1. Make it Operational: Food Sales
Retail Management

2. Types of Merchandise
Staple Goods- items that are constantly in demand by customers. The items are used consistently and replaced on a regular basis. (ie. Pencils, toothpaste, paper)
Convenience Goods- small, inexpensive items that customers purchase frequently. (ie. Water, breakfast bar)
Fashion Goods- Items that constantly change. They are popular at a certain time.
Seasonal Goods- are products that are popular at a certain time of the year.

3. Creating and maintaining a proper merchandise mix will lead to increased profitability for any business. Businesses must pay close attention to their target market and must obtain, develop, maintain, and continually improve upon their merchandising mix.
Merchandising mix- made up of all of the products that a business sells. Every item for sale makes up the merchandise mix.

4. A product line is a group of closely related products that a business sells. For example, The Maple Tree has a product line consisting of all of our clothing.
Product items are the products that make up a product line. It is a specific model or brand of an item. An example would be hooded sweatshirts. If there are two different hooded sweatshirts, each type would be a separate product item.

5. The Marketing Mix strategies consist of:
Development: this is the riskiest. The process includes generating and screening new ideas, developing and testing the product, introducing the product, and evaluating the customers response.
Expansion: Less risky. Business can either add new product items or new lines.
Modification: Also less risky. Involved altering a company’s existing product. Ie. “new and improved”
Deletion: Occurs when the product is no longer useful. This could result from technology, popularity, or need to make room for other things.

6. Stock handling is an important process for businesses to understand
Stock handling is an important process for businesses to understand. There are various procedures that can be used to receive, check, or prepare merchandise for sale. Each business will develop their own policies and procedures for receiving and checking merchandise.

7. Many companies use a form called a receiving record
Many companies use a form called a receiving record. The receiving record describes the goods received. The information that appears on a receiving record may vary from business to business. Some of the items that should appear on the form may include:
Person receiving the shipment
Shipper and location from which the goods were shipped
Number of items delivered
Shipping charges
Weight of the items
Date the shipment was received

8. Checking Merchandise
Checking in the merchandise verifies that the correct merchandise and quantities were delivered. It also ensures that the merchandise is in good condition. Four different methods can be used to check inventory.

9. Four methods are:
Blind Check Method: one of most accurate. An employee opens each box and creates a list that includes the product description or item on hand. The list is then compared to the invoice.
Direct Check Method: Most frequently used by retailers. It involves checking off the merchandise on the invoice.
Dummy Invoice Method- Combines blind check and direct check. Employee counts the merchandise and records the number received next to each item.
Spot Check Method: takes the least amount of time but least accurate. This method involves checking the contents of a certain number of boxes. If they are correct, it is assumed all are correct.

10. Inventory refers to the amount of goods stored by a business
Inventory refers to the amount of goods stored by a business. Controlling inventory is one way for a business to control profit and losses. The retailer still must par for inventory that is lost, damaged, or stolen even though it is not available for sale.

11. Perpetual Inventory: Physical Inventory:
A method of tracking inventory on a constant basis. As new items arrive at the business, the new quantity is added to the inventory.
Physical Inventory:
Stock is visually inspected or counted to determine the quantity on hand. This is done once a month since it is time consuming.

12. Retail Fraud in Michigan
Inventory Shrinkage
When the physical count is less than the perpetual count, then shrink has occurred
Theft: Internal and External
Errors: can occur at the receiving stage or later. Can miscount during physical inventory
Retail Fraud in Michigan

13. Organized Retail Crime
Shrink Prevention
Educating employees not only helps reduce shrink but also provides the business with better employees. They should be trained on techniques for identifying shoplifters.
Organized Retail Crime

14. Shrink Prevention
Security procedures play a major role in the reduction and prevention of shrink. Some of these procedures include the use of security personnel, security devices, or pre-employment testing.

15. Shrink Prevention
Careful planning can help a business prevent shrink. A well-planned store layout can deter shoplifters. Employees should have a good view of all parts of the store.

16. Assignments to Complete
Look over entire PowerPoint and be prepared in case of a quiz
Watch videos
Visit a local shopping center. Identify four stores that carry the four different categories of merchandise. Identify the names of each store, the type of merchandise it carries, and an example of that type of merchandise that you found in the store. This will be in the form of a PowerPoint. Make sure to bring your selfie stick because I will want proof that you visited the stores.