Identification of problems of a trading enterprise. Organization of wholesale trade using the example of Savit LLC

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The main problems of balanced development of trade enterprises

Chichilanova Irina Leonidovna,

postgraduate student at the Vologda Institute of Business.

Trade is one of the sectors of the national economic complex. It is a form of commodity relations between production, exchange and consumption, ensuring a rational correspondence between social needs and production resources. In a market economy, trade should help satisfy the effective demand of the population for consumer goods and services.

The trading business began to develop in Russia with the transition to market relations; its role in social terms is growing every year, contributing to the development of entrepreneurial activity and the expansion of the middle class. In connection with development, trade has undergone major structural changes and, due to its scale and influence on the standard of living of the population, began to play an important role in the country's economy.

A feature of modern trade is the transition to an intensive type of development, expressed in a decrease in spontaneously organized markets, consolidation and intensification of retail chains, expansion of global foreign trade entities, and increased competition between large retail chains.

Currently, retail trade faces great challenges, such as the requirement to accelerate development, the need to structurally restructure the retail trading network, and solve problems associated with increasing the number of enterprises and their location.

For the balanced development of trade enterprises, it is necessary to develop different types or types of stores, which should be based on new form trade, and at the same time absorb certain features of old forms. For example, modern retail chain stores can combine the features of a department store and a discount store. Because different consumers like different shapes trade. Today, the services of self-service retail stores are used by representatives of all walks of life, especially when purchasing everyday goods and certain goods pre-selection. Self-service is the foundation of any discount retail experience. Therefore, over the past few decades, the number of retail establishments with full service, is steadily declining.

In order to reduce the level of risks, trading enterprises must also carry out active marketing activities to identify the real and potential market capacity and the real and potential demand for a specific product offered by them. Basic principles trading enterprise as commercial enterprises are: the principle of making a profit at lower costs and the principle of minimizing all types of risk, this is the balanced development of a trading enterprise.

Along with this, there are a number of problems that hinder the growth of enterprises, such as: lack of financial resources; lack of qualified specialists; high rents and lack of storage space; lack of information support; Tough competition; imperfection of the regulatory framework in the field of state regulation of the trade sector.

The main problem of small trading companies is due to the lack of financial resources. Most Russian entrepreneurs note significant difficulties in attracting financing both at the start and during the development of their business.

In Russia, a coherent idea of ​​the financial support system has not been formed, although start-up firms can receive support from the Fund for Assistance to the Development of Small Enterprises, such as business incubators and other funds. Banks, in turn, are not profitable to work in this segment of the credit market: very high risks, poorly justified business plans, low liquidity of collateral. Small businesses try not to resort to borrowed funds due to high interest rates and lack of collateral. Until recently, the unstable economic situation in the country made it difficult to reliably assess the demand for the company’s products, even in the short term. For a beginner, getting a loan is quite difficult. Therefore, it is necessary to improve the mechanisms of financial support for such firms; it is expected to share risks between the state and commercial banks.

The trading industry provides jobs for a fifth of the country's economically active population with wages corresponding to the national average. However, there is a significant shortage and insufficient qualifications of personnel in the industry, which are mainly due to the rapid growth of the trade industry in recent years, low-skilled workers, insufficient quality of trade training in Russian universities. The greatest shortage of labor resources is observed at the level of low-skilled and semi-skilled personnel. Problems with recruiting low-skilled personnel are primarily related to low level wages, high staff turnover, low motivation to work and a low degree of prestige of the profession. There is also a shortage of medium and highly qualified personnel, which is associated with the insufficient quality of training of university graduates studying trade specialties.

An acute problem for enterprises remains the high rent for using premises for retail and warehouse purposes. The main factor for the successful operation of trading enterprises is a favorable location. It is this that determines the volume of trade turnover. The greatest demand is for retail premises located near the main transport hubs, stations various types messages. Rent rates in the center and on the outskirts differ several times. In this regard, many tenants cannot immediately decide on the possible location of their retail outlets. No less important is the problem of purchasing leased premises. The main reasons are short installment payment terms, bans on the purchase of properties located along central highways, and high market prices for real estate. For products such as food that require special conditions storage, the lack of warehouses does not allow for the delivery of goods on time and in sufficient quantities, thereby disrupting the process of commodity exchange.

One of the problems of small businesses in the field of trade also includes the lack of information about new markets and the lack of opportunities for cooperation with other enterprises and organizations. Existing entrepreneurs lack information about existing opportunities, state municipal programs, existing elements of the infrastructure for business development, opportunities to attract investments, etc.

In the context of the criminalization of Russian business, the problem of survival in a competitive market environment is becoming one of the main ones for companies, therefore it is necessary to improve the regulatory framework in the field of state regulation of the trade sector.

The lack of strict regulation, on the one hand, contributed to the high investment attractiveness and rapid pace of development of the industry, and on the other, led to the emergence of high entry barriers to regional markets, expressed in protectionist measures on the part of regional administrations.

In recent years, it has been actively implemented administrative reform. A lot has been accomplished. At the same time, a number unresolved problems remains. As before, serious barriers include the need to obtain a significant number of permits and the presence of excessive tax and statistical reporting. Therefore, it remains relevant to solve the problem of further reducing the number of necessary permits and reporting documents.

Today, the economic situation as a whole cannot be considered particularly favorable for the development of private entrepreneurship in the trade sector. Inflation forces the turnover of capital to accelerate, which narrows the range of potentially profitable goods and limits the choice of promising market segments. Falling standard of living, reducing the capacity of the goods market industrial production in favor of food products, brings to the fore methods of price competition, the successful application of which often depends on purely external circumstances.

Based on the above, we can conclude that for the balanced development of retail enterprises, the processes of ensuring self-sufficiency, self-financing and long-term development play an important role. The main ones are: obtaining net income sufficient for self-sufficiency, self-financing and development; ensuring the welfare of capital owners; strengthening productive capacity; increasing the level of investment activity.

Regulation of internal activities to achieve balanced development of an enterprise can be ensured on the basis of coordinating the interests of the owner and the business organization as a whole, the interests of the state, employees and the business organization. The interests of the owner and the business organization can be balanced by choosing areas of activity and strategic positions in competition in accordance with the nature of the life cycle of the organization's development, ensuring high profits, as well as by improving the internal culture of entrepreneurial behavior of both the owner and the organization in in general. The balance of interests of the state and the business organization can be adjusted in such ways as: the organization’s choice of an optimal development strategy, which will ensure high state budget revenues in the future, as well as the establishment by the state of reasonable tax rates and encouragement of the organization’s investment activities.

The implementation of business regulation will contribute to the balanced development of retail enterprises.

Literature

1.Civil Code of the Russian Federation (Civil Code of the Russian Federation) dated November 30, 1994 N 51-FZ - Part 1, Art. 10

2. Law of the Russian Federation “On the Protection of Consumer Rights” (law on consumer rights) dated 02/07/1992 N 2300-1.

3. Berman B. Retail trade: a strategic approach: trans. from English /B. Berman J. R. Evans. – M.: Williams, 2003. – 1181 p.

4. Gilbert D. Retail marketing management: trans. from English – M.: INFRA-M, 2005. – 571 p.

Trade acquires a dominant position both in relation to the final consumer of goods and in relation to the commodity producer.

Problems in food retail, and especially in the format of organized trade, arose with the onset of the global economic crisis, which began in early 2014.

The consequences of the crisis affected, first of all, the socially significant sphere of trading activity - retail trade.

Retail trade is designed to satisfy the needs of people, and buyers in Russia, India, China and many other countries have felt the taste of a good life. There is an understanding that the retail industry is facing major changes.

Problems have emerged in the sale of goods, which have revealed the need for the existence and effective functioning of distribution channels in national economy. In times of crisis, when problems began to arise in the retail segment, including in the cooperation of retail chains with manufacturers, the latter are concentrating their efforts on expanding their activities, focusing on specific customer segments and new distribution channels.

In the regions Russian Federation A sector of the economy such as retail trade is in a stage of rapid growth. In recent years, dozens of retail chains have appeared on the domestic retail market. Indeed, retail is a very convenient structure both for the activities of sellers and for meeting the needs of buyers. Wholesale trade does not cease to function, but acts as an intermediary between the product manufacturer and the retailer. Thus, developing since 1994, regional network trade has covered a significant geographical area and has become almost the driving force behind the increase in trade turnover throughout the country.

However, any progress comes with many challenges. One of them can be formulated in the form of a question: how to conduct business with such a number of network trading companies? profitable business within the network, create new networks and even promote them internationally?

In order to answer, first of all, you should find out what the retail market in Russia is, what business models are especially quoted on this moment in economics, and most importantly, how competition occurs between companies of the same trading network. In most regions, the retail sector covers approximately 50% of the market. If previously retail chains could include stores of only one format, for example, only hypermarkets or discounters, now they are becoming multi-format. It should also be noted that the strongest concentration of retail trade is located in Moscow and St. Petersburg: these two cities are the main links for suppliers, and focusing only on them often limits the possible expansion of chains.

The falling purchasing power of the population also appears to be a problem area. The number of stores and firms on the market is growing, but in some regions the desired level of healthy competition has not yet been achieved, which also hinders the development of retail chains.

In order to retail network exceeded the level of self-sufficiency, a suitable business model is required. If we analyze the activities of the country's leading retailers, we can conclude: the key to success lies in a centralized management method, which guarantees quick execution of commands and the absence of disagreements between managers of the same level.

Several models for managing regional retail chains have been formed in Russia.

First of all, it should be said about the so-called “investment” model. It is unpopular and only partially connects the objects of the retail chain. In this case, stores either have a single investment center or use a common brand.

The “holding” model is considered more common. Many Russian companies choose this type of management to promote their products. His main feature is that the central office determines the entire purchasing policy of the network. This management style is acceptable for retailers who do not have distribution centers. The holding system involves rapid expansion of the network and its access to the international level. This requires large investments, so each store is forced to install enough high prices, which negatively affects healthy competition in the country.

The most convenient and effective in all respects is the “centralized” model. The common center determines not only purchasing conditions, but also assortment and pricing policies. If a retailer owns distribution centers, then this leadership style is a real chance for short time become a leader in the competition. The problem can only be the organization remote control and the creation of information transmission channels, which is quite feasible in the era of developing technologies.

Networks with a “tray” management model are becoming increasingly rare in the regional market. The central office in this case is not a sensitive supervisor, but a “tough” controller. Thus, an individual store has no control levers, and failures in the upper management system can lead to delays in the operation of individual outlets.

In Russia, the most popular are “holding” and “centralized” management models. The latter is almost universal and the best for entering new regional markets. Achieving expansion is not easy, but it is possible. It is often facilitated by events such as mergers or acquisitions. A large trading network, “capturing” smaller ones, expands and becomes more significant at the national level. With proper management in the described case, the ground is created for entering the world market. The same thing happens when two equivalent retail chains merge. Forming a powerful tandem, retail operators of companies decide everything internal problems through “external” successes in the regional market.

Of particular interest is the franchising system in the retail market, which can also be considered as a type of expansion and promotion of chains in the regions. Many companies buy from foreign or domestic producers the so-called franchise (the right to use trademark) and sell products in different regions countries. An example is the Turkish chain Ramstore, whose stores have firmly occupied Russian market. However, this practice has only been applied in recent years.

If in Western countries franchising is based on the latest technologies And the legislative framework of all projects is strong, then in Russia there are many economic and socio-legal problems associated with the acquisition of the right to sell foreign products. Basically, the development of franchising in regional chains is hampered by economic instability and the lack of retailers with the required amount of start-up capital to conclude a contract with the franchisor. Regarding growth prospects, it should be said that legislators are working to improve legal programs that will bring franchising in Russia to new level. In addition, the owners of regional networks are simplifying the complex accounting structure that creates many problems.

The key to successful trading operations in the regions is a competent assortment and pricing policy. By analyzing the financial position of the enterprise, the needs of customers, as well as the strategic objectives of the company, the manager determines the style of competition. Regional networks use vertical, horizontal and integrated methods changes in product range. The vertical approach is based on the direct narrowing or expansion of the assortment in the industry, the horizontal approach is based on the diversification of the set of goods within the framework of the present activity. A complex approach includes the two listed above. Russian retailers predominantly choose the horizontal method, less often the vertical one. Healthy competition in the market does not accept sharp fluctuations in the number of goods.

The choice of pricing policy is also important. Retailers who begin selling multi-product products most often resort to a method called skimming.

Setting high prices for unique goods in all regions, entrepreneurs do not lower rates until demand drops. On initial stages promoting regional retail chains, many head offices choose a policy of lower prices in order to quickly penetrate the market and capture the consumer audience. However, most retailers strive to set stable prices, which ensures stable profits. If we talk about the prospects for the development of pricing policy, then regional networks rely on the most elastic prices, which also supports healthy competition in the industry.

As already mentioned, the main retail centers in the country are still Moscow and St. Petersburg. However, there is now a catastrophic lack of space for networks to operate in these cities, which makes regional expansion not only useful, but also necessary.

Leading retailers are targeting Moscow (more than 30% of all investments by retail entrepreneurs and 30% of sales volume), the Moscow region, St. Petersburg and Yekaterinburg. This gr...

The variety of suppliers creates the opportunity for the company to replenish the store’s assortment with so-called exclusive goods, which are understood as goods that are not available in other stores in this market. If an exclusive product differs more high quality and relatively low cost, then its presence in the store’s assortment brings not only additional profit (it is possible to make a higher markup on such a product, since such a product is not available in other stores in the city), but also makes the store more attractive to the buyer, thereby increasing its competitiveness.

c) technical. These include: technologies used in the company; used retail store equipment in shops; enterprise automation systems; quality of customer service.

Currently, the retail industry has a wide variety of tools that can improve store efficiency. One of these tools is the use of automated management systems, which ensure the efficiency of collection, processing and analysis of a wide variety of information on the basis of which management decisions are made.

Today, special information products have appeared that allow you to automate any business processes in a company: trade management, personnel management, financial management, marketing management, purchasing management and others. Automation of business processes allows you to increase the efficiency of the entire operation of the company while reducing costs.

Modern commercial equipment allows you to instantly record sales volumes of any product in each period of time: hour, day, day, week, month, etc. The use of automated control systems allows you to quickly analyze the turnover of any product at a retail outlet, which ultimately allows you to rationalize the purchasing process of each product in order to avoid damage and maintain quality.

The use of automated control systems is beneficial for a retail trading company, not only at the procurement stage, but also at the stage of selling goods at a retail outlet. Modern software products allow you to most effectively organize the layout of the sales floor, display of goods and determine optimal quantity promotional materials.

Currently, high-quality service and the opportunity to use additional services (payment cellular communications, Internet; opportunity to pay for your purchase plastic card and others) in the store plays an increasingly important role in choosing a store to make a purchase. It is no coincidence that capital companies open their stores, as a rule, as part of shopping and shopping and entertainment centers. Buyer visiting a universal shopping mall, has the opportunity not only to purchase food and related products, but also others: clothing, shoes, Appliances and a number of other products. Thus, the store’s assortment and Additional services provided to the buyer are also a factor in the company's competitiveness.

d) managerial. These include: managers; functioning of the management system, organization of basic business processes. The more clearly and quickly the management system responds to changes, the more effectively it functions.

Retail trade is an industry in which speed of decision-making plays a key role in ensuring the company's competitiveness. The external environment is constantly changing, which is associated not only with the emergence of new competitors, but also with the actions of competitive forces in the market. The actions of competitors can be very diverse: changes in prices for goods, the emergence of new items in the assortment, the emergence of new trading technologies, and others. Therefore, than faster company reacts to the actions of competitors, the more likely it is that the company will retain its customers and ensure its competitiveness.

The company's management structure should facilitate rapid decision-making when the external environment changes. The organization of business processes must be structured in such a way as to ensure the most optimal organization of all trade, starting from determining the most optimal range of goods, ending with the direct sale of goods in the store.

d) market. These include: access to the resource market, necessary for the organization; access to the market of new technologies; use of new marketing tools; use of merchandising.

Access to the market of new technologies allows a company to gain an additional competitive advantage through the use of technology that a competing company cannot implement for a number of reasons: financial, lack of experience, and others. It is through access to the market of new technologies (the use of self-service systems for weighing goods, determining the location through a touch panel the desired group goods, the buyer determining the price of goods by barcode, etc.), metropolitan and foreign retail companies are the most competitive compared to regional companies.

A real significant improvement in the quality of trade services and trade services in the territory requires thoughtful and coordinated management decisions at macro, meso and micro levels.

The main problems in the field of retailing are Retailing. [ Electronic resource] // Informational portal ForexAw.com. - Access mode: http://forexaw.com/TERMs/Economic_terms_and_concepts/Business/l46 _Retail_trading_Retail_is#problemy-roznichnоj-tоrgovli-i-ikh-reshenie:

The problem of theft and loss;

Shortage working capital;

Shortage retail space;

Personnel problems in retail trade.

The problem of theft and loss. With the increase in the share of self-service stores, the consolidation of retail enterprises, the growth of staff and the complication of organizational structure trading enterprises - the problem of theft and losses has come to the fore. Russia is in the group of leaders on this problem, sharing 6th and 1st place with Mexico with an indicator of 6%. This corresponds to three billion dollars in losses for each country. How many goods were stolen from stores around the world in 2000? [Electronic resource]. - Access mode: http://www.оnline8 2.ru/20 0/ 0/20/0 9..

Thefts are carried out by the so-called “problem customers” (they account for /3) and staff (2/3 - not only thefts, but administrative errors, the nature of which is very difficult to determine: evil intent and calculation or indeed oversight).

Another important loss for stores is supplier fraud (approximately % of all losses). The supplier may supply products with expired or “burning” deadlines, or with product defects. Such products cannot be released for sale. But very often such products end up on the sales floor and the function of “detection” of spoiled goods is performed by buyers, opening yogurt at home or slicing sausage. IN in this case the store does not incur any significant financial losses, but they will be expressed in a drop in the store’s image and the number of customers.

The problems of this group are solved thanks to the implementation automated technologies, such as: video surveillance (one of the main and most effective types security); control sensors at the entrance/exit of the trading floor; cash control, etc. According to statistics, installing anti-theft systems reduces store losses by approximately 0%. And the video monitoring system helps reduce losses by almost 3 times. The payback period for anti-theft products lasts from 3 to 2 months. The integrated use of such tools can reduce the likelihood of theft to almost zero, increasing the profitability of the store. An integrated store security system will protect the owner and customers [Electronic resource]. - Access mode: http://www.market-security.ru..

Shortage of working capital. This is the most common problem in trading. And it is connected mainly with non-food assortment. A standard situation for retail is when a product (especially clothing assortment) is sold out by no more than 60%, and 40% of this product remains in the warehouse and gives rise to a whole range of problems: unsold goods take up a significant amount of space in the warehouse; funds invested in unsold products end up as unclaimed goods; the value of a fashion product falls every month, often the period of “peak” value is calculated in weeks. As a result, a progressive increase in losses; the “floating” amount of goods in the warehouse as a result of imperfect accounting systems (many still carry out inventory with a pen and paper) leads to the impossibility of accounting for “mothballed” funds Retail trade. [Electronic resource] // Information portal ForexAw.com. - Access mode: http://forexaw.com/TERMs/Economic_terms_and_concepts/Business/l46 _Retail_trading_Retail_is#problemy-roznichnоj-torgоvli-i-ikh-reshenie.

Lack of retail space. Despite the positive development of retail trade, there are problems such as a shortage of retail space. This problem is most acute in big cities(for example, in Moscow). In such cities today, even for a small retail outlet, you can find suitable premises extremely difficult. This is not to mention large shopping complexes and supermarkets.

Personnel problems in retail trade. Today, retail enterprises experience a clear shortage of highly qualified personnel at all levels: retail accountants, marketers, buyers and logisticians. There are university graduates, but most often the quality of their training does not always meet the needs of the market. The main reason refusal to young personnel is lack of professionalism, inability to solve work problems with the help computer programs, lack of logical and analytical abilities and basic illiteracy in drawing up working documents. Any employer expects that new employee will be able to quickly get involved in work and begin to master new business processes. Therefore, it is logical that most companies try not to hire university graduates without work experience in their specialty. For the employer, this is a big risk associated with the loss of time and money for retraining.

There is also a counter problem. If a university graduate received practical experience in your chosen profession while working on temporary projects or industrial practice at the institute, then he, as a novice specialist, may have inflated salary expectations.

This problem is solved through the effective work of the HR department and the establishment of a favorable climate in the team. If the store conducts competent personnel policy, then it is possible to significantly reduce the level of losses. An integrated store security system will protect the owner and customers [Electronic resource]. - Access mode: http://www.market-security.ru.. Today, the stores of the Garant retail chain pay close attention to solving such problems. Each store has video surveillance, security guards, cash control has been established, the social level of enterprise development is quite high: flexible work hours, social security, favorable climate, etc. As well as constant quality control of goods, packaging of goods, which takes into account the needs of different consumers, flexible system prices, availability of discount cards, friendly and polite salespeople. All this allows the Garant retail chain to be quite competitive in the Severodvinsk market.

Currently, retail trade occupies a special place in the organization of trade services to the population.

In our opinion, the welfare of the population and regions is assessed, first of all, by the level of trade services.

Retail trade is the final link that closes the chain of economic relations in the process of distribution of goods from manufacturers to consumers. In a retail trading network, material resources move from the sphere of circulation to the sphere of collective, individual, personal consumption, i.e. become the property of consumers. This occurs through buying and selling as buyers purchase the goods they need in exchange for their cash income. So, when a product turns into money, starting opportunities for a new production cycle are created. It follows that retail trade should be considered in the process of circulation of the entire social product, where the stages of production, distribution, exchange and consumption are closely interconnected.

Thus, economic importance The retail trade network is to speed up the movement and sale of goods, as well as maintain their quantity and quality all the way from production to the consumer. The economic aspect of trade is manifested in the value of the total social product and national income of society.

The social significance of a retail trading network is to satisfy the material, social and everyday needs of members of society, improve the standard of living of the people, create favorable conditions for comprehensive personal development. It can be said that social aspect retail trade is reflected in the amount of free time of workers. Thus, reducing the time spent on purchasing goods and preparing food creates the necessary conditions for the development of a market economy, technical process, increasing labor productivity and efficiency of social production.

Presence among retailers different types stores, in our opinion, is one of important indicators state of retail trade in market conditions. Their role can hardly be overestimated; these stores have the largest assortment in trade, offer a number of other services to customers.

Retail trade is one of the most significant sectors of the economy for society. There are 1.4 million retailers in Russia, whose combined annual sales exceed 1 trillion. dollars. The retail industry employs about 20 million people. It is worth noting, however, that over the past 10 years in Russia the number of trade workers has increased by 30%, while the number of production workers has decreased by 21%.

Consumer cooperation plays an important role in the formation of the consumer market of the Stavropol Territory. In 2000, enterprises and consumer cooperation organizations sold goods worth 328.1 million rubles, which in terms of commodity mass is 81.1% of the 1999 level. Their specific gravity in the volume of retail turnover of the region it occupies 1.5% (in 1999 - 1.6%). As we see, consumer cooperation has lost its priorities.

In total, in the Stavropol Territory in the trade sector as of January 1, 2001, there were 1,541 retail trading units, including 999 operating units. Of these, stores account for 1,459 units, including 932 operating units. The number of retail trade enterprises decreased by 1,873 units compared to 1991, and by 21 units compared to 2000.

Retail trade has become so firmly established in our lives that we no longer notice it and take it for granted. As buyers, we don't think about what difficult decisions managers of trading enterprises decide what technologies they use to offer you and me goods and services.

We believe that managers of trading enterprises should pay attention to Special attention issues related to strategy development, store placement, selection of product assortment and services provided, as well as pricing, promotion and provision of goods in the store, because in conditions of strong competition and constant rapid changes in the market environment, the adoption of these decisions can lead to the success of the store, exceed expected income levels.

Retail trade, which offers consumers goods and services intended for personal use, is the last link in the distribution channels connecting producers and buyers. The place of retail trade in product distribution channels is demonstrated in Figure 1. Manufacturing enterprises manufacture goods and sell them to enterprises engaged in wholesale or retail trade. Wholesalers resell these goods to retailers, who resell them to end consumers.

Production Wholesaler Retail Consumer

Figure 1. Product distribution channel

As can be seen from Fig. 1. a product goes through 4 stages as it moves from manufacturer to consumer. Each stage is characterized by its content, features of function and methods of achieving them.

• 1. Providing a certain range of goods and services. The average supermarket offers about 15 thousand types of goods from more than 500 manufacturers. Offering so a wide range of, enterprises provide their customers with the opportunity to purchase goods of the most different brands, styles, sizes, colors and prices in the same place.
• 2. Splitting of incoming consignments of goods. To reduce shipping costs, manufacturers typically ship products in bulk to retailers in appropriate packaging and containers. Retailers, in turn, offer goods in small quantities that meet the needs of individual consumers. This is the function of crushing incoming batches of goods.
• 3. Inventory storage. By maintaining a certain amount of inventory, retailers create additional benefit for consumers, since the latter’s storage costs are reduced.
• 4. Providing service. Retailers provide services that make it easier for customers to buy and use products, displaying the products they carry so that consumers have the opportunity to look at them, hold them in their hands, and often try them before they make a purchase.

All these actions constitute from 20 to 50% of the cost of goods sold at retail. In our opinion, such a high figure once again emphasizes the need for effective retail trade and the importance of its role in modern society.

Particular attention should be paid to the fact that the basis of retail trade is made up of customers and competing firms, as well as the environment in which it exists. If a retailer is to succeed, it must know what its customers want and provide products and services that satisfy their needs and compete with competitors. We believe all this is possible only if the retailer constantly monitors the emergence of new consumer needs, the emergence of new competitors and new technologies.