Evolution of Departmental Stores and Discount Stores in Australia

RUNNING HEAD: Retail Management
Retail Management

Retail Management 1
Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Departmental Stores and Discount Stores.......................................................................................2
Definition.....................................................................................................................................2
Merchandise Carried by These Stores.........................................................................................2
Marketing to Different Market Segments of Retail Customers...................................................3
Assembling of Merchandise for the Customers...........................................................................3
Historical Development of Departmental Stores and Discount Stores in Australia........................4
The Changing Face of Retailing......................................................................................................5
Future of Retailing...........................................................................................................................6
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................6
References........................................................................................................................................8

Retail Management 2
Introduction
With the passage of time, the retail industry has reached a tipping point. Today, a shopper has
different expectations of a service, product, environment, value than earlier. This has created
difficulty for the retail stores to survive by simply making incremental adjustments in the store
format and portfolio. The store proposition is required to be re- defined along with the proper
identification of the changing needs of the customers within the four walls of the store (Abratt,
Higgs & Nel, 2015). This report focuses on the changing face of retailing. In other words, this
report provides the evolution of departmental stores and discount stores.
Departmental Stores and Discount Stores
Definition
A departmental store can be defined as the large retail trading organization having several
organized and classified departments. The classification of department is made in accordance
with the different types of goods to be sold. All the departments are run under same
management, ownership and control. On the other hand, discount stores can be defined as the
stores which sell merchandise, particularly consumer goods, at a discount from the retail price
suggested by the manufacturer. These stores are also known as discount house. Usually, branded
products are offered by these discount stores with a wide variety of items. Discount stores are
capable of dropping their prices due to the existence of efficient distribution methods. Discount
stores are often called chain stores. The examples of discount stores are Kmart, Target and
Walmart (Wang, Soesilo & Zhang, 2015).
Merchandise Carried by These Stores
Departmental stores carry a variety of merchandise such as groceries, packed food goods,
cosmetics, cutlery, stationery, garments, computes, medicines, furniture, sports, etc. In this way,
departmental stores and discounts stores fulfill all the basic requirements of the customers under
one roof. Maximum shopping experience is provided to the customers. On the other hand, the
discount stores offer the specific merchandise lines. They aim at keeping the prices low by
purchasing products in bulk and developing their own effective distribution system. A variety of