Page 6 - DMGT550_RETAIL_MANAGEMENT

Pavitar Parkash Singh, Lovely Professional University Unit 1: Introduction to Retailing

Unit 1: Introduction to Retailing Notes

CONTENTS
Objectives
Introduction
1.1 What is Retailing
1.2 Functions of Retailing

1.3 Social and Economic Significance of Retailing
1.4 Nature of Retailing and Distribution Supply Chain
1.5 Opportunities in Retailing
1.5.1 Management Opportunities
1.5.2 Entrepreneurial Opportunities
1.6 Global Retail Market
1.7 Career in Retail

1.8 Summary
1.9 Keywords
1.10 Review Questions
1.11 Further Readings

Objectives

After studying this unit, you will be able to:

 State the meaning and scope of retailing
 Discuss the functions of retailing/retailer
 Formulate the marketing-retail equation
 Trace the rise of the retailer

 Get an overview of the global retail market
 Understand the perception of retail as a career

Introduction

Retailing comes at the end of the marketing distributive channel. The word ‘retail’ has been
derived from the French word “retaillier” and means ‘to cut a piece’ or ‘to break bulk’. It covers
all the activities involved in the sale of product and services. Retailing is a high-intensity
competition industry and second largest globally. The reason for its popularity lies in its ability
to provide easier access to a variety of products, freedom of choice, and many services to
consumers. The size of an average retail store varies across countries depending largely on the
level of a particular country’s economic development. The largest retail store in the world is
Wal-Mart of USA.

Retailing is the world’s largest private sector contributing to 8% of the GDP and it employs
one-sixth of the labor force. The estimated retail trade is expected to be 7 trillion US $. Many

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