2nd Mid-Term Examination

Course Title “Retail Management “

Course Code: - “MKT – 414”

Course Teacher:
Dr. Rafiuddin Ahmed
Associate Professor.
Department of Marketing
BBA & MBA (University of Dhaka)

Submitted By
Name: Fahad Uddin Nahian
Sec: B, Roll: 134
 Answer To the Ques. No - 1

A market consists of a number of present and potential customers which make up the company.

Targeting the desired customers is the most important task for a company to sustain in the long

run and drive up the sales of company.

Nowadays companies use various strategies to reach customers and achieve their goals. There

are three main marketing approaches:

• Differentiated,

• Undifferentiated or mass, and

• Concentrated marketing.

For a footwear retailer which is located in a seasonal coastal resort, I would choose concentrated
marketing to target the appropriate market segment.

Explanation of each approach and the reason of choosing the targeting methods: -

Mass marketing: is a marketing strategy in which a firm decides to ignore market segment

differences and appeal the whole market with one offer or one strategy, which supports the idea of

broadcasting a message that will reach the largest number of people possible. Traditionally, mass

marketing has focused on radio, television and newspapers as the media used to reach this broad

audience. By reaching the largest audience possible, exposure to the product is maximized, and in

theory this would directly correlate with a larger number of sales or buys into the product.

Differentiated marketing: is a strategy that involves a company creating marketing campaigns

that appeal to two or more segments of their target audience. It helps companies improve brand

recognition, reach a wider audience, meet customers’ needs, and increase revenue.
Concentrated marketing: is concerned with focusing all available resources on one segment

within the total market. It is an attempt to match what the firm can do best with a market niche

devoid of strong competitors — a strategy of differential advantage. It means one marketing mix,

or rather a narrow product line and some unique competence, which is the basis for the firm’s

competitive advantage in a chosen segment.

From the above discussion it has been concluded that concentrated marketing approach would be

appropriate for footwear retailer which is located in a seasonal coastal area as it can help them

zeroing in on one specific group. It will also help them to brand their product directing all effort

and resources to develop and market a product for one specific segment of the target audience.

(B)

Merchandising decisions should be made which increase the width and depth of the goods/services

assortment. A better selection of goods/services or concentration on special segments (such as

software for students, physicians, photo enthusiasts) may attract more customers. Staff should also

be comprised of computer enthusiasts who are especially knowledgeable.

Vertical Merchandising

As a technique, vertical merchandising is fairly easy to explain. It’s the grouping together of

merchandise in a vertical column or display in such a way as to get your customers to buy more

products.
As customers tend to focus on those products that are at eye-level. Thus, in displaying your

merchandise in a vertical manner, allowed the customers to stay in one position while they use

their eyes to follow your display of items, from top to bottom.

The result is an easier shopping experience for them since they’ll see more of your inventory.

They’ll also be able to compare your product offerings and prices.

When it comes to picking the right merchandising technique for the store, it needs to be said that

they don’t only have to choose one. There are plenty of successful stores who use a combination

of techniques. Rather, it’s about choosing a technique that suits you store, because without one,

you can’t hope to be successful

Prices should be lower than those of the competitor Duranto Cycle Located at Jamuna Future Park,

but still allow a reasonable profit.

As there shop is at the Old town of Dhaka so they have to keep their price at a reasonable range to

attract their customer and also gain a competitive advantage over their rival business.

Communications with customers can focus on the low prices and personal service that may not be

available from the competing retailer. Advertising can use slogans such as “We may be out of the

way, but it’s worth the drive,” etc.

 Answer to the Ques No 2

A (1)

People today are overwhelmed with market choice, so everyone keeps searching for new methods

to gain customers. Virtual reality is the answer to prayers. This technology has multiple

applications and can benefit almost every business. But it works especially well in the trade

industry.

Retailers are using VR to help customers digitally project furniture into their homes, so customers

can accurately judge whether an item is the right size and style for their space. Similar things are

now possible for things like glasses, jewelry, clothes, shoes, or anything else shoppers want to buy.

Some of the Best use of VR for Retailers are-

Entertain the customers

Retail is not about directly selling a product only. Entertaining customers, improving their

experience, giving new impressions help to increase their loyalty and to achieve great results in

sales. VR development works perfectly as an entertainment tool. Because it was initially created

as one. The immersive experience is not the most widespread technology today and can still

fascinate and amaze people who encounter it, especially if you use one of the latest headsets.
Increase brand awareness

The more people know about the brand, the more successful it can be claimed. Virtual reality can

make people notice you, talk about you, stand out among the competitors and make your brand go

viral. As people get amazed with a branded VR experience, they will definitely share this with

their community and so spread the word about the company. A correctly chosen setting and

environment contribute to the brand image as well.

Introduce “try it before you buy it” concept

As 70% of customers want to use v-commerce to try on clothes and accessories as well as to

customize them. VR solutions give them an opportunity to try a product in its digital form.

Sometimes it is not even necessary to leave home, which is an extra advantage. Retailers can use

a VR experience as a demonstration tour, a fitting room, a showroom or a product test. Any of

these will allow the customers to get acquainted with the product and encourage to make a

purchase.

Create a virtual shop

A lot of people are lazy. Virtual reality is a great way to buy what you need without leaving the

comfort of the house while saving you time and effort.

A virtual shop can be presented in different ways. It can be a complete copy of the actual shop; it

may include a virtual assistant; it can be a virtual catalog the person browses in VR. Nowadays

not every VR shop supports instant payment: for some of them, it is necessary to pay through

another app on the phone. However, the concept is widely used and is claimed to be a future of e-

commerce.
Some of the Limitation of VR are-

Cost of VR devices - As with any new technology, the initial costs are extremely high. Even

mediocre VR devices are priced fairly high.

Locomotion Sickness VR successfully mimics the illusion of reality by placing it close to your

visual space but it is also the exact thing that can break the illusion that VR is trying to create.

Potential Eye Damage and Vergence conflict Coming to a major problem with VR, potential

eye damage is high up in the list. VR is basically a screen placed a few centimeters from your eyes.

This has a significant effect on eyesight and eye damage is a major cause of worry.

Lack of understanding VR is still a fairly new concept. While its applications seem far and wide,

each technology faces a limitation that cannot be accounted.

A (2)

Virtual reality (VR) is quickly becoming mainstream: patients are using it to consult with doctors;

designers are creating virtual runways that are accessible to shoppers around the globe. As retailers

continue to look for innovative ways to provide consumers with customized shopping experiences,

VR is leading the way. In fact, according to an Oracle report, 74 percent of retailers already have

or are planning to deploy VR to improve the customer experience in the coming years.

Most retailers are prepared to handle their day-to-day store operations with VR, but setting up and

running a VR system may feel out of their league. Concerns may include the bandwidth and quality

of running a system that requires high-end computing resources locally and there can be too much

data to stream a high-quality experience.

The many other challenges are similar to those facing other early adopters – the processing power

required for virtual reality is significant and generally not enterprise ready, and support and

development of virtual reality platforms are still in their infancy.

For retailers, in particular, there is an added challenged as most systems require high-end video

cards that are designed for gaming and not equipped to run in a retail location for 12 hours per day.

In order to adopt VR, brands need to take these steps-

Prepare for the bandwidth and scalability needed to support it. For the 360-degree immersive

experience of VR to look amazing and seamless, there is work to be done behind the scenes.

Because of the sheer amount of data that needs to be transmitted across networks, the most critical

components of the VR experience are network performance and reliability. If a network goes down

due to its inability to process the data needed for a VR deployment, the customer will lose

immersion. This hinders the shopper’s perception of the brand.

Prepare their IT infrastructure to set the foundation, brands and retailers can take several steps

to prepare their IT infrastructure and staff, including migrating data to the cloud or purchasing

more data storage and high-performance computing environments. But for those that are entering

new territory, one of the most critical steps may be partnering with a managed service provider

(MSP) that has experience with high-performance technology and offers round-the-clock support

to manage the overall IT infrastructure

 A (3)

Recent surveys show that customers are 86% more likely to pay more for a product or service

when they receive great customer experience. With VR, businesses are able to create revolutionary

customer experiences that are unlike anything ever seen before. As the technology evolves and the

hardware (headsets, consoles, etc.) becomes more affordable, businesses will be able to add new

elements into their environments continuously at a fraction of brick-and-mortar costs.

New Way of Shopping

VR is changing how we shop on an immense scale as it immerses us into a virtual store where we

can browse, shop, and get real-time virtual assistance from the comfort of our homes. This means

our shopping experiences are not limited by time or location, resulting in a truly global shopping

experience with minimal effort.

Immersive

VR creates an entirely immersive experience that provides a profound sensory impact which

establishes a strong emotional connection with users. Businesses can leverage this connection to

engage with customers in innovative and meaningful ways.

Emotive

VR gives users a highly realistic level of experience which we naturally relate to on an emotional

level as we do our own reality. Marketers can develop a range of exciting, exhilarating, scary, and

even emotional VR campaigns to present products in new ways.

Enhanced customer service

Customer services departments have been dramatically improved in recent times thanks to the

power of AI-powered chatbots and virtual assistants. But the implementation of VR into the

customer service field is proving to be a game-changer. Remote troubleshooting is a difficult

aspect of customer service to get right via chatbots.

A (4)

From this case retailers can take away by keeping up to date, adjusting, and embracing new

technology they can attract a wider base of customer as VR can help a business gain competitive

advantage in this populated competitive retail space and make them stand out in the minds of

customer.

It can also help them by providing –

• Superior, immersive customer service to their buyer

• Create a unique shopping experience to attract customer

• Create a unique try before you buy concept

• Create Virtual Shopping experience for their customer like Metaverse is doing.
 (B)

The leased department is a type of retail store, rented or leased by an external party where the

owner is responsible for the business activities in the store.

SM prefers to lease its site to external operators to run commercial activities and does not prefer

to run its own dry-cleaning center.

Risks associated with supermarket leasing it’s space to an outside operator:

• Conflict may arise for operating procedures

• Disputes may arise regarding their lease agreements

• Negative effects on their store brand image.

• Which can result in loss of relationship with their regular customers

• Losing control over their business