Merchandising Management
    
 
Assignment A

1.    Increased consumer spending indicates that the economy is stable and growing.' Do you agree? Why or why not?    

2.    Why do you think retailing should be studied? How does it affect the economy?    

3.    Why do you think should a retailer devote special attention to its core customers? Discuss the methods for doing so. 

5.    Research about RFID technology and discuss in a report why is it significant in the retail industry?

7.    How can packaging affect buying decisions of customers? Discuss with examples. 

8.    Dicuss some differences between traditional warehouses and distribution centres. Give examples.

Assignment B

Case Detail:  
Nestlé’s Merchandising Location Strategy Wins With Retailers    \
                                                                                                                                                                                     Ice Cream as a Snack? 
Nestlé, the world’s largest food company whose portfolio includes well known ice cream brands such as Edy’s/Dreyer’s, Haagen-Dazs and Skinny Cow, wanted to revitalize the slow growth ice cream category. However, how does one revitalize a long-established category that already has nearly universal penetration? Nestlé chose to frame the business differently by looking at it in the context of snacking. At $100 billion, the snacks category dwarfs the $10 billion ice cream category, and it is growing. In fact, nearly two in three people snack four or more times a day. This could lead to new usage occasions for ice cream and grow the buy rate for the category.
Nestlé began the exploration by creating a “roadmap” that identifies broad consumer trends and key retailer needs that could lead to growth strategies. According to Russ Onish, Director of Category Leadership & Shopper Insights for Dreyer’s Grand Ice Cream, Nestlé USA, “We decided to focus on three consumer needs: wellness, convenience, and variety seeking. This naturally led us to ice cream cups.” Unlike packaged ice cream, single-serve cups offer portion control (wellness), they can be eaten from the cup (convenience), and it is easy to buy a combination of flavors for the household (variety seeking). Not surprisingly, the concept generated strong consumer feedback. At a higher price per serving versus packaged ice cream, there was a great retailer story to trade consumers up to increase profitability.                                                                                                 Business Issue 
Where to Locate Cups?
Nestlé was getting ready to launch a new line of cups for the 2010 season, planning to make a big impact to the cups category by introducing 15 SKUs. The flavors were identified, formulations were finalized, packaging was created, and production plans were made. But an important retailer question surfaced: now that the cups category will have critical mass, should the cups be shelved together in dedicated doors or should they be part of their respective brand families? The Nestlé brand teams predictably wanted to maintain brand blocking, while the innovation team saw the opportunity to create a new destination with a new eating occasion and different consumer benefits. One way to answer the question would be to test each configuration in a handful of stores in market. However, there was not time: important retailer meetings were coming up.
Study Overview 
Testing Location and Promoted Pricing
Nestlé turned to Decision Insight to answer the merchandising location question as well as a secondary question on pricing –whether the promoted price should be 99¢ each or 10 for $10. Nestlé chose to use Decision Insight’s proprietary online virtual shopping platform called SimuShop®. The platform has been validated in the marketplace and is much quicker, more affordable and more controlled than an in-market test. 
The alternative arrangements were tested in two virtual retail environments: Safeway and Kroger. Category shoppers were recruited online to participate in the study. Video fly-through moved shoppers from the parking lot into the store and to the ice cream section. Once in the aisle, they shopped the category as they normally would. The shoppers could buy as much of any product as they wished, or even walk away from the aisle without purchasing anything. It was a large study with 20 freezer doors and over 400 SKUs, but one that SimuShopis designed to execute. Key Learning
Skinny Cow is a Different Animal
Initially the project was designed to test two merchandising location scenarios, dedicated cups doors and cups with the parent brand. Nevertheless, as with many business decisions, it became apparent it was not that black and white. Skinny Cow is different from the other cup brands. Being a better for you product, the brand has a very loyal following who knows exactly where to find it. In addition, once she finds it, she tends not to shop the rest of the aisle. Skinny Cow does not have packaged ice cream offerings; it is in the ice cream snacks section. Moreover, it is higher priced. Skinny Cow cup promoted pricing is $1.25, so it could not be promoted with the other cups at 99¢ or 10 for $10.
With these considerations in mind, the team decided to have respondents shop: totally dedicated cups doors, dedicated cups doors sans Skinny Cow, and cups with the parent brand –all with and without promotion.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              Results Give Clear Direction
Thinking of Skinny Cow as a different animal paid off: the strongest location strategy is to merchandise the cups together, except for Skinny Cow. This scenario created the strongest category revenue, as well as the strongest sales for the Nestlé portfolio. Importantly, it motivated shoppers to variety seek which is a fundamental part of the business plan.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     The promoted pricing results point to the 10 for $10 strategy. Slightly more shoppers are attracted to the multiples price point, and they buy more cups at a time resulting in stronger revenue.
Conclusion
Speedy and Successful Implementation
Within weeks of receiving Decision Insight’s virtual shopping results, the Nestlé Shopper Marketing team presented the merchandising story to key retailers. Feedback was positive and plans were made to create the dedicated doors for the 2010 season. 
The in-market results are impressive: as of Q2 2010, 90% of stores now stock cups together, and cup revenue is up 53% in those stores. Nearly as many stores (85%) followed the recommendation to keep Skinny Cow as a separate brand block, and as a result, Skinny Cow sales have more than doubled in those stores.                                                      
Overall, ice cream cups are showing explosive growth. Cup category revenue is up 35% in the first six months of 2010 versus the same time period in 2009. Creating the right “on-trend” consumer offering, providing the retailer the right reasons to carry it, and merchandising in the optimal location is clearly a recipe for success.

1. Why did Nestlé contact Decision Insight?

2. How was Skinny Cow different from the other cup brands?

3. How did Decision Insight help in reviving Nestlé ice cream category? Solve by www.solvezone.in

Assignment C

1. The business of buying fashion merchandise from a variety of resources and reselling it to ultimate consumers is called:    
 
Options    
Wholesalers    
Fashion retailing    
Marketing    
Merchandising    

2. Who has the responsibility for merchandise content and assortment?    
 
Options    
Store line     
Market line     
Buying line     
Shopping line

3. Which of these is a collection of various styles, quantities and prices related merchandise, usually grouped under one classification within a department?    
 
Options    
Parts    
Assortment    
Segmentation    
Market

4. Crabrielle coco chanel, is internationally known as:    
 
Options    
Coco    
Chanel    
GC    
Charel coco

5. What discount is provided when merchandise is purchased in bundles or multiple units?
 
Options    
Quantity    
Quality    
Rate    
Cost price

6. Visual presentation of merchandise is called:    
 
Options    
Display    
Presentation    
Show    
Event

7. French word for a small shop with unusual clothing and atmosphere:    
 
Options    
Tailoring    
Atelien    
Boutique    
Prêt-a-porter

8. Which of these is the group of consumers to whom a producer, manufactures or retailer aims products, services and advertising?     
 
Options    
Stylist    
Target market     
Buyer    
Audience

9. Under what agreement, popular designers and brand name manufactures give other manufactures permission to use their names?    
 
Options    
Royalty    
Bilateral    
Licensing    
Mutual

10. Which of these is calculated at the range selection stage before order qualities are finalised.     
 
Options    
Average selling price    
Market price     
Cost price     
Margin price

11. Which of these are general merchandise stores, including apparel, household goods and furniture?    
 
Options    
Wholesale    
Regional store    
Speciality store     
Department store

12. Which of these is the term offer used by the industry to describe online retailing vis the internet?    
 
Options    
Whole sale     
E- Commerce    
Catalog    
Tele- Shopping

13. The retailers charge a small membership fee, offer consumers deep discounts on general merchandise:    
 
Options    
Warehouse club     
Mass- merchants     
Retail store     
Outlets

14. Which of these carry just one category of merchandise?    
 
Options    
Single-line    
Singe trend     
Limited line     
Multiple line

15. Which of these are places for buying and selling?    
 
Options    
Markets    
Shop    
Store    
Margin free

16. A retailer's commitment to a type of business and to a distinctive role in the marketplace is its:    
 
Options    
objectives    
organizational mission    
retailing concept    
image

17. Stockholders, consumers, suppliers, employees, and government are examples of:    
 
Options    
the uncontrollable variables facing a retailer    
a retailer's publics    
target markets    
market segments

18. A department store attempting to sell its goods and services to a broad spectrum of consumers is employing a strategy of:    
 
Options    
multiple segmentation    
market segmentation    
mass marketing    
target marketing

19. Identify the retail function that is the "heart" of retailing.    
 
Options    
Sales promotion    
Store operations    
Merchandising    
Finance control

20. Which one of the following is not an activity of merchandising?    
 
Options    
Estimating customers’ needs and wants    
Planning purchases    
Buying goods for resale to the ultimate consumer    
Controlling the store’s spending activities and paying the b

21. This store division supervises the budget, maintains accounting records, and keeps merchandising statistics    
 
Options    
Merchandising    
Financial control    
Operations    
Human resources

22. Which division would be responsible for producing a fashion show?    
 
Options    
Merchandising    
Financial control    
Operations    
Sales promotion

23. The five "rights" of merchandising do not include:    
 
Options    
Right time    
Right merchandise    
Right place    
Right markup

24. Which of the following is not one of the four major decisions that must be made with regard to market logistics?    
 
Options    
How should stock be financed?    
How should goods be shipped?    
How much stock should be held?    
Where should stock be located?

25. An electronic store carries a broad line of home entertainment systems. They also provide personal financing, free delivery, and free interior decorating services when you make a purchase. This is an example of    
 
Options    
limited-service    
standard service    
Full service    
self-selection

26. What quantity can be determined by observing how order-processing costs and inventory carrying costs sum up at different order levels?    
 
Options    
near-zero order    
optimal carrying    
near-zero order    
optimal order

27. During each stage in the development of a retail strategy, retail managers should:    
 
Options    
consider only controllable variables    
refrain from "fine tuning" the strategy    
look for both positive and negative feedback    
consider no problems with the government to be a form of negative feedback

28. This retail executive serves as the liaison between upper management and the buyer in interpreting the store’s merchandising policies. The buyer reports directly to him/her.    
 
Options    
Store president    
General merchandise manager    
Divisional merchandise manager    
Store manager

29. The merchandising sector companies includes    
 
Options    
food processing companies    
automotive companies    
distribution companies    
advertising agencies
 
30. Prediction of fashion trend    
 
Options    
Fashion forecasting    
Marketing    
Advertisement    
Sale test

31. What does MIS stand for?    
 
Options    
Merchandising Information System    
Market Information System    
Management Information System    
Merchandise Introducing System

32. Which of these is any particular characteristic as look in apparel as accessories?    
 
Options    
Style    
Change    
Tosle    
Acceptance

33. Which of these is a classification of consumers based on activites, interst and opinions?    
 
Options    
Psychographics    
Demographic    
Sociological    
Anthropological

34. What occurs when pricing is used as the basis to make consumers “feel more favourable” about a product?    
 
Options    
Value based pricing    
Discount pricing    
Membership pricing    
Psychological pricing

35. An industry buzz word signifying electronic retailing:    
 
Options    
C-tailing    
B – tailing    
E- tailing    
Catalog

36. What is the difference in value between a country’s exports and emports?    
 
Options    
Duties    
Balance of trade    
Tariff    
Quota allocation

37. Which of these is the term offer used by the industry to describe online retailing vis the internet?    
 
Options    
Whole sale     
E- Commerce    
Catalog    
Tele- Shopping

38. French word for designer workship    
 
Options    
Couture    
Atelien    
Prêt – a porter    
Tailleur

39. Which of these is the group of consumers to whom a producer, manufactures or retailer aims products, services and advertising?     
 
Options    
Stylist    
Target market     
Buyer    
Audience

40. Which of these is information given to the public regarding products, policies, personnel, activities or services?    
 
Options    
Publicity    
Editor    
Report    
Hangtag