Responses to out-of-stocks and on-shelf availability in UK fashion retailing

The purpose of this study is to examine the attitudes and approaches adopted by fashion retailers when presented with an out-of-stocks (OOS) issue and to measure in store on-shelf availability (OSA) of one particular fashion retailer across a sample of stores across the United Kingdom. The research was carried out in three phases. The first two phases used participants' observation/mystery shopper techniques to determine shop-floor representatives' responses to an OOS situation in the jeans category of seven retailers and then to measure the OOS/OSA of a sample of 10 stores of a middle market fashion retailer in the United Kingdom. A comparison with the electronic inventory database readings was then carried out. The final phase involved interviews with head office management to explore possible differences between headquarters (HQ) policy and store operations. The first phase of the research revealed that all retailers had processes available to them at store level to solve OSA issues, but six of the seven retailers could not solve the problem. From the in-depth survey of OSA in the sample of stores, availability was on average 79% against a database availability figure of 90%. The difference of 11% is mainly related to inventory inaccuracy. The interviews with head office management did reveal that the differences in attitudes between HQ staff and store staff could be attributed to a lack of communication to train staff adequately on processes to solve OOS issues.     

Entry barriers in retailing

The main purpose of the present research is to compare the impact of exogenous and endogenous market entry barriers in the retail setting. To clarify this issue, potential reactions by existing retailers to prospective competitors are studied. The results indicate that the major entry barriers are capital requirements, availability of store locations, and availability of qualified personnel: all exogeneous variables. In addition, the endogenous barriers most highly ranked, on the assumption that entry would occur, are those designed to reinforce exogenous barriers. Further, collateral issues are addressed. The results are discussed within the context of the research, and directions for future research are given.     

Marketing in retailing: a research agenda

Although specific retailing subjects related to marketing have been extensively

researched and presented in academic literature, the overall topic of marketing in

retailing has received little attention. This paper identifies and discusses some

principal marketing in retailing issues that warrant empirical assessment.

Research attention to the questions raised in this paper will provide strategic

Guidelines to retailers seeking to improve the marketing performance of their

organizations.     

Format development and retail change: supermarket retailing and the London Co-operative Society

This article argues that students of retail history need to give more attention to the idea of the retail format. Employing a conceptualisation of the format recently presented in contemporary retail studies, it reveals the importance of so-called ‘offering’ and ‘know-how’ components to a fuller understanding of the development of the supermarket format in post-war Britain. Supermarket development is shown to be affected by, and itself impact on, a complex interplay of factors. Arguments presented in the article are supported by a detailed examination of supermarket development at the London Co-operative Society between 1960 and 1965. The paper thus also contributes to our knowledge of the history of co-operative retailing in the post-war period.     

Exploring public house employee's perceptions of their status: a UK case study

This paper suggests that employees' perceptions of their occupational status are important to researchers and managers concerned with the broader nature of service work. This ethnography of a single, medium-sized chain of English public houses demonstrates the complex nature of status, identifying four key influences on barworkers' views of their relative standing at work and in the wider community: the nature of the occupation and the employing organisation/environment (barwork in a ‘respectable’ pub chain); the nature of customer relationships (informal, egalitarian); perceived professionalism (personal responsibility at work); and the relative occupational opportunities available (with equivalent jobs offering considerably less status).     

Customer satisfaction in European food retailing

Customer satisfaction and customer loyalty is becoming an increasingly important factor in modern retailing—a market characterized by slow growth and intense competition. Big non-European chains such as Walmart are already present in some countries and consider buying some of the retail chains in other countries, e.g. in the Scandinavian countries. This development will demand even more focus on customer satisfaction and customer loyalty in order to stay in business and may also demand that existing actors on the market place form new coalitions. Promising new partners may be identified, partly based upon measures identifying how potential partners are perceived by the customers. Based on results from the European Customer Satisfaction study, a comparative analysis of customer satisfaction in Europe is conducted. Some specific Danish results are shown and the relationship between customer loyalty, supermarket type and ownership structure is studied. The relationship between results after taxes and customer loyalty is documented.     

Analysing the fulfilment of service recovery paradox in retailing

The literature dealing with the Service Recovery Paradox (SRP) is vast, but some results are confusing and contradictory. In addition to this, scarce attention has been paid to service recovery in the context of retailing. This paper aims at verifying the compliance of the SRP in the context of retailing. Considering a sample of consumers that experienced a failure in the service delivered by a retailer and are very satisfied with the solution provided by the store employee, we test first the fulfilment of the SRP in the context of retailing. Secondly, we test the existence of significant differences in the customer satisfaction levels with the store before and after experiencing the problem considering several factors potentially influencing the impact of service recovery on customer satisfaction, therefore providing an encompassing analysis of the SRP and its main influencing variables, including some potential factors not previously explored. While we do not find evidence of the fulfilment of the SRP in retailing, differences in customer satisfaction before and after service recovery are highly related with consumer sociodemographic characteristics and shopping experience. Findings raise some practical implications.     

Citizen and consumer involvement in UK public services

This paper is concerned with the involvement and participation of citizens and consumers in UK public services. It reflects on levels of involvement over a 30‐year period and maps this accordingly. Using models of participation, the paper reviews the citizen and consumer concepts. Conclusions are drawn about involvement and participation in practice and how this will develop in the future.     

Convergence and divergence in consumer behavior: implications for international retailing

Converging technology and disappearing income differences across countries will not lead to homogenization of consumer behavior. Rather, consumer behavior will become more heterogeneous because of cultural differences. As consumer incomes converge across countries, the manifestation of value differences will become stronger. This phenomenon makes it increasingly important to understand values of national cultures and their impact on consumer behavior. Retailing strategies for one country cannot be extended to other countries without adaptation. Hofstede’s model of national culture is applied to understand differences in consumer behavior across countries. Examples are provided of consumption differences, their relationships with culture discussed, and selected implications for international retailing management detailed.     

The expansion of modern trade food retailing in Thailand

With a population of nearly 70 million people, Thailand is a large and attractive emerging market, drawing investments from various foreign food retailers since the 1980s. An economic crash and currency devaluation in 1997 brought both new challenges and opportunities, and led to a renewed wave of expansion, but also calls for regulation, which had not been strictly enforced. Thailand has been host to transnational retailers from many countries, several of which ultimately withdrew. The competitive landscape has continued to evolve, with a range of new store formats, expanded services, smart phone applications and online shopping, and a push to expand both private label brands and ready-to-eat foods. However, some of these offerings appear to have potential conflicts in terms of Thai consumer behaviour. Thai culture places low importance on time; few shop online, and the majority of consumers have low incomes, and thus may not be attracted to visit modern trade retailers for the same reasons as customers in the retailers' home markets. Despite this, Thailand is currently the second largest global market for 7-Eleven and Tesco's number two international market. This presents a paradox in that Tesco operates hypermarkets, while 7-Elevens are convenience stores. Do Thais want hypermarket style volume discounts, or higher priced convenience, or both? Thais traditionally have shopped in wet markets and enjoy fresh foods, which contradicts attempts by many retailers striving to sell ready-to-eat foods. Many Thais are concerned about face and status, which may be a barrier towards buying private label brands. This paper describes the history and expansion of food retailing in Thailand and also highlights how cultural differences may affect consumer behaviour. As the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) aims to open borders more broadly, there will likely be more expansion of stores and potentially more cultural differences. Whether transnational or domestic, food retailers may need to further consider aspects of culture and consumer behaviour to determine whether to adapt their strategies, rather than copy and paste formats from abroad.     

Barriers and stimuli to the use of information technology in retailing

The retail marketing environment is continuously changing. Changes in retail format, retailing processes and the competitive environment continue to create problems for retail management. This article examines the barriers and stimuli to the adoption of innovation in infonnation technology. Our objective is to demonstrate how managers might anticipate the problems associated with managing significant change and develop appropriate strategies to deal with such problems. Previous research has indicated that it is important to explore the views of a range of managers in the organization. Much of the previous research has relied on a single respondent from many organizations to provide an accurate picture. This research does not follow that tradition. It uses the views of more than one hundred managers within one organization. The research explores the relative attractiveness of the innovation to individual managers, the organization's receptivity to change and the presence or absence of a 'product' champion. It ends with recommendations on ways of improving the rate of acceptance of such technologies.     

Information effects of warehouse automation on sales in omnichannel retailing

The recent development of an omnichannel business environment provides a seamless shopping experience throughout the customer journey. Although previous studies have identified the importance of rapid product delivery, consumers cannot evaluate delivery quality until it has arrived. This study argued that warehouse automation and retail channel brand characteristics lead to informative signals and to firms' higher sales in the omnichannel context. By analyzing panel data from the Japanese retail market, we tested the effects of warehouse automation and the moderating effects of omnichannel, online, and offline brand offerings on the effectiveness of the warehouse automation signal. Results showed that warehouse automation signaling positively affects firms’ sales and has a positive interaction effect with omnichannel offerings.     

Organizational culture as differentiator in international retailing

Much of the international retailing literature echoes major retailers' assertions that inimitable organizational cultures can create competitive advantage. However, the culture concept remains ill-defined and systematic international empirical analysis is lacking. Based on website analyses of nine international retailers, the paper investigates how organizations define their cultures, codify and transfer them into practice, and aim to homogenize them across borders. Although some evidence for organization-specific cultural aspirations is identified, findings suggest that retailers' cultures become homogenized within and between countries. This supports previous work on the existence of industry-specific macro cultures and challenges the resource-based view, which sees culture as a source of competitive advantage.     

Women and Wine in the UK: A Business Opportunity for Bars

The purpose of this article is to examine the changes to twentieth-century UK public houses which have encouraged women customers and wine sales and to consider how to encourage these trends. Secondary sources have been augmented by a case study that examines the wine provision in all of the public houses in one town. The old public house had a largely male, working-class beer-drinking clientele, but has become accessible to women and wine has become a common product. However, the wine is often of poor quality, or badly served, and many women still do not enjoy the pub experience. The work suggests that further women-friendly moves and an improved quality chain for wine could benefit trade in many outlets.     

Partner identification and selection of joint ventures in international retailing

Identifying and selecting the ‘right partner’ is one of the key topics in the international retailing literature. Yet, current research provides little knowledge of how international retailers find and select joint venture (JV) partners in foreign markets. We investigate seven cases of British retail multinationals to address this research gap. We find that some retailers initiate formalised partner searches. In other cases, however, JVs arise opportunistically, involving no planned partner identification and selection. Retailer selection criteria revolve significantly around local relationships and market knowledge, specifically concerning local real estate. At the same time, some retailers understand that to leverage these local resources, the relationship and strategic fit with partners are critical.     

Analysing technical and allocative efficiency in the French grocery retailing industry

This paper focuses on the innovative two-stage procedure developed by Simar and Wilson to estimate the determinants of French retailing efficiency. During the first stage, the technical and allocative efficiency of French retailers will be assessed using the DEA (Data Envelopment Analysis) methodology to identify the best companies, in order to serve as peers for improving the performance of weaker companies. The companies analysed have therefore been ranked according to their total productivity over the period 2000–2004. During the second stage, the Simar and Wilson model will be used to bootstrap DEA scores via a truncated regression. The economic and managerial implications arising from this study will also be considered.     

The retailing environment in Ireland and its effect on the chilled ready meal market

Food retailing in the island of Ireland has experienced a number of changes with the relatively recent arrival of the UK multiples. This preliminary study examined retailing developments in Ireland focusing on the chilled ready meal sector and on an identification of the factors that influence chilled food choice. Interviews, supermarket analysis, consumer focus groups and questionnaires revealed that the chilled ready meal market was experiencing a period of growth assisted by the arrival of the UK multiples, but there was great potential to further expand the market. Convenience was cited as the primary reason for purchase of chilled ready meals but taste continued to play an important role in chilled food choice. Retailers must respond by informing and educating consumers about their product offerings. In addition, they must listen to the unique needs and wants of consumers on this island to assist in the development and provision of a range of chilled ready meals suitable for the Irish market‐place.     

Profiling the ageing wellness consumers in the retailing context

In the context of retailing, ‘wellness consumption’ cannot be defined by a product or service category, but by shopping motives. As previous research strongly suggests our consumption patterns to be influenced both by age and generational effects, in the current study we explore the wellness orientations of consumers at different ages/belonging to different generations as they manifest in everyday practices, especially in the context of retailing. Drawing on that, we aim to shed light on implications of the population ageing on retailing-related wellness industry. The main focus is on Baby Boomers. Starting with a random sample of 18–75-year-olds (N=1600), we extracted six dimensions connected to different aspects of wellness. Next, the dimensions extracted among aged 18–75 and 55?64 were fed into respective cluster analyses which both yielded seven segments. The differences in the composition of wellness dimensions indicate that age-/generation-specific segmentation is warranted and will return in more accurate estimations of the market potential and more targeted marketing activities. Examination of the parallel typologies enabled us to gain a broader understanding of differences between generations. There was an obvious age-/generation-based pattern in the cluster memberships in the 18–75 sample, all clusters offering different opportunities for the wellness market.     

Building customer trust and loyalty: an empirical study in a retailing context

This paper integrates the seller's characteristics and the consumer's individual characteristics in testing the person-to-person and person-to-firm effects of trust on loyalty in the department store. A multidimensional model of the behavioural components of trustworthiness is used to examine their differential effects on consumer trust. The results reveal that the effects of behavioural components of trustworthiness on trust in salespersons and trust in department stores are different. Trust in salespersons contributes to the trust in the department stores they work for. In addition, although both trust in department stores and trust in salespersons are expected to enhance customer loyalty, person-to-person trust has stronger influence on loyalty than does person-to-firm trust. The findings also suggest that customers' individual characteristics should be considered in assessing the role of trust in business relationships other than sellers' characteristics.