Profile
We are a group of fun loving retail students using the little technology to journal what we will be discovering about the wonders of retailing. Based on the retailer we had chosen, we will provide readers with our findings and how this retailer operates its business. Ding Li
Regina
Mei Mei
Shree
Jun Jie
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Thursday, May 3, 2012, 10:27 PM
introduction
CONFESSION OF THE SHOPPING-HOLICS !
We are a group of fun loving retail students using the little technology to journal what we will be discovering about the wonders of retailing. Based on the retailer we had chosen, we will provide readers with our findings and how this retailer operates its business.
Monday, July 27, 2009, 4:58 PM
4:58 PM
JUNJIE 073472W 3:57 PM
MY PODCAST- DING LI
12:03 PM
Wen Meimei (070515E) 6:32 AM
Monday, July 13, 2009, 8:39 AM
Video- Retail Employee
Questions related to the video
a.Describe the retail sector as spoken by Lynn Bavage.
It is a very flexible sector as you can pick the hour you want to work to fit your life, so that the job can fit into your lifestyle and vice versa.
b.Why did Lynn Bavage say that retail is the best job in the world?
There are many opportunities to people who are working in retail sector. Furthermore, the progression opportunities are incredibly fast. It is an exciting and enjoyable job. You will have different experience every day. You will also be working with people and products, thus it is the best job in the world.
c.Briefly explain what Tilly’s coffee shop looks for when employing staff.
Tilly’s coffee shop does not go for qualification when employing staff; they believe that having more experience is a bonus. She would look for staff with the ability to communicate; with good time management and he/she must be reliable and trustworthy.
Tilly’s coffee shop does not go for qualification when employing staff; they believe that having more experience is a bonus. She would look for staff with the ability to communicate; with good time management and he/she must be reliable and trustworthy.
d.Name the other retailer showcased in the video.
TESCO super mart
e. Briefly describe the important skills that are outlined in the video. What are the benefits for the retail employees in the video?
The important skills that are outlined in the video is good communication skill, shop skills, dealing with customers, responsibility, trustworthy and reliability and also building relationship with customers.
The benefits for the retail employees are:
- The confidence that they gain through achievements
- A feeling of self-worth.
- Flexible sector for the employees as they are able to pick the working hours to work in order to fit the lifestyle or the lifestyle to fit the job.
- Gain experience
- Gain Self-esteem
f. Outline any two retailing careers that are available at the retailers that are mentioned in the video.
Manager on the shop floor and team leader.
Done by: Ding Li , Regina and Meimei
7:22 AM
Retail Communication mix
Retail Communication approaches adopted by FairpriceMedia advertising
It communicates information to a large part of recipients, and has three main aims:
- To impart information (to clear consumer doubts)
- To develop attitudes (arouse consumer curiosity and attract them to buy)
- To induce action beneficial to the advertiser (generating sales for fairprice)
Fairprice advertise on newspapers, television and magazines to increase consumer awareness.
Promotions
It helps keep the product fairprice advertise in consumer minds and stimulate demand for the product.
Fairprice housebrand items are still priced at least 10% lower than comparable national brands.
Fairprice also offers linkpoints reward system as a way to retain their customer and give them exclusive benefits.
Done by: Junjie and shreeMonday, July 6, 2009, 8:13 AM
Customer Service
5 pitfalls of inadequate or poor customer service given by FairpricePoor staff response towards customer
front line staff uses "its not company policy", "i don't know", "we cant do that", "just a second", "you will have to" and "no" very frequently used to answer upon customer request. Thus affecting service level and Fairprice competitive edge.
Poor cashier efficiency
Fairprice cashiers do not take the iniative to call the customers to their counters once their counters are cleared. This creates mess in the store and it gives a long queue all the time. Personally I would avoid a store with such a long queue if i am purchasing a small quantity of products.
Poor staff attitude
The cashier refuses to serve the customer when customer reaches the counter. While cashiers are changing shift or counting cash float, they do not use the appropriate signs to tell the customer that they are unable to service them at that moment. They should use more creatice ways to rectify this problem.
Lack of sensitivity towards customers .
Cashiers, staff of Fairprice are often unsympathetic towards customers. They are often respond coldly to customer's extra requests like giving them extra plastic bags, or charging the items through separate transactions. Often, they unintentionally display reluctance to carry out the extra work.
No initiative
Customers often find themselves searching high and low for Fairprice staff to inquire for certain products in the store. Despite having staff around the store, they never take the initiative to offer their help to the customers unless they are being approach.
Monday, June 29, 2009, 10:30 AM
Merchandise presentation and store design
Store LayoutNTUC layouts are very organised. The products are stored in different sections and can be reached easily by people. The layouts are simple and understandable.
The way they allocate their space for the products also plays a big role. They allocate the right space for all the different products eg; chocolates with chocolates, right beside that shelve will be the sweets with sweets…
NTUC Fairprice also partner with L'Oreal to develop the Health and Beauty area
The main challenge of the section layout was to enable the free flow of shoppers while enabling a pleasant and hassle-free experience. The idea is for the shopper to use the H&B section as a time for herself, well-lit and privileged from the other isles. They also ensured a Mix of cold (Need) and warm zones (Pleasure) for a prolonged shopping experience in H&B section. It was also important to develop a Generic identity for Fairprice Xtra for its new H&B section, while keeping ample space for the brands to express themselves – all while keeping a graphic harmony.
Store Design
NTUC design does not only focus on the bigger picture but the inner details are also looked into carefully eg; the size of each shelve, the spacing…
NTUC creates a store which emphasizes on their products and having a functional store. The way the products are emphasized on like labeling and signs and the location where promotional products are kept for attention.
NTUC Fairprice Finest Retail Concept
Spacious aisles and a simple design set the store’s ambience, while about 30% of the products found in FairPrice Finest are not available in other FairPrice outlets. Some of these products are fresh oysters, premium wine, an extensive range of designer olive oils and a wider choice of fresh produce such as mushrooms, white peaches and gooseberries.
The two-storey supermarket also features two speciality areas: A Chocz cafe, which is known for its handcrafted praline chocolates; and Huber’s Butchery, a Swiss-heritage meat specialist.
Store Display
To give its customers a more pleasant shopping ambience, FairPrice has also improved on its in-store visual communications by enhancing store design, raising product display standards and improving check–out efficiency. Eye-catching, reader-friendly signage and price cards are some of the ways that FairPrice helps customers locate, identify and access products easily. With wider aisles, improved store lighting, and tips on healthy eating and selection of fresh food, customers will benefit from its customer-oriented efforts.
NTUC has many products and having a good display plays a major role. They use the product category method. They have many related products together eg; toothbrush and toothpaste.
NTUC give the consumer an opportunity to buy their product in an easier way by categorizing their products.
merchandising standards as well as plan and allocate products according to sales and customer demands.
8:55 AM
NTUC Fairprice Customer service merits
Going beyond the normal call of duty Fairprice emphasis their frontline staff to go for the extra mile in terms of customer service towards their customer. The main and the most critical factor is to make customer feel important, recognized, special and unique, giving them a feeling that they are at home. For example, when customer asked for products location, staff can take the initiative to offer to take the product for them to pass the product to customer persoanlly instead of just pointing directions and letting customers find their way out
Attracting and Retaining Talents
Due to the ever changing needs of the retailing environment and customer mindset. Fairprice realize that having good customer service training is not all .Whenever there are staffs who are highly motivated in their work, having consistent good performance and being passionate in their work. Fairprice woule not neglect such staff.Instead they would groom them more and pay more attention to such staff, thus alloqing such people to remain in Fairprice to continue serving the customers to a higher level.
Listen, handle and follow up
Many customer like to make complaints nowadays, even over the slightest mistake that occured. Fairprice always focus on customer feedback, identifying the problems and sourcing out the alternatives to solve it through customer service .They trained their staff to listen on customer feedback, handle it carefully such as offering item exchange or refund necessary and always follow up on customer to find out whether they are still unhappy or any other area that can be improved further, always seeking advice to better cater to customer expectation for the present and in the future.
7:48 AM
TUTORIAL 8 : Store management
Go to a store, observe the security measures in the store, and talk with a manager about the store’s loss prevention program.
STORE CHOSEN: POPULAR BOOKSTORE
We made a trip to Popular bookstore at Yishun and we are pleased to have one of the senior staff , Miss Lim for this short interview.
Regina:Are there surveillance cameras? Where are they located at?
No they do not have surveillance camera.
Regina:What are the store's policy against shoplifters?
All shoplifters would be handed over to the police.
Regina: What are the procedures for approaching a suspected shoplifter?
When approaching a suspicious person, try to remain calm and professional. It is possible that a misunderstanding had taken place and the person is not actually a shoplifter.Treating the suspect in a polite,discrete yet firm and professional manner will help you and your store avoid a slander, false arrest, or discrimination lawsuit.
You must approach the shoplifter outside the store. Although not technically necessary, following the step eliminates all possibility that the shoplifter still intends to pay for the stolen product.Detaining someone for shoplifting inside the retail store does not establish the criminal intent of theft. However, in several states shoplifters can be detained once they have concealed the merchandise.When approaching a shoplifter outside of the store always have at least one trained employees as witness. When you approach a shoplifter outside it is important to identify yourself clearly and your authority for stopping them. Plain clothes loss prevention agents carry badges or official looking ID cards so the shoplifter has no doubts who they are.
Regina:How are shoplifters handled?
Shoplifters are approached outside the store and after as it is obvious that the person was not planning to pay for the merchandise.Avoid using excessive force or violating any rights like illegal searches.
If you call the police to make an arrest and are pressing charges, the shoplifting will be handled as a criminal matter and will be trialed in a criminal court.
DingLi:How are sales associates and executives involved in security programs?
Sales associates and executives are properly trained about security measures. they are stationed to patrol and update the stocks at the same time. They must be alert and quick if there are any suspicious person. They need to response to the censor promptly and not allow the thieves to have the chance to escape.
Dingli:Is employee theft a problem? Elaborate
Employee theft undermines profits and even destroys the enterprise. internal theft is the most prevalent problem and it is taking an all time toll financially and emotionally. Employee theft would also destroy the trust of the team in the bookstore.
Studies have shown that employees can do alot more damage than shoplifters because they are
DingLi:How is employee theft prevented in the store?
Employee theft can be prevented in the store by taking the simple step of educating emoloyees about how and why they should remain honest. Considering the fact that theft is a very important issue that might destroy the theft 's future. Bag checks should be done at the end of the day for prevention.
DingLi:How is Shrinkage prevented in the store?
Shrinkage is significantly less in stores with reduced employees turnover and fewer part-time workers.
DingLi:How is customer service related to loss prevention in the store?
With customer service , customer would have lesser chance to steal from the store as all the attention are shone on them while serving them. The sales assistant would be more than willing to help if he/she is trying to look for something in the store.
We would like to thank Miss Lim for her time to join us for this interview.
Reported by DingLi and Regina
Monday, June 8, 2009, 6:48 AM
HR practices
The 3 unique HR practices in Singapore Human resource management (HRM) is the strategic and coherent approach to the management
of an organization's most valued assets - the people working there who individually
and collectively contribute to the achievement of the objectives of the business.
3 HR practices by NTUC
*Wage restructuring
Keeping wage costs competitive would retain jobs
A flexible wage system would allow companies to respond more quickly to changes in
business conditions, mitigating the need to retrench.
There are three main aspects of the wage reform.
The first is to moderate the system of seniority-based pay, under which an older
worker receives significantly more than a younger worker for doing basically the same job.
The second is to link wages more closely to the performance of the individual worker.
The third is to link wages to the profitability of the company and to business conditions.
Performance bonuses typically make up only a small part of the total pay package.
*CPF Reforms
Our Central Provident Fund (CPF) system requires both employers and employees to contribute to
individual accounts of workers. Each worker then draws on his CPF savings for purchase of housing,
medical care and retirement expenses.
By doing so, NTUC helps ...
1) to secure jobs for Singaporeans in the face of intense global competition.
2) to enhance savings for retirement and healthcare.
3) to assist the lowest income groups and older worker to get back to jobs.
*Training for Enhanced Employability
In a fast changing world, training is critical to ensure a person remains employable.
Training and skills upgrading must be a life-long pursuit.
Trade unions have called on employers to go beyond functional training and provide
developmental training to enhance employability of workers.
Some skills are generic and needed in most work situations, for example basic computer,
literacy and numeracy skills. So workers can embark on such programmes even as they are in their present jobs.
Monday, June 1, 2009, 8:57 AM
NTUC FAIRPRICE PRICE MANAGEMENTPrice management provides decison support to all pricing-focused buisness information to validate and approve pricing and amrkdown suggestions, resulting in higher margins, incrased sales, and strengthened productivity, all while remaining compeitive.
- Increase profitability
- Increaseproductivity
- Ensure optimal inventory levels
- Maintain Price image
- Provide Pricing suggestion and management
NTUC adopts the Everyday Low pricing method. (EDLP)
- Increase customer loyalty = repeat and larger purchase
- Decrease competitor price war = Less advertising cost
- Easier Inventory management
EXAMPLENTUC extends discount on house brand item. The discount schemes, which started in December last year, was supposed to end this month. Besides helping Singaporean cope with higher costs, fairprice have also forced other market players to price their products reasonably.
Going foward, the NTUC social enterprises want to work on help schemes for active senior citizens, working mothers and low wage by pathnering private companies. This scheme is known as U-stretch,The NTUC "U-stretch" vouchers will enable union members to stretch out their hard-earned dollars and in part restore their reduced purchasing power due to higher inflation. Each eligible member will enjoy a discount of up to 5% off $1000 worth of purchases over a period of 8 months. The vouchers can be used, for example, to offset expenditure on groceries from NTUC Fairprice, school fees at NTUC childcare center and services from NTUC clu, NTUC eldercare and NTUC healthcare.
Labels: by pathering
Monday, May 25, 2009, 8:14 AM
Merchandise Management
How category management work for NTUC FairPrice1.)Produce effective retail promotions that efficiently allocate promotion funds to drive sales and enhance profitability.
2.)Strategically price items to heighten consumer-perceived value while maintaining gross profit at retail.
3.)Create specific store strategies to address alternative-format competition and store layout recommendations to capture today's busy consumers.
4.)Construct a consumer-friendly item mix, resulting in better management of retail inventory assets and improved speed-to-shelf for new items to garner those important first-time sales.
In NTUC FairPrice , they had also adopted the merchandise branding strategies for category management
1.) Manufacturer ( National / Global ) brands
2.) House Brands
Housebrands at NTUC Fairprice to meet differentiated needs
- Offering excellent value without compromising quality, our housebrands continue to attract a wider range of customers
- Expanded housebrands assortment and launched new product lines under the FairPrice housebrands banner.
- For example: FairPrice Gold for premium quality items, FairPrice Pasar for fresh produce, the FairPrice HomeProud banner for household products and general merchandise and the Budget range offering basic essentials at very affordable prices.
- FairPrice has more than 100 products within our housebrand range that bear the Healthier Choice Symbol issued by the Health Promotion Board.
- These range from fresh vegetables to chilled products like Hi-Calcium soya milk, dairy products like reduced fat cheese and healthier oils like olive oil, extra virgin olive oil and vegetable oil.
FairPrice Housebrands
Fairprice-Thai Fragrant White Rice
FairPrice - Olive Oil
FairPrice- Belinjau Cracker
FairPrice - Baby Bath
Fairprice-Thai Fragrant White Rice
FairPrice - Olive Oil
FairPrice- Belinjau Cracker
FairPrice - Baby Bath Monday, May 18, 2009, 9:58 AM
Retail Store Strategy
The Three Elements of Fairprice Retail Store Strategy1.)Target Market
Fairprice targets everyone but there are various categories we put the consumers into. They are; young people, housewives, working adults, old-aged, families and single people and majority are middle income people. They cater to everyone’s needs.
Fairprice is mostly for middle income group and neighborhood centered residence. It provides convenience to all living there. Some Fair price are operating 24 hours and that makes it even more convenient fro residence. The higher end consumers shop at places like Paragon supermarkets than Fairprice.
There are different purposes for different target groups. Other than food and groceries as we all know about, they sell household products such as rice cooker, oven, hair dyer and microwave. They also sell daily necessities such as shampoo, soap, diapers and toothpaste.
On an average, consumers spent 20 – 60 dollars per receipt. There are many items in Fairprice that gives a wider range of choices and that makes a consumer buy more.
The wide variety of choices in the supermaket also allows them to choose what they want at ease without the hassle to travel to different stores to get their items.
1.) Working Adults
For working adults some of the outlets are situated at the MRT stations, shopping centers and neighborhood, thus it would be convenient for working adults to drop back by after their work or in between their work to do their grocery.
The extended operations hours also enable blue collar workers to do their grocery too.
Singaporeans are also tied up by time constraints.
2.)Families and Housewives
For families, it is quite standardized for them to do monthly provision shopping for the family. They are very health conscious and they take that into deep consideration. They encourage eating healthily. Fairprice helps in being healthy as all food products have food labels. This makes it simple for consumers to pick their food products.
2.)Retail Formats
Supermarket
The mainstay of Fair Price business is retailing and its flagship is supermarkets
A supermarket is a large self service grocery store offering a wide variety of food, dairy products and household merchandise, organized into departments , usually on a cash- and -carry basis. It is larger in size and has wider selection than a traditional grocery store and its is smaller than a hypermarket or a superstore.
Hyper mart at Fair Price 'xtra ( Ang Mo Kio)
It's a vast self-service warehouse-cum-retail outlet that combines the features of a supermarket, department store , discount store and specialty store in one location.It was also Fair price first time adopting the hyper mart retail format.
3.)Bases for Building Sustainable Competitive Advantages
1.) Location : It is located island wide in Singapore. This had built Fair Price to sustain their competitive advantages.
- a.) MRT station- This provides convenience and accessibility to the neighborhood citizens and consumers. Consumers would not need to travel that far to purchase the product they need.
- Neighborhood Area- To provide an alternative for the people to do their grocery or replenish their basic necessities from their nearby Fair Price Outlet.
- b.)Retail Malls - Shoppers get to do their grocery while shopping at the mall and people working around could just drop by and do their grocery or get grab something from Fair Price.
2.)Customer Loyalty: By maintaining a good relationship with existing customer and especially their members. Providing them with incentives and privileges to retain them as well as making them feel important to the company.
Some programs are currently use by Fair Price to build Customer Loyalty
- Patronage Rebate - the rebate is paid annually based on the purchase made on the last financial year , up to a maximum of $6,000 per annual.
- Link Points- Consumers are able to earn link points and redeem attractive prizes from the points.
- Fairprice Baby Plus Club- A club for parents to learn and share their parenting experiences with the fellows members at Fairprice including parenting tips and updates on parenting issues.
- Just wine Club- An exclusively club for wine lovers ,updates on the latest wines that are available at Fair price.
- Traning staffs: Educating and training staffs with good product knowledge and good customers service skill. This would not in turn rise the service standard and make the customer happy but also building a better reputation for the company.
Private Labels: Fairprice offers a line of private label product ranging from bread, utensils at a relatively lower prices as compare to the global brand. They had also promise to ensure high product quality by having stringent quality checks in all their outlets.
5.)Good staff welfare
1) they offer incentive for good performance
2) they offer medical benefits such as hospitalisation and surgical benefits
3) they provide annual leave of up to 14 days
4) they provide allowance for employee children education fee
6.)SCM
1) they price their product slightly lower as they incur low cost of acquiring their product from their supplier as they are purchased in bulk
7.)IT system
1) POS system
- allow cashier to check the product price
- allow easy real time inventory control such as refunds, returns, exchange
- allow easy stock take and audit control
- allow easy monitoring and keep track of sales transaction
3) Provide doorstep delivery when customer purchase their products online
This week outlet's highlights:
Venue: Yishun MRT Station
Time: 7.00 pm. ( Peak period)
The outlet front layout
Very neat and vibrant
The Seafood Section with a fishmonger there
Promotions
Star Buy
Good visual merchandising
Good visual merchandising
Stock at wrong shelve
Cartons on the floor blocking shopper's way
Venue: Yishun MRT Station
Time: 7.00 pm. ( Peak period)
The outlet front layout
Very neat and vibrant
The Seafood Section with a fishmonger there
Promotions
Star Buy
Good visual merchandising
Good visual merchandising
Stock at wrong shelve
Cartons on the floor blocking shopper's way
Monday, May 11, 2009, 3:48 AM
The Retailing Environment
The type of retailer we had chosen is NTUC Fairprice.
Consumers rank variety of assortment right behind location and price when naming reasons why they patronize their favorite stores. Consumers care about variety because they are more likely to find what they want when going to a store that offers more varied assortments.
NTUC Fairpirce provide a wide assortment variety such as beverages, grocery, miscellaneous, snacks, bodycare to cater into increasingly popular niche markets. Examples are the halal fresh and deli items for Muslim shoppers, more healthy-choice products and nutrition programmes for the health-conscious shoppers, more exotic products that come from non-conventional sources like Chile, Hungary, South Africa, to cater to the adventurous consumers, as well as online-shopping for the Internet savvy shoppers.
CHALLENGES FACED BY NTUC FAIRPRICE
Firstly, NTUC Fairprice needs to understand consumer buying habits and their perception value towards their products and services. NTUC Fairprice have to either develop a specialised department for customer relationship management or outsourced to external company to do so. Secondly, in order to maintain this database, NTUC has to ensure that the information are updated, accurate and secured while incurring the minimum cost.