The 7 P’s of the Retail Marketing Mix - Process (Retail Strategy 04.05.2021)

The 7 P’s of the Retail Marketing Mix

6. Process

The process is perhaps one of the most crucial P in the retail marketing mix. The retail industry is based entirely on processes such as order processing and management of the database.

 

Right from the moment a customer enters the retail store, he is dependent on the process which will help him to find the appropriate section which has the appropriate goods.

 

It is a process that will help him find the price of the product along with other products and their prices, which help them to make a buying decision. Then the customer approaches the billing counter, which has an order processing system and a database management software which processes the order and generates a bill to the customer and processes the payment.

 

Other processes such as queuing system and standardization also part of the process. It is essential that all these processes are interlinked for a customer to have a smooth experience.

 

Process refers to the processes involved in delivering your products and services to the customer. It is also about being “easy to do business with”.

 

Having good process in place ensures that you:

·      repeatedly deliver the same standard of service to your customers

·      save time and money by increasing efficiency.

 

The actual procedures, mechanisms, and flow of activities by which the Retail service is delivered. It includes the actual delivery steps that the customer experiences, or the operational flow of the retail service. These also give customers evidence to judge the retail service. Some retail services are very complex, requiring the customer to follow a complicated and extensive series of actions to complete the process.

 

Another distinguishing characteristic of the process that can provide evidence to the customer is whether the retail service follows a standardized approach or whether the process is a customized one.

 

Process tries to set certain standards for providing the retail service. Organizations
can set a particular process and train their employees to follow this process of delivering retail service. This will help the customers to perceive the retail service in a comprehensive manner. Process can develop standards for the organization, which are necessary for the customer to initiate repurchase of a product.

 

If the customer knows that this company follows a particular procedure, the customer feels he ‘knows’ about the retailer. This makes the customer aware of the service and it enables him to experience the retail service in the future.

 

Process also enables employees or retail service providers to deliver better quality of product. A systematic process enables the retailer to understand the customer better and to provide satisfactory solutions to customer’s problems. Retailers can check customer profile in database and can come up customized service options to create and maintain customer relationship.