RETAIL

Retail is the final stage of any economic activity . By virtue of this fact , retail occupies an important place in the world economy . According to philip kotler, Retailing includes all the activities involved in selling goods or services to the final consumer for personal , non-business use . A retailer or retail store is any business enterprise whose sale volume comes primarily from retailing

Retailing
The word retail is derived from the French word retaillier , which means to cut of a piece or to break bulk . Therefore , a retailer may be defined , as a dealer or trader who sells goods in small quantities or one who repeats or relates

Functions of a retailer

From the customers point of view the retailer serves him by providing the goods that he needs in the required assortment , at the required place and time . From an economic standpoint , the role of a retailer is to provide real value or utility to the customer .This comes from four different perspectives . The first is regarding the form of a product that is acceptable to the customer . The retailer perform the function of storing the goods and providing us with an assortment of products in various categories . He creates time utility by keeping the store open when the consumers prefer to shop . By being available at a convenient location, he creates place utility . Finally , when the product is sold , ownership utility is created The retailer also serves the manufacturer by performing the function of distributing the goods to the end consumer and thus forming a channel of information . For several product categories where brand loyalty is not very strong or for unbranded products , the retailers recommendation is vital.

Retail Market in India

The Indian retail market has experienced growth of 10.6 % between 2010 and 2012. and expected to increase up to USD 750-850 billion by 2015.

Food and grocery is the largest category within the retail sector with 60% share followed by apparel and mobile segment. Indian Retail Sector is One of Indias fastest growing sector. Retail sector is Indias basic to growth after agriculture sector. Indian Retail employees more than 7% of Nations workforce and stands 2nd after agriculture. Indian Retail Sector has the highest outlet density in the world with nearly 12 million outlets. Indian Retail sector has evolved slowly and steadily from its basics and still exists in various forms, right from very traditional to modern trends. You can still have glimpse of the traditional retails even in cities and in rural India, while the new retail format is becoming popular in cities as well as in emerging rural India. Many changes have come in Indian retail industry which transformed this industry.

The rise of the retailer

Today , retail has emerged as a separate function by itself. The environment in a large organized retail store is significantly form that in a traditional or a mom and pop store .

Reason for the change

Proximity to the customer (close to customer) The rise of consumerism ( consumer often have forced retail organizations to change their formats and product offering ) . The introduction of the private label(instore brands / product ) Technology A. Point of sale scanning systems B. Customer card to track the customer. C. Internet (online operation)

Prominent Sectors in Indian retail

Food and grocery Clothing and textile Consumer Durables apparels Jewelry retail Books , music and gift retail

Prominent players in Indian retail

Future group Big Bazaar , Pantaloon , ezone

Reliance Retail outlets

TATA Retail Outlets

Adtiya Birla Retail Ltd (ABRL)

GLOBAL RETAILER IN INDIA

6 global retailer in india queue

The government has received six proposals from global single-brand retailers keen on setting up operations through 51% joint ventures with domestic partners,.

Apparel maker Tommy Hillfiger clothing retailer Brooks Brother Group Italian jewellery brand Damiani International, French fashion brand Promod SAS, Fapa Company Ltd and NA Pali Europe SARL, An arm of sportswear retailer Quiksilver Inc, are the six global retailers queuing up to establish operations in Asias third-largest economy. The government has also received two other proposals by British footwear major Pavers England and Swedenbased furniture company IKEA Group to set shop in India through wholly-owned subsidiaries (100% FDI),

Top Retail Brands in India

Retail is a people centric industry and is one industry which can simultaneously expose you to many skills and disciplines . Buying and merchandising Selection of vendors Cost of merchandise procured Allocation of merchandise to stores Developing distribution plans Calculating gross margin . Extensive travelling to locate vendors and exclusive merchandise for the retail stores .

Marketing
In retail functions may be centralized and may include different departments like advertising , sales promotion and public / press relations. Marketing would look at ways of understanding the customer and his behavior by way of focus groups and analyzing of customer buying patterns to develop strategies .

Store Operations

Retail professionals in the store operations career area oversee overall store operations and profits.

Positions include Head of store operations Regional Manager District Manager

Responsibilities: Managing staff Functions like loss prevention / human resource

Responsibilities of store manager: Ability to lead and motivate employees as well as have an eye for detail Store management involves all the disciplines necessary to run a successful business.

Sales

Very often , sales is considered as a part of store operation

Positions : Sales Associates Cashier Store Stock Associates Stock receiver Responsibilities : Serve the customer on selling floor Receiving Merchandise into the floor , counting it and displaying it Receiving merchandise returned by customer . Skills needed : Ability to deal with people Flexibility Ability to work in team Sales position is the entry position in retail Cashier would work behind the cash register desk and would be responsible for billing

Finance

The finance retail career includes all accounting and treasury functions like Accounting for income Paying Expenses Compiling Maintaining financial records Money Management Cash Flow control Banking , investment and credit lines Auditing of stores for merchandise

Human Resources

Human Resource in retail may range from recruiting and hiring employees to large areas like

Indentifying training needs a various levels within the organization and then designing and implementation the programs b) Overseeing compensation and benefits . c) Planning for and ensuring legal compliance in hiring and employment practices
a)

Technology And E-Commerce

Retail is one of the most mature users of information technology . Career in this department may ranges from overall responsibility for data processing efforts within the chain including system design , programming computer operations and information systems (IS) .

System development may be another area , which would be responsible for programming one segment of the business such as merchandising , finance or logistics .

Visual Merchandising

Visual merchandising is largely associated with creating the look of the store. Visual merchandisers are responsible for the total merchandise or service presentation , the overall business image and even the building and placement of design elements . The increase in competition has necessitated retailers to differentiate themselves from the competition .

While products and services are the primary methods of differentiation , visual merchandising is fast becoming an area of differential advantage , as it is believed that attractive displays attract and stimulate , which in turn is believed to create increased sales

Supply Chain Management and Logistics

Supply chain management and logistics are fast emerging as key focus areas in retail . Supply chain management is the integrated management of the flow of materials and products, services and information from raw material supplier , through operations ,to the final customer, and back again . Effective management of the supply chain enhances profitability. Depending on the size of the organization , a job in supply chain management may involve analyzing and negotiating contracts with suppliers, manufactures and / or distributors , capacity and production planning , resources allocation and facility location and scheduling the transportation and logistics of product / services to their final destination