ABSTRACT The retail marketing mix is a term that is used to collectively identify several key aspects or phases associated

with achieving success in a retail market. Each of the aspects addresses activities that begin with the creation of a good or service and follow all the way through to closing the sale with the buyer. Sometimes referred to as "The Four Ps of Retailing," the elements found in a retail marketing mix include product, price, place, and promotion.

INTRODUCTION A retail marketing mix has four parts, each directed toward the target audience. The way you design your marketing mix affects your value proposition and the way customers perceive your store. It will vary based on the type of consumers you serve and the market in which you operate. Finding the correct marketing mix is an important part of positioning your retail outlet to stand out from competitors. 1. Product
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Your product marketing decisions will vary based on the type of retail outlet you run and your target audience. The factors that affect the perception of quality include packaging design, service plan options, warranty, colors and materials. If you are marketing your retail store and products to a high-end crowd, for example, you might choose an elegant, simple design and cool colors; for a family-friendly store, you might lean more toward bright, bold colors and large fonts.

Price
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Price is an important part of a retail marketing mix; if your customers cannot afford your products, they are unlikely to frequent your store. Most of the products in your store should be in a comfortable range for your target audience base; to get this information, you will need to perform an audience analysis to get an idea of median income and spending power. To create a sense of desire and to give an option for a splurge, you can

also sell some items that are priced just out of your target customer's normal price range. Place
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In retail, the design of your store and the way you present your products is an important part of the marketing mix. The display should fit your image so that customers encounter a cohesive experience. In a high-end retailer, products are often placed father apart to create a sense of scarcity and exclusivity; in a computer store, display models are set at waist height to allow testing. Placement can help bring certain products to attention and promote items you want to sell more of.

Promotion
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Promotion is the most recognizable part of the marketing mix. It involves all of the marketing activities you do to let your customers know about the products you offer. For a retail outlet, you might advertise in newspapers and on the radio, start a social marketing campaign, use marketing emails, hand out flyers or plan grand-opening events. Your promotional campaigns should be targeted to your customer base. Choose publications that they read, stations they listen to or watch, and copy or graphic design that will resonate with them.

Four Cs of Marketing Mix Now a days, organizations treat their customers like kings. In the current scenario, the four Cs has thus replaced the four Ps of marketing making it a more customer oriented model. Koichi Shimizu in the year 1973 proposed a four Cs classification.

Commodity - (Replaces Products) Cost - (Replaces Price) involves manufacturing cost, buying cost and selling cost Channel - The various channels which help the product reach the target market. Communication - (Replaces Promotion)

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY 1. To study the meaning and concept of market segmentation 2. To study the impact of market segmentation on retail industry 3. To study the impact of market segmentation on consumer buying behaviour

SCOPE OF THE STUDY Retail marketing is crucial nowadays for any store owner, whether it be a small store or a large multi-store retailer. But it has to cover all parts of marketing, including online and offline. We now work with our clients to make sure all the parts are covered from the best design of a POS through online campaigns and make sure all this is joined up. It pays really big dividends if this done. 1. To study the meaning and concept of marketing mix for retail 2. To study the impact of market mix on retail industry 3. To study the impact of marketing mix on consumer buying behavior

LITERATURE REVIEW Neil Borden in the year 1953 introduced the term Marketing mix, an extension of the work done by one of his associates James Culliton in 1948.
Marketing Mix - A mixture of several ideas and plans followed by a marketing representative to promote a particular product or brand is called marketing mix. Several concepts and ideas combined together to formulate final strategies helpful in making a brand popular amongst the masses form marketing mix. Goods manufactured by organizations for the end-users are called products. Products can be of two types - Tangible Product and Intangible Product (Services) An individual can see, touch and feel tangible products as compared to intangible products. A product in a market place is something which a seller sells to the buyers in exchange of money. The money which a buyer pays for a product is called as price of the product. The price of a product is indirectly proportional to its availability in the market. Lesser its availability, more would be its price and vice a versa. Retail stores

which stock unique products (not available at any other store) quote a higher price from the buyers. Place refers to the location where the products are available and can be sold or purchased. Buyers can purchase products either from physical markets or from virtual markets. In a physical market, buyers and sellers can physically meet and interact with each other whereas in a virtual market buyers and sellers meet through internet. Promotion refers to the various strategies and ideas implemented by the marketers to make the end - users aware of their brand. Promotion includes various techniques employed to promote and make a brand popular amongst the masses. Promotion can be 7

through any of the following ways: Print media, Television, radio are effective ways to entice customers and make them aware of the brands existence. Billboards, hoardings, banners installed intelligently at strategic locations like heavy traffic areas, crossings, railway stations, bus stands attract the passing individuals towards a particular brand. Taglines also increase the recall value of the brand amongst the customers. One satisfied customer brings ten more customers along with him whereas one dis-satisfied customer takes away ten more customers. Thats the importance of word of mouth. Positive word of mouth goes a long way in promoting brands amongst the customers. Fatma Ilyaz( 2005) Retailing is a low-margin, high-volume, commodity business where profitability gets strained as competition intensifies. And if wrong choices are made regarding the location or the formatting of the store, woe betide the retailer. The catches are many and to make it big, a retailer would have to negotiate all the tricky turns most of the time. Given the number of players getting into the fray today, this clearly means a winnowing out of the weaker retail players. What's more, that time could be sooner rather than later, maybe just three or four years down the line. Thats not so surprising, industry insiders even say, pointing out that a large number of the new entrants may not be committed to retailing in the long term. While some almost certainly are looking to act as silent partners for foreign players, others may be more willing to look at an exit option a few years down the line Marketing is all about satisfying the needs and wants of consumers. Consumers have the funds and are willing to spend to satisfy their needs by buying goods and services. Marketing strategies are important for a business to satisfy consumer needs.

The world is characterised by a constantly changing market. Kotler and Armstrong (2004:15) emphasise the shift that has been made from local to regional, regional to national, national to international and international to global. With increasing improvements in transport, communication, and reduced trade barriers, international trading, which was once considered a luxury, has become a necessity in several sectors. Globalisation has brought a new way of doing business; it has created opportunities for organisations to sell in more than one country (Kotler & Armstrong, 2004:17). While globalisation created several benefits, the disadvantages caused high risks within the economy. The domino effect that was created when one market collapses was inevitable because of the nature of a monetary market, hence, the economic downturn of 2008 (Werner, 2008:120). The global economic downturn was often cited as being caused by Americas housing collapse; however, the financial system was vulnerable owing to intricate and over-leveraged financial operations. This downturn was, however, not confined to the banking and credit system. It had a domino effect on financial markets, equity funds, foreign exchange, public finance and insurance activities, amongst others (Frumkin, 2004:50). The economic downturn spread around the world and few businesses had been unaffected. While organisations in some sectors had been forced to close down or to lay off employees, organizations within the retail sector have adapted to consumers needs, which, according to Kotler and Armstrong (2008:97-110), change during times of a recession.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY Research is common parlance refresh to a search for knowledge. One can also define research as a scientific and systematic search for pertinent information on a specific topic. In fact, research is an art of scientific investigation. The Advanced Learners dictionary of current English lay down the meaning research as a careful investigation and inquiry especially through search for new facts in any branch knowledge. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY USED:Types of research:- the research is based on descriptive cum analytical research Data type:- The research is based on secondary data. Data sources:- Websites, books, newspapers etc. Data analysis and interpretation techniques:The study is based on the secondary data which has been collected from websites, journals, newspapers etc. The study may not involve test for sampling because the primary data is not collected for the purpose of study.

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FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS A retail marketing strategy refers to how a store and its products sell goods to its target customers. Each type of retail business has to make decisions about all the details of its marketing mix. A marketing mix consists of the product, price, place, promotion and packaging. Internet marketing strategies and those for stores that people shop at in person must be developed to meet the needs of potential customers. A retail marketing strategy is first outlined in a business plan. A business plan contains information about the intention and goals of the company. It's created before a business opens. Business plans include research about who the company's potential customers are as well as what their needs and wants are. A retail marketing strategy should be a part of the business plan. It should include decisions about the marketing mix approach, such as how customers will get the products. For instance, a furniture company may choose a large warehouse, while a jewelry manufacturer may decide to sell only over the Internet. Other businesses may select a combination of a brick and mortar store for in person customer purchases plus a website for customer online shopping. All retail marketing strategy decisions should consider the target customer as well as the company's profit. For example, having an etail website rather than a retail store may save on overhead costs, but it won't be a profitable choice if the target customer isn't likely to shop online.

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CONCLUSION Marketing investigates what potential customers need and develops products and services to satisfy those needs. Marketing strategies put this concept into effect for specific companies and target markets. Companies that implement marketing strategies find that different customers have different needs. To address this problem, they group similar consumers into market segments and focus on their common needs. Such marketing strategies are only effective if they use market segments with the appropriate characteristics, allowing the companies to target the segments with products and services tailored to their specific needs. Place is also integral to the retail marketing mix, both in terms of physical locations and the placement of information about the products online. The idea is to make sure that the physical as well as the virtual venues chosen for the product are also places that the targeted consumers are most likely to visit. Paying close attention to where the products can be found can go a long way toward making it easier for customers to find and purchase the goods and services. The fourth aspect of the retail marketing mix is promotion. Here, the focus is how to go about presenting the goods and services to potential clients and ultimately generating sales from those efforts. Determining the exact nature of a marketing campaign requires understanding what methods are most likely to attract positive attention from targeted consumer groups, then exploit those methods to best advantage. Typically, the promotion will include a combination of print advertising, traditional electronic media such as television and radio, and online advertising that catches the eye and draws attention to the 12

products. The marketing campaign developed to promote the products will normally consider the other elements in the retail marketing mix and incorporate information about the product, the places where the products are sold, and the nature of the pricing as means of attracting attention and motivating consumers to make a purchase.

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DISCUSSION Common retail marketing strategies involve how products and stores are positioned and differentiated. A differentiation retail marketing strategy focuses on products that can stand out from the others competing for the attention and dollars of the target market. For example, a furniture store may offer hand-made products or other items very different from what competing stores are offering. Of course, the product shouldn't only be different, it has to be something that targeted customers want and need. Retail market differentiation must set stores and products apart in order to create strong branding. Branding is the identity of a product or service. Retail products and services in the same industry can differ widely from each other. For example, low-cost hair cutting services are branded and differentiated from upscale salons by their "no frills" store design. Expensive hair salons, on the other hand, are usually very detailed and fashionable in their store's look. As part of it's retail marketing strategy, an upscale salon may be positioned to potential customers as trendy, while the low-cost basic hair cutting establishment's market positioning could be promoted as budget-friendly.

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RECOMMENDATIONS

The retail marketing strategies and retail promotions, redirected towards specific group of customers.

There are significant differences in their needs, wants, tastes, background, income, education and experience, etc.,

Characteristics change over time with lifestyle changes.

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IMPLICATION OF FUTURE RESEARCH Retail marketing is the range of activities undertaken by a retailer to promote awareness and sales of the companys products. This is different from other types of marketing because of the components of the retail trade, such as selling finished goods in small quantities to the consumer or end user, usually from a fixed location. Retail marketing makes use of the common principles of the marketing mix, such as product, price, place and promotion. A study of retail marketing at university level includes effective merchandising strategies, shopping and consumer behavior, branding and advertising. Retail marketing is especially important to small retailers trying to compete against large chain stores.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY Book Reffered Kothari C. R., Research Methodology- Methods and Techniques, New Age International Publishers, 2007, 2nd Edition, pp. 26, 95, 111. Malhotra, Naresh K., Marketing Research, An Applied Orientation, Fourth Edition, Pearson Prentice Hall, 2005, Part II, pp. 71-340.

Websites http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-retail-marketing-strategy.htm

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