Page 270 - DMGT550_RETAIL_MANAGEMENT

Unit 14: Information System in Retailing

14.9 Summary Notes

 The importance of formulating a retail market strategy is understood by all small and big
retailers. To build a competitive advantage that can be sustained, retailers need to pay
special attention to aspects like price, location, merchandise, service and communications.
 Operations, purchasing/logistics, market research, financing and technology, which
determine the strategic positioning of the firm are also equally important.
 Retailers are facing an increasingly competitive environment due to the relatively slow
growth of the retailing sector, increasing maturity and concentration of many retailing
sectors, the emergence of new retailing formats such as the internet, changes in consumer
expectations and expenditure, and competition from international retailers.
 The major drivers of competition within the industry are the threat of new entrants, the
treat from substitute forms of retailing (that is, intertype competition), the bargaining
power of producers, the bargaining power of shoppers, and the intensity of rivalry between
firms.
 The relative balance between competing retailers and their competitive retail marketing
strategies also influences the intensity of competition.
 E-tailing has resulted in the development of e-tailware — software tools for creating
online catalogs and managing the business connected with doing e-tailing.
 A new trend is the price comparison site that can quickly compare prices from a number
of different e-tailers and link you to them.
14.10 Keywords

Electronic Data Interchange: It is the structured transmission of data between organizations by
electronic means.

Enterprise Resource Planning: A business management system that integrates all facets of the
business, including planning, manufacturing, sales, and marketing.
E-tailing: Selling on retail goods on internet.

Marketing Information Systems: It refers to a programme for managing and organising
information gathered by an organisation from various internal and external sources.
Radio Frequency Identification: It is the use of an object applied to or incorporated into a
product, animal, or person for the purpose of identification and tracking using radio waves.
Retail Management Information System: It includes the use of hardware, software and procedures
to manage activities such as planning, inventory control, financial management, logistics and
point of sale transactions.

14.11 Review Questions

1. Discuss about the importance of IT in retailing.

2. What do you know about integrated systems and networking?
3. Explain the marketing information system.
4. Describe the retail management information system.

5. What are the components of ERP?

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