Page 80 - DMGT550_RETAIL_MANAGEMENT

Unit 5: Retailing Strategy

Notes
Example: Marketing policy decisions should provide guidelines for marketing
management in accordance with the chosen strategy, providing the overall direction of business.
While corporate and business level strategies are concerned with “doing the right thing”,
functional strategies stress on “doing things right”.

5.2.2 Strategic Retail Planning Process

This text developing and applying retail strategy, retailers are required to follow a step-by-step
procedure or planning process. The planning process involves the present stage of business, the
formulation, lists of available strategic options, and the implementation of the selected strategies.
Considering the importance of strategic decisions for the future success of the business, a
systematic approach is essential. The strategic planning process, after considering the HR potential
and the unique selling proposition (USP) of a particular store takes proper shape.
Strategic retail planning process divided into the following four steps:

1. Deciding the Store’s Mission and Objectives: The retail strategic planning process starts
with the identification of a store’s mission for its existence, and hence the scope of the
retail store. The mission of a store is identifying the goods and services that will be offered
to customers. It also deals with the issue of how the resources and capabilities of a store
will be used to provide satisfaction to customers and how the store can compete in the
target market vis-à-vis its competitors.
The mission also involves the way of the store’s functioning. How a store will work and
accomplish its day-to-day operations. What is the emergency planning? All these questions
are answered in the store’s mission statement.

Example: Big Bazaar, they have philosophy of customer satisfaction through ‘manufacturing
retailing’.
This reflect not only the way it tends to treat its customers but discuss secret of its
competitive advantage, i.e. the profit saved from absence of intermediaries like agents
and brokers, the profit saved is thus, distributed to the customers by way of low price
items.

Once the organization mission has been determined, its objectives the desired future
positions that it wishes to reach, should be identified. A store’s objectives are defined as
ends that the store seeks to achieve by its USP and operations.
The store’s objectives may be classified into two parts:
(a) External store objectives: are those objectives that define the impact of store on its
environment.

Example: To develop high degree of customer confidence by providing quality goods at
affordable price.
(b) Internal store objectives: Are those objectives that define how much is expected to be
achieved with the available resources.

Example: To raise the store turnover by 20% in the coming year.

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