The role of Swedish retailers in food innovations

Innovations should create value for increasingly individualistic consumers with varying demands and for other stakeholders. Today, retailers have the power in the supply/value chain. This research investigates how Swedish food retailers view innovations, their role and that of customers and suppliers in the development process and how they see future development. The study is based on open-ended interviews. The results show that Swedish retailers regard food product innovations as something to provide to consumers rather than achieve with consumers. Retailers want more collaboration with packaging suppliers to differentiate. Retailers are successful in establishing their own brands, in becoming brands themselves and in competing with producer brands. This follows the UK model and may result in fewer alternatives in stores and fewer product – or new technology-based innovations by Swedish producers. Service innovations can still occur for retailers to retain consumer loyalty. Consumers demand more than new products; they want to be excited by the shopping experience. More innovations will require deeper insight about consumers, efforts from the value chain and from outsiders. Collaboration is needed to establish trust among supply chain actors.     

Equilibrium in supply chain network with competition and service level between channels considering consumers' channel preferences

This paper considers a dual-channel supply chain network consisting of multiple competing manufacturers, multiple competing retailers and multiple demand markets. Each manufacturer produces and distributes his products via direct e-commerce channel along with traditional physical channel. The manufacturers also provide services for the consumers in both channels, while the retailers only offer offline services to the consumers. On this basis, a dual-channel supply chain network equilibrium model with pricing and service decisions are established based on variational inequality theory. Nash equilibrium solutions are obtained by modified projection and contraction method. Combined with numerical examples, we analyze the impact of three critical factors on the equilibrium states and profits. Some interesting managerial insights are derived. We find that the profits of the manufacturers decrease (increase) in the raw material conversion ratio under single channel case (dual-channel case), while the increase of the raw material conversion ratio always benefits the retailers and the whole dual-channel supply chain network; the service level in each channel is positively correlated with its transaction volume. There are significant inconsistencies among the best combinations of cross-channel price coefficients between two channels for the manufacturers, the retailers and the whole dual-channel supply chain network. The same equilibrium decision (service level, price) or profit may exhibit the opposite changing trend with respect to cross-channel price coefficients under two cases of active e-commerce transaction and inactive e-commerce transaction. When the introduction of e-commerce channel can bring more profits for the whole dual-channel supply chain network, the manufacturers should provide reasonable allocation schemes of profit increment for the retailers to satisfy their participation constraints.     

Customization in bicycle retailing

The purpose of this paper is to explore the process of customization by investigating how retailers and consumers interact in bicycle retailing. The paper focuses on three high-end bicycle retailers. Building on qualitative data gathered through interviews and netnography, this study takes both retailers’ and consumers’ processes into account. The results show that retailers capitalize on external and internal opportunities for co-creation, including new technologies, production and distribution innovations, and social media. Retailers’ planning for co-creation plays a significant role in providing a unique shopping experience for consumers. This includes supply chain solutions such as effective inventory and warehousing systems, partnerships and outsourcing, tracking, and postponement, which facilitate simplicity. Retailers rely on feedback from consumers to improve their planning and implementation processes. In terms of consumer processes, several emotions are evident, including the sense of standing-out and self-esteem, fun and coolness, creativity and imagination, and most importantly, the possibility of reflecting one’s personality in self-designed bikes. Systems that are easy to interact with, such as interactive online configurators, contribute to consumers’ cognitive processes. Loyalty and positive word-of-mouth turns out to be a common manifestation of the behavior associated with such co-creation processes. We also reflect on how, by what means, and why consumers and retailers engage in co-creation through customization, mainly pertaining to learning and innovation. Our results also point to various possible outcomes from such processes for consumer and retailers; including expressing ones personality and individuality for consumers, and providing product variety efficiently, and boosting brand image for retailers.     

Implementation of technology and relationships to supply chain performance: apparel manufacturers' perspectives

Apparel manufacturers operate within a distribution channel with suppliers, retailers and consumers. In a competitive market, apparel manufacturers, in transactions with retailers, must make changes. These changes have potential to affect the supply chain and consequently to add or reduce value of products for the retailer. This study investigated changes in products and services associated with implementation of new technologies. A two-stage design used both a qualitative study and a quantitative study. The qualitative study with 10 industry personnel was used to develop the change variable. The quantitative study had US apparel manufacturers (n = 105) respond to a mailed survey about changes their firms had experienced. Findings indicated that implementation of Quick Response (QR) technologies when moderated by the demographics of fashion level, seasonality, and price point of the product did correspond with changes in product offerings and customer services.     

The Impact of Key Retail Accounts on Supplier Performance: A Collaborative Perspective of Resource Dependency Theory

Existing literature suggests that the increasing concentration in the retail industry is allowing powerful retailers to exploit their weaker suppliers, which causes the suppliers’ performance to suffer. This study takes a collaborative perspective of resource dependency theory and suggests that when suppliers engage in supply chain relationships with key retail account (KRA) customers, their performance may improve, depending on the varying levels of the supplier's and KRAs’ market shares. The empirical analysis of data from two large retailers, Wal-Mart and Target, and a broad cross-section of their suppliers provides ample support for most of the hypotheses set forth in this paper: Suppliers that depend on KRAs for a significant share of their total revenues relinquish some of their leverage in the marketplace, but as the KRAs gain market share, their suppliers’ performance tends to increase. Cumulatively, these results provide evidence of collaborative supplier–KRA relationships, such that a supplier's dependency on KRAs may positively affect supplier performance. This finding supports a more positive, symbiotic view of dependency, resulting in important implications for key account management, supply chain management, and retail research and practice.     

风险喜好型零售商主导的双渠道定价策略研究

一个由生产商和零售商组成的供应链中决策的顺序为:零售商率先根据自己掌握的市场信息公布最大潜在订单数量,生产商根据最大订单数量来调整其批发价格和直销渠道价格,最后零售商才确定其最优订货数量。研究表明,在一个由风险喜好型的零售商和一个风险规避型的供应商组成的供应链中,零售商风险偏好系数超过某一特定值时,随着需求方差的增加,零售渠道最优定价会越来越高;而对于风险规避型供应商,则是随着需求方差和(或)供应商风险规避程度的增加,会选择较低的产品售价以期获得稳定的收入。     

International Comparisons of Supply Chain Management in Grocery Retailing

This paper discusses a neglected area of international retailing research, namely an international comparison of supply chain management practices. The focus of this research is on the grocery industry sector and the comparative analysis is between US retailers and their counterparts in parts of Europe. The research shows that the logistical environment differs markedly between and even within countries. The amount of stock held in the grocery supply chain varies from over 100 days in the US to 29 days in the UK. The main reasons for these differences can be attributed to the intensity of price competition, conflict rather than collaboration between suppliers and retailers, commodity purchasing and holding of promotional stock and the varying rates of adoption of information technology, especially EDI usage. No two countries are the same, however; and range of factors such as geography and distribution ‘culture’ will require the international rnarketeer to assess all these factors in developing a logistics strategy for different country markets.     

资金约束下供应商的融资模式及风险防范

当前,商品市场的竞争越来越明显地体现在商品供应链上面,而矛盾的焦点在于很多供应商受资金短缺的约束,已与上下游企业之间产生严重的不协调现象,进而影响到下游制造商或零售商的利润,最终导致整体上供应链利润减少。面对资金约束问题,供应商应积极动员上下游企业尽可能地采取经济援助策略,增强融资的风险防范能力。其基本模式主要有：企业预付款融资模式、企业直接投资融资模式、企业担保下的银行融资模式。并通过采用价格折扣、收益共享、供应链保险等方法规避风险,达到供应链条及供应链上各企业可持续发展的目的。     

The strategic drivers of drop-shipping and retail store sales for seasonal products

Retailers that sell seasonal products face significant challenges when planning inventory assortment. The incorporation of drop-shipping into their operations, wherein suppliers own and ship products directly to consumers at retailers’ requests, has only complicated these challenges. This study investigates multichannel assortment planning of retailers that sell seasonal products. We first capture structural properties of multichannel retailing of seasonal products through a simple and parsimonious analytical model. The analytical model uncovers key seasonal product attributes that make it more attractive for retailers to allocate a product for sale in the drop-shipping channel than in the store channel. We then empirically assess the findings of the analytical model. Using a rich and unique dataset from the fashion retail industry, we test relationships between product attributes and retailers’ channel choice. The application of a generalized linear latent and mixed model controls for selection bias by jointly estimating retailers’ likelihood of allocating a product’s inventory to the drop-shipping channel and the allocated volume in each channel according to the product’s characteristics. The empirical findings suggest that retailers are less likely to drop-ship products that are colored, irregularly sized, and offered in more style variants. They also unveil cross-channel effects in terms of inventory amounts allocated for sale in each channel according to those characteristics. Our analytical and empirical assessments jointly demonstrate the complementary roles played by drop-shipping and store channels for seasonal products and offer important academic and practical implications.     

Packaging-free products: A lever of proximity and loyalty between consumers and grocery stores

This research investigates the consequences for retailers and their stores of a new sustainable consumption trend—the purchase and consumption of bulk products. It examines the effects of offering packaging-free products on three subdimensions of perceived proximity (identity, process, and relational) and on transactional loyalty (satisfaction–loyalty) and relational loyalty (satisfaction–trust–loyalty). A total of 1407 buyers and consumers of bulk products at a convenience store (of a university cooperative style) filled out an online questionnaire. These consumers were then divided into three subgroups (convinced, pragmatic, and wary). This research empirically establishes that unpacked products are a strategic tool for retailers and their stores to create or strengthen the relationships established with their customers. Unpacked products and the proximity they create between a consumer and a store are the first link in the development or preservation of a relational chain between the consumer and the store. Moreover, the step reached by the consumer in his process of purchasing and consuming packaging-free products (from the discovery stage to the already well-established habit) has a direct impact on the relational chain built.     

“新零售”供应链场景化价值逆向重构

随着信息环境、技术环境以及商业环境的变化,"新零售"在生鲜零售、连锁服务、快消餐饮等领域迅速发展,以创新模式满足消费者特定时空的消费期望,是零售业转型升级的重要表现。场景化要素在零售业嵌入程度的不足,导致零售业同质化现象严重,消费者体验未得到明显改善。为了使零售业能符合当前环境,提高消费者体验的愉悦度,应以零售商主导的供应链逆向整合为创新点,通过综合运用场景化要素的融合功效,依据由消费者、零售企业和供应商为核心要素的供应链创新机理,遵循全面性、分节点和成体系的原则,从消费者的消费需求、消费习惯和消费偏好出发对商业情境进行多维度、立体化的配置,强化零售商的自主经营能力,促进消费者消费体验的良性循环,提高消费者与场景的黏性,提高其持续购买的意愿,形成"新零售"供应链创新路径。     

基于多Agent的协同供应链模型

供应链通过获取原材料,转换成最终产品,交付最终用户等一系列过程将供应商、制造商、仓储、分销中心以及零售商等形成一个巨大的网络体系。当前,随着企业经营模式的变化,协同与伙伴管理成为供应链变革的推动力量。而协同供应链能够对市场变化和用户需求形成快速响应。将Agent理论应用于协同供应链管理,分析协同供应链的主要特征,并提出基于多Agent的协同供应链模型。     

Responsible supply chain management in the Asian context: the effects on relationship commitment and supplier performance

Responsible supply chain management (SCM) in the era of expanding global sourcing can play a critical role in diffusing corporate responsible practices throughout the emerging Asian economies. Thus, this paper aims to examine how responsible SCM can contribute to supplier performance, including environmental, social and operational performances through the improvement of relationship commitment in the Asian context. The hypotheses of this study were tested with the data from 187 South Korean suppliers and 193 Vietnamese suppliers. The paper finds that responsible SCM enhances relationship commitment as well as improves the sustainability performance of suppliers in Asian countries. Relationship commitment plays a critical and mediating role in the relationships between responsible SCM and environmental, social and operational performances. This study also finds that there is a contextual difference between South Korea and Vietnam. The findings of this paper provide implications for supply chain members to integrate environmental and social issues into their SCM practices so as to foster stronger sustainability performance in the global supply chain.     

Environmentally conscious consumption: The role of retailers and peers as external influences

Environmentally conscious consumption is one of the key concerns in modern society generally, and increasingly among the consumer population. However, consumers often overstate their willingness to purchase environmentally conscious products, with global purchasing of these products relatively low. Much research has considered the role of drivers internal to an individual in making such consumption choices; however there is less knowledge as to how external influences may impact environmentally conscious consumption behaviour. As retailers increasingly strive to adopt and communicate their environmentally sustainable business practices, and encourage parallel consumer behavior, the question arises: what role do retailers play in influencing consumers’ environmentally conscious consumption? In this paper we investigate this notion, specifically how external influences (the retailer and peers) impact environmentally conscious behavior. We investigate this behavior in terms of two outcomes; sustainable consumption (direct costs) and willingness to accept environmental taxes (indirect costs). Our research demonstrates that retailers can influence consumers to be more environmentally conscious in their consumption, with retailer influence a stronger mediator than peers in this relationship. One important implication of this research is that retailers have the opportunity to shape environmentally conscious consumption if they adopt sustainable business practices.     

促进产业和谐发展的零供关系构建研究

零供关系对于产业发展至关重要。有关调查显示我国零供关系显失公平现象十分严重,已经危及到了整个产业链的和谐。零供矛盾的焦点主要集中在零售商收取不合理的通路费用和拖欠货款。大型零售商滥用自身市场优势追求利益最大化、过度依赖"渠道控制"盈利模式及对供应商依赖渠道资源存在认识偏差是导致零供冲突的主要原因。完善相关法律法规、健全社会诚信机制、签订以公平交易为基础的合同、建立合理的利益分配机制和信息共享机制,有助于构建和谐的零供关系,促进产业健康发展。     

Shopping in the omnichannel supply chain under price competition and product return

In recent years, omnichannel retailing has created value for prospective consumers. The rise of omnichannel retailing has changed consumers' buying habits, and manufacturers are facing stiff competition from retailers. To reduce this competition effect, manufacturers and retailers often work together to reduce showroom display costs. Despite this practice, there is little understanding of how omnichannel retailing impacts supply chain (SC) profit under competitive conditions. We investigate the test-in-store-and-buy-online (TSBO) retailing strategy and its impact on SC profit and price competition between manufacturers. The retailer sells products of both manufacturers through its website but displays products of only one manufacturer in the showroom, which bears the displaying cost. The retailer adopts a return policy for the other manufacturer. Stackelberg game was used to examine how members of the chain interact, and Nash equilibrium was used to find optimal strategies for players under decentralized and integrated channels. The results show that the TSBO strategy in retailing benefits all supply chain players under the integrated channel. A further interesting finding is that omnichannel SC profits are highest when retailers adopt a return policy. When two manufacturers compete and adopt different sales models, the manufacturer who uses the TSBO retail model reaps the most profit. Several other managerial insights are drawn from sensitivity analyses.     

基于多智能代理的供应链协同管理

供应链是由供应商、制造商、分销商等企业实体组成的一个复杂网络,其中企业之间的协作问题是供应链管理的关键。近年来,人工智能领域的多代理技术开始应用到供应链管理中,该技术将供应链看作是由一组智能代理组成的系统,其中每个智能代理负责一项或多项任务,并在任务执行过程中不断与其它代理进行交互。     

流通领域零供交易关系的平等性研究

随着我国市场经济的发展,商品流通领域中的零售商和供应商双方在交易中的地位也在不断转换,零售商逐渐在交易中占据优势地位,一些大型零售商滥用这种优势地位激化了其与供应商之间的矛盾,零售商的优势地位容易导致拖欠、占用供应商贷款,收取名目繁多的费用,要挟供应商等问题.从法律关系看,零售商与供应商之间的交易关系是民事法律关系,应体现意思自治与平等、合同自由的原则,但在现实中,由于一些零售商滥用市场优势地位,二者的关系与这种原则还有相当大的差距.为此,应建立和完善制止滥用市场优势地位的法律,并借助行业协会的力量建立多种协调和自律机制.     

品牌权益影响下的双渠道供应链定价决策及协调研究

针对一个制造商开通直销渠道销售产品与零售商的价格竞争问题,文章基于制造商与零售商共享品牌权益的视角,研究在制造商双渠道供应链结构中,价格和品牌权益同时作用下的双渠道供应链定价决策,分别分析在集中决策下和分散决策下,品牌权益对两种渠道价格和利润的影响。研究发现：在集中决策下,两种渠道的价格、利润与品牌权益成正相关;在分散决策下,当品牌权益超过一定临界值时,其对制造商直销渠道的价格和制造商总利润的影响大于零售商。鉴于品牌权益对供应链定价决策的重要影响,文章建立制造商和零售商之间的品牌权益成本共担机制,并通过数值仿真分析发现,当实施品牌权益成本共担机制时,制造商和零售商的销售价格和利润均是最优的。因此,零售商应加强与制造商的互动,共同创造高品牌权益的同时,也应共同分享高品牌权益。     

You can't buy what you can't see: Retailer practices to increase the green premium

Retailers are the gatekeepers between consumers and eco-friendly products. As such, they can influence green shopping behavior. The results of an eye-tracking experiment show that retailers can attract consumers’ visual attention and increase the green premium through various practices such as providing relevant information, orienting consumers inside the store, and offering an eco-friendly product assortment. Managerial implications are to use green-colored price tags to signal eco-friendly products, while avoiding greenwashing practices that can distract consumers from finding the eco-friendly products they look for.