A brief on retail and category management
Have you ever wondered how a single pencil box reaches you from a branded factory that manufactures thousands of such boxes daily? Sorting, transport and transfer from one shop to another is a process which is an integral part of the retail management business. What’s more, you can never get any assorted goods or items unless and until retailing is done. So what is retailing? It is nothing but selling goods from one point such as department stores, malls, markets directly to the buyer or consumer in the smallest quantity possible for end use. The goods bought from retailer are for direct personal use. The process of retail management covers entire ways that are implemented for bringing the consumers to the store and making them purchase a particular good for fulfilling their needs.
Poor and good retail management
You can understand this better with a good example. Jack went to a shop to buy a special watch for his wife. The shopkeeper or the retailer took so much time in coming up with the expected varieties that Jack was irritated. And when he did show some options, they were out of fashion or local made. Jack left the shop without buying anything. This is poor retailing. Had the shopkeeper kept good range of watches, Jack would have picked up at least one watch of his choice and left happily, thinking that he would be coming back for some more goods. Making the customer go without buying anything or making him wait is too bad and therefore each seller must have some basic retail training.
A person with retail training to fall back upon can implement various tactics for enhancing his business further. For example, he can keep his merchandise in well organized manner so that whenever a consumer walks in the shop or store, he can immediately find what he wants.
Relation between category management and retailing
Category management is a phrase evolved by Brian F. Harris and along with supply management it also involves some amount of retailing functions. In category management the products sold through a retailer is further broken down into categories that form discrete product groups. For example, if a retailer has sold vegetables or grocery, these products are further divided into leafy vegetables, tinned fish, roots and legumes under the branch of category management. Therefore, for a person involved in retailing, complete knowledge of category management is also essential.
About the Author:
Category Management Knowledge Group (CMKG) offering unique certification and learning programs in category management. Find more information about our management training programs and four p’s Marketing.
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