The Convenience Economy Comes of Age

Among the transformations on the retail landscape in the recent past, perhaps none was more profound than proliferation of the “convenience economy,” in which everything is at the consum­er’s disposal at the click of a button, according to Chris Bryson, CEO of Unata, a leading omnicommerce solutions provider. He states, “2015 was the year

Are Hot Retailers of 2015 Still Hot?

Differentiation is important for the nation’s fastest-growing (“hot”) retailers. These retailers typically come in a variety of different flavors, but one thing they have in common is that they all do things a little differently—and this helps them get (and often) stay ahead of the pack. Chart-topper Hudson’s Bay is “hot” because at least

1 Comments

Navigating the Shopper Universe through Big Data

Taking on the challenge of understanding the motivations behind why shoppers buy what they buy, and how they buy it, could pay off in manifold ways. “There are lifestyle tensions that impact shopping behavior for each shopper segment, but these tensions often extend beyond the store: time stress, finan­cial pressure, and information overload,” explains

1 Comments

How Do You Attract and Satisfy Millennials?

1. Introduction How do you connect with a generation that defies easy categorization? The members of Generation Y (Millennials) have per­plexed many knowledgeable retailers for more than a decade. There is a stereotype that all Millennials are broke 20-some­things who live with their parents, but that’s only a small seg­ment of the cohort. Many

1 Comments

The Importance of Location to a Retailer

Location decisions are complex. Costs can be quite high, there is little flexibility once a site is chosen, and locational attributes have a big impact on a strategy. One of the oldest retailing adages is that “location, location, location” is the major factor leading to a firm’s success or failure. See Figure 9-1. A

1 Comments

Retail Trading-Area Analysis

The first step in choosing a retail store location is to describe and assess alternate trading areas and then choose the best one. A trading area is a geographical area containing the customers and potential customers of a particular retailer or group of retailers for specific goods and/or services. The size of a trading

2 Comments

Characteristics of Retail Trading Areas

After the size and shape of alternative trading areas are determined, the characteristics of those areas are studied. Of special interest are the attributes of residents and how well they match the firm’s definition of its target market. An auto repair franchisee may compare opportunities in sev­eral locales by reviewing the number of car

1 Comments

Types of Retail Locations

There are three different location types: isolated store, unplanned business district, and planned shopping center. Each has its own attributes as to the composition of competitors, parking, near­ness to nonretail institutions (such as office buildings), and other factors. Step 2 in the location process is to determine which type of location to use. 1.

1 Comments

The Choice of a General Retail Location

The last part of Step 2 in location planning requires a retailer to select a locational format: isolated, unplanned district, or planned center. The decision depends on the firm’s strategy and a careful evaluation of the advantages and disadvantages of each alternative. Next, in Step 3, the retailer chooses a broadly defined site. Two

2 Comments

Retail Location and Site Evaluation

Assessment of general locations and the specific sites within them requires extensive analysis. In any area, the optimum site for a particular store is called the one-hundred percent location. Because different retailers need different kinds of sites, a location labeled as 100 percent for one firm may be less desirable for another. An upscale

1 Comments

Are Smaller and Faster Better in Retailing?

As the grocery industry diversifies, whose lunch will get eaten? The first 365 formatted stores from Whole Foods Market opened in mid-2016. Kroger opened the first Main & Vine in February 2016. Fresh Formats, an Ahold company, debuted bfresh stores in fall 2015; and Fresh Thyme Farmer’s Market, which opened its first store in

1 Comments

Organize, Optimize, Synchronize the Retail Location

To get closer to its customers, American Eagle Outfitters (AEO) conducted several site assessments that factored in its customer population, order profiles, transportation, and labor costs. Chris­tine Miller, the firm’s director of operations, says AEO estab­lished a strategy based on what its road map would look like for the next 5 years: A second

2 Comments

Removing Barriers to Cross-Border Retail Commerce

If you ask online retailers what methods of payment they accept, most would say credit cards. But a study of global E-commerce payments found that in many parts of the world, credit cards account for a very small portion of payments made online. The conclusion? Retailers need to expand significantly the number of payment

1 Comments

Warehouse Management: Right Time, Right Place in Retailing

There’s an evolution from the existing physical and technical warehouse management infrastructure to capabilities offering multiple methods to store, pick, and process orders. Dan Grimm, solution strategist at JDA, sees progress in a number of areas of warehouse management systems (WMS), including value-added services (VAS), food safety, the use of voice, and mobile tech­nology.

2 Comments

Autenticidad en Acción: Mexican Delights the Real Deal at Food City Remodel

1. Introduction When it comes to food, today’s consumers are more sophisti­cated and knowledgeable than ever. For a truly rewarding gro­cery store experience, shoppers want freshness, diversity, and authenticity. In response, grocery retailers have “upped” their games in those areas, even some value/price operators. 2. Food City Overview A case in point is Food

1 Comments

Setting Up a Retail Organization

Through a retail organization, a firm structures and assigns tasks (functions), policies, resources, authority, responsibilities, and rewards to efficiently and effectively satisfy the needs of its target market, employees, and management. Figure 11-1 shows various needs that should be taken into account when planning and assessing an organization’s structure. As a rule, a firm

1 Comments

Organizational Patterns in Retailing

An independent retailer has a simple organization. It operates only one store, the owner/manager usually supervises all employees, and workers have access to the owner/manager if there are prob­lems. In contrast, a chain must specify how tasks are delegated, coordinate multiple stores, and set common policies for employees. As examples, the organizational arrangements used

2 Comments

Human Resource Management in Retailing

Human resource management involves recruiting, selecting, training, compensating, and super­vising personnel in a manner consistent with the retailer’s organization structure and strategy mix. Personnel practices depend on the line of business, number of employees, store location, and other factors. Because good personnel are needed to develop and carry out strategies, and labor costs can

1 Comments

Profit Planning in Retailing

A profit-and-loss (income) statement is a summary of a retailer’s revenues and expenses over a given period of time, usually a month, quarter, or year. It lets the firm review overall and specific revenues and costs for similar periods (such as January 1, 2016, to December 31, 2016, versus January 1, 2015, to December

1 Comments

Asset Management in Retailing

Each retailer has assets to manage and liabilities to control. This section covers the balance sheet, the strategic profit model, and other ratios. A balance sheet itemizes a retailer’s assets, liabilities, and net worth at a specific time—based on the principle that Assets = Liabilities + Net worth. Table 12-2 has a balance sheet