Introduction3
Suggestion and Justification of the Retail Sector3
Specific Recommendations.....6
Recommendations relating to the Merchandise range for the New Chain.8
Initial Recommendations Relating to the Location Strategy for the New Store10
Demonstration of Employability Skills..10
Conclusion10
References.12
Introduction
This report examines the establishment of a new retail store. The issues presented in this report are going to be presented in Piranha Pit show. This is a show that is going to be launched in order to help potential entrepreneurs to achieve their dreams. In order to show an understanding of the marketing concept involved, it is important to point out some issues relating to marketing. It is very important to show the panel that one has a clear understanding of the concepts that are used in this show.
Marketing is an important aspect in all business activities conducted in the world. The concept of marketing enables people working in business organizations to make products available to customers (Martin 2011). Marketing should be done in a physical area where customers can easily access the products. This brings out the importance of retail centers. These areas are important in storing products meant for the customers. In these places, customers are assured that there demand will be met. The availability of retail centers reduces the cost of searching for products. The people operating these stores should have good marketing skills in order to attract customers within the location of the retail stores.
Suggestion and Justification of the Retail Sector
The retail will be operating in the clothing industry. In the past few years, the clothing industry has improved due to better management in this sector (William 2012). The retail is therefore going to sell clothing that accommodates the current fashion environment. It will therefore act as a fashion house for all types of personalities. Before collecting the required products for sale, it is important to collect adequate information regarding the current fashion circulating in the clothing industry. A major consideration that should be taken in choosing this kind of retail is the rising demand for fashion goods in the current market.
Another justification of this case of this retail is the fact that clothing is a basic commodity among all individuals. Therefore, there is a large probability that there will be plenty of customers coming to buy cloths in this store. Most of the fashion houses usually charge high prices that cannot be afforded by low and medium income earners (Jenifer 2011). The proposed retail store will incorporate lower prices in order to convince the medium income earners to purchase the products. There should be effective management working to ensure that the price of the products matches their quality. This will contribute to customer satisfaction in terms of fair pricing.
A comprehensive analysis of the new store shows that its size will be large. There are various customer groups that will be served by this store. There will be a section for men and another one for women. There will also be another section for young kids. A large section will also be set for the youth who are under the age of 35. This is the age bracket that follows the tradition of fashion and design. In order to accommodate the changing fashions in the clothing industry, the fashion store will employ designers meant to improve the quality of the fashion cloths. This will enhance customer loyalty due to provision of high quality goods.
The growth of the fashion store will start to be realized once people have known its existence and location. In order to achieve this, the management will be involved in effective communication of its existence and its physical address. The management should come up with ways of attracting new customers. Once they have been attracted, the management should ensure that the customers maintain their loyalty (John 2009). The frequent customers should be given certain benefits that enhance good reputation.
It is important to point out the competition that will be faced by the fashion store. There are other major fashion stores that provide high quality cloths. Initially, it may be hard to penetrate the competitive environment. However, with the introduction of lower pricing strategy, the store may remain competitive in the clothing sector. People will be attracted by the low prices and high quality goods offered. This will prevent the store from being outmatched by other fashion stores operating within the region.
In evaluating the effectiveness of the fashion store, it is also important to carry out an analysis of the Pestel concept. This theory of marketing indicates that there are certain factors that affect an organization. The following is a diagram that shows the factors that may affect the fashion store.
Figure 1: Pestel Model
If there is political stability in the country, then there would be no other political factors affecting the operation of the fashion store. Economic factors may affect the store if there would be high inflation and unemployment. Inflation would lead to a rise in the price of fashion clothes, which may affect the total sales. If there is unemployment, there would be increase in criminal activities (Bob 2010). If this would happen, the probability of items in the store being stolen would be high. However, this can be prevented by employing strong security personnel. Increased technology would help in the effective design of the cloths. In establishing the retail store, the management should ensure that there is no pollution of the nearby area. In addition, it should ensure that all the laws applicable to the fashion store are adhered to.
There are many opportunities that may be realized in the establishment of the fashion store. The retail store stands a high chance of getting quality supplies from well known designers. Some of the designers make designs that are meant for the people in the entertainment industry. Another opportunity comes in the form of expansion. If the retail store grows well, it may get deals with other institutions like athlete organizations and other business entities. Business entities may be willing to use clothing designs to market their products. Athlete organizations may be willing to provide highly attractive athlete wear for their athletes. Making agreements with these organizations will enable the fashion store to expand its operations.
Specific Recommendations
- Desired Image and Store Name
The image of every organization is very important since it determines the perception of the customers about the company (Joe 2009). The front side of the fashion store should contain drawings of fashion clothes. The cloths included in the drawings should be the latest fashion in the clothing industry. This will attract the fashion oriented customers who pass near the physical location of the store. The appropriate name for this store is P n P Fashion House. P n P stands for Piranha Pit. Using this name will act like some form of appreciation to the owners of the Piranha Pit show. The term fashion should be included in the naming of the store in order to make potential customers aware that the type of cloths sold in this store is based on new fashion.
- Target Market for the New Store
The fashion store is mostly going to target on the youth and women. In most countries, the youth are more into fashion than the old people (Moses 2010). Most of the women have the perception that fashion improves their attractiveness. This is the reason why most women have a high demand for fashion goods. The young generation is so much into fashion since the young people desire items that are up to date. Therefore, the store should focus mainly in satisfying the needs of women and the young generation.
- Competitive Advantage
The new store should strive to maintain competitive advantage in order to outmatch its rivals in the clothing industry. Firstly, it should ensure that it provides high quality materials that is unmatched by its competitors. It is also important for the management to search for information regarding all the existing major competitors (Moses 2010). By doing so, it will be able to know the products offered by these stores. It will gain competitive advantage by improving the services offered by these stores in order to increase its market share. The management should take note of the weaknesses of the competing stores in order to transform them into strengths.
Another important aspect of competitive advantage is the use of cost reduction. The store should practice cost leadership in the clothing industry. Reducing the overall costs will enable the store to have a larger profit margin. The reduction of costs may be achieved by eliminating any unnecessary costs in the store. Cost leadership ensures that the store has larger profitability than its competitors. This will create better reputation for the store than other competing stores. By doing this, it can also attract some of the customers of the competing stores.
Recommendations relating to the Merchandise range for the New Chain
- Store Layout
The layout of the store should be in such a way that all operations are accommodated within the entire store. The store should have a parking for the customers who come in vehicles. This will attract customers who come to shop for many commodities. The parking should be large enough to accommodate vehicles belonging to the staff and customers. Another section should facilitate the packing of items bought by the customers. There should also be a payment section where the relevant staff receives cash from the customers. There should be a large room meant for keeping stores and another area for displaying the products being sold. This will facilitate easy accessibility of the cloths by the customers.
- Store Atmosphere
The store should be largely spaced to enhanced effective ventilition. The windows should be distributed round the building to provide good atmosphere. The store should also contain fans that enhance effective circulation of air. This will prevent cases of fainting and losing breath. Outside the store, some trees may be planted to provide cool atmosphere for the customers (Mathew 2010).
- Visual Merchandising and Sales Promotion
The sale of the fashion cloths will involve a large deal of convincing customers to buy them. The staff working in the store should be trained on how to induce the workers to buy the commodities. The management should ensure that all the customers who enter the store do not leave without buying. There should be some form of sales promotion in order to attract more customers. One form of sales promotion that should be used is the introduction of free products if a customer buys many cloths. For example, if one buys five cloths, he might be entitled to one free commodity offered in the store.
Sales promotion may also come in the form of reduced prices. During the valentine period, the management of the store may indicate to the customers that there is a valentine offer (Mathew 2010). During such periods, the price is usually set at a lower level than usual times. This will induce customers to purchase more cloths during the period, thereby increasing the total revenue for the fashion house.
- Customer Service Within the Store
The staff working in the store should be highly trained in order to enhance their effective performance. In every organization, the quality of the services provided to the customers contributes to the customer base of the entity (Joe 2009). Therefore, the store should ensure that its entire staff provide high quality services that are unmatched by its competitors. There should be as section in the store that deals with complaints from the customers. The staff should solve these problems in the fastest way possible to prevent customers from being frustrated. This will enhance customer satisfaction in the fashion house.
Initial Recommendations Relating to the Location Strategy for the New Store
It is important to study the effective location of a new store. A fashion house may not be suitable in rural areas where farming activities take place. In these areas, there are less people who follow fashion matters. Fashion houses should be situated in city centers where people are fashion oriented. In large cities, there are many people, thereby providing available market for the store. However, the store should not be located near other similar stores to avoid sharing of customers. It should locate in an area which has no fashion house. This will enable it to have a larger market share.
Demonstration of Employability Skills
The marketing skills are necessary to make the operations of this store a success. The availability of these skills will ensure that all the products in the store are marketed effectively (Martin 2011). The marketing skills also ensure that all the target groups are attracted. Most of the staff employed in this fashion house should have some skills in business management. This will enhance effective operations of the activities in the store. Effective communication will also enable the relevant staff to pass information effectively to the customers on matters relating to products and services offered in the fashion house.
Conclusion
The establishment of the fashion house will benefit many people. Firstly, the owner will benefit from the overall profit realized at the end of each financial period. There will be increased employment due to the employment of new staff. The government will also benefit in form of the income tax paid to them at the end of each financial period. Finally, the establishment of the fashion store should be adopted in order to enhance expansion in the global business environment.
References
Martin, K. 2011 Pestel Analysis of New Organizations. London. Palgrave Macmillan.
William, J. 2012. Marketing Skills for New Entities. Oxford. Oxford University Press.
Jenifer, K. 2011. Global Retail Stores. New York. Mc-Grady.
John, S. 2009. Sales Promotion in Business Entities. London. Palgrave Macmillan.
Bob, C. 2010. Principles of Marketing. Liverpool. Liverpool University.
Joe, K. 2009. Marketing Issues in the Business World. London. Palgrave Macmillan.
Moses, J. 2010. Retail Marketing: Weaknesses and Strengths. Prentice. Prentice Hall.
Mathew, K. 2010. Marketing and Retail Analysis. Oxford. Oxford University Press.
