Introduction to

Retailing
Jaswant Singh
16761
Retailing involves:
• The business of selling products to the general
public
• The sale of goods and services to consumers for
their personal, family or household use
• In commerce, a retailer buys goods or products
in large quantities from manufactures or
importers and then sells individual items or
small quantities to the general public or end
user. Retailers are at the end of the supply chain.
Retailing: overview
• Retail is one of the fastest growing, most
dynamic parts of the world economy.
• Careers in retail are people-oriented, fast-paced
and exciting.
• Retailing is worth taking a good look at,
particularly if you are looking for a service-
oriented, entrepreneurial profession. The
options are many including store management,
buying, merchandising and central management.
People skills are very
important:
• Because of constant contact with customers, retailing is a
people-oriented business.
• Sales skills are also very important since many retail jobs
involve selling or buying from sellers.
• Although retail sellers may not have to solve as many
customer problems as do industrial sellers, a sense of
empathy is still important.
 Plenty of enthusiasm and little
travel:
• It would be hard to find a profession which
places a greater emphasis on enthusiasm.
People with good attitudes and a willingness to
be flexible and resourceful do very well in retail.
• The travel requirements of retailing are modest.
This means you’ll have a good chance of being
able to spend more time with your family and
will be able to be more connected with your
community than would be possible in certain
other jobs.
Abnormal hours:
• A retailer’s daily activities are more structured
than some other forms of marketing.
• The negative impression about retailing is that
retailers work long hours and for relatively low
reward.
• Since retail stores are usually open nights and
weekends, some work schedules may not be
typical 9 to 5, Monday through Friday schedule
of other professions.
Pay can be an issue, but you needn’t be
highly qualified:
• Starting salaries are low, but pay can increase as the
individual moves into management or some retailing specialty
job.
• Because the key success factors are enthusiasm, hard work
and speed, time spent in business schools is less valuable than
in other fields. Of course, business education can be quite
helpful.
Retailing: Job options
• Management trainee: most well-known retail stores have
management training programmes. A new employee will
spend six months to three years in the various retail
operations in order to learn the company and industry. At the
end of the training period, an individual will be ready to move
into retail management as either an assistant manager or a
store manager.
• Store manager: he/she is responsible for the management
and operation of an individual store. The annual evaluation of
the store manager depends to a great deal on how the store
fared during the year. Most store managers have served time
as assistant store managers who take on much of the duty of
managing the day-to-day operation of the store.
• Buyer: buyers are responsible for selecting the merchandise
that a store carries and then physically buying the goods.
Much of the work will be performed at annual and semi-
annual markets. The buyer is continually looking at a variety of
products and deciding if they are right for the store.
• Department manager: department stores contain several
small departments such as clothing, accessories, home
appliances... . Each of these departments is led by department
managers who act as store managers on a department level.
Department manager is a step to becoming a store manager
or going into corporate management.
• Sales: every retail store depends on a salesforce to sell its
merchandise. One primary difference in retail sales and
industrial sales is the customer. Generally, retail customers
come to the salesperson who must provide a high level of
service and expertise.
• Regional manager: the regional manager manages groups of
stores across several states, is responsible for reporting
performance to headquarters, making key personnel decisions
and for monitoring store performance with periodic visits and
problem-solving trips.
Retailing: salaries
• Salaries in the retail sales field are highly variable.
• Your starting pay in retail will usually not be as high as other
jobs in marketing. That will change as you prove yourself.
There is a significant premium paid for people with skill and a
desire to work hard in retail.
The selling points in retailing
are:
• Shops or stores which are called outlets
• Many countries have large retail chains which
are organised nationally and sell a standardised
selection of products.
• These outlets are often in shopping centres (US
malls), where there is a large variety of stores in
the same location.
• Hypermarkets or superstores are often located
on a retail park (a grouping of three or more
retail warehouses with car parking) where there
are a number of large stores
Department stores are even
bigger:
• These large shops sell a wide variety of products, usually from
a city centre location
• They are organised in departments (such as women’s clothes,
home furnishings, electronics...) each with its own manager
• Each department manages its own promotion, service and
control
Profile of hi-fi chain: Richer
Sounds
• Richer Sounds (hi-fi equipment retailer) is the busiest
retailer in the UK
• The founder of this retailing business is Julian Richer, a
39-year-old Londoner who used to buy and sell candles
when he was a boy.
• “Even when I was at school I wanted to go into business”,
he says, “but my age was against me”.
• In simple terms, Richer Sounds sells discounted hi-fi from
basic shops with low overheads. Stock turnover is rapid
and the company is small enough to take deals on end-
of-line or surplus equipment.
• Richer Sounds sells only hi-fi separetes such as
tuners and amplifiers. It buys either end-of-line
ranges which manufacturers want to off-load
before the next model arrives from Japan, or
small orders of current models.
• Suppliers are keen (very willing) to do business
with Richer because you don’t have to have 5000
items, you can do a deal with him on 30.
• Marketing is a key weapon: Richer Sounds
advertises regularly in national newspapers and
in alternative magazines.
• The shops are like walk-in warehouses. Outside
there are “bargain bins”(baskets with ultimately
discounted items), inside the merchandise is
stacked from floor to ceiling.
• Good service is a priority: the staff are trained
not to be pushy and they attend two training
seminars which instruct them how to follow the
correct administrative procedure.
• Customer receipts include a freephone number
they can call if they have a problem. Richer’s
own name and office number are supplied too.
Compound nouns II
Make and do
Match the following words to make
compound nouns:
• Customer • Power
• Duty • Goods
• Profit • Service
• Sales • Margin
• Purchasing • Figures
• Consumer • Free
The answers are: customer service, duty free,
profit margin, sales figures, purchasing
power, consumer goods
Task: use the above compound nouns in the following sentences:

1) Unfortunately, it is not the best moment for us

to enter the Bulgarian market. The
__________ of its citizens isn’t strong enough.
2) You don’t need to pay any additional taxes for
this bottle of whisky. It is __________.
3) We must be careful not to exceed our
___________, or we might lose a lot of money.
4) The __________ in this supermarket is
excellent: I have never heard anyone complain.
5) Our _________ are slowly rising, so we don’t
need any changes in marketing campaign at the
moment.
6) We have had some problems with storing the
____________ in inadequate warehouses.
Which of the following words are used
with MAKE, and which with DO?
• A complaint • A decision
• Nothing • Your best
• An exam • Research
• A mistake • Plans
• A suggestion • The typing
• A speech • Money
• A loss • A job
• A trip • Good
The answers are:
• Make a complaint • Make a decision
• Do nothing • Do your best
• Do an exam • Do a research
• Make a mistake • Make plans
• Make a suggestion • Do the typing
• Make a speech • Make money
• Make a loss • Do a job
• Make a trip • Do good
Complete the following questions with the
expressions from the previous exercise:
1) Have you ever had to _____ a _____ in front of an
audience?
2) What is the longest ______ that you’ve ever ______ to a
foreign country?
3) Have you ever ______ a ______ about the poor quality of
something you bought?
4) Is complaining useful? Do you think it ______ any ______?
5) Do you prefer to ___________ in a library or on the internet?
6) Have you ever _______ any _______ about how customer
service could be improved in shops that you have visited?
7) How much ____ do you think you will _____ from your job
next year?
8) What _____ have you _____ for the next summer holidays?