http://chainstoreage.com/story.aspx?id=116297&menuid=439
Summary
The article is about the prediction for retailers of this years sales and how it's remaining inactive compared to last year. Deloitte's Retail group predicts that this years holiday sales will improve a total of $810 billion compared to last holiday's decrease of 2.4%. Although the economy is slowly improving and getting back on it's feet, the chief economist with Deloitte Research, Carl Steidtamm says, "...many consumers remain burdened by restricted credit availability, high unemployment and foreclosures." Retailers are striving to attract new consumers with targeted advertisements and campaign effectiveness. Deliotte states that retailers are targeted on consumers who are embracing the digital age.
This article suggests that the economy has been on a roller coaster ride since 1967 and that this year the ride is taking the economy upward.
Connections
A section of the chapter is based on Channels of Distribution (refers to the routes that goods travel from producer to the consumer) which teaches the different ways goods are distributed from one place to another. The text states the four basic channels of distribution for consumer goods. In this case, it could lead to all of these channels. The economic crisis leads to less consumers because of restricted credit card availabilities and unemployment. Which then leads to retailers ordering less goods or merchandise from wholesalers. This then causes wholesalers to stop requesting products from producers. This would all contribute to the problem with the economy slowing down and decreasing holiday sales year after year.
Reflection
I've actually learned a lot from this article. I always knew that there were some problems going on with the economy and the business industry but I never thought about how much it affected people and businesses. Retailers do a lot to attract people into buying their goods and I never really realized how much consumers mean to them. Consumers are the most important people in the channels of distribution, without consumers the economy would be nothing! I really wonder how the economy will be like in two years, either decreased by a whole 10% or perhaps improvement and higher sale rates. I also didn't know the economy in America has higher sale rates then Canada and it's still improving.
