Retail Project

Objective: Demonstrate the ability to create a database, flyer, commercial (presentation), personal business letter, newsletter, and spreadsheet for a company of your choice.

Grading: This will count as two project grades. It will be graded using the rubric below.

Retail Project

Instructions: You have been hired by a retail company to create business documents needed for the upcoming selling season. The season could be summer, fall, or a specific holiday in the near future. Follow the instructions below for creating the required documents. You will save all your work for this project in your Retail Project folder. 

Your instructor will provide a list of websites that you may use for your project. You may use a site that is not listed if it provides the information needed in the database instructions below. Get approval from your instructor if you want to use a site that is not on the list!

DATABASE: Create a list of at least 30 products found on your company’s website. The products you select must be grouped by 5 different categories with 6 products per category. Example: Category is Electronics, Product is Sanyo DVD Player. These can be any items that the company is selling on their website.

Instructions:
1.  Save the file to your Retail Project folder with the name Retail Database.
2.  Create a table called Products—Your First and Last Name. the structure of the table is shown below.

Structure of Products—Your First and Last Name	
Field Name	Data Type	Description	
ID	Text	Set a Primary Key, Product/Item number from the website	
Description	Text	Product Name	
Selling Price	Currency	Retail Price for the product from the website	
Category	Text	Product category (ex. Music, Books, etc.)	

3. Create a query using all fields and with a calculated field called Profit that shows how much money your company would make if you sold 3 of each item. Format this field as currency. Save the query as Profit.

4. Create a report based on the query above using all fields. Sort the report in ascending order by the ID, and title the report “Product Price Sheet – Your first and last name.” 

5. Create a form for the table. Save it with the name “Products Form.” Choose your favorite item in your inventory and 

6. Proofread your document for spelling/grammar errors. (Run spell check!)

7. Open your table and go to File – Page Setup. Change all the margins to .5” and change the orientation to landscape. Your table should fit on ONE PAGE. If it does not, call your instructor over. 

8. Make sure all your work is saved to your Z drive.

FLYER: Create a one-page promotional flyer sing Word or Publisher that will be inserted into the Sunday paper. The flyer should be promoting a special last-minute sale that will take place the day before of your holiday or opening day of your season.

Instructions:
1.  Save the file with the name retail flyer. Save early, save often!
2.  Put your name in the footer.
3.  Create and format an appropriate title
4.  Provide the following information:
	a.  Name of store
	b.  Special Items on sale
	c.  What will customer save (% off or actual dollar savings)
	d.  Date of sale and time (you decide—all day, part of day, etc.)
	e.  Could be an online sale or an in-store sale or both –specify which
5.  Use appropriate font sizes and types throughout
6.  Use relevant images or graphics. Size and align appropriately. NO BLURRY PICTURES!
7.  May use a bullet list
8.  May use a page border
9.  Contain a "for more information" line with wither a web address or phone number
10.  Make sure the flyer is balanced on the page (horizontally and vertically)
11.  Make sure the flyer has good use of white space
12.  Use color, bold, italics, underline, etc.
13.  Proofread your document
14.  Make sure it is only one page!

NEWSLETTER: Create a one-page newsletter using Word that will be given to all employees. It will provide them with information about:
	1.  The current selling season/holiday
	2.  The after-season sale plans
	3.  An employee of the month spotlight
	4.  A preview of upcoming sales for the new season/year
You can be creative and make up the information or you can see if they have this type of information available on their website

Instructions:
1.  Save the file with the name retail newsletter in your retail project folder
2.  Use .75 margins
3.  Put your name in the footer
4.  Contain a title that is the name of your company – be creative!
	a.  It can be a graphic from the Internet (no blurry images!) or something you create using WordArt
	b.  It cannot be larger than 1.5” (height) or 7” (width)
	c.  Center it horizontally
5.  Contain a subtitle with the words “Monthly Newsletter” on the left and “May 2009” on the right. Font size must be 14; you pick the font and color.
6.  Use a border above and below the title and subtitle; use a color and style of your choice
7.  All text in the body must be a readable font (no script fonts please!) and use either size 10 or 12, no larger or smaller.
8.  Use either 2 columns or 3 columns
9.  Columns of text must be justified
10.  Use a Drop Cap on the opening paragraph; the Drop Cap must be in color
11.  All section titles must be formatted the same way –one size larger than the body text, bold, and use color.
12.  Must contain a picture, clipart, or textbook in the middle of the page
	a. Cannot be larger than 2.5” in either height or width
	b. You can use two images if displayed professionally; if two images are used the size cannot be larger than 2” in height or width
13.  Must have a page border that uses color – be creative
14.  Finally, it must demonstrate a clear understanding of the features covered in the newsletter unit

PERSONAL BUSINESS LETTER: This PBL will be sent to special customers offering them an “online” discount. Using Word, create a letter inviting the customers to buy certain product from the website. The general content requirements are outlined in the instructions.

Instructions:
1.  Save the file with the name Retail Letter in your retail project folder. Save early, save often!
2.  Make a letterhead for your company. Get the business address, phone number, and web address from the Internet. If you cannot find an address, see your instructor. Use a graphic logo from your company in the letterhead. Follow the formatting techniques on the previous letters created.
3.  Use the current date on the letter.
4.  Address the letter to customer of your choice.
5.  The opening paragraph should thank the customer for being a valuable customer and invite them to buy products online during a one-week period prior to your selling season/holiday. You need to use specific dates.
6.  The second paragraph should highlight what feature item(s) will be on sale. Be sure to include a brief description of item(s) to entice the customer.
7.  The third paragraph should outline the major incentive for buying online. All items will be 20% off during the online special and the items mentioned in the second paragraph will be 50% off.
8.  The fourth paragraph should close the letter by thanking them again for being a valuable customer and indicating what you would like them to do next. Tell them they will need to use this special code to get the discount price: Y3RJD99S45K
9.  Give the letter a complimentary close and signature line. Put your name as the write of the letter. Under your name, enter the title Customer Service Specialist.

COMMERCIAL (PRESENTAION): Create a 30-second, self-running presentation using PowerPoint. The presentation should be a commercial advertising your sale
Instructions:
1.  Save as Retail Commercial
2.  Use at least 4 slides, but no more than 10 slides
3.  Use an appropriate theme throughout
4.  Use pictures and music — be creative
	a. The music must run continuously throughout the commercial
5.  Make sure you include all the information for your sale
	a. Where, when, times—give specific dates, locations, times the stores opens/closes, in-store, or online sale 
6.  The presentation must be self-running and must "loop" (it must start over automatically when it gets to the end.) We will go over how to do this in class, but here are the directions in case you forget!

	a. To make it run automatically - Go to Slide Show - Rehearse Timings. You will see the Rehearsal timing control in the top left that looks like the image here. Use the arrow on the left to go to the next slide after the appropriate amount of time has gone by. Do this for each slide. Your total time should not be more than 30 seconds!
	b. To make it "loop" (go back to the beginning and start over automatically when it gets to the end) —Go to Slide Show—Set Up Show. Put a check in the box "Loop continuously until "Esc"
7.  Test your slideshow
8.  We will view each commercial in class

SPREADSHEET: Using Excel, you will create a spreadsheet to identify your inventory and forecast your potential profit if you sold your entire inventory. This should include the 5 item categories, all 30 of your items, how many of each item you are selling, the price of each item, a column calculating the potential profit per item, and a column for calculating the total profit per category.

Instructions:
1.  Save the file with the name retail spreadsheet. Save early, save often!
2.  Type the title "Name of Company inventory" in cell A1. Increase the font size of the title, use a different font color than black, merge and center the title across cells, and apply a background color to the title.
3.  Enter the appropriate column titles and row labels for the spreadsheet and enter the information that doesn't require a formula in your spreadsheet.
4.  Enter the appropriate formula to calculate the potential profit per item (Quantity * Price)
5.  Use the appropriate function to calculate the total profit per category.
6.  Use the appropriate function to calculate the total of the quantity and total profit rows.
7.  Use the appropriate function to calculate the average of the potential profit per item.
	•  Figure out the MAX profit for each item (price * qty) and the MIN profit for each item (0), then average these two using the AVERAGE function
8.  Use the appropriate function to calculate the highest potential profit item.
9.  Use the appropriate function to calculate the lowest potential profit item.
10.  Format the spreadsheet as you desire, but it must use the following features: bold, italics, borders, shading, background color, varying text size, and text colors. Be sure it looks neat and professional.
11.  Adjust column widths and row heights as necessary to adequately display the data
12.  Create an embedded chart to present some of your data inn graphical form.
13.  Proofread your document for spelling/grammar errors. (Run spell check!)
14.  Finally, make sure it demonstrates a clear understanding of the features covered in this unit

Name ___________________________________________

Retail Project Rubric – these are all or nothing – you earn all the points by following directions and completing everything at or above expectations or you don’t. There is no middle ground. 

Item *see instructions for specific requirements	Save As:	Points Possible	Points Earned	
Database	Retail Database	50		
Flyer	Retail Flyer	50		
Newsletter	Retail Newsletter	50		
Personal Business Letter	Retail Commercial	50		
Presentation (Commercial)	Retail PowerPoint	50		
Spreadsheet	Retail spreadsheet with formulas	50		
Total		300