A Merchandise Management Analysis of Spar Supermarkets in Stellenbosch, South Africa
1 TABLE OF CONTENTS
1 INTRODUCTION 4
2 THEORETICAL DISCUSSION 4
2.1 INVENTORY 5
2.2 PRICING AND ASSORTMENT 5
2.3 WHY PLACE SO MUCH EMPHASIS ON MERCHANDISE MANAGEMENT 6
2.3.1 Interception Rate 7
2.3.2 Shopper Syndromes 7
2.3.3 Children as Shoppers 7
3 METHOD APPLIED 8
3.1 Direct (Reactive) Observation 9
3.1.1 Continuous Monitoring: 9
3.1.2 Time Allocation: 9
3.2 Unobtrusive Observation 10
3.2.1 Behaviour Trace studies: 10
3.2.2 Disguised Field Observations: 10
3.3 Conclusion 10
4 OBSERVATIONS 11
4.1 Private Labels 11
4.2 Space 11
4.3 Placement 11
5 OBSERVATIONS 12
6 INTERPRETATION OF FINDINGS 14
7 RECOMMENDATIONS 18
8 CONCLUSION 19
9 Bibliography 19
2 INTRODUCTION
Merchandise management is one of the most important aspects retailing; to attract shoppers, satisfy consumer demand and add value to customers. Through this we assume that the main focus of merchandise management for a retailer is to attract consumers by catering for their needs and wants. These needs and wants can be determined through demographical segmentation of the area around the retailer, focusing on an area of two kilometers around the retailer.
An underlying assumption for the project is then made which will be proved or disproved through the careful observation of two different retailers. The assumption is as follows:
The merchandise management of a retail store is directly influenced by the demographics of the area around the retail store, especially that area within two kilometers of the store.
Two retailers in different of the same company will be used in order to emphasis that the differences found within the retail stores stem from the demographics of the immediate area around the store. Observation research will be used to observe the management of inventory within the two retailers so that bias is limited to the observer and not influenced by consumers that are shopping within the store. This however has a disadvantage in that the findings cannot be generalized to all
1 INTRODUCTION 4
2 THEORETICAL DISCUSSION 4
2.1 INVENTORY 5
2.2 PRICING AND ASSORTMENT 5
2.3 WHY PLACE SO MUCH EMPHASIS ON MERCHANDISE MANAGEMENT 6
2.3.1 Interception Rate 7
2.3.2 Shopper Syndromes 7
2.3.3 Children as Shoppers 7
3 METHOD APPLIED 8
3.1 Direct (Reactive) Observation 9
3.1.1 Continuous Monitoring: 9
3.1.2 Time Allocation: 9
3.2 Unobtrusive Observation 10
3.2.1 Behaviour Trace studies: 10
3.2.2 Disguised Field Observations: 10
3.3 Conclusion 10
4 OBSERVATIONS 11
4.1 Private Labels 11
4.2 Space 11
4.3 Placement 11
5 OBSERVATIONS 12
6 INTERPRETATION OF FINDINGS 14
7 RECOMMENDATIONS 18
8 CONCLUSION 19
9 Bibliography 19
2 INTRODUCTION
Merchandise management is one of the most important aspects retailing; to attract shoppers, satisfy consumer demand and add value to customers. Through this we assume that the main focus of merchandise management for a retailer is to attract consumers by catering for their needs and wants. These needs and wants can be determined through demographical segmentation of the area around the retailer, focusing on an area of two kilometers around the retailer.
An underlying assumption for the project is then made which will be proved or disproved through the careful observation of two different retailers. The assumption is as follows:
The merchandise management of a retail store is directly influenced by the demographics of the area around the retail store, especially that area within two kilometers of the store.
Two retailers in different of the same company will be used in order to emphasis that the differences found within the retail stores stem from the demographics of the immediate area around the store. Observation research will be used to observe the management of inventory within the two retailers so that bias is limited to the observer and not influenced by consumers that are shopping within the store. This however has a disadvantage in that the findings cannot be generalized to all
Bibliography: Time in the store The longer a shopper spends in a store the more likely they are of purchasing an item (Underhill, 2003) 3.3.1 Interception Rate Interception rate is the amount of employee to consumer contact time and frequency, and has a positive association with the sale of goods (Underhill, 2003)