Visual Merchandising:

Visual merchandising is the art of implementing effective design ideas to increase store traffic and sales volume.

Word-of-mouth:

Definition: Possibly the most effective form of marketing is the verbal recommendation and positive approval from a satisfied customer.
Also Known As: Word-of-Mouth Marketing, Buzz Marketing, Viral Advertising
Alternate Spellings: WOM Marketing
Examples:
Due to budget constraints, the news of their grand opening was spread by word of mouth.

Category Killer:

Definition: A large retail chain store that is dominant in its product category. This type of store generally offers an extensive selection of merchandise at prices so low that smaller stores cannot compete.
Also Known As: Big Box Store
Examples:
Best Buy is an example of an electronics category killer.

Run of Paper:

Definition: An advertising term used by newspapers referring to an advertisement that may be placed anywhere within the paper.
Also Known As: Full Run or ROP
Examples:
Our retail display ad contract gave us run of paper, so our advertisement may appear in any location within the newspaper, except in the classified section.

Acid Test Ratio:

Definition: A measurement of how well a business can meet its short-term financial obligations without selling any inventory.
The purpose of this calculation is to show how easily a company could be liquidated, and therefore help financial institutions decide upon how credit worthy the company is.
A ratio greater than 1:1 is good and indicates the business can pay their current liabilities without being dependent on the sale of inventory.
Current Assets - Inventories ÷ Total Current Liabilities
Also Known As: Quick Ratio, Liquid Ratio
Examples:
After examining our low acid-test ratio, our store is considering how we can liquidate some inventory to generate cash.

Pantry Audit:

A survey of consumers about grocery brands, products, and quantities in their homes at any given time. Packaged goods manufacturers employ this research technique to gather data for new product development and packaging strategies. In conducting a pantry audit, a random sample of the advertiser's target market is first selected. Questionnaires are then mailed or telephone solicitations are completed to determine what items are stocked in a consumer's kitchen. For example, if the pantry audit revealed that the majority of pantries sampled had half a box of spice that was a year old, it might result in a decision to package the spice in smaller quantities.

Leased Inventory:

An accounting method used to finance the opening inventory of a new retail store. Product is leased to the operator and secured by the wholesaler's lien on daily cash receipts.

Neutralizing Charge:

Neutralizing Charge is a fixed weekly fee, charged to retailers who are stockholders in a wholesale operation that covers an increased cost of service that was not billed on an original invoice for merchandise.

Off-Invoice:

Off-Invoice is a method of payment for a manufacturer's trade deal or promotion where the amount of the allowance for merchandise is deducted from the manufacturer's invoice.

Loose-loaded:

Loose Loaded is a shipping practice of loading and unloading products by hand on a trailer. Also known as a dead-pile loaded; floor-loaded; loose-case-loaded.

Working Capital:

Definition: Liquid assets available to build and grow a retail business. It is measured by current assets minus current liabilities. A positive working capital is needed until the shop can produce a profit.
Also Known As: Operating Funds, Liquid Capital
Examples:
Our after-Christmas sale was intended to optimize inventory levels to free up working capital.

Problem Solving:

Japanese grocery stores had a problem. They are much smaller than shops in the USA and therefore don't have room to waste. Watermelons, big and round, wasted a lot of space. Most people would simply tell the grocery stores that watermelons grow round and there is nothing that can be done about it.

That is how majority of people would respond. But some Japanese farmers took a different approach. If the supermarkets wanted a square watermelon, they asked themselves, 'How can we provide one?' It wasn't long before they invented the square watermelon.




The solution to the problem of round watermelons was not to solve as the farmers did not assume it was impossible - and simply asked how it could be done.

They found out that if you put the watermelon in a square box when they are growing, the watermelon will take on the shape of the box - and grow into a square fruit.




This made the grocery stores happy and had the added benefit that it was much easier and cost effective to ship the watermelons. Consumers also loved them because they took less space in their refrigerators which are much smaller than those in the US meaning that the growers could charge a premium price for them.

Marketing Calendar:

Definition: A tool showing what marketing events, media campaigns and merchandising efforts are happening when and where, as well as the results.
Also Known As: Promotion or Merchandising Calendar
Examples:
We developed a marketing calendar as part of our marketing strategy for our retail store to help us keep track of what is going on and where we should turn your attention next.

Point of Purchase Display:

Point-of-purchase displays, or POP displays, are marketing materials or advertising placed next to the merchandise it is promoting. These items are generally located at the checkout area or other location where the purchase decision is made. For example, The checkout counters of many convenience stores are cluttered with cigarette and candy POP displays.

Layaway:

Definition: The act of taking a deposit to store merchandise for a customer to purchase at a later date.

Alternate Spellings: Lay-A-Way

Examples:
Because our layaway policy is a three month maximum term, we see a huge increase in layaways beginning in October.

Kiosk:

The term kiosk, as related to retailing, refers to a small stand-alone structure used as a point of purchase. This can be either a computer or display screen used to disseminate information to customers or may be a free-standing, full-service retail location. Kiosks are often found in malls and other high-traffic locations.

Voice Directed Warehousing:

Voice Directed Warehousing (VDW) is the implementation of speech recognition in Warehouse Management Systems. VDW was originally limited to picking, whereas now all warehouse functions (picking, receiving/put-away, replenishment, shipping) can be coordinated by voice systems.
Implementing voice systems in the warehouse has among its benefits
• Increased picking accuracy
• Increased inventory accuracy
• Increased employee productivity
• Reduced new worker training time
• Increases job satisfaction for warehouse associates
• Growing customer satisfaction
Each operator is given a voice-enabled RF device. These devices need not have screens or keypads – operators communicate with the system via headset.
Managers use the Warehouse Management System (WMS) or middleware to assign operators work – jobs such as picking, put-away, replenishment, and truck loading.
With voice picking, the voice system directs the operator to perform each pick, giving them directions to the pick location. Depending on system configuration, the operator may be prompted for a location check-digit or a container check-digit as well as a count-back. Following is an example picking dialog:
Computer: Go to building one.
Operator: Ready
Computer: Aisle five.
Operator: Ready
Computer: Bay twenty-seven.
Operator: Ready
Computer: Pick four cases of double-chocolate almond fudge.
Operator: Ready
Computer: What are the check-digits?
Operator: Four-Five-Three
Note These might be from the pallet license or location
Computer: How much remains?
Note: Optional count-back - increases accuracy and reduces speed
Operator: Seven.
…and so on, until the order is complete. The system then directs them to the location to put their pallet (onto a truck, into a staging area) and then tells them to take a new pallet and start the next pick. Unique license plates can be assigned to each picked pallet so that they can be easily located in the warehouse – and so that the voice system can direct the process of loading staged pallets onto trucks.
Apart from training users to use the voice system, the system must be trained to understand each user. This training process takes roughly 30-45 minutes - during this time, the user is asked to repeat aloud the words they will be using when they communicate with the system. The voice system learns how the particular operator speaks, and saves a template of their speech patterns. This allows voice systems to understand users with heavy accents – the system knows how each individual user pronounces each word.

Cost-plus Pricing:

Cost-plus pricing is a pricing method used by companies. It is used primarily because it is easy to calculate and requires little information. There are several varieties, but the common thread in all of them is that one first calculates the cost of the product, then includes an additional amount to represent profit. It is a way for companies to calculate how much profit they will make. Cost-plus pricing is often used on government contracts, and has been criticized as promoting wasteful expenditures.
The method determines the price of a product or service that uses direct costs, indirect costs, and fixed costs whether related to the production and sale of the product or service or not. These costs are converted to per unit costs for the product and then a predetermined percentage of these costs is added to provide a profit margin.
Advantages of cost-plus pricing
1. Easy to calculate
2. Minimal information requirements
3. Easy to administer
4. Tends to stabilize markets - insulated from demand variations and competitive factors
5. Insures seller against unpredictable, or unexpected later costs
6. Ethical advantages
7. Simplicity
Disadvantages of cost-plus pricing
1. Provides no incentive for efficiency
2. Tends to ignore the role of consumers
3. Tends to ignore the role of competitors
4. Uses historical rather than replacement value
5. Uses “normal” or “standard” output level to allocate fixed costs
6. Includes sunk costs rather than just using incremental costs
7. Ignores opportunity costs

Hardlines:

A store department or product line primarily consisting of merchandise such as hardware, housewares, automotive, electronics, sporting goods, health and beauty aids or toys.

2010 Largest Retail Companies of North America:

North America is the home of most of the world’s largest retailers, since the U.S. dominates the global retailing industry. Not only is the retail industry responsible for two-thirds of the U.S. gross domestic product (GDP), U.S. retail companies have also established a presence on every continent.
Not only does the retail industry dominate other industries in the U.S., the retail companies that are based in the U.S. also dominate on the global retailing stage. Nearly one-third of the 250 largest retail organizations in the world are based in the United States. This is according to the 2010 Global Powers of Retailing report, which is published each year by Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu and STORES Magazine.
Based on revenue figures, five of the top ten retail companies in the world are U.S. retail companies. Thirty of the world's largest retailers are from the U.S., and 82 of the retailers on the entire Global Powers list of 250 retailers call the U.S. their home.
The U.S. companies ranked on this world’s largest list vary somewhat from the annual Fortune 500 list, which is generally focused on publicly traded U.S. retail companies. Included in this global ranking are privately-held companies, as well as government retail operations.
The number in the left column is the global ranking number assigned to the company, based on its sales figures, compared to other top retail organizations worldwide.
Retail Companies Based in the U.S. Ranked Among the 250 Largest Retailers In the World:

http://retailindustry.about.com/od/famousretailers/a/northamerica2010largestretail.htm