The strategy of the retail ‘sale’: typology, review and synthesis

Abstract

With a history spanning over one hundred years, the seasonal ‘sales’ have been curiously neglected within the retailing and marketing literature. This major element of retail pricing and promotion has received rather more attention within the cognate disciplines of psychology, economics and law. Only now are retail strategists giving the ‘sales’ a higher profile. A multidisciplinary review of salient contributions from within these disciplines is presented. In order to address the problem of variable interpretation of a ‘sale’, a typology is developed, placing ‘sale’ within the wider context of promotional pricing. Price-reduction activities are positioned according to their duration and the proportion of the retail assortment involved. The paper concludes with an assessment of research priorities, including a thorough examination of the benefits, both ‘hard’ and ‘soft’, of retail ‘sales’ strategies.