Page 123 - DMGT551_RETAIL_BUSINESS_ENVIRONMENT

Retail Business Environment

Notes another location where these options are severely limited. Wal-Mart’s online marketing
is simply an extension of their physical stories, allowing individuals to purchase directly
through the site.
Question:
Comment on the marketing strategy of the world biggest retailer.
Source: www.strategicminds.eu

Self Assessment

Fill in the blanks:
3. An organization’s .............................. defines where it wants to go and how it intends to get
there.
4. At .............................. level, decision-makers are primarily concerned with the immediate
industry or product—market issue, and with policies bearing on the integration of the
functional units.
5. Decisions at the functional level are often described as .............................. decisions.

6. Big Baazar have a philosophy of customer satisfaction through ‘manufacturing retailing’.
This is their ..............................
7. The objective of studying the internal environment of its own store is to identify the
store’s ..............................
8. The .............................. is the blend of various retail activities that in totally present the
whole concept of retailing.
9. Retail .............................. is a plan of the store’s action for how the retailer will enter the
target market and will compete with its main competitors.

10. The retail marketing and retail .............................. strategies are put into effect by this retail
mix
11. For .............................. to work appropriately, it must be objective, base itself around customer
surveys and act as an honest indicator of a firm’s ability to arrive at its customers.
12. Retailers should not just identify their strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats,
they must also use their lists to develop various .............................. strategies.

6.6 The Retail Value Chain

To get a bird’s eye view of an organisation’s operations is the purpose of the value chain model
of corporate activities, developed by Michael Porter. Competitive advantage, says Porter, arises
out of the way in which firms organize and perform activities. One should keep in mind that in
Porter’s analysis, retail business activities are not the same as retail business functions.

Functions are the familiar departments of a retail business and reflect the formal
organizations structure and distribution of labour.

Activities are what actually goes on, and the work that is done. A single activity can be
performed by a number of functions in sequence.
Activities are the means by which a firm creates value in its products. Activities incur costs, and
in combination with other activities, provide a product or service, which earns revenue. Firms
create value for their buyers by performing these activities. The ultimate value a firm creates is

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