Analysis of the adoption of customer facing InStore technologies in retail SMEs

Brick and mortar stores are suffering the dramatic revolution of the retail sector. Customer facing in-store technologies (CFIST) are a key component of the inevitable transformation of retail stores; yet the reasons to adopt such technologies by business owners may be little known. Based on a TOE and TAM inspired framework, this study analyses the drivers of such decision by small and medium size enterprises using a survey methodology. The results show that the attitude towards technology is the strongest predictor of the intention to adopt CFIST, highlighting the role of the top management in technology decisions. This conclusion has important implications for practitioners. This research is the first to address the adoption of CFIST by SMEs and therefore set the path for further studies about the impact and adoption of in-store technology in SMEs.     

Extending variety seeking to multi-sided platforms: Impact of new retailer listing

This study uses theories of variety seeking to examine how a new retailer listing on a multi-sided platform (MSP) affects consumer buying behavior. Using a unique dataset from an online MSP, we evaluate changes in purchase frequency with individual retailers after a new one is listed. Contrary to expectations, the results indicate that consumers increase their purchase frequency at existing retailers. Moreover, compared to consistency seekers, variety-seeking consumers show a higher positive effect as they buy even more. This result is observed for retailers in both competing and non-competing product categories. Finally, we discuss the theoretical contributions and implications for MSPs and retailers.     

Violation behavior in vertical restraint: Empirical analyses in the case of retail price maintenance

An extensive body of work within the marketing and economics literature has been devoted to studying vertical restraints, yet only a few researchers have investigated the violation behavior of retailers. In this paper, we investigate violation behavior in the context of retailer price maintenance. We investigate this behavior using a unique data set from a subsidy program in China, which includes transaction-level information that shows retail price maintenance (RPM) practices in multiple product categories by multiple manufacturers across multiple markets. The results from our fixed effects regression show that retailer violations are more likely to occur when intra-product competition is high. However, how retailer violation likelihood varies with inter-product competition may depend on the product category. We find that inter-product competition, is negatively associated with the likelihood of violation, for “less popular” product categories in the program such as washing machines, air conditioners, etc., but is positively associated with the likelihood of violation for “popular” product categories such as refrigerators, televisions, and cell phones. Our research provides some of the first empirical evidence about retailer violation behavior under RPM in the world’s largest emerging market by focusing on the relationship between violation behavior and market structure. We discuss the implications for monitoring efforts of manufacturers and regulators.     

Configurations of business strategy and marketing channels for e-commerce and traditional retail formats: A Qualitative Comparison Analysis (QCA) in sporting goods retailing

This article applies a configurational approach to study the fit between retail format, business strategy, and multi-channel setup. Its empirical material consists of five case studies, and a data set of 74 sporting goods retailers in Sweden. Our results show that a retailer can create strategic advantages when its multi-channel setup fits with its business strategy, and that retail format is important for explaining differences in growth and profit, the former being assigned to e-commerce and the latter to physical stores. Moreover, the study reveals that to some extent online channels also have positive performance implications for physical store retailers.     

How second-generation consumers choose where to shop: A cross-cultural semiotic analysis

Using ethnographic interviews and Greimasian semiotics, this study explores second-generation ethnic consumers’ perceptions of physical shopping environments from a cultural identity perspective. It reveals how second-generation ethnic consumers make decisions about where to shop for cosmetics. The key results reveal the identity dimensions of shopping behaviour that retail stores wanting to target second-generation ethnic consumers must take into consideration.     

e-banking culture: A comparison of EU 27 countries and Portuguese case in the EU 27 retail banking context

The aim of this research is two-fold. Firstly we conducted a wise comparative analysis of EU 27 countries and secondly we identified distinct e-banking user segments of Portuguese citizens. We used a questionnaire for data collection (n=2358) and Latent Class Models (LCM) for data analysis. LCM revealed three segments in EU 27 (Portugal is in the poorest cluster, concerning the indicators used, with Greece, Spain and Cyprus) and two e-banking user segments in Portuguese citizens: Those who do not risk (49%), and Those who risk (51%). Our findings enable e-banking managers for taking appropriate strategic decisions.     

Designing successful temporary loyalty programs: An exploratory study on retailer and country differences

Retailers increasingly adopt temporary loyalty programs (TLPs), in which consumers have limited time, often less than half a year, to save stamps and redeem highly discounted rewards. These programs often run alongside the retailers’ permanent loyalty programs in an attempt to increase customer engagement. Despite the growing popularity of TLPs, the literature on the topic remains limited. We address this gap by looking at the redemption rate, the industry’s primary success indicator, of almost 900 TLPs across a broad set of grocery retailers in 45 countries. We study the effects of four key design characteristics (the duration of the program, the discount offered, the spending requirement before an award can be redeemed, and the reward depth) on the redemption rate, and explore how these effects vary across a broad range of retailer and country characteristics. In doing so, we control for both a retailer’s potential self-selection into running a TLP and the potential endogeneity of the subsequent design choices. We derive a set of actionable results on how to design successful TLPs and show that high redemption rates are not only beneficial for the program operator and reward manufacturer, but also translate into higher sales and profit for the retailer.     

Predictors and effects of retail brand equity – A cross-sectoral analysis

Although retailers increasingly seek to position themselves as strong, attractive, and unique brands, little is known about differences in retail branding among different retail sectors. This study analyzes the importance of perceived retail attributes for consumer-based retail brand equity (RBE), particularly the varying roles of these attributes in important retail sectors, and the effects of RBE on intentional loyalty. The authors examine empirical data on 2112 consumer evaluations of retail firms in the grocery, fashion, electronics, and DIY sectors and apply multi-group structural equation modeling. The results indicate that the importance of retail attributes for RBE varies among the different sectors, but a strong and stable link between RBE and consumers' intentional loyalty is evident across retail sectors. The sector-specific and cross-sectoral observations in this study provide managers with specific knowledge on the main levers of RBE in different retail contexts.     

Comparing perceived insecurity among customers and retail staff during service encounters

The study compares perceived insecurity by customers and retail staff during service encounters. The topic is important, because retailers invest millions of dollars in security. The framework of the study divides perceived insecurity into financial, physical, psychosocial and time-related insecurity. A total of 39 consumers participated in seven focus group discussions, and 34 retail staff members responded semi-structured interviews. The study confirms that from both customer and staff perspectives a high quality service encounter has an influence on perceived insecurity, and it diminishes disturbance and criminal activity. However, there are differences between customer and staff perspectives in many areas.     

Leading national brands facing store brands competition: Is price competitiveness the only thing that matters?

Store Brands (SBs) have experienced a strong increase in both value and unit sales internationally during the last decades; thus their market share has been constantly growing. Starting from these considerations, the present work aims at deepening the topic of inter-brand competition within the FMCG market and, in particular, the market share trade-off between Leading National Brands (LNBs) and Store Brands. Our empirical analysis is based on panel data about 322 product categories sold within the Modern Grocery Distribution stores in the 2010–2013 period. Results obtained show: (i) the existence of a relationship between the increase in the LNB-SB price gap and the switching of market share from the former towards the latter; (ii) the consolidation of a change in consumers' purchasing preference in favor of SBs; (iii) the existence of an inverse relationship between the inter-brand competition intensity and the retail branding life cycle evolutionary stage, which is different for each product category.