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First, the stage analysis of the development of large department stores in China

China's department store format began in 1900, and Russian Lin Qiu opened Lin Qiu department store in Harbin in 1900, taking the lead in introducing the concept of modern department store into China. However, the development of China's department store industry was realized after the founding of the People's Republic of China. After the founding of People's Republic of China (PRC), after nearly 60 years of development, it has gradually grown, which can be divided into four development stages:

The first stage: the initial stage of germination (1949- 1984). The first department store invested by New China is the Beijing Department Store, which opened in September. 1955. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the department store industry has made great progress, but it still belongs to a period of slow growth. From the institutional point of view, with the socialist transformation of private industrialists and businessmen started by 1953, department stores are basically state-owned and have limited business varieties to meet people's basic needs.

The second stage: the heyday (1985- 1995). 1984 10 After the Third Plenary Session of the Twelfth Central Committee, the economic system reform with the emphasis on cities was launched in an all-round way, and the upsurge of building large-scale commercial buildings was formed all over the country. Not only the commercial system, but also many state-owned units, local governments and various industry departments have established projects. From 1986 to 1990, the newly-built large-scale retail malls in China are equivalent to the sum of the construction in the previous 35 years. Especially after the reform and opening-up, China department stores entered a new historical period, which not only increased in number, expanded in scale, improved in grade and appearance, but also introduced advanced concepts and modern management science, which improved the management level of large department stores as a whole and ushered in the golden age of China department stores. The department store industry once became the long-term leading format of the retail industry in China.

The third stage: the fading stage (1996 -200 1 year). 1996 After the second half of the year, under the influence of the country's tight monetary policy, large domestic department stores began to decline, sales growth slowed down, profits fell, and department stores in a few cities closed down. With the acceleration of the pace of opening up, a variety of formats began to be introduced, and many media exclaimed the arrival of the "department store closing year". Since then, China's department store industry has entered a stage of overall shrinkage, and its leading position has been shaken.

The fourth stage: adjustment and recovery stage (200 1 till now). Now, after years of adjustment, combination and positioning, large department stores in China have begun to mature. The existing large department stores have changed the traditional business model, gradually got rid of the shadow of "closed year", and their sales have gradually stepped out of the trough. Large department stores are positioned in adjustment, expanded in combination and developed in innovation.

Secondly, the dilemma analysis and strategy of diversified positioning of traditional large department stores in China.

According to the life cycle theory of retail format, as shown in figure 1, large department stores in China have developed for more than 50 years since the founding of the People's Republic of China. Due to the intensification of policy environment, the intensification of industry competition and the emergence of new formats, this format of large department stores in China has matured prematurely and is on the decline. The specific performance is as follows: (1) At present, the growth rate of large department stores in China is declining, and the rise of various formats makes stores share cakes in the market. (2) The profitability declines. Due to the increase of enterprises in the industry and the intensification of competition, the profitability will eventually decline. The whole industry can only operate at a low profit. (3) The sales per unit area decreased. With the increasing scale of large department stores, the sales per unit area has dropped sharply. The traditional large department stores in China are in trouble mainly for the following reasons:

1. The social purchasing power of urban residents is diverted, which makes the purchasing power of department stores decrease relatively. At present, the cost of schooling, housing and medical care is very high. For most families, most of the income is used to maintain basic needs, and the main consumer goods generally come from cheap supermarket chains, storage malls, convenience stores and shopping centers. In addition, the proportion of non-commodity consumption expenditure such as education, tourism and communication is increasing, which makes a lot of real purchasing power fail to be transformed into the profit rate of commercial buildings. All these have caused a huge shift in purchasing power.

2. Compared with other retail formats and emerging formats caused by fierce market competition, the products of large shopping malls are not as good as shopping centers and large comprehensive supermarkets, the products are not as professional as specialty store, and the prices are not as good as specialty store and discount stores. The commodity structure and format structure of department stores make large department stores deviate from the high-growth areas in the market. In the traditional market, the market share of department stores and retail malls has declined, and competition has intensified. In the high-end market, traditional department stores have been invaded by foreign shopping centers and specialty stores, and international retail giants have invested in building large shopping centers in many central cities. In the low-end market, department stores encounter strong challenges from new formats such as supermarkets, chain stores, warehouses and shopping centers. A large number of new competitors poured into the traditional market of department stores, which led to excessive competition in the middle market.

3. The business circle is saturated, and the large and medium-sized department stores in China are "relatively surplus". Almost all large and medium-sized department stores in big cities gather in the city center, and the population of their effective business circle is even less. The development of large-scale commercial buildings is too fast, far exceeding the development of residents' purchasing power level. The distribution of shopping malls is too concentrated, which intensifies the excessive competition between shopping malls. Seize the prime location regardless of the cost, resulting in some commercial buildings bearing a heavy rent burden without any income, and some even got into trouble on the opening day.

4. The positioning is not clear. The market positioning of most domestic department stores is not clear, there is no clear segmentation of in-store consumer groups, and there is not enough research on marketing strategy and consumer psychology, which is in a low-level price competition. The similarity of business model, the similarity of commodity positioning and the lack of business characteristics make price war inevitable.

5. Internal management is inefficient. Compared with emerging retail formats, traditional large department stores lack modern management methods such as electronic management and network operation, and the quality of employees in enterprises is generally not high. The ways and methods of management can't be combined with the actual needs and can't keep up with the pace of the times, which leads to low efficiency of internal management and increases the operating cost of enterprises.

Large department stores in China should make corresponding strategic adjustments, and the new strategic trend should take the following two aspects. (1) connotative development strategy. As shown in Figure 2, on the existing scale, enterprises rely on internal potential to carry out internal transformation, improve the quality of goods and services, improve management level, improve quality of enterprise and enhance corporate reputation. Continuously improve management level and increase sales on the existing basis. (2) Diversification strategy. As shown in Figure 3, that is, enterprises make full use of the advantages of talents, commodities, capital, technology, equipment, market and so on, and continue to develop in breadth and depth, which can be divided into vertical integration strategy, horizontal integration strategy, mixed diversification strategy and so on. Through different aspects of expansion, we can increase sales in many aspects. The purpose of implementing these strategies is to extend the life cycle of large department stores as much as possible, so that enterprises can re-enter a new rising stage, or maintain a mature stage with relatively high sales, which requires a correct strategic framework to continuously reach a new sales level.

Thirdly, the diversification strategy of large department stores in China in the new period.

1. Establish enterprise groups across regions. (1) Strengthen cross-regional enterprise alliances. Take the famous large department stores and department stores as the leader, form a joint group or enterprise alliance, give full play to the scale advantage through unified distribution and management, and complement the advantages of previous competitors to form a joint force, from a lose-lose situation to a win-win situation. (2) Make full use of capital market means. Adopt multi-level and all-round contact methods, make full use of merger and acquisition means, and expand the scale of the group. If the group expansion is only regarded as the core level or even the core shopping mall, it will be difficult to complete the expansion task, and it is often unnecessary. Therefore, it is necessary to give full play to the role of enterprises at all levels of the department store group and make use of its various connections with external enterprises to contribute to the expansion of different levels and scales. (3) Expand and consolidate the contact with external enterprises. This mainly refers to the contact with external enterprises in production technology, supply and marketing channels and so on. Through various contacts, these enterprises gradually become the actual participants in the operation of the group, and form a certain interest relationship with the group, and strive to build the integration of the supply chain.

2. Construct a coordinated chain network between urban and rural areas. The following measures can be taken to speed up the chain-like pace and build a chain-like network of urban and rural planning: (1) Large shopping malls absorb small and medium-sized department stores in the core areas of secondary and tertiary business districts within the city with brand advantages and advanced management methods, form a chain group led by large department stores, establish integration of supply and marketing, take market share as the center, expand the proportion of general agents and distributors, improve the operating structure, and realize economies of scale. (2) Make full use of intangible assets and join hands with real estate developers to create chain stores in new urban residential areas. Doing so is conducive to giving full play to regional advantages, facilitating management, and achieving quick results with less investment. When the quantity reaches a certain level, the scale benefit is obvious. (3) Actively enter second-and third-tier cities and towns and create chain stores. Large department stores can merge and transform existing urban and rural department stores, or use brand advantages and management advantages as capital to establish joint ventures with urban and rural department stores, or independently invest in the secondary market to establish new department stores.

3. Form characteristic management. The policy of "big and comprehensive" and the stereotyped product positioning have become increasingly unsuitable for the tastes of consumers in China, which has become an obstacle to the development of large shopping malls. It is necessary for large shopping malls to reposition the market, subdivide the target market and shape their own unique commodity management characteristics. (1) Clear positioning. The positioning of department stores includes market positioning, product positioning and service positioning. Due to the continuous adjustment of the department store industry in recent years, most department stores have now defined their market positioning. Generally speaking, big department stores now take the route of middle and high-grade goods or fine products, which is a better way to distinguish them from some wholesale stores and supermarkets. (2) Create characteristic shopping places. Department stores can regularly change the storefront environment and decoration, which can not only beautify the environment, but also become a window for consumers to appreciate the trend of the times and fashion trends. (3) Create theme department stores. Creating a department store similar to Disney theme park is an effective means to form characteristics. Theme shopping malls can not only highlight the consumer groups and products they face, but also highlight their own service characteristics. For details, we can refer to some foreign themed department stores, such as Carlstedt Department Store in Nuremberg, Germany, which regularly performs operas in department stores with the slogan of "Culture, Art and Carlstedt", and is a department store with theater function.

4. Optimize the commodity structure. First of all, in terms of commodity positioning, the commodity scope of large department stores should be mainly clothing, shoes and hats, furniture and electrical appliances can reserve some boutique booths appropriately, and fast-moving consumer goods should be separated from department stores. Keeping a close eye on modern new products and combining with the current market, we can appropriately expand some commodity categories, such as cosmetics, tourism products, children's products, medical care products and artworks. It is necessary to adjust the commodity structure in time, gradually reduce and cancel the commodities with shrinking market sales, and increase the viable commodities, so that the commodities operated will always be the mainstream commodities in society. Secondly, in management, we should introduce advanced commodity management methods such as category management to speed up the upgrading of commodities. At the same time, we should actively obtain the business category information of relevant competitors to avoid duplication. In addition, large department stores should also actively develop their own brand products, develop their own PB products (middleman brands), and form enterprise characteristics. PB (private brand) commodity strategy is a strategic form for retail enterprises to put forward the development and design requirements of new products on the basis of collecting, sorting out and analyzing consumers' demand information for a certain commodity, choose suitable manufacturers, or set up their own factories to manufacture them, and then sell them under their own brands. Compared with traditional NB goods (manufacturer's brand), this is more helpful to ensure the quality of goods, enrich the product structure, have their own characteristics, and also help to reduce the price of goods and enhance the competitiveness of enterprises. China's retail enterprises should learn from this practice and combine the national conditions to form a PB commodity strategy model with China characteristics.

5. Using modern information technology to reduce logistics costs. So far, the department store industry in China has not fully realized the position of information technology in sales operation. Department stores have not used information technology to support shelf management. The wide application of information technology has become a key weapon for retailers to win competition. The specific application of information science and technology can be started from the following two aspects: First, the procurement, sales and storage are managed by electronic means. Monomer sales management systems, such as electronic cash register, POS system and MIS (Store Information Management System), can help department stores improve their internal commodity management and inventory management. There are also online systems with wholesalers and manufacturers, such as EDI (Electronic Data Interchange Technology) and EOS (Electronic Ordering System), which make the ordering and receiving business online and electronic. Second, actively explore network operation. Use the computer network to carry out online shopping, online procurement, online promotion and other services. Large department stores should seek network partners and establish business alliances, especially online payment systems and logistics distribution systems, in order to overcome some constraints of online e-commerce and seize the opportunities in the coming e-commerce era.

6. Strengthen internal management mechanism innovation and personnel training. To speed up the training of talents and improve the quality of employees, it is necessary to set up a special talent agency to be responsible for systematic organization, guidance, coordination and comprehensive planning of all kinds of talents; Enterprise leaders should put talent training on the agenda and bring it into the responsibility system index; According to the needs of marketing development, we will send employees to scientific research units in colleges and universities for further study, and at the same time, we will send cadres to relevant foreign department stores for study and exchange, so as to broaden our horizons; Introduce external talents, so that excellent management talents at home and abroad can be used by me. In the internal management mechanism, we should get rid of bureaucracy, strive to achieve flat organization, speed up the flow and digestion of internal information, and make the mechanism respond quickly and timely to market changes, so as to benefit from internal management. Strengthen the training of employees, enhance their customer service awareness and improve their service level through rules and regulations and incentives.

7. Actively enter the international purchase and sale chain. (1) Seek international capital injection. Actively seek overseas funds, and after obtaining financing in the international market, sufficient funds will accelerate the expansion of department stores. The source of investment funds can be raised from the international financial market, or loans from third-country governments or commercial banks. We can also learn from the financing experience of foreign enterprises, open up diversified financing channels, and borrow from the host country in various financing forms. Specifically, the way of financing can be combined with the local government seeking foreign investment intervention, and we should also make good use of every industry summit, actively seek opportunities, and set up an external liaison department to build the company's image and negotiate investment matters. (2) Seeking international capital export. To actively expand overseas markets, you don't have to have "absolute excess capital" to invest abroad. You can borrow from banks and governments appropriately, or you can enter overseas markets through the acquisition of capital markets. Specifically, it is to use foreign capital to establish large department stores in the form of export, to establish large department stores overseas in the form of sole proprietorship and to directly acquire existing large department stores abroad. Pay attention to the regional risks of investment areas when exporting funds. (3) Seeking international industrial supply chain cooperation. I want to benefit from the circulation process, strengthen supply chain management, and make department stores and international suppliers win-win. For example, in terms of clothing, we should actively strengthen ties with developed areas of fashion industry such as Europe and the United States, reach an understanding, and ensure the strength and fashion of clothing brands.