Retail Marketing
Meaning of Retailing.
The word “Retail” is derived from the French word “Retaillier” which means ‘to
cut a piece of’ or ‘to break a bulk’. It also means a final transaction with customer.
Retail is a set of activities that adds value to the products and services sold to
consumers for their personal or family use. Retailing is often thought as the sale
of products in stores. Retailing is the final step in the distribution of products for
consumption or use by the end users.
Any firm that sells products or provides services to final consumers is doing the
retailing function. Regardless of whether the firm sells to the consumer in store,
through the mail, over the telephone, through the internet, door to door, or through
a vending machine, the firm is involved in retailing. Retailing consists of all
activities involved in the marketing of goods and services directly to the
consumer
for their personal, family and household use.
Retailing involves direct interface with the customers and the coordination of
business activities from end to end right from concept or design stage of product
or offering. Retailing is an art as well as science. Retailing is a specialized activity
and needs a lot of expertise. The retail industry has contributed to the economic
growth of many countries and is undoubtedly one of the fastest changing and
dynamic industries of the world today.
Retail marketing includes a set of activities where a retailer buys products from a
wholesaler or manufacturer to sell them to ends users (consumers). In simple
words, a retailer is an intermediary which makes products available to consumers
using different channels, for example, brick-and-mortar retail stores, shopping
malls, shopping websites, automatic vending machines, kiosks etc.
Retail marketing is the process of promoting and selling products or services to
consumers through various channels, both physical and digital. It involves a
strategic blend of techniques aimed at attracting customers, driving purchases,
and
increasing sales. Here are the key points about retail marketing:
Definition and Purpose:
• According to Philip Kotler, “Retailing includes all the activities involved
in selling goods or services to the final consumers for personal, non-
business enterprise whose sales volume comes primarily from retailing.”
• According to the NAICS(North American Industry Classification System),
“The retail trade sector comprises establishments primarily engaged in
retailing, merchandise, generally without transformation and rendering
services incidental to the sale of merchandise.”
• According to Roger Cox and Paul Britain, “Retailing is the sale of goods
and services to the ultimate consumer for personal, family or household
use.”
• Andrew J. Newman and Peter Cullen, “Retailing is the set of activities that
markets products or services to final consumers for their own personal or
household used. It does this by organizing their availability on a relatively
large scale and supplying them to consumers on a relatively small scale.”
• David Gilbert, “Retail is any business that directs it marketing efforts
towards satisfying the final consumer based upon the organization of
selling goods and services as a means of distribution.”
• David Gilbert, “Retail is any business that directs it marketing efforts
towards satisfying the final consumer based upon the organization of
selling goods and services as a means of distribution.”
• According to Michael Levy and Barton A Weitz, “Retailing is the set of
business activities that adds value to the products and services sold to
consumers for their personal or family use.”
• According to Chetan Bajaj, Rajnish Tulli and Nidhi Varma, “Retailing is
defined as a set of activities or steps used to sell a product or a service to
consumers for their personal or family use.”
• According to Ramkishen Y., “Retailing encompasses the activities of
supply chain management, merchandising, visual merchandising, store
operations, human resources, financial and marketing activities, thereby
ensuring smooth flow of goods, services and ideas from the producer to the
user.”
• According to William J. Stanton, “Retailing includes all activities directly
related to sales of goods and services to the ultimate consumers for personal
and non-business use.”
• According to McCarthy, “Retailing is selling final consumer product to
households.”
• According to Cundiff and Still, “Retailing consists of those activities
involved in selling directly to ultimate consumers.”
• According to Berman and Evans, “Retailing is said to encompass the
business activities involved in selling goods and services to consumers for
their personal, family or household use.”
• Definition of Retail Marketing Retail is the sale of goods and services from
businesses to an end user (called a customer). Retail marketing is the
process by which retailers promote awareness and interest of their goods
and services in an effort to generate sales from their consumers. There are
many different approaches and strategies retailers can use to market their
goods and services.
• Retail marketing is about creating awareness of products and services to
drive sales and profits. It encompasses all the tactics used to get products
in front of customers and persuade them to buy. It includes promoting
products, creating awareness, and executing strategies to lure, engage, and
satisfy customers in the retail environment.
• Retail is the sale of goods and services from businesses to an end user
(called a customer). Retail marketing is the process by which retailers
promote awareness and interest of their goods and services in an effort to
generate sales from their consumers. There are many different approaches
and strategies retailers can use to market their goods and services.
Retail Marketing Mix: The Four Ps of Retail Marketing
Retailers use various advertising and communication tools to grow awareness and
considerations with future customers. Finding the right marketing mix can lead
to a profitable growth and a higher return on investment. By considering the right
advertising strategy retailers can persuade consumers to choose to do business
with their retail brand. The fundamental approach used my modern retailers in
marketing their products is the Four Ps of Retail Marketing.
Product: There are two primary types of merchandise. Hard or durable goods
like appliances, electronics, and sporting equipment. And soft goods like
clothing, household items, cosmetics, and paper products. Some retailers carry a
range of hard and soft items like a supermarket or a major retail chain while many
smaller retailers only carry one category of goods, like a boutique clothing store.
Price: Pricing is a key element to any retail strategy. The retail price needs to
cover the cost of goods as well as additional overhead costs.
Place: The place is where the retailer conducts business with its customers. The
place can be a physical retail location or a non-physical space like a catalog
company or an e-store. While most retailers are small, independently owned
operations over 50% of retail sales are generated by major retailers often called
“big box retailers”.
Promotion: Promotion is the final marketing mix elements. Promotions include
personal selling, advertising, sales promotion, direct marketing, and publicity. A
promotional mix specifies how much attention to pay to each tactic, and how
much money to budget for each. A promotion can have a wide range of objectives,
including increasing sales, new product acceptance, creation of brand equity,
positioning, competitive retaliations, or the creation of a corporate image.
The Four Ps Revisited: Customer-Oriented Retail Marketing
In recent years, to address the need of taking a more customer-oriented approach
to marketing, the 4 Ps of Retail Marketing have been revised and replaced by the
4 Cs: Consumer, Cost, Communication, and Convenience.
Consumer (versus Product): Instead of focusing on the product the retailer
wants to sell a smart retailer studies the wants and needs of its consumers before
going to market. The more clearly a retailer understand the wants and needs of its
customer base, the greater chance it will have of attracting customers and
increasing sales.
Cost (versus Price): In retail a cost is the value of money that has been used up
to produce something. Factors that influence cost include the customer’s cost to
change to a new product and the customer’s cost for not selecting a competitors
product.
Convenience (versus Place): The Internet has made Place less of a factor in
consumer purchasing decisions. Convenience addresses the ease of completing a
transaction including the ease of finding information about a product, finding the
right product and purchasing a product.
Communication (versus Promotion): Communications including a range of
efforts including advertising, public relations, grassroots efforts, social media,
and
any other form of communication between the company and the consumer.
