Retailing

Profile of hi-fi chain

Retailing involves:

The business of selling products to the general public

The sale of goods and services to consumers for their personal, family or household use

In commerce, a retailer buys goods or products in large quantities from manufactures or importers and then sells individual items or small quantities to the general public or end user. Retailers are at the end of the supply chain.

Retailing: overview

Retail is one of the fastest growing, most dynamic parts of the world economy.

Careers in retail are people-oriented, fast-paced and exciting.

Retailing is worth taking a good look at, particularly if you are looking for a service-oriented, entrepreneurial profession. The options are many including store management, buying, merchandising and central management.

People skills are very important:

Because of constant contact with customers, retailing is a people-oriented business.

Sales skills are also very important since many retail jobs involve selling or buying from sellers.

Although retail sellers may not have to solve as many customer problems as do industrial sellers, a sense of empathy is still important.

Plenty of enthusiasm and little travel:

It would be hard to find a profession which places a greater emphasis on enthusiasm. People with good attitudes and a willingness to be flexible and resourceful do very well in retail.

The travel requirements of retailing are modest. This means you’ll have a good chance of being able to spend more time with your family and will be able to be more connected with your community than would be possible in certain other jobs.

Abnormal hours:

A retailer’s daily activities are more structured than some other forms of marketing.

The negative impression about retailing is that retailers work long hours and for relatively low reward.

Since retail stores are usually open nights and weekends, some work schedules may not be typical 9 to 5, Monday through Friday schedule of other professions.

Pay can be an issue, but you needn’t be highly qualified:

Starting salaries are low, but pay can increase as the individual moves into management or some retailing specialty job.

Because the key success factors are enthusiasm, hard work and speed, time spent in business schools is less valuable than in other fields. Of course, business education can be quite helpful.

Retailing: Job options

Management trainee: most well-known retail stores have management training programmes. A new employee will spend six months to three years in the various retail operations in order to learn the company and industry. At the end of the training period, an individual will be ready to move into retail management as either an assistant manager or a store manager.

Store manager: he/she is responsible for the management and operation of an individual store. The annual evaluation of the store manager depends to a great deal on how the store fared during the year. Most store managers have served time as assistant store managers who take on much of the duty of managing the day-to-day operation of the store.

Buyer: buyers are responsible for selecting the merchandise that a store carries and then physically buying the goods. Much of the work will be performed at annual and semi-annual markets. The buyer is continually looking at a variety of products and deciding if they are right for the store.

Department manager: department stores contain several small departments such as clothing, accessories, home appliances... . Each of these departments is led by department managers who act as store managers on a department level. Department manager is a step to becoming a store manager or going into corporate management.

Sales: every retail store depends on a salesforce to sell its merchandise. One primary difference in retail sales and industrial sales is the customer. Generally, retail customers come to the salesperson who must provide a high level of service and expertise.

Regional manager: the regional manager manages groups of stores across several states, is responsible for reporting performance to headquarters, making key personnel decisions and for monitoring store performance with periodic visits and problem-solving trips.

Retailing: salaries

Salaries in the retail sales field are highly variable.

Your starting pay in retail will usually not be as high as other jobs in marketing. That will change as you prove yourself. There is a significant premium paid for people with skill and a desire to work hard in retail.

The selling points in retailing are:

Shops or stores which are called outlets Many countries have large retail chains which

are organised nationally and sell a standardised selection of products.

These outlets are often in shopping centres (US malls), where there is a large variety of stores in the same location.

Hypermarkets or superstores are often located on a retail park (a grouping of three or more retail warehouses with car parking) where there are a number of large stores

Department stores are even bigger:

These large shops sell a wide variety of products, usually from a city centre location

They are organised in departments (such as women’s clothes, home furnishings, electronics...) each with its own manager

Each department manages its own promotion, service and control

Profile of hi-fi chain: Richer Sounds

Richer Sounds (hi-fi equipment retailer) is the busiest retailer in the UK

The founder of this retailing business is Julian Richer, a 39-year-old Londoner who used to buy and sell candles when he was a boy.

“Even when I was at school I wanted to go into business”, he says, “but my age was against me”.

In simple terms, Richer Sounds sells discounted hi-fi from basic shops with low overheads. Stock turnover is rapid and the company is small enough to take deals on end-of-line or surplus equipment.

Richer Sounds sells only hi-fi separetes such as tuners and amplifiers. It buys either end-of-line ranges which manufacturers want to off-load before the next model arrives from Japan, or small orders of current models.

Suppliers are keen (very willing) to do business with Richer because you don’t have to have 5000 items, you can do a deal with him on 30.

Marketing is a key weapon: Richer Sounds advertises regularly in national newspapers and in alternative magazines.

The shops are like walk-in warehouses. Outside there are “bargain bins”(baskets with ultimately discounted items), inside the merchandise is stacked from floor to ceiling.

Good service is a priority: the staff are trained not to be pushy and they attend two training seminars which instruct them how to follow the correct administrative procedure.

Customer receipts include a freephone number they can call if they have a problem. Richer’s own name and office number are supplied too.

Compound nouns II

Make and do

Match the following words to make compound nouns:

Customer Duty Profit Sales Purchasing Consumer

Power Goods Service Margin Figures Free

The answers are: customer service, duty free, profit margin, sales figures, purchasing power, consumer goods

Task: use the above compound nouns in the following sentences:

1) Unfortunately, it is not the best moment for us to enter the Bulgarian market. The __________ of its citizens isn’t strong enough.

2) You don’t need to pay any additional taxes for this bottle of whisky. It is __________.

3) We must be careful not to exceed our ___________, or we might lose a lot of money.

4) The __________ in this supermarket is excellent: I have never heard anyone complain.

5) Our _________ are slowly rising, so we don’t need any changes in marketing campaign at the moment.

6) We have had some problems with storing the ____________ in inadequate warehouses.

Which of the following words are used with MAKE, and which with DO?

A complaint Nothing An exam A mistake A suggestion A speech A loss A trip

A decision Your best Research Plans The typing Money A job Good

The answers are:

Make a complaint Do nothing Do an exam Make a mistake Make a suggestion Make a speech Make a loss Make a trip

Make a decision Do your best Do a research Make plans Do the typing Make money Do a job Do good

Complete the following questions with the expressions from the previous exercise:

1) Have you ever had to _____ a _____ in front of an audience?

2) What is the longest ______ that you’ve ever ______ to a foreign country?

3) Have you ever ______ a ______ about the poor quality of something you bought?

4) Is complaining useful? Do you think it ______ any ______?

5) Do you prefer to ___________ in a library or on the internet?

6) Have you ever _______ any _______ about how customer service could be improved in shops that you have visited?

7) How much ____ do you think you will _____ from your job next year?

8) What _____ have you _____ for the next summer holidays?