Class Retail 9
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Revision as of 22:18, 23 April 2012
Customer Service and Retail Selling
High-quality service - A service that meets or exceeds customers’ expectations.
A way in which retailers provide the high-quality service expected and reduce customer defections is through relationship retailing programs.
Relationship retailing programs - The activities designed to attract, retain, and enhance long-term relationships with customers
Retailers can develop long-term relationships with their customers by offering:
financial benefits
social benefits
3 Basic Tasks for Retailers:
Get customers into your store
Convert them into customers
Operate efficiently
Customer service consists of all those activities performed by the retailer that influence:
the ease with which a potential customer can shop or learn about the store’s offering.
the ease with which a transaction can be completed once the customer attempts to make a purchase.
the customer’s satisfaction with the transaction.
Transient customer - An individual who is dissatisfied with the level of customer service offered at a store or stores and is seeking an alternative store with the level of customer service that he or she thinks is appropriate.
Customer service must be integrated into all the following aspects of retailing:
Merchandise management
Building and fixture management
Promotion management
Price management
Credit management
Pretransaction services - Provided to the customer prior to entering the store: Convenient hours; Information aids
Transaction services - Provided to customers when they are in the store shopping and transacting business: Credit; Layaway; Gift wrapping and packaging; Check cashing; Gift cards; Personal shopping; Merchandise availability; Personal selling; Sales transaction
Personal shopping - An individual who is a professional shopper performs the shopping role for another; very upscale department and specialty stores offer personal shoppers to their clients.
Dwell time - The amount of time a consumer must spend waiting to complete a purchase.
Posttransaction services - Provided to customers after they have purchased merchandise or services.
Complaint handling; Merchandise returns, which includes: Renting, not buying; Fraudulent employee actions; Shoplift returns; Price switching
Servicing, repair, and warranties; Delivery; Postsale follow-up
Factors to consider when determining level of customer service:
Retailer's characteristics; competition; type of merchandise; price image of store; income of target market; cost of providing service
Balance between vendor expectations, and customer expectations, with regard to Retailer's Sales Force.
Retail Sales Management
Types of retail selling
Retailers that concentrate on the sale of shopping goods want their salespeople to both get and take orders.
In lines of retail trade where predominantly convenience goods are sold, the role of the salesperson is that of an order taker.
It is generally true that retailers with high margins and high levels of customer service place more emphasis on order getting; those with low margins and a low customer service policy tend to emphasize order taking.
Salesperson selection
Hiring criteria
Predictors
Demographics
Personality
Knowledge and intelligence
Experience
Salesperson training
Retailer’s policies
Merchandise
Customer types
Customer choice criteria: No active product choice criteria; Inadequate or vague choice criteria; Choice criteria in conflict; Explicit choice criteria
Evaluation of salespeople
Performance standards: Conversion rate; Sales per hour; Use of time (Selling time, Nonselling time, Idle time, Absent time)
Data requirements
Conversion rate - Percentage of shoppers that enter the store that are converted into purchasers.
Sales per hour is computed by dividing total dollar sales over a particular time frame by total salesperson or sales-force hours.
Retail Sales Process:
Prospecting; Approach; Sales Presentation; Closing Sale; Suggestion Selling
Prospecting - Locating or identifying potential customers who have the ability and willingness to purchase your product.
Closing the sale - Action the salesperson takes to bring a potential sale to its natural conclusion.
(examples with book)
The Customer-Service and Sales-Enhancement Audit
The objectives of the audit
Identify the service, salesmanship, and sales-enhancement methods that will produce more sales from the existing shopping traffic.
Target the methods by store and selling area that will produce the most significant improvements.
Determine the added sales that can be generated by improving the accepted service level, salesmanship, and sales-enhancement programs.
Advantages of the audit:
Provides management with a detailed analysis of current sales activity by location and by selling area.
Identifies how and where additional sales volume is available.
Measures, analyzes, and reports on the specific factors.
Store Layout and Design
Elements That Compose�the Store Environment
Visual Communications (Retail identity, graphics, signage); Store Planning (space allocation, layout, circulation); Store Design (exterior design, ambience, lighting); Merchandising (fixture selection, merchandise presentation, visual merchadising)
Objectives of the store environment
Developing a store image
Increasing space productivity
Store Planning:
Floor plan - A schematic that shows where merchandise and customer service departments are located, how customers circulate through the store, and how much space is dedicated to each department.
Microretailing - Occurs when a chain store retailer operating over a wide geographic area, usually nationally, tailors its merchandise and services in each store to the needs of the immediate trading area.
Stack-outs - Pallets of merchandise set out on the floor in front of the main shelves.
Allocating space
Types of space needed: Back room; Offices and other functional spaces; Aisles, service areas, and other nonselling areas; Floor merchandise space; Wall merchandise space
Circulation
Shrinkage prevention
Space allocation planning
Improving space productivity in existing stores: Space productivity index - A ratio that compares the percentage of the store’s total gross margin that a particular merchandise category generates to its percentage of total store selling space used.
Space allocations for a new store
Planograms - A schematic that illustrates how and where a retailer’s merchandise should be displayed on the shelf in order to increase customer purchases.
Circulation: Free-flow layout; Grid layout; Loop layout; Spine layout
Planning Fixtures and Merchandise Presentation
On-shelf merchandising - Display of merchandise on counters, racks, shelves, and fixtures throughout the store.
It must present and display the merchandise attractively so that it is easy to understand and access.
It must be reasonably easy to maintain.
Fixture types
Merchandise-presentation planning
Selecting fixtures and merchandise-presentation methods
Visual merchandising
Fixture Types:
Hardlines fixtures
Softlines fixtures Bulk or capacity fixture - Display fixture that is intended to hold the bulk of merchandise without looking as heavy as a long, straight rack of merchandise.
Feature fixture - Display that draws special attention to selected features (e.g., color, shape, or style) of merchandise.
Wall fixtures
Merchandise Presentation Planning
Shelving; Hanging; Pegging; Folding; Stacking; Dumping
Key psychological factors to consider when merchandising stores: Value/fashion image; Angles and sightlines; Vertical color blocking
Selecting Fixtures and Merchandise-Presentation Methods
Proper fixtures emphasize the key selling attributes of merchandise while not being overpowering.
A good guideline for selecting fixtures is to match the fixture to the merchandise, not the merchandise to the fixture.
Visual Merchandising
The artistic display of merchandise and theatrical props used as scene-setting decoration in the store.
Visual displays are located in a focal point, feature area, or other area remote from the on-shelf merchandising and perhaps even out of reach of the customer.
Visuals should incorporate relevant merchandise.
Store Design
Storefront design:
The storefront must clearly identify the name and general nature of the store and give some hint as to the merchandise inside.
It includes all exterior signage and the architecture of the storefront itself.
Interior design:
The finishes applied to surfaces
The architectural shapes
Lighting design
Lighting greatly enhances store sales.
Contemporary lighting design requires an in-depth knowledge of electrical engineering and the effect of light on color and texture.
Sounds and smells: total sensory marketing
Effective store design appeals to the human senses of sight, hearing, smell, and touch.
Visual Communications
Name, logo, and retail identity
Must be catchy, memorable, and reflective of the retailer’s merchandising mission.
Institutional signage
Describes the merchandising mission, customer service policies, and other messages on behalf of the retail institution.
Directional, departmental, and category signage
Directional and departmental signage are usually large and placed fairly high, so they can be seen throughout the store.
Category signage is usually smaller and is intended to be seen from a shorter distance; they are located on or close to the fixture itself where the merchandise is displayed.
Point-of-sale signage (POS) - A relatively small signage placed very close to the merchandise, and intended to give details about specific items.
The most important function is to clearly state the price of the merchandise being signed.
Lifestyle graphics
Lifestyle images portray either the merchandise, often as it is being used, or simply images of related items or models that convey an image conducive to buying the product.
Lifestyle photography must be kept very general so as to be attractive to the majority and offensive to none.
