All posts in Retail

Reliance Retail And Big Bazaar Rope In Kirana Stores To Expand Operations

By admin on

The retail sector in India has seen incredible growth over the last few years. It has seen many corporate houses that had very little experience in this sector venture in and actually achieve a good amount of success. Future Groups Big Bazaar and Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) owned Reliance Retail are two such brands. After mulling over various strategies to expand operations, the two retail giants have decided to rope in local Kirana-walas with a view widen product reach and expand their operations to newer territories.

The two brands are following different paths for the same. Mukesh Ambani owned Reliance retail are speeding up their expansion of wholesale cash-and-carry stores. On the other hand, Big Bazaar, owned by Kishore Biyanis Future Group has undertaken its Big Bazaar Direct Programme in this, Kirana Stores can become a franchisee for the big retailer.

Analysts say that this move by both the retail chains is bound to increase growth. Big organized shopping mall type stores may not be successful in small towns or villages. Hence, pushing products through these small grocery stores or Kirana Stores is highly beneficial for the brand in the long run.

At the same time, small traders remain skeptical of this move are not too optimistic on being co-opted by the big boys. Praveen Khandelwal, secretary-general, Confederation of All India Traders, was quoted as saying, Organized retailers are in the business for making profits and are least bothered of the small traders. They use predatory pricing tactics to ultimately wipe-off the smaller guys. Even their wholesale stores are nothing but retail in disguise, since they are giving membership to anyone, when it was only meant to be for traders.

Nothing seems to have deterred the people operating Reliance Retail though. The RIL owned entity which commenced operations in 2011 has opened 12 more stores in the last 10 months. And theyre not slowing down; this pace of expansion is growing. A person close to the retail chain said, We are catering to institutional consumers, hotels, resorts, cafes, catering companies etc, but kiranas are among the biggest target group.

The Reliance owned stores have also made in-roads into the wholesale store business. Its converting some of its stores into wholesale store businesses. About a million partners i.e., institutional customers have signed up for the wholesale business. Small shop owners, as well as people who own grocery stores in small towns are being part of member meetings to understand their needs. When contacted, a company spokesperson said only three stores are being converted and it will continue to expand across all formats, including retail and wholesale.

// var owa_baseUrl = ‘http://branding.psonisma.com/’;
var owa_cmds = owa_cmds || [];
owa_cmds.push([‘setSiteId’, ‘1df29f3b5028b021a391534d7ad8c442’]);
owa_cmds.push([‘trackPageView’]);
owa_cmds.push([‘trackClicks’]);
owa_cmds.push([‘trackDomStream’]);

(function() {
var _owa = document.createElement(‘script’); _owa.type = ‘text/javascript’; _owa.async = true;
owa_baseUrl = (‘https:’ == document.location.protocol ? window.owa_baseSecUrl || owa_baseUrl.replace(/http:/, ‘https:’) : owa_baseUrl );
_owa.src = owa_baseUrl + ‘modules/base/js/owa.tracker-combined-min.js’;
var _owa_s = document.getElementsByTagName(‘script’)[0]; _owa_s.parentNode.insertBefore(_owa, _owa_s);
}());
//]]>

Good Retail Merchandising is Vital to Brand Perception and Customer Retention

By admin on

How often do you go to the grocery store to find that your favourite product is sold out or is out of stock? How does this impact your customer experience and your perception of the retailer and the brand? If you are in the consumer packaged goods or retail business and this has happened to you then you now know how frustrating this type of occurrence can be from a customer’s perspective.

Good retail merchandising is the key to a brand’s success as it relates to brand perception, sales and customer retention. When a customer visits a retailer and items that they are looking for are not there simply because they have not made it to the shelf or, worse, are out of stock, it hurts the perception of both the brand and retailer.

Think about it. If you love Tide detergent and on your weekly grocery runs to Loblaw’s you cannot buy it two weeks in a row, what would you do?

1.You may switch grocery stores and start shopping at Metro because Tide is always in stock there. In this scenario the retailer is impacted.

2.You may switch brands of detergent, deciding to buy Sunlight instead. In this scenario the brand is impacted.

3.You may become frustrated, decide to switch grocery stores and go to No Frills, for example, to find that there is a huge cost savings by switching to the store’s “No Name” brand detergent. In this scenario both the brand and retailer are impacted.

In all three scenarios, had the brand been in stock and on the shelf, the customer would not have been inconvenienced and the brand would have retained its customer. We gave Tide as an example, which is a well-known item with massive brand recognition in the marketplace as well as a dedicated customer following. This brand may be considered “worth” switching retailers for. Many other brands may not yet have gained such consumer loyalty, which is why the stakes are high in retail merchandising.

Outside of offering a fantastic product, accessibility and reliability is a huge factor where customer retention is concerned. Products that are not properly merchandised (price tags are not on merchandise, for example) and not adequately stocked, result in lost sales for the brand and retailer and, in the worst case scenario, can result in a shift in customer loyalty.

Retail is extremely competitive and if you are a customer whose retailer is not carrying what you need you can be rest assured that another retailer (competition) within close proximity will. Something as simple as working with a company who offers retail merchandising services will ensure that the perception of your brand is not impacted by issues that occur at the retail level. Retail merchandising is something that requires constant attention to ensure that at any given time your product is in stock, on the shelf and priced, ensuring the accessibility that the average retail customer expects.

The Way To Stop Employee Theft In Your Retail Store

By admin on

Employee theft will price a retail business thousands of bucks a week. It is one of those business possession or management experiences that is all too often ignored till it has happened to you.
Employee theft is real, take it from someone who has experienced it firsthand. In my case, over fifteen years as a retail business owner, I have experienced 3 occasions of great employee theft costing $a pair of,000, $20,000 and $twelve,000 respectively.
The tragedy is that retailers sometimes have at their disposal tools that, if used properly, cut back the opportunity for theft and thereby protect the money inside the business.
Retail store managers and owners want to require the danger of theft seriously rather than thinking that it might never happen to them. This suggests considering that everybody operating in your retail business is a potential thief. Powerful as this can be, it is the only manner to operate.
At every chance, build it clear that you have got a zero tolerance approach to theft. This will separate you from your employees, therefore be it. It’s essential that you set your want to cut theft previous friendship with an employee. Your business is at risk once all.
Everything in your business with price must be treated with respect. Each day. And you, as the owner or manager, need to demonstrate leadership on the mission to stay theft at a minimum.
Cash. Be obsessive concerning balancing every day. Ensure that your processes are water tight. Eliminate opportunities in your processes for fraud. Consider partaking a 3rd party not connected with the business to audit your processes. Review video footage regularly. Have yourself and your manager expertly trained in detecting employee theft at the cash register. Consider bringing in an investigator to assess the team of team members. Better of all, use the facilities in your software.
Track stock. Manipulating stock is one approach workers steal. By obsessively tracking stock available you are a lot of possible to discover employee theft sooner. Use your Purpose of Sale software to track all stock in and out, do spot stock takes and reorder stock. Making your POS software the heart of your stock management makes it tougher for an employee to manipulate stock in stealing from you.
Data. Accurate information is an excellent means to detect and resolve an employee theft problem. Data in your Point of Sale software will provide the proof which you denied would exist. Be open to what the info proves. Take time to learn regarding the theft tracking and management tools in your Point of Sale software. Be committed to using these.
Take a zero tolerance approach here. Staff stealing from you need to control information in some way. As an example, if their sales per hour worked are far not up to others then they might simple not be using the pc system. However, you would have detected off behaviour from your inventory system when reordering stock.

Leasing Retail Space – Types Of Retail Space

By admin on

What Type of Retail Space?

A great retail space for your business needs to be the right type of space in the right location. The previous portions of this article addressed location. This section will address options for the type of retail space.
Impulse versus Destination

Some purchases are made on impulse and other purchases are made after careful planning. Retail for the carefully planned shopping will be termed destination retail. Starbucks is a great example of an impulse purchase. You see a Starbucks location and decide to pullover and have a coffee and perhaps a pastry. Have you noticed how Starbucks almost always has incredible locations?
Impulse

If they are in a shopping center, they’re almost always in an end-cap location. If they are part of a larger shopping plaza, they typically have the best a location within the shopping plaza. If the retail space you are seeking involves impulse purchases, you should see prime space. Great visibility and great access are both important. Even though it will be painful, you probably need to pay for the very best possible location.
Destination

If you are seeking retail space for destination retail, an incredible location is not necessary. You need to be in the right area but you do not necessarily need the finest location within the shopping center. Almost all destination retail has a convenient location with good visibility. While access is a factor for destination retail, it is much less important in comparison to impulse purchase retail.
Types of Retail

Following are various types of retail space:
Freestanding store
Strip center
Neighborhood Center
Community Center
Regional mall
Power centers
Definitions
Anchored retail space has a retailer who generates an amount of traffic. The anchor is typically a larger store or perhaps even a set of larger stores. A grocery store is the anchor for most neighborhood shopping centers. Department stores have typically been the anchors for regional malls.

Shadow anchor refers to a shopping center (typically a strip shopping center) which has a mall by virtue of being proximate to a major retailer. Target, Wal-Mart, Sands, Costco and IKEA are all stores which would be good draws for a shadow anchor shopping center.

End-cap is the space at the end of a shopping center, typically at the end of a strip center.

In-line space is space in a shopping center which is not at the end. In other words, it is space between the two ends of the shopping center.

Select a Type of Space

The optimal retail space for your business will be obvious in many cases. If you’re planning a gas station/convenience store, you would clearly not open it within an enclosed shopping mall. If you are planning a department store, you would not open it in a strip center.

Tradeoffs

However, there are variations in judgments regarding the best location for a retail store for many types of businesses. Many retailers have a combination of in-line shopping store space and freestanding stores. A freestanding store will likely be more expensive. However, a freestanding store gains more visibility. In most cases, you can effectively place advertising or signage on each side of the building. Your business has much better visibility in comparison to in-line space.

Prime Space?

An end-cap space in a shopping center which is perpendicular to the street also has excellent visibility. Restaurants frequently locate in end-cap spaces. If your product or service is an impulse purchase with a relatively low price point, give serious consideration to obtaining premium retail space. Consider paying the additional cost for either a freestanding location or end-cap. Enclosed regional malls can provide a good option for impulse purchases or high-end merchandise.

Regional Malls

Enclose regional malls have recently bifurcated into either prime or secondary/tertiary quality malls. The prime malls are doing great. They tend to be full and have an excellent array of tenants. The secondary and tertiary malls are doing fairly to poorly. In many cases, the highest and best use of the property has changed. Many second-tier regional malls are either being redeveloped as retail, perhaps as a power center, or are being scraped and rebuilt in a variety of land uses.

Destination Retail

Conversely, if your product or service relates to destination retail, consider cost-effective retail options. In some cases, space in a neighborhood shopping center where the anchor tenant has gone dark (anchor tenant has left the states but is still paying rent) they provide a great overall location and a modest price for rent. For tenants who need larger retail spaces, second-generation grocery store space can be a great option. And the big boxes also provide retail space typically in a good location at much more moderate prices. As Wal-Mart has revised their basic template, they have vacated many medium-sized retail stores. In general, second-generation retail space provides a much less expensive cost of occupancy than first-generation space.

The Market Research and Consulting division of OConnor & Associates provides information necessary to make decision to commercial real estate professionals. Occupancy and Rental Data, ownership and management information are routinely gathered for four major land uses multifamily, office, retail and industrial. This information allows investors to compare competitive properties, facilitate business decisions and track market and submarket performance. In addition the data is useful to brokers who for example continually monitor Houston retail space leasing, Houston office space leasing, Houston industrial space leasing, Houston apartments, Dallas apartments, Ft. Worth apartments, Austin apartments, and San Antonio apartments.

More Best Answers For Retail Management Interview Questions

By admin on

If you are interviewing for a retail management position, you might be curious about some of the job interview questions. Moreover, you might be curious as to what the best answers for those retail management questions are. Keep reading on to get some helpful tips and answers.

Question: How would you handle a problem employee, such as someone who consistently arrives late to work?

The answer to this question might seem a little bit tricky. After all, a good company does not want an employee who wastes company time and money on their payroll. However, an answer such as terminate them immediately might be jumping the gun too fast. One of the best answers for retail management interview questions along this line is an answer that involves checking their work history, providing a clear and simple reminder, and then possibly termination if an improvement was not made in a timely matter.

Question: You walked through the store on the way in and have possibly shopped here before, what would you recommend doing to improve this store?

The answer to this question is another tricky one. Your first impulse is to assume this company doesnt want to hear I think the store looks like crap. Of course, you dont want to use those exact words, but provide an honest answer. The best answers for retail management interview questions are honest ones. Ideal suggestions include have an employee greet me when I walk through the door, remove bulky displays in the aisles that hinder cart movement, and so forth.

Question: Have you personally shopped here before? Why or why not?

You might think it is best to answer this interview question with a yes. After all, the best types of retail store employees are those who take pride in their company and actual shop with them. However, dont outright lie to suck up. Once again, this is your chance to shine. Provide honest feedback if you dont shop there (why not and what would change your shopping habits). If you are an avid shopper, state why (whether it be the friendly staff, the quality products, or the good prices).

Question: As a new store manager, how would you delegate tasks to your coworkers?

This type of interview question for a retail management position is designed to get an idea of your method of management. Are you a manager who just goes with the flow? By the way, these arent the type of store managers that most retailers look for. If you were, your response would include letting each employee perform the tasks they normally do. If you were a take-charge kind of manager who is interested in producing the best results, your answer would involve assessing and communicating with each coworker first. The goal is to determine who is the most productive at what and go from there.

Question: While you are applying for a store management position, can you still work as part of a successful team?

One of the best answers for retail management interview questions like this one is yes! As a store manager, it is your responsibility to manage the entire store, as well as each employee. On that same note, store managers often help with everyday tasks. This is particularly common in small stores with limited payroll hours. Job interviewers want to know that you can not only handle the management aspects, but the team aspects as well, such as helping your stockers unload a warehouse truck.