5# Retail Institutions By Store – Based Strategy Mix

In virtually every retail format, there is a great deal of competition. Here, we cover a total of 14 different
retail formats—six are food-oriented and eight are focused more on nonfood goods and services.

A retailer may be categorized by its strategy mix, the firm’s particular combination of store location,
operating procedures, goods/services offered, pricing tactics, store atmosphere and customer services,
and promotional methods.

 Store location refers to the use of a store or nonstore format, placement in a geographic area, and
the kind of site (such as a shopping center).
 Operating procedures include the personnel employed, management style, store hours, and other
factors.
 The goods/services offered may encompass many product categories or just one; quality may be
low, medium, or high.
 Pricing refers to the use of prestige pricing (creating a quality image), competitive pricing (setting
prices at the level of rivals), or penetration pricing (underpricing other retailers).
 Store atmosphere and customer services are reflected by the physical facilities and personal
attention, return policies, delivery, and more.
 Promotion involves activities in such areas as advertising, displays, personal selling, and sales
promotion. By combining the elements, a retailer can devise a unique strategy.

Scrambled merchandising occurs when a retailer adds goods and services that may be unrelated to
each other and to the firm’s original business. සිල්ලර වෙවෙන්වෙකු එකිවෙකාට සම්බන්ධ වොෙෙ භාණ්ඩ
සහ වසේො සහ සමාගවම් මුල් ව්යාපාරයට එකතු කරෙ විට වපාරබදිෙ ලෙ වෙෙඳ භාණ්ඩකරණය සිදු වව්.

The retail life cycle

The retail life cycle concept states that retail institutions—like the goods and services they sell— pass
through identifiable life stages: introduction (early growth), growth (accelerated develop ment),
maturity, and decline.

Mergers involve the combination of separately owned retail firms. Some mergers take place between
retailers of different types, such as the ones between Sears (the department store chain) and Kmart (the
full-line discount store chain) and between upscale Saks Fifth Avenue and Lord & Taylor (both owned by
mainstream Hudson’s Bay). Other mergers occur between similar types of retailers, such as two banks
(Bank of America acquiring Commerce Bank) and supermarket chain Royal Ahold merging with Delhaize
Group. By merging, firms can jointly maximize resources, enlarge their customer base, improve
productivity and bargaining power, limit weaknesses, and gain competitive advantages. It is a way for
resourceful retailers to grow more rapidly and for weaker ones to enhance their long-term prospects for
survival (or sell assets). ඒකාබද්ධ කිරීම්ෙලට වෙන් වෙන් ෙශවයන් හිමි සිල්ලර සමාගම්ෙල එකතුෙ ඇතුෙත් වව්.
සියසසේ (වෙපාර්සවම්න්තු ගබඩා ොමය) සහ Kmart (සම්ූණස වසඛීය ෙට්ටම් වෙෙඳසැල් ොමය) අර්ර සහ ඉහෙ
මට්ටවම් Saks Fifth Avenue සහ Lord & Taylor (වෙකම ප්රධාෙ ධාරාවව් Hudson's Bay) අර්ර ඇති ඒො ෙැනි
විවිධ ෙගසෙල සිල්ලර වෙවෙන්ෙන් අර්ර සමහර ඒකාබද්ධ කිරීම් සිදු වව්. ) බැැංකු වෙකක් (ඇමරිකානු බැැංකුෙ
ොණිජ බැැංකුෙ අත්පත් කර ගැනීම) සහ සුපිරි වෙෙඳසැල් ොමයක් ෙෙ Royal Ahold Delhaize Group සමඟ
ඒකාබද්ධ වීම ෙැනි සමාෙ ආකාරවේ සිල්ලර වෙවෙන්ෙන් අර්ර අවෙකුත් ඒකාබද්ධ කිරීම් සිදු වව්. ඒකාබද්ධ
කිරීම මගින් සමාගම්ෙලට ඒකාබද්ධෙ සම්පත් උපරිම කිරීමට, ඔවුන්වේ පාරිවභෝගික පෙෙම විශාල කිරීමට,
ඵලොයිර්ාෙ සහ වක්ෙල් කිරීවම් බලය ෙැඩිදියුණු කිරීමට, දුෙසලර්ා සීමා කිරීමට සහ ර්රඟකාරී ොසි ලබා ගර්
හැකිය. එය සම්පත් සිල්ලර වෙවෙන්ෙන්ට ෙඩා වව්ගවයන් ෙධසෙය ෙෙ අර්ර දුෙසල අයට පැෙැත්ම සඳහා (වහෝ
ෙත්කම් විකිණීම) සඳහා ඔවුන්වේ දිගුකාලීෙ අවප්ක්ෂාෙන් ෙැඩි දියුණු කිරීමට මාගසයකි.

With diversification, retailers become active in businesses outside their normal operations, perhaps
adding stores in different goods/service categories. විවිධාැංගීකරණය සමඟින්, සිල්ලර වෙවෙන්වෙෝ ඔවුන්වේ
සාමාන්ය වමවහයුම් ෙලින් පිටර් ව්යාපාරෙල ක්රියාකාරී බෙට පත් වෙති, සමහර විට විවිධ භාණ්ඩ/වසේො ෙගසෙල
ගබඩා එකතු කරති.

downsizing—whereby unprofitable stores are closed or divisions are sold off—by retailers unhappy with
performance.

Cost Containment and Value-Driven Retailing

With a cost-containment approach, retailers strive to hold down both initial investments and operating
costs. Many use this strategy due to intense competition from discounters, the need to control
complicated chain or franchise operations, high land and construction costs, the volatility of the
economy, and a desire to maximize productivity. සිල්ලර වෙවෙන්වෙෝ ආරම්භක ආවයෝජෙ සහ වමවහයුම්
පිරිෙැය යෙ වෙකම රඳො ගැනීමට උත්සාහ කරති. වබාවහෝ අය වමම උපායමාගසය භාවිර්ා කරන්වන්
ෙට්ටම්කරුෙන්වේ ෙැඩි ර්රඟකාරිත්ෙය, සැංකීණස ොම වහෝ බලයලත් වමවහයුම් පාලෙය කිරීවම් අෙශේයර්ාෙය,
අධික ඉඩම් සහ ඉදිකිරීම් පිරිෙැය, ආර්සිකවේ අසේර්ාෙරත්ෙය සහ ඵලොයිර්ාෙ උපරිම කිරීමට ඇති ආශාෙ
වහේතුවෙනි.

Cost containment can be accomplished by one or more of these approaches

 Use plainer fixtures and lower-cost displays.

 Buy refurbished equipment.
 Join cooperative buying and advertising groups.
 Encourage manufacturers to finance inventories.
 Use shipping techniques that reduce inventory carrying costs.

The following food-oriented strategic retail formats

 A convenience store is typically a well-located, food-oriented retailer that is open long hours and
carries a moderate number of items. The store facility is small (only a fraction of the size of a
conventional supermarket) and has average to above-average prices and average atmosphere and
customer services. The ease of shopping at convenience stores and the impersonal nature of many
large supermarkets make convenience stores particularly appealing to their customers, many of
whom are male. පහසුෙ සඳහා වෙෙඳසැලක් යනු සාමාන්යවයන් වහාඳින් පිහිටා ඇති, දිගු වව්ලාෙක් විෙෘර්ෙ
පෙතිෙ සහ මධ්යසේර් භාණ්ඩ ප්රමාණයක් රැවගෙ යෙ ආහාර-අභිමුඛ සිල්ලර වෙවෙන්වෙකි. ගබඩා පහසුකම
කුඩා (සාම්ප්රොයික සුපිරි වෙෙඳසැලක ප්රමාණවයන් වකාටසක් පමණි) සහ සාමාන්ය සිට සාමාන්යයට ෙඩා
ඉහෙ මිල ගණන් සහ සාමාන්ය ොයුවගෝලය සහ පාරිවභෝගික වසේො ඇර්. පහසුෙ සඳහා වෙෙඳසැල්ෙල සාප්ු
සොරි යාවම් පහසුෙ සහ වබාවහෝ විශාල සුපිරි වෙෙඳසැල්ෙල ඇති ුද්ගල වොෙෙ සේෙභාෙය පහසුෙ සඳහා
වෙෙඳසැල් විවශේෂවයන් ඔවුන්වේ ගනුවෙනුකරුෙන්ට ආකෂසණය කරයි, ඔවුන්වගන් වබාවහෝ වෙවෙක් පිරිමි
ය.
 CONVENTIONAL SUPERMARKET A supermarket is a self-service food store with grocery, meat, and
produce departments and a minimum annual sales of $2 million. Included are conventional
supermarkets, food-based superstores, combination stores, box (limited-line) stores, and
ware house stores.
 A conventional supermarket is a departmentalized food store with a wide range of food and related
products; sales of general merchandise are rather limited.
 A food-based superstore is larger and more diversified than a con national supermarket but usually
smaller and less diversified than a combination store.
 A combination store unites supermarket and general merchandise in one facility, with general
merchandise accounting for 25 to 40 percent of sales.
 BOX (LIMITED-LINE) STORE The box (limited-line) store is a food-based discounter that focuses on a
small selection of items, moderate hours of operation (compared with other supermarkets), few
services, and limited manufacturer brands.
 Warehouse store is a food-based discounter that offers a moderate num ber of food items in a no-
frills setting. It appeals to one-stop food shoppers, concentrates on special purchases of popular
brands, uses cut-case displays, offers little service, posts prices on shelves, and locates in secondary
sites

General merchandise retail formats

A speciality store concentrates on selling one type of goods or service line, such as young women’s
apparel. It usually carries a narrow but deep assortment in the chosen cat egory and tailors the strategy
to a given market segment.

A department store is a large retail unit with an extensive assortment (width and depth) of goods and
services that is organized into separate departments for purposes of buying, promotion, customer
service, and control.

These are some reasons for traditional department stores’ difficulties:

 These stores no longer have exclusive brands for many of the items they sell
 Some stores are too big and have a lot of unproductive space and low-turnover merchandise.
 Many department stores have had a weak focus on market segments and a fuzzy image.
 Some companies are not as innovative in their merchandise decisions as they once were.
 Such chains as Sears have repeatedly changed strategies, confusing consumers as to their image.

A variety store handles an assortment of inexpensive and popularly priced goods and services, such as
apparel and accessories, costume jewelry, notions and small wares, candy, toys, and other items in the
price range.

An off-price chain features brand-name (sometimes designer) apparel and accessories, footwear
(primarily women’s and family), linens, fabrics, cosmetics, and/or housewares and sells them at
everyday low prices in an efficient, limited-service environment. අඩු මිල ොමයක් සන්ොම ොමය (සමහර
විට නිමසාණකරු) ඇඟලුම් සහ උපාැංග, පාෙහන් (මූලික ෙශවයන් කාන්ර්ා සහ පවුවල්), ලිෙන්, වරදිපිළි,
රූපලාෙන්ය ද්රව්ය, සහ/වහෝ ගෘහ භාණ්ඩ සහ ඒො කායසක්ෂම, සීමිර් වසේොෙක් තුෙ එදිවෙො අඩු මිලට අවලවි
කරයි. පරිසරය.

A factory outlet is a manufacturer-owned store that sells closeouts, discontin ued merchandise,
irregulars, canceled orders, and sometimes in-season, first-quality merchandise. Manufacturers’ interest
in outlet stores has risen for four basic reasons:

1. Manufacturers can control where their discounted merchandise is sold. By placing outlets in out-of-
the-way spots with low sales penetration of the firm’s brands, outlet revenues do not affect
relationships with key specialty and department store accounts.

2. Outlets are profitable despite prices being up to 60 percent less than customary retail prices. Profits
are due to low operating costs—few services, low rent, limited displays, and plain store fixtures—and
selling more merchandise made especially for outlet stores.

3. The manufacturer decides on store visibility, sets promotion policies, removes labels, and ensures
that discontinued items and irregulars are disposed of properly.

4. Because many specialty and department stores are increasing private-label sales, manufactur ers
need revenue from outlet stores to sustain their own growth

MEMBERSHIP CLUB A membership (warehouse) club straddles the line between whole saling and
retailing. It appeals to price-conscious consumers, who must be members to shop there. Some members
are small business owners and employees who pay a membership fee to buy merchandise at wholesale
prices.
At a flea market, many retail vendors sell a range of products at discount prices in plain surroundings. It
is rooted in the centuries-old tradition of street selling—shoppers touch and sample items, and haggle
over prices.

A full-line discount store is a type of department store with these features:

 Less fashion-sensitive merchandise is often carried

 Shopping carts and centralized checkout service are provided
 Buildings, equipment, and fixtures are less expensive; and operating costs are lower than for
traditional department stores and specialty stores.
 It conveys the image of a high-volume, low-cost outlet selling a broad product assortment for
less than conventional prices.