All organisations - from modest start-ups to multinational corporations - can benefit from an effective marketing strategy, as it serves as a roadmap for the entire business. By formulating a coherent and well-considered marketing strategy, organisations can promote their business, cater to the right types of clients and allocate their resources correctly, all while safeguarding the reputation of the organisation. Strategic Marketing is structured around the four key questions facing organisations and top management when deciding on their strategic direction: Where are we now; where do we want to be; how will we get there; and did we get there?

Understanding consumers and the way they behave is crucial to the success of any business. In these times of economic uncertainty and reduced customer expenditure, ensuring that the consumer's wants and needs are met, forms part of the strategic planning of all organisations - big or small. Consumers, by means of their buying behaviour, exert influence on businesses and compel them to act in certain ways. Understanding consumer behaviour is therefore imperative, as it provides information to businesses on how to plan their marketing activities and sustain themselves as commercially viable and useful entities.

This new edition of Contemporary Retail and Marketing Case Studies is a collection of 34 studies of retail and marketing operations as told by individual companies.

Small, medium and larger companies relate the challenges they have faced and how they overcame them, and share their successes and frustrations in a frank and open manner. Each case is unique in its own way and addresses issues which are pertinent and relevant to the South African retail and marketing environment.

The value of this collection is that:

• It provides a variety of cases that together offer insight into the marketing challenges faced by local businesses
• It offers a South African perspective on how to overcome these issues
• It is written from the viewpoint of the entrepreneur or business executive
• It provides practical insights which support work-integrated learning.

This book is a must-read for scholars, students and people concerned with the retail and marketing industry.