Describe the concepts of the retail communication.

Explain the elements

of retail communications and the retail advertisement.
A communication program can be designed to achieve a variety of objectives for the
retailer, such as building a brand image of the retailer in the customers mind,
increasing sales and store traffic, providing information about the retailers location
and offering, and announcing special activities. Retailers communicate with
customers both online and offline and interactively and passively. Direct marketing
has received the greatest increase in attention by retailers and can occur using
telemarketing (offline/ interactive), mobile marketing (online/ interactive), direct
mail and catalogs (offline/passive), and e-mail (online/passive). These elements in
the communication mix must be coordinated so that customers have a clear,
distinct image of the retailer and are not confused by conflicting information.
Retailers go through four steps to develop and implement their communication
program: Establish objectives, determine a budget, allocate the budget, and
implement and evaluate the program. Marginal analysis is the most appropriate
method for determining how much should be spent to accomplish the retailers
objectives because it maximizes the profits that could be generated by the
communication mix. Since marginal analysis is difficult to implement, however,
many retailers use rule-of-thumb methods to determine the size of the promotion
budget.
Concept of Retail Image

Retail businesses exist to make people happy. To the extent that you satisfy
customers, you fulfill your company goal. After thats said and done, retailers are in
the business of customer satisfaction. This is the key to growth and profits. The
industry continually strives to shift its image from one that profits from others to
one that serves peoples interests. Image has many sides to it: friendliness of
personnel, quality of merchandise, level of service, and ease of access. You must be
ever conscious of the perceived risk the consumer has of doing business with you.
One is social risk: What someone buys affects how others view that person
fashionable and smart, or behind the times and ignorant. The second risk is
economic. This is the possibility that a purchase decision will greatly reduce the
consumers budget and not yield substantial satisfaction or value. Conceptualization
of Retail Image Numerous attempts have been made to categories the elements
which contribute to store image. It is usually recognized as one of the first to
consider store image as a source of competitive differentiation in retailing, identified
four core attributes: layout and architecture; symbols and color; advertising; and
sales personnel. It is often taken as the starting point in image research. Lindquist
identified nine categories (merchandise; service; clientele; physical facilities;
convenience; promotion; store atmosphere; institutional factors; and posttransactional satisfaction), which were themselves made up from a range of
attributes. Within these studies a distinction is often made between tangible and
intangible factors. It refers to the store personality as the way in which the store

is defined in the shoppers mind partly by the functional qualities and partly by an
aura of psychological attributes. Similarly, it has been distinguished between
functional qualities and psychological attributes which included both physical
(factual, functional, and tangible) and psychological dimensions, (formed as a result
of the experience consumers have when exposed to a store). However, owing to the
interpretative nature of image, this distinction is often seen as artificial and
misleading. Oxen Feld argues that store image is a concept, which is: more than
the sum of its parts, it represents interaction among characteristics and includes
extraneous elements, it has some emotional content a combination of factual
and emotional material.

Classification of the Elements of Retail Communication

Communication Mix is the range of approaches and expressions of a marketing idea
developed with the hope that it be effective in conveying the ideas to the diverse
population of people who receive it. It is designed to achieve a variety of objectives
for the retailer, such as building a brand image of the retailer in the customer's
mind, increasing sales and store traffic, providing information about the retailer's
location and offering, and announcing special activities. Retailers communicate with
customers through various means. These elements in the communication mix must
be coordinated so customers have a clear, distinct image of the retailer and not be
confused by conflicting information. Many retailers use rules of thumb to determine
the size of the promotion budget. Marginal analysis, the most appropriate method
for determining how much must be spent to accomplish the retailer's objectives,
should be used to determine whether the level of spending maximizes the profits
that could be generated by the communication mix.

The four important characteristics can help guide your choice of which
communication tool to use for delivering particular marketing communication
messages. The four characteristics are:

Communication potential: Focuses on the ability of the communication tool to

deliver a personal message, its audience reach and the level of interaction
offered.
Credibility: Refers to how the communication tool is perceived by the target
audience.
Cost: Includes considerations about how much of the communication budget
is required to use a particular tool, ratios of cost per contact and the size of
investment required to use the particular communication tool.
Control: Rhe ability to reach specific target audiences and flexibility to adapt
to changes in the communication setting.
The characteristics of each of the communication tools affect how and where
they are used, based on the level of:
Communication potential, e.g. television advertising is good at visually
informing target consumers of key features and benefits, whereas sales
promotions are a call to action, to encourage consumers to make a purchase
for example.

Credibility required (tools are perceived and valued differently by the target
audience, e.g. public relations score high whereas advertising scores low).
Cost which is a major consideration and the communication budget will
influence the choice of communication tools.
Control which is required. (In other words is the message that the target
audience receives the same as the one the transmitter intended to send?).

Advertising in Retail
The retailer through various ways of advertising strives hard to promote his brand
amongst the masses for them to visit the store more often. Advertisements attract
the customers into the store. They act as a catalyst in bringing the customers to the
stores. The advertisement must effectively communicate the right message and
click on the customers. It should be a visual treat and appeal the end-users.
Advertisements have taglines to create awareness of a product or service in the
most effective way.

The tagline has to be crisp and impressive to create the desired impact.
The tagline should not be lengthy else the effect gets nullified.
It has to be catchy.
It should be simple to memorize.

The moment an individual hears Just Do it, he knows he has to visit a Nike
Store. Thats the importance of a tagline.