Retail Mix

Retail Mix is a method of combining different retail variables in alternative ways to achieve a high marketing strategy to attract the customers. The different variables may include product merchandising, price, promotion, store location, resources and processes. In other words retail mix is an approach in which retailers setup their stores by mixing different retail variables to attract the customers by offering different services to yield the maximum profit.
The mixing of different retail components differs from store to store and the products, and services offered by the retailer.
The compositions of different variables of retail mix are:

1. Product Merchandising
• Product development - New product can be built to compete with the existing product or to improve the established product.
• Product management - Managing the developing, marketing and sale of a set of products.
• Branding - This is how the retailer attracts the customers with good quality of goods with a name to the product.

2. Price
• Cost - Developing a pricing strategy.
• Quality - To provide quality products.
• Profitability - To reach high profitability.

3. Promotion
• Sales promotion - Promoting the sale through advertising.
• Sales management - Managing sales through different medias.
• Direct marketing - Delivering direct promotional messages to the customers.

4. Store location
• Retailer image - Based on the type of retail store, retailers can depict their image in order to attract their target customers. This involves mixing of different components such as infrastructure, customer perception of the store and its competitors.
• Target market - Retailer targets the specific group of customers which aims to provide services. They consider different conditions like demographic, geographic and psychographic information.

5. Resources (Staffs/ Employees)
• Staff interaction - It is the sufficient human resources that is required in a retail store to interact with customers.
• Internal marketing - It is the process where higher level of management in the structure motivates and empowers employees to deliver a satisfying customer service.

6. Processes
• Order processing - Dealing with the different orders from the customers and other source in retail.
• Service delivery - Retailers provides different kinds of services which follows different types of delivery systems to reach the customers and hence to satisfy the customers.

Retail Mix Planning: The different types of planning are as follows:
1. Top down approach - The management will set the goal and plan for each level.
2. Bottom up approach - The various units in the structure plans and sets goals for their objective. This is submitted to the higher level of management for the approval.

The advantages of Retail Mix are:
• Customer behavior of different stores is observed by analysis and interpretation of the above factors. Based on the result of the analysis and interpretation of the shop, the retailer can prepare their business strategy which can attract the customers.
• Helps retailers in finding different assortment plan.
A perfect blend of the different retail components within retail organization determines high retail management strategy. It even helps in building clear corporate mission and sound business portfolio. Retail mix in different types of stores gives different ideas to retailers to establish, plan and build their mission to move towards their goal.

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