Retail Marketing

The retail marketing concept is the acceptance by the

retailer that it is the “customer” and not “demand” that lie
at the core of the retail organization. The retail marketing
concept is a philosophy, not a system of retailing or retail
structure.
It is founded on the belief that profitable retailing and
satisfactory returns on investment can only be achieved
by identifying, anticipating and satisfying customer needs
and desires.
It is an attitude of mind that places the customer at the
very centre of retailing activities.

Communications Mix

Communication Mix is the range of approaches and

expressions of a marketing idea developed with the hope
that it be effective in conveying the ideas to the diverse
population of people who receive it.

It is designed to achieve a variety of objectives for the

retailer, such as building a brand image of the retailer in
the customer's mind, increasing sales and store traffic,
providing information about the retailer's location and
offering, and announcing special activities.

Retailers communicate with customers through various

means. These elements in the communication mix must
be coordinated so customers have a clear, distinct image
of the retailer and not be confused by conflicting
information.

Many retailers use rules of thumb to determine the size of

the promotion budget. Marginal analysis, the most
appropriate method for determining how much must be
spent to accomplish the retailer's objectives, should be
used to determine whether the level of spending
maximizes the profits that could be generated by the
communication mix.
The main elements that make up the
promotions/communications mix are:
 • PAID IMPERSONAL COMMUNICATION

Advertising

It is an Effective medium for creating awareness and

interest. Low control over response.

Television
Cinema
Radio
Directories
Packaging
Hoardings/Posters
Magazines
Catalogues
Brochures
Internet

Sales Promotion

Effective medium for creating awareness, interest and

credibility.

Little control.
Publicity can be highly credible if it is well thought - out
and it is extremely cheap. A feature in a paper, magazine
sometimes seem more credible to readers than ads BUT it
is restricted by editorial decisions by the media source
used

Money-off coupons
Free gift Samples

Store Atmosphere

The combination of the store’s physical characteristics

(architecture, layout, signs and displays, colors, lighting,
temperature, sounds, smells) together create an image in
the customers’ mind
Retailers’ Community Building Websites

It offer opportunities for customers with similar interests

to learn about products and services that support their
hobbies and share information with others

• PAID PERSONAL COMMUNICATION

Personal selling

In this salespeople satisfy needs through face to face

exchange of information. Effective medium for influencing
all stages of the decision making process, especially the
decision to buy.

High level of control.

Good for small businesses with local markets complex

products and services.

Direct Mail

Mailshots
E-mail
CD-ROMS

Email

Retailers inform customers of new merchandise, receipt of

order or when order has been shipped
M-Commerce (mobile commerce)

• UNPAID IMPERSONAL COMMUNICATION

Publicity

It is communication through significant unpaid

presentations about the retailer, usually a news story, in
impersonal media.

Effective medium for creating awareness, interest and

credibility.

Little control.
Publicity can be highly credible if it is well thought - out
and it is extremely cheap. A feature in a paper, magazine
sometimes seem more credible to readers than ads BUT it
is restricted by editorial decisions by the media source
used

• UNPAID PERSONAL COMMUNICATION

Word of Mouth

Effective medium for creating interest and desire for your

product or service and it is extremely cheap.

give excellent service and produce good quality

pay attention to packaging
give customers something to pass onto friends such as
business cards
give customers incentive to bring new customers e.g.
special discounts
become part of local community activities
team up with other local businesses and pass customers
between you

To get people to tell others about you, you must:

Personal Selling
Presentations
Meetings
Telemarketing
Trade fairs

Steps to develop a Communications Program.

1 .Identify target audience

2.Determine Promotion Objectives
3.Set Promotion Budget
4.Decide on Suitable Time-Span
5.Design the Message
6.Decide on Promotion Mix and Allocate Budget
7.Carry out Promotion Plan
8.Measure and Analyse Results

Identify Target Audience

Market research and market segmentation will help to

identify the audience for your product or service.
Information on how large the audience is, where they are
located and hopefully some idea of their needs, attitudes
and preferences and the benefits they require from your
product or service.

Determine Promotion Objectives

The objectives of the promotion mix must be:

Realistic, Attainable ,Attributable. Measurable

 Specific goals related to the retail

communication mix’s effect on the customer’s
decision-making process
 Long-term: ex) creating or altering a retailer’s
brand image
 Short-term: ex) increasing store traffic

Determine Promotion Budget

Allocate your budget wisely; money spent on a bad

promotion is worse than spending no money on
promotion. You must also be able to justify this cost in
your business plan.

Decide on Suitable Time Span

A decision must be reached on the time scale of the

Promotion campaign. This will depend on the objectives of
the campaign, the medium used and the allocated budget.
The timing of the campaign is also important e.g.
advertising fireworks in January!

Decide on Message

The message and the medium used to convey that

message will be affected by the type of product/service,
the cost, legislation, what the competition is doing etc.
Most importantly, it will be affected by the desired
response from the consumer and the stage in the buying
process that needs to be influenced.

The “AIDAS” model can illustrate this buying process:

Attention
Interest
Desire
Action
Satisfaction

Ideally the message should get the attention of the

consumer and take them through the stages until a
purchase is made and satisfaction reached. In practice few
messages take a consumer through the whole process,
but are pitched at a certain level that meets the
promotion objective.

The message content should include a unique selling

proposition (USP), i.e. a benefit, motivation, identification
etc. that appeals to the audience. This appeal could be: -

Rational - appeals to audience's self interest. Show that

product produces claimed benefits such as quality,
economy, value, e.g. car ads.

Emotional - stir up a positive/negative emotion that will

motivate purchase, e.g. Andrex puppies.

Moral - directed to the audience's sense of what is right,

e.g. support for social causes.

The message format should be strong in order to catch the

attention of the audience. The message format depends
on the promotional medium used. For printed ads, careful
decision for headline illustration, colour etc. For personal
selling, decision as to choice of words, portfolio, dress,
body language.

Decide on Promotion Mix

Each promotional element has a different communication

capacity, is effective at different stages in the buying
process and we have a different level of control over each
one. Therefore the decision for choice of promotion mix
will depend upon:

target audience
objectives
timing
stage of product life cycle
complexity of product
competition
legal restraints
monetary restraints etc.

Carry out a promotion Plan

A pre planned promotion should be done so that it is able

to attract consumers and is successful.

Various methods for promotion can be adopted

Such As- advertising, sales promotion, personal selling, e-

mail, direct mail etc

Measure and Analyse Results

It is important to measure in some way the effectiveness

of your promotion campaign. Measuring and analysing the
outcome of the promotion campaign will help in the
development of future campaigns. It may be that you
need to change the medium used or the time - span etc,
of the next promotion campaign