Page 125 - DMGT554_RETAIL_BUYING

Retail Buying

Notes Self Assessment

State whether the following statements are true or false:
1. The second step in the merchandise purchasing process deals with determining the type of
channel to be used for purchasing each line of merchandise.

2. The fourth step in the merchandise purchasing process involves negotiating with the
sources of supply. Retailers usually negotiate on price and service issues.
3. The retailer need not reevaluate the complete merchandising process periodically.

9.2 Buyer Decision Process

Buyer decision processes are the decision making processes undertaken by consumers in regard
to a potential market transaction before, during, and after the purchase of a product or service.

Example: Tim went to a nearby retail store to buy a laptop for himself. The store manager
showed him all the latest models and after few rounds of negotiations, Tim immediately selected
one for himself.
In the above example, Tim is the consumer and the laptop is the product which Tim wanted to
purchase for his end-use.
Why do you think Tim went to the nearby store to purchase a new laptop?
The answer is very simple. Tim needed a laptop. In other words, it was actually Tim’s need to
buy a laptop which took him to the store.
The Need to buy a laptop can be due to any of the following reasons:

 His old laptop was giving him problems.
 He wanted a new laptop to check his personal mails at home.
 He wanted to gift a new laptop to his wife.
 He needed a new laptop to start his own business.
The store manager showed Tim all the samples available with him and explained him the
features and specifications of each model. This is called information. Tim before buying the
laptop checked few other options as well. The information can come from various other sources
such as newspaper, websites, magazines, advertisements, billboards etc.
This explains the consumer decision making process.

Notes Decision making is the cognitive process of selecting a course of action from among
multiple alternatives.
Common examples include shopping and deciding what to eat. Decision making is said to be a
psychological construct. This means that although we can never “see” a decision, we can infer
from observable behaviour that a decision has been made. Therefore, we conclude that a
psychological event that we call “decision making” has occurred. It is a construction that imputes
commitment to action. That is, based on observable actions, we assume that people have made
a commitment to effect the action.

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