Retail Formats and Store Organisation
This domain tests classification of retail formats and knowledge of who does what inside a store. Expect questions that describe a store and ask you to name the format, or that give a task and ask which role owns it.
Classifying formats
- By ownership: independent kirana, chain, franchise, cooperative, public-sector outlets, fair price shops.
- By merchandise: specialty store (narrow range, deep assortment), department store (many departments under one roof, service-led), supermarket (food and grocery, self-service), hypermarket (very large, food plus non-food), convenience store (long hours, limited items, higher price), category killer and discount store.
- By channel: brick-and-mortar, e-commerce, omnichannel. Distinguish supermarket from hypermarket by size and non-food share, and department store from hypermarket by service level and food share.
Store organisation
Store Manager is accountable for sales, shrinkage, staff and compliance. Below: Assistant Manager, then department or category managers (grocery, fresh, apparel, electronics). Support roles: cashier at the checkout, customer service desk, visual merchandiser, inventory/back-office assistant, housekeeping and security. A cashier owns the till and its cash; a visual merchandiser owns display and planogram compliance; the back office owns GRN, stock records and price changes.
Worked example
A 60,000 sq ft store with trolleys, 20 checkouts, grocery plus apparel, electronics and homeware, trading on two floors. Reasoning: the size and the large non-food range rule out a supermarket, and the self-service trolley layout rules out a department store - so it is a hypermarket. Organisationally it needs category managers per vertical, because one manager cannot own grocery and electronics assortment together.
Traps that cost marks
Mixing up department store and hypermarket; calling a franchise a chain branch (a franchisee is an independent owner under a brand licence); and confusing format with channel.