Trends Regarding Retail Businesses. A Consumer Perspective On The Commercial Activity In The City Of Reşiţa

Every business has a series of objectives to achieve. Most of the businesses in the field of commerce follow a certain strategy in order to achieve a higher level of turnover or profitability. Over time, the importance of stores in general and supermarkets in particular has increased, with the transition to a consumer society. The consumer behavior thus becomes an important aspect for the way organization generally or the marketing departments develop their strategies. In order to achieve their goals, it is important for companies to be able to attract and maintain a large number of customers. The general trends in this regard, that can be identified worldwide, can be easily observed in the city of Resita also, reason why it can be studied a direct connection between the number of customers and the level of development of the stores. Whether we speak about supermarkets or small, proximity stores, it cannot be denied the fact that the commercial area has gain power and has been extended very much over the years. Still, each of these faced a new threat, namely the expansion of online stores, reason why many of them try to adapt in the digital environment also. Every analysis, however, depends on two perspectives: the consumer perspective and the managerial perspective. The present paper aims to present an overview of the first one, offering the possibility of further development from the managerial point of view. The first part of the paper consists in a theoretical background regarding commercial management, presenting general aspects regarding the consumption phenomenon, while the second part consists in a study carried out on a sample considered representative for the population in the city of Resita, in order to achieve the perspective of customers regarding the development trends of retail businesses in this part of the country.