Departmental Store
A Departmental Store is a large-scale retail shop where a large variety of goods are sold in a
single building. The entire building is divided into a number of departments or counters. In each
department specific type of goods like stationery items, books, electronic goods, garments,
jewellery etc. are available. All these departments are centrally controlled under one management.
Once you enter such a store you can do all your shopping by moving from one department to
another. To encourage people to do all their shopping in one store, these stores also provide
facilities like restaurant, telephone, toilets, ATM etc. for the conveniences of customers.
*Features of Departmental Store*
*After getting an idea about a departmental store, let us identify its features:*
i. It is generally located at the main commercial centres of the cities and towns, so that,
customers from different localities can easily come to buy goods as per their convenience.
ii. The size of the store is very large and divided into many departments or counters.
iii.
Each department deals with particular type of goods, say, one department sells electronic
goods, another sells ready-made garments, a third keeps food items, and so on.
iv. The management and control of all departments is centralised.
v. The Departmental Store allows customers to enjoy shopping. It enables the customers to
buy everything under one roof.
vi. Facilities such as restaurant, rest rooms, telephone, ATM (Automated Teller Machine),
etc. are also made available to customers inside the store.
vii. It allows the customers to buy goods against a credit card.
viii. Customers may also avail of free home delivery facilities from these stores.
*Advantages of Departmental Store*
*Followings are the advantages of a departmental store:*
i. Convenience of shopping: Since a large variety of goods are sold under one roof, you
need not move from one bazaar to another or from one shop to another to buy goods. It saves your time and effort. Also, for the convenience of the customers these stores provide
toilet, restaurant, rest room and telephone service and ATM facility inside the store.
ii. Wide choice of product: A wide variety of products from different manufacturers are sold
in these stores. Thus, a customer has a wide choice of goods from which he/ she can select
the best, as needed.
iii. Economies of large-scale purchase and sale: A departmental store buys goods on
large scale. So it can bypass wholesalers and gets the goods directly from the manufacturers.
This way it enjoys the benefits of discounts from the manufacturers. Again, due to large
volume of sale, the cost of operation is also low.
iv. Mutual advertisement: While visiting a departmental store customers are often attracted
by goods displayed in different departments. Hence, there is a chance that the customers
may buy goods other than those they originally had in mind. Thus, each department advertises
for other departments.
v. Efficient management: Since these stores are organised on a large scale basis, they
normally employ efficient and competent staff to provide best services to the customers.
Inspite of these advantages, the departmental stores have certain limitation also.
*Limitations of Departmental Store*
*The followings are the limitations of departmental stores:*
i. Heavy Investment: Since departmental stores require large space for storing varieties of
goods, huge amount of capital is required to start and manage a departmental store.
ii. Distance from residential areas: The departmental stores are normally located in places
far from the residential areas. Therefore, customers from far away localities find it
inconvenient to buy goods from these stores. Again, to buy goods of daily use, people
prefer going to small shop situated in their residential areas.
iii. High cost of operation: The cost of location (in the form of rent or purchase price of
building), decoration of building, employment of large number of employees and provision
of various facilities for the convenience of customers increases the operating cost of a
departmental store.
iv. High price: High operating cost and better quality of goods leads to high price being
charged for the goods in departmental stores.
v. Lack of personal attention: In departmental store there is no direct contact between the
owner and the customers. It is the employees of the store who may interact with customers.
The owners directly donot get information about the tastes and preference, likes and dislikes,
etc. of their customers.