1. Retailing

2. What Is Retailing? Selling products or services directly to final consumers for their personal or business use.

3. Classifying Retailers Retailers are classified by: –Level of service they offer. –Breadth and depth of product lines. –Relative prices charged. –How they are organized. –Where they locate.

4. Service Classifications Self-Service Retailers: –Customers perform their own “locate-compare-select” process to save money. “Low-Touch” –Examples: Gas stations, Wal-Mart, Target, Albertson’s Limited-Service Retailers: –Provide moderate level of sales assistance for customers who need information. “Mid-Touch” –Examples: Sears, Best-Buy, Macy’s Full-Service Retailers: –Usually carry more specialty goods for which customers like to be “waited on.” “Hi-Touch” –Examples: Nordstrom, Jewelry Stores, Car Dealerships

5. Product Line Classifications Specialty stores (Coach) Department stores (Macy’s, Nordstrom) Supermarkets (Safeway, Lucky) Convenience stores (7-11, AM-PM) Club Stores (Costco) Superstores –“Category Killers” (Comp USA, Coach) –Supercenters (Wal- Mart) –Hypermarkets (Meijer, Biggs)

6. Factory Outlet Malls Factory outlet malls are one of the hottest growth areas in retailing today.

7. Retail Franchising Franchising accounts for 40% of all retail sales in the United States.

8. Assortment and Atmosphere Product assortment –Differentiates the retailer –How much variety is optimal? –Carry the “right” Sizes and Flavors Store atmosphere –Experiential vs. Utilitarian Shopping –The importance of atmosphere: shopping mood –Physical layout can help or hinder shopping –Growing number of Experiential shopping environments.

9. Experiential Retailing Mall of America pioneered the #1 experiential retailing concept in the nation.

10. The Future of Retailing 1.New Retail Forms (What’s next?) 2.Shortening Retail Life Cycles 3.Growth of Nonstore Retailing (Internet, Kiosk, Catalog, Vending Machines, etc.) 4.Retail Convergence (One-stop shopping) 5.Mega-retailer Dominance (Wal-Mart, Target) 6.Global Expansion of Major Retailers 7.Retail Stores as “Communities” and public forums

11. Question du Jour Why are malls less popular shopping destinations nowadays?