COMM 454

To familiarize students with the decisions involved in developing sustainable competitive advantage in retailing and the concepts and principles for making those decisions to promote higher sales and profits. Topics covered include but are not limited to the strategic importance of retailing in the distribution chain, the retailing environment, retail entrepreneurship, types of retailers, multi-channel and electronic retailing, retail strategy, customer relationship management, store location, design, layout and visual merchandising, buying merchandise, managing store operations and customer service.