ASSIGNMENT OF BRL-012
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(A) Short Type Questions1. What is meant by store ambience? Explain in detail the elements to be taken care while finalizing a store ambience.
2. What do you mean by mannequins? Discuss its different types in detail.
3. Discuss the salient features of display approach for apparels.
4. What are the main categories of in store merchandise presentation for fashion apparel? Discuss any two categories in details.
5. Describe the types of retail outlets catering for food and groceries category.
6. Discuss the essential features for effectiveness of Food and Beverages.
7. Discuss the essential features of visual merchandising. Also explain the pre-requisites while planning for visual merchandising.
(B) Essay Type Questions
8. What do you mean by Exhibition space? Discuss the points to be taken care while planning for exhibitfon space.
9. What do you mean by balance? Explain the different types of balance while planning to display the merchandise in a store.
(A) Short Type Questions
1. What is meant by store ambience? Explain in detail the elements to be taken care while finalizing a store ambience.
ANS: Store Ambience is a major part of the store design and it is defined as the dominant sensory effect created by the store's design, physical characteristics and merchandising activities. The components of the store that collectively produce the store atmosphere are the store exterior, general store interior i.e. flooring, walls, lighting) layout and displays. The sensory reaction they produce within an individual can be considered in tenns of sight, smell and sound. It also refers to all the physical and non-physical elements of a store that can be controlled in order to enhance the behavior of its occupants, both customers and employees. These elements present a multitude of possibilities including ambient cues such as color, smell, music, and lighting, texture as well as ru.tifactual and architectural elements.
1. Fixtures
A major consideration in developing an appropriate store design involves the use of fixtures. They are used to display merchandise, to help sell it, to guard it, and to provide a storage space for it. They should be attractive and focus customer's attention and interest on the merchandise.
One way to bring the cost of fixtures down is standru.·dization; customization is expensive, and constrnction budgets today allow this luxmy only where speciality depru.· tments can justify the cost. Some stores are trying to keep a lid on fixture costs with walls that don't reach the ceiling but instead begin two feet down. Besides being cheaper and faster to put up, they don't affect sprinklers, lighting, heating ventilation and air conditioning (HV AC),and other ceiling ducts.
Most stores are moving toward smaller and less dense fixtures thru.1 what they previously used, which is another way to control costs. But even more significantly, the trend reflects the reduction in 111ru.1y stores invento1y levels. Glass cubes that once consisted of sixteen inch and eighteen-inch high bins may now be housed in twelve-inch bins. This way, although there are fewer items in each unit, it still looks foll. Another trend is a renewed demand for wood and glass, which in recent years were demand for wood and glass, which in recent yeru.·s were over shadowed by the more affordable clear plastic.
2. Displays
Display an impo1tant role in a retail store. An attrnctive and inf01mative display can help sell gods. Poorly designed displays can ruin the store's atmosphere and center an uncomfo1table setting. Since displays often take up premium space with in the store, they cru.1y a heavy burden of productivity in tenns of creating sales. There are several principals of mles of displays that help ensure their effectiveness :
Balance. In building a display, it is important to make sure that it appears balanced to the viewer. This is achieved by a1rnnging products in a symmetric manner. Displays may have f01mal or informal balance. Fotmal balance is achieved by placing similar items equal distance from the center. Infonnal balance is achieved by placing different sized goods or objects away from the center based on their relative size.
Dominance. All displays should have a central point that will attract the viewer's eye. The point may be achieved by using prominent piece of merchandise, such as a diamond pendant, using dramatic colors, such as a bright scaif, or using streamers ai-ranged towai·d the center of the display.
Eye Movement. Displays should direct the eyes away from the point of dominance in a systematic fashion, instead of encouraging them to jump from one end to the other. If the viewer's eyes move indiscriminately around the display, the shopper will miss some of the merchandise and will not get the full message intended.
Gradation. The gradation is the sequence in which items are arranged. For example, small items are usually placed at the front of the display, medium items father back, and large items at the rear. TI1e creates harmony and an appealing illusion.
Height of Merchandise. Merchandise that has the greatest effect should be placed at the eye level of the customer. Because viewers tend to look straight ahead, merchandise placed at eyes level is most likely to be seen.
Grouping Merchandise. Too many retailers place one item after another in a long row. Shoe stores, jewehy stores, and mass merchandisers tend to do this. Stores with large amounts of one item or with one line of goods are likely to build longer displays. Instead of creating long displays where the customer has problems picking out merchandise, retailers should group items so that the customer's eyes cannot travel from group to group but stop and focus on pruticular products. Sales appeal. Displays should always show the best merchandise that the retailer has to offer.
Keeping it Simple. Since displays take up a great deal valuable space, there is a tendency to get as much into them as possible. While the idea of more is better may be trne for chocolate, it is not true for displays. Too many items in a display district and confuse the consumer, and they tend to create an atmosphere of chaos or congestion.
As discussed above, displays take up some of the most valuable space in the store. Using showmoving items for display is a waste. One way to generate sales appeal is to choose the most impo1tant featur e of the merchandise being displayed and focus on it. Another way is create a theme that already exists within the customer's mind, such as Valentine's Day, Christmas, or Back to School. Customers relate best when they can grasp the total picture.
3. Color
The psychological effect of color continues to be important to retailers. Color is also imp01tant in ware house type stores because of the vast open area of the interior. Bold colors are frequently used to highlight merchandise sections or departments and to reduce attention to what is typically an open-girder ceiling. Clearly, intelligent use of color is impo1tant in store design. Since people are drawn to warm colors, yellow and red can help draw customers into the store through the entrance. Cool colors such as blues and greens tend to cahn people and are useful m areas where customers need time to deliberate over the pmchase decision.
4. Lighting
Proper lighting is one of the most important considerations in retail design. At one point in time the function of lighting was to provide customers with a means of finding their way through the store. Today, lighting has become a display medium. It is an integral part of the store's interior and exterior design. Lighting should match the mood retailer is attempting to create with the rest of the store decor and should complement, rather than detract from, the merchandise.
General illumination is n eeded throughout the store. However, most stores need additional localized lighting to highlight special displays and showcases, help bring out colors and relieve the monotony of even, overall light. Too much or too little lighting, or even the wrong type of lighting, can create false impressions about the merchandise on display. lncandescent lighting used alone, for example, accents yellow and red. Fluorescent lights frequently build up blues and plllple. Therefore, retailers must use a lighting combination that gives a correct impression of the merchandise while de-emphasizing the source of the light itself.
5. Ceilings
Ceilings represent a potentially important element interior desig n. In older stores, ceilings of twelve to sixteen feet are still common, but most department store ceilings are now in the nineto- ten foot range. Remember, the higher the ceiling, the more space to heat and cool at increasing energy rates. Ceiling heights are becoming much less standardized within stores. Designers are making use of varied ceiling drops to create distinct for different departments within a store.
6. Flooring
Retailers are taking a sophisticated ''return investment" approach to flooring decisions. Fi1ms are willing to pay higher-up-front installation costs for more expensive materials if they see a return in greater durability and reduced maintenance expenses. Flooring choices are important because the coverings can be used to separate departments, muffle noise in high - traffic areas, and strengthen the store image. The range of choices for floor coverings is endless: Caipeting, wood, tenazzo, quaiTy tile, and vinyl composition all have applications in different settings.
7. Shelving
The material used for shelving as well as its design must be compatible with the merchandising strategy and the over all image desired. Stainless steel shelving creates an entirely different effect than the painted wood cubes in the Country Seat or the typical metal shaving seen in a general merchandise store, Glass shelving, framed in the woods, creates an element of elegance difficult to achieve otherwise. General shelving considerations and merchandise display are discussed in the next selection.
8. Plano Grams and Shelf Layout Design
One of the key tools of modem shelf and layout planning is the Plano gram. This is a graphical representation that visually shows the space to be allocated by desc1ibing where every stock keeping unit(SKU) within a space is physically located. Every product has its own SKU. The Plano gram produces a map for the length, height, and depth of shelves with the number and location of the SKU.
9. Other considerations
There are other considerations that can round out the image and atmosphere created by the interior design elements. For example, tl1e type and sound level of music can be focused on a given market segment. Scents can be used to help identify with a market group or create a feeling about being in the store. The level of maintenance and cleanliness also sets a tone.
2. What do you mean by mannequins? Discuss its different types in detail.
ANS: A mannequin (also called a manikin, dummy, lay figure, or dress fonn) is a doll, often ruticulated, used by rutists, tailors, dressmakers, window-dressers and others, especially to display or fit clothing and show off different fabrics and textiles. Previously, the English te1m refe1Ted to human models and muses (a meaning which it still retains in French and other Emopean languages); the meaning as a dummy dating from the stm1 of World War II.
Life-sized mannequins with simulated airways are used in the teaching of first aid, CPR, and advanced ai1way management skills such as tracheal intubation. During tl1e 1950s, mannequins were used in nuclear tests to help show the effects of nucleaJ weapons on humans. Also refeired to as mannequins aTe the human figures used in computer simulation to model the behavior of the human body.
Mannequin comes from the French word mannequin, which had acquired the meaning "an rutist's jointed model", which in turn came from the Flemish word manneken, meaning "little man, figmine", refening to late Middle Ages practice in Flanders whereby public display of even women's clothes was perfo1med by male pages (boys).
Here are some of the most popular types of mannequins for retail and fashion photography. Realistic Mannequins: As the name suggests, realistic mam1equins are natural looking and relatively life-like. They depict humans in the most accurate way possible.
Abstract mannequins: Abstract mannequins ru·e more closely related to works of a1t than realisticlooking mannequins. They have a minimalistic design in their approach, leaving fingernails, muscles and facial features off.
Headless mannequins: Not-surprisingly, headless mannequins do not have heads, and therefore there is more emphasis on the clothing and their body shapes.
Dress fo1ms: Dress fo1ms ru·e typically void of features and crafted for fashion design They can be adjusted for fitting gruments and ru·e generally ve1y durable, rather than made to look appealing or realistic.
STYLE OF MANNEQUINS
There are multiple styles of mannequins that fall into the categories of the above mannequin types. Sexy mannequins: Sexy mannequins are hyper realistic and typically for lingerie or adult shops only. They may accentuate the female fo1m with an ample figure that is appealing.
Spo1ty m annequins: Atl1letically built or spo1ty mannequins ru·e specifically designed to be placed in active poses for yoga, spo1ts or gym wear.
Colored mannequins: Mannequins can come in black, chrome, gold, b1ightly colored and even clear shades, for different store themes and styles
Below are even more details about the various types of mannequins.
GHOST MANNEQUINS AND HOW TO USE THEM
Ghost mannequins are great for a wide variety of retail store owners. They are easy to take apait and put back together, appear to be sleek and professional and highlight clothing extremely well. Most ghost mannequins come on a rolling base, making them easy to maneuver and reposition depending on your ever-changing display. Because ghost mannequins typically have interchangeable limbs and other sections of the body, it is eas y to personalize your mannequin based on your outfit or display.
Finally, ghost mannequins ai·e often made of fiberglass, making them dmable and long-lasting. Ghost mannequins focus on the customer, showcasing the clothing on the mannequin without distracting the customer with other aspects of a full size or realistic looking mannequin.
REALISTIC :MANNEQUINS A ND HOW TO USE THEM
Realistic mannequins are ideal for displaying higher-quality clothing, lingerie or displays that need the look ai1d feel of a real human rather than something false. Realistic mannequins typically have fiberglass skin that resembles a human being, making them look higher-class and more expensive than a dress fonn or ghost mannequin.
Realistic mannequins are specifically designed to help customers envision clothing on themselves better than they ever could on another kind of mannequin. Try a realistic mannequin for a window display or for displaying clothes.
ADJUSTABLE MANNEQUINS AND HOW TO USE THEM
Adjustable mam1equins are - obviously - easy to work with in most sit uations. Being able to adjust the ai-ms, legs and pose of a mannequin makes them easy to customize, depending on the display in your storefront or inside your store. It makes dressing and undressing easy so you can routinely shift your visual merchandising displays. Having one or nvo adjustable mannequins in your storefront makes it simple to switch up your display without changing every piece of it.
Adjustable mannequins are also great for stores that hold not just women's, but also men's clothing, and not just smaller sizes but plus-sized clothing as well. It offers plenty of op portunities to make changes and customize your pieces.
SPORT OR SOCCER MANNEQUINS AND HOW TO USE THEM
Clearly, sport and soccer mannequins are best for stores that sell athletic clothing, but that isn't the only case.
Athleisure clothing is becoming one of the most loved fashion styles in modem fashion. Categorized by easy-to-move-in fabrics that are great for sports and other recreational activities, athleisure-wear is becoming common across a wide range of fashion stores and brands. With sport and soccer mannequins, you can display the breathability and movement of the athletic clothing you carry.
Another great use for a soccer mannequin is in a spo1ts-themed display. Maybe it's fall and you want to highlight soccer ai1d football season, or perhaps you just want to highlight your athletic clothing. Either way, soccer mannequins ai·e the best mannequins for these displays.
GLASS MANNEQUINS AND HOW TO USE THEM
There are many different materials with which mannequins can be made. Fabric, plastic and canvas are the most common, but glass mannequins can add a level of sophistication and high-class taste that will sell expensive clothing.
Glass mannequins are also great for displays that would othe1wise be overwhehned by the look of plastic or fiberglass mannequins. Glass mannequins allow the clothing to shine through, not the fake human bodies.
Glass mannequins can, understandably, be far heavier than mannequins of other materials and may break a bit easier as we ll. The results and the look and feel of these mannequins, however, are wmth the hassle.
The best way to choose the right mannequins for your store is to learn all of the types of mannequins that you can purchase and then d ecide what is best for your specific displays and merchandise. There is no single best mannequin out there; learn everything there is about glass mannequins, a djustable mannequins, ghost mannequins and much more to make an inf01me d decision. Once you experiment, you can make your retail store better each day.
3. Discuss the salient features of display approach for apparels.
ANS: One of the best ways to display apparel is on a full-size mam1equin or a jersey fmm. Everyone knows that clothing hangs differently on a body than it does on a hanger. Using mannequins, you can demonsh'ate how a garment might appear when worn, and you also have the opportunity to assemble an entire outfit, complete with accesso1ies, to give shoppers an idea of how to style themselves from head to toe.
Clothing fonns are often a more economical method to displaying how clothing will appear on a real person. These, however, tend not to feature the flexibility found with mannequins.
Racks and Hangers
These are the bread and butter of any retail clothing operation. Apparel Racks with hangers allow shoppers to qu ickly and easily pemse your wares and find the size that suits them. Consider how single rail, double rail, round, 2-way, 4-way, and other types of racks might fit into your retail space and what benefits and drawbacks are inherent to these different display options.
You 're likely to find that some combination of rack types will work best for the layout of your store. Don't forget to consider different types of hangers and how they'll work with your apparel, your display preferences, and the available space in your store.
Shelving
Besides Apparel Racks, different types of shelving can work in retail clothing stores, such as freestanding gondola shelving, cubes, boutique etageres, and more. When choosing shelving, you must realize how much floor space and the size of shelving display units you can accommodate. Also, make sure the size of the shelving is properly suited to the size of your products.
Grid Wall Panels
Wall panels are an ideal way to make the most of vertical space in your store, especially if your location doesn't feature a lot of square footage. These wall fixtures allow you to easily construct wall racks or shelving for apparel display at a vaiiety of heights.
Display Cases
Display cases may or may not work for your apparel store. They're often included as a way to showcase accessories like jeweh-y at the point of sale, and they ai·e especially useful if you sell expensive jewelry or other high-end accessories. Many come with a locking mechanism so you can lock up small valuable items when the store is open.
Custom Pieces
If you just can't seem to find the right displays for your retail clothing space, keep in mind that there are options to create different displays. At Specialty Store Se1vices we now have the new Di Simo Collection which gives you versatility and sophisticated look. We have many great options from Outriggers to Display Tables to Floor Displays. 1 OO's of different displaying options.
4. What are the main categories of in s t ore merchandise p resentation for fash ion ap parel? Discuss any two cate gories in details.
ANS: 1. Housekeeping:
Somebody has said that 'cleanliness is next to godliness'. A dirty, haphazard store convey the message that the store has lost interest and is not serious about its future and customers. Create a daily and weekly cleaning schedule to take care of all necessary tasks. Dust the shelves, clean the cash counter, vacuum the floor and wash the windows.
The cleaner the store is, the more pleasant the shopping experience will be for the customer. Remember this cleanliness drive should be on regular basis. A void doing near festivals or special occasion. Because when customers visit whole year then what's the meaning of doing it once in a year.
Create a daily and weekly checklist of eve1y housekeeping duty that must be completed. Assign these duties to various individuals and hold them accountable for getting them done.
(i) Chase those dust bins away. Vacuum daily.
(ii) Clean the lights.
(iii) Dust the shelves.
(iv) Get 1id of the tape on the windows.
(v) No dust. No grime.
(vi) No smudges. No grease.
(vii) Polish the chrome.
(viii) Remove the clutter behind the cash counter. Tidy up the back room.
2. Lighting:
Lighting attracts maximum attention and highlights items for display. Researches have proved that proper lighting can increase retail sales by up to twenty percent. Sta.it with ensuring that there ai·e no burnt out lights. Use the b est bulbs, tubes possible. Cheaper bulbs can cause merchandise to look grey and shabby. Make use of spot lights, preferably halogen to highlight key selling areas. Make the front of your store glow with good light. You need to be noticed and a bright store front is more attractive and appealing.
3. Music:
Music these days is an essential element to a store. Be it food retailing, grocery or luxmy retailing, the impo1iance of music cannot be ignored. But while playing music in stores, be cai·eful to play the kind of music that reflects both the products you sell and the type of clientele that you hope to attract. A void FM radios as commercials can kill the purchasing mood or even adve1tise a competitor. Purchase a good quality DVD player which will ensure appropriate and continuous music with various options.
4. Signage:
It is the silent salesperson for your business. It costs little but has innumerable benefits. Reseai·ches have shown tl1at as much as seventy five percent of all the retail sales ai·e generated at the point of purchase by signage, displays and events within the store. In order to differentiate yourself from the competitor and represent the tight image among customers, it would be wise to look into getting your signs professionally done.
5. Windows:
Window in each store is not only desirable but is of utmost importance. Being a retailer, you must think of your windows as an idyllic way to attract new and existing customers. You can use them for: sales promotions, image building, seasonal changes, new anivals, latest trends and to showcase high demand items. Window displays should be changed frequently so as to avoid becoming stale and easy to ignore. They should be changed at a minimum of once per month.
6. Shelving and Displays:
High margin and profit items get the best space. Reseai-ch shows that eye level and just slightly below is the best shelves to sell from.
While allowing for individual creativity, it is generally agreed that there are effective guidelines for displays:
(i) Change displays on regular basis.
(ii) Focus on best selling items.
(iii) Focus on impulse items (Items people buy on the spur of the moment).
(iv) Good displays tell a story or have a theme.
Driven by changing lifestyles, increased per capita income and favorable demographic patterns, Indian retail is expanding at a speedy pace. The countly may have 700 new shopping centres by 2012. Mall space, from a meager f01ty million square feet in 2007, is expected to touch 100 million square feet by end-2010 and an estimated 200 million square feet by end-2020. Some of the large players in this market are Kishore Biyani's Food Bazaar, Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Fresh, Godrej Agrovet, the Aditya Birla Group's Much More, and the Tata Group (which acquired 70 per cent stake in Innovative Foods from the Amalgam Group) among others.
5. Describe the types of retail outlets catering for food and groceries category.
ANS: 1. Convenience Stores:
There are small retailers that offer a limited vaiiety of merchai1dise at small scale but convenient locations ranging from 2,000 - 3,000 sq. ft. These outlets /stores ai·e modem versions of the traditional 'kirana' stores. The future of this category is better as they enable shoppers to shop quickly with a speedy checkout. TI1e convenience stores are becoming popular in metro cities where generally both husband and wife are employed and have no spare time to shop.
Secondly, convenience stores as per their name ai·e located alongside busy roads, parking ai·eas or at petrol filling stations. In metros, one can find these outlets at railway stations, bus stands and near residential areas. These stores usually have long shopping hours and are spreading near densely populated colonies and residential societies. As compared to other types of stores like supennai-ket, convenience stores usually chai·ge higher prices.
2. Conventional Super Market:
A conventional supennai·ket is a depaitmentalized groce1y store with a wide range of dairy products and household items such as soft and hard drinks (wherever allowed to be sold), household cleaning products, shampoos, soaps, clothes, medicines and plastic items. A supe1mai-ket offers a lai·ge retail facility with huge range of merchandise under same roof at low prices by shrinking mai·gins. Supennarkets usually rely on high inventory turnover and built either neai· a residential area or on the outskirt of the city.
Customers in supennarkets use 'trolleys' or 'baskets' for collecting their desired products and pay for the same at the checkout counters (billing sections) near exits. Due to cost effective and consumer savvy, conventional supermakets are facing intense competition from traditional
'kirana' stores and other types of food outlets.
Supennarket in India is one of the fast growing segments but so far there is no standard criterion that makes a supermarket fom1at. Even many traditional 'kirana' stores are refurbishing their shops/retail outlets and advertising themselves as supermarkets. They use Every Day Low pricing (EDLP) selling policy to build store traffic and provide a one-stop shopping.
3. Food Based Superstores:
In India, food retailing is the buzzword today. There is a large variety of food stores operating in food retailing. This is not surprising as the Indian middle class income is increasing rapidly and therefore they prefer to shop at supennarkets for its hygienic environment, convenience and attractive ambience.
This 'value' and 'feel good' perspective offered by food retailers stimulate customers to try new and different things. Though food retailing in India is becoming popular very fast but with a population of more than one billion and a middle class population of over four hundred millions, food retailing is still in its nascent stage.
With the entry of corporate houses like Bhruti, Walmrut, Reliance Fresh, Vishal Mega Mrut, Aditya Birla group, and the existing Big Bazaar, Spencer, and Food Mali outlets are making foray in the so called untapped market. The pace with which these food companies are spreading throughout the countly, the net of the orgru'l ized retail outlets is going to reach soon the small populations towns of one lacs to over five lacs after covering all small, medium and big cities. Superstores are usually large supe1mru·kets that have space ru·ea ranges from 20,000 to 50,000 sq. ft. These stores as the very name implies, sell grocery items and offer customers the ability to buy fill-in general merchandise.
Features:
(i) Offer one-stop shopping experience
(ii) Stimulate impulse purchase
(iii) The concept of EDLP (Everyday Low Price) is usually followed
(iv) Large, low margin and self service stores
Advantage:
It is easy to convert super mru·kets into food-based stores than combination stores.
4. Combination Stores/Super Centres:
Combination stores basically are food-based retailers that combine their supermarket and general merchandise sales at one place. While in India, there is as such no standardization on the pm-a.meters of what makes a supennru·ket, is one of the fastest growing retail formats.
In a combination store, general merchandise sales usually accounts for 30-40% of total store sales. As economies of scale ru·e higher in a combination store, therefore, these stores offer low pricing policy and make profits on account of impulse sales. Combination stores provide one-stop shopping experience, and therefore, customers do not consider distance factor to come to these stores.
6. Discuss the essential features for effectiveness of Food and Beverages.
ANS:; Lot tracking and traceability
As a key factor in building and maintaining consumer tmst in a highly regulated indushy, lot h·acking and traceability is a top p1iority. Within an ERP solution, this functionality provides automated :foll supply chain visibility from frum-to-fork, or from raw ingredients to the finished goods, to maintain product safety. Recall preparedness that includes detailed record keeping of purchase orders, bills oflading, labeling and shipping documents locates potentially contaminated items quickly in the event of a product recall. An integrated ERP system coupled with systematic procedures mitigates severe public safety consequences, monetary costs, and erosion of consumer confidence caused by unsafe products entering the marketplace.
Recipe and formulation management
By maintaining your company's time-honored recipes or developing new products, you'll keep up with consumer demands utilizing a comprehensive ERP solution. An established recipe and formula management system easily records multiple versions of recipes and keeps track of changes - allowing the creation of new fonnulas, observation of recipe development, documentation of manufacturing instructions and management of quality control tests. The capability to store and scale recipes is a must and includes the ability to maintain real-time recipes with a bill of materials (BOMs) that lists physical prope1ties, versions, revisions, and production notes. Access to the calculation of nutritional data, including ingredient ru1d allergen information, is also a necessity to ensure accurate labeling and to meet repo1ting requirements. Security features available through an ERP maintain a company's proprietary recipe infonnation by limiting access through userbased role permissions.
Quality control
As a food and beverage manufacturer, effective quality management ensures that products consistently meet company standards as well as customers' preferences and expectations. With full fo1ward and backward lot u·aceability, you 'll have the necessary tools to track, trace, document and repo1t to auditors, customers and Iegulat01y bodies by monitoring m aterials throughout the production process. Real-time h·acking with systematic quality control practices allows your company to respond to potential prob lems quickly by initiating quru·antine procedures for items that fail inspection -making sure products ru·e not released until co1Tective actions are completed. Testing of raw ingredients and batches ensme consistency in every production rnn. An ERP solution's quality control features provide in-production and customer-specific testing with easy generation of customized Certificates of Analysis (CofA) to meet the needs of food and beverage manufacturers.
Inventory management
Finding a perfect inventory balance is often key to a company's success. Too much inventory can cost money, while too little can create disappointment for customers. An ERP software solution with an integrated wru·ehouse management system (WMS) functionality helps find the perfect inventory balance by supp01ting daily operations that plan, organize, staff, direct and conh·ol company resources. Easily track inventory balances, serial numbers, lots and product line information in real-time to retain ru1d maintain inventory levels -keeping track of inventory at all times. Material Requirements Planning (MRP) factors in supply, demand and forecasted requirements of your business to make purchasing decisions to assist with efficient production planning. With a comprehensive ERP solution, your company cru1 easily maintain suitable inventory levels, reduce waste, assess inventory flow, utilize rotation methods and avoid overproduction to make your company more efficient.
In your search for your next food and beverage ERP, ensure that the vendor that you select has a solution that includes lot tracking and trnceability, recipe and formulation management, quality control, and inventory management When these essential functionalities are provided by an ERP vendor who's experienced in your industry, you'll be able to meet the ever-changing business demands while growing more profitable and attracting new customers.
The Food and Beverage sector is playing a significant role by promoting diversified food concepts and cuisines as per the customer's need. Below mentioned are the features of the food and beverages sector-
A Major contribution to the economy.
Plays an important role in fulfilling the day to day needs of the customer
Employment generation.
Encourages business.
Promotes diversification by introducing new concepts.
Innovations and fulfilling the basic needs of the customers.
Generates high competition.
7. Discuss the essential features of visual merchandising. Also explain the pre-requisites while planning for visual merchandising.
ANS: Visual merchandising is a practice of optimising retail store presentation and displaying goods to highlight their features and benefits better and encourage customer interest. To make this visual merchandising definition simpler, divide it into three parts -
It's a practice of optimising retail store presentation: Visual merchandising is an intentional practice to optimise the space and layout of the store to present the invento1y in the best possible way.
It focuses on highlighting product's features and benefits: Marketers plan, design, and display products with an aim to highlight their features and benefits.
It aims to encourage customer interest: Visual merchandising aims to influence customers and encourage them to purchase goods and return to the store in the future.
Visual merchandising is an impo1tant aspect of retail marketing. It does not only include displays for merchandise on display but also includes store layout, greeter design, floor plan, signage, fixtures, and lighting.
It includes shaping customer experience inside a retail space through presentation and adve1tising. Therefore, it is an important tool that retail marketers use to influence consumer behaviour and thus fulfil their marketing goals - sales and repeat visits.
Visual Merchand ising Requirements # 1 - Understand your target customer's psychographics
When creating your visual merchandising plan, the first step you have to take is to understand your target market. Every retail store already knows its targ et market's demo graphics such as age, income, and gender. But what about your customer's psycho graphics? Do you know why and how you're able to attract them to buy from you? An excellent start is by going over your point of sale system's customer data (particularly a customer's order history).
You'd want to ask yourself: What do your customers mostly buy? What goes with it? What season is your product popular? Where are those p roducts placed? How're they packaged? What other factors come into play from the point someone enters your store to their decision of buying from you?
Answering these questions will help you m1derstand how your customer's mind works and how to use that infom1ation to create more revenue. If you want to learn more about your market's psychographic, EdApp has a wonderful course on understanding customer motivations and knowing your market. These courses are stmctured in a rnicroleaming f01mat to highlight important information and keep your learners engaged.
Visual Merchandising Requirements # 2 - Compe titor analysis While it's good to look at your own data for evaluation, you should also look into what your competitor is doing. Competitor analysis helps you understand where your competition is going right and where it isn't. A detailed competitor analysis will position you to outperform your competitors and possibly take business away from them and into your store.
To properly execute this, your competitive analysis needs some planning, intensive research, and a bit of sincere introspection into your own data. It can be easy to pick apait what your competition is doing, but hai·d to consider their strategies with yours objectively. Take it slowly at first. Don't msh into this process just to get it done. You could be amazed at what you lean about the business environment in your area.
Visual Merchandising Requirements # 3 - Create a visual experience with color
We all know you must use your brand colors for your store. But, have you stopped to think about how you can take your colors and create a visual expe1ience with them?
To do this, you have to decide how to properly use your brand colors to decorate your store. For example, you can't incorporate the color blue into everything in your store. If you brand everything blue, your products might end up blending into the background and get sold less. On the other hand, using too little of your palette can give you little distinction from your competition. You need to design your store in a way that it'll attract and engage your customers with your branding. Apait from attracting attention, deciding the whens and wheres of your colors can also help you pe1fectly evoke the type of feeling you want your customers to feel. Blue can make your customers feel calm and that they can trust you or your product. But too much or too little of the color can't unlock that emotion. The right amount of blue, however, won't feel too overwhelming and unde1whelming for them. The color will actually have the effect you want it to. Balancing between less and more is best and it will give you a good idea ofhow to create a stunning visual experience.
Visual Merchandising Requirements # 4 - Explore ways to improve lighting
Your lighting choice contributes to your store's ambiance and defines the emotion your store stimulates. Not only that, smait lighting design can call attention to the goods you want your buyers to notice and can also make a statement that sepai·ates you from your competitors.
One way you can improve your lighting is to replace old bulbs with new ones. Older bulbs lose their crisp-white yellow light over time aud have lesser power. They make your products look darker, and it fails to call your customer's attention. With newer bulbs, not only will they make your product look brighter, but also make them look better.
Another way you can explore lighting design is by incorporating accent lighting. Accent lighting draws attention to paiticulai· products or key ai·eas by emphasizing their presence. 111is type of lighting directs shoppers to impo1tant items or places by improving their visibility or emphasizing them. On top of that, it doesn't cost you much to add accent lighting to your store.
Visual Merchandising Requirements# 5 - Maximize your store's space
Maximizing your space is one of the keys to unlocking good visual merchandising. While you want to split up bow you showcase merchandise and reduce clutter, empty space should be sparse in your store. You want to use as much of your store as you can to display and adve1tise other products. The more you expose your customers to different merchandise, the higher the chances of them purchasing those other products.
Avoiding wasted space will also keep your customers visually engaged in your store. They'll be encouraged to look around more and try different products.
Visual Merchandising Requirements # 6 - Po int your custo mers where they need to g o with signage
Effective signage emphasizes your products or store features, directs people to where they want to go, and communicates infonnation with your customers. It has a tremendous impact on what your shoppers view and engage with, as well as how they perceive your store and items.
(B) Essay Type Questions
8. What do you mean by Exhibition space? Discuss the po ints to be taken care while planning for exhibition space.
ANS: An exhibition is an impo1tant pa1t of the promotional mix of industrial markets. Exhibition is an imp01tant source of information in industrial buying process, and is second only to personal selling, and is way ahead of direct mail and print adve1tising in tenns of providing info1mation to the industrial buyer. The number of exhibitions, exhibitors and visitors is growing. Probably our most vital exhibition planning tip is to always be thinking about logistics. Simple things like making sure the event space you choose has near-by parking so exhibitors can easily unload and ensure transpo1tation links are close by are often a necessity for any successful exhibition.
With so many things to think about logistics wise, you are probably going to forget to consider some. Our most imp01tant exhibition planning tips to remember in terms of logistics are:
Is it the type of exhibition or trade show where people have extravagant stand designs?
How long will it take to set up and dismantle stalls?
What time will exhibitors arrive?
Where do you need equipment and technology?
Remember different lanyards for attendees and exhibitors
Do you want to organise network events in between?
Once you have th ese logistics worked out, you should be able to put together a clear timeline of what needs to happen during the pre and post-exhibition. Always remember to plan way ahead of time so that your overall time management is on point.
The site chosen for the exhibition can have a drastic effect on the exhibition. There is no doubt in the fact that tl1e collection exhibited in an exclusive gallery will appeal to the attendees more than th e one displayed in the gallery witl1 no class. So, choose the location with great care.
When you aTe finally satisfied with your collection, the next step is to get yourself ready. This is because you are going to be the center of attention of the whole gathering. There is no doubt that a painting is an art and art does not need any speaker at all. It speaks for itself. But being an active involver you can change the mood of the whole exhibition. Nobody can give a better insight into the p aintings as the artist himself Just a few words can completely change the spectator's perspective about your painting. So, you need to be ready as well.
1. The first and foremost step is to get the CV or resume ready. It is the key that will be opening the doors of the gallery for you. So, it needs to be amazing because the more amazing it will be, the higher will be the class of the gallery.
2. The next step is choosing an outfit for you. It is a common fact that people choose their outfit according to their choice, personality, aptitude, and charncter. A person can guess hundreds of facts about a stranger just by looking at his outfit. So, it is imp01tant to choose something which complements your art.
3. The last but not the least step is to get ready mentally. When you stocked the gallery with your collection and got everything ready and even before the crowd hit it, you became a victor. You gave in your all. Now it is the time to be proud of yourself and enjoy the ride.
9. What do you mean by balance? Explain the different types of balance while planning to display the merchandise in a store.
ANS: In retail planning, store merchandising is the link between sales and marketing on the front end and supply chain at the back end. Merchandising strategy should infonn retailers the allimp01tant four Ws: what to sell, when to sell, where to sell, and who to sell to. These four W s are critical for sales, marketing, and supply chain because retailers must know them in order to balance a positive consumer experience, available inventory, and the ability to meet consumer's future needs in a timely manner.
Although the four Ws concept is widely known and established, most retailers still snuggle to implement and execute it successfolly. To accurately identify the four Ws, retailers need to define a product strategy (call that Merchandise Planning 1.0), a cross-channel strategy (Merchandise Planning 2.0), and a customer strategy. Having and planning for all three strategies is Merchandise Planning 3.0.
We have seen cases where having just product planning or cross-channel planning is not sufficient for retail success. If a retailer has a merchandising approach based only on products, it often ends up succeeding in either online sales or b1ick-and-mortar sales-but not both. On the other hand, if a retailer is good only at cross-channel selling (that is, combining online, in-store, and other channels), it often delivers products failing to resonate with shoppers. This puts its brand identity at risk and, eventually, causes the retailer to lose market share. In either of these cases, having both product and cross-channel merchandising sti·ategies would help the retailer stay ahead of the competition.
Then you need to add customer-cenh·icity, the element that creates Merchandise Planning 3.0. It's sometimes most apparent when it's absent; department stores and their big-brai1d suppliers, for example, are increasingly at odds over promotions, especially discount pricing. The retailer wants to offer discounts while the supplier doesn't, or vice versa. These retailer-supplier clashes might be avoided if pricing were optimized based on a combination of product inventory (Merchandise Planning 1.0), selling channel (Merchandise Planning 2.0), and customer data (Merchandise Planning 3.0). This says, as retailers begin to focus on creating Merchandising 3.0, it's imperative they don't forget about Merchandise Planning 1.0 and 2.0 altogether.
Here are five strategies to help retailers succeed at Merchandise Planning 3.0: Balance store inventory: Keep it light and fast-moving.
Inventory restraint is a constant theme at big department stores like Nordstrom and Macy's. Retailers use this strategy to avoid late-season discounting cutting into gross margins, but a lean stocking strategy raises the risk of lost sales revenue if goods aren't in stock or if buyers misread fashion trends. The balance between marketing needs and logistics costs has become tougher to strike as online competitors eat into brick-and-mo1ta1" store sales. Keeping inventories lean means retailers may not be able to maximize sales revenue to pay for their physical stores. Companies that are both suppliers and retailers, such as British luxmy house BurbeITy Group, can get squeezed between their conflicting roles. The company worked on tailoring its inventory to a sales strategy relying on its own branded stores and other depa1tment stores. BurbeITy was trying to maintain, and even bolster, its upscale brand by keeping inventories lean and minimizing discounts; the company even pulled out of some U.S. depaitment stores that slashed prices on its products. Burben-y repmted sales growth in 2021, as part of their effo1t to be considered exclusively luxury. The relationship between suppliers and stores is becoming more shaky as e-commerce grabs a bigger po1tion of sales, and the conflict is escalating in the apparel world as the lean supply chains serving fast-fashion companies push consumers toward lower-cost goods.
Balance merchandising ,1o latility: External factors influence demand.
Wages, employment conditions, ai1d climate, both environmental and social, are volatile factors retailers should always consider and incorporate into their plans. For instance, Russia's war on Ukraine pressured large brands to cut ties with Russia entirely to signal suppo1t for Ukraine. Completely removing a sales footprint in a countty as large as Russia will ce1tainly have an impact on retailers' bottom line, especially the longer the umest continues.
Balance fulfillment channels: Keep it customer-centric.
In part a response to coronavims safety measures, retailers like Wal-Mart and Target are making it easier for shoppers to pick up online orders in brick-and-mortar stores. In-store pickup smooths pain points for both the retailers and their customers, and attempts to tum the brick-and-mortar business into an advantage over online competitors. A Raydiant smvey revealed in 2021, 75.4% of customers used buy-online, pick-up-in-store (BOPIS) at least once. Managing inventory for both online and b1ick-and-mo1tar sales was a major challenge for retailers, and as it becomes more normal to use BOPIS, the more important it will be to get better at striking that balance.
Align with the supply chain: Collaborate with manufacturers on pricing.
Rising prices for commodities like metals, grains, and crude oil are presenting increasingly tough challenges for producers and distributors. Adding to this struggle, though, shipping and manufacturing prices are also on the rise, leading to sluggish outlooks for some major consumer goods brands and leaving shoppers with a higher bill. Retailers are passing on the costs to consumers, with consumer prices jumping 5.4% year-over-year from 2020 to 2021. Since c01mnodity price fluctuations impact retail prices, alignment with suppliers is key so that prices can be adjusted to maintain profitability, even if consumers need to pay a bit more.
Apply integ rated technology to retail planning.
Technology can have a powerful impact in improving the accuracy of forecasts and enabling integrated business planning across all lines of a retailer's business. Digital transformation can help retailers to understand the financial impacts of trade-offs and enable advanced decisionmaking in their planning p rocesses. This calls for a merchandising solution that delivers high pe1fo1mance, user friendliness, and connected p lanning. Retailers today can drive the future of their business-within and across departments at the strntegic, tactical, and operational levelswithout compromising usability, flexibility, ease of model changes, or speed. Integrated technology can help them assess the impact of business decisions and planning scenarios better than the isolated point solutions and standalone spreadsheets that they rely on for planning across depmtments today.
