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Most
of the organizations are planning to enter into retailing business,
because there is a lot of scope for retailing business in developing
countries like India. Here the following concepts gives an overview of
retail management.
Retailing:
All
activities involved in selling goods or services directly to final
consumers for their personal, non business use.
Retailer: Business whose sales comes
primarily from retailing
Ex: Wal- Mart, Shoppers Stop, Cross Roads.
Types of Retailing:
There are different types of retailers depending on their
size, shape, product lines, amount of service they offer and prices they
charge etc. Some of them are given below.
a) Speciality Store: A store that carries a narrow product
line with a deep assortment with in that line.
b) Department Store: A retail organization that carries a
wide varieties of product lines- typically clothing, home furnishings and
household goods; each line is operated as a separate department managed by
specialist buyers or merchandisers.
c) Super Market: Large, low-cost, low-margin, high-volume,
self service store that carries a wide variety of food, laundry and
household products.
d) Discount store: A retail institution that sells standard
merchandise at lower margins and selling at higher volume.
e) Factory Outlet: Off- price retailing operation that is
owned and operated by a manufacturer and that manufacturers' surplus,
discontinued, or irregular goods.
f) Chain stores: Two or more outlets that are owned and
controlled in common, have central buying and merchandising, and sell
similar lines of merchandise.
g) Franchise: A contractual association, between a
manufacturer, wholesaler, or service organization and independent business
people who buy the right to own and operate one or more units in the
franchise system.
The major difference between wholesaling and retailing is that, retailing
involves selling for personal consumption unlike wholesaling. Retailer has
the actual contact with the ultimate customer/ consumer.
Retailing in India:
The Pantaloon is one of the largest retail chains in India It belongs
to Pantaloon Retail India Ltd (PRIL). Reliance Petroleum Ltd (RPL) is also
doing retailing with petrol, diesel as products. The company has
established many retail outlets, which are fully owned by the company. The
companies like Shoppers Stop, Cross Roads, Spencer's chain, Food World are
in retailing business. The above businesses are having crores of rupees
turnover for example food world annual turnover is more than rupees 310
crores. There is lot of scope for retail business in India. It can be
called as retail revolution but organizations must concentrate on place
(city), area choice and should do market research on households of various
strata of the society. The Wal- Mart is very much eager to enter into
Indian retailing business.
References:
1. Marketing Management: Planning, Implementation and Control- V.S
RAMASWAMY, S. NAMAKUMARI.
2. Principles of Marketing: KOTLER and ARMSTRONG.
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