Retail management: a strategic approach, 13th ed, global edition.

Abstract

We are quite proud and very thankful to have produced a book that has been so enduringly popular. The book has been adopted by universities and colleges around the world, and it has been translated into Chinese and Russian. Both Joel and I (Barry) are pleased to welcome a new co-author for this edition. Dr. Patrali Chatterjee (Ph.D. in Management with a major in Marketing) is a Full Professor of Marketing in the Feliciano School of Business at Montclair State University. She is currently an officer for the American Collegiate Retailing Association (ACRA). She has published her research in several academic journals and been featured in business media, as well. Professor Chatterjee has also consulted for several Fortune 500 companies. As we move further into the twenty-first century, our goal is to seamlessly meld the traditional framework of retailing with the realities of the competitive environment and the emergence of high-tech as a backbone for retailing. Retail Management: A Strategic Approach is a cutting-edge text, while retaining the coverage and features most desired by professors and students. To remain timely, we regularly post material about current events at our blog (www.bermanevansretail. com), which already has more than 1,500 posts and viewers from 180 countries. Our enthusiasm for teaching and writing remains quite high. We all teach a full schedule of undergraduate and graduate courses in the Zarb School of Business at Hofstra University (Barry and Joel) and the Feliciano School of Business at Montclair State University (Patrali); both schools are fully accredited by AACSB International. We have been all been active in and supportive of ACRA. Barry has served as president and is in the ACRA Hall of Fame, while Joel has edited several conference proceedings and Patrali is an officer on the board. The concepts of a strategic approach and a retail strategy remain our cornerstones. We were the first authors to take this primary orientation to the teaching of retail management. With a strategic approach, the fundamental principle is that the retailer has to plan for and adapt to a complex, changing environment. Both opportunities and constraints must be considered. A retail strategy is the overall plan or framework of action that guides a retailer. Ideally, it will be at least one year in duration and outline the mission, goals, consumer market, overall and specific activities, and control mechanisms of the retailer. Without a pre-defined and well-integrated strategy, the firm may flounder and be unable to cope with the environment that surrounds it. Through our text, we want the reader to become a good retail planner and decision maker and be able to adapt to change. Retail Management is designed as a one-semester text for students of retailing or retail management. Due to the flexible pedagogical elements that accompany the book and the ability of the instructor to cover all or selected chapters in the book, Retail Management has been used by four-year and two-year schools, in undergraduate and graduate courses, and by business schools and nonbusiness schools. In many cases, students will have already been exposed to marketing principles. We feel retailing should be viewed as one form of marketing and not distinct from it.