Unit11.Retailer

MarketingDecisions

RetailerMarketingDecisions

Retailersaresearchingfornewmarketingstrategiestoattractandholdcustomers.Inthepast,retailersattractedcustomerswithuniqueproducts,moreorbetterservicesthantheircompetitorsoffered,orcreditcards.Today,nationalbrandmanufacturers,intheirdriveforvolume,haveplacedtheirbrandedgoodseverywhere.Thus,storesoffermoresimilarassortments—nationalbrandsarefoundnotonlyindepartmentstores,butalsoinmass-merchandiseandoff-pricediscountstores.Asaresult,storesarelookingmoreandmorealike;theyhavebecome“commoditized”.Inanycity,ashoppercanfindmanystores,butfewassortments.Servicedifferentiationamongretailershasalsoeroded.Manydepartmentstoreshavetrimmedtheirservices,whereasdiscountershaveincreasedtheirs,Customershavebecomesmarterandmorepricesensitive.Theyseenoreasontopaymoreforidenticalbands,especiallywhenservicedifferencesareshrinking.Andbecausebankcreditcardsarenowacceptedatmoststores,consumersnolongerneedcreditfromaparticularstore.Forallthesereasons,manyretailerstodayarerethinkingtheirmarketingstrategies.4RetailerMarketingDecisions

(SeeTextonP192)RetailerStrategyTargetMarketRetailStorePositioningRetailerMarketingMixProductandserviceassortmentPricesPromotionPlace(location)TargetMarketandPositioningDecisionAsshowninthefigureabove,retailersfacemajormarketingdecisionsabouttheirtargetmarketsandpositioning,productassortmentandservices,price,promotion,andplace.TargetMarketandPositioningDecisionRetailersfirstmustdefinetheirtargetmarketsandthendecidehowtheywillpositionthemselvesinthesemarkets.Shouldthestorefocusonupscale,mid-scale,ordownscaleshoppers?Dotargetshopperswantvariety,depthofassortment,convenience,orlowprices?Untiltheydefineandprofiletheirmarkets,retailerscannotmakeconsistentdecisionsaboutproductassortment,services,pricing,advertising,storedecor,oranyoftheotherdecisionsthatmustsupporttheirpositions.Toomanyretailersfailtodefinetheirtargetmarketsandpositionsclearly.Theytrytohave“somethingforeveryone”andendupsatisfyingnomarketwell.Incontrast,successfulretailersdefinetheirtargetmarketswellandpositionthemselvesstrongly.Forexample,in1963,LeslieH.Wexnerborrowed$5.000tocreateTheLimited,whichstartedasasinglestoretargetedtoyoung,fashion-consciouswomen.Allaspectsofthestore—clothingassortment,fixtures,music,colors,personnel—wereorchestratedtomatchthetargetconsumer.Hecontinuedtoopenmorestores,butadecadelaterhisoriginalcustomerswerenolongerinthe“young”group.Tocatchthenew“youngs,”hestartedtheLimitedExpress.Overtheyears,hestartedoracquiredotherhighlytargetedstorechains,includingLaneBryant,Victoria’sSecret,Lerner,andotherstoreachnewsegments.TodayTheLimited,Inc.operatesmorethen4,000storesinsevendifferentsegmentsofthemarket,withsalesofmorethen$6.9billion.EvenlargestoressuchasWal-Mart,Kmart,andSearsmustdefinetheirmajortargetmarketsinordertodesigneffectivemarketingstrategies.Infact,inrecentyears,thankstostrongtargetingandpositioning,Wal-MarthasexplodedpastSearsandKmarttobecomethenation’slargestretailer.ProductAssortment

andServicesDecisionRetailersmustdecideonthreemajorproductvariables:productassortment,servicesmix,andstoreatmosphere.Theretailer’sproductassortmentmustmatchtargetshopper’sexpectations.Theretailermustdetermineboththeproductassortment’swidthanditsdepth.Thus,arestaurantcanofferanarrowandshallowassortment(smalllunchcounter),anarrowanddeepassortment(delicatessen),awideandshallowassortment(cafeteria),orawideanddeepassortment(largerestaurant).Anotherproductassortmentelementisthequalityofthegoods:Thecustomerisinterestednotonlyintherangeofchoicebutalsointhequalityoftheproductsavailable.Nomatterwhatthestore’sproductassortmentandqualitylevel,therealwayswillbecompetitorswithsimilarassortmentsandquality.Therefore,theretailermustsearchforotherwaystodifferentiateitselffromsimilarcompetitors.Itcanuseanyofseveralproduct-differentiationstrategies.Forone,itcanoffermerchandisethatnoothercompetitorcarries—itsownprivatebrandsornationalbrandsonwhichitholdsexclusives.Forexample,TheLimiteddesignsmostoftheclothescarriedbyitsstore,andSakegetsexclusiverightstocarryawell-knowndesigner’slabels.Second,theretailercanfeatureblockbustermerchandisingevents—Bloomingdale’sisknownforrunningspectacularshowsfeaturinggoodsfromacertaincountry,suchasIndiaorChina.Ortheretailercanoffersurprisemerchandise,aswhenLoehmann’sofferssurpriseassortmentsofseconds,overstocks,andcloseouts.Finally,theretailercandifferentiateitselfbyofferingahighlytargetedproduct.Retailersalsomustdecideonaservicesmixtooffercustomers.Theold“momandpop”grocerystoresofferedhomedelivery,credit,andconversation—servicesthattoday’ssupermarketsignore.Theservicesmixisoneofthekeytoolsofnon-pricecompetitionforsettingonestoreapartfromanother.Thestore’satmosphereisanotherelementinitsproductarsenal.Everystorehasaphysicallayoutthatmakesmovingaroundiniteitherhardoreasy.Everystorehasa“feel”;onestoreiscluttered,anothercharming,athirdplush,afourthsomber.Thestoremusthaveaplannedatmospherethatsuitsthetargetmarketandmovescustomerstobuy.Abankshouldbequiet,solid,andpeaceful;anightclubshouldbeflashy,loud,andvibrating.Increasingly,retailersareworkingtocreateshoppingenvironmentsthatmatchtheirtargetmarkets.ChainssuchastheSharperImageandBananaRepublicareturningtheirstoresintotheatersthattransportcustomersintounusual,excitingshoppingenvironments.EvenconservativeSearsdividestheclothingareaswithineachstoreintosixdistinct“shops,”eachwithitsownsellingenvironmentdesignedtomeetthetastesofindividualsegments.PriceDecisionAretailer’spricepolicyisacrucialpositioningfactorandmustbedecidedinrelationtoitstargetmarket,itsproductandserviceassortment,anditscompetition.Allretailerswouldliketochargehighmarkupsandachievehighvolume,butthetwoseldomgotogether.Mostretailersseekeitherhighmarkupsonlowervolume(mostspecialtystores)orlowmarkupsonhighervolume(massmerchandisersanddiscountstores).Thus,Bijan’sonRodeoDriveinBeverlyHillspricesmen’ssuitsstartingat$400—itsellsalowvolumebutmakesaheftyprofitoneachsale.Attheotherextreme,T.J.Maxxsellsbrandnameclothingatdiscountprices,settlingforalowermarginoneachsalebutsellingatamuchhighervolume.Retailersalsomustpayattentiontopricingtactics.Mostretailerswillputlowpricesonsomeitemstoserveas“trafficbuilders”or“lossleaders.”Onsomeoccasions,theyrunstorewidesales.Onothers,theyplanmarkdownsonslower-movingmerchandise.Forexample,shoeretailersmayexpecttosell50percentoftheirshoesatthenormalmarkup,25percentata40percentmarkup,andtheremaining25percentatcost.PromotionDecisionRetailersusethenormalpromotiontools—advertising,personalselling,salespromotion,andpublicrelations—toreachconsumers.Theyadvertiseinnewspapers,magazines,radio,andtelevision,Advertisingmaybysupportedbycircularsanddirect-mailpieces,Personalsellingrequirescarefultrainingofsalespeopleinhowtogreetcustomers,meettheirneeds,andhandletheircomplaints.Salespromotionsmayincludein-storedemonstrations,displays,contests,andvisitingcelebritiesPublicrelationsactivities,suchaspressconferencesandspeeches,storeopenings,specialevents,newsletters,magazines,andpublicserviceactivities,arealwaysavailabletoretailers.PlaceDecisionRetailersoftencitethreecriticalfactorsinretailingsuccess:location,location,andlocation!Aretailer’slocationiskeytoitsabilitytoattractcustomers.Andthecostsofbuildingorleasingfacilitieshaveamajorontheretailer’sprofits.Thus,site-locationdecisionsareamongthemostimportanttheretailermakes.Smallretailersmayhavetosettleforwhateverlocationstheycanfindorafford.Largeretailersusuallyemployspecialistswhoselectlocationsusingadvancedmethods.17ReviewofKeyTermsandConceptsTargetmarket:Targetmarketisasetofbuyerssharingcommonneedsorcharacteristicsthecompanydecidestoserve.

目標市場Marketpositioning:Marketpositioningreferstoarrangementforaproducttooccupyaclear,distinctiveanddesirableplacerelativetocompetingproductsinthemindsoftargetconsumers.

市場定位.Privatebrand(ormiddlemanbrand):

Privatebrandisabrandthatiscreatedandownedbyaretailerofaproductorservice.自有品牌（也稱中間商品牌）18ProductassortmentorProductmix:Thesetofallproductlinesanditemsthataparticularselleroffersforsale.產品組合.

Marketpositioning:Marketpositioningreferstoarrangementforaproducttooccupyaclear,distinctiveanddesirableplacerelativetocompetingproductsinthemindsoftargetconsumers.

市場定位.DiscussionandReviewQuestions:

Whyaretheretailerssearchingfornewmarketingstrategies?Whatarethedifferentstrategiesbetweenthepastandthetoday?Giveabriefanswer.Howmanydecisionsarethereinthistext?Whytheretailersneedtodefinetheirtargetmarkets?Howmanymajorproductvariablesmustbedecidedonbyretailers?Whatarethey?Whatarethenormalpromotiontoolsusedbyretailers?Explainthepositioningdecisionbriefly.Givesomeexamples.Whatistheretailersalsomustdecidedontooffercustomers?SelectedAnswers

toExercisesinUnit11

I.Nofixedanswerstothesequestions;Studentsmaymak