Sadia Hussain Unit 29
M3 - Development of Sales Techniques and Customer Service
Introduction
Over the decades, the retail sector has changed in many ways, such as now there is more technology
developed and the retail sector has to keep up with that, there is also competition now than ever,
and also changes in the economy, either recession or growth, it can have an impact on the retail
sector in many ways. The customers’ expectations are also changing, they want demand more
quality service and quality products, the retail sector has to involve in order to meet the customers’
expectations. ‘’Retail remains the single largest private sector employer in the UK, with one in 10
people working in retail, and annual sales totalling a staggering £358bn.’’
Online shopping
The biggest change in retailing is the online funding. More and more people
now prefer shopping online, so they expect almost all physical stores to also
have an online store in which they can order goods from and get them
delivered to their door. People prefer online shopping because it is easier to
find goods, and helps save time for them to walk to a physical store,
especially during bad conditions, people want an easy access. All people
have to do with online shopping is visit the website, browns through the
items, select the products they want, fill in all the information needed, and
then just make the payment and the product arrives to the customers door.
People also prefer online shopping as it is a good way to avoid crowds, as sometimes the stores get a
bit too crowded due to a sale or promotion. Customers can also compare prices when online
shopping, as they can switch to one site to another stores site and see which store or brand is
providing a better deal, walking from one store to another can be really tiresome. ‘’According to
study, 62% of consumers look for online reviews on a product or service before making a purchase.’’
Most people want to know what people are saying about a product; with online shopping it makes it
easier for them to find out
‘’Online shopping now accounts for around 17pc of retail in the UK in April 2018, ONS figures reveal,
still a fraction of the total but regarded as a growing threat to the British high street.’’ Online
shopping is a negative effect on the high street shops as the shops are closing down including banks.
Large companies have to introduce online shops in order to avoid closing down. ‘’A net 2,481 stores,
banks and other high street businesses disappeared from Britain’s top 500 high streets last year, 40%
more than in 2017, as only 3,372 shops opened and 5,833 closed, according to
PricewaterhouseCoopers research compiled by the Local Data Company (LDC).’’ A net 2,481 stores,
banks and other high street businesses have shut down due to online shopping. With online
shopping, it allows companies to gain customers anywhere all around the world; this also causes a
lot of competition. This change is a positive thing for online stores such as Amazon. Companies are
trying to beat their competition by extra charging and get the delivery on the same day you have
ordered it, do this to tempt people to purchase from online, they are trying to stop you to get into
the high street, very impatient we want everything now and it’s going to get worse. With online
shopping and app shopping, when purchasing clothes, the sites or app allows seeing someone
wearing the outfit, with 360 spin and 3d. This helps customers to see the outfit will look on them,
than going to the store themselves and trying on.
Stores getting smaller
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