7 P's in Retail

Hi Guys

Am just putting across important of 7 P's in retail cycle.

1. Product 

-Providing value for money by adding value to the product or service being offered.

-Providing multiple payment options to the customer by spreading the price of the product into multiple installments.

-To look at the product offering from the customers point of view.

-To develop an area of superiority in the product offering by adding some extra value to it.

-To keep analysing if the market for the product offering is increasing or decreasing and developing strategies for the growth of the product.

2.Price

-A product is only worth what a customer is prepared to pay for it.

-The price needs to be competitive, but not necessarily the cheapest.

-Be open to the possibility that the current pricing structure may not be ideal for the current market.

-Be open to the need to revise your prices, if necessary, to remain competitive, to survive and thrive in a fast-changing marketplace.

-If you think the price you sell at , as a cost to the customer, it will help you keep things in the right perspective.

3. Place

-This can be Direct selling, mail order, telemarketing or in retail stores.

-This is where the customers can buy the product, and is the means to get the product to the customer

-The product must be available at the right place (Product category), at the right time (time you sell your product), and in the right quantity (enough stock).

-The place in which your business operates can be the deciding factor in the success or failure of the business.

-To provide facilities like free parking to ensure the ease of accessing the store.

-Once you have a good location, it becomes difficult to replicate the same and it become your competitive strength.

4.Promotion

-This is the way in which you communicate to your potential customers about your product.

-This can be done in a number of ways, which includes your brand image, advertising, special offers.

-Small changes in the way the products are promoted and sold can lead to dramatic changes in results. 

-Experiment with different ways of advertising, promoting, and selling the products and services.

-A sales or marketing method might stop working after sometime and it become essential to continually look for new improved ways to promote and market the product in front of the customer.

-To develop new sales, marketing and advertising approaches, offerings, and strategies.

5. Physical Evidence

-This is the intangible part of the business mostly concerned with services as they cannot be seen.

-Intangible is often used to describe services as they cannot be touched like a product can be.

-This important because, fundamentally you are selling a product, but in order for you to be able to price your goods at the right the level, you will also be selling the service the buyer will receive.

6. People

-The reputation of the brand rests in the people’s hands. You must therefore ensure that all your people are appropriately trained, well motivated and have the right attitude.

-People does not only include the people in your business , but also the people that you use for your business.

-The ability to select, recruit, hire and retain the proper people, with the skills and abilities to do the job you need to have done, is more important than everything else put together.

-Many customers are unable to separate the products they buy from the person who sells it to them. This goes to show the importance of your people in relation to customer’s perception.

-The level of after sales support and advice provided by the retailer is one way of adding value to what is sold , and will give a competitive advantage over others sellers of similar product. Many of the best business plans ever developed do not see the light of the day as the people who created them could not find the key people who could execute those plans

7. Process

-The process that you go through and the behavior of those who deliver the products are crucial to customer satisfaction.

-Issues such as waiting times , the information passed onto customers are vital factors when trying to maintain 100% satisfaction.

-Processes must help the customers get what they want.

-E.g. What payment methods are in place that makes it easier or quicker for parents to pay for your service?

-Always keep customers informed. This can be done at the store or through faxes and emails.

-By keeping in contact with the customers the retailer can avoid problems of negative feedback etc.

-This also does the world of good for your brand image.

-Customers will view this as an extra value added service.