1. What is retailing?
Retail is the process of selling consumer goods or services to customers through
multiple channels of distribution to earn a profit. It can also be defined as the
timely delivery of goods and services demanded by consumers at prices that are
competitive and affordable. Retail is a very broad term that encompasses a huge
industry. It involves the sale of merchandise from a single point of purchase
directly to a customer who intends to use that product. The single point of
purchase could be a brick-and-mortar retail store, an internet shopping website,
or a catalog. In retailing, retailers provide services that make it easier for
customers to buy and use products. For example, retailers offer credit so that
consumers can have a product now and pay for it later. They also display
products so that consumers can see and test them before buying. Some retailers
employ salespeople in stores or maintain Web sites to answer questions and
provide additional information about products. Lastly, retailing is all about
attracting consumers through product displays and marketing.
2. What are the different types of retailers? (Define each)
Department Store - it sells a wide range of products that is arranged by category
into different sections such as jewelry section, clothing section, houseware
section, shoes section and many more. You can buy all you need in department
store because it offers a wide range of merchandise.
Grocery Stores and Supermarkets- it sells all types of food and beverage
products, and sometimes also home products and consumer electronics as well.
If you need recipes for the dish you intend to cook, you can directly shop in
grocery stores and supermarkets because you will find anything there. From
meat, vegetables, fruits and all.
Warehouse Retailers- it sells in bulk or in quantities not otherwise available in
other retail outlets. Some of warehouse retail stores offers delivery services to
customers and they usually don’t pay much attention on the inside of the
warehouse since they sell in bulk.
Specialty/Outlet Retailers- it sells specific category and brand-name products.
Adidas and Rebook are examples of specialty retailers, generally selling only
merchandise that carries their brand name or is associated with it.
Convenience Retailer- it is essential for on-the-go consumers. These are
usually a retail store with a convenient location and primarily sells products that
are most needed by costumers. They sell a limited range of grocery merchandise
and auto care products at a premium "convenience" price.
Discount Retailer- it sells a wide variety of products that are often privately
labeled brands at below-retail prices. Most people prefer buying at discount
retailers because aside from its low price, it also offers high quality products.
Internet/Mobile Retailer- the transaction in internet/mobile retail typically
happens online. Internet shopping websites ship the purchases directly to
customers at their homes or workplaces, without the expenses of traditional
brick-and-mortar retailers. They usually sell merchandise for a lower-than-retail
price.
3. How does retailing work? Enumerate the key players in a typical
retail supply and determine their roles?
Retail chains find a group of people that they understand as their customer base.
They assure themselves that they know what those people like, need and want to
buy. Then they go about finding those products from suppliers, and negotiate for
the lowest costs. They sell those products at a higher price to the consumer,
generating a gross profit margin. Behind the scenes they have a supply chain
system in place which means the right inventory gets to the right stores at the
right time to ensure the retailer doesn’t miss out on lost sales through out of
stocks. The retail supply chain consists of manufacturers, wholesalers, retailers,
and the consumer (end-user). The wholesaler is directly connected to the
manufacturer, while the retailer is connected to the wholesaler.
The roles of the key players in a typical retail supply chain are:
Manufacturers: Produce goods through the use of machines, raw materials, and
labor. The produced products are the purchased by wholesalers.
Wholesalers: Purchase finished goods from the manufacturers and sell those
goods to retailers in large bulk quantities.
Retailers: Sell the goods in small quantities to the end-user at a higher price,
theoretically at the manufacturer’s suggested retail price
Consumers: Buy the goods from the retailer for personal use.
4. How does e-tailing differ from brick-and-mortar retailing in terms
of:
1. Location
E-retailing and brick-and-mortar retailing often differs on the ways the items are
sold. E-retailing sell products online through a website and virtual shopping cart.
Orders are entered remotely, and the goods are then mailed to the customers.
Brick-and-mortar businesses, on the other hand, have physical locations. They
might consist of a single outlet or a chain of stores. However, more and more
brick and mortar businesses are adopting e-commerce platforms, merging the
two to create a seamless shopping experience for their targeted audiences.
2. Marketing
Brick-and-mortar stores often use traditional forms of advertising such as
television and radio commercials, newspapers, and billboards. E-commerce
organizations, on the other hand, can purchase advertising through traditional
methods, but those are rarely regarded as effective when compared with social
media and digital advertising. Because they operate generally in the online
space, digital advertising tends to be more effective for these firms, so they see
little reason to venture into older marketing approaches.
3. Sale Transactions
Most brick-and-mortar outlets accept only cash, credit cards, or checks as legal
means for purchase of their goods and services. E-commerce outfits also accept
cards, but they don’t have a way to take payment by cash or checks. They can
accept other options for completing a transaction such as PayPal.
4. Customer Attention
It is major challenge for e-retailing to deliver a personalized experience to every
consumer. You’re not physically present while people are shopping. Most
consumers tend to crave instant gratification, which means they’ll often abandon
a cart whenever they have a question rather than wait. Brick-and-mortar shops,
on the other hand, have an advantage in being able to provide instant customer
service and most consumers prefer to speak with a real person face to face,
rather than through a phone.
5. Operating Expenses
E-commerce retailers and brick-and-mortar retailing can be both expensive in
their own ways. E-tailing can build a brand identity and begin to realize revenue,
making a simple, advantageous start for themselves. But after an initial period of
growth, infrastructure costs make it difficult to stay. Same with brick-and-mortar
retailing, it can be expensive especially when the store does not cater that much
customers due to intense competition. However, they still need to pay for rent,
inventory warehousing, employee labor, property tax, and more.
5. Why do you think retailing have undergone so much change
today?
For me, retailing has undergone so much change today because of the
advancement of technology. Some retail companies offer a different approach on
the way they sell their merchandise in order for them to keep up with the trends
and meet the needs of customers. From traditional retailing, there have been
new avenues that are formed. One example is the e-tailing which is very helpful
nowadays due to the pandemic going on in the world. Some example of the
changes in retailing in 2020 are beacons, facial recognition, robot assistants,
smart mirror, auto checkouts and many more. These just proves that
technologies are really changing the way we shop and sell. One thing that I have
observed from the technological changes I have mentioned is that it makes the
lives of people easier. Personally, I think that even when there has been a huge
change in the way retail works, we people still go back to the way we usually
purchase our needs which is from traditional retailing. However, change is
constant. As time goes on, nothing will stay the same as retailers continue to
innovate and create new ways for the betterment of everyone.
