Retail Sales Management: Analysis of Four Articles and Abstract Report

This report provides an analysis of four articles focused on retail sales management. The articles explore various aspects, including the integration of social marketing initiatives within retail systems, customer expectations from retail sales employees, the development of an omni-channel framework, and the impact of inventory levels and price discounts on online retail sales. The report identifies common themes, such as the importance of efficient customer service, and different themes across the articles. It also discusses the limitations of each study and proposes directions for further research. The report utilizes institutional theory, qualitative and quantitative research methods, and draws conclusions based on the analyzed data. Key findings include the significance of customer expectations, the potential of omni-channel strategies, and the influence of inventory levels on sales in the online retail environment. The report emphasizes the customer-centric approach in retail sales management and the need for organizations to adapt to changing consumer behaviors and technological advancements.

Running head: MANAGING RETAIL SALES 1
Article Collection and Structured Abstract-Retail Sales Management
Name:
Institutional Affiliation:

MANAGING RETAIL SALES 2
Article Collection and Structured Abstract-Retail Sales Management
Retail sales management can be described as a method of promoting more sales and
satisfaction of customers by getting a better understanding of consumer needs and products that
the company produces. Retail management is important since it enables the company to satisfy
customer needs. Effective retail management is characterized by setting of high standards, Sales
growth, customer service excellence and sustained performance. This paper analyses 4 articles
on retail sales management. There are various theories surrounding retail sales management and
over the years various advancements like online selling and multi-channels have been developed.
The four papers look at different theories and how these have been used to leverage retail sales.
Brief Summary and Theory Progression
The various articles analyzed speak about different aspects of retail management.
Zarkada-Fraser & Fraser1, write a paper that argues about social marketing initiatives and how
they need to be integrated into an organization’s retail system and focused on particular products
that are familiar to both consumers and employees, so that a competitive advantage can be
achieved. This paper is based on institutional theory, which states that an organization seeks to
be legitimate in the eyes of its stakeholders by doing activities perceived as proper or desirable.
Their paper further looks at three different factors that influence social marketing in a retail
organization. The first factor is institutional orientation under the principles of corporate social
responsibility and how this affects retail. The second factor is the interface existing between
performance actions and institutional actions, demonstrated by focusing the social marketing
programs to existing products. Personnel management issues that lead to successful social
marketing in retail are analyzed as the third factor. The authors apply theory by looking at case
studies of Australian retail programs. Many major retailers in Australia donate money to
different initiatives or organize profit generating activities so that they give back to the
communities where their customers come from.2This is an important way of retaining customers
as there is a shift by consumers to purchase from organizations which are socially responsible.
1 Anna Zarkada-Fraser, and Campbell Fraser. ‘Integrating social and economic orientated marketing: A study of retail management.’ (2015) Proceedings of
the 2000 Academy of Marketing Science (AMS) Annual Conference. Springer, Cham 219
2 Gary Armstrong, et al. Marketing: An Introduction. (Pearson Education, 2015)

MANAGING RETAIL SALES 3
Another researcher, Chopra3, carries out a study on the product specific expectations of
customers from retail sales employees on retail outlets which are organized. The researcher notes
that many retail companies focus on training employees to have specific skills that enable them
to effectively market and sell products, but do not do research to find out customer expectations
and if these expectations differ by customer gender. The researcher, using a combination of
qualitative and quantitative methods, investigates customer expectations by carrying out a survey
on three retail stores, located in Pune, India. Secondary data is collected by analyzing different
research reports and journals that speak about human resources and retailing. In collection of
primary data, a structured questionnaire is used to carry out the survey and the results are based
on a Friedman and Mann Whitney U test. The results of this study show that the three most
important customer expectations in retail are complaint management, knowledge of the retail
sales staff and prompt service.4 All these expectations do not differ with gender.
Cummins, Peltier & Dickson, carry out a research based on developing an Omni-channel
framework in selling and sales management for retail.5 The study focuses on six areas, mainly
the context of selling, effect of technology, sales process stages, effect on customer relationships,
effect on organizational performance and the role of different communication tools or platforms.
The researchers do a qualitative research by analyzing different literature from various authors.
The results show that there is virtually no research on Omni-channel marketing in sales
contexts.6 The authors therefore identify research gaps.
3 ,Komal Chopra. ‘Study on Product Specific Customer Expectations from Retail Sales Employees in Organized Retail Outlets.’ (2017) 7 (1) International
Journal of Engineering and Management Research 111
4 Lanlan Cao, and Li Li. ‘The impact of cross-channel integration on retailers’ sales growth.’ (2015) 91 (2) Journal of Retailing 198
5 Shannon Cummins, James W. Peltier, and Andrea Dixon. ‘Omni-channel research framework in the context of personal selling and sales management: A
review and research extensions.’ (2016) 10 (1) Journal of Research in Interactive Marketing 2.
6 ,Dawn R Deeter-Schmelz. ‘Personal Selling and Sales Management Abstracts.’ (2017) 37 (2) Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management 170

MANAGING RETAIL SALES 4
The research by Soderro et. al was necessitated by the fact that different online retailers
provide information inventory that is real-time to their online consumers.7 This means that
retailers may be taking advantage of disclosed information on inventory to increase product
demand8. The research is therefore done to get an understanding of how inventory levels in retail
organizations, influence sales and how the same affects the impact of price discounts given by
retailers on sales. The research is filing a research gap since previous studies concerning
inventory levels and sales have yielded conflicting results. The researchers use a quantitative
method to establish the relationship between inventory, pricing and sales by using large data sets
made up of products sold in Amazon.com. The data is analyzed using a simultaneous equation
model. The results show that in online retail sales, low inventory levels stimulate sales and
further amplify influence of price discounts on sales and this is strongest when inventory levels
are low.
Common Themes across Four Articles
The common theme across the four articles is the importance of efficient customer
service in retail sales. All the articles, despite speaking about different topics, all focus on the
customer and how organizations can do various things to ensure current customers are satisfied
and further to attract new customers. One of the articles speaks about lowering online inventory
levels to enable consumers purchase faster with the belief that an item is running out of
stock.9Another article speaks about Omni-channels and how they can enhance sales and
customer relationships.10 Chopra studies about what customer’s expect from retail employees11
while Zarkada-Fraser & Fraser12 write about social marketing and the effect they have on retail
initiatives. This goes to show that the end focus is the customer and all activities undertaken by
retail organizations in retail sales management are done in order to satisfy current customers and
attract and retain new customers.
Different Themes across Four Articles
7 Annibal Sodero, Elliot Rabinovich, Tolga Aydinliyim, and Michael S. Pangburn. ‘An Empirical Analysis of How Inventory Levels and Prices Affect
Online Retail Sales.’(2017) Social Science Research Network <https://ssrn.com/abstract=2872938 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2872938>
8 Wang, Xun, and Stephen M. Disney. ‘The bullwhip effect: Progress, trends and directions.’ (2016) 250 (3) European Journal of Operational Research 691
9 Annibal Sodero et al. above n7
10 Shannon Cummins n 5
11 Komal Chopra n 3
12 Anna Zakarder-Fraser n 1

MANAGING RETAIL SALES 5
The articles also have different themes. One of the articles speaks about how
management of online inventory levels can have an impact on the amount of stock sold by the
company.13 Another article speaks about why more retail businesses should adopt Omni-
channels.14 Chopra15 studies about the impact that retail employee behavior has on the business
while Zarkada-Fraser & Fraser16 write about why an organization must align social marketing
initiatives with organizational strategy.
Study Limitations and how they differ
The limitation of the study of Zarkada-Fraser & Fraser is that it generalizes through case
studies but it would be better if observations and interviews were done. The study by Chopra has
limitations as the research is confined to selected retail outlets in Pune, and the sample size of
100 customers is small. The study by Sodero had a limitation in that the researchers could not
test sample selection bias using a counterfactual method. The research by Cummins, Peltier &
Dickson had a limitation since there were very few case studies done on Omni-channels.
Further Research Directions Proposed in Article
The article by Zarkada-Fraser & Fraser proposes that a tool that can be used by
organizations to gauge the equilibrium point of institutional and operational activities for
maximizing effective performance should be developed. The article by Chopra, proposes that
further research can be done on helping retailers to design training programs that will enhance
the technical and behavioral skills of employees. The study by Sodero does not propose any
further research. The research by Cummins, Peltier & Dickson, proposes that there are
considerable research opportunities since there is very little research on Omni-marketing
channels.
13 Anne Sodero 7 n 9
14 Shannon Cummins 5 n 10
15 Komal Chopra 3 n 14
16 Anne Zakarder Fraser 1 n 12

MANAGING RETAIL SALES 6
Bibliography
Books
Armstrong, Gary, et al. Marketing: An Introduction. (Pearson Education, 2015)
Journals
Cao, Lanlan, and Li Li. ‘The impact of cross-channel integration on retailers’ sales growth.’
(2015) 91 (2) Journal of Retailing 198
Chopra, Komal. ‘Study on Product Specific Customer Expectations from Retail Sales Employees
in Organized Retail Outlets.’ (2017) 7 (1) International Journal of Engineering and
Management Research 111
Cummins, Shannon, James W. Peltier, and Andrea Dixon. ‘Omni-channel research framework in
the context of personal selling and sales management: A review and research extensions.’
(2016) 10 (1) Journal of Research in Interactive Marketing 2.
Deeter-Schmelz, Dawn R. ‘Personal Selling and Sales Management Abstracts.’ (2017) 37
(2) Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management 170
Sodero, Annibal, Elliot Rabinovich, Tolga Aydinliyim, and Michael S. Pangburn. ‘An Empirical
Analysis of How Inventory Levels and Prices Affect Online Retail Sales.’(2017) Social
Science Research Network <https://ssrn.com/abstract=2872938 or
http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2872938>
Wang, Xun, and Stephen M. Disney. ‘The bullwhip effect: Progress, trends and directions.’
(2016) 250 (3) European Journal of Operational Research 691
Zarkada-Fraser, Anna, and Campbell Fraser. ‘Integrating social and economic orientated
marketing: A study of retail management.’ (2015) Proceedings of the 2000 Academy of
Marketing Science (AMS) Annual Conference. Springer, Cham 219