Retail Management Concepts

Retail Trading Area Dimensions

A critical element in determining a retailer’s success is the ability to assess and acquire a good location. To achieve this objective, the retailer is expected to identify, evaluate and select trading areas to segment his consumer markets further. After identifying and evaluating local markets, the retailer must then segment them into trading areas. A “retail trading area” is the area from which a store attracts its customers or obtains its business.  After this, the terminal point in location decision is that of selection of proper site.

Before the trading area identification process, it is essential to know the dimensions to describe a retail trading area.… Read the rest

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Customer Spotting Techniques in Retail

Customer spotting techniques include several methods by which the retailer attempts to “spot” customer origins on a map. By carefully observing me magnitude and arrangement of these origins the retailer can identify the dimensions of the trading area. Retailers normally define customer  origins  by home addresses, although customers place of employment are also important. Some of the more common customer  spotting techniques include surveys of customers’ license plates, customer surveys, analysis of customer records and studies of customer activities.

  1. License Plate Surveys. By recording the license plate numbers of automobiles in the store’s parking area, retailers can obtain customer home addresses.
… Read the rest
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Retail Site Evaluation and Selection

Retail Site Evaluation Methods

Experts and analysts have at their disposal several methods to evaluate retail site alternatives. These are broadly classified as subjective and objective. Again some are quite simple and some are sophisticated. It suffices to take two most commonly used methods namely, checklist method and quantitative methods.

1. Checklist Method

It provides a retail site evaluator with a set of procedural steps for arriving at a subjective yet quantitative expression of a sites value. First, the evaluator enumerates the general factors that are usually considered in any site evaluation. A typical list of factors includes all or most of the site-evaluation principles~ interruption, cumulative attraction, compatibility and accessibility.… Read the rest

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Principles of Retail Site Evaluation

Selection of a retail site is based on certain principles that act as guidelines for selecting a site.  Several consumer oriented location principles guide the retailers in evaluating the retail site alternatives. It should be noted that there is no straight jacket or standard criteria for retail site evaluation.

The main  principles of retail site evaluation are :

1. The Principle of Interception

The principle of Interception  covers a site’s potential qualities that determine its ability to incept consumers as they travel from one place to another. ‘Interception’ has two distinct elements namely, “source of region” and “terminal regions.” “Source of region” is one from which the consumers are drawn and “terminal region” is one that speaks of consumer destination, a region to which consumers are drawn.… Read the rest

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Elements of Retail Store Interior Design

The retail store’s exterior is responsible for attracting the passers by both actual and potential customers to induce them to enter the store. The store’s interior is much more important than the exterior as it welcomes the actual consumer.

The layout and design of a retail store communicate a significant amount of  information about the retailer to the consumer. The retail store’s interior must contribute to the retailer’s fundamental objectives of  minimizing  operational expenses and  maximize  sales and consumer satisfaction, therefore,  profits.  To attain these goals, the store’s interior not only must be inviting, comfortable and convenient for the consumer. It must also permit the retailer to use the interior space efficiency and effectively.  … Read the rest

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Interior Design Considerations in Retail Store Design

The interior design of the retail store determines the way the merchandise is  stored and offered for sale. The interior design should allow easy access to merchandise  for customer. There are several layout patterns that enhance the customer’s access  to goods. The interior also projects an image to the shopper that should be  consistent with that conveyed by the store’s promotion, price, and merchandise  and with the exterior design. The store interior must make the customer  comfortable and encourage shopping.

The objective of layout management is to obtain the maximum benefits  from the space available. There are issues that retail managers should consider  when they make layout decision:

1.… Read the rest
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