Question

Long answer type questions.

What do you mean by Departmental store? Explain the features.

Answer 1

Departmental stores are fixed establishments that are large in size and deal in a wide variety of products. They generally work with the motto of making everything available to customers under one roof. They comprise various departments for different types of products, such as medicines, clothing and food items.
Features of department stores:
i. Central locations: They are generally located in central areas to attract a large number of customers.

ii. Defined hierarchy: Their management follows the same hierarchy that is generally followed in any joint stock company. That is, the top management consists of a board of directors with the managing director, general manager and department managers under it in that order.

iii. Absence of middlemen: They purchase goods directly from manufacturers and sell them to customers. Thus, they eliminate the role of middlemen.

iv. Centralised purchase with decentralised sales: In a departmental store, the purchases from manufacturers are handled by a single division that follows a centralised purchase policy. On the other hand, the sales are handled by the respective sections of the departmental store that follow a decentralised policy for sales.

v. Shopping convenience: The stores offer a high degree of convenience to the customers by making a large variety of goods available at one place. Thus, the customers do not have to go from one shop to the other to complete their shopping.