Functions performed by our retail store

There are few functions performed by our retail store:

Providing assortment: we provide a wide range of assortment to our customers.

Breaking bulk: we buy from our suppliers in bulk quantities and further sale to our customers according to their needs.

Holding inventory: we will hold some inventory in our warehouse to increase the utility value of goods by providing a mean to have the right products available at the right place in the right time.

Type of retail store

After a research we decided to open a small level departmental store which includes grocery section, vegetable section, cutlery items, electronic items and a small portion of meat and freshly baked items like pizza. Our store name is ADAM Departmental Store and its location is in the commercial market of PIA road near Wapda town. As the area is developing we bought a plot and constructed our store outlet according to our needs. There are already established few stores but as the area is growing we can have a profitable store due to more capacity requirements of new store in the area. We can capture a lot of houses within our target market because they can easily purchase product from us, because we are a few miles away from them at the premium location of the commercial market.

Customer buying behavior

We did a long research and came to a conclusion by following the various steps

Need recognitionIn this step we identify why customer want to visit our store and which basic need we can easily satisfy of our customers? The answer to the problem was that customer can come to us to satisfy their utilitarian need like purchasing the things which can be used in daily home life and in cooking food or sometimes can have the fast food other than visiting especially the fast food chains they can get grocery and things along with the meal from same spot.

And the young customers also buy the electronic items and we will be installed free software in the laptops.

Information search

As there are few stores already developed in the location but as the area is growing there was a need of new stores to cater more customers. Here we should consider a good behavior with our customers as they can easily switch to competitors. We need to spread a positive word of mouth. So that we could even grab the competitors customers towards us. As the word of mouth bring you a huge amount of customers.

Reduce information search

We have restricted our customers’ information about competitors by providing them excellent service. And an option of free deliver on purchase of meat items where do not need to wait for the process of meat preparation they can just order and pay afterwards our store boys could deliver the products to customers home.

Evaluation of alternative

As we have opened a grocery store against our competitors so our store evaluation is done mostly on these characteristic. This is according to our target market.

Store characteristic

Grocery and electronic 10% below Delivery cost 0 Check out time 3 to 4 min Number of products, sizes and brands 55,000 Fresh products yes Ease of finding product easy

Belief about performance

Performance Benefits

ADAM Shoppers Local Area Located Stores

Economy 10 9 7Convenience 9 8 7Assortment 8 6 4Product Information 8 6 5

In order to check our performance of the store we conducted a small play against our competitors.

Young Ones

Economy 6Convenience 10Assortment 7Product Information 9

Parents with children

Economy 10 Convenience 8Assortment 8Product Information 7

For Young Ones

Performance Benefits Adam shoppers Local Stores

Economy 6 60 54 42Convenience 10 90 80 70Assortment 7 56 42 28Product Information 9 72 54 45Total 278 230 185

For Parents with children:

Performance Benefits Adam shoppers Local Stores

Economy 10 80 90 70Convenience 8 72 64 56Assortment 8 64 48 32Product Information 7 56 42 35Total 272 244 193

So we came to a conclusion our store is likely to be appreciated by a family and young ones with our target market through which we can turn into a profitable store than our competitor.

Post purchase evaluation

Purchasing does not end with the selling the product. It also involves feedback from the customer. So our post purchase evaluation results were quite good. Our customers were quite satisfied from our products as we are dealing with fresh products. Our inventory level is maintained on regular basis. We try to never short off the products.

RETAIL MIX

TYPE OF MERCHANDISE

Our retail format is small level departmental store with good width and average depth of assortment; average to good quality, including mainly grocery section, vegetable section and we will be installed free software in the laptops, as we are dealing in items which are regularly used in homes in daily routine life like cutlery items, sports items, stationary and electronic items.

SERVICES OFFERED

We will provide below mentioned services to our customers:

Touch and feel before buying

We give our customer an opportunity to test the product.

Home Delivery

We will provide free home delivery to our customers for their ease.

PRICING POLICY

Standard pricing policy will be applied so that people from all the classes like middle, upper middle and high class can buy from us. But initially and occasionally we will provide special discounts to our loyal customer.

PROMOTION

We will go for flyers, vertical banner, sponsorships (publicity), streamers etc. for our promotion purpose.

STORE DESIGN AND DISPLAY

Our store layout will be grid layout in which merchandise will be displayed on shelves on both sides. Cash registers or computers will be located at the entrance/ exit of the store. Some impulse products were located at the counter area when customer checking out. Our store layout will be attractive and eye catching.

CUSTOMER SERVICES

We will provide excellent customer services to our customers in order to maintain good relationships with them. We will show empathy to our customers so that would feel like they are valued by us. We will provide immediate response to our customer’s queries.

Location

Our retail store’s location is in the commercial market of PIA road near the Wapda town for retail store due to our target market’s ease of access, PIA road is commercial area that’s why it is attractive for our store, competition is less in PIA road because there is only three store that is operating in whole locality so it is easier for us to capture our target market, there is no competition. The Adams departmental store only gives the electronic and baked items.

TARGET MARKET

Our target market is people of PIA society, Wapda town and their nearby locations.

POSITIONING STRATEGY

We are going to position our retail store as a departmental store that will fulfill the needs of the customer by giving them ease and high quality services. Our aim is to make this store a family oriented store and also young ones as well as giving them peace and good environment for shopping.

SUSTAINABLE COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE

Our sustainable competitive advantage includes our location and CRM. We are always ready to give customers excellent services and warm welcome. Our main sustainable competitive advantage is our HRM which will make us better than others. We are determined to build strong relationships with our customers and suppliers and achieve efficient internal operations through effective HRM practices. These are the key to our long term financial performance.

Organizational Structure

We have 7 persons working at our store. We have one very trustworthy cushier at the counter. As we have 2 check counters were 2 persons have the duty and provide the facility of installation of software’s in the laptops. One chef who is at freshly baked item corner and one who is at the meat corner. And other two manage the shelving and provide the products to the customer’s cars. One sweeper and a delivery boy. To check them all we too visit the store ourselves on and off.

CRM Programs

We have also implemented customer relationship management in our retail store. We have installed software in our system. As the purchasing is done we record the contact numbers of our customers and the home address.

Reporting System

Every employee report to the cushier at the counter who forward the details to owner.

As the owner is not present always the cushier who is acting as a manager too he take the quick decisions on behalf of the owner applying the de-centralized approach, if at any level employees had to respond to the customers immediately they can do so.

Loyalty Programs:

At the end of every month through SMS we will tell our prospective customer that these products are available at this rate.

Retail store site selection and location

We have selected PIA road wapda town for retail store due to the following condition

Accessibility: For our target market it is easily accessible. Road Conditions is also very good and there is no barrier.

Type of Shopping Area:

Shopping area is very good because of commercial area so it is attractive as well.

Type of Store:

It is a small level departmental store which is currently fulfilling the utilitarian needs of the target market.

Economic conditionThe area was dense populated economic condition would be normal and with the passage of time it will develop more.

competitionCompetition is very less in PIA road wapda town

Strategic fitThe site was strategically fit because it had an ample space The space was enough if sometimes large number of customers comes at a store. It would not be problem.

Operating cost

The operating cost of the shop is rs 30000. We easily cover this amount after deducting all other expenses of our store.

Characteristic of our selected location

Traffic flow

The traffic flow is very good. Every time car passes in front of our stores before going to their houses.

Parking

There is proper parking where people can park their cars and comfortably do their shopping in the store. They don’t need to be in hurry in store.

Visibility

Visibility is quite clear. You can see easily from a distance. There is no building in front of it that somebody faces difficulty in searching for it.

Issues in HR

Expense control

As a retailer we will try to hire employees who are less experienced so we can pay them the low wages but on the other hand it can prove dangerous for our store. It can cause loss of customer.

Part time employees

We don’t hire part time employees because they are not trained. They don’t have enough experience. Right now our store is also at small level. It is also very difficult to manage part time employees and their wages.

Employee Demographic:

We will hire young and active employees because young employees are

more energetic and active they can do more physical work.

Training:

Training is an essential part of employee development. Better training and education of employees to ensure you to-do their best.

Retail Communication mix

Objectives:

Our objectives will be to create brand awareness

To convey our company’s mission and vision

Why we are different from others

Our strict policies regarding quality

Packages, memberships, discounts

Special events

Positioning:

To create a positive image and to be in customers consideration set.

Our target market:

Our potential customers who live near to our store and who want all things under one roof.

Communication goals:

To increase market share

To increase sales

Positive word of mouth

Make customers loyal

Grab more potential customers

Marketing budget:

Our aim would be to get more sales than the money that we will spend on

marketing expenditures.

We would mostly spend our money on billboards that are located in the

areas near our store.

We would use direct mails as their cost is low.

Social media would be on our priorities like Facebook etc.

We will drop catalogs in different houses located in areas near our store.

Positive word of mouth.

Total allocation of resources:

Advertisement 500,000

Initial purchase of electronics from vendors 10,0000

Initial purchase of bakery items from vendors 500,000

Initial purchase of grocery items, food items and vegetables

18,000,00

Initial purchase of fresh meat from vendors 400,000

Store design and installations 20,000,00

Advance rent for 8 months 24,000,000

Initial salaries for employees 400,000

Bills and other expenses 400,000

Total cost 94,00,000

Store layout design

Our store layout will be grid layout in which merchandise will be displayed on shelves on both sides. Cash registers or computers will be located at the entrance/ exit of the store. Some impulse products are located at the counter area when customer checking out.

Visual merchandise

Item and size presentation

We have placed the products belonging to same category in the same line so customer feel ease while shopping for it. For example if we talk about the electronic products laptops, LEDs, CDs and table stands are arranged in the same row because these things are interlink with each other.

Lighting effect

We will try to use more and more lights in the store so that visibility of the products are clear to the customer.

Customer service

For customer service we will use different charts at the start of the row which things are available in which racks.

Responsiveness

Customers would be immediately given the service if they have purchased a wrong product from us. It would be quickly replaced by our employees no matter we have to give them product delivery at home.

Listen to the customer

We would listen to customer what the customer basically need from us because sometimes we have the product which the consumer is finding but he has doubt in mind. Clear his mind and make him purchase his or her desired product. We would act like an advisor to him.