The retail industry is a division that consists of individuals and companies that are involved in the selling of finished products to consumers. When it comes to the customers associated with the retail industry, there are five different categories in which they can be put into. These categories include; loyal, discount, impulse, need-based, and wandering customers. Loyal customers represent up to 20 percent of the customer base while making no more than 50 percent of sales. The discount customers shop in stores quite often but only shop depending on the sales and markdowns. Impulse customers purchase without limitations and will buy items with no regards to price, brand, etc. The need-based customers are on a mission and will only buy what they intended on purchasing. Wandering customers are the last type of customer and they are the ones who most likely have no desire to purchase anything but are only looking to get a sense of the community and browse the products. Out of the five categories of customers impulse and loyal customers are the ones who the retail industry will primarily focus on because the loyal customers are the main people who keep coming back to the retail store and the impulse customers are going to purchase anything you can get their interest on. Every product starts its distribution with the supplier but what happens after that can differ over the past few years there has been an evolution from a single channel distribution to a multi-channel retail distribution. Consumers are now not only faced with what to buy but they now have the choice of how they wish to obtain their product. Multi-channels shopping options now include; ordering online and pick up in the store, visiting the store and order online via ...
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...way customers to another store depending on the discount offered. A competitive nature that could be overlooked by some, is the experience offered to the consumers through the elegance and appearance of the store. While appearance of a “store” may have diminished it can also play a role with online sales as well because the appearance of the site may encourage or discourage a consumer from making a purchase. With any retailer, having timely and effective understandings of what the consumers want and don’t want will give retailers a competitive advantage as well. Expanding new goods and services outside of the expected products offered is another way that retailers are competing with other stores. Stores such as Wal-Mart, the #1 global retailer, offers clothing, school supplies, food, pet supplies, electronics, toys, and much more all in the convenience of one store.
Being a multi-billion dollar retailer comes with its perks. JCPenney’s dominance over catalog merchandising has now extended into the cyber world at www.jcpenney.com. This website is multi-functional and easy to navigate, but how would JCPenney’s new e-commerce site stack up against its toughest competitor, Kohl’s, on the web? The answer may surprise you. This is an intriguing look at how varied retail comparisons can be. While JCPenney is struggling with sales on the retail floor, Kohl’s continues to exceed expectations in their stores. Online though, it is a completely different story.
The main rivals among the merchandising companies are Wal-Mart, Kohls, Family Dollar and Target among many more. Wal-Mart and Target are their main rivals, this is because Wal-Mart is known for their niche as having the lowest prices and Target is known for their fashions and home furnishings both of these items Kmart tries to compete against. Also buyers see Kmart as a discount store which doesn¡¦t stand when other competitors have lower prices. Kmart¡¦s customer service and available products are two other items that Kmart fails to be a strong competitor in against these rivals. Therefore, the rivalry among the merchandising stores is a strong competitive force in this market. Another external force that affects the market is substitutes.
The development of department stores in Canada gave way to a new modern era of Canadian society. Through the development of mass retail in 1890 and 1940, Canada experienced a spur in the retail industry as large stores such as Eaton’s, Simpson’s and HBC emerged. Donica Belisle's book “Retail Nation: Department Stores and the Making of Modern Canada”, is useful to understand the expansion of the retail industry as it examines department stores activities along with the responses of consumers, employees, governments and critics to gain insights on the evolution of consumer capitalism in Canada through a feminist perspective. In this essay, I will give a brief summary of the book as well as a review based on my opinions of the book and author.
Clothing stores often overstocked merchandise, clothing that has been returned by customers or items that are past their sell-by season. It would not be good business for these stores to throw out merchandise. Clothing stores have been known to donate some of their clothing but this is not something that most of them do. Giving away amounts to loss in profits and that is just not good business. Clothing stores often work with wholesale pallet companies who buy all the excess stock in bulk to resell. What the wholesaler does is pick up and pack merchandise into big pallets and sell at a cheaper rate. Where can you find these bulk wholesalers that sell by the pallet? The internet, of course. Finding wholesalers might be as easy as typing a few
Even though Nordstrom is an upscale fashion retailer, its outlet business, Nordstrom Rack, gives customers more acceptable price choices, and broaden its target market, exposing itself to totally different customers. Along with Nordstrom’s edgy fashion picks, outlet business attracts more young customers who contribute largely to online fashion business. Nordstrom is catering to Millennials by bringing in famous brands like Topshop and by investing heavily in digital channels. Nordstrom Rack is a way that the company provides different purchasing experience. Many people, in particular, women like the hunt of good valued items with lower price, which gives a completely experience in the Nordstrom
When talking about competitiveness, we don’t have to look only at sporting events. We can look at all the retailers at your local malls striding to gain your attention and money. These stores are trying to lure you in with several marketing tactics involving promotions and different offers. The mall is full of boutiques and departments stores indulging into these tactics. This includes the JC Penney, the department store that will be the focus. JC Penney has been going through a lot in recent years. New leadership within JC Penney has been challenged in how to reinvigorate its merchandising, supply, and pricing strategies in the competitive department store wars. This paper will concentrate on the pricing aspects of JC Penny new directions. First, a brief description of Johnson’s pricing strategy, also providing background on the company and department store industry. Secondly, an explanation of why Ron Johnson’s pricing strategy did not work. The environmental factors such as economy, the competition, and changing consumer behavior will be the focus. Next, what could have Johnson done better? While explaining this, take into account JC Penney's segmentation,
One of the way’s this is done is by price matching programs. This strategy show’s that they are aware and alert of what behaviors are happening within their competitive market. Consequently, this behavior is not shown as a strategic priority of Sears as it relates to its entire retail integrated spectrum. This is due to Sears not solely concentrated in one retail area. Where Sears may show awareness in competition with Macy’s and J.C. Penney; it loses in awareness of stores like Best Buy and Lowe’s.
Hansen, Torben, and Hans S. Solgaard. New Perspectives on Retailing and Store Patronage Behavior: A Study of the Interface between Retailers and Consumers. Boston, Mass: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2004. USC Upstate Ebook. Web. 28 February 2011.
Since brands depend on delivering a uniform, consistent product, global brands has traditionally adopted a “one size fits all” strategy (Crothers). Wal-Mart continues to expand internationally because it relates to other U.S global brands such as McDonalds. “ McDonalds grounded on one simple idea: provide desirable food and drink at low cost.”(Crothers 130). Wal-Mart’s strategy was almost the same to begin with. What they have in common is convenience and low cost. Its fast and quick just like McDonalds’. Customers at Wal-Mart can buy anything at one place and one time. It’s a superstore and everything you need is there. Customers do not need to leave to go to another store, which is why Wal-Mart is so successful. Smaller retail companies get replaced because they don’t have a chance with competing with Wal-Mart. A Wal-Mart store opening can destroy almost three local jobs for every two they cre...
Wal-Mart has a competitive advantage that helps set them apart from the others. They operate under economies of scale. Competition has a hard time matching superstores on price because they typical lack volume to negotiate better deals With the development of its own distribution center and scale of operations, Wal-Mart is able to order in larger quantity at lower prices and passed on the savings to its customers. This generates store traffic and supports a one-stop shopping experience.
After dividing their market into segments, they know exactly that their target customers are people who look for convenience and low prices. That is why they implemented a differentiation strategy through pricing. “Their famous “roll-back” pricing strategy is designed to constantly monitor competitor pricing and offer a lower price.” (Stand Out from the Crowd | Examples of Differentiation). Most people shop at Walmart because they have the perception that they have everything needed and at better prices than other stores. This differentiation strategy has positioned Walmart for competitive advantage and has demonstrated to contribute to the success of this organization.
A firm 's competitive advantage is achieved through offering customers a greater value, either by way of lower prices or by providing greater benefits and service that justifies a higher price. Nordstrom strengthens its competitive advantage and generic strategy through cost leadership and differentiation in order to differentiate themselves from other high end retailers. Nordstrom has consistently maintained a unique reputation from their establishment in 1901 to the today. Since developing a strong competitive advantage from inception, Nordstrom has been able to adapt to changing environments and market conditions to maintain their success. Nordstrom has set the bench mark in the retail sector through customer service and product quality.
The Internet is currently the third most shopped channel; brands are pushed to keep up with the trend of building an online shopping option for their consumers and this is evident through the increase in retailers offering online options for their consumers (Valerio). With solely digital stores like Net-A-Porter, Amazon and eBay, competition among digital stores and physical stores are tight. Retailers are pushed to keep up with the rise of digital shopping whether they want to or not. There are several retail implications with the rise of digital shopping, retailers are turning to multi-channel retai...
Online retail and shopping sales has been growing consistently every year, not just in the US but worldwide. Not only does online shopping give customers more convenience, more variety, and more discreetness but it also gives customers better prices. While it is quite true that Wal-Mart has product variety and cheap prices – things customers want – the physical stores do not really give the convenience and discreteness that online retail and shopping does.