9 Functions of Marketing Review...Risk Management!Risk Management means preventing your business from any sort of loss or failure. It is one of the most important of the nine marketing funcitons. During the holiday season, retailers that are promoting all day sales beginning at 5 am where big lines can form, or are stocking products with extraordinary demand, need to pay particular attention to "rink management" activities.
Here is a short article detailing a few guidelines issued by the National Retail Federation (NRF) for retailers to follow:
As Black Friday Approaches, NRF Releases Crowd Management Guidelines for Retailers
“With Black Friday upon us, retailers are reviewing their contingency plans to make sure store associates and security are well prepared for the big day,” said Joe LaRocca, Senior Asset Protection Advisor, NRF. “Whether it’s the holiday season, a celebrity appearance or an unplanned situation that requires security, retailers are constantly planning and preparing for even the most chaotic situations.”
The guidelines outline the following essential components of a crowd control and/or emergency plan, including:
• Promotional/holiday sales and special events
• Sales and events versus emergency management crowd controls
• Mall-based retailers versus non mall-based retailers
• Crowd management guidelines references and contingency plans
In addition to the outlined assessments, the guidelines also offer specific checklists for retailers to use when working on a crowd control plan. Event type, staffing and training, communication, physical and environmental considerations and line formations are among a few of the factors that retailers should take into account for their emergency and crowd control plans.
The National Retail Federation is the world’s largest retail trade association, with membership that comprises all retail formats and channels of distribution including department, specialty, discount, catalog, Internet, independent stores, chain restaurants, drug stores and grocery stores as well as the industry’s key trading partners of retail goods and services. NRF represents an industry with more than 1.6 million U.S. retail establishments, more than 24 million employees - about one in five American workers - and 2008 sales of $4.6 trillion. As the industry umbrella group, NRF also represents more than 100 state, national and international retail associations. www.nrf.com.
This short video clip from the movie "Jingle All the Way", provides an example of what can happen when demand is high for a particular product around the holiday season.
http://www.spike.com/video/toy-lottery/2907543
In a two paragraph response (at least 5 sentences for each paragraph), answer the following questions. In paragraph # 1, after reading the article above, why do you think it's important for retailers to adhere to the guidelines issued by the NRF? In paragraph # 2, write about a business that you are familiar with and some of risk management activities that you think they are engaged in? Why are these activities so important to their business success?
Please write your name at the bottom of your blog entry.
12 comments:
It is important to follow the guidelines of the NRF because if stores don't, then people will probably get hurt. It is the store's job to make sure no one gets hurt in these events. If the stores didn't follow the guidelines, massive crowds could take over stores and employees and even hurt eachother. The stores should be trying to protect their customers.
On Black Friday, Walmart has police officers control the crowd. They stand by the entrance the entire day and they walk through the stores to keep people safe. They also break up fights over items and I've even seen someone get arrested for fighting at Walmart. This is very important because people are so desperate for items that they will do anything to get it, and the cops help control this. Walmart has a pretty good Black Friday reputation because of this and they make a killing that day.
-David Chung is better than Shannon Riley.
The guidelines issued by the NRF are important because people should make sure they have a plan if all else fails. The most important thing a business should do is make sure their customers are safe. If their customers don't feel safe, then there is not much of a chance of them returning to the store. Seasonal holidays are an important time to be thinking about risk management. If you own a business that has items that are essential to the season, it is important to make sure you have thought about everything to make sure that your customers are as safe as possible so that you don't have as much of a chance of getting sued.
A company that has a really good risk management plan is Honey Baked Ham. Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays are the two holidays that bring in the most business for them. To plan for this, they have police escorts to make sure that the line does not get out of control, as well as make sure they are safe when it comes to oncoming traffic. the police also make sure there is not an issue with parking and the other activities of the customers. Without this risk management plan, the Honey Baked Ham would be faced with many problems during the holiday season.
-Shannon Riley is MUCH better than David Chung a.k.a. Jonas Brother.
The reason that is is important for reatilers to listen and follow the guidlines is safety. The time of reason is a big one, we have major holidays and stores realize that. They promote sales to be better then normal, giving the consumer a reson to shop. However, with promotions and sales it can be very dangerous. Companies simply try to expand there customer rates safely with little loss or damge. One thing can happen with one customer and spark a big out break witht the others. Controling your shopping environment will ensure safety and satisfaction.
Wholefoods this time of season are preaparing for big crowds through out the holiday week. They have employees working longer hours stocking up supplies and setting the store to have easy access for customers. They have sales for last year that they are reviweing to have an idea on how much of a product to have avaible, and also looking at sales to predict the gross profit from this year. They are advising employees who work through out the week to be early to ensure parking, due to the increase of customers. They are doing thses types of things to make it easy for both the employees but also customers. To not only access products easily, but to try and make things less stressful.
It is important for retailers to take the advice the NRF has given them and use it to their atvantage. As Black Friday comes closer, everyone is anxious to get their hands on products have have had their cost reduced. They are going to be going for a product/item that many other people may want. Since Black Friday is once a year people are just going to give up the product. Espically if they were waiting a long time for the store to open. The retailers should be prepared for big mobs and the cashirs need to be fast and quick so people dont get too exicted and start pushing and shoving.
Wal Mart has risk managements also. They have about 10 lanes open for customers. The only fault is that the lanes arent really that big. Also they have a self check out so people won't get too impatient with the cashir. Their store is huge and they have a lot of products/items to chose from so potiental consumers won't all be in the same section of the store crowding one another.
--Shabnam Gardezzzzzzzzzi :)
One reason that it is important for retailers to adhere by the guidelines of the NRF is so that they are better prepared for a busy day. The more prepared that a retailer is, then the more efficient it will function. For example, "black friday" is a huge day where people crowd stores to get great deals on products, therefore some sort of plan is needed. Not only will it help the day go by nicely, but it will reflect on the atmosphere making it a good shopping experience.
One business that I know that is engaged in some sort of risk management activities is Wal-Mart. For Black Friday, they open the store a little earlier. Also, they put more employees to work that day, along with extra security to help secure. This way, there is not too much work put on just one employee, which means less pressure. Also, with extra security, it prevents or lowers the chances of stuff being stolen. These actions are important to a business's success, mainly because it makes the retailer more efficient.
-Jair Pasaye Lopez
I think that it is important for the retailers to adhere to the guidelines that were issued by the NRF because it may help them in mant ways. It could also be good because the guidelines could be better than what they thought it would be.
Wal-Mart is a business that I am familiar with. Some risk management activities I think that Wal-Mart is engaged to has to do with the crowd. They sell lots of differant types of items there. Especially a lot of electronis. They could have a failure with the organization that they might have because it is a place that would probably be the most crowded.
Those activities are important with their success because if something bad goes wrong, people arent going to want to go back any more.
-Sandra Coreas
It is important that retailers follow the guidelines presented by the NRF, because on holidays or special events things can get out of hand. It is important that retailers control their customers at these times. The amount of supply and demand around the holiday season is rediculous. When this is the case, it is hard for everyone to be satisfied. Thus the NRF guidelines are important to make sure everyone is safe shopping.
My brother got an acoustic guitar. (Martin). My father got the same exact guitar. Only my brother's was in much better shape than my dad's. This could be because the demand is so high that when they went about making several they didn't pay as much attention on the qaulity as much as the quantity. They try to prevent this risk management with the help of a customer service repair shop in the store. This is helpful to maintain customer satisfaction. Although, the fact that custmers must come in for a repair, may decrease the amount of demand for the product.
-Chris Lynn
One of the things that people look out for is when people make crouds. all they want is for people to get good deals and get an opportunity to save. when someone gets hurt, becuase they trip & people arent helping for them to get up, its just ignorance and something that can potentially be dangerous . Also, people try and be the first one, but when your coming in 15 minutes before the store opens, then you have another thing coming for you . People will not stop til' they get what they want. they will be posted outside the store 2-5 hours at the earliest, just be the first people . others, they decide to cut .
Some of the risk management is the sales . They will have to get good prices, but not enough to loose emmense amount of profit . they have to make good sales and promote as much as they can soo they can get good customers that are willing to pay what they are willing to offer . If they promote in the newspapers and flyers at home and also advertise online and/or on commercials, their chances will go up by a lot ! im sure many stores have a lot of good deals for us this year ! its recession, for crying out loud ! :)
-Grace V .
It is important for retailers to adhere to the guidelines issued by the NRF because they are useful in the marketing world. Promotional/holiday sales and special events are things that don't occur in retail stores everyday. This makes people buy products because they know that they aren't going to see the items everyday. The crowds usually get rough during black friday so retailers are workin on improving that situation through the help of the NRF.
A business that i am familiar with is a shoe business specifically jordans and nikes. Some of the risk management activities that i think they are engaged in are security. For example the security cameras they have in the stores, the security tags the put on their products and security guards. These activities are important to their business success because it helps in preventing theft. By preventing theft, the business gains more money.
Alex .A.
It is important for retailers to follow the NRF guidelines to prevent an accident from occurring. Especially now, when stores are more crowded, stores need to develop a basic guideline for how they should go about managing the chaos during the holiday rush. If some terrible accident should occur in a store, this can result in a lawsuit or damage the store's reputation. For example, last year Walmart hired a man during the holidays because of his large stature, but did not give him any instructions on how to deal with the crowd of customers. When Black Friday came around, he was stationed at the front door and trampled under the mass of customers coming in. This is why the NRF creates an outline for retailers to follow, to prevent these incidents from happening. But because of Walmart's "unbeatable prices" and their popularity with their customers, this story scared very few away.
The Apple stores must take precaution to maintain a sense of order under the chaos in their stores. Especially with the new versions of the iPod touch, iPhone, and iPod nano out, Apple must keep an eye on their crowd control during this holiday season. Apple products thrive off their popularity among their wide range of customers, and because of this popularity, their stores are most likely to be packed. Because their stores are fairly small compared to those of Best Buy or Sears, Apple must find other ways of distributing their products. For example, they may promote more sales online rather than in-store, and may even throw in free shipping. This will narrow the amount of customers coming into their stores during the holiday season, but still satisfy the needs of the company and wants of the customers.
I think its important to adhere, because if the workers don't get prepared for the big day, then there could be a big problem in the stores. Its always busy in most of the stores in this type of holidays. Many people take advantage of stealing thinks more than the normal days, because its very busy and the people who steal know that the employees can't control everyone.
Wal-mart is one of the business that use risk management. Some risk, I think are giving promotion in clothes like giving 50% off and others are in clearance. So, they have to stay alert at the profit of the business and make sure there isn't any loss. Its important, because holidays are the only time that every people come to shop anything they want or need, because its on sale.
The reason it's important to follow the rules that are set by the NRF is for customer safety. They save customer health and money that would be lost by the companies. It's in eveybody's best interest to follow the guidelines.
Black Friday is a prime example of the reasons they should follow the regulations. Every year someone dies by trampling, or other ways.
Some stores do absolutely nothing to stop the madness. It's strange that this happens because the reprocussions are obvious. Some stores do an excellent job, or at least the best they can. I think some good example of these are Wal-mart and Target. They hire police officers for the day to stop the mobbing.
-Emmett
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