fashion merchandise consists of the items those usually have unpredictable demand
and limited sales record. Demand forecasting as discussed earlier, in the absence of
any sales history for specific fashion SKU becomes difficult.
For instance, ‗Yoga and meditation‘ that was part and parcel of Indians‘ lives before
seventies, was replaced by gym, spa and health centers, has again entered in Indians‘
lives and becoming popular among youths too.
The communication program intimates the customers about the presence of a store
and its merchandise uniqueness.
Communication program attracts the customers
Attract them and lure customers to visit the store
Retailers adopt both paid & unpaid modes of communication
Methods of Communication
Sales Promotion
Advertising
Store Atmosphere and Visual Merchandising
Websites
Personal Selling
E-mail
Publicity
USA- Database Marketing was used when the marketers directed their efforts to increase
selling effectiveness. Information Technology and Statistical analogy was also used for this
purpose.
Scandinavia and Northern Europe – The Relationship marketing was emphasized in B2B
marketing.
In the later half of 1990, there was a shift from Database marketing to Relationship
Marketing. Marketers and Retailers started using IT to communicate with customers and that
helped them to base their product offering.
1. Macro level( At the macro level there was an increased necessity to maintain
relationship with employees, customers, suppliers and government)
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2. Micro level(At the micro level there was a shift from Transaction focus to
Relationship marketing
Transaction Marketing: - focuses on single sale, product features, little emphasis on customer
service and moderate customer contact.
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4. Rewards: Pricing incentives, money savings, free gift are the ways to reward loyal
customers. Rewarding efforts must be more functional and economical.
Organised Retailers can be classified as in store retailer and Non store retailer.
Organised Retailer provide standardized service, large retail format with high quality
ambience, well trained sales staff, wide range of merchandising.
Loyalty Programme:
The use of loyalty programme is evident from the fact that the corporate expenditure on
loyalty programme is booming.
1. Loyal customers are cheaper to serve: Retailers may not be required to invest ,
maintain and communicate with customer(loyal) as they are already predisposed to
search for information ( new arrivals and services)
2. Loyal customers are willing to pay more for a given bundle of offering: Customers
normally stick into one business entity because of high switching cost and
psychological stress. They therefore will to pay higher prices.
3. They act as Effective marketer for the service offering: The word of mouth marketing
is very effective, and many stores justify their investment in loyalty programme by
seeking profits not so much from the loyal customer but from the new customer the
loyal one brings.
Of the top 10 strongest brand in the world five are retail brand. Brand management possess
several challenges to the retailer. The key issues are:
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Coco-cola, McDonalds, Sony, Nike, Microsoft, Wal Mart, Ford, Levis, Amazon are considered as
among top brands
A retailers brand is valuable since it enhances reach and endurance with the consumer and
ensures more focused strategic plan. The elements of store brand are
1. Format
2. Location
3. Visual Merchandising
4. Experience
5. Price
6. Product assortment
7. Service
Own Branding:
Own branding occurs when a retailer sells products under the retail organizations house
brand name. Own branding can be of two types, integrated own branding (occurs when the
retailer also manufactures the branded retail products.
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eg.Raymonds, Bose, Sony retail outlets) and Independent Brand (occurs when the retailer
procures the products from other suppliers though, they are sold under the label of the retail
house e.g. grocery, garments, shoes).
Private labels have showed an increase in tern of both value and volume across countries.
Private label share of the product categories such as food, drink, personal care ranged
between 5% and 20% in value terms in most countries. A well run private label brand
enhances store profitability by increasing pressure on branded manufactures.
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The main objective of HRM is to help an organization to meet its strategic goals by
attracting, maintaining and managing them.
HRM basically is the organizational function that deals with issues related to people
such as compensation, hiring, performance management, organization development,
safety, wellness, benefits, employee motivation, communication, administration, and
training.
HR Functions in Retailing
4. Performance management
6. Labor relations
7. Managerial relations
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It describes the processes and people involved in converting and conveying the goods
from raw materials to end consumers.
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The activities close to the raw material stage are known as upstream activities and
activities between the manufacturer and end consumer are downstream activities.
Objectives of SCM
To offer high customer service, low inventory management and low unit cost.
Planning
Source
Procurement
Sell
Return/Exchange
Is a new tracking technology that involves small tags that emit distinct signals. Retail
business owners can use remote scanners to read RFID tags placed on individual products,
enabling them to record a variety of information, including quantities of various stock items
and their precise locations.
Benefits of RFID:
4. Shelf Stocking
5. Check-out Process
6. Overhead Reduction