ANGELIKA MAE C.

MANABAT
BSBA-MM2A
MODULE 3 PROGRESS CHECK

1.) Discussion of Retailer Characteristics

A.Types of Merchandise
1. VARIETY
A variety is a quality of being different. Just like in a retail store, they offered
different variations of products or merchandise. One good example is
supermarkets that sell a variety of products, simply when you need to buy your
necessities for your everyday lives, they can provide you different choices as
many as you want. But, there is also a chance that they do not sell the particular
product that you are looking for but you can still have another option or
substitute.The variety of merchandise in a retail store were categorized mostly
based on their use. In addition, a variety is also called breadth of merchandise.

2. ASSORTMENT
The assortment or depth of merchandise in retailing is just a number and type of
merchandise that will be sold and displayed in a store which are more likely to be
similar or having the same function of merchandise but different in brands. For
example, the cyberzone in SM Pampanga, that area is for the gadgets like
mobile phones which you can choose freely because they offer different styles
and brands of mobile phones, it just depends on you how you will evaluate or
check the product before you come up with a buying decision.

2.) Identify and Explain the Food Retailers

A. SUPERMARKETS
A supermarket is a large self-service retail store which sells a wide range of
products. It is a kind of food retailer that is larger in size that has a wide variation
of merchandise compared to other grocery stores (traditional stores). A
supermarket offers food, beverages, fresh meat, processed food, household
products and other stuffs mostly the essential things that we need every day.
Typically, a supermarket is a chain store that can sell products at a lower cost
because they can set prices depending on the exact amount of merchandise
they’ve got from their manufacturers and suppliers.

B. SUPERCENTERS
Supercenters is a kind of food retailer which is also a large store just like the
supermarket, that sells a complete line of merchandise usually at a lower price
and at discounted prices. In short, it is the combination of supermarkets and
discount stores. Supercenters provide a non stop shopping experience that will
surely satisfy the end consumers. An example of the most popular store is the
Walmart Supercenters (founded by Sam Walton) which remains as one of the
largest stores that serves as threats to other supermarkets because of its full-line
discount store concept that can attract customers as they find it more convenient
than the others.

C. WAREHOUSE CLUBS
A warehouse club merchandise retailer that sells specifically in general.. Who
offers a limited merchandise assortment which includes not too much of service
that they can provide but it is more affordable, considering that they have been
selling the merchandise at a lower cost. Customers can buy large wholesale
quantities of merchandise in the store like this. A warehouse club physical store
is like a typical warehouse or a factory facility with spacious aisles in order for the
customers to accommodate their desired merchandise as much as they can with
their large push carts. Aside from that, they also have a strategy in which every
customer must have a membership card with a fee, one good example is the
S&R. Those fees for membership that they had collected for them is for
maintaining their prices for products as low as possible and that’s their strategy.

D. CONVENIENCE STORES
Convenience store is a kind of small retail store that sells a limited merchandise
or products such as stock foods, beverages, snacks, prepared meals etc. This
store is definitely small in size but it is more convenient for us because when we
need something to buy we can easily go there as well as it serves as a place to
go whenever we are on trip, in short it can be a stop over place. This kind of
store is easy to access because it's open 24 hours to provide us goods and
services. But there is an additional charge on each item we purchase.

3.) General Merchandise Retailers

A. DEPARTMENT STORES
Department store is a type of retailer that brings a variety and deep assortment of
merchandise. Each area of the store consists of specific merchandise which
belong to their right category as well as with different personnel in charge to look
over the areas to assist the customers. These usually include cosmetics,
appliances, apparel for men and women whether it is an adult or a kid,
accessories, household textiles, furniture and many more. They also provide
customer service like gift wrapping. One of the downsides of being in a
department store is that you have a lot of merchandise to compete with. That is
why you need to advertise the product beautifully and maintain your area
organized and attractive. The value proposition of department stores are
increasing based on the number of departments, quality of their stocks or
products and being fair when it comes to pricing.

B. FULL-LINE DISCOUNT STORES

Full-line discount store is a retail store which offers a broad variety of
merchandise with full discount on its actual prices. They sell merchandise either
privately brand-name at a lower price than elsewhere. The technique here is the
reason why they are still conquering the retail industry among the others. They
do not also offer too much customer service because they are more focused on
working on a lower budget to reduce their cost.

C. SPECIALTY STORES
From the word specialty, the stores like these are focused with specific product
categories and associated items. This kind of store also offered a high level of
service. Home depot is an example of a specialty store in which they sell a
specific merchandise and that is for home furniture's purposes only. A specialty
store may have higher prices or lower prices than others depending on the
situation about the quality of products and materials that are being used to make
it. Higher service quality is the one that they offered too.

D. DRUGSTORES
A drug store is considered as a specialty store because this store is selling health
care products, medicine and other personal things for specific purposes. This
store is trusted by most of the people because of the credibility they have shown,
also the services of their trusted personnel like the pharmacist to give you the
right merchandise and information. You can find a drug store in a one
department store or supermarkets but there is also a drugstore that has a
personal space or store like the Mercury Drug, where you can find in many
places.

E. CATEGORY SPECIALISTS
These are the stores who offer discounts that specialize a particular category as
well as they are known for offering a deep or different assortment of
merchandise. Moreover, they are focusing more on big-box retailers. A category
specialist is what they have called category killers. Mainly, it uses a self-service
approach but sometimes they do offer some gestures or assistance for their
customers. Given that a category specialist has the power or control when it
comes to their buying decisions and can determine the assurance of supply., it
simply means that they can manage to lower their prices and offer some discount
that can kill the category of merchandise for the other stores.

F. EXTREME- VALUE RETAILERS

It is a small merchandise discount store which offers limited merchandise
assortment for a very low price. This kind of retailer targeted the low-income
community or consumers. Furthermore, they also serve the rural and urban
shoppers that belong to low- middle income classes but mostly prioritizing those
who are in need. They are serving in the society by allowing any status of the
family to buy better affordable items that are suitable to their budget. Giving
importance to this kind of family and community is not just for the company to
earn but also the will to help the other people to provide their needs which is an
act of being ethical that can make your store stand out among the others.

G. OFF-PRICE RETAILERS
A closeout stores retailers or must known as the off-price retailers provide an
inconsistent brand-name of merchandise of course with high quality of goods
with a way cheaper prices/ lower prices and that’s off-price retailers have that
others don’t have, they have been offering a good quality of merchandise at a
lower prices so that must be their competitive advantage against the other
retailer stores. Most likely a store like these is owned by the Entrepreneurs.

4.) Explain Services Retailing

A. DIFFERENCES BETWEEN SERVICES AND MERCHANDISE RETAILERS
A retail industry can both offer merchandise/ products and services but have so
many differences when it comes to providing and producing the needs of the end
consumers. A merchandise retailer is producing goods or merchandise to the
people, those things are considered as tangible commodities or products.
Tangible means something that you can see, touch and use on your own. This
merchandise is transferable and can be separated from the seller. While services
retailers or retailing focused on providing services to the consumers, those
services are intangible, and basically are simultaneously production and
consumption, simply means that the same time it will produce the same time it
will be consumed. These services are amenities that are mostly provided by
professionals like lawyers, accountants, doctors and other people who use their
services to satisfy their respective consumers. A service rendered to the
consumers is instantly perishable or cannot be stored or transported by other
people. And it is not consistent when it comes to offering because the service will
be based on providers who have different ways in doing such things.

5.) Types of Ownership

A. INDEPENDENT ESTABLISHMENT
Independent establishments or stores are businesses that are owned privately by
mostly individual, partnership or by family which is in a wholesale-sponsored
voluntary group. It's just the same as the single-store establishment whereas
independent establishments, specifically small outlets that are run and planned
by the owner itself. It is also different when it comes to their engagement with
their customers which is not the same as what the large establishment can give.
This store cannot buy a bulk of products because their customers are only limited
so you will not know how many people were gonna buy. That is why this store is
prescribed the personal address of customers or more on customized, with that
they cannot give discount just like what a large retailer did.

B. SINGLE-STORE ESTABLISHMENT
Just like what I’ve said, a single-store establishment is just the same as the
independent establishment where it is a small store operated and owned by the
same person or simply having an executive branch to operate. It's just a matter of
having another store or chain that sells the same products and providing the
same services. They are responsible for their own business especially in making
decisions such as for the sales, marketing, staffing, merchandising and all the
operations that should be done by the owner. Unlike the other large retail
establishments, a single-store establishment cannot buy a large bulk of
merchandise instead they do customization of purchases which can make their
products more pricey than the other stores.

C. CORPORATE RETAIL CHAINS

Corporate retail chains are stores who can have at least two or more chains
owned by the same person and selling with the same line of merchandise and
services. This chain was managed and implemented their strategy the same and
consistently like the other store that they have been operating, in other words
their decision must be standardized and consistently presented as the other
chain. And their advantage from others is that they have the control over their
ownership.

D. FRANCHISING
Franchising is the set of contractual agreement between the owner or franchiser
over the franchisee. It allows the franchisee to have its own retail store using the
same brand name and same offering of products and services. This agreement
would be possible with the use of money and contract they have decided to fully
establish and operate a franchise store. The best examples for this are the food
chains like the Jollibee Corporation who have many franchises over the
Philippines and in other countries. This franchise store must offer the same
products. Thus, the franchisee has the right to adjust its menu like the taste of
their products depending where it is located. One of the advantages of running a
franchise store is that you already have established a name in the market to gain
customers.