Key success factors in retail industry

Résumé du document

The retail industry is today a huge market where competitors are a lot. In order to overview the market of the retail industry, we will list the main actors in the world: Wal-Mart, Carrefour, Ahold, Kroger, Metro group, Target, Albertsons, Kmart and Tesco. However in order to seize more deeply the question about "Key success factors in the retail industry" we will have to define what is a retail industry in its first meaning.

Retailers purchase items from a supplier or wholesaler for re-sale at a profit. The retailer earns his living by making a profit on the re-sale. To do this the retailer may offer only one type of product, where there is little competition, and use a substantial markup (such as an auto dealership), or the retailer may offer many different products or models, so customers will be certain to find an item to buy in this store and not in a competitor's store (such as a convenience store). Some retailers earn a small profit on many items and rely on the volume of sales (such as grocery stores), or turnover, to account for their profits.

Extraits

[...] Customer's segmentation As we said several time, Mainland consumers can be broadly divided into three distinct groups when analyzing the generational pattern of buying habits. While the older two generations (those born in 1946-1964 and those born in 1965-1976) display certain differences, both are price sensitive and more conservative. In comparison, the most recent generation of consumers (those born after 1976) are willing to spend more money on and experiment with novel products and tastes. These consumers are gaining rapidly in importance, as they become income earners in their own right. [...]

[...] It proposes products at the same time products from China and from France in order to offer a wide range of products to satisfy customers. However for instance, some products from France are very costly like wine and sometimes Chinese people prefer buying a local wine. Anyway, having chosen to offer French products which are recognized for its high quality is sometimes a real challenge because of its costs. Positioning and differentiation are mechanism which enhances real brand loyalty from customers. Indeed, as we said before, Chinese' patterns are changing and they begin to have a certain brand loyalty towards retailers. [...]

[...] Moreover, regulations have an impact in the choice and execution of retailers across Asia. In Asia regulation has widely centred around five dimensions: Size of retail outlet Extent of foreign investment Location of store Operating hours Product range China: Unrestricted investment since Nov 205 Big box formats prohibited in central areas of Beijing and Shanghai Ban on opening of new hypermarkets with two miles of existing hypermarkets Malaysia: A certain amount in million is required to open new hypermarket Applications to build new markets required 2 years in advance of construction New hypermarkets prohibited within 3.5 km radius of housing area of a city centre Hypermarket must be free-standing, not attached to any other building complex Philippines: Foreigners investing in existing retails stores limited to 60% equity stake for initial 2 years Minimum requirements for locally- manufactured products Singapore: No restriction on foreign investments No signification format specific restrictions ( apart from zoning laws) Retail regulation is linked to the political climate in each market, due to the the high visibility of regulations on retail. [...]

[...] Penguin books The Wal Mart way. Don Soderquist. Thomas Nelson The retail revolution. Nelson Lichtenstein. [...]

[...] It's the best way to attract customers in the store, and then they can use promotions in order to sell more products. Customers want to put their hands on the merchandises, shucking each corncob before putting in their basket or demanding that associates not only take a fitted sheet out of the plastic but demonstrate it on an actual bed. In China, middle class” represents more than 125 million people but it depends on the interpretation of middle class. These customers like to buy clothes, TV's and groceries in different types of stores. [...]