Business Management / Retail POS Systems Course

1.  It is a brand new job opportunity while retail market is getting better & Q4 2010 is on the corner for needing more retail business professional,

2.  Students will be able to hands on real business projects with experienced teachers & entrepreneurs.

Course Objectives and Summary

1. To define retailing, consider it from various perspectives, demonstrate its impact, and note its special characteristics.

Retailing comprises the business activities involved in selling goods and services to consumers for personal, family, or household use. It is the last stage in the distribution process, whereas wholesaling is an intermediary stage. Today, retailing is at an interesting crossroads, with many challenges ahead.

Retailing may be viewed from multiple perspectives. It includes tangible and intangible items, does not have to use a store, and can be done by manufacturers and others – as well as by retailers.

Annual U.S. store sales exceed $4 trillion, with other forms of retailing accounting for hundreds of billions of dollars more. The world’s 100 largest retailers generate $2.4 trillion in yearly revenues. About 25 million people in the United States work for retailers, which understates the number of those actually employed in a retailing capacity. Retail firms receive up to 40 cents of every sales dollar as compensation for operating costs, the functions performed, and the profits earned.

Retailing encompasses all the businesses and people involved in physically moving and transferring ownership of goods and services from producer to consumer. In a distribution channel, retailers do valuable functions as the contact for manufacturers, wholesalers, and final consumers. They collect assortments from various suppliers and offer them to customers. They communicate with both customers and other channel members. They may ship, store, mark, advertise, and pre-pay for items. They complete transactions with customers and often provide customer services. They may offer multiple formats (multi-channel retailing) to facilitate shopping.

Retailers and their suppliers have complex relationships because retailers serve in two capacities. They are part of a distribution channel aimed at the final consumer; and they are major customers for suppliers. Channel relations are smoothest with exclusive distribution; they are most volatile with intensive distribution. Selective distribution is a way to balance sales goals and channel cooperation.

Retailing has several special characteristics. The average sales transaction is small. Final consumers make many unplanned purchases. Most customers visit a store location.

2. To introduce the concept of strategic planning and apply it.

A retail strategy is the overall plan guiding the firm. It has six basic steps: defining the business, setting objectives, defining the customer market, developing an overall plan, enacting an integrated strategy, and evaluating performance and making modifications. Target Stores' strategy has been particularly well designed and enacted.

3. To relate the marketing concept to retailing, with an emphasis on the total retail experience, customer service, and relationship retailing.

The retailing concept should be understood and used by all retailers. It requires a firm to have a customer orientation, use a coordinated effort, and be value-driven and goal-oriented. Despite its ease of use, many firms do not adhere to one or more elements of the retailing concept.

The total retail experience consists of all the elements in a retail offering that encourage or inhibit consumers during their contact with a retailer. Some elements are controllable by the retailer; others are not. Customer service includes identifiable, but sometimes intangible, activities undertaken by a retailer in association with the basic goods and services sold. It has an effect on the total retail experience. In relationship retailing, a firm seeks long-term bonds with customers, rather than acting as if each sales transaction is a totally new encounter with them.

4. To indicate the focus and format of the text.

Retailing may be studied by using an institutional approach, a functional approach, and a strategic approach. Although all three approaches are utilized in this text, the focus is on the strategic approach. The underlying principle is that a retail firm needs to plan for and adapt to a complex, changing environment.