Educators' Guide for Pedagogy and Assessment
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Unit: 1. Introduction to Retail, Sales and Customer Care
Retail
Learning Outcome: 1. I can understand the retail sector and the range of retail occupations.
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The business of retailing: retail; retailer; retail outlet; distinguishing between products and services.
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Retail channels: shops; catalogues; online selling; flea markets; showrooms; television shopping; mobile kiosks; door-to-door trading; supermarkets; shopping complexes.
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The characteristics of the local retail environment: sole traders, small-scale companies, franchises; mono-brand stores; multi-brand stores; highly competitive environment and limited market size; the impact of the internet and online shopping; the positive and negative impact of EU accession.
Its importance for the Maltese economy: retail trade as a high percentage of the locally-registered business units; retail as a major source of employment.
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Occupations: e.g.: sales assistant, stock controller, shelf stacker, customer service representative, store manager, supervisor, team leader, delivery person, warehouse supervisor.
Skills: customer service; sales; cash handling; teamwork; merchandising; problem solving; communication; time management; computer skills; literacy and numeracy.
Attributes: e.g. good personal appearance, flexible, proactive, honesty, empathy, ability to multi-task.
Behaviours: courteous, positive, confident, positive attitude.
Learning Outcome: 2. I can recognise the importance of teamwork in retail.
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Key aspects of teamwork in retail: valuing the strengths of others; valuing the attributes and opinions of other team members; working towards common goals; providing support to teach others; accepting advice; listening; communicating with other teams; communicating with other departments.
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Good working environment and business success:
Team productivity: working together to efficiently complete retail tasks, importance of communication within the team to avoid wastage, duplication of tasks, customer complaints and confusion.
Dealing with stressful situations: importance of remaining calm; working together to solve problems; limit the impact of stressful situations.
Customer experience: creating a welcoming atmosphere; teamwork as a positive sign for customers; positive customer relationship.
Building and maintaining the team: team-building exercises; maintaining motivation; fairness.
Learning Outcome: 3. I can outline the retail selling process.
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Factors: social and demographic factors; economic factors; level of education and experience; competitor products.
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The five steps of the selling process: meet and greet; understand needs; demonstration; summarise; closing the sale.
Key aspects that can influence the selling process: knowledge about the key areas and layout ; knowledge about other departments of the outlet; knowledge about products and services offered; awareness of special offers; market awareness.
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Factors: spending time looking at the product; asking questions about details; asking about price; requesting more information; asking for payment details; trying out the product; questioning by customers; body language.
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Basic communication skills which are essential in the selling process: greeting; effective questioning through open-ended and closed-ended questions to identify customer needs and match products/services; empathy; checking for understanding; feedback; termination.
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Main structure: e.g. cash register (for smaller outlets), computer, monitor, cash drawer, receipt printer, customer display, barcode scanner.
Back office functions of the POS system: e.g. inventory control, purchasing, transfer of products from one location to the other (for multiple store brands).
Other typical functions of a POS system: e.g. store sales information, reporting, sales trends.
Learning Outcome: 4. I can demonstrate good customer service in a retail environment.
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Benefits of good customer care: engagement of customer; increased sales and profits; customer retention; positive image; obtaining feedback from the customer.
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Positive impression:
Personal hygiene: attention to body odour; hair care; attention to bad breath; clean shoes; good overall cleanliness; uniform care.
Respectful body language: posture; eye contact; use of appropriate tone of voice and clarity; gestures.
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Assisting customers: acknowledging the customer and listening attentively to his/her needs; identifying ways how to help the customer in the best way possible; describing the features of a product or key elements of a service in a customer-oriented manner; providing alternatives if original request cannot be handled; termination/closing the sale.
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Dealing with a complaint: identifying the nature of the complaint and remaining calm; asking the customer about the problem to check your understanding; actively listening to the customer; apologising, empathy and professionalism; referring the customer to the appropriate channels if complaint cannot be handled.
Learning Outcome: 5. I can understand the key elements related to consumer rights in Malta.
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Authorities: the Malta Competition and Consumer Affairs Authority; the Malta Communications Authority.
Legislation: the Consumer Affairs Act.
Regulations: Price Indication Regulations; Consumer Credit Regulations; Package Travel, Package Holidays and Package Tour Regulations; Distance Selling Regulations.
Institutions: the Consumer Claims Tribunal.
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Information to consumers prior to the sale of goods and services: the main characteristics of the goods or services; the name, address and telephone number of the trader; the total price of the goods and services; arrangments for payment and delivery where applicable; duration of the contract and conditions for termination of the contract where applicable.
Rights: the right to receive information about the two-year legal guarantee of conformity for goods; rights related to the delivery of goods; rights of consumers during sales; rights related to return of unwanted goods; rights related to deposits.
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Leaflet criteria: neatness; creativity; reliability of information; good balance between images and text; good use of language.