The Impact Of Product Location :: Business and Management Studies:

The Impact Of Product Location Before we start I think it is important that I clarify what we mean by Marketing as a concept. Basically it is about selling products that customers want to buy, this is achieved by putting the customer first. Continuing customer research identifies needs and trends in customers buying behaviour which we can cater for to attract further customers. By satisfying the needs of our customers they will become regular customers and will potentially recommend us to their friends and families. The way that we meet our customers needs is by getting the right balance of the â€Å"marketing mix† by selling the right product at the right price in the right place whilst being presented correctly. As we advance into the twenty first century there is a stronger focus on marketing than selling within our supermarkets. The supermarket retail sector in this country has reached maturity and as a result we cannot simply open new supermarkets to compete with our rivals. Instead to compete we must build a loyalty base of existing customers whilst attempting to attract customers from our competitors. There has been a noticeable shift from mass marketing to segment marketing. Our customers are individuals with individual needs. You cannot simply sell the same product to everyone because people are different they require different products or at least different versions of the same product. To this end the physical identity of our supermarkets is evolving as the products within them evolve. This has led to diversity in our display methods allowing us to prioritise and promote certain products over other products. Simple things like having two columns of aisles rather than one has doubled the end of aisle space within the store. By their very nature of being at the end of the aisle they attract a greater amount of attention from the customer. By observing customers in our supermarkets it is clear that customer behave in certain ways and respond to certain stimuli. It is perhaps common sense that after walking the length of an aisle that you will check out the end of the aisle as you walk around to head back down the next aisle. It is also common sense that products displayed at eye level attract more attention and are more easily found by our customers. This does not just apply to adults, by placing products that appeal to children at a level that they can see them it is clear that they are more likely to ask their parents to buy these goods. It has also been identified that many customers when searching for products look ahead but also