Retail and Distribution Management: Volume 2 Issue 2
Table of contents
THE CRISIS: HOW TO COPE WITH THE PROBLEMS OF SUCCESS
It will not come as news to readers that the past few weeks have witnessed an economic crisis on a scale unprecedented since the 1930s, and that the distributive trades have been…
CAPTURING DATA AT THE POINT OF SALE
W J PhilpottVarious devices for capturing data at the point of sale are proliferating at a remarkable rate; the electro‐mechanical cash register, so we are told, is dead if not yet buried by…
The Art of Debt Collecting
Simon ElliottTimes have changed since the days when debtors languished in the Fleet prison, but how does the law affect undercharging on invoices for example? The customer may now have…
The use of ratios in financial analysis: How retail management can help
CW PatersonIn his approach to the performance of retail companies, the financial analyst uses a number of operating ratios — net profit to sales, return on capital employed, sales per £ of…
THE ASSAULT ON YOUR PROFITS: A policy for the prevention of loss
Whether you use the polite euphemism ‘shrinkage’ or the blunter term ‘shop theft’, the fact remains that losses through pilfering and as a result of staff dishonesty and…
TAKING CARE OF THE CHEMISTS: Forming Independent Pharmacists into a Voluntary Group
The changing fortunes of the voluntary group grocers have been well documented, and to date it is grocers who form the overwhelming majority of group retailers in this country…
The Evolution of the British Superstore: Asda's remarkable progress
We have a mere handful of large‐scale mass merchandisers in this country; of these the leading company is undoubtedly the northern‐based group Asda, whose financial performance…
ANATOMY OF A MARKETING EXERCISE: The birth of SnackSoup
Ray KendallThe retailer may first become aware of a new product when the manufacturer's salesmen approach buyers with samples and promotion plans. Yet often two years or more of research and…
Keeping the fixtures filled: SPEEDING THE FLOW OF MERCHANDISE TO THE SALES FLOOR
James I. Giddings, Theodore J. HarlessRetailers are rapidly coming to realise that sales lost through stock unavailability is a serious profit risk. Having the right merchandise to hand at the right time is a problem…
RETAIL LOGISTICS & THE SUBURBAN STORE
Leon RosenbergProfessor Rosenberg argues that, in the US at least, the traditional department store, faced with rising expenses, is in danger of becoming the victim of the ‘wheel of retailing’…
PURL&PLAIN PROFITS
Theodore D. EllsworthWith reports of commodity shortages and the US energy crisis never far from the headlines, it would seem that America is in for a do‐it‐yourself boom, dictated partly by increased…
KWIK SAVE: AFTER PHENOMENAL GROWTH, WHAT SORT OF FUTURE?
One of the most successful of the discount groups, Kwik Save started in food and then moved into durables. Their stock control system, operated through its central computer at the…
Is this the end of the Bear Market?
The post‐VAT recovery in retail sales was sharply reversed in January, with preliminary DTI figures showing a 2.6% fall in the retail index. Not surprisingly retail prices showed…