Page 135 - DMGT554_RETAIL_BUYING

Retail Buying

Notes  Buying plan should detail when the market should be visited to see, examine, and study
the new offerings for the coming season; when commitments should be placed; and when
the first delivery should be received at the store.
 When are my customers going to purchase and how much are they going to spend on their
purchase are two important questions that any retailer would like to answer.

9.6 Keywords

Basic Stock List: This list contains those items that the customer expects to find in stock at all
times.
Buyer Decision Process: It is 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.
Decision Making: It is the cognitive process of selecting a course of action from among multiple
alternatives.
Off-line Point-of-sale Terminals: They relay information directly to the supplier’s computer
which uses the information to ship additional merchandise automatically to the retailer.
Planned inventory: The number of items in all stock plans is multiplied by the price line to
arrive at the dollar value of the planned inventory.

Point-of-sale Terminals: They relay to the computer the information of the item sold to establish
an adequate form of control over the merchandise on order and the merchandise in stock.
Reductions: It refers to the lowering of retail value of your inventory and is caused by planned
markdowns, shrinkage (stock shortage) and discounts to employees or other special groups.
Tickler Control: It enables the retailer to physically count a small portion of the inventory each
day so that each segment of the inventory is counted every so many days on a regular basis.

9.7 Review Questions

1. Explain the steps involved in the merchandise decision process.
2. Define buyer decision making process with the help of an example.
3. Which are the ways in which consumer buying decisions are analysed?

4. Explain the 5 stages that the customer goes through when he/she is around their purchase.
5. Which are the important items to be considered monthly when developing your
six-month merchandise plan?

6. Explain how the stock plan is developed. Also give an example for the same.
7. What are the factors that the buying plan should detail?
8. What are the factors that the selling plan should detail?
9. Explain, in brief, the methods used to establish an adequate form of control over the
merchandise on order and the merchandise in stock.
10. On what basis do retailers decide what and how much stock to buy?

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