Page 73 - DMGT554_RETAIL_BUYING

Retail Buying

Notes Interaction with the customers has become a regular feature on these programs. Those wanting
additional information may call the station and speak with representatives about specific items.
Sometimes the discussion is with the “stars,” giving it even more meaning to many shoppers.
Another motivational device used to encourage purchasing involves on-screen merchandise
inventories for each item and how quickly it is selling. The number of pieces still available for
sale keeps changing as the sales are made, encouraging the doubters to buy more quickly or
possibly be faced with a sold-out sign.

With most of the programming spanning a full day, the companies usually feature a schedule
that shows when each of the merchandise categories will be featured on the air. “Fashion
Coordinates” might be on at one o’clock, “Ideas to Beautify the Home” at two, and so forth. In
this way, shoppers can set time aside when the items in which they are interested will be
featured.
For people who do not have the time to shop the stores and find that the pictures in catalogs do
not provide enough information for them to buy, shopping on television has been the answer
for many.

Self Assessment

State whether the following statements are true or false:
8. The number of pieces still available for sale does not change as the sales are made.

9. For people who do not have the time to shop the stores and find that the pictures in
catalogs do not provide enough information for them to buy, shopping on television has
been the answer for many.

5.3 E-Tailing

Every day, more people are turning to their computers as a means of purchasing goods and
services. With computers in nearly every work environment and more being bought for personal
use in the home, they are a natural outlet for merchants to sell their wares.
Although the overall sales generated thus far pale by comparison to in-store and off-site shopping
such as catalogs, the outlook seems extremely positive for merchants engaged in e-commerce.
Each year, sales continue to increase, making this channel an excellent purchasing outlet. Sales
for 2005 reached $200 billion, and were expected to reach even greater numbers by the end of the
decade.

Did u know? Men are responsible for 49 percent of online purchases, far more than they
spend in brick-and-mortar operations.

With the Internet being a relatively new tool for purchasing, a brief discussion of how it may be
accessed by potential shoppers is presented.
For as little as $23 per month, services like America Online and Comcast provide people with
unlimited access to the Internet and all of the Web sites that feature goods and services for sale.
By either entering an exact Web site name, which takes you to a specific merchant’s location, or
using a “search engine” such as Yahoo to find a category or directory that lists different types of
merchandise, the user is able to locate the desired merchandise.

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