The traditional marketing mix is one of the most famous marketing terms. Its elements compose the basic components of a marketing plan. Also known as the Four P’s, the marketing mix consists of price, place, product and promotion. However, the retail marketing mix differs from the traditional marketing mix. It is made of 6 Ps: product, place, promotion, price, presentation and personnel. Although some of the elements are the same, these two concepts differ.
In order for a business person to create a new retail business, he has to establish an effective retail marketing mix. And in order to do that, there are steps that need to be followed, going through these elements one by one. However, before getting into the elements of the retail marketing mix, a target market needs to be identified first: A target market is a group of customers that the business has decided to aim its marketing efforts and merchandise towards. This group is identified by geographic location, demographics and psychographics. It has to be a specific group of people that have at least one of those elements in common.
Once the target market has been identified, the elements of the retail mix are analyzed one by one. I analyzed these elements according to the Giant Eagle in Mc Intyre Square:
1. Product:
Product defines the physical product or service offered to consumers. In case of Physical products, it also refers to any services that are part of the offering. There are certain decisions that need to be made before distributing a product. These include: Brand name, Styling, Quality, Functionality, Safety, Packaging, Warranty, Accessories and services, and Repair and support.
Product is the first element of the retail marketing mix. This is the most important element because it is the merchandise itself. A lot of time and consideration has to be put in figuring out and deciding on the product. The business people must line up a series of proposals before deciding on