A Comparison of the Marketing Strategies Used in Large Retail Organizations - Coursework Example

Internet selling through websites and portals has broken all limits and definitions of a domiciled corporation. Now corporations are not only selling to foreign nationals over the internet but are also actually relocating their production facilities in search of overseas markets. Since the 1990s the concept of globalization has brought in a revolution in the manner we trade internationally.

       Retailing is the nearest link to the consumer and has a direct role in accessing various products and services to the final consumer. If the menu of products and services offered to the customer is wide enough to be exhaustive and is offered at competitive prices in convenience settings then the retailer has achieved a major part of his marketing strategy objective. However, marketing strategy is not just limited to reaching the consumers their preferred goods and services at a competitive rate; the obverse side of the marketing strategy coin has a distinct profit objective translated in the form of product-specific margins at the marketing strategy level and which goes on to merge in the overall accounting profit for the retailer once entire operations are counted in. All other objectives are subservient to this objective. In pursuance of this objective, a retailer has to reckon in the entire line of distribution that precedes the arrival of products in his store and manage logistics so as to ensure the ready availability of all products and services. As some researchers on retailing opine “While coping with the short-term uncertainties, retailers should set their sights on long term prospects to prepare themselves for the opportunities and challenges ahead……The three attributes that mainly rule the retail market are consumer, technology, and innovation. It is the prime responsibility of retailers to understand, anticipate and cater to the needs of the consumers……The supply from the retailer should always be according to the demand and expectations of the consumers.  Like in Japan, retailers have reacted to the rapidly aging population by offering more products that target middle-aged consumers. Departmental stores, which used to cater exclusively to youths and adults, now carry more products such as body odor-suppressing dress shirts for middle-aged men and conservation fashions for middle-aged women”(Verma,2003) As has been pointed out above globalization has touched most aspects of business and trade and retailing is no exception. “With the globalization of markets and the growth of competition on a global scale, companies are increasingly expanding the geographic scope of their operations, setting up or acquiring companies in other countries, or entering into alliances across national boundaries. At the same time, with the spread of global and regional media, the development of international retailing, and the movement of people, goods, and organizations across national borders, markets are becoming more integrated. As a result, firms need to pay greater attention to coordinating and integrating their marketing strategy across markets”. (Douglas & Craig, 1999).