Course Details in 2023/24 Session

Module Title	LI Services & Retail Strategy
School	Birmingham Business School
Department	Marketing
Module Code	07 32265
Module Lead	Edward Turner
Level	Intermediate Level
Credits	20
Semester	Semester 2
Pre-requisites	LC Introduction to Marketing and Communications - (07 31704)
Co-requisites
Restrictions	None
Contact Hours	Lecture-44 hours Guided independent study-156 hours Total: 200 hours
Exclusions
Description	In today’s economy, it is the service sector that is becoming increasing important. Overall, service industries account for over 70% of worldwide GDP (World Bank). Services are important because as consumers we use services on a daily basis and in conjunction with the importance of services to the world economy. Retailing is also fundamentally important to the UK, European and World-Wide economy. Even though the current economic climate is turbulent (e.g. the influence of Brexit), food retailing is still predicted to grow as Linthicum (2009:6) argues “people still have to eat, even in an economic downturn”. While many established markets have struggled in the global recession e.g. the UK there still has been significant growth across the world especially in Latin America, Middle East and India. Indeed, Euromonitor argue that these countries represent 78% of global growth. In this volatile and growing market many retailers operate globally. We will examine the challenges and opportunities that this brings by critically analysing retailers such as Disney, Starbucks, Zara, Tesco, Marks and Spencer and Carrefour.This course will examine the services and retailing industry from its beginnings to researchers’ predictions for the future. Services and retailing activities are not static but in a constant state of flux. The consequence of this is that there are always new trends that consumers desire. Some recent trends include the desire for customer experiences, becoming vegan, premiumisation and trading down. We will examine how service providers and retailers can manage such trends. The focus of the course will be on understanding that not all retailers and service providers are the same and therefore, it is important to understand the characteristics of different types of organisations and how marketing objectives and strategies need to be tailored to address these points. This module will encourage students to think critically about embedded services and retail practices and possibly challenge their own assumptions. We will cover a wide variety of topics such as: • How do retail and service customers behave? • What is the experience economy and how does an organisation deliver a “customer experience”? • How does place aid the delivery of organisational and customer objectives? • Why are some products seen as moral and some seen as wasteful? • What are the ethical responsibilities of organisations towards their customers and the environment? • How has digitalisation affected the delivery of the service and the customer connection to the retailer?
Learning Outcomes	By the end of the module students should be able to: Understand the importance of the retail and services sector to the world economy Understand the defining features of services and retail marketing strategy Identify the alternative approaches to developing successful marketing in service organisations and critically analyse these approaches Evaluate the influence of place on buyer behaviour and the customer experience Recognise the complex relationships with both customers and suppliers Understand current logistical issues analyse the possible problems encountered by service and retail organisations and demonstrate solutions and opportunities
Assessment	32265-01 : Group Presentation : Coursework (40%) 32265-02 : Individual Essay : Coursework (60%)
Assessment Methods & Exceptions	Assessment: 8 minute group presentation to be submitted online (40%) Individual 2,500 word assignment (60%) Reassessment: Reassessment by component
Other
Reading List