Ch. 15 - Retailing

Retailing in the United States is a very important part of the economy. In fact, according to the MKTG 3 textbook, "retailers ring up over $4 trillion in sales annually, about 40 percent of the gross domestic product." That tells me that that the each marketer of the respective company has a huge responsibility to do whatever it takes to get us to buy, buy, and buy some more.


This evening I visited one of my favorite stores, Niketown, located at 57th and 5th avenue. I was pleasantly surprised that they allowed me to take photos, probably because tourists are a big part of their target market.  Retailing depends wholly on the customer and if the retailer comes to know the customer, then it is likely that the company will thrive! As I entered Nike, I was looking to find the retailing mix, which is "a combination of the six P's (product, place, promotion, price, presentation, and personnel) to sell goods to the ultimate consumer.


First of all, the PLACE is fabulous because.... come on! 5th AVENUE! That is a perfect location to experience growth and profitability. This is where a majority of tourists come to shop and where people with moderate to high incomes come to spend their money. It's busy all the time and there's 5 floors of product. ENOUGH SAID!

Secondly, PROMOTION at this store is always phenomenal, because of their intriguing ads which induces consumers to the world renowned company of Nike. A very interesting promotional strategy that is used at this place is their Runner's Club. They have three meetings a week and large groups of people get together and run! There are professional coaches there to instruct the group on where to go, how to stretch, and any advice if needed. You can leave your bag at the store carefree because someone is in charge of watching over it. After the run, they set up post-run snacks like bagels or drinks like Gatorade or Jamba Juice. Occasionally, the store allows runners to try out new products to see what they think of them. One important thing about this club...it's FREE!If you look up this Nike on Yelp.com (click here ) people are raving about how great this service is and have given it 4.5 stars!!!


For the PRODUCT and PRICE, people that come here usually know what to expect from Nike. Nike is the leader of sporting goods and at this Nike they have the whole collection of concentrations. They have soccer, football, basketball, tennis, running, golf, hockey, baseball, casual. This is the mecca of Nike's. Customers know and are willing to pay the extra money to get Nike quality. Although it may seem expensive to me, I understand why and I am not complaining when I spend 100 dollars for running shoes. I know they will last and I will be happy with my purchase.

The PRESENTATION is very Nike, for lack of better words. When you walk in you experience the wow factor and you literately smell "Nike." My first time at this store, I loved that there was 5 floors of organized merchandise. They had a lot of variety and colors. You are bound to find something you liked. Each floor is categorized between men and women and by sport. It was very easy to go directly up to your desired department. There was a lot of lighting, highlighting their special merchandise for example, the Jordan label for basketball. Leave it to Nike to Just do It, and have a wonderful environment.


Nike's PERSONNEL are very relaxed and outgoing. At first glance they appear to be knowledgeable about sports and they even seem like athletes themselves. They go along with the "Nike" theme nicely. When I came in the past to buy some running shoes, they were very cordial and let me know what I should look for in a pair of running shoes. I appreciated their help and how quick they got my size for the shoes. 

The rest of the photos of my NIKETOWN trip will be posted on the blog!