Page 258 - DMGT552_VISUAL_MERCHANDISING

Unit 13: Quality and Process in Visual Merchandising

to the fact that customers are aware of the financial constraints which are typical in the Notes
local authority funding context, and simply do not expect much when it comes to aesthetics;
instead, they attach more importance to the delivery aspects of the service. Customers
allocated to Assurance the lowest weighting, indicating it to be of least importance to
them, yet they expect most from this service dimension. This apparent anomaly is probably
due to the fact that customers expect staff to be knowledgeable about the service and
therefore they can see no reason for this dimension not to be achieved. It is assumed that
for this reason, customers have weighted this dimension lowest.

Table: Servqual Scores for Catering Services

Note: Overall average weighted Servqual score = –1.6.

Source: (Bryslan and Curry, 2001)
At any given point of time the retailer is to keep in mind that, a range of quality exists for each
product. Therefore retailers must decide what levels of quality they want when purchasing
inventory and planning the merchandise assortments. Whenever we enter electronic consumer
goods store, we come across a range of televisions with different price ranges. However while
taking a decision a customer decides about the specific brand based on his judgment, past
experience, as well as various terms and conditions. Consumers in general have been purchasing
goods for a long time. Therefore they are used to making judgments about the product as well
as the brand in a way which is most beneficial to them. Here it becomes very critical for the
retailer to decide what sort of quality range to stock. This in turn sets the brand image for the
store. While deciding the quality range of merchandise to be stocked a retailer must have a fair
idea about this clientele. For instance a retailer located in a posh area uses premium modes of
communication, makes efforts to provide elegant store atmosphere as well as offer best of the
customer services possible. In such a case it becomes essential that he also carries the best quality
merchandise. On the other hand if we have a daily needs shop located in one of the downtown
areas, scenario will be very different. Here the store need not stress on providing best of the
store atmosphere more importantly his customers will not be in a position to pay for the best
quality products. The point to be noted here is the merchandise mix for any retail store should
reflect the clientele of that store.

Example: Pricing is another important issue.
India is a very price sensitive market. At any given point of time what should be the price range
of the merchandise? Is a very important question asked to himself by the retailer. For the same
product prices vary depending upon the type of quality as well as brand name. There can be
situations where despite being a price sensitive market high-priced products are in high demand.
There are many up market stores which stock brands which are status symbols for the higher
echelons of the society. Depending upon the location of the shop as well as nature of commodities
dealt with a retailer should decide what sort of price points to deal within.

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