advanced theory and practice in sport marketing - Marshalls University

The reader will be able to:
CHAPTER OBJECTIVES
■ Gain an understanding of sport retailing and sport retail management
through a presentation of various retail strategies and a strategic approach to
retailing in the sport field.
■ Understand the concepts of strategic retail management; the factors and
skills associated with situation analysis; the manners to target customers and
gathering information; the concepts associated with choosing a retail location;
the concepts related to managing a retail business; the concepts related
to merchandise management and pricing; and the various ways of communicating
with the customer.
WHAT IS SPORT RETAIL MANAGEMENT?
Sport retail management is the process of directing and controlling the business
activities related to the sale of the sport product to consumers for their personal
consumption. Sport retail management, as the end result of the distribution
process, becomes an integral part of the entire sport marketing process – if there
is no sale of the sport product then the previous sport marketing methods implemented
have been useless. With the increased opportunities for sport product
sales through the Internet, and the growth of global sport marketing efforts, it
would seem that sport retail sales in general are on an upward swing. However,
the challenges faced by sport retailers are great due to a number of factors including
the general population having less discretionary time and income, oversaturation
in the competitive market leading to lower profit margins due to cost cutting,
the high level of customer service expected in society, and the lack of knowledge
by many sport retailers as to the proper use of the Internet as a tool.
Retail in the United States is a significant part of the economy. As reported in
January 2005 by one of the world’s largest marketing information companies –
AC Nielsen – annual retail sales in the United States topped $4 trillion (US) for
the first time last year. Total sales of $4.1 trillion in 2004 were up 8% from
2003, the biggest annual increase since 1999. The leisure goods sector of the
retail industry, of which sport retail falls under, grew almost 1% last year.
Included in this sector are companies such as Sports Authority, Decathlon,
Olympia Sports, and Dick’s Sporting Goods.
As the last stage in the distribution process, sport retailers play an integral
role as the primary contact between manufacturers and sport consumers. Sport
retailers utilize the sorting process, whereby they assemble a variety of goods
and services from various suppliers, buy them in large quantities, and sell them
to consumers. The goal is to maximize manufacturer efficiency while allowing
consumers to have a choice when shopping at the sport retail outlet. In general,
the goods and services sold by sport retail outlets are not owned and operated
by the manufacturers. This allows manufacturers to reach a wide range of
274 ADVANCED THEORY AND PRACTICE IN SPORT MARKETING