Retail Sector – It’s Hot!

People aspiring for a career in retail would find the concepts very interesting and yes they are illustrative of the latest management practice in the retail sector.

Footfalls: Observe the security person at the retail super market the next time you are shopping. He would ceremoniously frisk the visitors and then fold his hands into a polite namasthe. Now watch the person standing next to the security guard. This second person would click a small meter as you pass through. He is measuring the footfalls. In retail sector the number of visitors visiting a retail outlet is referred to as footfalls. Footfalls are the number of people entering a shop or shopping area in a given time, usually for a day.

Vanity sizing: or size inflation, is the phenomenon of ready-made clothing of the same size becoming bigger in physical size over time. This has been more prominent in the western countries and now becoming popular in other countries too as customers are becoming bigger and bigger. Vanity sizing is designed to satisfy wearers' wishes to appear thin and feel better about themselves. If the customers feel better about themselves their self-image would receive a boost and they would shop more.

Although more common in women's apparel, vanity sizing occurs in men's clothing as well. For example, while the nominal inseam measurement is fairly accurate, the nominal waist (mentioned on the trousers) may be quite a bit smaller than the actual waist size. In a US study that measured several pairs of trousers with a nominal waist size of 36 at different US retailers it was found that actual measurements ranged from 37 to 41 inches, when the trousers very clearly said it was 36 inches.

Size zero: En-cashing the fancy of customers to appear thinner than their real self, major retailers in USA introduced a size named size zero. Size zero is actually not zero. It is a waist size that ranges from 21 inches to 25 inches at the waist. Size zero refers to extremely thin individuals (especially women and adolescent girls). Initially Size zero was trendy but because of health reasons it is now being frowned upon.

Sweethearting: is a term used in the retail shopping industry that denotes intentional margin loss/shrinkage through employee theft at the cash register or the cash counter. Sweethearting is the most common type of employee theft.

Sweethearting is un-authorised giving-away of merchandise or products without charge to a "sweetheart" customer (e.g., friend, family or a fellow employee) by the fake scan or ringing up of products by the cashier or the stores payment clerk.

Wednesday sales: Retail sector dread Wednesdays. Most of the retail sales happens on Friday, Saturday and peaks on the Sunday. Whatever that is leftover spills onto Monday. Sales on Monday remain brisk as most of the factories work on Sunday and give their staff a weekly off on Monday.The sale completely tapers off by Wednesday. This is the reason why most retail giants offer special deals and discounts as inducement for customers to come and shop on Wednesdays.

Slotting fee: A slotting fee, slotting allowance, pay-to-stay, or fixed trade spending is a fee charged to producer companies or manufacturers by supermarket retailers in order to have their product placed on their shelves. The fee varies depending on the product, the manufacturer, and market conditions.

In addition to slotting fees, retailers may also charge promotional, advertising and stocking fees. Many retailers earn more profit from agreeing to carry a manufacturer's product than they do from actually selling the product to retail consumers.Many argue saying that slotting fees are unethical as they create a barrier to entry for smaller businesses that do not have the cash flow to compete with large companies.

Push money: Push money is a special incentive that is offered to a retailer in exchange for focusing sales efforts on a particular product or brand of products. This incentive may take the form of a special commission for all generated sales related to the specified product or brand, or come in the form of some other type of compensation, such as a paid vacation or holiday.

Point-of-purchase displays, or POP displays: are marketing materials or advertisements placed next to the merchandise being promoted. These items are generally located at the checkout area or other location where the purchase decision is made. For example, the checkout counters of retail stores are cluttered with chocolates and many other impulse purchase category items.

Point of Sale (POS): refers to the area of a store where customers can pay for their purchases. The term is normally used to describe systems that record financial transactions. This could be an electric cash register or an integrated computer system which records the data that comprises a business transaction for the sale of goods or services.

Mom and Pop stores/Kirana shops: A small, independent, usually family owned and operated business that has a minimum amount of employees and has a small amount of business volume, open for business in a single location. Typically running on a very tight budget and wafer thin margins they are profitable only because the entire family pitches in and runs it as a business.

Brick and mortar store: refers to retail shops that are located in a building as opposed to an online shopping destination, door-to-door sales, kiosk or other similar site not housed within a structure. Brick and mortar are the traditional touch, feel and tryout type of supermarkets. They are real and not virtual.

Planograph: Visual description, diagram or drawing of a store's layout to include placement of particular products and product categories are referred to as a Planograph.

Comp sales: A comparable store sale is a measurement of productivity in revenue used to compare sales of retail stores that have been open for a year or more. Historical sales data allows retailers to compare current year's sales in their store to the same period last year.