How Internet of Things (IoT) Transforms the Retail Industry?

Competition is at the center of the victory or disappointment of firms. Competition decides the suitability of a firm’s exercises that can contribute to its execution, such as advancements, a cohesive culture, or great execution. Competitive Advantage is the seek for a favorable competitive position in an industry, the elemental field in which competition happens. Competitive advantage points to set up a beneficial and economical position against the powers that decide industry competition. A firm’s competition is expected to incorporate not as it were all of its current competitors, but moreover, potential competitors balanced to enter an industry at a future date.… Read the rest

Data Analytics in Retail Industry

Data acquisition using the Internet of Things (IoT) in the retail industry is one of the most important innovations in increasing the amount of relevant data that can be collected during a customer’s visit. Analyzing the behavior of a customer during an in-store purchase using sensing devices can reveal a customer’s interests and choices. Using a number of sensing devices, the in-store customer behavior is captured, pre-processed, and then transmitted over a wireless network to the cloud. A data analytics model built with fuzzy logic is developed to generate the data of a customer’s purchasing intentions. This approach will help retail stores to recommend products to customers and guide supply chain planning.… Read the rest

Application of Big Data in Retail Industry

Information technology is evolving rapidly, and now we are living in the artificial intelligence (AI) age which is considered a smart society where Internet of Things (IoTs) connecting to intelligent devices.  Thanks to the advances in technology, retail is among the industries that are most affected by digital transformation.  With this transformation, the consumer is changing their shopping experience and behavior from seeking products or shops, comparing, reading reviews to in-store, online and finally writing reviews, contacting customer service.  The growing demands of modern consumers for excellent shopping possibilities gives the modern retailer room to innovate and understand shopper’s behavior better in response to the need of modern consumers. … Read the rest

Theories of Retailing – Cyclic and Non-Cyclic Theories

Retailing may be defined as the selling of goods to the general public, rather than sales to businesses. The process usually involves sales of relatively small amounts of finished goods, with purchasers mainly motivated by their own consumption needs and not for resale.

Numerous theories have bene developed to explain the patterns and trends that manifest in the retailing and selling. These can be divided into two main categories; cyclic and non-cyclic theories.

Cyclic Theories

Cyclic theories hypothesize the retail environment and competitive practices of retailers will follow a slightly, repeating pattern, with clear identifiable stages.

1. Wheel of Retailing Theory

The wheel of retailing theory is one of the most common cyclic retailing theory.… Read the rest

Traders Oriented Promotion Methods in Retail

With the intention to get the best cooperation from the distribution channel members the companies are using different promotional methods. These methods directed at traders are called traders oriented promotional method. The traders provide the important link between the marketers and the customers. The traders may include dealers, wholesalers and retailers. The company cannot take chance to miss them.  Traders oriented promotional methods are applied to strengthen the team work among all concerned parties of sales. Some of the methods for motivation of traders are following;

  • Point of purchase display: This method is targeted at dealers or traders. It means the display facilities are provided by the manufacturers to the traders for display at their showrooms or shops.
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Retail Store’s Front Design Considerations

A retail store’s front is the first impression that consumer has for a store.  Three components make up retail store’s front namely, front configurations, window displays and store’s entrances.

1. The Store-front Configuration

There are three possible front configurations namely, Straight front Angled front and Arcade front. The “straight front” is a store configuration that runs parallel to the side-walk, street, mall or a parking lot. Usually the only break in the front is a small recess for an entrance. This store front design is operationally efficient because it does not reduce the interior selling space. However, it lacks consumer appeal because it is monotonous and less attractive than either of the other configurations.… Read the rest