Image is a key factor for the success of retail companies, forming part of the elements that the customer considers in the purchase decision-making process. The work entitled "Marketing and the Image of the Retail Trade of Goods" approaches the image from its three main conceptual positions: cognitive, simplifying and comparative character. A conceptual model of the choice of points of sale from the customer's perspective is developed, which allows better management of these establishments.
Introduction
Currently, Marketing is, in addition to one more function or activity in the organization, a managerial attitude in conducting business, which considers the client as the center of its attention to achieve success, since its objective is to satisfy the market. This implies going beyond the simple sale, to the achievement of a competitiveness that ensures to remain and grow in the market. In this way, excellence is what prevails and the key to success lies in companies finding their right target audience and satisfying it fully and increasingly.
“Marketing is the social and management process through which individuals and groups obtain what they need and want, creating, offering and exchanging products with value for others” (Kotler, P. 1995).
Marketing management is the process of planning and executing the conception of the product, price, communication and distribution of ideas, goods and services (the four fundamental variables of the marketing process), to create exchange that satisfies the objectives of each person, such as that of the groups.
In general, Marketing is the synergistic process of lucrative activities tending to generate an exchange but it is ambiguous because it is not only present in for-profit entities, non-profit entities also do Marketing. Whenever there is an exchange of ideas, goods or services, we can say that there is Marketing activity.
1. The Retail Trade or Point of Sale: Characteristics and classification
The appearance of the commercial activity of man has had evidence since ancient times, the exact moment of its beginning is not known, but if there is a series of authors who agree that it took its first steps with barter (which is the exchange of one item for another), when exchange in kind predominated, and the development of production itself led to the emergence of fairs to facilitate the concurrence of producers to carry out the exchange. Shortly after, with the specialization, the "professionals" of the exchange appear, which is configuring a commercial function and in it appears the retail trade that ensures the agile and well-organized output of a mass production, demanded by a consumer eager for goods, and spatially dispersed.
In 1852 in France there was a variation in the way of marketing with the appearance of the “Bon Marche Stores”, created by Arístides Boucicaut, where the products were displayed on counters within easy reach of buyers.
The next leap made in the modern concept of in-store sales are the so-called "Popular Stores", which appeared in 1928 in the United States, here the role of the seller is reduced to attending and clarifying to the extent of their knowledge to the customer and replenish merchandise, with this self-service appears, a logical consequence of the process of development of trade.
Reference will be made below to some definitions of retail trade raised by different authors:
"Retail is made up of all the activities involved with selling products to end consumers." (Papadopoulos, N., William Zikmund and Michael D'Amico. 1988).
"Retail trade is any activity whose marketing efforts are directed towards the sale of merchandise or services to the final consumer." (Couch, David. 1989).
“In the distribution channel, retail is where the consumer meets the product. Retail trade includes all activities involved in the sale, rental and provision of goods and services to final consumers for their personal use, family home. " (Crane, F., Stephen Grant, and W. Hartley. 1997).
"Retail trade is the business activity of selling goods or services to the final consumer." (Lewison, Dale. 1997).
In the present work we will use the definition given by Lewison, Dale. 1997.
Distribution plays a significant role as one of the four variables involved in the marketing mix. It is linked to the terms of trade. Along with this term appears the merchant who are those people in charge and specialized in the exchange process.
The characteristics of the trade or point of sale are that it is transmitted and not produced, it has the function of bringing together, distributing, distributing. All the people dedicated to carrying out this activity are called retailers, retailers and the aforementioned merchants, etc. The place where this activity is carried out also has several names such as commerce, store, warehouses, and what is already called point of sale.
In the classification of points of sale, with the development and evolution of commercial activity over time, two specific groups have mainly stood out, which are:
Ø Traditional commerce: is that establishment in which the sale to customers is made with the intervention of the seller.
Ø Free service trade: it is the point of sale or trade where the buyer chooses the products directly, without having to be through the seller, pays for purchases made at the cash register located mainly at the outlet of the establishment.
Noting that with the passage of time, traditional commerce gave way to free service or self-service.
Self-service commerce brings several advantages both for the customer, which is the main objective of any merchant, and for the point of sale itself. These advantages are:
1. Supports the existence of traditional sales sections that help promote the attractiveness of the point of sale.
2. Promotes impulse sales, which is of marked importance in the profitability of the point of sale or establishment.
3. From the point of view of the rotation of merchandise and the profitability of the point of sale, with the development of the self-service group, these indicators are exceeded in comparison with the existing one in the traditional retail group.
4. It reduces the costs of hiring personnel, which has a positive impact on the finances of the establishment.
2. Key success factors in the Retail Goods Trade sector
In order to achieve competitiveness, it is necessary to know and enhance the key success factors that will satisfy the needs of consumers better than the competition.
Retail companies must keep in mind in their management the key factors to guarantee the success of the trade, because the achievement of customer satisfaction depends on them by providing what they expect and deserve, in this way they can earn their trust and get the desired results.
Dr. Luis Barreiro (2002) prepared a proposal for Key Success Factors for the retail trade, which was subjected to a consultation process with a group of experts and as a result the following Factors were proposed.
Ø Knowledge of the market, which allows knowing who buys and why, so that this knowledge ensures that customers' expectations are better met.
Ø The planning and purchase of merchandise, whose effectiveness, efficiency and timeliness ensure the assortment expected by customers, while providing the efficiency expected by the business.
Ø The ability to react, which translates into the ability to anticipate and speed in responding to changes in the environment and customers in particular.
Ø The efficiency and motivation of human resources, which ensure the professionalism required in commercial activity, which translates into the quality of customer service.
Ø The image, largely a result of all the above factors, but with its own strength given its effect on the choice of the product-store.
Based on the identification of these Factors, the commercial company must develop those competencies that ensure that it responds to the demands of competitiveness in the sector, and for this Luis Barreiro (2002) has selected the Value Chain as a strategic instrument that allows carrying out an entity-level analysis; a tool designed by Michael Porter in 1987, which helps to examine the sources of competitive advantage creation from the influence of each of the company's activities that determine the behavior of costs and sources of existing and possible differentiation, so that distinctive capabilities can be developed in the establishment in question, in order to achieve the construction of the competitive advantage necessary to remain and grow in that sector,so it represents a process of strategic analysis.
3. Image Definition
In the past, it was often said that the image was a communication resource that had a very limited field of action and was a matter of fashion. However, at present the image has become a strategic resource, a fundamental tool for the development of companies and an important element widely recognized and studied by different theorists.
According to Martineau (1958) the image, "is the way by which an organization is defined in the mind of the consumer, partly due to functional characteristics and partly due to a set of psychological attributes."
For Anderson (1978), the image refers to a holistic and living impression, which maintains a specific audience towards a company, partly as a result of the information processing carried out by members of the public and partly by the global communication of the company in matters that have to do with its nature, that is, the manufactured and projected portrait of itself.
In the present work we will use the definition given by Martineau (1958).
The image is above all, a strategic communication process in which messages about oneself are transmitted to others, in order to generate a positive perception.
The concept of image is often considered a significant determinant of sales (and indirectly of profitability) since it allows the potential consumer to adopt a favorable attitude, provoking a positive decision or reaction (to buy a product / brand, look with good eyes to a company.)
The etymology of the word "Image" is found in the Latin imago and in the Greek eikon. Image is the figurative representation of an original model, of something pre-existing. As the "Royal Academy of the Spanish Language" indicates, it is about "the figure, representation and appearance of a person or thing".
Given the polysemic nature of the term, as well as the ambiguity of its use, it can be used with very different meanings: a) figure or representation of a thing through drawing, photography or the like; b) registration or visual perception of a figure; c) psychic and ideological representation of the meanings and values of a thing or phenomenon; and d) phenomenon of collective opinion, about something or someone.
Three major conceptual positions on the image stand out
a) The cognitive character of the image
The image of the company / brand from this conceptual position is the result of the interaction of all the experiences, knowledge, beliefs and impressions that individuals have about a company or product.
b) The simplifying nature of the image and equivalent to attitudes
From this position, the brand image is the opinion that real or potential consumers form of the products and services of an organization, as a result of all the impressions received by consumers about the brand, regardless of the source from which they come. The opinion formed will have an affective and sentimental value that will denote attraction or rejection and may serve as a reference in the act of purchase.
c) The comparative nature of the image
In this case, the concept of image is described, as the general impressions of the relative position of a brand (product) with respect to its perceived competitors.
The assessment that consumers make of the physical attributes of one brand or another has important implications for marketing; when the consumer perceives differences in the physical characteristics of a brand with respect to its competition.
Summarizing, it can be concluded that the image is determined by the reality, the concept and the experience that surround the visual receiver, as a mental model it is a representation of reality that guides the behavior of individuals, and that it can be both favorable, so it constitutes a weapon to exert influence over others. The image has an essence common to all men and is affected by the experience of each individual within the context of a certain environment and is influenced by norms of different cultures and societies.
The image of the company must convey a distinctive and unique message that communicates the main benefits and the positioning of the product. Achieving a strong positive image requires hard work and a high degree of creativity in everything the company says and does.
4. Image Concept of a Point of Sale
The image is considered a mixture of positive or negative perceptions, which represent reality before individuals make the decision to buy a product (in this case, how we see the point of sale as a product), it would be to make the decision to en which point of sale the customer is going to carry out the act of purchase.
The image of the company as well as that of a point of sale is a phenomenon of perceptions and experiences on the part of the public; related communications and interactions between them and the company or the point of sale; of conduct and trajectory of this or this one.
The points of sale, influenced by the constant increase in competition, must ensure that their commercial establishments are up to date and represent an image that attracts their target markets (Baker et al., 2002). The place and specifically the atmosphere of the place (holistic component), can influence more than the product itself at the time of the purchase decision (Kotler, 1973-1974). Indeed, the literature related to the analysis of the point of sale environment indicates that this environment is one of the decisive factors that the consumer uses to evaluate the image of a store (Berman et al., 1998).
Therefore, the image of the point of sale is considered as the result of perceptions and attitudes in general with respect to it (seen as a "product-store" itself). The knowledge, beliefs, impressions, preferences, feelings, opinions, expectations, ideas, prejudices, are commonly used concepts in the image definitions of a product-store.
Now, from the marketing perspective and based on its conceptualization, the image of a point of sale must contain in its definition the integrated global concept of its essential resources, while establishing its differentiating character with other points of sale and will be, all the more effective, insofar as it meets five fundamental conditions: a) validity (the image must be close to reality); b) credibility (it should never convey concepts that are not very credible to the receiving market); c) simple (many images of a point of sale lead to confusion); d) attractive (able to attract attention); and e) distinctive (show the differentiating element in relation to other points of sale).
It must be borne in mind that the image is not something that the point of sale has, but is in the minds of real or potential customers, and consequently, this situation causes the existence of large differences between the images of These, which depend, above all, on the sources of information to which customers have been exposed or used, and the existence or not of previous experiences.
5. Formation of the Image of a Point of Sale
Image formation was described by Reynolds (1965) as a mental construct developed on the basis of various impressions, from a large amount of information. In the case of the image of a point of sale, this “large amount of information” comes from various sources that include, among others: promotional literature (brochures, posters, etc.), the opinion of other people (family, friends, known), and the mass media (newspapers, television, books, cinema, etc.).
The literature on marketing in general and the product-store in particular reveals three determinants in the formation of the image of the point of sale in the absence of current experience: 1) Personal factors (psychological, socio-demographic); 2) Information Sources (product marketing, communication in general); and 3) The offer of the product-store (identity, resources / attractions, “total store product”). In other words, from the analysis of the formation of the image of a product-store, it is clear that all the information received plays an essential role in its creation. In this sense, the formation of the image of a product-store is conditioned by these three broad factors in their confluence and interrelation.
The image of the point of sale, as we have seen, is an abstract construction formed from the reality of the environment, the perceptions of the elements participating in it, the experiences of the customers, as well as the action of the media. information on public opinion. This confluence of aspects is of great importance in purchasing decisions, by generating customer expectations, which, when contrasted with the real image, leads to determining the degree of satisfaction after the purchase is made. Therefore, the image of the point of sale, as we have understood it, is key in the degree of customer satisfaction, an element of great importance, since the image should not only be valued as a determining aspect in profitability,Otherwise, the consumer must be kept in mind that as a human being he must feel satisfied and pleased with the image that is made available to him. In our country, satisfying the needs of the client is not a slogan, or a word that becomes boring because of so many repetitions, it is and must be the central element of the life of the organization, so that at all times clients perceive a value that guarantees your satisfaction. Whenever this is the case, it will be competitive.
6. Choosing a Point of Sale
After having addressed the theoretical framework necessary to carry out this research, we proceed to a proposal for a conceptual model, which briefly characterizes the main determinants in the choice of a point of sale.
Next, the conceptual model for choosing a point of sale is proposed (figure 1), this model is based on the theoretical foundations addressed in the previous chapter, the theory of the different choice sets, the image relationship -Customer satisfaction, the general theories of consumer behavior as well as the behavior that this would follow once the point of sale has been chosen and the purchase made (post-purchase behavior); These aspects are largely determined by the role that the image plays in consumer behavior, since this variable ultimately decides the chosen point of sale.
In this model it is possible to distinguish the different dimensions that the formation of the image of a point of sale presents: the object, which contains the different alternatives of chains and points of sale in the Cuban sector; the subject, who is influenced both by the environment and by its cultural, social, personal and psychological characteristics; and finally its components.
Cultural characteristics are determined by culture, subculture, and social class. By social characteristics we mean: reference groups, family and roles or status. The personal characteristics are: age and life cycle phase, occupation, economic circumstances, lifestyles and personality and self-concept. Psychological characteristics include: motivation, perception, belief, attitudes, learning and knowledge, ideas, feelings, impressions, experiences, opinions, expectations, and prejudices. (Kotler, 2001).
Figure 1. Conceptual Model for Choosing a Point of Sale
Source: self made
Starting from the image of the known points of sale, the client forms the different sets of choice: the inert set (which, for example, offer products at very high prices and which I am not going to consider for now until my economic situation improves), the inept set (those points of sale with certain negative characteristics that I would not visit for any reason at this time) and the evoked set (made up of all those points of sale on which I would focus my attention and future choice). It is essential to bear in mind that points of sale that today are in one of these sets may tomorrow be part of another as the circumstances that determine it change.
From the set evoked, the evaluation of the alternatives of points of sale begins (which determine an initial image), through a wide search for information about them, related for example: to convenience, distance, price level, staff sales, assortment, decoration, animation, quality and promotion of products (Vázquez, 1989) and the image as an integrating variable; This is given by the need for products / brands, the needs related to the act of shopping and the needs related to the purchasing process presented by consumers (Vázquez, 1989).
After the evaluation, a point of sale is chosen in which there is a shopping experience, which allows to form the global image really perceived by the customer, in which the degree of post-purchase satisfaction leads him to take a behavior, which is translates into: complaints or suggestions, recount, reflections and memories, communication with others, loyalty, abandonment. Based on this same behavior, a feedback process is used that refers to the formation of the image of the point of sale.
Once the point of sale in which the product / brand purchases will be made has been chosen, these can be: pure impulse purchase, suggestive impulse purchase, remembered impulse purchase, planned impulse purchase, partial planning of purchases (of product categories but no. of brands: negative planned purchases, modified planned purchases), total planning of purchases (of product categories and brands). Vazquez (1989).
Conclusions
The image is a determining factor when evaluating the alternatives of points of sale knowing the set evoked, and continues to be so after the purchase is made, when the comparison is made by the consumer of the initial image perceived with the global image actually perceived.
It is necessary to clarify that the degree of satisfaction is the result of comparing the initial image perceived with the global image actually perceived.
To build the image to support the leadership of a point of sale, it is necessary to carry out a strategic procedure.
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