Best Practice Merchandising :: GCSE Business Marketing Coursework

Best Practice Merchandising Introduction Retailing is around us everywhere. Whenever you buy something, it is usually from a retail outlet. Everywhere that you go, there is a retail outlet begging you to buy a new car or a jumper or a can of baked beans for only 39c. The world is also full of huge shopping centres and malls packed with retail outlets trying to make you purchase from their particular store. The competition in the retail industry is tremendous and these outlets all have to use certain techniques to try and make you buy from them. What are these techniques? Why do some retail outlets go bust and others flourish into multi-national organizations positioned all around the world? It all has to do with their retail strategy; which includes: - Retail branding and positioning within the market - Their merchandise range - Their product selection and pricing - Their in-store layout - How well their stores are merchandised Customer base Customers are the people that make retail outlets money. Marketing campaigns are directed at the customers in the hope that they can be enticed into the stores so that they will spend money. New customers and current customers are given offers everyday of the week. However studies have shown that current customers generate more revenue than new customers. Existing customers tend to purchase more than new customers and studies show that costs to retain customers are 80% lower than costs to generate new customers. There are also many benefits associated with existing customers. An increase in existing customer satisfaction leads to: - Increased positive word of mouth - Less reason to offer costly loss-leaders to generate traffic - Existing customers usually spend more than new customers - The profits earned from each individual customer grow the longer they remain loyal to the firm. (McLaughlin et al 1998) Retail Brand The retail brand is one thing that customers will always look at. What makes up the retail brand? Everything in the store that makes that particular store different from every other store makes up the retail brand. The lighting, the atmosphere, the music, the colour and the layout all go into making up the brand. The perception that a customer has of the stores image is the retail brand. In today’s competitive market where many retailers have a similar product range, the retail brand can be the key to customers.