Page 128 - DMGT552_VISUAL_MERCHANDISING

Unit 6: Store Planning and Fixtures

Marketing is the way to achieve the set objectives. Therefore, marketing strategy should be Notes
devised according to the store’s primary and secondary objectives. Generally, marketing strategy
is developed on the basis of product and/or market segmentation instead of the market as a
whole.

Notes Retail positioning is a plan of the store’s action for how the retailer will enter the
target market and will compete with its main competitors. Retail positioning from a retail
store’s point of view, is a step-by-step plan to create and maintain a unique and everlasting
image of the store in the consumers mind. This process reveals the fact that understanding
‘what the customer wants’ is the success key to retail positioning in the market. Under
retail positioning, a retailer conveys the message that its products are totally different and
as per customer’s requirement. The reason is that its products are attracted towards items
that are new for them with the perception that if it is new, it will have some extra/added
features.
Retail positioning is made possible under these circumstances:

 By differentiation of the stores merchandise from that of its competitors.
 By offering a high level of service after sales at nominal cost.
 By adopting low pricing policies.

Self Assessment

Fill in the blanks:
1. Big bazaars have philosophy of customer satisfaction through “.............................”.

2. The objective of doing store’s ............................. analysis is to determine where the store is
at present and to forecast where it will be if the formulated strategies are implemented.
3. The ............................. analysis studies factors that affect the macro-environment of the
retailing industry and the task environment.
4. The difference between current and future position is known as .............................
5. The objective of studying the ............................. environment of its own store is to identify
the store’s capabilities and weakness.

6.2 Areas of Retail Store Planning

Any organisation or enterprise cannot lean on a particular corporate strategy to be more successful
for a given business environment. A successful retail business strategy requires strategy
evaluation before strategy implementation phase functions. The process of strategy evaluation
links the management course of actions and compares the performance of strategy against
predetermined target. Managers, corporate and executives express the result of evaluation in
terms of profit, sales volumes, earning per share, rate of return and even image of the enterprises,
it means the strategy is very effective and efficient for them. But, in fact, there are many other
number of hidden factors that determine the current performance of strategy at that particular
business environment which are difficult to assess and diagnose. By the time diagnose start, the
available opportunity or threats may pose real danger to the retail business environment.
Therefore strategist would stress on the scanning of the critical factors of the strategy rather than
evaluating on the assessed factors for a long-term or short-term of the retail business.

LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY 123