Modeling the effects of dynamic group influence on shopper zone choice,purchase conversion,and spending

In many retail contexts, social interaction plays an important role in the shopping process. We propose a three-stage dynamic linear model that captures the influence of group discussion on shopper behavior within a hierarchical Bayes framework. The model is tested using a video tracking and transaction dataset from a specialty apparel store. The research reveals that group conversations have a significant impact on the shopper’s department or “zone” choice, purchase likelihood, and spending over time. This group influence is magnified by the size of the group (particularly for zone penetration and purchase conversion), and is also moderated by group composition and cohesiveness. The conversations of mixed-age groups and groups who stay together while shopping have a significant influence on shopper behavior across all three stages, while discussions by adult groups exhibit a marginal carryover effect for purchase conversion. When shoppers have repeated discussions in a specific department, they are more likely to return to and buy from this department, while the cumulative number of discussions in the store drives higher spending levels. We also observe that group shoppers visit more departments than their solo counterparts; and mixed-age groups and solo shoppers are more likely to buy than adults-only or teen groups. This study has important implications for how retailers manage shopper engagement and group interaction in their stores.     

The motivation for grocery store loyal behavior with marketing implications

Two different grocery shoppers can be equally loyal to the same supermarket but for entirely different reasons. For example, customer A may be loyal to a store because of convenience reasons while customer B may be loyal to the same store because he or she perceives that the store overall has very low prices. Because of these differences any attempt to segment the market based on store loyalty alone will be only partially effective. A more useful approach is to incorporate a motivation for patronage as well as a loyalty level in a market segmentation classification scheme. On data collected in Bangor, Maine, four types of grocery customers were identified and named price shoppers, convenience shoppers, involved shoppers, and apathetic shoppers. The particular advantage of the four group typology is that customers are defined in terms of response to marketing mix variables. Therefore, the implementation of or changes in marketing strategy is facilitated by the use of the typology.     

Transference and congruence effects on purchase intentions in online stores of multi-channel retailers: initial evidence from the U.S. and South Korea

Drawing from research on retailing, online shopping behavior, and theories of cognitive psychology, we develop and test a framework that investigates purchase intentions in online stores of multi-channel retailers. The framework simultaneously examines the influence of transference of attitude and trust from the multi-channel retailer??s physical to online stores, image congruence between the multi-channel retailer??s physical and online stores, and image congruence between the multi-channel retailer??s online store and a prototypical online store. Further, recognizing that several retailers now operate as multi-channel retailers in different countries, we examine the influence of cultural differences in thought processes (i.e., holistic versus analytic thinking) on shoppers?? evaluation of online stores of multi-channel retailers. Toward this end, we test the framework using data collected from respondents in the U.S. (analytic thinkers) and South Korea (holistic thinkers). We conclude with a discussion of the findings, suggestions for future research, and potential limitations.     

Social class differentials in the store selection process of single black professional women

Black single professional women form a growing and little researched market. This study hypothesized that there are significant social class differences in prepurchase store screening and in actual store choice process. Findings indicated that there were significant differences among groups in preplanning the number of garments, using catalogues, and seeking information from sales clerks. There were no significant differences in types of stores patronized, and store loyalty appeared low overall. It was concluded, both in prepurchase screening and during purchases, that social class played almost no significant role in store selection. However it appeared that single black professional women, unlike other nonblack samples studied, tended to rely on store characteristics and features more than on informational search and process or an all-out store search. If additional comparative studies substantiate this finding, there are strong implications for retailing strategies.     

Single and multiple person household shoppers: A focus on grocery store selection criteria and grocery shopping attitudes and behavior

Responses of single and multiple person household food shoppers are analyzed to determine whether the two groups differ with respect to (1) those store criteria which are important in selecting a food store, (2) attitudes and behavior concerning the grocery shopping activity, and (3) various demographic and socioeconomic characteristics. Even though many similarities were found between the two groups of shoppers, some differences were observed. The implications of these similarities and differences are discussed, with emphasis given to their impact on retail food store management and strategic planning.     

Profitable positioning for retailers

This article has considered the nature and role of positioning among retailers. The positioning of retail stores was defined as the perceived image consumers have of one store in relation to competitive outlets within the same trading area. And profitable positioning for retailers was identified as a strategy for developing and projecting unique store images for increasing the retailer’s total profits.     

Computer assisted purchasing

Today's supermarket shoppers need information on the “best” buys in terms of low prices, shopping convenience, and traveling cost. A survey of literature shows that there is no existing system which provides this information to the shoppers. In this paper we propose an urban supermarket shopping information system. First, a design program for the development of such a system is delineated. Then, two “shopper strategy models” are developed. The first model gives the best strategy to buy predetermined food items for weekly shopping. The second model is shopper activated and allows specification of food items, preference for stores and constraint on shopping time.     

Behavioral characteristics of the recreational shopper and implications for retail management

The success of a retail image is dependent upon the retailer's ability to appropriately match store attributes and benefits with target market characteristics. This study indicates that many consumers (recreational shoppers) shop for other than purely economic considerations. The results provide new evidence pertaining to the appropriate retail strategy for attracting such shoppers.     

Information seeking on competitors and perception of competition by food store managers

The dynamics of competition from the store manager's point of view has been neglected. This study was designed to investigate the perception of competition and competitive information seeking by food store managers. Competition was analyzed in relation to a set of independent variables suggested by concepts of retail competition and organization theory. The data was based on a questionnaire administered to 55 food store managers. It was predicted and found that the perceived competitive interdependency between two stores was related to the degree of perceived similarity between the stores. The results support the concept of competition for differential advantage. The frequency of information seeking on competitors was related to organizational variables, particularly the store managers concept of his job, but not the degree of perceived similarity between competing stores.     

Differences in retail store images within husband-wife dyads

Aggregate measures of purchasing influence generally produce similar results whether husbands or wives serve as the respondents. However, this study indicates that wives should not be used as surrogates for husbands in studies measuring retail store images. The findings of this study indicate that developing marketing strategies based on the images held by wives may not be successful in dealing with the male segment of the market. There is substantial within-couple variation in the evaluation of specific aspects of specific retail stores. However, both groups do appear to use similar evaluative criteria. The differences are in the evaluation of the store characteristics, not in the underlying criteria.     

Examining retail image before and after a repositioning strategy

This research examines changes in management's and consumers' perceptions of retail image during implementation of a major repositioning strategy. A prominent retail chain abandoned an older store in a strip shopping center of a southern SMSA, and built a larger one in a new regional shopping mall. Consumers and store management personnel provided image data for the old and new stores three months before and after the changeover. It was found that while consumers' and management's images significantly changed during the repositioning strategy, the magnitude of management's image change was significantly greater than consumers'. Management perceived greater changes than did consumers in parking, store classification, merchandise quality, style and assortment, return policy, and store layout and decor. Conversely, consumers experiented a greater image change on pricing and credit policy. The major implication for retailers is that problems can arise if management and consumers do not experience commensurate image shifts during repositioning. Fine tuning in advertising, personal selling, product strategy, and the physical environment (e.g., decor, parking) may be necessary to compensate for differential image shifts following a major repositioning strategy. *** DIRECT SUPPORT *** A00BV035 00002     

百货商店之于城市发展的价值探析

探讨了百货商店对于城市发展的价值,可以从百货商店在城市发展中所起的作用对百货业进行重新定位,提高对百货业的重视程度,更好更快地推动百货业发展。首先介绍了百货商店的产生,然后分析了百货商店在推动城市发展过程中所起的作用,接着探讨了百货商店对于城市的价值,以及对于城市居民的价值,最后,文章认为城市的发展会推动百货业的发展,而百货业的发展壮大会更加带动城市的发展。     

Improving retail manpower planning with a quasi-subjective waiting line model

One of the most fruitful approaches for increasing marketing productivity is through more efficient manpower planning. This is particularly true in the labor intensive sectors of marketing such as retailing, particularly the retail department store. Waiting line models offer a high degree of potential for more effective manpower planning in the retail department store. The department store, however, presents a particular set of problems which make applications of waiting line models to manpower planning fairly complex. This complexity stems from two major sources: 1) consumer shopping behavior and 2) sales personnel management practices. This article discusses these problems and presents a model by which they can be handled for retail department stores. A detailed example illustrating the model's application is also provided.     

Scanning for discounts: examining the redemption of competing mobile coupons

Coupons research has typically focused on single-coupon redemption, with scant attention devoted to multiple, competing coupons. To bridge this gap, we observe supermarket shoppers who used their smartphones to scan products in-store, receiving both coupons for the scanned product and several others as a result. We model the determinants of redemption in this context, particularly net price range (NPR), coupon value, brand loyalty, and number of coupons. Latent class analysis uncovers two consumer segments: brand-focused shoppers (79.9%), who use internal reference prices, and deal-prone shoppers (20.1%), who use stimulus-based reference prices. Targeting by means of segment membership, NPR, and loyalty is indispensable: the same $0.50 coupon can have a redemption probability as low as 30% and as large as 80%, depending on these characteristics. Overall, the study sheds light on drivers of redemption under competition and provides managers with a blueprint to improve redemption rates by targeting shoppers with customized coupons.     

论我国百货店业态调整、创新与发展

文章在分析20世纪90年代以来我国百货业态出现亏损或倒闭现象原因的基础上,概括了近两年来大型百货店调整创新的三个表现和七个方面的改革和创新。并指出我国百货店业态在调整中创新发展具有较大的发展空间,并将呈现出多方面的新趋势。     

Distance and number of retail stores: Land area as a proxy for distance

This article examines the relationship between distance and the number of retail stores in SMSA's and states by using land area as a proxy for distance between stores and consumers. Correlation analysis showed no statistically significant relationship between land area and the number of stores. This lack of relationship is attributed to the inadequacy of the land area variable as a proxy for distance. Consequently, actual measures of distance are needed to appraise the relationship between distance and numbers of retail stores.     

The effect of interstate highway on driving times and regional shopping center drawing power

Previous studies of the driving times of shopping center patrons have not examined the effect of limited access highways. This study analyzed the impact of interstate highways on the driving times of 204 shoppers at three medium-sized regional shopping centers. Those shoppers indicating usage of interstate highways to reach their shopping destinations were significantly more likely to incur travel times greater than fifteen and twenty minutes than those not using the available interstate roads. In predicting the drawing power of these shopping centers, factors besides mass were found to be useful. These include square footage of shopping goods, stores, and number of parking places.     

A comment on patterns of store choice and customer gain/loss analysis

We explore patterns of store choice and shopping behavior in the domain of women’s specialty clothing stores. Based on previous research, four exploratory research propositions are examined to note patterns in customer loyalty to their “favorite” stores and the incidence of shopping at competing stores. We conduct a vulnerability analysis to note which stores have customer segments most vulnerable to marketing efforts of competitors. Our findings suggest customers in the women’s specialty clothing market do not exhibit 100 percent loyalty to the favored retailer, and the share of trips to the favored retailer is generally constant among stores. The primary implications to retail managers are that they should be most concerned withincreasing the customer franchise base (those naming the retailer’s store as “favorite”) rather than focusing on increasing thefrequency of shopping trips among those customers that comprise the current franchise base.     

马来西亚华商的价值观、经营模式与社会义务

以杂货店为研究对象,研究马来西亚华商的价值观,探讨从清代以在马来西亚的传统华人杂货商,致富成功与企业价值观、经营模式的最初渊源,提炼出传统儒家价值观、忠、信、义对其成功致富的意义.     

How consumer shopping orientation influences perceived crowding, excitement, and stress at the mall

While a few researchers have started to chip away at the notion that retail density is always negative, extant studies do not empirically address the question of why some shoppers respond negatively to a specific level of density while others respond positively. We examine this issue by drawing upon field theory (Lewin 1939) to shed light on how shoppers vary in terms of deeper motives (McClelland 1953) to seek control or intimacy with others in retail mall settings, and whether these motives influence shopping orientations. Shopping orientation is then hypothesized to affect perceptions of crowding, and, in turn, subsequent affective responses to the mall shopping experience. Moreover, we examine whether individual differences (gender and age) can help retailers segment those with different shopping orientations and the motives that influence these orientations. We found that task and social shopping orientations were influenced by deeper motives for control and intimacy. The causal relationships between shopping motive, shopping orientation, and consumers?? affective responses of stress and excitement were also discovered. Finally, we address theoretical and managerial implications of our results.