Departmental stores in big cities are now considered as necessities. Why? Well, because people living in big cities are usually busy which is why they need everything in one place to avoid wasting their time and energy. Some may even wonder what a departmental store is. To begin with, a department store is an enterprise run in one building and under centralized controlled management of many retail stores.
However, just another department store is not quite the catch. Big cities need good department stores. The definitions of a ‘good’ department store can be debated upon. Therefore, to clarify, a good department store needs to consist of a wide variety of departments for example Dairy, Produce, Frozen foods and etc. (these varieties will be discussed further). In addition, ‘good’ department stores are defined based on their prices of goods as well. If there is a wide variety of departments in a store where the products are cheap, it is extremely likely that the store will be considered to be a ‘good’ department store.
There are many different features of departmental stores including the ones mentioned above:
- Large-scale retail stores are departmental shops.
- A variety of departments are grouped under a single roof.
- Every department specializes in a specific form of trade.
- Their fundamental idea is that by offering a wide range of products, it is better to sell more goods to the same consumers than to sell more customers the same kind of goods. Therefore, from a pin to an aircraft, they have a wide selection of merchandise and serve as universal suppliers.
- Their mission is to provide customers with quality products and services. They also supply restaurants, telephone services, leisure facilities, reading rooms etc.
- They are situated in the central and important areas of the major cities.
- To set up a departmental store, a huge amount of capital is needed.
- They have to make heavy use of ads in order to retain clients.
- Due to the different facilities offered by them, high rents, ads etc, the operating costs of a department store are very high.
- Management and control of department stores are centralized.
As mentioned earlier, a good departmental store always consists of departments of a wide range or variety. These varieties include:
- Fresh produce
- Deli
- Bakery
- Dairy
- Spices
- Baking
- Condiments
- General merchandise
- Meat/seafood
- Meat/ Cheese
- Household supplies
- Baby products
- Toiletries
- Frozen foods
- Snacks
These are a few main departments in a departmental store.
Evidently, it is visible that almost half of these departments are related to food, we know that the presence of good food department stores is extremely necessary, especially in big cities. The reason for this is because food items are one of the most basic necessities for all beings. Food provides people with the energy they need to work because working in a big city is no piece of cake. Everyone knows that it requires a lot of hard work and energy. Therefore, the presence of food department store becomes quite necessary. Without it, it becomes difficult for us to call it a departmental store.
However, the real concern here is that in big cities, good food department stores are required which includes a wide variety of food items. This is because there are customers in big cities from all walks of life, which means that all of them might have different preferences, taste and etc. Thus, to cater to a large population in big cities, and to attract customers, it is important for good food department stores to exist.
Consequently, there are a number of advantages for customers due to the existence of departmental store:
- Shopping convenience: A department store helps consumers to buy all of their needs under one roof and customers do not need to go to make purchases from one store to another. This offers consumers great comfort and saves time and labor as well.
- Variety: The department store maintains a broad range of items and therefore provides consumers with an opportunity to choose products of their liking from a vast stock of products of various quality, labels, designs, colors, types, etc.
- Services: They provide their clients with many unique services, such as free home delivery, acceptance of telephone orders, restaurants, leisure facilities, reading rooms, after-sale service, etc. Some of the stores are even offering their clients credit facilities.
- Central location: In general, a department store is located in an important central place in a city. It is, therefore, readily accessible.