ABSTRACT
Fundamental strategic issues in retailing include: the use of franchising, the types of locations to occupy, whether to acquire or rent sites, product assortment (mix) decisions (cf. Briefs 15 and 17), retail brand positioning, store image and in-store atmospherics, scrambled merchandising (the addition of unrelated products to the product mix), the use of retail technology (such as EPoS and inventory management tools), increasing government regulation over monopoly ownership, and the balance of power between retailers and their suppliers. The growth of direct marketing and e-commerce is currently a major strategic issue. As with any other type of marketing activity, retail marketers must understand their markets, customer needs and competitive pressures; develop clear target market strategies and well-considered brand positionings; and devote a great deal of attention to their marketing mix, which is the extended services marketing mix (cf. Brief 44). People, physical evidence (in-store atmospherics) and processes are particularly important. These strategic issues are just as pertinent to non-store retailers as to retail chains utilizing stores.
