In today's society, the retailing is one of the largest and most important industries known. By definition retailing is all the activities directly related to the sale of goods and services to the ultimate consumer for personal, nonbusiness use. As it has become more and more known and convenient, retailing has increasingly enhanced daily life for people everywhere. There are many different types of retailing, including different types of stores, outlets, and markets, each contributing many factors in which many have become accustomed to.
Of the many forms of retailing, some of the most common are supermarkets, department stores, and convenience stores. Each of these provide a specific level of service, product assortment, and gross margin. Tiffany & Co. is an example of retailing. Tiffany's started off in 1837 as an independent retailer, owned by Charles Lewis Tiffany. Over the many years, the store has progressively expanded and with its flourishing success grew into a chain store. Chain stores are owned and operated as a group by a single organization, where most of the administrative tasks and business is done at the chain's home office. In Tiffany's case, this would be at the flagship store on 5th Avenue in New York.
With so many technological advancements in today's era, many people look for new and more convenient ways of shopping. Because of this, different types of retailing has been developed including nonstore retailing, direct retailing, automatic vending, and telemarketing. The most well known of these new ways of shopping is online retailing, or e-tailing. Shoppers with personal computers and access to the internet have the ability to view products and make purchases online, with the luxury of staying at home. Tiffany & Co. has also jumped on the internet bandwagon and created a website allowing e-tailing.
In retailing, there is something known as the six P's; product, place, promotion, price, presentation, and personnel. Each of these six contribute to the overall success of a company's sale of goods and services to its consumers. Tiffany & Co. pays very close attention to each of these elements in order to remain successful. Product offering, also known as product assortment and merchandise mix, is the different products offered to the consumer by the retailer. Tiffany & Co. has a large variety of jewelry and luxury items available to consumers. With the seasonal development of various lines by different Tiffany & Co. designers, product assortment is constantly changing. Tiffany & Co. consistently makes sure to maintain its high end products but also its high end service. That includes personnel, with customer service, presentation, with its quality atmosphere, and place, with its placement of store locations. Tiffany & Co. makes keeping customers happy a main priority, along with maintaining its prestigious reputation and in doing so continues to progress as a leading retailer.
Here is a link of Tiffany's online "e-tailing" website. It shows the collection of products available to consumers to purchase online.
http://www.tiffany.com/
Recently I visited the Tiffany & Co. flagship store located on 5th Ave. in Manhattan. Immediately I was greeted by a very nice doorman saying "Welcome to Tiffany's." This is nothing new to me because being one of my favorite stores, I do like to visit there often. However for a first time visitor of Tiffany's, the extremely friendly and welcoming atmosphere may come as surprise, especially in New York. Upon entering the store you'll find numerous glass cases filled with the compnay's well known high end jewelry. Behind the cases are sales associates who are eagerly waiting to assist you. It is rather quiet in Tiffany's and everything is very clean. You almost get the sense that you're in some sort of museum, and with the prices of some of the items in the store you may as well be. The store has six floors altogether. Four of these floors are for jewlery, with one specifically for their trademark engaegement and wedding rings, one floor for gift items, and an entire floor dedicated to customer service. Looking around the store is a great experience even if you aren't making a purchase.
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