In preparing the sixth edition of Retailing Management, we have revised the textbook to address three important developments in retailing: (1) the increased use of technology and analytical methods, (2) the globalization of the retail industry, and (3) the growing importance of ethical and legal considerations.

Use of Technology in Retailing
Retailing is evolving into a high-tech industry as retailers increasingly use communications and information systems technologies and analytical models to increase operating efficiencies and improve customer service. Some of these new technology applications, identified with a technology icon in the margin and discussed in the sixth edition, are:

• Use of Web sites to sell products and services to customers (Chapter 3).
• Provide a seamless multichannel (stores, Web sites, and catalogs) interface so that customers can interact with retailers anytime, anywhere (Chapter 3).
• Store of the future using technology to provide a more rewarding shopping experience (Chapter 3).
• Application of geographic information system (GIS) technology for store location decisions (Chapter 8).
• Internet applications for effective human resource management (Chapter 9).
• Integrated supply chain management systems (Chapter 10).
• RFID (radio frequency identification) technology to improve supply chain efficiency (Chapter 10).
• Analysis of customer databases to determine customer lifetime value, target promotions toward a retailer's best customers, and undertake market basket analyses (Chapter 11).
• Implementation of marketing programs to increase customer share of wallet (Chapter 11).
• CPFR (collaboration, planning, forecasting, and replenishment) systems for coordinating vendors and retailer activities (Chapter 12).
• Sophisticated inventory management systems (Chapter 13).
• Reverse auctions for buying merchandise (Chapter 14).
• Use of profit-optimization decision support systems for setting prices in different markets and taking markdowns (Chapter 15).
• Development of targeted promotions using customer databases (Chapter 16).
• Internet-based training for store employees (Chapter 17).
• Decision support systems for scheduling sales associates (Chapter 17).
• EAS technology to reduce shoplifting (Chapter 17).
• Creation of planograms to optimize the sales and profits from merchandise categories (Chapter 18).
• Digital signage to reduce cost and increase message flexibility (Chapter 18).
• In-store kiosks, mobile devices, and the Internet to improve customer service (Chapter 19).
• Instant chat for servicing online customers (Chapter 19).

Globalization of the Retail Industry
Retailing is a global industry. With a greater emphasis being placed on private-label merchandise, retailers are working with manufacturers located throughout the world to acquire merchandise. In addition, retailers are increasingly looking to international markets for growth opportunities. For instance, Carrefour, France's hypermarket chain and the secondlargest retailer in the world, is focusing its growth investments in 25 countries but not in France. Some of the global retailing issues, identified with an icon in the margin, examined in this edition are:

• Retail efficiencies in different economies (Chapter 1).
• Illustrations of global expansion by retailers (Chapter 2).
• Cultural impacts on customer buying behavior (Chapter 4).
• Keys to successful entry into international markets (Chapter 5).
• Evaluation of international growth opportunities (Chapter 5).
• Differences in location opportunities in global markets (Chapter 7).
• Regulations affecting customer data collection in world markets (Chapter 10).
• Employee management issues in international markets (Chapters 9 and 17).
• Global sourcing of private-label merchandise (Chapter 14).
• Cultural differences in customer service needs (Chapter 19).

Legal and Ethical Issues Confronting Retailers
Retail institutions are pervasive in our society and thus have a major impact on the welfare of their customers, suppliers, and employees. Given the importance of their societal role, retailers need to consider the impact of their decisions on a broad range of stakeholders. Some of the social welfare, ethical, and legal issues we examine in this sixth edition are:

• Framework for ethical decision making (Chapter 1).
• Managing diversity and the glass ceiling (Chapter 9).
• Privacy considerations in collecting and using customer data (Chapter 11).
• Legal issues affecting purchasing and pricing merchandise (Chapters 14 and 15).
• Sexual harassment and discrimination in hiring and promotions (Chapter 17).
• Provision of employee benefits (Chapter 17).
• Ecologically friendly store design and operations (Chapter 18).
• Store design in light of the American with Disabilities Act (ADA) (Chapter 18).
• Three new cases that deal with legal, ethical, and social welfare issues.

Chapter on Customer Relationship Management
Chapter 11 examines how retailers are using customer databases to build repeat business and realize a greater share of wallet from key customers. These customer relationship management activities exploit the 80-20 rule -- 20 percent of the customers account for 80 percent of the sales and profits. In this chapter, we discuss how retailers identify their best customers and target these customers with special promotions and customer services.

Chapter on Multichannel Retailing
Chapter 3 describes the opportunities and challenges retailers face interacting with customers through multiple channels -- stores, catalogs, and the Internet. While markets for Internet-only retailers have stabilized, traditional retailers are investing in using the Internet to complement their stores. This chapter discusses how multichannel retailers can and do provide more value to their customers.

Expanded Treatment of Brand Development Issues
To differentiate their offering and build a competitive advantage, retailers are placing more emphasis on developing their brand image, building a strong image for their private-label merchandise, and extending their image to new retail formats. Issues related to the development of brand images and private-label merchandise are discussed in more detail from both a merchandise management and a communications perspective.

Get Out and Do It! Exercises
Found at the end of each chapter, these exercises suggest projects that students can undertake by visiting local retail stores, surfing the Internet, or using the student Web site. A continuing assignment exercise is included so that students can engage in an exercise involving the same retailer throughout the course. The exercises are designed to provide a hands-on learning experience for students.

Monthly Newsletter with Short Cases
These cases are based on recent retailing articles appearing in the business and trade press. Instructors can use these short cases to stimulate class discussions on current issues confronting retailers. The newsletter is e-mailed to instructors and archived on the text's Web page.

Eleven New Cases
These include cases on Wal-Mart's image, Abercrombie & Fitch's hiring practices, retailing to teens and college students, Yankee Candle's private-label development process, customer buying behavior affecting the design of supermarkets, Men's Wearhouse's training programs, and sustainable retail development in the United Kingdom. All 37 cases in the textbook are either new or updated with current information. A number of the cases, such as Build-A-Bear, Rainforest Café, and Wal-Mart, have videos complementing the written case.

Ten New Videos
Twenty-nine video segments are available to illustrate issues addressed in the text. The topics addressed by the new videos include Internet shopping behavior, supply chain management, pricing, management information systems, and suburban and lifestyle shopping centers. Some of the retailers featured in the videos are YUM Brands (Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, and KFC), 1-800-Flowers, Marsh Supermarkets, Marks & Spencer, Wal-Mart, Home Depot, Starbucks, JCPenney, Walgreens, and Jos. A. Banks.

Completely Redesigned Student Web Site
The student Web site has a number of experiential learning exercises, including evaluating international market growth opportunities, examining the financial performance of a retailer, evaluating retail location opportunities, editing the assortment in a merchandise category, developing a merchandise budget plan, and evaluating various markdown strategies.

This sixth edition creates interest and involves students in the course and the industry by making the textbook a "good read" for students by using Refacts (retailing factoids), Retailing Views, and retail manager profiles at the beginning of each chapter.

Refacts
We have updated and added more interesting facts about retailing, called Refacts, in the margins of each chapter. Did you know that a Montgomery Ward buyer created Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer as a Christmas promotion in 1939? Or that the teabag was developed by a Macy's buyer and pantyhose was developed by a JCPenney buyer?

Retailing Views
Each chapter contains either new or updated vignettes called Retailing Views to relate concepts to activities and decisions made by retailers. The vignettes look at major retailers, like Wal-Mart, Walgreens, Sears, JCPenney, Neiman Marcus, and Macy's, that interview students on campus for management training positions. They also discuss innovative retailers like REI, Starbucks, The Container Store, Sephora, Harry Rosen, Curves, Chico's, and Bass Pro Shops. Finally, a number of Retailing Views focus on entrepreneurial retailers competing effectively against national chains.

Profiles of Retail Managers
To illustrate the challenges and opportunities in retailing, each chapter in the sixth edition begins with a brief profile in their own words from a manager or industry expert whose job or expertise is related to the material in the chapter. These profiles range from Jim Wright and Bill Moran, CEOs of Tractor Supply Co. and Sav-A-Lot, respectively, to Jennifer O'Neil, a senior assistant buyer at Dillard's, and Sybil Jackson, a store manager at PETsMART. They include people who have extensive experience in a specific aspect of retailing like Bari Harlam (vice president of customer relationship management for CVS) and Scott Jennerich (vice president of retail estate for Famous Footwear). The profiles illustrate how senior executives view the industry and suggest career opportunities for college students. They provide students with firsthand information about what people in retailing do and their rewards and challenges.

Web Site for Students and Instructors (www.mhhe.com/levy6e)
Just as retailers are using the Internet to help their customers, we have developed a Web site to help students and instructors use the sixth edition of this textbook effectively. Some of the features on the Web site are:

• Multiple-choice questions on the student site.
• Experiential exercises for students.
• Chapter-by-chapter Instructor Manual coverage.
• Case and video notes.
• Retailing trade publications and professional associations.
• News articles about current events in retailing.
• PowerPoint slides summarizing key issues in each chapter.
• Hot links to retailing news sites and sites associated with the Internet exercises in the textbook.
• Additional cases about retailers.

The sixth edition of Retailing Management maintains the basic philosophy of the previous five editions. We continue to focus on the broad spectrum of retailers, both large and small, selling merchandise and services. The text examines key strategic issues with an emphasis on financial considerations and store management issues. We include descriptive, how-to, and conceptual material.

Broad Spectrum of Retailing
In this text, we define retailing as the set of business activities that adds value to the products and services sold to consumers for their personal or family use. Thus, in addition to the products in stores, this text examines the issues facing service retailers like Starbucks and Curves and nonstore retailers like eBay and Avon.

Critical Issues in Retailing
Strategic thinking and the consideration of financial implications are critical for success in the present dynamic, highly competitive retail environments. In addition, operations and store management are playing an increasingly important role.

Strategic Perspective
The entire textbook is organized around a model of strategic decision making outlined in Exhibit 1-5 in Chapter 1. Each section and chapter is related back to this overarching strategic framework. In addition, the second section of the book focuses exclusively on critical strategic decisions such as selecting target markets, developing a sustainable competitive advantage, and building an organizational structure and information and distribution systems to support the strategic direction.

Financial Analysis
The financial aspects of retailing are becoming increasingly important. The financial problems experienced by some of the largest retail firms like Kmart highlight the need for a thorough understanding of the financial implications of retail decisions. Financial analysis is emphasized in selected chapters, such as Chapter 6 on the overall strategy of the firm, Chapter 11 on the evaluation of customer lifetime value, and Chapter 13 on retail buying systems. Financial issues are also raised in the sections on negotiating leases, bargaining with suppliers, pricing merchandise, developing a communication budget, and compensating salespeople.

Operations and Store Management
Traditionally, retailers have exalted the merchant prince -- the buyer who knew what the hot trends were going to be. This text, by devoting an entire chapter to information systems and supply chain management and an entire section to store management, reflects the changes that have occurred over the past 10 years -- the shift in emphasis from merchandise management to the block and tackling of getting merchandise to the stores and customers and providing excellent customer service and an exciting shopping experience. Due to this shift toward store management, most students embarking on retail careers go into store management rather than merchandise buying.

Balanced Approach
The sixth edition continues to offer a balanced approach for teaching an introductory retailing course by including descriptive, how-to, and conceptual information in a highly readable format.

Descriptive Information
Students can learn about the vocabulary and practice of retailing from the descriptive information throughout the text. Examples of this material are:

• Leading U.S. and international retailers (Chapter 1).
• Management decisions made by retailers (Chapter 1).
• Types of store-based and nonstore retailers (Chapter 2).
• Approaches for entering international markets (Chapter 5).
• Locations (Chapter 7).
• Lease terms (Chapter 8).
• Organization structure of typical retailers (Chapter 9).
• Flow of information and merchandise (Chapter 10).
• Branding strategies (Chapter 14).
• Methods for communicating with customers (Chapter 16).
• Store layout options and merchandise display equipment (Chapter 18).
• Career opportunities (Appendix 1A to Chapter 1).

How-to Information
Retailing Management goes beyond this descriptive information to illustrate how and why retailers, large and small, make decisions. Step-by-step procedures with examples are provided for making the following decisions:

• Comparison shopping (Appendix 2A to Chapter 2).
• Managing a multichannel outreach to customers (Chapter 3).
• Scanning the environment and developing a retail strategy (Chapter 5).
• Analyzing the financial implications of retail strategy (Chapter 6).
• Evaluating location decisions (Chapter 8).
• Developing a merchandise assortment and budget plan (Chapters 12 and 13).
• Negotiating with vendors (Chapter 14).
• Pricing merchandise (Chapter 15).
• Recruiting, selecting, training, evaluating, and compensating sales associates (Chapter 17).
• Designing the layout for a store (Chapter 18).
• Providing superior customer service (Chapter 19).

Conceptual Information
Retailing Management also includes conceptual information that enables students to understand why decisions are made as outlined in the text. As Mark Twain said, "There is nothing as practical as a good theory." Students need to know these basic concepts so they can make effective decisions in new situations. Examples of this conceptual information in the sixth edition are:

• Customers' decision-making process (Chapter 4).
• Market attractiveness/competitive position matrix for evaluating strategic alternatives (Appendix 5A to Chapter 5).
• The strategic profit model and approach for evaluating financial performance (Chapter 6).
• Price theory and marginal analysis (Chapters 15 and 16).
• Motivation of employees (Chapter 17).
• In-store shopping behaviors (Chapter 18).
• The Gaps model for service quality management (Chapter 19).

Supplemental Materials
To improve the student learning experience, the sixth edition includes new cases and videos illustrating state-of-the-art retail practices, a Web-based computer exercise package for students, and a comprehensive online instructor's manual with additional cases and teaching suggestions.

Throughout the development of this text, several outstanding individuals were integrally involved and made substantial contributions. First and foremost, we recognize the invaluable contributions of Hope Bober Corrigan (Loyola College in Maryland) for providing constructive comments and suggestions on the revised chapters, editing the cases and video package, and providing many useful teaching activities found in the Instructor's Manual. We wish to express our sincere appreciation to Amy Tomas (University of Vermont) for preparing the Instructor's Manual and Cecilia Schulz (University of Florida) for preparing the PowerPoint slides and Test Bank.

We'd like especially to acknowledge the contribution of Retail Forward, Inc. Their daily news briefing and research reports facilitated the research that has gone into this text.

We also appreciate the contributions of Margaret Jones and Betsy Trobaugh (David F. Miller Center for Retailing Education and Research, University of Florida) and Morgan Wolters (Babson College) who provided invaluable assistance in preparing the manuscript.

The support, expertise, and occasional coercion from our Sponsoring Editor, Andy Winston, and Managing Developmental Editor, Nancy Barbour, are greatly appreciated. The book would also never have come together without the editorial and production staff at McGraw-Hill/Irwin: Harvey Yep, Trent Whatcott, Janna Martin, Sue Lombardi, Jeremy Cheshareck, Keith McPherson, and Heather Burbridge.

Retailing Management has also benefited significantly from contributions by several leading executives and scholars in retailing and related fields. We would like to thank:

William Alcorn
JCPenney

Mark Blakeley
Oracle

Cynthia Cohen
Strategic Mindshare

Paul Freddo
JCPenney

Scott C. Friend
Oracle

John Gremer
Walgreens

Dhruv Grewal
Babson College

James Hughes
JCPenney

Linda Hyde
Retail Forward

Howard Kimpel
JCPenney

Steve Knopik
Beall's Inc.

Doug Koch
Famous Footwear

Bradley Macullum
ESRI

Bruce Mager
Macy's

Richard A. McAllister
Florida Retail Federation

William Moran
Sav-A-Lot

Tracey Mullins
National Retail Federation

Steven Keith Platt
Platt Retail Institute

Susan Reda
Stores Magazine

Ann Rupert
Burdines

Ron Sacino
Sacino's Formalwear

Lori Schafer
SAS Retail

John Thomas
Pinch-A-Penny

Suzanne Voorhees
The Grapevine Group

The sixth edition of Retailing Management has benefited from the reviews by several leading scholars and many teachers of retailing and related disciplines. Together, these reviewers spent hundreds of hours reading and critiquing the manuscript. We gratefully acknowledge:

Stephen J. Anderson
Austin Peay State University

David Blanchette
Rhode Island College

Sylvia Clark
St. John's University

Angela D'Auria-Stanton
Radford University

Kathleen Debevic Witz
University of Massachusetts

David Erickson
Angelo University

Sally Harmon
Purdue University

Joshua Holt
Brigham Young University

Barbara Mihm
University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point

Dorothy M. Oppenheim
Bridgewater State University

Michael M. Pearson
Loyola University, New Orleans

Linda Pettijohn
Southern Missouri State University

Amy Tomas
University of Vermont

Sandy White
Greenville Tech College

We also thank the following reviewers for their diligence and insight in helping us prepare previous editions:

Kevin Fertig
University of Illinois

David M. Georgoff
Florida Atlantic University

Peter Gordon
Southeast Missouri State University

Larry Gresham
Texas A&M University

Tom Gross
University of Wisconsin

Michael D. Hartline
Louisana State University

Tony L. Henthorne
University of Southern Mississippi

Eugene J. Kangas
Winona State University

Herbert Katzenstein
St. John's University

Terrence Kroeten
North Dakota State University

Elizabeth Mariotz
Philadelphia College of Textiles and Science

Harold McCoy
Virginia Commonwealth University

Kim McKeage
University of Maine

Robert Miller
Central Michigan University

Mary Anne Milward
University of Arizona

John J. Porter
West Virginia University

Nick Saratakes
Austin Community College

Laura Scroggins
California State University-Chico

Shirley M. Stretch
California State University-LA

William R. Swinyard
Brigham Young University

Janet Wagner
University of Maryland

Ron Zallocco
University of Toledo

Mary Barry
Auburn University

Lance A. Bettencourt
Indiana University

Jeff Blodgett
University of Mississippi

George W. Boulware
Lipscomb University

Leroy M. Buckner
Florida Atlantic University

David J. Burns
Purdue University

Lon Camomile
Colorado State University

J. Joseph Cronin, Jr.
Florida State University

Irene J. Dickey
University of Dayton

Ann DuPont
University of Texas

Chloe I. Elmgren
Mankato State University

Richard L. Entrikin
George Mason University

Kenneth R. Evans
University of Missouri-Columbia

Richard Feinberg
Purdue University

Mark Abel
Kirkwood Community College

Jill Attaway
Illinois State University

Willard Broucek
Northern State University

Donald W. Caudill
Bluefield State College

James Clark
Northeastern State University

Drew Ehrlich
Fulton-Montgomery Community College

Susan Harmon
Middle Tennessee State University

Kae Hineline
McLennan Community College

David Horne
California State University-Long Beach

Michael Jones
Auburn University

Ann Lucht
Milwaukee Area Technical College

Tony Mayo
George Mason University

Michael McGinnis
University of South Alabama

Phyliss McGinnis
Boston University

Cheryl O'Hara
Kings College

Janis Petronis
Tarleton State University

Sue Riha
University of Texas-Austin

Steve Solesbee
Aiken Technical College

Janet Wagner
University of Maryland

Gary Walk
Lima Technical College

Mary Weber
University of New Mexico

Fred T. Whitman
Mary Washington College

Merv Yeagle
University of Maryland

We received cases from professors all over the world. Although we would like to have used more cases in the text and the Instructor's Manual, space was limited. We would like to thank all who contributed but are especially appreciative of the following authors whose cases were used in Retailing Management or in the Instructor's Manual:

Ronald Adams
University of North Florida

Laura Bliss
Stephens College

Valerie Bryan
University of Florida

James Camerius
Northern Michigan University

Daphne Comfort
University of Gloucestershire

Hope Bober Corrigan
Loyola College in Maryland

Sue Cullers
Tarleton State University

David Ehrlich
Marymount University

Sunil Erevelles
University of North Carolina, Charlotte

Ann Fairhurst
Indiana University

Linda F. Felicetti
Clarion University

Susan Fournier
Boston University

Joseph P. Grunewald
Clarion University

Peter Jones
University of Gloucestershire

David Hillier
University of Glamorgan

K. Douglas Hoffman
University of North Carolina-Wilmington

Kirthi Kalyanam
Santa Clara University

Dilip Karer
University of North Florida

Hean Tat Keh
National University, Singapore

Robert Kenny
Saint Michael's College

Alison T. Knott
University of Florida

Nirmalya Kumar
London Business School

Robert Letovsky
Saint Michael's College

Alicia Lueddemann
The Management Mind Group

Gordon H. G. McDougall
Wilfrid Laurier University

Debra Murphy
Saint Michael's College

Jan Owens
University of Wisconsin

Kristina Pacca
University of Florida

Michael Pearce
University of Western Ontario

Pirkko Peterson
University of Florida

Catherine Porter
University of Massachusetts

Richard Rausch
Hofstra University

Teresa Scott
University of Florida

William R. Swinyard
Brigham Young University

Stephen Vitucci
Tarleton State University

William Walsch
University of Florida

Vidya Sundari
National University, Singapore

Elizabeth J. Wilson
Suffolk University

Irvin Zaenglein
Northern Michigan University

Heather Zuilkoski
University of Florida