Definition of Department Stores and Discount Stores

The analysis which will be made in the report is related to the ways by which the retail management based stores have evolved within the economy. The different types of retail stores which are will be analysed in the report are mainly, the departmental stores and the discount stores. The two different varieties of retail stores can thereby be compared with respect to the merchandise which are offered by them and the different brands which are thereby provided to customers. The process based on management of customer relationships will also be an important part of the analysis (Blázquez 2014).

The discount based retail stores can thereby be defined as those which sell the products and the services to customers at prices which are lower than their original prices in the market. The discount stores are however not able to offer a huge variety of products to the customers as the products are sold at single price points (Castillo 2018).

Example – Kmart is a major example of a proper discount based store which operates in Australia and is able to offer wide range of products. The major focus of the stores of Kmart is thereby placed on the prices which have been set for the products rather than the services which are offered.

The department based retail stores are mainly on the concept of the types of goods which are sold to the customers within a single store. The stores are based on different departments that operate in a separate manner under a single roof. The departments which are thereby present within the departmental stores are able to satisfy the different types of needs of people in an effective way (Chinomona and Maziriri 2017).

Example – The concept of department based stores can be made clear with the help of example of Target Australia. The stores of Target are mainly located in Sydney and they mainly aim at offering different types of products to the customers of the company under a single roof. Woolworths can also be considered to be a major example which can help in understanding the concept of the department based stores. The organization also aims at fulfilling the demands and the needs of different types of customers with their wide range of products (Fernie and Sparks 2014).

According to, Garcia and Janssen (2018), the concept based on the retail markets has been established in an effective manner in the last few years. The advancement which has been seen in different technologies has proved to be an important part of the proper evolution of retail markets. Modern technologies have thereby been helpful for the different types of approaches which have been taken by Australian companies like, Target, Big W and Kmart. The online retail market has also been established in a huge manner all over the world.

Merchandise and Marketing Strategies

More than 70% of the total number of individuals in Australia are able to use to smartphones in an effective manner. The technological activities have thereby been able to become an important part of the operations of the different organizations in the country. The purchasing based power of the customers has increased with the help of different modern technologies. The modern technologies like, self-check related facilities have been implemented in an effective manner by Woolworths which is a major retail organization in the country (Kasemsap 2018).

The merchandise which are offered by the discount market related stores of Australia are quite different from those which are offered by the departmental organizations. The analysis based on the discount stores has been able to depict that the merchandise is offered to the customers at lower prices. The high end fashion based products which are offered by the department stores are different from those which are offered by the discount stores. The discount based stores are quite similar to the department based stores of Australia with respect to the products that are sold to the customers. The discount based stores are helpful in offering the merchandise which are based on different types of customers at prices which are cheaper as compared to the other retail stores in the industry (Kaul 2017).

The different types of discount based stores are thereby considered to be an important part of various franchises which are able to operate in Australia. The stores which operate in different parts of the country are mainly based on the volume of sales as compared with the profits that can be gained by the company. The merchandise is thereby offered at lower prices as compared to other stores which operate in the industry (Matthews, Son and Watchravesringkan 2014).

The discount stores of Australia apply many different types of strategies which are based on lower margins and the higher volumes. The strategies have thereby been adopted by the Australia supermarkets in order to offer similar types of services and products to the customers at prices which are not quite different.

For example – One of the most significant store of Australia, Target is capable of meeting the demands of the customers at affordable prices of different types of products. The huge variety of goods which have thereby been provided by the discount stores are able to fulfil various needs of the customers (Pinto et al. 2017).

Historical Development of Department Stores and Discount Stores

The discount stores are able to provide variety of goods which are lesser as compared to the other stores which operate in different areas of the country. The trend based on discount stores have mainly started in the year 1962. The respective discount based stores have thereby been developed by Target and Kmart in different locations. The various supercentres and hypermarkets are different types of discount stores that are capable of offering services and goods at affordable rates to individual customers (SastryT and Rao 2017).

The departmental stores which operate in Australia are also quite similar in nature with respect to the discount based stores. Departmental stores are divided in an effective manner into different departments in a single store which are based on different products and services.

The departmental stores which operate in Australia are based on various types of departments that include, jewellery, clothing and other services which are based on affordable rates. The departmental stores that operate in the country do not have any separate areas which offer food courts and play areas for the families which visit these stores (Simbrunner, Schlegelmilch and Stacheneder 2017).

Strategies that have been implemented by Departmental stores in Australia

The strategies and approaches which have been adapted in an effective manner by departmental stores are based on products and services that are offered to the customers. The analysis of departmental stores is thereby based on different products which are offered to the customers and belong to different departments like, clothing jewellery and groceries. The popularity of the products is also analysed with the help of the analysis of different departments (Simbrunner, Schlegelmilch and Stacheneder 2017). The departmental stores are thereby able to provide different types of discounts to the customers in the retail industry of Australia. This is helpful for the organizations to increase their popularity and further gain a huge competitive advantage. The overall levels of profitability of the company can also be increased in an effective manner (Stan and Evans 2015).

Example – Woolworths can be considered to be an important example of departmental store which is able to provide the best types of products to the customers. The company is also known for offering the free home delivery based services to the customers with the purchase of different types of products that operate in different areas of Australia. The different departments which are present within the stores of the company mainly include, magazines, groceries, beauty and health care based products and many more. The company has been able to become quite popular in the industry as compared to the other organizations which are present in the Australian retail market (Upadhyaya 2016).

Mergers, Diversification, and Downsizing

The most significant role is thereby played by technology in different retail based stores of the world. More than 85% of the total number of individuals in Australian economy have been using different types of technologies. The customers are thereby able to keep track of the different types of offers which are provided by different retail based organizations in Australia.

Example – Woolworths is an organization which is known in the retail industry for the purpose of implementing the technologies like self-service and self-checkout based activities. The approach which was however implemented by the company was not quite successful for the operations of Woolworths. The approach based merger which was implemented by the companies like Kmart and Target did not prove to be successful enough. This has been able to create huge number of issues for the company and the customers (Valeeva, Sharafutdinova and Kulkova 2014).

The concept based on retail market in Australia has also changed in an effective manner from the previous years. The different researches and newspapers have been able to depict that immense number of changes have taken place in the retail industry. The advertisement based activities of the company have also changed in the past few years. The companies have started adopting the new and innovative techniques that have been able to increase their presence in the retail market.

The location related factors have played a major role in the operations of modern retail based organizations (Van Scheers and Botha 2014). The different factors that are effectively considered based on the location of stores include,

• The positioning based activities can be analysed for the purpose of providing a major overview of competitors who are present in the industry.
• The market based potential of the company can be analysed based on demographic variables which have a major impact on the organization.
• The identification of effective locations is also important for the proper operations of the companies (Varley 2014).

The value driven costs and containment costs are quite different for different companies like, Target and Woolworths. The two major retail organizations like Target and Woolworths have implemented strategies that are quite different from each other. The purchase of different services and products are also based on different approaches of the companies (Valeeva, Sharafutdinova and Kulkova 2014).

Significance of identifying and appealing of customers in the retail based markets

The ways by which the companies are able to understand the demands and needs of the customers play a major role in management of innovative procedures. The companies are able to adopt the appealing power in an essential way in specific geographic areas. The different segments of customers in the industry are, the online shoppers, out shoppers and in hone shoppers (Upadhyaya 2016).

The future of the retail market in Australia in the coming years is mainly based on the proper inclusion of stores in the market. The demands of customers will be able to play the most important role in operations of different retail based companies. The future of the retail industry is thereby totally based on proper operations of discount stores and departmental stores of the country. The process of digitization is helpful in changing the experience of consumers which can make the tasks of shopkeepers quite tough in nature (SastryT and Rao 2017).

Cost Containment and Value-Driven Retailing

Conclusion

The report can thereby be concluded by stating that the different types of retail based market segments in competitive economy are present in a huge way. The proper management of the demands of expectation based levels of the consumers is an important part of the operations of retail companies. The major recommendations can thereby be provided based on the ways by which the customers of the companies can be managed in an effective manner.

References

Blázquez, M., 2014. Fashion shopping in multichannel retail: The role of technology in enhancing the customer experience. International Journal of Electronic Commerce, 18(4), pp.97-116.

Castillo, J., 2018. How Interactions Influence Customer Empowerment and Satisfaction in the Retail Industry.

Chinomona, R. and Maziriri, E.T., 2017. The influence of brand awareness, brand association and product quality on brand loyalty and repurchase intention: a case of male consumers for cosmetic brands in South Africa. Journal of Business and Retail Management Research, 12(1).

Fernie, J. and Sparks, L., 2014. Logistics and retail management: emerging issues and new challenges in the retail supply chain. Kogan page publishers.

Garcia, D. and Janssen, M., 2018. Retail channel management in consumer search markets. International Journal of Industrial Organization, 58, pp.162-182.

Kasemsap, K., 2018. Retail management and electronic retailing. In Supply chain management strategies and risk assessment in retail environments (pp. 139-158). IGI Global.

Kaul, D., 2017. Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Customer Satisfaction and Customer Lifetime Value in Retail. Review of Professional Management, 15(2), pp.55-60.

Matthews, D.R., Son, J. and Watchravesringkan, K., 2014. An exploration of brand equity antecedents concerning brand loyalty: A cognitive, affective, and conative perspective. Journal of Business and Retail Management Research, 9(1).

Pinto, G.L., Dell’Era, C., Verganti, R. and Bellini, E., 2017. Innovation strategies in retail services: solutions, experiences and meanings. European Journal of Innovation Management, 20(2), pp.190-209.

SastryT, D. and Rao, B.M., 2017. Consumer perception about the influence of online retail service quality on e-satisfaction, moderated by purchase volume and perceived value. Journal of Business and Retail Management Research, 12(1).

Simbrunner, P., Schlegelmilch, B.B. and Stacheneder, V., 2017, July. INFLUENCING CHARITABLE BEHAVIOR THROUGH INSIGHTS FROM BEHAVIORAL ECONOMICS: IMPLICATIONS FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF ONLINE RETAIL ENVIRONMENTS IN THE FASHION INDUSTRY. In 2017 Global Fashion Management Conference at Vienna (pp. 517-517).

Stan, S. and Evans, K.R., 2015. Individualistic and Collectivist Values in Business: A Retail Management Perspective in Privatizing Economies. In Proceedings of the 1998 Academy of Marketing Science (AMS) Annual Conference (pp. 233-234). Springer, Cham.

Upadhyaya, R., 2016. Empathy of Customer Relationship Management in Emerging Retail Sector. International Journal of Business Insights & Transformation, 9(2).

Valeeva, J., Sharafutdinova, N. and Kulkova, V., 2014. Quality management system’s role in operation of retail trade networks. Life Science Journal, 11(5), pp.555-558.

Van Scheers, L. and Botha, J., 2014. Analysing relationship between employee job satisfaction and motivation. Journal of Business and Retail Management Research, 9(1).

Varley, R., 2014. Retail product management: buying and merchandising. Routledge.