{"id":1915,"date":"2018-03-27T19:41:18","date_gmt":"2018-03-27T19:41:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-retailmanagement\/?post_type=chapter&#038;p=1915"},"modified":"2024-04-25T02:43:49","modified_gmt":"2024-04-25T02:43:49","slug":"methods-to-gather-information","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-retailmanagement\/chapter\/methods-to-gather-information\/","title":{"raw":"Methods to Gather Information","rendered":"Methods to Gather Information"},"content":{"raw":"<div class=\"textbox learning-objectives\">\r\n<h3>Learning Objectives<\/h3>\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Identify some inconclusive methods retailers may use to gather information and make decisions<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<img class=\"alignright wp-image-2557\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2986\/2018\/03\/13190513\/Screen-Shot-2018-04-13-at-12.04.32-PM.png\" alt=\"decorative image\" width=\"350\" height=\"232\" \/>\r\n\r\nOne of the challenges of a retail business is the need to purchase inventory well in advance of customer demand. Traditionally, retailers have relied on observation and even intuition to guide their purchasing decisions. Retailers can do this by listening to customer comments while they shop, noticing out-of-stock conditions on store shelves, visiting competition, and conversing with suppliers to receive (somewhat biased) information.\r\n\r\nBeginning roughly in the 1960s, the evolution of marketing as a discipline presented retailers with more interactive techniques to gather information about their customers. They began using surveys, interviews, and focus groups.\r\n\r\nBefore sophisticated information technology, retailers relied largely on prior activity and this \u201canecdotal\u201d information on which to understand their customers. Technology was kept in the back room and used for simple business operations. Now, data-driven technology is at the core of retail business.\r\n\r\nTo run a successful retail business, management must be able to answer questions that only information technology can provide. Which are our most profitable store locations? What products are selling best and are the most profitable? How is our customer base changing its buying pattern? Is our flow of inventory in line with anticipated sales?\r\n\r\nToday, the latest data-driven technology has even changed the paradigm from asking what all of our customers will want to asking what EACH of our customers will want.\r\n<div class=\"textbox tryit\">\r\n<h3>Practice questions<\/h3>\r\nhttps:\/\/assess.lumenlearning.com\/practice\/c12af0a7-12d6-4522-beb7-c5673eabfe9e\r\n<\/div>","rendered":"<div class=\"textbox learning-objectives\">\n<h3>Learning Objectives<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Identify some inconclusive methods retailers may use to gather information and make decisions<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-2557\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2986\/2018\/03\/13190513\/Screen-Shot-2018-04-13-at-12.04.32-PM.png\" alt=\"decorative image\" width=\"350\" height=\"232\" \/><\/p>\n<p>One of the challenges of a retail business is the need to purchase inventory well in advance of customer demand. Traditionally, retailers have relied on observation and even intuition to guide their purchasing decisions. Retailers can do this by listening to customer comments while they shop, noticing out-of-stock conditions on store shelves, visiting competition, and conversing with suppliers to receive (somewhat biased) information.<\/p>\n<p>Beginning roughly in the 1960s, the evolution of marketing as a discipline presented retailers with more interactive techniques to gather information about their customers. They began using surveys, interviews, and focus groups.<\/p>\n<p>Before sophisticated information technology, retailers relied largely on prior activity and this \u201canecdotal\u201d information on which to understand their customers. Technology was kept in the back room and used for simple business operations. Now, data-driven technology is at the core of retail business.<\/p>\n<p>To run a successful retail business, management must be able to answer questions that only information technology can provide. Which are our most profitable store locations? What products are selling best and are the most profitable? How is our customer base changing its buying pattern? Is our flow of inventory in line with anticipated sales?<\/p>\n<p>Today, the latest data-driven technology has even changed the paradigm from asking what all of our customers will want to asking what EACH of our customers will want.<\/p>\n<div class=\"textbox tryit\">\n<h3>Practice questions<\/h3>\n<p>\t<iframe id=\"assessment_practice_c12af0a7-12d6-4522-beb7-c5673eabfe9e\" class=\"resizable\" src=\"https:\/\/assess.lumenlearning.com\/practice\/c12af0a7-12d6-4522-beb7-c5673eabfe9e?iframe_resize_id=assessment_practice_id_c12af0a7-12d6-4522-beb7-c5673eabfe9e\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"border:none;width:100%;height:100%;min-height:300px;\"><br \/>\n\t<\/iframe>\n<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t <section class=\"citations-section\" role=\"contentinfo\">\n\t\t\t <h3>Candela Citations<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t <div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <div id=\"citation-list-1915\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t <div class=\"licensing\"><div class=\"license-attribution-dropdown-subheading\">CC licensed content, Original<\/div><ul class=\"citation-list\"><li>Methods to Gather Information and Make Decisions. <strong>Authored by<\/strong>: Bob Danielson. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: Lumen Learning. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/\">CC BY: Attribution<\/a><\/em><\/li><\/ul><div class=\"license-attribution-dropdown-subheading\">CC licensed content, Shared previously<\/div><ul class=\"citation-list\"><li>Business Magnifying Glass. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: MaxPixel. <strong>Located at<\/strong>: <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.maxpixel.net\/Investigation-Bureaucracy-Analysis-Magnifying-Glass-2840166\">https:\/\/www.maxpixel.net\/Investigation-Bureaucracy-Analysis-Magnifying-Glass-2840166<\/a>. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/about\/cc0\">CC0: No Rights Reserved<\/a><\/em><\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t <\/section>","protected":false},"author":62559,"menu_order":3,"template":"","meta":{"_candela_citation":"[{\"type\":\"original\",\"description\":\"Methods to Gather Information and Make Decisions\",\"author\":\"Bob Danielson\",\"organization\":\"Lumen Learning\",\"url\":\"\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"cc-by\",\"license_terms\":\"\"},{\"type\":\"cc\",\"description\":\"Business Magnifying Glass\",\"author\":\"\",\"organization\":\"MaxPixel\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.maxpixel.net\/Investigation-Bureaucracy-Analysis-Magnifying-Glass-2840166\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"cc0\",\"license_terms\":\"\"}]","CANDELA_OUTCOMES_GUID":"41d5132b-3f0a-4802-a4b2-d358006f7fb9, 184d578e-4f41-4f72-85a0-c9bbe2503bc7","pb_show_title":"on","pb_short_title":"","pb_subtitle":"","pb_authors":[],"pb_section_license":""},"chapter-type":[],"contributor":[],"license":[],"class_list":["post-1915","chapter","type-chapter","status-publish","hentry"],"part":1910,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-retailmanagement\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/1915","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-retailmanagement\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-retailmanagement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-retailmanagement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/62559"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-retailmanagement\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/1915\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6440,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-retailmanagement\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/1915\/revisions\/6440"}],"part":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-retailmanagement\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/1910"}],"metadata":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-retailmanagement\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/1915\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-retailmanagement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1915"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-retailmanagement\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapter-type?post=1915"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-retailmanagement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=1915"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-retailmanagement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=1915"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}