Retail Management Report: Discount and Department Store Analysis

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of the Australian retail industry, focusing on the evolution and current state of retail management. It examines two primary types of retail stores: discount stores (e.g., Kmart) and department stores (e.g., Target, Woolworths), comparing their merchandise offerings, operational strategies, and customer relationship management approaches. The report delves into the development of the retail market, highlighting the impact of technology, including the rise of online retail and the adoption of self-service technologies. It contrasts the merchandise and strategies employed by discount and department stores, exploring factors like pricing, product variety, and customer appeal. The report also considers the application of location and technology in retail operations, cost containment, and future trends in the Australian retail market. The report concludes with an overview of the key findings and implications for the future of retailing in Australia.

Running head: RETAIL MANAGEMENT
RETAIL MANAGEMENT
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Executive Summary
The report is based on the analysis of the retail based industry of Australia. The different
types of retail stores which operate in the Australian retail have been analysed in the report.
The two major types of retail stores which are a part of the analysis are discount stores and
department stores. The examples based on these types of stores have also been analysed in
the report in detail. The types of merchandise and operations of these stores have been
discussed in the report. The future operations of the companies in retail industry of Australia
has been discussed in the report in a detailed manner.

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Table of Contents
Introduction....................................................................................................................3
Concept based on the Discount retail stores..................................................................3
Concept based on Department based retail stores..........................................................3
Development of the retail based markets.......................................................................4
Discount market related merchandise available in Australia.........................................4
Strategies that have been implemented in discounted stores of Australia.....................5
Department market related merchandise provided in Australia.....................................6
Strategies that have been implemented by Departmental stores in Australia................6
Application of location and technology in the retail stores located in Australia...........7
Containment based and value driven costs in the Australian marketplace....................8
Significance of identifying and appealing of customers in the retail based markets.....8
Future of the retailing activities in the Australian market..............................................9
Conclusion......................................................................................................................9
References....................................................................................................................10

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Introduction
The analysis which will be made in the report is related to the ways by which the
retail management based stores have evolved within the economy. The different types of
retail stores which are will be analysed in the report are mainly, the departmental stores and
the discount stores. The two different varieties of retail stores can thereby be compared with
respect to the merchandise which are offered by them and the different brands which are
thereby provided to customers. The process based on management of customer relationships
will also be an important part of the analysis (Blázquez 2014).
Concept based on the Discount retail stores
The discount based retail stores can thereby be defined as those which sell the
products and the services to customers at prices which are lower than their original prices in
the market. The discount stores are however not able to offer a huge variety of products to the
customers as the products are sold at single price points (Castillo 2018).
Example – Kmart is a major example of a proper discount based store which operates
in Australia and is able to offer wide range of products. The major focus of the stores of
Kmart is thereby placed on the prices which have been set for the products rather than the
services which are offered.
Concept based on Department based retail stores
The department based retail stores are mainly on the concept of the types of goods
which are sold to the customers within a single store. The stores are based on different
departments that operate in a separate manner under a single roof. The departments which are
thereby present within the departmental stores are able to satisfy the different types of needs
of people in an effective way (Chinomona and Maziriri 2017).

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Example – The concept of department based stores can be made clear with the help of
example of Target Australia. The stores of Target are mainly located in Sydney and they
mainly aim at offering different types of products to the customers of the company under a
single roof. Woolworths can also be considered to be a major example which can help in
understanding the concept of the department based stores. The organization also aims at
fulfilling the demands and the needs of different types of customers with their wide range of
products (Fernie and Sparks 2014).
Development of the retail based markets
According to, Garcia and Janssen (2018), the concept based on the retail markets has
been established in an effective manner in the last few years. The advancement which has
been seen in different technologies has proved to be an important part of the proper evolution
of retail markets. Modern technologies have thereby been helpful for the different types of
approaches which have been taken by Australian companies like, Target, Big W and Kmart.
The online retail market has also been established in a huge manner all over the world.
More than 70% of the total number of individuals in Australia are able to use to
smartphones in an effective manner. The technological activities have thereby been able to
become an important part of the operations of the different organizations in the country. The
purchasing based power of the customers has increased with the help of different modern
technologies. The modern technologies like, self-check related facilities have been
implemented in an effective manner by Woolworths which is a major retail organization in
the country (Kasemsap 2018).
Discount market related merchandise available in Australia
The merchandise which are offered by the discount market related stores of Australia
are quite different from those which are offered by the departmental organizations. The

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analysis based on the discount stores has been able to depict that the merchandise is offered
to the customers at lower prices. The high end fashion based products which are offered by
the department stores are different from those which are offered by the discount stores. The
discount based stores are quite similar to the department based stores of Australia with
respect to the products that are sold to the customers. The discount based stores are helpful in
offering the merchandise which are based on different types of customers at prices which are
cheaper as compared to the other retail stores in the industry (Kaul 2017).
The different types of discount based stores are thereby considered to be an important
part of various franchises which are able to operate in Australia. The stores which operate in
different parts of the country are mainly based on the volume of sales as compared with the
profits that can be gained by the company. The merchandise is thereby offered at lower prices
as compared to other stores which operate in the industry (Matthews, Son and
Watchravesringkan 2014).
Strategies that have been implemented in discounted stores of Australia
The discount stores of Australia apply many different types of strategies which are
based on lower margins and the higher volumes. The strategies have thereby been adopted by
the Australia supermarkets in order to offer similar types of services and products to the
customers at prices which are not quite different.
For example – One of the most significant store of Australia, Target is capable of
meeting the demands of the customers at affordable prices of different types of products. The
huge variety of goods which have thereby been provided by the discount stores are able to
fulfil various needs of the customers (Pinto et al. 2017).
The discount stores are able to provide variety of goods which are lesser as compared
to the other stores which operate in different areas of the country. The trend based on

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discount stores have mainly started in the year 1962. The respective discount based stores
have thereby been developed by Target and Kmart in different locations. The various
supercentres and hypermarkets are different types of discount stores that are capable of
offering services and goods at affordable rates to individual customers (SastryT and Rao
2017).
Department market related merchandise provided in Australia
The departmental stores which operate in Australia are also quite similar in nature
with respect to the discount based stores. Departmental stores are divided in an effective
manner into different departments in a single store which are based on different products and
services.
The departmental stores which operate in Australia are based on various types of
departments that include, jewellery, clothing and other services which are based on affordable
rates. The departmental stores that operate in the country do not have any separate areas
which offer food courts and play areas for the families which visit these stores (Simbrunner,
Schlegelmilch and Stacheneder 2017).
Strategies that have been implemented by Departmental stores in Australia
The strategies and approaches which have been adapted in an effective manner by
departmental stores are based on products and services that are offered to the customers. The
analysis of departmental stores is thereby based on different products which are offered to the
customers and belong to different departments like, clothing jewellery and groceries. The
popularity of the products is also analysed with the help of the analysis of different
departments (Simbrunner, Schlegelmilch and Stacheneder 2017). The departmental stores are
thereby able to provide different types of discounts to the customers in the retail industry of
Australia. This is helpful for the organizations to increase their popularity and further gain a

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huge competitive advantage. The overall levels of profitability of the company can also be
increased in an effective manner (Stan and Evans 2015).
Example – Woolworths can be considered to be an important example of
departmental store which is able to provide the best types of products to the customers. The
company is also known for offering the free home delivery based services to the customers
with the purchase of different types of products that operate in different areas of Australia.
The different departments which are present within the stores of the company mainly include,
magazines, groceries, beauty and health care based products and many more. The company
has been able to become quite popular in the industry as compared to the other organizations
which are present in the Australian retail market (Upadhyaya 2016).
Application of location and technology in the retail stores located in Australia
The most significant role is thereby played by technology in different retail based
stores of the world. More than 85% of the total number of individuals in Australian economy
have been using different types of technologies. The customers are thereby able to keep track
of the different types of offers which are provided by different retail based organizations in
Australia.
Example – Woolworths is an organization which is known in the retail industry for
the purpose of implementing the technologies like self-service and self-checkout based
activities. The approach which was however implemented by the company was not quite
successful for the operations of Woolworths. The approach based merger which was
implemented by the companies like Kmart and Target did not prove to be successful enough.
This has been able to create huge number of issues for the company and the customers
(Valeeva, Sharafutdinova and Kulkova 2014).

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The concept based on retail market in Australia has also changed in an effective
manner from the previous years. The different researches and newspapers have been able to
depict that immense number of changes have taken place in the retail industry. The
advertisement based activities of the company have also changed in the past few years. The
companies have started adopting the new and innovative techniques that have been able to
increase their presence in the retail market.
The location related factors have played a major role in the operations of modern
retail based organizations (Van Scheers and Botha 2014). The different factors that are
effectively considered based on the location of stores include,
 The positioning based activities can be analysed for the purpose of providing a
major overview of competitors who are present in the industry.
 The market based potential of the company can be analysed based on
demographic variables which have a major impact on the organization.
 The identification of effective locations is also important for the proper
operations of the companies (Varley 2014).
Containment based and value driven costs in the Australian marketplace
The value driven costs and containment costs are quite different for different
companies like, Target and Woolworths. The two major retail organizations like Target and
Woolworths have implemented strategies that are quite different from each other. The
purchase of different services and products are also based on different approaches of the
companies (Valeeva, Sharafutdinova and Kulkova 2014).
Significance of identifying and appealing of customers in the retail based markets
The ways by which the companies are able to understand the demands and needs of
the customers play a major role in management of innovative procedures. The companies are

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able to adopt the appealing power in an essential way in specific geographic areas. The
different segments of customers in the industry are, the online shoppers, out shoppers and in
hone shoppers (Upadhyaya 2016).
Future of the retailing activities in the Australian market
The future of the retail market in Australia in the coming years is mainly based on the
proper inclusion of stores in the market. The demands of customers will be able to play the
most important role in operations of different retail based companies. The future of the retail
industry is thereby totally based on proper operations of discount stores and departmental
stores of the country. The process of digitization is helpful in changing the experience of
consumers which can make the tasks of shopkeepers quite tough in nature (SastryT and Rao
2017).
Conclusion
The report can thereby be concluded by stating that the different types of retail based
market segments in competitive economy are present in a huge way. The proper management
of the demands of expectation based levels of the consumers is an important part of the
operations of retail companies. The major recommendations can thereby be provided based
on the ways by which the customers of the companies can be managed in an effective
manner.

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References
Blázquez, M., 2014. Fashion shopping in multichannel retail: The role of technology in
enhancing the customer experience. International Journal of Electronic Commerce, 18(4),
pp.97-116.
Castillo, J., 2018. How Interactions Influence Customer Empowerment and Satisfaction in
the Retail Industry.
Chinomona, R. and Maziriri, E.T., 2017. The influence of brand awareness, brand association
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cosmetic brands in South Africa. Journal of Business and Retail Management
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Fernie, J. and Sparks, L., 2014. Logistics and retail management: emerging issues and new
challenges in the retail supply chain. Kogan page publishers.
Garcia, D. and Janssen, M., 2018. Retail channel management in consumer search
markets. International Journal of Industrial Organization, 58, pp.162-182.
Kasemsap, K., 2018. Retail management and electronic retailing. In Supply chain
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Matthews, D.R., Son, J. and Watchravesringkan, K., 2014. An exploration of brand equity
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perspective. Journal of Business and Retail Management Research, 9(1).

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Pinto, G.L., Dell’Era, C., Verganti, R. and Bellini, E., 2017. Innovation strategies in retail
services: solutions, experiences and meanings. European Journal of Innovation
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