department store

Examples of department store in the following topics:

• Customer Expectations

  • A department store is, after all, very different from a mom-and-pop store.
  • Department stores, supermarkets, and warehouse stores are all large retail outlets.
  • A department store, for example, will sell both durable and consumable goods.
  • Mom-and-pop stores, specialty stores, and general stores are all smaller retail outlets.
  • These stores often focus on a few key categories of products.

• Benefits and Solutions

  • A specialized department store selling high-end luxury goods will attract buyers looking to augment their status through the purchase of luxury goods.
  • The department store will also need ample parking, bathrooms, changing rooms, escalators, elevators, helpful staff, and other augmented benefits.
  • Finally, while the products in the store have a promised benefit - that of status, and of winning the admiration of peers - there is no guarantee that this will hold true.
  • Examples include restrooms, escalators, and elevators in the case of a department store, and warranties and return policies in the case of a lawn mower.

• Value of Retailing

  • It creates jobs for the people who supply the raw materials and to factory workers who actually make the products, for the people transporting goods to the marketplace, the construction companies that build the stores and malls and for an entire service sector that maintains goods purchased by individuals.
  • For example the $16.5 billion merger between Federated Department Stores and Mays forming Macy's Department Stores and the 2004 merger between Kmart Holding Corp and Sears that was valued at $10.9 billion.
  • There are many different types of retailers; department and discount stores, warehouse stores, variety, demographic retailers aimed at a specific buyer, "Mom & Pop" stores owned and operated by individuals specialty stores, general and convenience stores, mail-order, hypermarkets, supermarkets, malls, category specialists, vending machines, no-frills, self-service or automated retail (robotic kiosks seen in airports and at supermarkets), big box stores and of course on-line e-tailers.

• Distribution Centers vs. Direct Store Delivery

  • Most stores are small and have weekly sales of only a few hundred dollars.
  • Department Stores - Department stores are characterized by their very wide product mixes.
  • Chain Stores - Chain stores are able to buy a wide variety of merchandise in large quantity discounts.
  • Non-store Retailing - Non-store retailing describes sales made to ultimate consumers outside of a traditional retail store setting.
  • Online vendors, such as Amazon, or a good example of non-store retailers.

• Inseparability

  • The same is true of banks and department stores.

• Specialty Products

  • For example, if the customer utilizes an outlet because it is the most accessible, it would be considered, for that customer at least, a convenience store.
  • If consumers shop at a store even if they have to go considerably out of their way to get there, it would be considered a speciality store that sells specialty goods.
  • Since a speciality good entails a high degree of customer loyalty, the shopping effort does not involve comparing one brand against another, but finding a store that carries the item in question.
  • Additionally, since buyers invest time to reach the stores carrying their desired product, the dealers do not necessarily need to be conveniently located.
  • People will travel miles to buy a LV bag even though there are plenty of options in their local department store.

• Retail Marketing Strategy

  • Department, discount, warehouse, Mom And Pop, specialty, demographic, general, convenience, big box, automated/self serve, hypermarkets, supermarkets, malls and variety stores have adjusted traditional marketing strategies such as print advertising, media buys and in-store campaigns to incorporate the use of new technologies such as online outlets and shopping, email, texting, mobile applications, blogging, QR codes, kiosks, digital signage and online advertising.
  • In-store marketing utilizes custom displays that are designed to attract customers in specific demographic groups.
  • In-store programs are often seasonal, based on holiday themes, events such as back to school sales or spurred by the need for economic concern or in times of abundance.
  • Larger retailers, such as the big box stores and hypermarkets often utilize long tail statistical analysis to select the products that they want to market.

• Channel Integration

  • Channels include: retail stores, online stores, mobile stores, mobile app stores, telephone sales, and any other method of transacting with a customer.
  • The brick-and-mortar stores become an extension of the supply chain in which purchases may be made in the store, but are researched through other channels of communication.
  • A move to omni-channel retailing can create a more knowledgeable consumer, so store employees need to be more knowledgeable about merchandise carried and production processes.
  • Communications between the IT department, marketing department, and sales staff will need to be as smooth as possible with little confusion about goals and strategies.

• Cross-Channel Customer Experience

  • He inspects the various desks displayed in the store and finds the model he is saw on line but the in-store price is different from the online price.
  • He consults a salesperson who, in turn accesses the in-store computer system to check on the pricing and any applicable discounts or promotional campaigns that would impact the price of the desk.
  • A retail store, web site, digital signage, kiosk, online and mail order catalogs or direct personal communications by letter, email or text message represent marketing channels.
  • A solid cross-channel strategy is essential to support buyers no matter how or where they access product information or whether they shop on line or in store or both simultaneously.
  • In addition, feedback received from customers via the various channels provides vital customer information to many different departments within the company resulting in collaborative customer relationship management and improved quality of the services provided by the company.

• The Six Departments of a Full Service Agency