Retail sales in the UK 1986-2008: An empirical investigation - Essay Example

This is one area of function which is active at each phase of business process i.e. e. from procurement of raw material to distribution of finished goods, logistics is involved. This chapter covers the retailing sector in general and economic indicators. Retailing sector is an important sector of any economy. This sector is a requirement of day to day activities of people across the world. It is one of the largest employing sectors. The various aspects of retailing are covered in this chapter.

Studies have covered various aspects of retailing from organization structures to advent of technology within this sector and its impact on overall industry. Davies 1993 and McGoldrick 1990 state (as cited in Gillooley and Varley, 2001), According to Gillooley and Varley (2001) emphasise on the role of technology, technologist in the industry. They feel that the dominance of manufacturers brands and the emphasis on product/price promotions is higher in retail clothing industry as compared to food or other retailing.

The social and economic factors includes the cost of labour, labour reports, consumer price index, producer price index, demands of goods and services in the market, productivity, inflation rate, employment rate, exchange rates and gross domestic product. The political factor includes factors like political stability and anticipation of the future political condition. The possible factors can be the demands of the goods and services for the imports. UK despite of the fact of gulf war and oil price hike predictions had a stable growth rate of GDP in four years.

The fall which had been noticed was during 2000 to 2001 was due to the Iraq war. This war has impacted the overall economy of the world. Apart from these the domestic product and the domestic market have shown considerable growth during this period. Europe has experienced considerable growth and pickup in the economy due to the growing