-convenience

-product selection

-special services (special orders, home delivery, gift wrap, entertainment)

-fairness in dealings

-helpful information

-prices

-social image (status, fitting in w/other shoppers)

-shopping atmosphere

-stores that specialize in certain lines of related products rather than a wide assortment

-main advantage is that they can satisfy some target markets better

-con is cost of having to stock slow-moving items in order to satisfy their target markets

-after WWII, some retailers started to focus on discount prices

-they offer "hard goods" (cameras, TVs, and appliances) at substantial price cuts to customer who would go to the discounter's low-rent store, pay cash, and take care of any service or repair probelms themselves

-large, self-service stores w/many departments that emphasize "soft goods" (housewares, clothing, and fabrics) and staples but still follow the discount house's emphasis on lower margins to get faster turnover

-eveolved in 1950s when war shortages ended after WWII and more manufacturer brands became available, so discount houses were able to get more brands and offer better assortment. At this stage many turned respectable-moved to better locations and offered more services and guarantees

-very large stores that carry not only food and drug items but all goods and services that the consumer purchases routinely

-tries to meet ALL the cusomer's routine needs at a low price

-assortment in one place is convenient, but some time-pressured consumers think that crowds, lines and wandering around in the store are inconvenient

-since 1980s, retailers focusing on single product lines have adopted the mass merchandisers approach

-Toys r Us pioneered this trend

-these stores are called category killers b/c it's so hard for less specialized retailers to compete

-convenience-oriented variation of the conventional limited-line food stores. Instead of expanding assortment, they limit their stock to pickup or fill-in items

-focus on convenience, not assortment, and often charge higher prices than nearby supermarkets

-still in the growth stage

-produces the biggest gains in businesses where better info flows result in more efficiency

-supplement

-compliment

-more efficient

-focused

those that have bricks/mortar stores at many locations use a website to SUPPLEMENT their stores and other promotion-and to test the online retail format

-some retailers take a strong multichannel approach and use their websites to COMPLEMENT their stores or catalogs

-more common among retailers who have higher profit margins on the lines they sell

-among online-only retailers, some try to differentiate their offerings primarily by being MORE EFFICIENT than competitors

-other online-only approach is to differentiate by being very FOCUSED on the specific needs of target market

-typically use site to supplement a catalog operation or a limited number of stores

-used by smaller companies that can't afford expensive advertising

-rely on targeted direct mail (or e-mail) promotions to acquire new customers and provide exceptional customer service to retain customers they already have

-new types of retailers enter the market as low-status, low-margin, low-price operations and then, if succesful, evolve into more conventional retailers offering more services w/higher operating costs and higher prices. Then they're threatened by new low-status, low-margin, low-price retailers-and the wheel turns again.

-department stores, supermarkets, and mass-merchandisers went through this cycle, and some internet sellers are on this path

-modern retailers who are carrying any product lines they think can sell profitably

-supermarkets and drug stores sell anything they can move in volume

-a firm that owns and manages more than one store

chains have grown rapidly and now account for 1/2 of all retail sales

-retailer-sponsored groups-formed by independent retailers-that run their own buying organizations and conduct joint promotion efforts

-developed after competitive pressure from corporate chains

-the franchise develops a good mkt. strategy, and the retai franchise holders carry out the strategy in their own units

-account for 1/3 of all retail sales

-especially popular w/service retailers

-the activities of those persons or establishments that sell to retailers and other merchants, or to industrial, institituional, and commercial users, but that do not sell in large amounts ot final consumers

-firms whose main function is providing wholesaling activities

-in developed nations, as producers became larger many bypassed the wholesalers

-merchant wholesalers

-agent wholesalers

-warehouses that producers set up at seperate locations away from their factories

-manufacturers that do this are classified as wholesalers

-1 of the 2 main types of wholesalers

-own the products they sell (main difference)

-often specialize in certain types of products or customers

-90% of wholesalers are merchant

-2 types

-service merchant wholesalers

-limited-function merchant wholesalers

-1 of the 2 types of merchant wholesalers

-provide all the wholesaling functions

-3 types

-general merchandise wholesalers

-single-line/general line wholesalers

-specialty wholesalers

-1 of the 3 types of service merchant wholesalers

-carry a wide variety on nonperishable items such as hardware, electrical supplies, furniture, drugs, cosmetics, and auto equipment

-w/their broad line of convenience of shopping products, they serve hardware stores, drugstores, and small department stores

-1 of the 3 types of service merchant wholesalers

-carry a narrower line of merchandise than general merchandise wholesalers

-ex. might carry only food, apparel, or certain types of industrial tools

-in consumer products, they serve the single- and limited-line stores

-in business products, they cover a wider geographic area and offer more specialized service

-1 of the 3 types of service merchant wholesalers

-carry a very narrow range of products and offer more information and service than other service wholesalers

-1 of the 2 types of merchant wholesalers

-provide only some wholesaling functions

-5 types

-1 of the 5 types of limited-function wholesalers

-operate like service wholesalers, except that the customer must pay cash.

-common in less developed nations

-1 of the 5 types of limited-function wholesalers

-own the products they sell, but they don't actually handle, stock, or delvier them. They are mainly involved in selling-they get orders and pass them on to producers, who then ship the order directly to the consumer

-commonly sell bulky products for which additional handling would be expensive and possibly damaging

-1 of the 5 types of limited-function wholesalers

-specialize in delivering products that they stock in their own trucks

-big advantage is that they promptly deliver perishable products that regular wholesalers prefer not to carry

-1 of the 5 types of limited-function wholesalers

-specialize in hard-to-handle assortments of products that a retailer doesnt want to manage

-usually display the products on their own wire racks

-ex. grocery store relies on a rack jobber to decide which books/magazines it sells

-1 of the 5 types of limited-function wholesalers

-sell out of catalogs that may be distributed widely to smaller industrial customers or retailers that might not be called by other wholesalers

-1 of the 2 main types of wholesalers

-do NOT own the products they sell, their main purpose is to help in buying and selling

-ususally specialize by customer type and by product or product lines

-provide even fewer functions than the limited-function wholesalers

-operate at low cost

-common in int'l trade

-sells similar products for several noncompeting producers-for a commission on what is actually sold

-work almost as members of each company's sales force, but they're really independent wholesalers

-more than 1/2 of all agent wholesalers are manufacturers' agenst

-pro is that they already call on some customers and can add another product line at relatively low cost

-can be useful for introducing new products

-bring buyers and seller together

-have a temporary relationship w/the buyer and seller while a deal is negotiated

-useful when buyers and seller dont come into the market very often

-broker's product is info about what buyers need and what supplies are available

-take over the whole mkt. job of producers-not just the selling function

-may handle the entire output of 1 or more producers, even competing producers, w/amost complete control of pricing, selling, and advertising.

-almost become producer's mkt. manager

-financial trouble is 1 of main reasons producers call selling agents