Overview: Retail establishments must have a firm understanding of their industries, their marketplaces, and the forces that impact their success or failure. Additionally, they must establish solid retail strategies for current conditions and for future growth and stability. The final project for this course will enable you to examine these factors through a detailed analysis of a retailer of your choice.
Preparation: Before you begin work on this milestone, be sure you have read the Final Project Guidelines and Rubric, which provides an overview of the instructions, expectations, and grading criteria for the project as a whole. This document is available for review in the Assignment Guidelines and Rubrics section of the course.
Prompt: The first phase in the retail analysis process is to capture an accurate snapshot of the retailer's relevant history and background. Select a publicly owned retailing company (one that trades shares in a stock exchange such as the Dow or NASDAQ).
This will allow you to have access to the company's financial activity, as publicly traded stock must have records available to the public. Most of the largest retailers in the United States are publicly owned. You can usually check the status of a retailer by simply reviewing the "About" section of the company's website.
After you select a verified publicly owned retailer, you should have access to information from trade and industry publications, annual reports, newspapers, magazines, and a variety of other news and industry-specific media sources.
Of course, the company website can often prove to be a helpful resource for accessing significant historical and background information, but do not limit yourself to the company website alone.
Review the annual report, which can typically be accessed on the company website by scrolling to the bottom of the page and clicking on a link specified for investors, such as "For Investors" or "Investor Relations."
Additionally, use various Google search modes and the Shapiro Library database to search for additional sources of information on the history and background of your retailer. In your submission, include each of the following elements in paragraph form:
• History and Background
o Research the industry in which this retailer competes.
What is the size of this industry in terms of sales?
Is there one major retailer that dominates the field?
What factors are impacting this industry?
Consider technology, culture, legislation, demographics, and the economy.
What other factors are impacting the upward or downward trend?
o Report on a chronology of important events that have helped shape the current state of your retailer.
o What is your retailer's corporate mission?
o Describe your retailer and discuss the range of merchandise sold.
What pricing strategies are utilized?
What position does this retailer hold in the marketplace?
o Discuss the sales and profit trends of your retailer. How has the retailer's level of sales changed over the past five years? Discuss these factors.
o Who is the prime customer/target market for this retailer? Describe the target audience.
o Describe some of the major advertising and promotional methods being used by this retailer.
Requirements of Submission:
Your submission should be two to three pages in length and should use double spacing, 12-point Times New Roman font, and one- inch margins.
The paper should conform to APA style. Use proper in-text citations, and list your references at the end of the paper.
College-level writing is expected. Submissions should be free of grammatical and spelling errors.