Abstract

Louise van Scheers* and MC Cant

Secondary research shows that consumer price knowledge and gender has an effect on retail management strategy. Consumer knowledge and expertise of industries prices, products and store location add to the ease at which consumers are able to cherry pick. Consumers are informed of discounted prices on products as well as the product assortment of a particular store, through marketing and store promotions. Cherry picking can be defined as taking the best and leaving the rest and therefore cherry picking is used to portray both buyer and seller behaviour in retailing. Various sellers can be viewed as those who are selective about which consumer profile they choose to target, whereas consumers are selective about which products or services they purchase. This article aims to establish the effect of consumer price knowledge and gender on retail management strategy. Consumers who are branded as cherry pickers are price sensitive shoppers with no brand loyalty but this market segment has been found to be sizable, heterogeneous, and potentially attractive for retailers, contrary to the myth that they are a retailers’ nemesis. Price knowledge means the ability of buyers to keep prices in mind; it influences what, when, where and how much they buy. Cherry pickers build price competitions between retailers’; therefore they should strive to have the most attractive offers and weekly advertisements, in order to draw the cherry pickers in and obtaining a greater turnover.