Retailing Principles & Practices - Chapter 18 Notes

Establishing & Maintaining a Retail Image

• Image: How a retailer is perceived by customers and consumers.
  • Customer communications are crucial for positioning in consumers' minds.
  • Utilizes visual and written communications.
  • Channels include traditional and digital media, mass communication and personal engagement.
  • A successful retailer must consistently communicate a clear and distinctive image, allowing it to occupy a niche in the market.

Positioning

• Definition: A strategy to project an image relative to the retail category and competitors.
  • Goal: Communicate a consistent image across all touchpoints, including physical stores, websites, social media, and advertising.
  • For chains, maintaining a consistent image across all branches is essential.

Brand Strategy

• Brand Identity: How the brand looks and is visually represented.
  • Create a distinct visual presence across all interactions.
• Brand Management: Ensures brand consistency and success metrics tracking.
  • Develop management tools to maintain brand integrity.
• Brand Positioning: Identifies an authentic space in the marketplace for the brand.
• Brand Architecture: Structures the brand to enhance understandability.
• Brand Idea: Captures the essence that drives the brand's actions and communications.
• Customer Activation: Engages and communicates with customers using innovative ideas.
• Brand Voice: Establishes an authentic voice for the brand, expressed through training and communication tools.
• Staff Activation: Inspires employees to embody the brand's promise.

Positioning Approaches

• Mass Merchandising: Characteristics include:
  • Discount or value-oriented image.
  • Wide/deep merchandise selection.
  • Large store environments.
• Niche Retailing: Identifies specific customer segments and tailors unique strategies to satisfy their needs.

Competitor Analysis

• Comparisons of major luxury brands:
  • Louis Vuitton: Founded 1854, focuses on craftsmanship and timeless heritage with offerings in luxury fashion.
  • Gucci: Founded 1921, emphasizes luxury clothing and accessories with a focus on high-fashion for affluent individuals.
  • Hermes: Founded 1837, offers high-quality luxury products with a unique identity among high-net-worth audiences.

Elements of a Retail Image

• Various cues (physical and symbolic) are utilized to convey a retail image.
• Requires a multi-step, ongoing approach to build and maintain.

Retail Image Positions

• Price Leaders: Focus on low prices with self-service, functional environments.
• Location Leaders: Conveniently situated to meet customer needs.
• Atmospheric Leaders: Provide outstanding in-store experiences.
• Product Quality Leaders: Offer unique high-quality merchandise.
• Selection Leaders: Provide good value and an interesting shopping experience.
• Service Leaders: Combine convenience with exceptional service.

Importance of Atmosphere

• Defines the psychological feeling when visiting a retailer.
  • For store retailers, it refers to physical characteristics; for non-store retailers, it includes catalogs and websites.
• Influences shopping enjoyment, browsing time, spending behavior, and likelihood of return visits.

Visual Merchandising

• Combines atmospherics to create an attractive display of products.
  • Includes: Store window displays, aisle width, fixture types, graphics/signage, lighting, and music to enhance shopping conditions.

Steps to Store Layout

1. Allocation of Floor Space: Classified into selling, merchandise, stockroom, and personnel space.
2. Classifying Store Offerings: Align products based on function, market segment, and storability.
3. Determining Traffic Flow Patterns: Establishes layouts that facilitate smooth navigation through the store.
   • Straight Traffic: Efficient but impersonal.
   • Curving Traffic: Friendly atmosphere encouraging exploration.
4. Determining Space Needs: Assess space for product categories based on sales productivity.
5. Mapping Out Locations: Strategically position departments to enhance shopping ease and satisfaction.
6. Arrangement of Individual Products: Optimize placement based on customer behavior and product characteristics.

Interior Displays

• Vital for informing customers, enhancing atmosphere, and promoting products.
  • Types of displays include assortment displays, theme-setting displays, ensemble displays, and more, catering to varying customer interactions and product types.

Non-Store Based Retailing Considerations

• Focus on the storefront (website), ensuring it is inviting and informative.
• General interior assesses the site's aesthetics and usability, ensuring an optimal customer experience.

Encouraging Customer Engagement

• Utilize strategies like experiential merchandising and solutions selling to enhance the shopping experience.
• Consider layout and amenities that increase shopper comfort and encourage prolonged visits.